Skip to main content

Full text of "Brewers Dictionary Of Phrase And Fable"

See other formats 










BREWER’S DICTIONARY 
OF PHRASE & FABLE 




BREWER’S 
DICTIONARY OF 
PHRASE & FABLE 

REVISED EDITION 



CASSELL • LONDON 



CASSELL & COMPANY LTD 
35 Red Lion Square • London WCl 
and at 

MELBOURNE • SYDNEY • TORONTO 
CAPE TOWN • JOHANNESBURG • AUCKLAND 


All rights reserved 
First published 1870 

Completely revised edition first published 1922 


Made and printed in Great Britain by 
William Clowes and Sons. Limited, London and Beccles 



PREFACE 


This book has undergone yet another revision in order to keep pace with the 
coinage of new phrases, which, in an era of rapid communications, gain 
currency quickly (though their origins are often as difficult to verify as more 
ancient usages), and with advances in knowledge. “Brewer” takes as its 
province the familiar and unfamiliar in phrase, fable, romance, archaeology, 
history, religion, the arts, science — in short, nearly all subjects embraced by 
human culture. It seeks to explain origins of words and phrases if these be 
known, to suggest them if precise knowledge be lacking, and to record lack 
of knowledge if that be the case. 

Pronunciations are indicated of such words and names as might cause 
difficulties. The English pronunciation of Latin is used; and with the more 
difficult foreign names that are widely used by English-speaking peoples the 
familiar pronunciation is given. For instance, Don Juan appears as Don 
Joo'an, and Don Quixote as Don Kwik'zot. Where an attempt at foreign 
pronunciation seems desirable the reader is helped with an approximation as 
near to the original as any English tongue need try to make it. 

The Dictionary owes its origin to the work of that indefatigable compiler, 
the Rev. Ebenezer Cobham Brewer (1810-97). Educated privately and at 
Trinity Hall, Cambridge, he was ordained priest in 1836, but turned to litera- 
ture, mainly to the compilation of educational and reference books. His 
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable appeared in 1870, and within his lifetime had 
sold over 100,000 copies. His Reader's Handbook (1880) and Dictionary 
of Miracles (1884) also proved popular works. 



KEY TO PRONUNCIATION 


VOWELS 


a 

as in 

far (far). 

0 

as in not (not). 

£ 

M 

fat (fit). 

6 

„ no (no). 

a 

»» 

fate (fat). 

6 

„ north (north). 

aw 

»» 

fall (fawl). 

00 

,, food (food). 

a 

»* 

fair (far). 






u 

„ bull (bul). 

e 

»> 

bell (bel). 


„ sun (siin). 

e 

*1 

her (her). 

u 

„ muse (mGz). 

e 

»> 

beef (bef). 






ou 

„ bout (bout). 

i 

*» 

bit (bit). 

oi 

„ join (join). 

I 

*» 

bite (bit). 




A dot placed over a, e, o, or u (a, e, 6, u) signifies that the vowel has an obscure, indeter- 
minate, or slurred sound, as in : — 

advice (&d-vis'), current (kfir'£nt), notion (no'shbn). 

CONSONANTS 

s is used only for the sibilant s, as in toast (tost) ; the sonant s is rendered as z, as in 
toes (toz). 

c (except in the combinations ch and ch) 9 q. and x arc not used. 

b, d, f, h (see the combinations below), k, 1, m, n (see ft below), p, r, t, v, x, z, and w and 
y when used as consonants, have their usual values. 

ch as in church (cherch). n as in cabochon (ka-bo-cho/i'). 

ch „ loch (lodi). 

sh „ shawl (shawl). 

£ >» pet (get). zh „ measure (mezh'ur). 

j „ join (join). 

th „ thin (thin). 

hw „ white (hwlt). th „ thine (Min). 

The accent (0 follows the syllable to be stressed. 


ABBREVIATIONS 

M.E. Middle English 
Mod. Fr. Modern French 
O.E. Old English 

O.Fr. Old French 

O.H.Gcr. Old High German 
Port. Portuguese 
q.v. quod vide (which sec) 

R.C. Roman Catholic 
Sp. Span. Spanish 

s.v. sub voce (under the heading) 


Austr. 

Australian 

cp. 

compare 

Dan. 

Danish 

E. 

English 

Fr. 

French 

Ger. 

German 

Gr. 

Greek 

Icel. 

Icelandic 

Ital. 

Italian 

Lat. 

Latin 


vi 



A 


A. The form of this letter is modified from 
the Egyptian hieroglyph which represents the 
eagle. The Phoenician (Hebrew) symbol was 
X {aleph — an ox)* which has been thought, 
probably erroneously, to represent an ox-head 
in outline. The Greek A {alpha) was the 
symbol of a bad augury in the sacrifices. See 
also Scarlet Letter. 

A in logic denotes a universal affirmative. 
a asserts, e denies. Thus, syllogisms ( q.v .) in 
bkrbkr\ contain three universal affirmative 
propositions. 


A1 means first-rate — the very best. In 
Lloyd’s Register of British and Foreign Ship- 
ping, the character of the ship’s hull is desig- 
nated by letters , and that of the anchors, 
cables, and stores by figures. A1 means hull 
first-rate, and also anchors, cables, and stores; 
A2, hull first-rate, but fittings second-rate. 
Vessels of an inferior character are classified 
under the letters JE, E, and 1. 


Aaron (ar' on). The name of the patriarch of 
the Jewish priesthood, possibly connected 
with haaron , “ the ark.” 

Aaron's Beard. The popular name of many 
wild plants, including Great St. John’s Wort 
(Rose of Sharon), the Ivy-leaved Toadflax, 
Meadowsweet, Saxifrage sarmentosa , etc. 

Aaron’s Rod. The name given (with refer- 
ence to Num . xvii, 8) to various flowering 
plants, including Golden Rod, Great Mullein, 
and others. 


Aaron's serpent. Something so powerful 
as to eliminate minor powers. The allusion is 
to Exod. vii, 10-12. 

A.B. See Able-bodied. 

Aback. This was originally a nautical term 
used when a gust of wind forced the sails back 
against the mast and suddenly stayed the 
ship’s progress. From this comes the phrase 
“I was taken aback,” meaning “I was 
astounded, taken by surprise.” 

Abacus (4b' 4 kus). A primitive calculating 
machine, consisting of a small frame with 
wires stretched across it in one direction, each 
wire having threaded on 
it ten balls which can be 
shifted backwards or 
forwards. It is used to 
teach children addition 
and subtraction and 
was employed by the 
Greeks and Romans for 
calculations, as a modification of it was used 
to a much later date by the Chinese. The 
word is derived from the Greek, d/Jof, a 
cyphering table (a slab covered with sand). 


—00 00000000 — 

—0000 000000 — 

— 0 000000000 — 

—0000000 000 — 

— 00000-00000 

—000000000 0 — 


The multiplication table invented by Pytha- 
goras is called Abacus Pythagoricus . 

In architecture the abacus is the topmost 
member of a capital. 

Abaddon (4 bid' 6n). The angel of the bot- 
tomless pit {Rev. ix, 11), from Heb. abad, he 
perished. 

Milton uses the name for the bottomless pit 
itself: — 

In all her gates Abaddon rues 
Thy bold attempt. 

Paradise Regained , IV, 624. 

Abaris (4b' 4 ris). A mythical Greek sage of 
the 6th century b.c. (surnamed “the Hyper- 
borean”) mentioned by Herodotus, Pindar, 
etc. Apollo gave him a magic arrow which 
rendered him invisible, cured diseases, gave 
oracles, and on which he could ride through 
the air. Abaris gave it to Pythagoras, who, 
in return, taught him philosophy. Hence the 
dart of Abaris. 

Abatement (O.Fr. bat re , to beat down). In 
heraldry, a mark of depreciation annexed to 
coat armour, whereby the honour of it is 
abated. 

Abaton (4b' 4 ton) (Gr. a, not; /?cuW, I go). 
As inaccessible as Abaton. A name given to 
various places of antiquity difficult of access. 

Abbassides (4b' a sldz). A dynasty of thirty- 
seven caliphs who reigned over the Moham- 
medan Empire from 750 to 1258. They were 
descended from Abbas, uncle of Mohammed. 
Haroun al-Raschid (b. 765, reigned 786- 
808), of the Arabian Nights , was one of their 
number. 

Abbot of Misrule. See King of Misrule. 

Abbotsford. The name given by Sir Walter 
Scott to Clarty Hole, on the south bank of the 
Tweed, after it became his residence in 1812. 
Sir Walter devised it from the fancy that the 
abbots of Melrose Abbey used to pass over 
the ford of the Tweed near by. 

ABC. An abbreviation having a number of 
meanings that can be decided only by the 
context. Thus, “So-and-so doesn’t know his 
A B C” means that he is intensely ignorant: 
“he doesn’t understand the A B C of engineer- 
ing” means that he has not mastered its 
rudiments. So, an ABC Book f or Absey 
Book . is a primer which used to be used as a 
child’s first lesson book and contained merely 
the alphabet and a few rudimentary lessons 
often set in catechism form, as is evident from 
Shakespeare’s lines: — 

That is question now; 

And then comes answer like an Absey book. 

King John, 1 , 1 . 

Abd in Arabic^ slave or servant, as Abdiel 
{q.v.) and Abd-Allah {servant of God), Abd-el- 
Kader {servant of the Mighty One), Abd-ul- 
Latif {servant of the Gracious One), etc. 

Abdallah (4b d41' 4)* The father of Moham- 
med. He died shortly before his famous son 

1 




Abdals 


2 


Abou Hassan 


was born, and is said to have been so beautiful 
that when he married Amina, 200 virgins 
broke their hearts from disappointed love. — 
See Washington Irving's Life of Mahomet. 

Abdals (fib' dfilz). The name given by Mo- 
hammedans to certain mysterious persons 
whose identity is known only to God, and 
through whom the world is able to continue 
in existence. When one of them dies another 
is secretly appointed by God to fill the vacant 
place. 

Abdera (Sb der' S). A maritime town of 
Thrace (said to have been founded by Abdera, 
sister of Diomede), so overrun with rats that 
it was abandoned, and the inhabitants 
migrated to Macedonia. The Abderites , or 
Abderitans , were proverbial for stupidity, yet 
the city gave birth to some of the wisest men 
of Greece, among them being Democritus 
(the laughing philosopher, from whom we 
get the phrases Abderitan laughter , meaning 
“scoffing laughter,” and an Abderite , or 
“scoffer”), Protagoras (the great sophist), 
Anaxarchos (the philosopher and friend of 
Alexander), and Hecatxus (the historian). 

Abdiel (fib' dSl) (Arab, the servant of God; 
cp. Abd). In Milton’s Paradise Lost (V, 805, 
$96, etc.) the faithful seraph who withstood 
Satan when he urged the angels to revolt. 

Abecedarian (a b6 si dar' i an). Usually, one 
who teaches or is learning his ABC; but 
also the name of a 1 6th-century sect of Anabap- 
tists who regarded the teaching of the Holy 
Spirit (as extracted by them from the Bible) 
as sufficient for every purpose in life, and hence 
despised all learning of every kind, except so 
much of the A B C as was necessary to enable 
them to read. The sect was founded in 1520 
by Nicholas Stork, a weaver of Zwickau; 
hence they are also spoken of as “the 
Zwickau prophets 

Abecedarian Hymns. Hymns the lines or 
other divisions of which are arranged in 
alphabetical order. In Hebrew the 119th 
Psalm is abecedarian. See Acrostic Poetry. 

Abelites (ab'elitz), Abelians, or Abelonians. 
A Christian sect of the 4th century mentioned 
by St. Augustine as living in North Africa. 
Tney married but remained virgin, as they 
affirmed Abel did — on the assumption that be- 
cause no children of his are mentioned in 
Scripture he had none. The sect was main- 
tained by adopting the children of others. 

Abhorrers. See Petitioners. 

Abldhamma (Sb id a' ma). The third pitaka 
of the three Pali texts (Tripitaka) which 
together form the sacred canon of the Bud- 
dhists. The Abidhamma contains “the 
analytical exercises in the psychological sys- 
tem on which the doctrine is based, in seven 
treatises. See Tripitaka. 

Abif. See Hiram Abif. 

Abigail (fib' i gal). A lady’s maid. Abigail, 
wife of Nabafand afterwards of David, is a 
well-known Scripture heroine (I Sam. xxv, 3). 
Marlowe called the daughter of Barabbas, his 
Jew of Malta , by this name, and it was given 
by Beaumont and Fletcher to the “waiting 


gentlewoman” in The Scornful Lady. Swift, 
Fielding, and other novelists of the period 
employ it in their novels, and it was further 
popularized by the notoriety of Abigail Hill, 
better known as Mrs. Masham, Queen Anne’s 
Lady in Waiting and personal friend. 

Abimelech (a bim' 6 lek). In the Bible it is the 
name of two Philistine kings, father and son 
{Gen. xx, xxvi), and of the king of Schechem 
{Judges, ix). It is also the name of a prince of 
Arvad in the Annals of Assurbanipal, and is 
found in the Amarna tables as that of an Egypt- 
ian governor of Tyre. 

Abingdon Law. See Cupar Justice. 

Able-bodied Seaman, An, or, an Able Seaman, 
is a skilled seaman, a sailor of the first class. 
A crew is divided into three classes: (1) skilled 
seamen, termed A.IL (Able-Bodied); (2) ordin- 
ary seamen; and (3) boys, which include 
“green hands,” or inexperienced men, without 
regard to age or size. 

Aboard. A ship is said to fall aboard another 
when it runs against it. 

Aboard main tack is an old sea term meaning 
to draw one of the lower corners of the main- 
sail down to the chess-tree. 

Abolitionists. In U.S.A. the term applied to 
those who advocated and agitated for the 
abolition of Negro slavery. In Australia the 
name was given to those who between 1820 
and 1867 sought to obtain by law the abolition 
of the transportation of convicts to Australia. 
In Britain lit is currently applied to those who 
wish to abolish capital punishment. 

Abolla (abol'a). An ancient military gar- 
ment worn by the Greeks and Romans, 
opposed to the toga or robe of peace. The 
abolla, being worn by the lower orders, was 
affected by philosophers in the vanity of 
humility. 

Abominable Snowman. Popular name for the 
rare and elusive bear-like animal, the yeti, 
found in the Himalayas. 

Abomination of Desolation, The, mentioned in 
Dan. (chs. ix, xi, and xii), and in Matt. xxiv,15, 
probably refers to some statue set up in the 
Temple by either the heathens or the Romans. 
The subject is very obscure, the best Hebrew 
and Greek scholarship leaving the actual thing 
intended unidentified. Dr. Cheyne concluding 
that “the ‘abomination’ whicn thrusts itself 
into the ‘holy place’ has for its nature 
‘desolation’ — i.e. finds its pleasure in undoing 
the divine work of a holy Creator.” 

Abonde (a bondO- Dame Abonde is the 
French equivalent of Santa Claus, a good 
fairy who brings children presents while they 
are asleep on New Year’s Eve. 

Abou-Bekr (a boo bekr) (571-634), called 
Father of the Virgin , i.e . Mohammed’s 
favourite wife. He was the first caliph, or 
successor of Mohammed, of the Sunni 
Moslems, and reigned for only two years. 

Abou Hassan (fi boo hfis' fin). A rich mer- 
chant (in The Arabian Nights ), transferred dur- 
ing sleep to the bed and palace of the Caliph 




Abou ibn Sina 


3 


Abram-man 


Haroun al-Raschid. Next morning he was 
treated as the caliph, and every effort was made 
to make him forget his identity {The Sleeper 
Awakened). The same story, localized to 
Shakespeare’s own Warwickshire, forms the 
Induction to The Taming of the Shrew , 
where a tinker, Christopher Sly, takes the 
lace of Abou Hassan. The incident is said 
y Burton {Anatomy of Melancholy , II, iv) 
actually to have occurred during the wedding 
festivities of Philip the Good of Burgundy 
(about 1440). The Ballad of the Frolicsome 
Duke , or the Tinker's Good Fortune in the 
Percy Reliques , and another version in 
Calderon’s play, Life's a Dream {c. 1633), 
go to show how popular and widely spread 
was this Oriental fable. 

Abou ibn Sina. See Avicenna. 

Above-board. Honest and open. According 
to Johnson, this is a figurative expression 
“borrowed from gamesters, who, when they 
put their hands under the table, are changing 
their cards.” 

Above par. A commercial term meaning 
that the article referred to is at more than its 
nominal value. See Par. 

Above your hook. See Hook. 

Ab ovo. From the very beginning. Stasinus, 
in his Cypria , a poem in 1 1 books belonging 
to the Homeric cycle and forming an intro- 
duction to the Iliad, does not rush (as does 
the Iliad itself) in madias res , but begins with 
the eggs of Leda, from one of which Helen 
was born. If Leda had not laid this egg, 
Helen would never have been born, therefore 
Paris could not have eloped with her, therefore 
there would have been no Trojan War, etc. 
The English use of the phrase probably derives 
from the line in Horace's De Arte Poetica : — 
Ncc gemino bellum Troianum orditur ab ovo. 

Abracadabra. A cabalistic charm, said to be 
made up from the initials of the Hebrew 
words Ab (Father), Ben (Son), and Ruach 
ACadsch (Holy Spirit), and formerly used as 
a powerful antidote against ague, flux, tooth- 
ache, etc. The word was written on parch- 
ment, and suspended from the neck by a linen 
thread, in the following form: — 
abracadabra 

ABRACADAUR 
ABRACADAB 
ABRACADA 
ABRACAD 
A B R A C A 
A B R A C 
A B R A 
A B R 
A B 
A 

Abracax. See Abraxas. 

Abraham. Mohammedan mythology adds 
the following legends to those told us in the 
Bible concerning the patriarch. His parents 
were Prince Azar and his wife Adna. As 
King Nimrod had been told that one shortly 
to be born would dethrone him, he proclaimed 
a “massacre of the innocents,” and Adna 
retired to a cave where Abraham was born. 
He was nourished by sucking two of her 
fingers, one of which supplied milk and the 
1 * 


other honey. At the age of fifteen months 
Abraham was equal in size to a lad of fifteen, 
and was so wise that his father introduced 
him to the court of King Nimrod. 

Other Mohammedan traditions relate that 
Abraham and his son “Ismail” rebuilt for 
the fourth time the Kaaba over the sacred 
stone at Mecca; that Abraham destroyed the 
idols manufactured and worshipped by his 
father, Terah; and that the mountain (called 
in the Bible “Mount Moriah”) on which he 
offered up his son was “Arfaday.” 

The Gnebers say that the infant Abraham 
was thrown into the fire by Nimrod’s order, 
but the flame turned into a bed of roses, on 
which he went to sleep. 

To sham Abraham. See Abram-Man. 

Abrahamic covenant. The covenant made 
by God with Abraham {Gen. xii, 2, 3, and xvii), 
interpreted to mean that the Messiah should 
spring from his seed. This promise was given 
to Abraham because he left his father’s house 
to live in a strange land, as God told him. 

Abraham Newland, An. A bank-note. So 
called from the name of the chief cashier at 
the Bank of England from 1782 to 1807, 
without whose signature no Bank of England 
notes were genuine. 

Abraham’s bosom. The repose of the happy 
in death — 

The sons of Edward sleep in Abraham’s bosom. 

Richard III, IV, iii. 

The allusion is to Luke xvi, 22, and refers to 
the ancient custom of allowing a dear friend 
to recline on one’s bosom, as did John on the 
bosom of Jesus. 

There is no leaping from Delilah’s lap into 
Abraham's bosom — i.e. those who live and die 
in notorious sin must not expect to go to 
heaven at death. 

Abram-colour. “Abram” here is a corrup- 
tion of auburn. In Coriolanus , II, iii, the word 
is so printed in the first three Folios — 

Our heads are some brown, some black, some 
Abram, some bald. 

Abram-man, or Abraham cove. A pre- 
tended maniac who, in Tudor and early 
Stuart times, wandered about the country as 
a begging impostor; a Tom o’ Bedlam (< 7 .y.); 
hence the phrase, to sham Abraharn , meaning 
to pretend illness or distress, in order to get 
off work. 

Inmates of Bedlam (q.v.) who were not 
dangerously mad were kept in the “Abraham 
Ward,” and allowed out from time to time in 
a distinctive dress. They were permitted to 
supplement their scanty rations by begging. 
This gave an opportunity to impostors, and 
large numbers availed themselves of it. Says 
The Canting Academy (Richd. Head, 1674), 
they 

“used to array themselves with party-coloured 
ribbons, tape in their hats, a fox-tail hanging down, 
a long stick with streamers,” and beg alms; but 
“for all their seeming madness, they had wit enough 
to steal as they went along.” 

There is a good picture of them in King 
Lear , II, iii; and see also Beaumont ana 
Fletcher’s Beggar's Bush , II, i. 



Abraxas 


4 


Academy 


Abraxas (k braks' &s). A cabalistic word used 
by the Gnostics to denote the Supreme Being, 
the source of 365 emanations, the sum of the 
numbers represented by the Greek letters of 
the word totalling 365. It was frequently 
engraved on gems (hence known as abraxas 
stones ), that were used as amulets or talismans. 
By some authorities the name is given as that 
of one of the horses of Aurora. 

Absalom and Achitophel (a kit 7 6 fel). A 
political satire published in 1681, the first 
part by Dryden, the second by Nahum 
Tate and revised by Dryden. Of the prin- 
cipal characters, David stands for Charles II; 
Absalom for his natural son James, Duke of 
Monmouth (handsome and rebellious); Achi- 
tophel for Lord Shaftesbury; Zimri for the 
Duke of Buckingham; and Abdael for Monk. 
The accommodation of the Biblical narrative 
to contemporary history is so skilfully made 
that the story of David seems to repeat itself. 

Absent. “Out of mind as soon as out of 
sight.” This is the form in which the proverb 
is given by Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke 
(d. 1628) in his 56th Sonnet ; but it appears 
with its more usual wording — “Out of sight, 
out of mind,” as the title of one of Barnabe 
Googe’s Eglogs (1563). 

The absent are always wrong. The transla- 
tion of the French proverb, les absents out 
toujours tort , which implies that it is always 
easy to lay the blame on someone who is not 
present to stand up for himself. 

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. A 
tag that comes from a song, The Isle of Beauty, 
by T. Haynes Bayly (1797-1839). 

Absent flag. A small blue signal flown by a 
yacht to indicate that the owner is not aboard. 

Absolute. A Captain Absolute, a bold, 
despotic man, determined to have his own 
way, so called from the character in Sheridan’s 
Rivals. 

Absolute weight. The weight of a body in 
vacuum. 

Absolute zero. The temperature at which a 
theoretically perfect gas, kept at constant 
volume, would exert no pressure. In practice 
this is -273.1° C. 

Absquatulate (ab skwot' u lat). To run away 
or abscond. An artificial American word, 
possibly from Lat., ab , from, and squat , a 
squatting being a tenement taken in some 
unclaimed part, without purchase or per- 
mission. It seems to have been first used in 
1833, in The Kentuckian , a play by W. B. 
Bernard. 

Abstinence is the voluntary total forbearance 
from taking alcohol, certain foods, etc.; it 
differs from temperance , for this admits of 
their being taken habitually in moderation. 
In ecclesiastical parlance Days of Abstinence 
are those when the eating of meat is not 
permitted; Fasting Days are when only one 
full meal is allowed in the twenty-four hours. 

Abstract Numbers are numbers considered 
without reference to anything else: 1, 2, 3; 
if we say 1 year, 2 feet, 3 men, etc., the 
numbers are no longer abstract, but concrete . 


Things are said to be taken In the abstract 
when they are considered absolutely, that is, 
without reference to other matters or persons. 
Thus, in the abstract, one man may be as 
good as another, but is yet not so socially 
and politically. 

An abstract of title is a legal expression, 
meaning an epitome of the evidences of owner- 
ship. 

Abstraction. Alexander Bain, in The Senses 
and the Intellect (1855), defines abstraction as 
“the generalizing of some property, so as to 
present it to the mind, apart from the other 
properties that usually go along with it in 
nature”; or it is, as Locke put it: “Nothing 
more than leaving out of a number of resem- 
bling ideas what is peculiar to each.” This 
process is apt to result in what we call an 
empty abstraction , a mere ideality, of no prac- 
tical use, and sooner or later we turn away 
from such unsatisfying ideas, as did Words- 
worth: — 

Give us, for our abstractions, solid facts; 

For our disputes, plain pictures. 

Excursion , V , 636. 

Gladstone said that “laws are abstractions 
until they are put into execution.” 

Absurd meant originally “quite deaf,” (Lat. 
ab , intensive, and surdus , deaf); but the Lat. 
compound, absurdus , had the meaning, “out 
of time,” “discordant,” hence “harsh” or 
“rough,” and hence the figurative (and now 
common) meaning “irrational,” “silly” or 
“senseless.” 

Reductio ad absurdum. See Reductio. 

Abudah (a bu' da). Thackeray’s allusion: — 
Like Abudah, he is always looking out for the 
Fury, and knows that the night will come with the 
inevitable hag with it. 

is to a story in Ridley’s Tales of the Genii of 
a merchant of Bagdad who is haunted every 
night by an old hag. 

Abundant Number, An. A number the sum 
of whose aliquot parts is greater than itself. 
Thus 12 is an abundant number, because its 
divisors, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 16, which is greater 

than 12. Cp. Deficient Number, Perfect 
Number. 

Abus (ab'us). An old name of the river 
Humber. See Spenser’s Faerie Queene , II, 
x, 16: — 

He [Locrine] then encountrcd, a confused rout, 
Forbyc the River that whylomc was hight 
The ancient Abus . . . 

See Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Chronicles , 
Bk. II, ii. 

Abyla. See Calpb. 

Abyssinian Christians. A branch of the 
Coptic Church. See Copts. 

Academy. Originally the proper name of a 
garden near Athens (from Academos , the 
reputed founder) where Plato taught; hence, 
the philosophical school or system of Plato, 
and, later, a place where the arts and sciences, 
etc., are taught, and a society or institution 
for their cultivation. 

Plato’s Academy was divided into the Old , 
his own philosophic teaching, and that of his 
immediale followers, Xcnocrates, Crates, and 





Academy figures 


5 


Accusative 


others: the Middle , a modified Platonic 
system, founded by Arcesilaus about 244 b.c.; 
and the New , the half-sceptical school of 
Carneades, founded about 160 b.c. Plato’s 
followers were known as Academics. In 
addition to its usage in reference to an 
academy or university, the adjective academic 
has since been employed to signify “theoreti- 
cal, scholarly, abstract, unpractical, merely 
logical.** See Platonism. 

Academy figures. Drawings in black and 
white chalk, on tinted paper, usually about 
half life-size and from the nude. 

Acadia (& ka' dia). The name of a territory 
which now forms part of the provinces of 
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, introduced 
to Europe by the Florentine explorer, Ver- 
razano, who reported in 1524 that it was 
known by that name to the inhabitants. 

Acadine (&k' & din). A Sicilian fountain men- 
tioned by Diodorus Siculus as having magic 
properties. Writings were thrown into it for 
the purpose of being tested; if genuine they 
floated, if spurious they sank to the bottom. 

Acanthus (a k&n' thus). The conventionalized 
representation of the leaf of Acanthus mollis 
used as a decoration in the capitals of Corin- 
thian and composite columns. The story is 
that an acanthus sprang up around a basket of 
flowers that Callimachus had placed on his 
daughter’s grave, and that this so struck the 
fancy of the architect that he introduced the 
design into his buildings. 

Accents. See Typographical Signs. 
Accessory. Accessory before the fact is one 
who is aware that another intends to commit 
an offence, but is himself absent when the 
offence is perpetrated. 

Accessory after the fact is one who screens 
a felon, aids him in eluding justice, or helps 
him in any way to profit by his crime. Thus, 
the receiver of stolen goods, knowing or even 
suspecting them to be stolen, is an accessory 
ex post facto. 

Accident. A logical accident is some property 
or quality which a substance possesses, the 
removal or change of which would not 
necessarily affect the substance itself, as the 
height of our bodies, the redness of a brick, 
the whiteness of paper, etc. Theologians 
explain the doctrine of transubstantiation by 
maintaining that the substance of the bread 
and wine is changed into that of the body and 
blood of Christ, but their accidents (flavour, 
appearance, and so on) remain the same as 
before. 

Accidental colours. See Colours. 

Accidentals in music are signs indicating 
sharps, flats, naturals, and double sharps and 
flats, other than those sharps and flats pre- 
scribed by the key-signature. 

Accius Navlus (&k' si As ne' vi us). A legend- 
ary Roman augur in the reign of Tarquin 
the Elder. When he forbade the king to 
increase the number of centuries (i.e. divisions 
of the army) instituted by Romulus, without 
consulting the augurs, Tarquin asked him if, 
according to the augurs, the thought then in 


his, Tarquin’s, mind was feasible of accom- 
plishment. “Undoubtedly,** said Accius, 
after consultation. “Then cut through this 
whetstone with the razor in your hand.’* 
The priest gave a bold cut, and the block 
fell in two (Livy, 1, 36). 

Accolade (&k 6 ladO- The touch of a sword 
on the shoulder in the ceremony of conferring 
knighthood; originally an embrace or touch 
by the hand on the neck (Lat. ad collum 9 on 
the neck). In music the brace ({) that con- 
nects two or more staves in the score is called 
an accolade. See Dub. 

Accommodation. In commercial use, a loan 
of money. 

Accommodation ladder. A flight of steps 
hung over the side of a ship at the gangway. 

Accommodation note or bill. A bill of 
exchange for which value has not been 
received, used for the purpose of raising 
money on credit. 

Accord means “heart to heart’* (Lat. ad 
corda ). If two persons like and dislike the 
same things, they are heart to heart with each 
other. 

Similarly, “concord” means heart with 
heart; “discord,” heart divided from heart; 
“record” — i.e. re-corddre — properly means to 
bring again to the mind or heart, and second- 
arily to set this down in writing. 

Account, To open an. To enter a customer’s 
name on your ledger for the first time. (Lat. 
accomputdre, to calculate.) 

To keep open account. Merchants are said 
to keep open account when they agree to 
honour each other’s bills of exchange. 

A current account or “account current,” a\c . 
A commercial term, meaning the account of a 
customer who does not pay for goods received 
at time of purchase. 

On account. A commercial phrase imply- 
ing “in part payment for.” 

On the account was an old pirates’ phrase 
for sailing a-pirating. 

To cast accounts. To give the results of 
the debits and credits entered, balancing the 
two, and carrying over the surplus. 

The account on the Stock Exchange means: 
the credit allowed on dealings for the fort- 
nightly settlement, or the fortnightly settle- 
ment itself, which is also called account-day , 
or settling-day. 

To be sent to one’s account. To have final 
judgment passed on one. The Ghost in 
Hamlet uses the phrase as a synonym for 
death: — 

Sent to my account 

With all my imperfections on my head. 

Hamlet, I, v. 

Accusative. Calvin was so called by his 
college companions. An “accusative age” 
is an obsolete expression denoting an age 
that is searching , one that eliminates error by 
accusing it. 

This hath been a very accusative age. — Sir E. 
Derino (16th century). 



Ace 


6 


Achilles’s spear 


Ace. The unit of cards or dice, from as, 
which was the Latin unit of weight. In 
World War I the French term as, applied 
to an airman who had brought down ten 
enemy aeroplanes, was imported in its English 
equivalent ace . This sense of the word has 
since been extended to include any more 
than usually expert flier, bridge-player, golfer, 
etc. 

Within an ace. Within a hair’s breadth of; 
he who wins within an ace wins within a 
single mark. See Ambsas. 

To bate an ace is to make an abatement, 
or to give a competitor some start or other 
advantage, in order to render the combatants 
more equal. See Bolton. Taylor, the water 
poet (1580-1654), speaking of certain women, 
says — 

Though bad they be, they will not bate an ace 
To be call’d Prudence, Temp’rance, Faith, and Grace. 

Aceldama (a seT dk ma). The “field of 
blood” near Jerusalem, mentioned in Matt. 
xxvii, 8, and Acts i, 19. It was appropriated 
as a cemetery for strangers, and was used as 
a burial-place by Christians during the Cru- 
sades and even as late as the 17th century. 
The name, which is Aramaic and means “ the 
field of blood,” is figuratively used for any 
place of great slaughter. 

Acephalites (k seF k litz) (Gr. akephale , with- 
out a head). The name given to various 
rebellious and discontented groups of early 
Christians, principally to (1) a faction among 
the Monophysites who seceded from the 
authority of Peter; (2) certain bishops of 
the Eastern Church exempt from the juris- 
diction and discipline ot their patriarch; 
(3) a party of English levellers in the reign of 
Henry I, who acknowledged no leader. 

The name is also given to the monsters 
described in various legends and mediaeval 
books of travel as having no head, the eyes 
and mouth being placed elsewhere. 

Acestes (£ ses' tez). The arrow of Acestes. 
In a trial of skill Acestes, the Sicilian, dis- 
charged his arrow with such force that it took 
fire. U Eneid , V, 525.) 

Achaean League (& ke' &n). The first Achaean 
League was a religious confederation of the 
twelve towns of Achaea, lasting from very early 
times till it was broken up by Alexander the 
Great. The second was a powerful political 
federation of the Achaean and many other 
Greek cities, formed to resist Macedonian 
domination in 280 b.c., and dissolved by the 
Romans in 147 b.c. 

Achates (£ ka' tez). A fldus Achates is a 
faithful companion, a bosom friend. Achates 
in Virgil’s Aineid is the chosen companion of 
the hero in adventures of all kinds. 

Achemon (k ke' mon). According to Greek 
fable Achemon and his brother Basalas were 
two Cercopes forever quarrelling. One day 
they saw Hercules asleep under a tree and 
insulted him, but Hercules tied them by 
their feet to his club and walked off with them, 
heads downwards, like a brace of hare. 
Everyone laughed at the sight, and it became 
a proverb among the Greeks, when two men 


were seen quarrelling — “Look out for 
Melampygos! ” (i.e. Hercules): — 

Nc insidas in Mclampygum. 

Acheron (3k' er on). A Greek word meaning 
“the River of Sorrows”; the river of the 
infernal regions into which Phlegethon and 
Cocytus flow: also the lower world (Hades) 
itself. 

They pass the bitter waves of Acheron 
Where many souls sit wailing woefully. 

Spenser: Faerie Queene, I, v, 33. 

Acherontian Books. See Tages. 

Acherusia (ak er ooz' i a). A cavern on the 
borders of Pontus, through which Hercules 
dragged Cerberus to earth from the infernal 
regions. 

Acheulian (a sher' li an). The name given to 
the paleolithic period identified by the remains 
found in the cave of St. Acheul, France. 

Achillea (ak il e' a). A genus of herbaceous 
plants of the aster family, including the 
common yarrow ( Achillea millefolium ), so 
called from Achilles. The tale is, that when 
the Greeks invaded Troy, Telephus, son-in- 
law of Priam, attempted to stop their landing; 
but, Bacchus causing him to stumble, Achilles 
wounded him with his spear. The young 
Trojan was told by an oracle that “Achilles 
(meaning milfoil or yarrow) would cure the 
wound”; instead of seeking the plant he 
applied to the Grecian chief, and promised 
to conduct the host to Troy if he would cure 
the wound. Achilles consented to do so, 
scraped some rust from his spear, and from 
the tilings rose the plant milfoil, which being 
applied to the wound, had the desired e fleet. 
It is called by the French the herbe aux 
charpcntiers — i.e. carpenters’ wort, because it 
was supposed to heal wounds made by car- 
penters’ tools. 

Achilles (a kiP ez). In Greek legend, the son 
of Peleus and Thetis and grandson of Eacus, 
king of the Myrmidons (in Thessaly), and hero 
of the Iliad (<?.»’.). He is represented as being 
brave and relentless; but, at the opening of the 
poem, in consequence of a quarrel between 
him and Agamemnon, commandcr-in-chief 
of the allied Greeks, he refused to light. The 
Trojans prevailed, and Achilles sent Patroclus 
to oppose them, Patroclus fell; and Achilles, 
rushing into the battle, killed Hector (q.v.). 
He himself, according to later poems, was 
slain at the Scaean gate, before Troy was 
taken, by an arrow in his heel. See Achilles 
Tendon. 

Death of Achilles. It was Paris who 
wounded Achilles in the heel with an arrow 
(a post-Homeric story). 

Achilles’s horses. Balios and Xanthos ( see 

Horse). 

Achilles’s mistress in Troy. Hippodamia, 
surnamed Briseis (q.v.). 

Achilles’s spear. Shakespeare’s lines: — 

That gold must round engirt these brows of mine 

Whose smile and frown, like to Achilles’ spear. 

Is able with the change to kill and cure. 

Henry VI , Part It, V, i. 

is an allusion from the story told above (s.v. 





Achilles’s tomb 


7 


Acrostic Poetry 


Achillea) of the healing of Telephus. It is 
also referred to by Chaucer: — 

. . . speche of Thelophus the king, 

And of Achilles with his queynte spere, 

For he coudcjwith it both hele and dere (harm). 

Squire's Tale, 238. 

Achilles’s tomb. In Sigoeum, over which 
no bird ever flies. — Pliny , X, 29. 

Achilles’s tutors. First, Phoenix, who 
taught him the elements; then Chiron the 
centaur, who taught him the uses and virtues 
of plants. 

Achilles’s wife. Deidamia ( q.v .). 

The English Achilles. John Talbot, first 
Earl of Shrewsbury (13887-1453). 

Achilles of England. The Duke of Welling- 
ton (1769-1852). 

Achilles of Germany. Albert Elector of 
Brandenburg (1414-1486). 

Achilles of Lombardy. I n Tasso’s Jerusalem 
Delivered , the brother of Sfor/a and Pala- 
medes, brothers in the allied army of Godfrey. 
Achilles of Lombardy was slain by Corinna. 

Achilles of Rome. Lucius Sicinius Denta- 
tus, tribune of the Roman plebs, 454 b.c.; 
put to death 450 b.c.; also called the Second 
Achilles. 

Achilles of the West. Roland the Paladin; 
also called “The Christian Theseus.” 

Achilles and the tortoise. The allusion is 
to the following paradox proposed by Zeno: 
In a race Achilles, who can run ten times as 
fast as a tortoise, gives the latter 100 yards 
start; but it is impossible for him to overtake 
the tortoise and win the race; for, while he is 
running the first hundred yards the tortoise 
runs ten, while Achilles runs that ten the 
tortoise is running one, while Achilles is 
running one the tortoise runs one-tenth of a 
yard, and so on ad infinitum . 

Achilles tendon. A strong sinew running 
along the heel to the calf of the leg, frequently 
strained by athletes. The tale is that Thetis 
took her son Achilles by the heel, and dipped 
him in the river Styx to make him invulnerable. 
The water washed every part, except the heel 
in his mother's hand. It was on this vulner- 
able point the hero was slain; and the sinew 
of the heel is called, in consequence, tendo 
Achillis . A post- Homeric story. 

The heel of Achilles. The vulnerable or 
weak point in a man’s character or of a nation. 

Aching Void, An. That desolation of heart 
which arises from the recollection of some 
cherished endearment no longer possessed. 

Achitophcl (A kit' d fel). Ahithophel was 
David^s traitorous counsellor, who deserted 
to Absalom; but his advice being disregarded, 
he hanged himself (II Sam. xvii, 23). The 
Achitophcl of Drydcn's satire (see Absalom 
and Achitophel) was the Earl of Shaftesbury. 

Achor (A' kdr). Said by Pliny to be the name 
of the deity prayed to by the Cyreneans for 
the averting of insect pests. See Flies, 
God of. 


Acid Test. The application of acid is a cer- 
tain test of gold. Hence the phrase is used 
of a test or trial which will conclusively decide 
the value, worth, or reliability of anything. 

Acis (a 7 sis). In Greek mythology, the son 
of Faunus, in love with Galatea. His rival, 
Polyphemus, the Cyclop, crushed him to 
death beneath a huge rock. 

Ack emma. See Pip emma. 

Acme (Ak' mi) (Gr. a point). The highest 
pitch of perfection; the term used by old 
medical writers for the crisis of a disease. 
They divided the progress of a disease into 
four periods: the arche , or beginning; the 
anabasis , or increase; the acme , or term of its 
utmost violence; and the paracme , or decline. 
Aconite (Ak' 6 nit). The herb Monkshood 
or Wolfsbane. Classic fabulists ascribe its 
poisonous qualities to the foam which dropped 
from the mouths of the three-headed Cerberus, 
when Hercules, at the command of Eurys- 
theus, dragged the monster from the infernal 
regions. (Gr. d/covtrou; Lat. aconitum.) 
Acrasia (A kra' zi A). In Spenser’s Faerie 
Queene (Bk. II, ca. xii), an enchantress, 
mistress of the “Bower of Bliss.” She trans- 
formed her lovers into monstrous shapes, and 
kept them captives. Sir Guyon captures her, 
frees her victims, destroys the bower, and 
sends her in chains of adamant to the Faerie 
Queene. She is the personification of Intem- 
perance, the name signifying “ lack of self- 
control.” 

Acre. O.E. cecer , is akin to the Lat. ager 
and Ger. Acker (a field). God’s Acre, a 
cemetery or churchyard. Longfellow calls 
this an “ancient Saxon phrase,” but as a 
matter of fact it is a modem borrowing from 
Germany. 

Acre-shot. An obsolete name for a land 
tax. “Shot” is scot. See Scot and Lot. 

Acres, Bob. A coward by character in 
Sheridan’s The Rivals , whose courage always 
“oozed out at his fingers’ ends.” Hence, a 
man of this kind is sometimes called “a 
regular Bob Acres.” 

Acropolis (A krop' 6 lis) (Gr. akros , point, 
height; polis, city). An elevated citadel, 
especially of ancient Athens, where was built 
in the 15th century b.c. the Parthenon, the 
Erechtheum, and the Propylaea or monu- 
mental gate. 

Acrostic (Gr. akros , extremity; stichos , row, 
line of verse). A piece of verse in which the 
initial letters of each line read downwards 
consecutively form a word: if the final letters 
read in the same way also form a word it is a 
double acrostic ; if the middle letters as well 
it is a triple acrostic. The term was first 
applied to the excessively obscure prophecies 
of the Erythraean sibyl; they were written on 
loose leaves, and the initial letters made a 
word when the leaves were sorted and laid 
in order. ( Dtonys . IV, 62.) 

Acrostic Poetry among the Hebrews con- 
sisted of twenty-two lines or stanzas beginning 
with the letters of the alphabet in succession 
(cp. Abecedarian Hymns). 





Act and Opponency 


8 


Adam 


Act and Opponency. An “Act,” in the older 
English universities, consists of a thesis 
publicly maintained by a candidate for a 
degree, with the “disputation” thereon. The 
person “disputing” with the “keeper of the 
Act” is called the “opponent,” and his func- 
tion is called an “opponency”. In some 
degrees the student is required to keep his 
Act, and then to be the opponent of another 
disputant. This custom has long been given 
up at Oxford, but at Cambridge the thesis and 
examination for the doctor’s degree in 
Divinity, Law, and Medicine is still called an 
“Act.” 

Act of Faith. See Auto da fe. 

Act of God. Loss arising from the action 
of forces uncontrollable by man, such as a 
hurricane, lightning, etc., is said to be due to 
an “act of God,” and hence has no legal 
redress. A Devonshire jury once found — • 
“That deceased died by the act of God, 
brought about by the flooded condition of 
the river.” 

Act of Man. The sacrificing of cargo, spars, 
or furnishings, by the master of a vessel for the 
preservation of his ship. All persons with an 
interest in the ship and cargo stand a fair share 
of the loss. 

Act of Parliament. This is the official 
name for a measure which has become the 
law of the land. The word Bill is applied 
to a measure on its introduction, and for it 
to become an Act it has to be read three times 
in each House of Parliament (during which 
time it is debated) and receive the royal assent. 
The Acts of each session are arranged in 
chapters and officially quoted according to 
the year of the reign in which they are passed. 
See Regnal Year. The Acts of the English 
Parliament go back to 1235. 

Action (ak te' on). In Greek mythology a 
huntsman who, having surprised Diana 
bathing, was changed by her into a stag and 
torn to pieces by his own hounds. A stag 
being a horned animal, he became a representa- 
tive of men whose wives are unfaithful. See 
Horn. 

Actian Games (ak' ti an). The games cele- 
brated at Actium in honour of Apollo. They 
were reinstituted by Augustus to celebrate his 
naval victory over Antony, 31 b.c., and were 
held every five years. 

Action Sermon. A sermon (in the Scots 
Presbyterian Church) preached before the 
celebration of Communion. 

Acton. A taffeta, or leather-quilted dress, 
worn under the habergeon to keep the body 
from being chafed or bruised. (Fr. hoqueton , 
cotton-wool, padding.) 

Actresses. Coryat, in his Crudities (1611), 
says “When I went to a theatre (in Venice) 
I observed certain things that I never saw 
before; for I saw women acte. ... I have 
heard that it hath sometimes been used in 
London,” but the first public appearance of 
a woman on the stage in England was on 
8 Dec., 1660, when Margaret Hughes, Prince 
Rupert’s mistress, played Desdemona in 


Othello at a new theatre in Clare Market, 
London. Previous to that female parts had 
always been taken by boys; Edward Kynaston 
(d. 1706) seems to have been the last male 
actor to play a woman on the English stage, 
in serious drama. 

Whereas, women’s parts in plays have hitherto 
been acted by men in the habits of women ... we 
do permit and give leave for the time to come that 
all women’s parts be acted by women. 

Charles It's licence of 1662. 

Acu tetigisti. See Rem acu. 

Ad inquirendum (3d in kw! ren' dum) (Lat.). 
A judicial writ commanding an inquiry to be 
made into some complaint. 

Ad Kalendas Grsecas (ad ka len' d3s gre' k3s) 
(Lat.). (Deferred) to the Greek Calends — 
i.e. for ever. (It shall be done) on the Greek 
Calends — i.e. never — for the Greeks had no 
Calends (<?.v.). Suetonius tells us that this 
used to be the reply of Augustus to the question 
when he was going to pay his creditors. 

Ad libitum (3d lib' i turn) (Lat.). To choice, 
at pleasure, without restraint. 

Ad rem (ad rem') (Lat.). To the point in 
hand; to the purpose. 

Ad valorem (3d val or' em) (Lat.). According 
to the price charged. A commercial term 
used in imposing customs duties according to 
the value of the goods imported. Thus, if 
teas pay duty ad valorem , the high-priced 
tea will pay more duty per pound than the 
lower-priced tea. 

Ad vitam aut culpam (3d vi' tarn awt kQl' p3m) 
(Lat.). A phrase, meaning literally “to life- 
time or fault,” used in Scottish law of the 
permanency of an appointment, unless for- 
feited by misconduct. 

Adam. The Talmudists say that Adam lived 
in Paradise only twelve hours, and account 
for the time thus: — 

I. God collected the dust and animated it. 

II. Adam stood on his feet. 

IV. He named the animals. 

VI. He slept and Eve was created. 

VII. He married the woman. 

X. He fell. 

XII. He was thrust out of Paradise. 

Mohammedan legends add to the Bible 
story the tradition that — 

God sent Gabriel, Michael, and Israfel one after 
the other to fetch seven handfuls of earth from 
different depths and of different colours for the 
creation of Adam (thereby accounting for the varying 
colours of mankind), but that they returned empty- 
handed because Earth foresaw that the creature to 
be made from her would rebel against God and 
draw down His curse on her, whereupon Azrael was 
sent. He executed the commission, and for that 
reason was appointed to separate the souls from the 
bodies and hence became the Angel of Death. The 
earth he had taken was carried into Arabia to a placo 
between Mecca and Taycf, where it was kneaded 
by the angels, fashioned into human form by God, 
and left to dry for either forty days or forty years. 
It is also said that while the clay was being endowed 
with life and a soul, when the breath breathed by 
God into the nostrils had reached as far as the navel, 
the only half-living Adam tried to rise up and got 
an ugly fall for his pains. Mohammedan tradition 
holds that he was buried on Aboucais, a mountain 
of Arabia. 




The old Adam 


9 


Adamastor 


In Greek the word Adam is made up of the 
four initial letters of the cardinal quarters: — 
Arktos , north; Dusis , west; 

Anatole , east; Mesembria , south. 

The Hebrew word (without vowels) forms 
an anagram with the initials: A [dam], 
D[avid], M[essiah]. 

According to Moslem writers: After the 
Fall Adam and Eve were separated, Adam 
being placed on Mt. Vassem, in the east, 
Eve at Jeddah, on the Red Sea coast of 
Arabia. The Serpent was exiled to the coast 
of Ebleh. After a hundred years had been 
thus spent, Adam and Eve were reunited at 
Arafat, in the vicinity of Mecca. Adam died 
on Friday, April 7, at the age of 930 years. 
His body was wrapped in cerements by the 
Archangel Michael; Gabriel performed the 
last rites. The body was buried in the grotto 
of Ghar* ul Kenz, near Mecca. When Noah 
went into the Ark he took Adam’s coffin 
with him, after the Flood restoring it to its 
original burial place. 

The old Adam. The offending Adam, etc. 
Consideration, like an angel, came 
And whipped the offending Adam out of him. 

Shakespeare: Henry V , I, i. 

Adam, as the head of unredeemed man, 
stands for “original sin,” or “man without 
regenerating grace.” 

The second Adam. The new Adam, etc. 
Jesus Christ is so called. 

The Tempter set 

Our second Adam, in the wilderness. 

To show him all earth’s kingdoms and their glory. 

Paradise Lost, XI, 383. 

Milton probably derived the idea from Rom. 
vi, 6, or I Cor . xv, 22: — 

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all 
be made alive. 

In the same way Milton calls Mary our 
“second Eve” ( Paradise Lost , V, 387, and 
X, 183). 

When Adam delved : — 

When Adam delved and Eve span. 

Who was then the gentleman? 

This, according to the Historic i Artglicana of 
Thos. Walsingham (d. 1422), was the text of 
John Ball’s speech at Blackheath to the rebels 
in Wat Tyler’s insurrection (1381). It seems 
to be an adaptation of some lines by Richard 
Rolle of Harnpole (d. c. 1349): — 

When Adam dalfe and Eve spanne 
To spire of thou may spede. 

Where was then the pride of man, 

That now marres his meed? 

Cp. Jack's as good as his master , under Jack 
(phrases). 

Adam Bell. See Clym of the Clough. 

Adam Cupid — i.e. Archer Cupid, probably 
alluding to Adam Bell. In all the early 
editions the line in Romeo and Juliet (II, i, 13): 
“Young Adam Cupid, he that shot so trim,” 
reads “Young Abraham Cupid,” etc. The 
emendation was suggested by Steevens. 

Adam's ale. Water; because the first man 
had nothing else to drink. In Scotland 
sometimes called Adam's Wine. 

Adam's apple. The protuberance in the 
forepart of the throat, the anterior extremity 


of the thyroid cartilage of the larynx; so called 
from the superstition that a piece of the 
forbidden fruit stuck in Adam's throat. 

Adam’s needle. Gen. iii, 7 tells us that 
Adam and Eve “sewed fig leaves together;” 
needles were (presumably) not then obtainable, 
but certain plants furnish needle-like spines, 
and to some of these the name has been 
given. The chief is the Yucca, a native of 
Mexico and Central America. 

Adams, Parson. The type of a benevolent, 
simple-minded, eccentric country clergyman; 
ignorant of the world, bold as a lion for the 
truth, and modest as a girl. Henry Fielding’s 
Joseph Andrews (1742). 

Adam’s Peak. A mountain in Ceylon 
where, according to Mohammedan legend, 
Adam bewailed his expulsion from Paradise, 
standing on one foot for 200 years to expiate 
his crime; then Gabriel took him to Mount 
Arafat, where he found Eve. 

In the granite is a curious impression resembling 
a human foot, above 5 feet long by 2i broad; the 
Hindus, however, assert that it was made by Buddha 
when he ascended into heaven. 

Adam’s profession. Gardening or agricul- 
ture is sometimes so called — for obvious 
reasons. 

There is no ancient gentlemen but gardeners, 
ditchers, and grave-makers; they hold up Adam’s 
profession. 

Shakespeare: Hamlet , V, i. 

Adamites (ad' & mits). The name given to 
various heretical sects who supposed them- 
selves to attain to primitive innocence by 
rejecting marriage and clothing. There was 
such a sect in North Africa in the 2nd century; 
the Abelites (q.v.) were similar; the heresy 
reappeared in Savoy in the 14th century, and 
spread over Bohemia and Moravia in the 
15th and 16th. One Picard, of Bohemia, was 
the leader in 1400, and styled himself “Adam, 
son of God.” There are references to the 
sect in James Shirley’s comedy Hyde Park 
(II, iv) (1632), and in The Guardian , No. 134 
(1713). 

Adamant (from Gr. a , not; da mao , I tame). 
A word used for any stone or mineral of 
excessive hardness (especially the diamond, 
which is really the same word); also for the 
magnet or loadstone; and, by poets, for hard- 
ness or firmness in the abstract. 

In Midsummer Night's Dream , II, i: — 

You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant; 

But yet you draw not iron, for my heart 
Is true as steel, 

we have an instance of the use of the word in 
both senses. Adamant as a name for the 
loadstone, or magnet, seems to have arisen 
through an erroneous derivation of the word 
by early mediaeval Latin writers from Late 
Lat. adamarc , to take a liking for, to have 
an attraction for. 

Adamastor (Sd & mils' tor). The spirit of the 
stormy Cape (Good Hope), described by 
Camoens in the Lusiad as a hideous phantom 
that appears to Vasco da Gama and pro- 
phesies disaster to all seeking to make the 
voyage to India. 



Addison of*the North 


10 


Adonal 


Addison of the North. A sobriquet of Henry 
Mackenzie (1745-1831), author of the Man 
of Feeling. 

Addison's disease. A state of anaemia, 
languor, irritable stomach , etc., associated with 
disease of the suprarenal glands: so named 
from Dr. Thos. Addison, of Guy’s Hospital 
(1793-1860), who first described it. 

Addisonian termination. The name given 
by Bishop Hurd to the construction which 
closes a sentence with a preposition , such as— 
“which the prophet took a distinct view of.” 
Named from Joseph Addison, who frequently 
employed it. 

Addle is the Old English adela, mire, or liquid 
filth; hence rotten, putrid, worthless. 

Addle egg. An egg which has no germ ; also 
one in which the chick has died. Hence, 
fig., addle-headed , addle-pate , empty-headed. 
As an addle-egg produces no living bird so 
an addle-pate lacks brains. 

The Addled Parliament. The second Parlia- 
ment of James I, 5th April to 7th June, 1614. 
It refused to grant supplies until grievances 
had been redressed, and is so called because 
it did not pass a single measure. 

Adelantado (a de lan ta'do). Spanish for “his 
excellency” (from adelantar , to promote), and 
given to the governor of a province. Hence, 
a figure of importance. 

Open no door. If the adelantado of Spain were 
here he should not enter. — B en Jonson: Every Man 
out of his Humour, V, vi. 

Middleton, in Blurt , Master Constable (IV, iii), 
uses lantedo as an Elizabethan abbreviation of 
this word. 

Adelphi, The. A small district of residential 
buildings, off the Strand in London, designed 
by Robert Adam in 1768 — now largely de- 
molished. Adam himself, Garrick, and in 
later times Hardy, Barrie, and the Savage Club 
had accommodation in the main building. 
The name is taken from Greek adelphoi , mean- 
ing brothers, for Adam’s brothers had some 
part in the original scheme. 

Adept means one who has attained (Lat. 
adeptus , participle of adipisci). The alchem- 
ists applied the term vere adeptus to those 
persons who professed to have “attained to 
the knowledge of” the elixir of life or of the 
philosopher’s stone. 

Alchemists tell us there are always 11 
adepts, neither more nor less, like the sacred 
chickens of Compostela, of which there are 
only 2 and always 2 — a cock and a hen. 

Adeste Fideles (& des'ti fi de' lez) (“O come, all 
ye faithful”). A Christmas hymn, the familiar 
tunc of which was composed by John Reading 
(1677-1764), organist at Winchester and author 
of “Dulce Domum.” 

Adiaphorists (ad i &f' or ists) (Gr. indifferent.) 
Followers of Melanchthon; moderate Luther- 
ans, who held that some of the dogmas of 
Euther are matters of indifference. They 
accepted the Interim of Augsburg (q.v.). 

Adieu (Fr. to God). An elliptical form for 
/ commend you to God ( cp . Good «b ye). 


Adjective Colours are those which require a 
mordant before they can be used as dyes. 

Admirable, The. Abraham ben Mcir ibn 
Ezra, a celebrated Spanish Jew (1092-1167), 
was so called. He was noted as a mathe- 
matician, philologist, poet, astronomer, and 
commentator on the Bible. 

The Admirable Crichton. James Crichton 
(1560-1585?), Scottish traveller, scholar, and 
swordsman. So called by Sir Thomas 
Urquhart. 

Admira ble Doctor ( Doctor mi r a hi /is). R ogcr 
Bacon (1214 7-1294), the English mediaeval 
philosopher. 

Admiral, corruption of Arabic Amir (lord or 
commander), with the article id, as in Amir- 
al-ma (commander of the water), Amir-al - 
Omra (commander of the forces), Amir-al - 
Muminim (commander of the faithlul). 


Milton uses the old form for the ship itself ; 
speaking of Satan, he says: — 

His spear — to equal which the tallest pine 
Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast 
Of some great ammiral, were but a wand — 

He walked with. 


Paradise Lost, T, 292. 


In the Royal Navy there are now four 
grades of Admiral, viz. Admiral of the Fleet , 
Admiral , Vice-Admiral, and Rear-Admiral. 
There used to be three classes, named from 
the colour of their tlag — Admired of the Red , 
Admiral of the White , and Admiral of the Blue, 
who, in engagements, held the centre, van, 
and rear respectively. The distinction was 
abolished in 1864. 


Admiral of the Blue (see above), used 
facetiously for a butcher who dresses in 
blue, or a tapster, from his blue apron. 

As soon as customers begin to stir 

The Admiral of the Blue cries, “Coming, Sir!” 

Poor Robin (1731). 


Admiral of the Red (see above), facetiously 
applied to a winebibber whose face and nose 
arc red. 


Admittance. This word is not synonymous 
with admission. From permission to enter, 
and thence the right or power to enter, it 
extends to the physical act of entrance, as 
“he gained admittance to the church.” You 
may have admission to the director's room, 
but there is no admittance except through his 
secretary’s office. An old meaning of the 
word indicates the privilege of being admitted 
into good society: — 

Sir John . . . you arc a gentleman of excellent 
breeding ... of great admittance. 

Merry Wives of Windsor, If, ii. 

Admonitionists, or Adinonitioners. Certain 
Protestants who in 1571 sent an admonition 
to the Parliament condemning everything in 
the Church of England which was not in 
accordance with the doctrines and practices 
of Geneva. 

Adonai (& do' ni) (Heb. pi. of adon, lord). A 
name given to the Deity by the Hebrews, and 
used by them in place of Yahweh (Jehovah), 
the “ineffable name,” wherever this occurs. 
In the Vulgate, and hence in the Wyclif, 
Coverdale, and Douai versions, it is given for 



Adonlsts 


11 


The Devil’s Advocate 


Jehovah in Exod. vi, 3, where the A.V. 
reads: — 

And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and 
unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by 
my name Jehovah was I not known to them. 

Adonists. Those Jews who maintain that 
the vowels of the word Adonai (q.v.) are not 
the vowels necessary to make the tetra- 
grammaton (q.v.), jhvh, into the name of the 
Deity. See also Jehovah. 

Adonais (Ad o na' is). The poetical name 
given by Shelley to Keats in his elegy on the 
death of the latter (1821), probably in allusion 
to the mourning for Adonis. 

Adonia (a do' ni a). The feast of Adonis, 
celebrated in Assyria, Alexandria, Egypt, 
Judcea, Persia, Cyprus, and Greece, for eight 
days. Lucian gives a long description of these 
feasts, which were generally held at mid- 
summer and at which the women first lamented 
the death and afterwards rejoiced at the 
resurrection of Adonis — a custom referred to 
in the Bible (Ezek. viii, 14), where Adonis 
appears under his Phoenician name, Tammuz 

i<]-v-)- 

Adonis (A do' nis). In classical mythology, a 
beautiful youth who was beloved by Venus, 
and was killed by a boar while hunting. 
Hence, usually ironically, any beautiful young 
man. Leigh Hunt was sent to prison for libelling 
George, the Prince Regent, by calling him “a 
corpulent Adonis of fifty” ( Examiner , 1813). 

Adonis Flower, according to Bion, the rose; 
Pliny (1, 23) says it is the anemone; others, 
the field poppy; but now generally used for 
the pheasant’s eye, called in French goutte-de- 
sang, because in fable it sprang from "the blood 
of the gored hunter. 

Adonis garden. A worthless toy; very 
perishable goods. 

Thy promises are like Adonis’ gardens 

That' one day bloom’d and fruitful were the next. 

hliAKLSi’E ARE i Henry l l Pt. /, 1, \i. 

The allusion is to the baskets or pots of 
earth used at the Adonia (< 7 .v.), in which quick- 
growing plants were sown, tended for eight 
days, allowed to wither, and then thrown into 
the sea or river with images of the dead Adonis. 

Adonis River. A stream which flows from 
Lebanon to the sea near Byblos which runs 
red at the season of the year when the feast 
of Adonis was held. 

Thammuz came next behind. 

Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured 
The Syrian damsels to lament his fate 
In amorous ditties all a summer’s day. 

While smooth Adonis from his native rock 
Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood 
Of Thammuz yearly wounded. 

Milton: Paradise Lost, I, 446. 

Adoption. Adoption by arms. An ancient 
custom of giving arms to a person of merit, 
which laid nim under the obligation of being 
your champion and defender. 

Adoption by baptism. Being godfather or 
godmother to a child. The child by baptism 
is your godchild. 

Adoption by hair. Boson, King of Provence 
(879-889), is said to have cut off his hair and 


to have given it to Pope John VIII as a sign 
that the latter had adopted him. 

Adoption Controversy. Elipand, Arch- 
bishop of Toledo, and Felix, Bishop of Urgel 
(in the 8th century), maintained that Christ 
in his human nature was the son of God by 
adoption only (Rom. viii, 29), though in his 
pre-existing state he was the “begotten Son 
of God” in the ordinary Catholic acceptation. 
Duns Scotus, Durandus, and Calixtus were 
among the Adopfionists who supported this 
view, which was condemned by the Council 
of Frankfort in 794. 

Adoptive Emperors. In Roman history, the 
five Emperors — Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, 
Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius — each 
of whom (except Nerva, who was elected by 
the Senate) was the adopted son of his pre- 
decessor. Their period (96-180) is said to 
have been the happiest in the whole history of 
Rome. 

Adoration of the Cross. See Andrew, St. 

Adrammelech (a dram' e lek). A Babylonian 
deity to whom, apparently, infants were burnt 
in sacrifice (11 Kings xvii, 31). Possibly the 
sun god worshipped at Sippar (/.<?. Sephar- 
vaim). 

Adrastus (k dras' tus). (i) A mythical Greek 
king of Argos, leader of the expedition of the 
“ Seven Against Thebes ” (see under Seven). 
(ii) In Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered (Bk. XX), 
an Indian prince who aided the King of Egypt 
against the crusaders. He was slain by 
Rinaldo. 

Adriatic. See Bride of the Sea. 

Adullamites (a did' a mits). The adherents of 
R. Lowe and H. Horsman, seceders in 1866 
from the Reform Party. John Bright said of 
these members that they retired to the cave of 
Aduilam, and tried to gather round them all 
the discontented. The allusion is to David, 
who, in his flight from Saul — 

Escaped to the cave Aduilam; and every one that 
was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and 
every one that was discontented, gathered themselves 
unto him. 

I Sam. xxii, I, 2. 

Adulterous Bible. See Bible, Specially 
Named. 

Advancer. In vencry this is the name given 
to the second branch of a buck’s horns. 

Advent (Lat. advent us , the coming to). The 
four weeks immediately preceding Christmas, 
commemorating the first and second coming 
of Christ; the first to redeem, and the second 
to judge the world. The season begins on 
St. Andrew’s Day (30th Nov.), or the Sunday 
nearest to it. 

Adversary, The. A name frequently given in 
English literature to the Devil (from I Pet. 
v, 8). 

Advocate (Lat. ad, to; vocare, to call). One 
called to assist pleaders in a court of law. 

The Devil’s Advocate. A carping or adverse 
critic. From the Advocatus Diaboli , the person 
appointed to contest the claims of a candidate 
for canonization before a papal court. He 




Advocates 9 Library 


12 


/Eneid 


advances all he can against the candidate, 
and is opposed by the Advocatus Dei (God’s 
Advocate), who says all he can in support of 
the proposal. 

Advocates' Library, in Edinburgh, was 
founded in 1682, by Sir George Mackenzie of 
Rosehaugh, Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, 
i.e. the body of members of the Scottish bar. 
It is one of the libraries to which books must 
be sent for purposes of copyright (q.v.). 

Advowson (Lat. advocatio , a calling to, a 
summons; cp. Advocate). Originally the 
obligation to be the advocate of a benefice 
or living and to defend its rights, the word 
now means the right of appointing the incum- 
bent of a church or ecclesiastical benefice. 

The different advowsons are: — 

Advowson appendant. A right of presenta- 
tion which belongs to and passes with the 
manor. This usually had its origin in the 
ownership of the advowson by the person 
who built or endowed the church. 

Advowson collative. In which the bishop 
himseif is patron and, as he cannot “present” 
to himself, does by the act of “collation” or 
conferring the benefice all that is done in 
other cases by presentation and institution. 

Advowson donative. In which a secular 
patron (usually the Crown) has the right of 
disposing of the benefice to any legally qualified 
person without institution or induction or 
examination by the bishop or ordinary. 

Advowson in gross. An advowson which 
has become legally separated from the manor 
to which it was appendant. See Gross. 

Advowson presentative. In which the patron 
(who may be a layman) presents to the bishop 
who, unless he is satisfied that there is suflicient 
legal or ecclesiastical disability, must “in- 
stitute” the clerk. 

Adytum (Gr. aduton> not to be entered; duo , 
to go). The Holy of Holies in the Greek and 
Roman temples, into which the general public 
were not admitted; hence, a sanctum. 

/Ediles. Those who, in ancient Rome, had 
charge of the public buildings (cedes), such as 
the temples, theatres, baths, aqueducts, 
sewers, including roads and streets also. 

/Egeus. A fabulous king of Athens who gave 
th'e name to the /Egean Sea. His son, 
Theseus, went to Crete to deliver Athens from 
the tribute exacted by Minos. Theseus said, 
if he succeeded he would hoist a white sail 
on his home-voyage, as a signal of his safety. 
This he neglected to do; and /Egeus, who 
watched the ship from a rock, thinking his 
son had perished, threw himself into the sea. 

This incident is repeated in the tale of 
Tristram and Isolde. See Tristram. 

yEginetan Sculptures. Sculptures discovered 
in 1811 at the temple of Pallas Athene, in the 
little island of >Egina. They consist of two 
groups of five and ten figures representing 
exploits of Greek heroes at Troy, and probably 
date from about 500 b.c., i.e. a little before 
Phidias. They were restored by Thorwaldsen, 
and were long the most remarkable ornaments 
of the Glyptothek, at Munich. 


yEgir (e' jir, e' gir). In Norse mythology the 
god of the ocean, husband of Ran. They 
had nine daughters (the billows), who wore 
white robes and veils. 

/Egis (e'jis) (Gr. goat skin). The shield of 
Zeus, made by Vulcan and covered with the 
skin of the goat Amalthaea, who had suckled 
the infant Zeus. It was sometimes lent to 
Athena, daughter of Zeus and when in her 
possession carried the head of the Gorgon. 
By the shaking of his aegis, Zeus produced 
storms and thunder; in art it is usually repre- 
sented as a kind of cloak fringed with serpents; 
and it is symbolical of divine protection — 
hence the modern use of the word in such 
phrases as I throw my cegis over you , I give 
you my protection. 

/Egrotat (e gro' tat) (Lat. he is ill). In 
university parlance, a medical certificate of 
indisposition to exempt the bearer from 
sitting examinations. 

’A E I’, a common motto on jewellery, is 
Greek, and stands for “for ever and for aye.” 

A. E. I. O. U. The device adopted by 
Frederick V, Archduke of Austria, on becom- 
ing the Emperor Frederick III in 1440. The 
letters had been used by his predecessor, Albert 
II, and then stood for — 

Albertus Electus Imperator Optimus Vivat. 

The meaning that Frederick gave them was — 
Archidux Electus Imperator Optime Vivat. 
Many other versions are known, including — 
Austria; Est Imperarc Orbi Universo. 

Alles Erdreich 1st Ocsterreich Unterthan. 
Austria’s Empire Is Overall Universal. 

To which wags added after the war of 1866 — 
Austria’s Empire Is Ousted Utterly. 

Frederick the Great is said to have translated 
the motto thus: — 

Austria Erit In Orbe Ultima ( Austria will be lowest 
in the world). 

Acmilian Law (e mil' i an). A law made by 
the praetor Aemilius Mamercus empowering 
the eldest praitor to drive a nail in the Capitol 
on the ides of September. This was a 
ceremony by which the Romans supposed 
that a pestilence could be stopped or a 
calamity averted. 

/Eneas (e ne' as). In Greek Mythology the 
son of Anchises, king of Dardanus, and 
Aphrodite. According to Homer he fought 
against the Greeks in the Trojan War and 
after the sack of Troy reigned in the Troad. 
Later legends tell how he carried his father 
Anchises on his shoulders from the flames of 
Troy, and after roaming about for many 
years, came to Italy, where he founded a 
colony which the Romans claim as their 
origin. The ephithet to him in Virgil’s epic, 
of which he is the hero, is pius, meaning 
“dutiful.” 

/Eneid. The epic poem of Virgil (in twelve 
books). So called from AZneas and the suffix 
-w, plur. -ides (belonging to). 

The story of Sinon (says Macrobius) and 
the taking of Troy is borrowed from Pisander. 

The loves of Dido and /Eneas are taken from 
those of Medea and Jason, in Apollonius of 
Rhodes. 



Pollan Harp 


13 


Africa 


The story of the Wooden Horse and burning 
of Troy is from Arctinus of Miletus. 

/ftolian Harp (e 6' H £n). The wind harp, 
alleged to have been invented by St. Dunstan, 
but there is no record of it before the 16th 
century. A box on which strings are stretched. 
Being placed where a draught gets to the 
strings, they utter musical sounds. 

Pollan Mode, in Music, the ninth of the 
church modes, also called the Hypodorian, 
the range being from A to A, the dominant 
F or E, and the mediant E or C. It is 
characterized as “grand and pompous though 
sometimes soothing.” 

/Eolian Rocks. A geological term for those 
rocks the formation and distribution of which 
has been due more to the agency of wind 
than to that of water. Most of the New Red 
Sandstones, and many of the Old Red, are of 
AEolian origin. 

.Eolic Digamma (e ol' ik di' gam &). The 
sixth letter of the early Greek alphabet (F), 
sounded like our >v. Thus oinos wi f h the 
digamma was sounded woinos; whence the 
Latin vinuni , our wine. Gamma, or g. was 
shaped thus F , hence digamma - double g ; 
it was early disused as a letter, but was retained 
as the symbol for the numeral 6. True Aiolic 
was the dialect of Lesbos. 

/Eolus (e' 6 lus), in Roman mythology, was 
“god of the winds.” 

/Eon (e'on) (Gr. a ion). An age of the universe, 
an immeasurable length of time; hence the 
personification of an age, a god, any being 
that is eternal. Basilides reckons there have 
been 365 such vEons, or gods; but Valentinius 
restricts the number to 30. 

Aerated Waters (ar' a ted). Effervescent 
waters charged (either artificially or naturally) 
with carbon dioxide. 

/Eschylus (es' ki lus) (525-456 b.c.), the father 
of the Greek tragic drama. Titles of seventy- 
two of his plays are known, but only seven 
are now extant. Fable has it that he was 
killed by a tortoise dropped by an eagle (to 
break the shell) on his bald head, which the 
bird mistook for a stone. 

/Eschylus of France. Prosper Jolyot de 
Crebillon (1674-1762). 

/Esculapius (es kO la' pi us). The Latin form 
of the Greek Asklcpios, god of medicine and 
of healing. Now used for “a medical prac- 
titioner.” The usual ofTering to him was a 
cock, hence the phrase “to sacrifice a cock 
to Aesculapius” — to return thanks (or pay 
the doctor’s bill) after recovery from an illness. 

When men a dangerous disease did scape, 

Of old, they gave a cock to Esculapc. 

Ben Jonson : Epigram . 

Legend has it that he assumed the form of a 
serpent (q.v.) when he appeared at Rome 
during a pestilence; hence it is that the goddess 
of Health bears in her hand a serpent. 

/Eslr (e' zer). The collective name of the 
celestial gods of Scandinavia, who lived in 
Asgard (q.v.). (1) Odin, the chief; (2) Thor 
(his eldest son, god of thunder); (3) Tiu 


(another son, god of wisdom); (4) Balder 
(another son, Scandinavian Apollo); (5) Bragi 
(god of poetry); (6) Vidar (god of silence); 
(7) Hoder the blind (slayer of Balder); (8) Her- 
moder (Odin’s son and messenger); (9) Hoenir 
(a minor god); (10) Odnir (husband ofFreyja, 
the Scandinavian Venus); (11) Loki (the god 
of mischief); (12) Vali (Odin’s youngest son). 

/Eson’s Bath (e' son). 

I perceive a man may be twice a child before the 
days of dotage; and stands in need of Assorts Bath 
before three score. — Sir Thomas Browne: Religio 
Medici , Section xlii. 

The reference is to Medea rejuvenating 
iEson, father of Jason, with the juices of a con- 
coction made of sundry articles. After iEson 
had imbibed these juices, Ovid says: — 

Barba comaeque, 

Canitie posita, nigrum rapuere, colorem. 

Metamorphoses , VII, 288. 

/Esop’s Fables (c' sop) are traditionally 
ascribed to /Esop, a deformed Phrygian slave 
of the 6th century b.c.; but many of them 
are far older, some having been discovered on 
Egyptian papyri of 800 or 1,000 years earlier. 

Babirus, probably an Italian, compiled a 
collection of 137 of the fables in choliambic 
verse about a.d. 230, and this version was 
for long used in the medkeval schools. 

Pilpay (q.v.) has been called the /Esop of 
India. 

Aetion (e' ti on) in Spenser’s Colin Clout's 
Come Home Again typifies Michael Drayton, 
the poet. 

Aetites (a e ti' tez) (Gr. aetos, an eagle). 
Eagle-stones: hollow stones composed of 
several crusts, having a loose stone within, 
which were supposed at one time to be found 
in eagles’ nests, to which medicinal virtues 
were attributed, and which were supposed to 
have the property of detecting theft. See 
Pliny X, 4, and XXX, 44; also Lyly’s Euphues 

(1578) — 

The precious stone Aetites which is found in the 
filthy nests of the eagle. 

/Etolian Hero, The (e to' li an). Diomede, 
who was king of /Etolia; mentioned by Ovid. 

Afghan, The. The weekly train from Adelaide 
to Alice Springs, in the heart of Australia; so 
called because at one period it was used by 
numerous Afghan traders. 

Afreet, Afrit (Sf' ret). In Mohammedan 
mythology the most powerful but one 
(Marids) of the five classes of Jinn, or devils. 
They arc of gigantic stature, very malicious, 
and inspire great dread. Solomon, we are 
told, once tamed an Afreet, and made it 
submissive to his will. 

Africa. Teneo te y Africa. When Oesar 
landed at Adrumetum, in Africa, he tripped 
and fell— a bad omen; but, with wonderful 
presence of mind, he pretended that he had 
done so intentionally, and kissing the soil, 
exclaimed, “Thus do I take possession of 
thee, O Africa.” The story is told also of 
Scipio, and of Caesar again at his landing in 
Britain, and of others in similar circumstances. 

Africa semper aliquid novi offer t. “Africa 
is always producing some novelty.” A Greek 



African Sisters 


14 


Agave 


proverb quoted (in Latin) by Pliny, in allusion 
to the ancient belief that Africa abounded in 
strange monsters. 

African Sisters, The. The Hesperides (q.v.), 
who lived in Africa. 

Afridi (a fr$' di). A Pathan tribe of the Indo- 
Afghan frontier against whom the British sent 
several punitive expeditions in the late 19th 
century. 

After-cast. An obsolete expression for some- 
thing done too late; literally, a throw of the 
dice after the game is ended. 

Ever he playeth an after-cast 
Of all that he shall say or do. 

Gower. 

After-clap. A catastrophe or misfortune 
after an affair is supposed to be over, as in 
thunderstorms one may sometimes hear a 
“clap’* after the rain subsides, and the clouds 
break. 

What plaguy mischief and mishaps 
Do dog him still with after-claps. 

Butler: Hudibras , Pt. I, iii. 

After-guard. The men whose duty is to tend 
the gear at the after part of a ship. The ex- 
pression is also used for the officers, who have 
their quarters aft. 

After me the deluge. See AprLs moi le 
dLluge. 

Aft-meal. An extra meal; a meal taken 
after and in addition to the ordinary meals. 

At aft-meals who shall pay for the wine? 

Thynne: Debate (c. 1608). 

Agag (a' gag), in Dryden’s Absalom and 
Achitophel* is Sir Edmondbury Godfrey, the 
magistrate before whom Titus Oates made his 
declaration, and who was afterwards found 
barbarously murdered in a ditch near Primrose 
Hill. Agag was hewed to pieces by Samuel. 

And Corah [Titus Oates] might for Agag’s murder 
call 

In terms as coarse as Samuel used to Saul. 

I, 675-6. 

The name is usually associated with the 
Biblical phrase, “And Agag came to him 
[Samuel] delicately” (I Sam. xv, 32). 
Agamemnon (ag a mem' non). In Greek 
legend, the King of Mycen®, son of Atreus, 
and leader of the Greeks at the siege of Troy. 

His brother was Menelaus. 

His daughters were Jphigenia, Electra, 
Iphianassa, and Chrysothcmis ( Sophocles ). 

He was grandson of Pelops. 

He was killed in a bath by his wife Clytem- 
nestra, after his return from Troy. 

His son was Orestes, who slew his mother 
for murdering his father, and was called 
Agamemnonides. 

His wife was Clvtcmnestra, who lived in 
adultery with Egistneus. At Troy he fell in 
love with Cassandra, a daughter of King 
Priam. 

Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona, a quotation 
from Horace ( Od . IV, ix), paraphrased by 
Byron in Don Juan (i, 5): 

Brave men were living before Agamemnon 

And since, exceeding valorous and sage, 

A good deal like him too, though quite the same 
none; 

But then they shone not on the poet’s page, 

And so have been forgotten. 


Aganippe (ag k nip' i). In Greek legend a 
fountain of Boeotia at the foot of Mount 
Helicon, dedicated to the Muses, because it 
had the virtue of imparting poetic inspiration. 
From this fountain the Muses are sometimes 
called Aganippides. 

Agape (Ag' a pi). A love-feast (Gr. agape* 
love). The early Christians held a love-feast 
before or after Communion when contribu- 
tions were made for the poor. In course of 
time they became a scandal, and were con- 
demned at the Council of Carthage, 397. 
The name is also given by Spenser to the fairy 
mother of Priamond, Diamond, Triamond, 
and Cambina ( Faerie Queene , IV, ii, 41 ff.). 

Agapemone (dg a pent' 6 ni). An association 
of men and women followers of Henry James 
Prince (1811-1899), who founded a sect in 
the 60s of last century, holding the theory 
that the time of prayer was past and the time 
of grace come. They lived on a common 
fund at an Agapemone, or Abode of Love, at 
Spaxton, Somersetshire, and were constantly 
in trouble with the authorities. In the early 
years of the present century the “Agapemo- 
nites” again attracted attention by the claims 
of one Smyth Piggott to be Christ. 

Agapche (ag a pe' te) (Gr. beloved). A group 
of 3rd-century ascetic women who, under 
vows of virginity, contracted spiritual mar- 
riage with the monks and attended to their 
wants. Owing to the scandals occasioned the 
custom was condemned by St. Jerome and 
suppressed by various Councils. 

Agate (ag' at). So called, says Pliny (XXXVII, 
10), from Achates or Gagatcs, a river in 
Sicily, near which it is found in abundance. 

Agate is supposed to render a person 
invisible, and to turn the sword of foes 
against themselves. 

A very small person has been called an 
agate, from the old custom of carving the 
stone with diminutive figures for use as seals. 
Shakespeare speaks of Queen Mab as no 
bigger than an agate-stone on the forefinger 
of an alderman. 

For the same reason the very small type 
between nonpareil and pearl, known in 
England as “ruby,” was called agate in 
America. 

Agatha, St. (kg' a tha), was tortured and mar- 
tyred at Catania, in Sicily, during the 
Decian persecution of 251. She is sometimes 
represented in art with a pair of shears or 
inccrs, and holding a salver on which arc 
er breasts, these having been cut olf. Her 
feast day is 5th February. 

Agave (a ga' vi), named from Agave, daughter 
of Cadmus (q.v.), or “American aloe,” a 
Mexican plant, naturalized in many parts of 
Europe, and fabled by English gardeners to 
bloom only once in a hundred years. It was 
introduced into Spain in 1561, and is used in 
Mexico, Switzerland, Italy, and elsewhere for 
fences. The Mohammedans of Egypt regard 
it as a charm and religious symbol; and pil- 
grims to Mecca hang a leaf of it over their 
door as a sign of their pilgrimage and as a 
charm against evil spirits. 




Agdistes 


15 


Agnes 


Agdistes (&g dis' tez). The name is that of a 
Phrygian deity connected with the symbolic 
worship of the powers of Nature and by some 
identified with Cybele. He was hermaphro- 
dite, and sprang from the stone Agdus, parts 
of which were taken by Deucalion and Pyrrha 
to cast over their shoulders for repeopling the 
world after the flood. 

Age. A word used of a long but more or 
less indefinite period of history, human and 
pre-human, distinguished by certain real or 
mythical characteristics and usually named 
from these characteristics or from persons 
connected with them, as the Golden Age (q.v.) t 
the Middle Ages , the Dark Ages ( qq.v .), the 
Age of the Antonines (from Antoninus Pius, 
138, to Marcus Aurelius, 180), the Prehistoric 
Age, etc. Thus, Hallam calls the 9th century 
the Age of the Bishops , and the 12th, the Age 
of the Popes. 

Varro ( Fragments , p. 219, Scaliger’s edition, 
1623) recognizes three ages: From the begin- 
ning of mankind to the Deluge, a time wholly 
unknown. From the Deluge to the First 
Olympiad, called the mythical period. From 
the first Olympiad to the present time, called 
the historic period. 

Shakespeare’s passage on the seven ages of 
man (A s You Like It, 11, vii) is well known; and 
Titian symbolized the three ages of man thus: 
An infant in a cradle. A shepherd playing a 
flute. An old man meditating on two skulls. 

According to Lucretius also there are three 
ages, distinguished by the materials employed 
in implements (V, 1282), viz . : The age of stone , 
when celts or implements of stone were 
employed. The age of bronze, when imple- 
ments were made of copper or brass. The 
age of iron, when implements were made of 
iron, as at present. 

The term Stone Age (q.r.) as now used 
includes the Eolithic , Paleolithic, Mesolithic , 
and Neolithic Ages. 

Hesiod names five ages, viz. : The Golden or 
patriarchal, under the care of Saturn. The 
Silver or voluptuous, under the care of Jupiter. 
The Brazen or warlike, under the care of 
Neptune. The Heroic or renaissant, under 
the care of Mars. The Iron or present, under 
the care of Pluto. 

Canonical Age. Ecclesiastical law enjoins 
that the obligation of fasting begins at the 
age of 21; profession of religious vows after 
the age of 16; a bishop must have completed 
his 30th year. 

Age of Animals. An old Celtic rhyme, put 
into modern English, says: — 

Thrice the age of a dog is that of a horse: 

Thrice the age of a horse is that of a man; 
Thrice the age of a man is that of a deer; 

Thrice the age of a deer is that of an eagle. 

Age of Consent. This is the age at which a 
irl’s consent is valid; beneath that age to 
ave carnal knowledge of her is a criminal 
offence. In English and Scottish law the 
age of consent is 16. 

Age of Discretion. In English law a sub- 
ject is deemed capable of using his discretion 
at the age of 14. 


Age hoc (a' je hok). “Attend to this.” In 
sacrifice the Roman crier perpetually repeated 
these words "to arouse attention. In the 
Book of Common Prayer the attention of the 
congregation is frequently aroused by the 
exhortation, “Let us pray,” though much of 
every service consists of prayer. 

Agelasta (aj e las' t&) (Cr. joyless). The stone 
on which Ceres rested when worn down by 
fatigue in searching for her daughter, Perse- 
phone. 

Agenor (S jen' or). A son of Neptune, and 
founder of a nation in Phoenicia. His 
descendants, Cadmus, Perseus, Europa, etc., 
are known as the Agenorides. 

Agent. Is man a free agent? This is a 
question of theology, which has long been 
mooted. The point is this: If God fore- 
ordains all our actions, they must take place 
as he foreordains them, and man acts as a 
watch or clock; but if, on the other hand, 
man is responsible for his actions, he must be 
free to act as his inclination leads him. Those 
who hold the former view are called neces- 
sitarians ; those who hold the latter, liber- 
tarians. 

Aggie Westons, Aggies. The Royal Sailors' 
Rest Homes in Portsmouth, Devonport, and 
Chatham, founded by Dame Agnes E. 
Weston (1840-1918). 

Agglutinate Language. A language the chief 
characteristic of which is that its words are 
simple or root words combined into com- 
pounds, without loss of original meaning. 
Thus, inkstand and comeatable are agglutinate 
words. Agglutination is a feature of most 
Turanian languages: it implies that the root 
words are glued together to form other words, 
and may be “unglued” so as to leave the 
roots distinct. 

Agio (a' jo) (Ital. ease, convenience). A com- 
mercial term denoting the percentage of charge 
made for the exchange of paper money into 
cash. 

Agis (5'jis). King of Sparta (338-330 B.c.). 
He tried to deliver Greece from the Mace- 
donian yoke and was slain in the attempt. 

Agist (ajist ). To take in cattle to graze at 
a certain sum. The pasturage of these beasts 
is called agistment. The words are from the 
French agister (to lie down). 

Aglaia (A gli' &). One of the three Graces 
{see Graces). 

Aglaonice (ig la 6 nl' si), the Thessalian, being 
able to calculate eclipses, pretended to have 
the moon under her command, and to be 
able when she chose to draw it from heaven. 
Her secret being found out. her vaunting 
became a laughing-stock, and gave birth to 
the Greek proverb cast at braggarts, “Yes, 
as the Moon obeys Aglaonice.” 

Agnes. A sort of female “ Verdant Green ” 
(q.v.), who is so unsophisticated that she does 
not even know what love means: from a 
character in Molidre’s L Ecole des Femmes . 




Agnes 


16 


Aholah 


Agnes, St., was martyred in the Diocletian 
persecution (c. 303) at the age of 13. She 
was tied to a stake, but the fire went out, and 
Aspasius, set to watch the martyrdom, drew 
his sword, and cut off her head. St. Agnes 
is the patron of young virgins. She is com- 
memorated on January 21st. Upon St. 
Agnes’s night, says Aubrey in his Miscellany , 
though he should have said St. Agnes* Eve, 
you take a row of pins, and pull out every 
one, one after another. Saying a paternoster, 
stick a pin in your sleeve, and you will dream 
of him or her you shall marry; and in Keats’s 
The Eve of St. Agnes , we are told — 
how, upon St. Agnes’ Eve, 

Young virgins might have visions of delight, 
And soft adorings from their loves receive 
Upon the honey’d middle of the night, 

If ceremonies due they did aright; 

As, supperiess to bed they must retire. 

Agneites (£g' no itz) (Gr. a , not; gignoskein , 
to know). 

(1) Certain heretics in the 4th century who 
maintained that God had no certain know- 
ledge of the future. God did not know every- 
thing. 

(2) Another sect, in the 6th century, who 
maintained that Christ did not know the time 
of the day of judgment. 

Agnostic (Gr. a, not; gignoskein , to know). 
A term coined by T. H. Huxley in 1869 (with 
allusion to St. Paul’s mention of an altar to 
“the Unknown God”) to indicate the mental 
attitude of those who withhold their assent 
from whatever is incapable of proof, such as 
an unseen world, a First Cause, etc. Agnostics 
neither dogmatically accept nor reject such 
matters, but simply say Agnosco — I do not 
know — they are not capable of proof. Cp. 
Theist. 

Agnus Bell. See Agnus Dei. 

Agnus-castus. See Vitex. 

Agnus Dei (ag'n us de' I, da' e). A cake of 
wax or dough stamped with the figure of a 
lamb supporting the banner of the Cross, and 
distributed by the Pope on the Sunday after 
Easter. This is a relic of the ancient custom 
of collecting and distributing to the worship- 
pers the wax of the Paschal candle, which 
was stamped with the lamb. The part of the 
Mass and English Communion service begin- 
ning with the words Agnus Dei , qui tollis 
peccata mundi (O Lamb of God, that takest 
away the sins of the world), is also known as 
the Agnus Dei. In Catholic services it is 
introduced by the ringing of the Agnus bell. 
Agog (& gog'). He Is all agog, in nervous 
anxiety, on the qui vive. The word is con- 
nected with the Old French phrase en gogues , 
meaning “in mirth*’: the origin of O.F. gogue 
and Norman goguer , to be mirthful, is 
unknown. 

Agonistes (a gon is' tez). This word in Samson 
Agonistes (the title of Milton’s drama) is Greek 
for “champion,” so the title means simply 
“Samson tnc Champion.” Cp. Agony. 

Agonlstics (a gon is' tiks). A fanatical sect 
of peripatetic ascetics, adherents to the 
Donatist schismatics of the early 4th century. 
They gave themselves this name (meaning 


“Champions,” or “Soldiers,” of the Cross); 
the Catholics called them the Circumcelliones t 
from their wandering about among the houses 
of the peasants ( circum ccllas). 

Agony, meaning great pain or anguish, is 
derived through French from the Greek word 
agonia , from agon , which meant first “an 
assembly,” then “an arena for contests,” and 
hence the “contest” itself; so agoma t mean- 
ing first a struggle for mastery in the games, 
came to be used for any struggle, and hence 
for mental struggle or anguish. 

Agony column. A column in a newspaper 
containing advertisements of missing relatives 
and friends. 

Agrarian Law (a grar' i in) (Lat. ager, land). 
In Roman history, a law regulating landed 
property or the division of conquered terri- 
tory; hence, a law for making land the common 
property of a nation, and not the particular 
property of individuals. In a modified form, 
a redistribution of land, giving to each citizen 
a portion. 

Ague, from Lat. acuta y sharp, is really an 
adjective, as in French fidvre aigue. English 
folklore gives a number of curious charms for 
curing ague, and there was an old superstition 
that if the fourth book of the Iliad was laid 
under the head of a patient it would cure him 
at once. This book tells how Pandarus 
wounds Menelaus, and contains the cure of 
Menelaus by Machaon, “ a son of ASscula- 
pius.” 

Aguecheek. Sir Andrew Aguecheek, a 
straight-haired country squire, stupid even 
to silliness, self-conceited, living to eat, and 
wholly unacquainted with the world of 
fashion. The character is in Shakespeare’s 
Twelfth Night , where he appears in the comic 
scenes with Sir Toby Belch, Maria, and 
Malvolio. 

Agur’s Wish (a' gerz) (Prov. xxx, 8). “Give 
me neither poverty nor riches.” 

Ahasuerus (a haz u er' us). Under this name 
the Emperor Xerxes (486-465 b.c.) appears 
in the Biblical books of Ezra and Esther. 
The Ahasuerus of Daniel has not been 
identified. This is also the name given to the 
Wandering Jew (q.v.). 

Ahithophel (a hith' 6 fel). A treacherous 
friend and adviser. Ahithophel was David’s 
counsellor, but joined Absalom in revolt, and 
advised him “like the oracle of God” (II Sam. 
xvi, 20-23). See Achitophel. 

Ahmed, Prince (a' med), in the Arabian 
Nights , is noted for the tent given him by the 
fairy Paribanou, which would cover a whole 
army, but might be carried in one’s pocket; 
and for the apple of Samarcand, which would 
cure all diseases. The qualities ascribed to 
the magic tent are the common property of 
many legends and romances. See Carpet. 
Aholah and Aholibah (& hd' la, a hd IF b&) 
( Ezek . xxiii). Personifications of prostitution. 
Used by the prophet to signify religious adul- 
tery or running after false faiths. These 
Hebrew names signify “she in whom are 
tents,” and have reference to the worship at 
the high places. 



Ahriman 


17 


Aladdin’s lamp 


Ahriman (a' ri min). In the dual system of 
Zoroaster, the spiritual enemy of mankind, 
also called Angra Mainyu , and Druj (deceit). 
He has existed since the beginning of the 
world, and is in eternal conflict with Ahura 
Mazda, or Ormuzd {q.v.). 

Ahura Mazda. See Ormuzd. 

Aide-toi et le Ciel t’aidera (ad twa a le se el 
ta d6 ra'). A line from La Fontaine (vi, 18), 
meaning “God will help those who help 
themselves,” taken as the motto of a French 
political society, established in 1824. The 
society intended to induce the middle classes 
to resist the Government; it aided in bringing 
about the Revolution of 1830, and was dis- 
solved in 1832. Guizot was at one time its 
president, and Le Globe and Le National its 
organs. 

Aigrette (a' gret). French for the Egret, or 
Lesser White Heron, the beautiful crest of 
which has been worn as a hat decoration, as 
a tuft for military helmets, etc. The French 
call any jewelled or feathery head-ornament 
an aigrette . 

Aim, to give. A term in archery, meaning to 
give the archers information how near their 
arrows fall to the mark aimed at; hence, to 
give anybody inside information. 

But, gentle people, give me aim awhile, 

For nature puts me to a heavy task. 

Shakespeare: Titus Andronicus , V, iii. 

To cry aim. To applaud, encourage. In 
archery it was customary to appoint certain 
persons to cry “Aim!” for the sake of 
encouraging those who were about to shoot. 

All my neighbours shall cry aim. 

Shakfspeare: Merry Wives of Windsor, III, ii. 

Aim-crier. An abettor, one who encour- 
ages. In archery, the person employed to 
“cry aim.” 

Thou smiling aim-crier at princess’ fall. 

Gervais Markham: English Arcadia (1638). 

Air. Held by Anaxagoras to be the primary 
form of matter, and given by Aristotle as one 
of the four elements. See Element. 

The air of the court, the air of gentility : a 
good air (manner, deportment) means the 
pervading habit; hence, to give oneself airs — 
to assume in manner, appearance, and tone, a 
superiority to which one has no claim. 

The plural is essential in this case; air, in 
the singular is generally complimentary, but 
in the plural conveys censure. In Italian, 
we find the phrase, si da delle arie. 

Air (in music) is that melody which pre- 
dominates and gives its character to the piece. 

Hot air. See Hot. 

To air one’s opinion. To state opinions 
openly, to give air to one’s opinions. 

Air-brained. A mis-spelling of hare-brained 
(q.v.). 

Air-line. A direct line, taken — as a crow 
flies— through the air. Cp . Bee-line. 

Airship. Formerly an epithet applied to 
any kina of balloon, but later restricted to a 
large aerial vehicle, depending for flotation 


upon gases contained in a balloon or in a 
series of enclosed ballonets, and, instead of 
being at the mercy of the winds, capable of 
being driven along and steered by mechanical 
means. 

Aisle. The north and south wings of a 
church, from the Lat. ala {axilla, ascella ), 
through the French, aile, a wing. The 
intrusive “s” did not take root till the middle 
of the 18th century, and is probably due to a 
confusion with “isle.” In some church 
documents the aisles are called alleys (walks); 
the choir of Lincoln Cathedral used to be 
called the “Chanters* alley”; and Olden tells 
us that when he came to be churchwarden, in 
1638, he made the Puritans “come up the 
middle alley on their knees to the raile.” 

Aitch-bone. Corruption of “naitch-bone,” 
i.e. the haunch-bone (Lat. nates , a haunch or 
buttock). For other instances of the 
coalescence of the “n” of “an” with an 
initial vowel (or the coalescence of the “n” 
with the article), see Apron; Newt. 

Ajax (ajaks). (1) The Greater. The most 
famous hero of the Trojan War after Achilles; 
king of Salamis, a man of giant stature, 
daring, and self-confident, son of Telamon. 
When the armour of Hector was awarded to 
Ulysses instead of to himself, he turned mad 
from vexation and stabbed himself. — Homer 
and later poets. 

(2) The Less. Son of Oileus, King of 
Locris, in Greece. The night Troy was taken, 
he offered violence to Cassandra, the pro- 
phetic daughter of Priam; in consequence of 
which his ship was driven on a rock, and he 
perished at sea. — Homer and later poets. 

Akbar (ak' bar). An Arabic title, meaning 
“Very Great.” Akbar Khan, the “Very 
Great Khan,” is applied especially to the great 
Mogul emperor in India who reigned 1556- 
1605. His tomb at Secundra, a few miles 
from Agra, is one of the wonders of the East. 

Alabama (a la ba' ma). The name of this 
state of the U.S.A. is the Indian name of a 
river in the state, the meaning of which is 
“here we rest.” 

Alabama claims were made by the U.S.A. 
against Great Britain for losses caused during 
the Civil War by Confederate vessels — the 
chief being the Alabama — fitted out in or 
supplied from British ports. The matter was 
referred to an international tribunal which, 
in 1871, awarded the U.S.A. §15,500,000. 

Alabaster. A stone of great purity and 
whiteness, used for ornaments. The name 
is said by Pliny {Nat. Hist., xxxvi, 8) to be 
from an Egyptian town, Alabastron; but 
nothing is known of this town, nor of the 
ultimate origin of the Greek word. 

Aladdin (i lad' in), in the Arabian Nights , 
obtains a magic lamp, and has a splendid 
palace built by the genie of the lamp. He 
marries the daughter of the sultan of China, 
loses his lamp, and his palace is transported 
to Africa. 

Aladdin’s lamp. The source of wealth and 
good fortune. After Aladdin came to his 



Aladdin's ring 


18 


Alberich 


wealth and was married, he suffered his lamp 
to hang up and get rusty. 

Aladdin's ring, given him by the African 
magician, was a “preservative against every 
evil." 

To finish Aladdin's window — i.e. to attempt 
to complete something begun by a great 
genius, but left imperfect. The palace built 
by the genie of the lamp had twenty-four 
windows, all but one being set in frames of 
precious stones; the last was left for the sultan 
to finish; but after exhausting his treasures, 
the sultan was obliged to abandon the task 
as hopeless. 

Alamo (al r am o). American cottonwood tree. 
In 1718 Franciscan monks founded the 
Mission of San Antonio de Valero at San 
Antonio, Texas. It was commonly called the 
Alamo Mission since it stood in a grove of 
cottonwood trees. By 1793 it was no longer 
a mission but the buildings were sometimes 
used as a fort. In 1836 a Texan garrison of 
180 was besieged, overpowered and slaughtered 
by 4000 Mexicans under Santa Anna. In the 
subsequent campaign in which the Texans, 
under Sam Houston, defeated the Mexicans 
and captured Santa Anna, “ remember the 
Alamo" became the Texan war cry. The 
buildings are now a National Monument. 
Alamo is sometimes referred to as the “Ther- 
mopylae of America." 

Alans. Large dogs, of various species, used 
for hunting. They were introduced to Britain 
from Spain, whither they are said to have 
been brought by the Alani, a Caucasian 
tribe which invaded Western Europe in the 
4th century. They were used in war as well 
as for hunting, and Chaucer, in his Knight's 
Tale , describes Lycurgus on his throne, 
guarded by white “alauntes, twenty or mo, 
as grete as any steer," wearing muzzles and 
golden collars. Scott mentions them in the 
Talisman vch. vi). 

A1 Araf (al a' raf) (Arab, the partition, from 
’ arafa> to divide). A region, according to the 
Koran, between Paradise and Jahannam (hell), 
for those who are neither morally good nor 
bad, such as infants, lunatics, and idiots. 
Others regard it as a place where those whose 
good ana evil deeds were about equally 
balanced can await their ultimate admission 
to heaven, a kind of “limbo" (#.v.). 

Alarum Bell. “Alarum" is a variant of 
“alarm," produced by rolling the “r" in 
prolonging the final syllable. In feudal 
times a 'larum bell was rung in the castle in 
times of danger to summon the retainers to 
arms. 

The word is now used only (except some- 
times in poetry) for the peal or chime of a 
warning bell or clock, or the mechanism 
producing it. 

Alasnam (4 l&s' nam). In the Arabian Nights 
Alasnam had eight diamond statues, but was 
required to find a ninth more precious still, 
to fill the vacant pedestal. The prize was 
found in the woman who became his wife, at 
once the most beautiful and the most perfect 
of her race. 


Alasnam’s mirror. The “touchstone of 
virtue," given to Alasnam by one of the 
Genii. If he looked in this mirror and it 
remained unsullied so would the maiden he 
had in mind; if it clouded, she would prove 
faithless. 

Alastor (a las' tor). The evil genius of a house ; 
a Nemesis. Cicero says: “who meditated 
killing himself that he might become the 
Alastor of Augustus, whom he hated." 
Shelley has a poem entitled Alastor , or The 
Spirit of Solitude. The word is Greek ( Alastor , 
the avenging god, a title applied to Zeus); 
the Romans had their Jupiter Vindex; and we 
read in the Bible, “Vengeance is mine; I will 
repay, saith the Lord" {Rom. xii, 19). 

Alauda. A Roman legion raised by Julius 
Cscsar in Gaul, and so called because they 
carried a lark's tuft on the lop of their helmets. 

Alawy (a la' wi). The Nile is so called by 
the Abyssinians. The word means “the 
giant." 

Alb (alb) (Lai. albus, white). A long white 
vestment worn by priests under the chasuble 
and over the cassock when saying Mass. It 
is emblematical of purity and continence. 

Alban, .St. (6L ban), like St. Denis and many 
other saints, is sometimes represented as 
carrying his head in his hands. His attributes 
are a sword and a crown. 

SS. Aphrodistus, Avcntine, Cbrysolius, Desiderius, 
Hilarian, Leo, Lucanus, Lucian, Proba, Solangia, 
and several other martyrs, are represented in the 
same way: it is the conventional symbol adopted by 
the artist to show that the martyr met death by 
beheading. 

Albano Stone or Peperino, used by the 
Romans in building; a volcanic tufa quarried 
at Monte Albano. 

Albany, Albainn, or Albin. An ancient name 
applied to the northern part of Scotland, 
called by the Romans “Caledonia," and in- 
habited by the Piets. From Celtic alp or 
ailpe , a rock or cliff. 7 he name Albany 
survives in Breadalbanc, the hilly country of 
Albainn, i.e. western Perthshire. 

In Spenser’s Faerie Queene (11, x, 14, etc.) 
northern Britain is called Albania. 

Also the name of a block of residential 
chambers running between Piccadilly and 
Burlington Gardens in London, designed by 
Sir William Chambers about 1770 with addi- 
tions by Henry Holland, 1804. Many famous 
men of letters have resided there, including 
Byron. 

Albatross. The largest of web-footed birds, 
called by sailors the Cape Sheep , from its 
frequenting the Cape of Good Hope. Many 
fables are told of the albatross; it is said to 
sleep in the air, because its flight is a gliding 
without any apparent motion of its long wings, 
and sailors say that it is fatal to shoot one. 
See also Ancient Mariner. 

Alberich. The all-powerful king of the dwarfs 
in Scandinavian mythology. In Wagner's 
version of the Nibelungenliecl he appears as a 
hideous gnome and steals the magic gold 



Albert 


19 


Alcmena 


( Das Rheingolcf) guarded by the Rhine 
Maidens. Later he is captured by the gods, 
and is forced to give up all he has in return 
for his freedom. 

Albert, An, A watch chain across the waist- 
coat from one pocket to another or to a 
buttonhole. So called from Albert, Prince 
Consort. When he went to Birmingham, in 
1849, he was presented by the jewellers of the 
town with such a chain, and the fashion took 
the public fancy. 

Albigenscs (51 bi jen' ses). A common name 
for a number of anti-sacerdotal sects in 
southern France during the 13th century; so 
called from the Albigeois, inhabitants of the 
district which now is the department of the 
Tam, the capital of which was AIbi, Lan- 
guedoc, where their persecution began, under 
Innocent III, in 1208. 

Albin. See Albany. 

Albino (al be' no) (Lat. dibits, white). A term 
originally applied by the Portuguese to those 
Negroes who were mottled with white spots; 
but now to persons who, owing to the con- 
genital absence of colouring pigment, are 
born with red eyes and white hair and skin. 
The term is also applied to beasts and plants, 
and even, occasionally, in a purely Jiguralive 
way: thus, Oliver Wendell Holmes, in the 
Autocrat of the Breakfast Fable (ch. viii), 
speaks of Kirke White as one of the “sweet 
Albino poets,” whose “plaintive song” he 
admires; apparently implying some deficiency 
of virility, and possibly playing upon the 
name. 

Albion. An ancient and poetical name for 
Great Britain: probably from the white (Lat. 
albus) cliffs that face Gaul, but possibly from 
the Celtic alp , ailn (see Ai bany), a rock, cliff, 
mountain. “Alnion” or “Albany” may 
have been the Celtic name of all Great Britain, 
but was subsequently restricted to Scotland, 
and then to the Highlands of Scotland. 

Legend gives various origins for the name. 
One derivation is from a giant son of Neptune, 
named Albion, who discovered the country 
and ruled over it for forty-four years. Ac- 
cording to another story the fifty daughters of 
the king of Syria, the eldest of whom was 
named Albia, were all married on the same 
day and all murdered their husbands on the 
wedding-night. As punishment they were 
packed into a ship and set adrift, eventually 
reaching this western isle where they went 
ashore and duly married natives, “a lawless 
crew of devils.” 

In Polyolbion Michael Drayton says that 
Albion came from Rome and was the first 
Christian niartvr in Britain. 

Although the phrase Perfide Albion is 
attributed to Napoleon, the sentiment is much 
older, for Bossuet (1627-1704) wrote, 
‘L’Angleterrc, ah! la perfide Angleterre.” 

AI Borak. See Borak. 

Album. A blank book for photographs, 
stamps, autographs, miscellaneous jottings, 
scraps, and so on. The Romans applied the 
word to certain tables overlaid with gypsum, 
on which were inscribed the annals of the 


chief priests, the edicts of the praetors, and 
rules relating to civil matters. In the Middle 
Ages, “album” was the general name of a 
register or list; so called from being kept 
either on a white (albus) board with black 
letters, or on a black board with white letters. 

Alcaic Verse (al ka' ik) or Alcaics. A Greek 
lyrical metre, so called from Alcceos , a lyric 
poet, who is said to have invented it. Alcaic 
measure is little more than a curiosity in 
English poetry; probably the best example 
is Tennyson V. — 

O Tttigh I ty-mouthed | in | ventor of | harmonies, 

O skilled | to sing ( of | Time or E | ternity. 

God-gift 1 ed or 1 gan-voice j of Eng I land, 
Milton, a | name to re J sound for | ages. 

Alcantara, Order of (al k5n' ta r5). A military 
and religious order instituted in 1213 (on the 
foundation of the earlier order of San Juan 
del Pcreyro, which had been created about 
1155 to fight the Moors) by Alfonso IX, King 
of Castile, to commemorate the taking of 
Alcantara from the Moors. In 1835 the 
Order, which had been under the Benedictine 
rule, ceased to exist as a religious body, but 
it remained as a civil and military order under 
the Crown. 

Alccste (al sest'). The hero of Moltere’s 
Misanthrope . He is not unlike Shakespeare’s 
character of Timon, and was taken by Wycher- 
ley for the model of his Manly. 

Alchemilla (al ke mil' a). A genus of plants 
of the rose family; so called because alchemists 
collected the dew of its leaves for their opera- 
tions. Also called “Lady’s Mantle,” from 
the Virgin Mary, to whom the plant was 
dedicated. 

Alchemy (al' k£ mi). The derivation of this 
word is obscure: the al is the Arabic article, 
the , and kimia the Arabic form of Greek 
( hetneia , which seems to have meant Egyptian 
art; hence “the art of the Egyptians.” Its 
main objects were the transmutation of baser 
metals into gold, the universal solvent (alka- 
hest, q.v.) t the panacea (<y.v.), and the elixir of 
life. 

Alcimedon (51 sim' 6 don). A generic name 
for a first-rate carver in wood. 

Pocula ponam 

Fagina, creJatum divini opus Alcimedontis. 

Virgil: Eclogue , 111, 36. 

Alcina (51 se' n5). The personification of 
carnal pleasure in Orlando Furioso ; the Circe 
of fable. 

Alcinoo poma dare (51 sin' 6 6 po' m5 da' re) 
(to give apples to Alcinous). To carry coals 
to Newcastle. The gardens of Alcinous, the 
legendary king of the Phaeacians on the island 
of Scheria, by whom Odysseus was entertained, 
were famous for their fruits. 

Alcion. See Giants of Mythology. 

Alcmena (alk me' n5). In Greek mythology, 
daughter of Electryon, king of Mycenae, wife 
of Amphitryon, and mother (by Zeus) of 
Hercules. The legend is that at the con- 
ception of Hercules Zeus, for additional 
pleasure with Alcmena, made the night the 
length of three ordinary nights. 




Alcofribas Nasier 


20 


Alexander 


Alcofribas Nasier (SI ko' fre bSs na' syer). 
The anagrammatic pseudonym of Francois 
Rabelais, adopted as the name of the author 
of his first two books, Gargantua and Panta - 
gruel . 

Alcuith, a place mentioned by the Venerable 
Bede, now Dumbarton. 

Aldebaran (SI deb' S rSn) (Arab. al, the ; 
davaratt , the follower, because its rising 
follows that of the Pleiades). A red star of 
the first magnitude, a Tauri, one of the bright- 
est in the heavens. It forms the bull’s eye in 
the constellation Taurus. 

Alderman. A senior or elder: now applied 
to certain magistrates in corporate towns. 
In the City of London aldermen were first 
appointed by a charter of Henry III in 1242; 
there are 25 (or, counting the Lord Mayor, or 
chief magistrate, 26), and they arc elected for 
life, one for each ward. Of the larger cities 
of England: Birmingham has 34 aldermen; 
Liverpool, 39; Manchester, 36; Sheffield, 25; 
Leeds, 26; and Bristol, 28. 

Aldgate Pump, A draught on. A worthless 
cheque or bill. The pun is on the word 
draught, which may mean either an order on 
a bank or a sup of liquor. 

Aldine Editions. Editions of the Greek and 
Latin classics, published and printed under the 
superintendence of Aldo Manuzio, his father- 
in-law Andrea of Asolo, and his son Paolo, 
from 1490 to 1597; most of them are in small 
octavo, and all are noted for their accuracy. 
The father invented the type called italics , 
once called Aldine , and first used in printing 
Virgil , 1501. 

Ale is the Old English ealu , connected with 
the Scandinavian ol , and Lithuanian alus. 
Beer is the Anglo-Saxon bcor (M.E. here), 
connected with the German Bier and Icelandic 
bjorr. A beverage made from barley is men- 
tioned by Tacitus and even Herodotus. Hops 
were introduced from Holland and used for 
brewing about 1524, but their use was pro- 
hibited by Act of Parliament in 1528 — a pro- 
hibition which soon fell into disuse. Ale is 
made from pale malt, whence its light colour; 
porter and stout from malt more highly dried. 
The word beer is of general application; and 
in many parts of England it includes ale, 
porter, and stout. In some parts ale is used 
for the stronger malt liquors and beer for the 
weaker, while in others the terms are reversed. 
Called ale among men ; but by the gods called beer. 
The Alvismal (lOth-cent. Scandinavian poem). 

See also Church-ale. 

Aleberry. A corruption of ale-bree. A 
drink made of hot ale, spice, sugar, and toast. 
Burns speaks of the barley-bree (O.E. briw, 
broth). 

Cause an aleberry to be made for her, and put 
into it powder of camphor. — The Pathway to Health. 

Ale-dagger. A dagger used in self-defence 
in alehouse brawls. 

He that drinkes with cutters must not be without 
his ale-dagger. — Pappe with a Hatchet (1589). 

Ale-draper. The keeper of an ale-house. 
Ale-drapery, the selling of ale, etc. 

No other occupation have I but to be an ale- 
draper. — Chettle: Kind-harts ’ Dreame (1592). 


Ale-knight. A tippler, a sot. 

Ale-silver. Formerly, the annual fee paid 
to the Lord Mayor for the privilege of selling 
ale within the City of London. 

Ale-stake. The pole set up before alehouses 
by way of sign, often surmounted by a bush 
or garland. Thus, Chaucer says of the 
Somnour: — 

A garland had he set upon his head 
As great as it were for an ale-stake. 

Cant. Tales , Prol., 666. 

Ale-wife. The landlady of an alehouse. 
In America a fish of the herring kind, only 
rather larger, is known as the ale-wife. Some 
think it is a corruption of a North American 
Indian name, aloof e, and some of the French 
a lose, a shad. 

Alecto (& lek' to). In classical mythology, 
one of the three Furies (<?.v.); her head was 
covered with snakes. 

Alectorian Stone (a lek tor' i an) (Gr. alector, 
a cock). A stone, fabled to be of talismanic 
power, found in the stomach of cocks. Those 
who possess it are strong, brave, and wealthy. 
Milo of Crotona owed his strength to this 
talisman. As a philtre it has the power of 
preventing thirst or of assuaging it. 
Alectryomancy (a lek tri 6 man' si). Divina- 
tion by a cock. Draw a circle, and write in 
succession round it the letters of the alphabet, 
on each of which lay a grain of corn. Then 
put a cock in the centre of the circle, and watch 
what grains he eats. The letters will prog- 
nosticate the answer. Libanus and Jamblicus 
thus discovered who was to succeed the em- 
peror Valens. The cock ate the grains over 
the letters t, h, e, o, d^Theod[orusJ. 

Alexander and the Robber. The story is that 
the pirate Diomedes, having been captured 
and brought before Alexander, was asked 
how he dared to molest the seas. “How 
darest thou molest the earth?” was the reply. 
“Because I am the master only of a single 
galley I am termed a robber; but you who 
oppress the world with huge squadrons are 
called a king.” Alexander was so struck by 
this reasoning that he made Diomedes rich, 
a prince, and a dispenser of justice. See the 
Gesta Ronumorum, Talc cxlvi. 

You are thinking of Parmenio and I of 
Alexander — i.e. you are thinking of what you 
ought to receive, and 1 what 1 ought to give; 
you are thinking of those castigated or re- 
warded, but I of my position, and what reward 
is consistent with my rank. The allusion is 
to the tale that Alexander said to Parmenio, 
“I consider not what Parmenio should 
receive, but what Alexander should give.” 

Only two Alexanders. Alexander said, 
“ There are but two Alexanders — the invinci- 
ble son of Philip, and the inimitable painting 
of the hero by Apelles.” 

The continence of Alexander. Having 
gained the battle of Issus (333 b.c.), the family 
of Darius III fell into his hand; but he treated 
the women with the greatest decorum. A 
eunuch, having escaped, reported this to 
Darius, and the king could not but admire 
such nobility in a rival. See Continence. 




Alexander 


21 


Alfred’s scholars 


Alexander. So Paris, son of Priam, was 
called by the shepherds who brought him up. 

Alexander of the North. Charles XII of 
Sweden (1682-1718), so called from his 
military achievements. He was conquered at 
Pultowa (1709), by Peter the Great. 

Alexander the Corrector. The self-assumed 
nickname of Alexander Cruden (1701-1770), 
compiler of the Concordance of the Bible . 
After being, on more than one occasion, 
confined in a lunatic asylum he became a 
reader for the Press, and later developed a 
mania for going about constantly with a sponge 
to wipe out the licentious, coarse, and profane 
chalk scrawls which met his eye. 

Alexander’s beard. A smooth chin, no 
beard at all. An Amazonian chin ( q.v .). 

I like this trustie glasse of Steele . . . 

Wherein I sec a Sampson’s grim regarde 
Disgraced yet with Alexander’s bcarde. 

Gascoigne: The Steele Glas . 

Alexandra Day. To celebrate the fiftieth year 
of her residence in England, Queen Alexandra 
(1844-1925) inaugurated a fund for the 
assistance of hospitals, convalescent homes, 
etc., to be raised by the sale of artificial wild 
roses made by the blind and cripples. On a 
day in June these are sold in the streets, the 
buyers wearing the roses as a sign of having 
contributed to the fund. 

Alexandra limp. In the 60s of last 
century Queen Alexandra (then Princess of 
Wales) had a slight accident which for a time 
caused her to walk with an almost impercepti- 
ble limp. In a spirit of servile imitation many 
of the women about the court adopted this 
method of walking, which hence became 
known as the “Alexandra limp.” 

Alexandrian. Anything from the East was so 
called by the old chroniclers and romancers, 
because Alexandria was the depot from which 
Eastern stores reached Europe. 

Reclined on Alexandrian carpets [i.e. Persian). 

Rose: Orlando I arioso , X, 37. 

Alexandrian Codex. A Greek MS. of the 
Scriptures written (probably in the 5th cen- 
tury) in uncials on parchment, which is sup- 
posed to have originated at Alexandria. In 
1628 it was presented to Charles I by Cyril 
Sucar, patriarch of Constantinople, and in 
1753 was placed in the British Museum. It 
contains tne Septuagint version (except por- 
tions of the Psalms), a part of the New Testa- 
ment, and the Epistles of Clemens Romanus. 

Alexandrian Library. Sec under Library. 

Alexandrian School. An academy of learn- 
ing founded about 310 b.c. by Ptolemy Sotcr, 
son of Lagus, and Demetrius of Phaleron, 
especially famous for its grammarians and 
mathematicians. Of the former the most 
noted arc Aristarchus (c. 220-145 b.c.), 
Eratosthenes (c. 275-195 b.c.), and Harpocra- 
tion (a.d. 2nd century); and of its mathe- 
maticians, Claudius Ptolemaeus (a.d. 2nd 
century) and Euclid (c. 300 b.c.), the former 
an astronomer, and the latter the geometer 
whose Elements were once very generally used 
in schools and colleges. 


Alexandrine. In prosody , an iambic or 
trochaic line of twelve syllables or six feet 
with, usually, a caesura (break) at the sixth 
syllable. So called either from the 12th- 
century French metrical romance, Alexander 
the Great (commenced by Lambert-1 i-Cort and 
continued by Alexandre de Bernay), or from 
the old Castilian verse chronicle, Poema de 
Alexandro Magno t both of which are written 
in this metre. The final line of the Spenserian 
stanza is an Alexandrine. 

A needless Alexandrine ends the song, 

Which, like a wounded snake, — drags its slow length 
along. 

Pope: Essay on Criticism t ii, 356. 

Alexandrine Age. From about a.d. 323 to 
640, when Alexandria, in Egypt, was the 
centre of science, philosophy, and literature. 

Alexandrine Philosophy. A system of 
philosophy which flourished at Alexandria in 
the early centuries of the Christian era, 
characterized by its attempt to combine 
Christianity and Greek philosophy. It gave 
rise to Gnosticism and Neoplatonism. 

Alexandrite. A variety of chrysoberyl found 
in the mica-slate of the Urals. So named from 
Alexander 11 of Russia, on whose birthday it 
was discovered. The stone is green by natural 
and red by artificial light. 

Alexis, St. Patron saint of hermits and 
beggars. The story goes that he lived on his 
father’s estate as a hermit till death, but was 
never recognized. It is given at length in the 
Gesta Romanorum (Tale xv). His feast day is 
July 17th. He is represented in art with a 
pilgrim’s habit and staff. Sometimes he is 
drawn as if extended on a mat, with a letter in 
his hand, dying. 

Alfadir (al fa' der) (father of all). In Scan- 
dinavian mythology, one of the epithets of 
Odin (q.v.). 

Alfana. See Horse. 

Alfonsin, Alfonsine Fables. See Alphonsin, 
etc. 

Alfred the Great (848 7-899). King of 
Wessex, father of the British Navy and leader 
of the opposition to the invading Danish 
armies. In January 878 he was surprised 
and defeated at Chippenham; with the remains 
of his forces he withdrew to Athelney and 
continued his resistance. A legend having no 
basis in fact says that he fled from Chippenham 
to Athelney and took refuge in a peasant's 
hut, where the housewife, not recognizing 
him in his rags, put him to watching cakes 
baking by the fire. He was so absorbed in 
his meditations that he allowed the cakes to 
bum and was scolded as an idle and useless 
wretch. After his final victory he built a 
monastery at Athelney in celebration of and 
in thanksgiving for his resistance there. In 
1693, the beautiful Saxon ornament, bearing 
his name and known as Alfred's Jewel , was 
found at Athelney. It is now in the Ashmo- 
lean Museum, Oxford. 

Alfred’s scholars. When Alfred the Great 
set about the restoration of letters in England 
he founded a school and gathered around him 
learned men from all parts; these became 




Algarsife 


22 


All-Hallows * Day 


known as “Alfred’s scholars”; the chief 
among them are: Werfrith, Bishop of Worces- 
ter; Ethelstan and Werwulf, two Mefcian 
priests; Plegmund (a Mercian), afterwards 
Archbishop of Canterbury; Asser, a Welsh- 
man; Grimbald, a French scholar from St. 
Omer, and John, the Old Saxon. 

Algarsife (31' gar slf). In Chaucer’s unfinished 
Squire's Tale , son of Cambuscan, and brother 
of Camballo, who “won Theodora to wife.” 
This noble king, this Tartre Cambuscan, 

Had two sones by Elfeta his wife, 

Of which the eldest sone highte Algarsife, 

That other was ycleped Camballo. 

A doghter had this worthy king also 
That youngest was and highte Canace. 

Hence the reference in Milton’s // Penseroso : — 
Call him up that left half told 
The story of Cambuscan bold, 

Of Camball, and of Algarsife, 

And who had Canace to wife. 

Algebra is the Arabic al jebr (the equaliza- 
tion), “the supplementing and equalizing 
(process)”: so called because the problems 
are solved by equations, and the equations 
are made by supplementary terms. Fancifully 
identified with the Arabian chemist Gebir. 
See also Whetstone of Witte. 

Alhambra (3Ih3m'bra). The citadel and 
palace built at Granada by the Moorish kings 
in the 13th century. The word is the Arabic 
al-hamra> or at full length kal'-at al harnra 
(the red castle). 

All (a'le). Cousin and son-in-law of Mo- 
hammed, the beauty of whose eyes is with the 
Persians proverbial; in so much that the 
highest term they employ to express beauty 
is Ayn Hali (eyes of Ali). 

Alias (a' li 3s). “You have as many aliases 
as Robin of Bagshot,” said to one who passes 
under many names. The phrase is from 
Gay’s Beggar's Opera : Robin of Bagshot, one 
of Macheath’s gang, was alias Gordon, alias 
Bluff Bob, alias Carbuncle, alias Bob Booty. 

All Baba (a' Je ba' ba). The hero of a story 
in the Arabian Nights Entertainments , who sees 
a band of robbers enter a cavern by means 
of the magic password “Open Sesame.” 
When they have gone away he enters the cave, 
loads his ass with treasure and returns home. 
The Forty Thieves discover that Ali Baba has 
learned their secret and resolve to kill him, 
but they are finally outwitted by the slave- 
girl Morgiana. 

Alibi (Lat. elsewhere). A plea of having been 
at another place at the time that an offence 
is alleged to have been committed. A clock 
which strikes an hour, while the hands point 
to a different time, the real time being neither 
one nor the other, has been humorously called 
an alibi clock . A modern and incorrect usage 
of this word makes it mean an excuse, a pretext. 

Aliboron. The name of a jackass in La Fon- 
taine’s Fables ; hence Maitre Aliboron ** Mr. 
Jackass. See Gonin. 

Alice in Wonderland and its companion 
Through the Looking-glass are probably the 
most famous and widely read of children's 
books. Their author was C. L. Dodgson, an 


Oxford mathematician who wrote under the 
pseudonym of Lewis Carroll. Alice appeared 
in 1S65 and Looking-glass in 1871, both books 
being illustrated by Sir John Tenniel. The 
original of Alice was Alice Liddell, daughter 
of Dean Liddell, himself famous as part- 
author of Liddell <& Scott’s Greek Lexicon. 

Alien (3' li 6n). This term is legally applied 
to a person living in a different country from 
that of his birth, and not having acquired 
citizenship in the land of his residence. Later 
usage has given the word a pejorative impli- 
cation. An alienist is a physician or scientist 
who specializes in the study and treatment of 
insanity. 

Alien priory. A priory which is dependent 
upon and owes allegiance to another priory 
in a foreign country. A sub-priory, such as 
RufTord Abbey, Notts, which was under the 
prior of Rievaulx, in Yorkshire, has sometimes 
been erroneously called an alien priory. 

Alifanfaron (31 i fan' fa ron). Don Quixote 
attacked a flock of sheep, and declared them 
to bo the army of the giant Alifanfaron. 
Similarly Ajax, in a fit of madness, fell upon 
a flock of sheep, which he mistook for 
Grecian princes. 

Al Kadr (31 k3dr) (the divine decree). A par- 
ticular night in the month Ramadan, when 
Mohammedans say that angels descend to 
earth, and Gabriel reveals to man the decrees 
of God . — Al Koran , ch. xcvii. 

Alkahest (31' ka hest). The hypothetical 
universal solvent of the alchemists. The 
word was invented, on Arabic models, by 
Paracelsus. 

AH and Some. An old English expression 
meaning “one and all,” confused sometimes 
with “all and sum meaning the whole total. 
It appears in the early 14th-century romance, 
Cceur de Lion : — 

They that wolde nought Crystene become, 

Richard lcct slceu hem alle and some. 

All Fools’ Day (April 1 st). See April Fool. 

All Fours. A game of cards; so called from 
the four points that are at stake, viz. High, 
Low, Jack, and Game. 

To j’o on all fours is to crawl about on all 
four limbs, like a quadruped or an infant. 
The phrase used to be (more correctly) all 
four , as in Lev. xi, 42, “whatsoever goeth upon 
all four.” 

It does not go on all fours means it does 
not suit in every particular; it limps as a 
quadruped which does not go on all its four 
legs. Thus, the Latin saying, Omnls com - 
paratio claudicat (All similes limp) was trans- 
lated by Macaulay as “No simile can go on 
all fours.” 

All-Hallows* Day, All Saints’ Day (Nov. 
1st), “hallows” being the Old English halig t 
a holy (man), hence, a saint. The French call 
it Toussaint . Between 603 and 610 the Pope 
(Boniface IV) changed the heathen Pantheon 
into a Christian church and dedicated it to 
the honour of all the martyrs. The festival 
of All Saints was first held on May 1st, but 
in the year 834 it was changed to November 1st. 




All-Hallows’ Eve 


23 


Alligator 


All-Hallows 9 Eve. Many old folklore cus- 
toms are connected with All-Hallows’ Eve 
(October 31st), such as bobbing for apples, 
cracking nuts (mentioned in the Vicar of 
Wakefield ), finding by various “tests” 
whether one’s lover is true, etc. Burns’s 
Hallowe'en gives a pood picture of Scottish 
customs; and there is a tradition in Scotland 
that those born on All-Hallows’ Eve have the 
gift of double sight, and commanding powers 
over spirits. Thus, Mary Avenel, in Scott’s 
The Monastery , is made to see the White Lady, 
invisible to less gifted visions. 

All-Hallows Summer. Another name for 
St. Martin’s Summer {see Summer), because 
it sets in about All Hallows; also called St. 
Luke’s Summer (St. Luke’s Day is Oct. 18th), 
and the Indian summer (#.v.). Shakespeare 
uses the term — 

•‘Farewell, thou latter spring; farewell. All-hallows 
Summer! ” 

Henry IV Pt. /, I, ii. 

All hands and the cook (western U.S.A.). A 
state of total emergency when the herds were 
so restless that everyone* including the sacro- 
sanct cook, had to ride to quieten them down. 

All my eye and Betty Martin. All nonsense, 
bosh, rubbish. The origin of this curious 
phrase cannot now be discovered. The 
Betty Martin is a later addition; “All my 
eye” is the old saying, as Goldsmith makes 
the Bailiff say in the Good-natured Man (iii): 
“That’s all my eye, the king only can pardon, 
as the law says.” 

All-overish. A colloquial expression mean- 
ing a feeling of general discomfort, not 
exactly ill but far from well. 

All Saints. See All-Hallows. 

All serene (Sp. sereno). In Cuba the word 
was used as a countersign by sentinels, and is 
about equivalent to our “All right,” or “All’s 
well.” In the late 19th century it was a 
colloquial catch-word. 

All Sir Garnet. During the 80s of the 
last century, when Sir Garnet Wolscley was 
winning his victories in Egypt, the Army phrase 
“All Sir Garnet” came into common usage, 
indicating that everything was as it should be. 

All Souls College, Oxford. This was 
founded in 1437 by Henry Chichele, Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, as a chantry where 
masses should be said for the souls of those 
killed in the wars of Henry V and Henry VI. 
It has a Warden and fifty fellows, few of whom 
are in residence, but is unique in having no 
undergraduates. 

All Souls’ Day. November 2nd, so called 
because Catholics on that day seek by prayer 
and almsgiving to alleviate the sufferings of 
souls in purgatory. It was instituted in the 
monastery ot Cluny in 993. 

According to tradition, a pilgrim, returning 
from the Holy Land, was compelled by a storm 
to land on a rocky island, wnere he found a 
hermit, who told him that among the cliffs 
was an opening into the infernal regions 
through which huge flames ascended, and 
where the groans of the tormented were 
distinctly audible. The pilgrim told Odilo, 


abbot of Cluny, of this; and the abbot 
appointed the day following, which was 
November 2nd, to be set apart for the benefit 
of those souls in purgatory. 

All standing. A nautical expression mean- 
ing to be completely equipped. 

To turn in all standing is to retire while still 
fully dressed. 

AH the Talents. This is the name given to 
the administration formed by Lord Grenville 
in 1806 on the death of William Pitt the 
Younger. It was an attempt at a coalition 
of Tories, moderate Whigs and extreme Whigs, 
and included Charles James Fox as Foreign 
Secretary. It accomplished nothing spectacu- 
lar, however, though one great measure will 
always stand to its credit — the abolition of the 
slave trade. The Government was dissolved 
in 1807. 

All this for a song! Said to be Burghley’s 
remark when Queen Elizabeth I ordered him 
to give £100 to Spenser as a royal gratuity. 

All to break {Judges ix, 53). “A certain 
woman cast a piece of millstone upon Abime- 
lech’s head, and all to brake his skull” does 
not mean for the sake of breaking his skull, 
but that she wholly smashed his skull. The 
to belongs to the verb, being an intensifying 
prefix (as is zu in German), and the all coming 
in as a natural addition. It is common among 
our early writers, as witness Chaucer’s — 

A1 is to-broken thilke regioun. 

Knight's Tale t 2759. 

Allah (&r &). The Arabic name of the 
Supreme Being, from al, the, illah t god. 
Allah il Allah , the Mohammedan war-cry, and 
also the first clause of their confession of 
faith, is a corruption of la illah ilia Allah , 
meaning “there is no god, but the God.” 
Another Mohammedan war-cry is Allah 
akbar , “God is most mighty.” 

Allan-a-Dale. A minstrel in the Robin Hood 
ballads, who appears also in Scott’s Ivanhoe. 
He was assisted by Robin Hood in carrying 
off his bride when on the point of being 
married against her will to a rich old knight. 

Alleluiah. See Hallelujah. 

Alley or Ally. A choice, large playing-marble 
made of stone or alabaster, from which it 
takes its name. The alley tor (more cor- 
rectly taw) beloved of Master Bardell {Pick- 
wick Papers , xxxiv) was a special ally that had 
won many taws or games. 

Alley, The. An old name for Change Alley 
in the City of London, where dealings in the 
public funds, etc., used to take place. 

Alliensis, Dies (dr ez &1 i en' sis). June 16th # 
390 b.c., when the Romans were cut to pieces 
by the Gauls near the banks of the river Allia. 
It was ever after held to be a dies nefastus, or 
unlucky day. 

Alligator. When the Spaniards first saw this 
reptile in the New World, they called it el 
lagarto (the lizard). Sir Walter Raleigh called 
these creatures lagartos ; in the 1st Quarto of 
Romeo and Juliet (V, i) the animal is called 
an allgarta , and in Ben Jonson’s Bartholomew 
Fair an alligarta. 




Alligator Pear 


24 


Almanac 


In American slang alligator has several 
figurative meanings, among them a Missis- 
sippi River keelboat sailor, derived from the 
real or supposed battles of early boatmen with 
alligators; hence it is a symbol of manliness. 

Alligator Pear. The name given to the 
fruit of the West Indian tree, Persea gratis - 
sima . It is a corruption either of the Carib 
aouacate , called by the Spanish discoverers 
avocado or avigato , or of the Aztec abuacath, 
which was transmitted through the Fr. avocat 
and Sp. aguacate. 

Alliteration. The rhetorical device of com- 
mencing adjacent accented syllables with the 
same letter or sound, as in Quince’s ridicule of 
it in Midsummer Night's Dream (V, i): — 

With Made, with Moody Mameful Made, 

He Mavely Moached his foiling Moody breast. 

Alliteration whs a sine qua non in Old and 
Middle English poetry, and in modern poetry 
it is frequently used with great effect, as in 
Coleridge’s: — 

The fair breeze Mew, the white foam /lew. 

The /urrow/ollowed free. 

Ancient Mariner . 

Many fantastic examples of excessive 
alliteration are extant, and a good example 
from a parody by Swinburne will be found 
under the heading Amphigouri. Hugbald 
composed an alliterative poem on Charles the 
Bald, every word of which begins with e t and 
Henry Harder a poem of 100 lines, in Latin 
hexameters, on cats, each word beginning 
with c, called Canum cum Catis certamen 
carmine compositum eurrente calamo C Catulli 
Caninii. The first line is — 

Cattorum canimus certamina clara canumque. 

Tusser, who died in 1580, has a rhyming 
poem of twelve lines, every word of which be- 
gins with /; and in the 1890s there was published 
a Serenade of twenty-eight lines, “sung in M flat 
by Major Marmaduke Muttinhead to Made- 
moiselle Madeline Mendoza Marriott,” which 
contained only one word — in the line, “Meet 
me by moonlight, marry me” — not beginning 
with M. 

The alliterative alphabetic poem begin- 
ning — 

An Austrian army awfully arrayed, 

Boldly by battery besieged Belgrade; 

Cossack commanders, canonading come, 

Dealing destruction’s devastating doom; . . . 

is well known. It was published in The 
Trifler , May 7th, 1817, ascribed to Rev. B. 
Poulter, later revised by Alaric A. Watts, 
though claimed for others. 

Allodials (Med. Lat. from Old Frankish al, all; 
od , estate). Lands held by absolute right, 
without even the burden of homage or 
fidelity; opposed to feudal. 

Allopathy {k lop' k thi) is in opposition to 
Homoeopathy (q.v.). It is from the Greek, 
alio pathos , a different disease. In homoe- 
opathy the principle is that “like is to cure 
like”; in allopathy the disease is to be cured 
by its “antidote.” 

Ally Pally. A familiar and affectionate name 
for the Alexandra Palace in North London. 


Alma (al' m&) (Ital. soul, spirit, essence), in 
Prior’s poem of this name typifies the mind 
or guiding principles of man. Alma is queen 
of “Body Castle,” and is beset by a rabble 
rout of evil desires, foul imaginations, and 
silly conceits for seven years {the Seven Ages). 
In Spenser’s Faerie Queene (II, ix-xi) Alma 
typifies the soul. She is mistress of the 
House of Temperance, and there entertains 
Prince Arthur and Sir Guyon. 

Alma Mater. A collegian so calls the 
university of which he is a member. The 
words are Latin for “fostering mother,” and 
in ancient Rome the title was given to several 
goddesses, especially Ceres and Cybele. 

They are also used for other “fostering 
mothers,” as in — 

You might divert yourself, too, with Alma Mater, 
the Church. 

Horace Walpole: Letters (1778). 

Almack’s. A suite of assembly rooms in 
King Street, St. James’s (London), built in 
1765 by William Almack, an ex-valet, who a 
short time previously had founded the club 
now known as Brooks’s, and who died in 
1781. Balls, presided over by a committee 
of ladies of the highest rank, used to be given 
here; and to be admitted was almost as great 
a distinction as to be presented at Court. 
After 1840 they became known as Willis’s 
Rooms, from the name of the then proprietor, 
and were used chiefly for large dinners. The 
rooms were closed in 1890, and destroyed in 
an air raid in 1941. 

Almagest (al' ma jest). The English form of 
the Arabic name given to Ptolemy’s Mathe - 
matike syntax is, the great astronomical treatise 
composed during the 2nd century a.d., of 
which an Arabic translation was made about 
820. It is in the third book of this work 
(which contains thirteen books in all) that the 
length of the year was first fixed at 365J 
days. 

Almanac. A mediaeval Latin word for a 
table of days and months with astronomical 
data, etc. 

The derivation of the word is obscure, 
though it clearly comes from the Sp. Arabic 
al, the; manakh, a sun-dial. This is not, 
however, a true Arabic word, but is probably 
of Greek origin. 

Some early almanacs arc: — 

Before invention of printing: 

By Solomon Jarchi . . in and after 1150 


„ Peter cle Dacia . . . . . . about 1307 

„ Walter de Elvendene .. .. .. 1327 

„ John Somers, Oxford .. .. .. 1380 

„ Nicholas dc Lynna .. .. .. 1386 

,, Purbach 1150-1461 

After invention of printing: 

First printed by Gutenberg, at Mainz . . 1457 

By Regiomontanus, at Nuremberg . . 1474 

„ Zainer, at Ulm . . . . 1478 

„ Richard Pynson ( Sheapeherd's Kalendar) 1497 

„ StofTler, in Venice 1499 

Poor Robin’s Almanack 1652 


Francis Moore’s Almanack between 1698 and 1713 
Almanach de Gotha first published 1764 

Whitaker's Almanack first published 1869 

The man i’ the almanac stuck with pins 
(Nat. Lee), is a man marked with points 
referring to signs of the zodiac, and intended 


Almanzor 


25 


Alphabet 


to indicate the favourable and unfavourable 
times of letting blood. 

Almanzor (&1 m&n' z6r). The word means 
“the invincible” and was adopted as a title 
by several Mussulman potentates, notably the 
second Abbasside Caliph Abu Jafar Abdullah. 
It was a royal title given to the kings of Fez, 
Morocco, and Algiers if — 

The kingdoms of Almansor, Fez, and Sus, 

Marocco and Algiers. . . . 

Paradise Lost , XI, 403. 

The Caliph Almanzor founded the city of 
Bagdad, which he named after a beggar who 
had prophesied that he would do so. 

One of the characters in Dryden’s Conquest 
of Granada (1672) is an Almanzor; the name 
figures also as one of the lackeys in Moli£re’s 
Precieuses Ridicules . 

Almesbury. It was in a sanctuary at Almes- 
bury that Queen Guenever, according to 
Malory, took refuge, after her adulterous 
passion for Lancelot was revealed to the king 
(Arthur). Here she died; but her body was 
buried at Glastonbury. 

Almighty Dollar. Washington Irving (perhaps 
echoing Ben Jonson’s “almighty gold”) seems 
to have been the first to use this expression: — 

The almighty dollar, that great object of universal 
devotion throughout our land. . . . 

W. Irving: Wolfert's Roost , Creole Village (1837). 

Ben Jonson in his Epistle to Elizabeth , 
Countess of Rutland, speaks of “ almighty 
gold.” 

Almonry. The place where the almoner 
resides, or where alms are distributed. An 
almoner is a person whose duty it is to dis- 
tribute alms, which, in ancient times, con- 
sisted of one-tenth of the entire income of a 
monastery. 

The word has become confused with Ambry 
(q.v,), and the Close in Westminster now 
known as “Ambry Close” used to be called 
“Almonry Close.” 

Almonry is from the Latin eleemosynarium , 
a place for alms. 

The place wherein this Chapel or Almshouse 
stands was called the “fElemosinary” or Almonry, 
now corrupted into Ambrey, for that the almis of 
the Abbey are there distributed to the poor. — S tow': 
Survey. 

Alms (amz) (O.E. almyssc , ; through Lat. 
elemosina from Gr. eleemosyne , compassion), 
gifts to the poor. 

Dr. Johnson says the word has no singular; 
the O.E.D. says it has no plural. It is a 
singular word which, like riches (from Fr. 
richesse ), has in modern usage become plural. 
In the Bible wc have “he asked an alms” 
(Acts iii, 3), but Drydcn gives us “alms arc 
but the vehicles of prayer” ( Hind and the 
Panther , iii, 106). 

Alms Basket (in Love's Labour's Lost , V, i). 
To live on the alms basket. To live on 
charity. 

Alms-drink. Leavings; the liquor which a 
drinker finds too much, and therefore hands 
to another; also, liquor left over from a feast 
and sent to the alms-pcople. See Antony and 
Cleopatra , II, vii. 


Alms-fee. Peter’s pence (q.v.). 

Almshouse. A house for the use of the poor, 
usually supported by the endowment of some 
wealthy patron who built the houses. Alms- 
houses are generally a number of small 
dwellings built together, often in a row, and 
are devoted to housing and supporting persons 
who find themselves poor or destitute in old 
age. 

Alms-man. One who lives on alms. 

Alnaschar’s Dream. Counting your chickens 
before they are hatched. Alnaschar tfie 
barber’s fifth brother (in the Arabian Nights 
story), invested all his money in a basket 
of glassware, on which he was to make 
a profit which, being invested, was to make 
more, and this was to go on till he grew rich 
enough to marry the vizier’s daughter. Being 
angry with his imaginary wife he gave a kick, 
overturned his basket, and broke all his wares. 

A.L.O.E. These initials represent A Lady Of 
England, the pseudonym of Charlotte Maria 
Tucker (1821-1893), an author of children’s 
allegories and tales that enjoyed great 
popularity. 

Aloe (Gr. aloe). A very bitter plant; hence 
the line in Juvenal’s sixth satire (181), Plus 
aloes quam mellis habet , “He has in him more 
bitters than sweets,” said of a writer with a 
sarcastic pen. The French say, “Za cote 
d'Adam contient plus d' aloes que de miel 9 ” 
where cote d'Adam , of course, means woman 
or one’s wife. 

Alombrados. See Alumbrado; Illuminati. 

Alonzo of Aguilar. When Fernando, King of 
Aragon, was laying siege to Granada in 1501, 
he asked who would undertake to plant his 
banner on the heights. Alonzo, “the low- 
most of the dons,” undertook the task but 
was cut down by the Moors. His body was 
exposed in the wood of Oxijera, and the Moor- 
ish damsels, struck with its beauty, buried it 
near the brook of Alpuxarra. The incident 
is the subject of a number of ballads. 

Aloof. A sea term, to stand aloof meaning 
originally to bear to windward, or luff. The 
a is the same prefix as in afoot or asleep, and 
means on; loof is the Dutch loef windward. 
To hold aloof thus means literally “to keep 
to the windward,” and as one cannot do that 
except by keeping the head of the ship a\vay f 
it came to mean “to keep away from” as 
opposed to “to approach.” 

A l’outrance (a loo' trons). An incorrect Eng- 
lish version of the French a outrance. To the 
uttermost. 

Alpha (31' fii). “/ am Alpha and Omega , the 
first and the last ” (/?ev. i, 8). “Alpha” (A) is 
the first, and “Omega” (ft) the last letter of 
the Greek alphabet. Cp. Tau. 

Alphabet. This is the only word of more than 
one syllable compounded solely of the names 
of letters, the Greek alpha (a), beta (b). 

Some curiosities of the alphabet are 
these : — 

Ezra vii t 21, contains all the letters of the English 
alphabet, presuming / and J to be identical. 




Alpheus and Arethusa 


26 


Altis 


Even the Italian alphabet is capable of more than 
seventeen trillion combinations; that is, 17 followed 
by eighteen other figures, as — 

1 7,000,000,000,000,000,000 ; 
while the English alphabet will combine into more 
than twenty-nine thousand quatrillion combinations; 
that is, 29 followed by twenty-seven other figures, as — 
29, 000, 000, 000,000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000. 

Yet we have no means of differentiating our vowel- 
sounds; take a , we have fate , fat, Thames , war, 
orange , ware , abide , calm, swan , etc. So with e, we 
have era, the , there , prey (a), met , England , sew, 
herb , clerk, etc. The other vowels are equally 
indefinite. 

See Letter. 

Alpheus and Arethusa (51 fe' us, ar e thu' za). 
The Greek legend is that a youthful hunter 
named Alpheus was in love with the nymph 
Arethusa; she fled from him to the island of 
Ortygia on the Sicilian coast and he was 
turned into a river of Arcadia in the Pelopon- 
nesus. Alpheus pursued her under the sea, 
and* rising in Ortygia, he and she became one 
in [the fountain thereafter called Arethusa. 
The myth seems to be designed for the purpose 
of accounting for the fact that the course of 
the Alpheus is for some considerable distance 
underground. 

Alphonsin (al fon' sin). An old surgical in- 
strument for extracting bullets from wounds. 
So called from Alphonse Ferri, a surgeon of 
Naples, who invented it (1552). 

Alphonsine Tables. A revision of the Ptole- 
maic planetary tables made at the command 
of Alphonsus X of Castile — himself a noted 
astronomer — by a body of 50 or more of the 
most learned astronomers of the time. They 
were completed in 1252. 

Alpieu (Ital. al piu , at the most). In the 
game of Basset, doubling the stake on a 
winning card. 

What pity *tis those conquering eyes. 

Which all the world subdue, 

Should, while the lover gazing dies, 

Be only on alpieu. 

Ethereoe: Basset. 


centuries a debatable frontier ground and a 
refuge of the disaffected. The life and state 
of this rookery is described in The Squire of 
Alsatia (1688), a comedy by Shad well, who 
was the first to use the name in literature. 
Scott borrowed freely from Shadwell for the 
Alsatia scenes in The Fortunes of Nigel. 

Al Sirat (Arab, the path). In Mohammedan 
mythology, the bridge leading to paradise; 
a bridge over mid-hell, no wider than the edge 
of a sword, across which all who enter heaven 
must pass. 

Alsvidur. See Horse. 

Altar (Lat. altus , high; a high place). The 
oblong block or table, made of wood, marble, 
or other stone, consecrated and used for 
religious sacrifice. In Christian churches the 
term is applied to the Communion table. 
According to the rubric laid down in the Book 
of Common Prayer the celebrant at Holy Com- 
munion shall stand at the north side of the 
tabic, thus sideways to the communicants who 
can in this way observe his motions in the 
act of consecration. This was enacted in 
order to do away with the alleged mystery of 
the Mass, but it is not always observed to-day. 

Led to the altar. Married. Said of a 
woman who, as a bride, is led up the aisle 
to the altar-rail where marriages are solemnized. 

The north side of the altar. The side on 
which the Gospel is read. The north is the 
dark part of the earth, and the Gospel is the 
light of the world which shineth in darkness — 
“ illuminate his qui in tenebris et in umbra 
mortis seiient .’* 

Privileged altar. In R.C. churches this is 
an altar with certain indulgences attached to 
all Masses for the dead said at it. 

Alter ego (al' ter eg' 6). (Lat. other I, other 
self). One’s double; one’s intimate and 
thoroughly trusted friend; one who has full 
powers to act for another. Cp. “One’s 
second self’’, under Second. 


Alpine Race. This is another name for the 
large Celtic Race and is applied to the thick- 
set men, with broad faces, hazel eyes, and 
light chestnut hair who inhabited the north- 
west extremity of France, Savoy, Switzerland, 
the Ardennes, Vosges, and the Biscayan coasts. 
They were a midway race between the Scan- 
dinavian Nordics and the dark Mediter- 
ranean folk; the zenith of their culture was 
the so-called La T£ne period (500 b.c. to 
a.d. 1). 

Alruna-wife, An (51 roo' na). The Alrunes 
were the lares or penates of the ancient Ger- 
mans; and an Alruna-wifc, the household 
goddess. 

Alsatia (alsa'sha). The Whitefriars district 
of London, whicri from early times till the 
abolition of all privileges in 1697 was a sanc- 
tuary for debtors and law-breakers. It was 
bounded on the north and south by Fleet 
Street and the Thames, on the east and west 
by the Fleet River (now New Bridge Street) 
and the Temple; and was so called from the 
old Latin name of Alsace, which was for 


Althaea's Brand (51' the a). A fatal contingency. 
Althiea’s son, Meleager, was to live just so long 
as a log of wood, then on the fire, remained 
unconsumed. With her care it lasted for 
many years, but being angry one day with 
Meleager, she pushed it into the midst of the 
fire; it was consumed in a few minutes and 
Meleager died in great agony at the same 
time. — Ovid: Metamorphoses , viii, 4. 

Althea. The divine Althea of Richard Love- 
lace was Lucy Sachcverell, also called by the 
poet, “ Lucasta.” 

When Love with unconfinfcd wings 
Hovers within my gates, 

And my divine Althea brings 
To whisper at the grates. 

Lovelace was thrown into prison by the 
Long Parliament for his petition in favour of 
the king; hence the grates referred to. 


Alt is. The sacred precinct of Zeus at Olympia, 
containing the great temple and oval altar of 
Zeus, the Pelopium (grave of Pclops), the 
Heracum, with many other buildings and 
statues. It was connected by an arched 




Alto rilievo 


27 


Amasis, Ring of 


passage with the Stadium, where the Olympic 
games were held. 

Alto rilievo. Italian for “high relief.” A 
term used in sculpture for figures in wood, 
stone, marble, etc., so cut as to project at 
least one-half from the tablet. 

Alumbrado, a perfectionist; so called from a 
Spanish sect which arose in 1575, and claimed 
special illumination. (Spanish, meaning 
“illuminated,” “enlightened.”) 

Alvina weeps, or “Hark! Alvina weeps,” i.e. 
the wind howls loudly, a Flemish saying. 
Alvina was the daughter of a king, who was 
cursed by her parents because she married 
unsuitably. From that day she roamed about 
the air invisible to the eye of man, but her 
moans are audible. 

Alzire (al' zer). A daughter of Montezuma 
invented by Voltaire and made the central 
character of one of his best plays of the 
same name (1736). The scene is shifted from 
Mexico to Peru. 

A.M. or M.A. When the Latin form is 
intended the A comes first, as Arlium Mag is ter: 
but where the English form is meant the M 
precedes, as Master of Arts. 

The abbreviation “A.M.” also stands for 
ante meridiem (Lat.), before noon, and anno 
mundi , in the year of the world. 

Amadis of Gaul (a ma' dis). The hero of a 
prose romance of the same title, supposed to 
have been written by the Portuguese, Vasco 
dc Lobeira (d. 1403), with additions by the 
Spaniard Montalvo, and by many subsequent 
romancers, who added exploits and adventures 
of other knights and thus swelled the romance 
to fourteen books. The romance was referred 
to as early as 1350 (in Egidis Colonna’s De 
Rest imine Principium ); it was first printed in 
1508, became immensely popular, and exerted 
a wide influence on literature far into the 
17th century. 

Amadis, called the “Lion Knight,” from 
the device on his shield, and “Beltenebros” 
(darkly beautiful), from his personal appear- 
ance, was a love-child of Perion, King of 
Gaula (Wales), and Eli/cna, Princess of Brit- 
tany. He was cast away at birth and became 
known as the Child of the Sun, and after many 
adventures including wars with the race of 
Giants, a war for the hand of his lady-love 
Oriana, daughter of Lisuarte, King of Greece, 
the Ordeal of the Forbidden Chamber, etc., 
he and Oriana arc married. He is represented 
as a poet and a musician, a linguist and a 
gallant, a knight-errant and a king, the very 
model of chivalry. 

Other names by which Amadis was called 
were the Lovely Obscure, the Knight of the 
Green Sword, the Knight of the Dwarf , etc. 

Amadis of Greece. A Spanish continuation 
of the seventh book of Amadis of Gaul (</.v.), 
supposed to be by Feliciano dc Silva. It tells 
the story of Lisuarte of Greece, a grandson of 
Amadis. 

Amahnon (Aml'fimon). One of the chief 
devils in mediaeval demonology ; king of the 
eastern portion of hell. Asmodeus is his chief 

B.D. — 2 


officer. He might be bound or restrained 
from doing hurt from the third hour till noon, 
and from the ninth hour till evening. 

Amaimon sounds well; Lucifer well. 

Shakespeare; Merry Wives of Windsor , II, ii. 

Amalfitan Code (a m31' fi tan). The oldest 
existing collection of maritime laws, compiled 
in the eleventh century at Amalfi, then an 
important commercial centre. 

Amalthaca (im &1 the' a). In Greek mythology, 
the nurse of Zeus. In Roman legend Amalthea 
is the name of the Sibyl who sold the 
Sibylline Books (?.v.) to Tarquin. 

Amalthea’s horn. The cornucopia or 
“horn of plenty ” (q.v.). The infant Zeus 
was fed with goat’s milk by Amalthea, one 
of the daughters of Melisseus, King of Crete. 
Zeus, in gratitude, broke off one of the gqat’s 
horns, and gave it to Amalthea, promising 
that the possessor should always have in 
abundance everything desired. See AEgis. 

When Amalthea’s horn 

O’er hill and dale the rose-crowned Flora pours, 

And scatters corn and wine, and fruits and flowers. 

CAMOtNS: Lusiad, Bk. II. 

Amaranth (am' a ranth) (Gr. amarantos , ever- 
lasting). The name given by Pliny to some 
real or imaginary fadeless flower. Clement 
of Alexandria says — Amarantus fios , symbolum 
cst immortalitatis. Among the ancients it was 
the symbol of immortality, because its flowers 
retain to the last much of their deep blood- 
red colour. 

The best-known species are “Love lies 
bleeding” (Amarantus caudatus), and 
“Prince’s feather” ( Amarantus hypochondri- 
ac us). 

Spenser mentions “sad Amaranthus” as 
one of the flowers “to which sad lovers 
were transformed of yore” ( Faerie Queene , 
III, vi, 45), but there is no known legend to 
this effect. 

In 1653 Christina, Queen of Sweden, 
instituted the order of the Knights of the 
Amaranth , but it ceased to exist at the death 
of the Queen. 

Amaryllis (3m & ril'is). A rustic sweetheart. 
The name is borrowed from a shepherdess in 
the pastorals of Theocritus and Virgil. 

To sport with Amaryllis in the shade. 

Milton: Lycidas , 68. 

In Spenser’s Colin Clout's Come Home 
Again , Amaryllis is intended for Alice Spenser, 
Countess of Derby. 

Amasis, Ring of (A ma r sis). Herodotus tells 
us (III, iv) that Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, 
was so fortunate in everything that Amasis, 
king of Egypt, fearing such unprecedented 
luck boded ill, advised him to part with some- 
thing which he highly prized. Polycrates 
accordingly threw into the sea a ring of great 
value. A few' days afterwards, a fish was 
presented to the tyrant, in which the ring was 
found. Amasis now renounced friendship 
with Polycrates, as a man doomed by the 
gods; and not long afterwards, a satrap put 
the too fortunate despot to death by cruci- 
fixion. 


Amati 


28 


Ambrosian Nights 


Amati (& ma' ti). A family famous for making 
stringed instruments at Cremona fa.v.) in the 
16th and 17th centuries. Either Andrea 
Amati or Gaspar da Salo produced the first 
violin similar to those in use to-day, the 
earliest surviving Amati instrument being 
dated 1564. 

Amaurote (am 6 rd' te) (Gr. the shadowy or 
unknown place), the chief city of Utopia (#.v.) 
in the political romance of that name by 
Sir Thomas More. Rabelais, in his Pant a - 
gruel , introduces Utopia and “the great city 
of the Amaurots” (Bk. 11, ch. xxiii). He had 
evidently read Sir Thomas More's book. 

To add to the verisimilitude of the romance, 
More says he could not recollect whether 
Hythlodaye had told him it was 500 or 300 
paces long; and he requested his friend Peter 
Giles, of Antwerp, to put the question to the 
adventurer. Swift, in Gulliver's Travels , uses 
very similar means of throwing dust in his 
reader’s eyes. He says: — 

I cannot recollect whether the reception room of 
the Spaniard’s Castle in the Air is 200 or 300 feet 
long. I will get the next aeronaut who journeys to 
the moon to take the exact dimensions for me, and 
will memorialise the learned society of Laputa. 

Amazement. Not afraid with any amazement 
(I Pet. iii, 6), introduced at the close of the 
marriage service in the Book of Common 
Prayer. The meaning is, you will be God’s 
children so long as you do his bidding, and 
are not drawn aside by any sort of bewilder- 
ment or distraction. Shakespeare uses the 
word in the same sense: — 

Behold, distraction, frenzy and amazement, 

Like witless antics one another meet. 

Troilus and Cressida , V, iii. 

Amazon (&m' a zon). A Greek word meaning 
without breast , or rather, “deprived of a pap.’’ 
According to Herodotus there was a race of 
female warriors, or Amazons, living in Scythia, 
and other Greek stories speak of a nation of 
women in Africa of a very warlike character. 
There were no men in the nation, and if a 
boy was born, it was either killed or sent to 
its father, who lived in some neighbouring 
state. The girls had their right breasts burnt 
off, that they might the better draw the bow. 
The term is now applied to any strong, 
brawny woman of masculine habits. 

She towered, fit person for a Queen 
To lead those ancient Amazonian files; 

Or ruling Bandit’s wife among the Grecian isles. 
Wordsworth: Poems of the Imagination , xviii. 

Amazonia (am a zd' ni &). An old name for 
the regions about the river Amazon in South 
America, which was so called because the 
early Spanish explorers (1541), under Orel- 
lana, thought they saw female warriors on its 
banks. 

Amazonian chin. A beardless chin, like 
that of a woman warrior. 

When with his Amazonian chin he drove 
The bristled lips before him. 

Shakespeare: Coriolanus , II, ii. 

Amber. A yellow, translucent, fossilized 
vegetable resin, the name of which originally 
belonged to ambergris (a. v.). Legend has it 
that amber is a concretion from the tearsof birds 


who were the sisters of Meleager and who never 
ceased weeping for the death of their brother: 
Ovid, Metamorphoses , viii, 270. Insects, 
small leaves, etc., are often preserved in amber; 
hence such phrases as “preserved for all time 
in the imperishable amber of his genius.” 

Amber, meaning a repository, is an obsolete 
spelling of ambry iq.v.). 

Ambergris. A waxy, aromatic substance 
found floating on tropical seas and in the 
intestines of the cachalot. It is a marbled 
ashy grey in colour and is used in perfumery. 
Its original name was simply amber ( see 
Amber) from Fr. ambre> w'hich denoted only 
this substance; when it came to be applied to 
the fossil resin (Fr. ambrejaune, yellow amber), 
this grey substance became known as amber 
gris (grey amber). 

Ambidexter properly means both hands right 
hands, and so one who can use his left hand as 
deftly as his right; in slang use, a double- 
dealer. 

Ambree, Mary. An English heroine, immor- 
talized by her valour at the siege of Ghent in 
1584. See the ballad in Percy’s Reliques : — 
When captains couragious, whom death cold not 
dauntc. 

Did march to the siege of the citty of Gaunt, 

They mustred their souldicrs by two and by three, 
And the formost in battle was Mary Ambree. 

Her name is proverbial for a woman of heroic 
spirit. 

My daughter will be valiant. 

And prove a very Mary Ambry i’ the bushes. 

Bln Jonson: Tale of a Tub , I, iv. 

Ambrose, St., Bishop of Milan (b. c. 340). 
In 384 he instituted reforms in Church music 
and introduced from the Eastern Church the 
Ambrosian Chant, which was used until Pope 
Gregory the Great introduced Gregorian 
Chant two centuries later. His feast day is 
December 7th. His emblems are: (1) a 
beehive, in allusion to the legend that a swarm 
of bees settled on his mouth when lying in 
his cradle; (2) a scourge, by which he expelled 
the Arians from Italy. 

Ambrosian Library. Library in Milan 
founded by Count Fedcrigo Borromco (1564- 
1631), Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, in 
1609; so called in compliment to St. Ambrose, 
the patron saint. It is famous for its collection 
of illuminated MSS., including the earliest 
known — a 4th-century codex of Homer. 

Ambrosia (am bro' zi ii) (Gr. a , privative; 
brotos , mortal). The food of the gods, so 
called because it made them immortal. 
Anything delicious to the taste or fragrant in 
perfume is so called from the notion that 
whatever is used by the celestials must be 
excellent. 

Ambrosian Nights. At Ambrose’s Hotel, 
Edinburgh, John Wilson (Christopher North), 
James Hogg, and other literary figures of the 
time forgathered of an evening with con- 
viviality and brilliant conversation, recorded 
(with embellishments) by North in his Noctes 
Ambrosian x (1822). 



Ambrosius Aurelianus 


29 


Ammonites 


Ambrosius Aurelianus. A semi-mythical cham- 
pion of the British race. The story is that he 
was a descendant of the Emperor Constantine, 
that he lived in the 5th century, and that he 
led the Romanized Britons against the Saxon 
invaders under Hengist. He is mentioned by 
Gildas as “the last of the Romans,” and he 
may have been a Count of the Saxon Shore. 

Ambry (am' bri) (Old Fr. armarie ; from Lat. 
armaria , chest or cupboard, from arma , tools, 
gear). A cupboard, locker, or recess. The 
ambry in a church is a closed recess in the 
wall which is used for keeping books, vest- 
ments, the sacramental plate, consecrated oil, 
and so on ( cp . Almonry). 

Ambs-as or Ambcs-ace (amz as) (Lat. ambo - 
asses , both or two aces). Two aces, the 
lowest throw in dice; figuratively, bad luck. 

I had rather be in this choice than throw ames-ace 
for my life. — All's Well , II, iii. 

It was also the name of a card game, and 
was sometimes spelt aumo-ace. 

Amc damnee (Fr.), literally, a damned, or lost, 
soul; hence one’s familiar or tool, one blindly 
devoted to another's wishes; and, sometimes, 
a scapegoat. 

Amelia. A model of conjugal affection, in 
Fielding’s novel of that name. It is said that 
the character is intended for his own wife. 

The name is also associated with Amelia 
Sedley, one of the heroines of Vanity Fair. 

Amen Corner, at the west end of Paternoster 
Row, London, was where the monks used to 
finish the Pater Noster as they went in pro- 
cession to St. Paul’s Cathedral on Corpus 
Christi Day. They began in Paternoster Row 
with the Lord’s Prayer in Latin, which was 
continued to the end of the street; then said 
Amen , at the corner or bottom of the Row; 
then turning down Ave Maria Lane, com- 
menced chanting the “Hail, Mary!” then 
crossing Ludgate, entered Creed Lane chant- 
ing the Credo. 

Paternoster Row, Amen Corner, and much 
of Ave Maria Lane were completely destroyed 
in an air raid on December 28th, 1940. 

Amen-Ra. The supreme King of the Gods 
among the ancient Egyptians, usually figured 
as a great man with two long plumes rising 
straight above his head, but sometimes with 
a ram’s head, the ram being sacred to him. 
He was the patron of Thebes; his oracle was 
at the oasis of Jupiter Ammon, and he was 
identified by the Greeks with Zeus. 

Amende honorable. An anglicized French 

F »hrase signifying a full and frank apology, 
n medneval France the term was applied to 
a degrading punishment inflicted on traitors, 
arricidcs, and sacrilegious persons, who were 
rought into court with a rope round their 
neck, stripped to the shirt, and made to beg 
pardon of God, the king, and the court. 

A mensa et thoro. See A vinculo. 

Amenthes (a men' thez). The Egyptian Hades; 
the abode of the spirits of the dead svho 
were not yet fully purilied. 

America. See United States of America. 


Amerindian (am er in' di an). This is a “port- 
manteau” word combining American and 
Indian and is applied descriptively to the 
native Red Indian races and Eskimos of the 
North American continent. 

Ames-ace. See Ambs-as. 

Amethea. See Horse. 

Amethyst (am'ethist) (Gr. not; methuein , 
to be drunken). A violet-blue variety of 
crystalline quartz supposed by the ancients 
to prevent intoxication. 

Drinking-cups made of amethyst were a 
charm against inebriety; and it was the most 
cherished of all precious stones by Roman 
matrons, from the superstition that it would 
preserve inviolate the affection of their hus- 
bands. 

Amiable or Amicable Numbers. Any two 
numbers either of which is the sum of the 
aliquots of the other: thus, the aliquots of 
220 are 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 20, 22, 44, 55, 110, 
the sum of which is 284; and the aliquots of 
284 are 1, 2, 4, 71, 142, the sum of which is 
220; so 220 and 284 are amicable numbers. 

Amicus curiae (a mf kus ku' ri e) (Lat. a friend 
to the court). One in court who is not 
engaged in the trial or action, but who is 
invited or allowed to assist with advice or 
information. The term is now used to describe 
a disinterested adviser. 

Amiel (am' i cl). In Dryden’s Absalom and 
AchitupheL this is meant for Edward 
Seymour, Speaker of the House of Commons. 

The name is an anagram of Eliam ( = God 
is kinsman). Eliam in II Sam. xxiii, 34, is 
son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, and one of 
David’s heroes; in II Sam. xi. 3. it is given as 
the name of Bathsheba’s father, which, in 
I Chron. iii, 5, appears as “Ammicl.” 

Aminadab (a min' a dab). A Quaker. The 
Scripture name has a double m, but in old 
comedies, where the character represents a 
Quaker, the name has generally only one. 
Obadiah is used, also, to signify a Quaker, 
and Rachel a Quakeress. 

Aniiral or Ammiral. An early form of the 
word “admiral” (<y.v.). 

Amis and Amile. See Amys. 

Ammon (am' on). The Libyan Jupiter; the 
Greek form of the name of the Egyptian god, 
Amun (q.v.). 

Son of Ammon. Alexander the Great, who, 
on his expedition to Egypt, was thus saluted 
by the priests of the Libyan temple. 

Amnion’s great son one shoulder had too high. 

Pope: Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot , 117. 

His father, Philip, claimed to be a descendant 
of Hercules, and therefore of Jupiter. 

Ammonites (am'dn Itz). Fossil molluscs allied 
to the nautilus and cuttlefish. So called 
because they resemble the horn upon the 
ancient statues of Jupiter Ammon. They 
were set in brooches or as earrings in the mid- 
19th century. 

Also the people of Ammon: that is, the 
descendants of Lot by the son of his younger 
daughter, Ben-ammi (Gen. xix, 38), who are 
frequentlvjp^entioned in the Old Testament. 



Amok 


30 


Amun 


Amok. See Amuck. 

Amoret (3m' dr et), in Spenser’s Faerie Queene , 
is the type of female loveliness —young, hand- 
some, gay, witty, and good; soft as a rose, 
sweet as a violet, chaste as a lily, gentle as 
a dove, loving everybody and by all beloved. 
Hence it became a term for a sweetheart, love- 
song, love-knot, or love personified. 

Amorous, The. Philip I of France (1060- 
1108); so called because he divorced his wife 
Berthe to espouse Bertrade, who was already 
married to Foulques, count of Anjou. 

Amour propre (a' moor propr) (Fr.). One’s 
self-love, vanity, or opinion of what is due to 
self. To wound his amour propre , is to gall 
his good opinion of himself — to wound his 
vanity. 

Ampersand (am' per s3nd). The character 
for and. In the old horn books, after 
giving the twenty-six letters, the character & 
was added (. . . X, Y, Z, &), and was called 
“Ampersand,” a corruption of “and per-se 
&” (and by itself, and). The symbol is an 
adaptation of the written et (Lat. and), the 
transformation of which can be traced if we 
look at the italic ampersand — & — where the 
“e” and the cross of the “t” are clearly 
recognizable. See Tironian. 

Amphialus (3m fl' a lus). In Sidney’s Arcadia 
the valiant and virtuous son of the wicked 
Cecropia, in love with Philoclea; he ultimately 
married Queen Helen of Corinth. 

Amphictyonic Council (am fik ti on' ik) (Gr. 
amphietiones, dwellers round about). In 
Greek history, the council of the Amphic- 
tyonic League, a confederation of twelve 
tribes, the deputies of which met twice a year, 
alternately at Delphi and Thcrmopyke. 
Throughout the whole of ancient Greek his- 
tory it exercised paramount authority over 
the oracles of the Pythian Apollo and con- 
ducted the Pythian games. 

Amphigouri (am fi goor' i). A verse composi- 
tion which, while sounding well, contains no 
sense or meaning. A good example is Swin- 
burne’s well-known parody of his own style, 
Nephelidia , the opening lines of which are: — 
From the depth of the dreamy decline of the dawn 
through a notable nimbus of nebulous noon- 
shine. 

Pallid and pink as the palm of the flag-flower that 
flickers with fear of the flies as they float, 

Arc they looks of our lovers that lustrously lean from 
a marvel of mystic miraculous moonshine, 

These that we feel in the blood of our blushes that 
thicken and threaten with throbs through the 
throat? 

Here there is everything that goes to the 
making of poetry — except sense; and that is 
absolutely (and, of course, purposely) lacking. 
Amphion (am fi' on). The son of Zeus and 
Antiope who, according to Greek legend, 
built Thebes by the music of his lute, which 
was so melodious that the stones danced into 
walls and houses of their own accord. 

Amphisboena (3m fis be' n3). A fabulous 
venomous serpent supposed to have a head 
at each end and to be able to move in either 
direction. The name is applied to a genus of 
S. American lizards. 


Amphitrlte (3m fi tri' ti). In classic mythology, 
the goddess of the sea; wife of Poseidon, 
daughter of Ncreus and Doris. (Gr. amphi - 
trio for triboy rubbing or wearing away [the 
shore] on all sides.) 

Amphitryon (am fit' ri on). 

Le veritable Amphitryon 
Est rAmphitryon ou Ton dine. 

Moli£re: Amphitryon. 

That is, the person who provides the feast 
(whether master of the house or not) is the 
real host. The tale is that Jupiter assumed 
the likeness of Amphitryon for the purpose of 
visiting the latter’s wife, Alcmena (q.v.), and 
gave a banquet at his house; but Amphitryon 
came home and claimed the honour of being 
the master of the house. As far as the servants 
and the guests were concerned, the dispute was 
soon decided — “he who gave the feast was 
to them the host.” 

Amphrysian Prophetess (3m fri'zi3n) ( Am - 
phrysia Vates). The Cum;ean sibyl; so called 
from Amphrysus, a river of Thessaly, on the 
banks of which Apollo fed the herds of 
Admetus. 

Ampoule, La Sainte (la sant am pool'). The 
vessel containing oil used in anointing the 
kings of France, and said to have been brought 
from heaven by a dove for the coronation 
service of St. L.ouis. It was preserved at 
Rhcims till the French Revolution, when it was 
destroyed. 

Amram’s Son. Moses. ( Exod . vi, 20). 

As when the potent rod 
Of Amram’s son, in Egypt's evil day, 

Waved round the coast. 

Milton: Paradise Lost, J, 338. 

Amri (am' ri). In Dryden’s Absalom and 
Achitophel is designed for Heneage Finch, 
Earl of Nottingham and Lord Chancellor. 

Amrita (3m re' ta) (Sanskrit). In Hindu 
mythology, the elixir of immortality, the soma- 
juice, corresponding to the ambrosia (q.v,) of 
classical mythology. 

Amuck, or amok. A Malay adjective, amog, 
meaning to be in a state of frenzy. To run 
amuck is to indulge in physical violence while 
in a state of frenzy. 

Satire's my weapon, but I’m too discreet 
To run amuck und tilt at all I meet. 

Pope: Satires , I, 69-70. 

Amulcf. Something worn, generally round 
the neck, as a charm. The word was formerly 
connected with the Arabic hitnalah , the name 
given to the cord that secured the Koran to 
the person and was sometimes regarded as a 
charm; but it has nothing to do with this, 
and is from the Latin amuletum , a preservative 
against sickness, through French amulette. 

The early Christians used to wear amulets 
called lchthus (q.v.). See also Notakikon, 

Amun (3m' tin). An Egyptian deity, usually 
represented with a ram’s head with large 
curved horns, and a human body, or as a 
human figure with two long upright plumes 
springing from the head and holding a sceptre 
and the symbol of life. An immense number 
of temples were dedicated to him and he was 



Amyclsean Silence 


31 


Ananas 


identified by the Greeks with Zeus, His 
oracle was in the oasis of Jupiter Ammon. 
See Ammon. 

Amycl&an Silence (dm i kle' dn). Amycte was 
a Laconian town in the south of Sparta, ruled 
by the mythical Tyndareus. The inhabitants 
had so often been alarmed by false rumours 
of the approach of the Spartans, that they 
made a decree forbidding mention of the sub- 
ject. When the Spartans actually came no 
one dare give warning, and the town was 
taken. Hence the proverb, more silent than 
A my c Ice. 

Castor and Pollux were born at Amyclae, 
and are hence sometimes referred to as the 
Amyclsean Brothers. 

Amyris plays the Fool (a mi' ris). An expres- 
sion used of one who assumes a false character 
with an ulterior object, like Junius Brutus. 
Amyris was a Sybarite sent to Delphi to con- 
sult the Oracle, who informed him of the 
approaching destruction of his nation: he fled 
to Peloponnesus and his countrymen called 
him a fool; but, like the madness of David, 
his “folly” was true wisdom, for thereby he 
saved his life. 

Amys and Amylion (a' mis, a mil' i on). A 
French romance of the 13th century telling 
the story of the friendship between two heroes 
of the Carlovingian wars. The story cul- 
minates in Amylion’s sacrifice of his children 
to save his friend. 

Anabaptists. Originally, a Christian sect 
which arose in Germany about 1521, the 
members of which did not believe in infant 
baptism and hence were baptized over again 
(Gr. ana over again) on coming to years of 
discretion. 

Applied in England as a nickname, and 
more or less opprobriously, to the Baptists, a 
body of Dissenters holding similar views. 

Anacharsis (an a kar' sis). A princely Scy- 
thian named Anacharsis left his native country 
to travel in pursuit of know ledge. He reached 
Athens about 594 b.c. and became acquainted 
with Solon. 

In 1788 the Abb6 Barthelemy published 
Le voyage du Jeune Anacharsis , a description 
of Greece in the time of Pericles and Philip. 
He worked thirty years on preparing this book 
and at one time it was extremely popular and 
had great influence on the young. Baron 
Jean Baptiste Clootz (1755-1794), a Prussian 
brought up in France, assumed the name of 
Anacharsis after travelling about Greece and 
other countries in search of knowledge. He 
was caught up in the Revolution, when he 
took to himself the title of The Orator of the 
Human Race. He was guillotined by Robes- 
pierre in 1794. 

Anachronism (Gr. ana chronos , out of time). 
An event placed at a wrong date. 

Shakespeare has several more or less glaring 
examples. In Henry IV, Ft. I, II, v, the carrier 
complains that the turkeys in his pannier are 
quite starved; whereas turkeys were introduced 
from America, which was not discovered until 
a century after Henry’s time. Again, in 
Julius Ccesar , II, i, the clock strikes and 
Cassius says, “The clock has stricken three.” 


But striking clocks were not invented until 
some 1400 years after the days of Caesar. 
The great mine of literary anachronisms is 
to be found in the mediaeval romances of 
chivalry, where Charlemagne, Edward IV, 
Saracens and Romans all appear as living 
persons. 

Anaclethra. Another name for the agelasta 

(<7.v.). 

Anacreon (5 n§k' ri dn). A Greek lyric poet, 
who wrote chiefly in praise of love and wine 
( c . 563-478 b.c.). 

Anacreon Moore. Thomas Moore (1779- 
1852), who not only translated Anacreon into 
English, but also wrote original poems in the 
same style. 

Anacreon of Painters. Francesco Albano, 
a painter of beautiful women (1578-1660). 

Anacreon of the Guillotine. Bertrand Bardre 
de Vieuzac (1755-1841), president of the 
National Convention; so called from the 
flowery language and convivial jests used by 
him towards his miserable victims. 

Anacreon of the Temple. Guillaume Am* 
frye (1639-1720), abbe de Chaulieu; French 
man of letters and man of the world; called by 
Voltaire (whom he encouraged) “ the greatest 
of neglected poets.” 

Anacreon of the Twelfth Century. Walter 
Mapes (r. 1140-1210), also called “The 

Jovial Toper.” His best-known piece is the 
famous drinking-song, “Meum est propositum 
in taberna mori.” 

The French Anacreon. Pontus de Thiard, 
one of the Pleiad poets (1521-1605); also 
P. Laujon (1727-1811). 

The Persian Anacreon. Hafiz (b. Shirza, 
d. c. 1389), greatest of Persian poets; his 
collected odes are known as The Duan . 

The Scottish Anacreon. Alexander Scot, who 
flourished about 1550. 

The Sicilian Anacreon. Giovanni Meli 
(1740-1815). 

Anagram (Gr. ana g raphe in , to write over 
again). A word or phrase formed by trans- 
posing and writing over again the letters of 
some other word or phrase. Among the 
many famous examples are: — 

Dame Eleanor Davies (prophetess in the r$gn'*of 
Charles I) — Never so mad a ladie. 

Gustavus— Augustus. 

Horatio Nelson — Honor est a Nilo. 

Queen Victoria’s Jubilee — l require love in a subject. 

Quid est Veritas ( John xviii, 38)?=* Vir est qul adest . 

Marie Touchet (mistress of Charles DC, of France) 
= Je charme tout (made by Henry IV). 

Voltaire is an anagram qf Arouet l(c)j(cune). 

* 

These arc interchangeable words : — 

Alcuinus and Calvtnus; Amor and Roma; Eros 
and Rose; Evil and Live; and many^nore. 

Ananas (Peruvian nartas). The pineapple. 
Through the final “s” having been mistaken 
for the sign of the plural, an erroneous 
singular, anana , is sometimes used: — 

Witness thou, best Anana! thou the pride 
Of vegetable life. 

Thomson: Summer , 685. 


Anastasia 


32 


Andiron 


Anastasia, St. (an as ta' zi a). A saint mar- 
tyred in the reign of Nero, and commemorated 
on April 15. Her emblems are a stake and 
faggots, with a palm branch in her hand. 

Anathema (a nath' i ma). A denunciation or 
curse. The word is Greek, and means “a 
thing devoted'* — originally, a thing devoted 
to any purpose, e.g . to the gods, but later only 
a thing devoted to evil, hence, an accursed 
thing. It has allusion to the custom of hang- 
ing in the temple of a patron god something 
devoted to him. Thus Gordius hung up his 
yoke and beam; the shipwrecked hung up 
their wet clothes; retired workmen hung up 
their tools; cured cripples their crutches, etc. 

Anatomy. He was like an anatomy — />. a 
mere skeleton, very thin, like one whose flesh 
had been anatomized or cut off. Shakespeare 
uses atomy as a synonym. Thus in Henry lV y 
Part //, V, iv. Quickly says to the Beadle: 
“ Thou atomy, thou ! ” and Doll Tcarsheet caps 
the phrase with, “ Come, you thin thing; 
come, you rascal.” 

Ancaeus (an sc' us). Helmsman of the ship 
Argo, after the death of Tiphys. He was told 
by a slave that he would never live to taste the 
wine of his vineyards. When wine from his 
own grapes was set before him on his return, he 
sent for the slave to laugh at his prognostica- 
tions; but the slave made answer, ‘There’s 
many a slip ’twixt the cup and the lip.’* At 
this instant a messenger came in, and told 
Ancaeus that the Calydonian boar was laying 
his vineyard waste, whereupon he set down his 
cup, went out against the boar, and was killed 
in the encounter. 

Anchor. In Christian symbolism the anchor 
is the sign of hope, in allusion to Heb. vi, 19, 
“Hope we have as an anchor of the soul.’* 
In art it is an attribute of Clement of Rome 
and Nicholas of Bari. Pope Clement, in a.d. 
80, was bound to an anchor and cast into the 
sea; Nicholas of Bari is the patron saint of 
sailors. 

The anchor is apeak. That is, the cable of 
the anchor is so tight that the ship is drawn 
completely over it. 

The anchor comes home. The anchor has 
been dragged from its hold. Figuratively, 
th£ enterprise has failed, notwithstanding the 
precautions employed. 

To weigh anchor. To haul in the anchor, 
that the ship mav sail away from its mooring. 
Figuratively, to begin an enterprise which has 
hung on hand. 

Anchor light. A white light shown from 
the forward part of an anchored vessel and 
visible all round the horizon. 

Anchor watcli. A watch of one or two men, 
while the vessel rides at anchor, in port. See 
Bower Anchor; Sheet Anchor. 

Swallowing the anchor. A sailor is said to 
do so when he retires from the sea and settles 
on land. 


Anchorite (ang' kor It). This is from a Greek 
word meaning “recluse,” and it was applied 
to those who retired to the desert or solitary 
places for a life of contemplation and religious 
exercises. The classes of such ascetics arc: 
monks , who adopt a secluded form of life but 
live in community; hermits , who withdraw to 
desert places but live in caves and occupy 
themselves manually; anchorites, who choose 
the greatest solitudes and deny themselves 
shelter and all but a minimum of food. 

Ancien Regime (Fr.). The old order of things; 
a phrase used during the French Revolution 
for the old Bourbon monarchy, or the system 
of government, with all its evils, which existed 
prior to that great change. 

Ancient. A corruption of ensign — a flag and 
the officer who bore it. Pistol was Falstaff’s 
and Iago Othello’s. 

’Tis one Iago, ancient to the general. 

Othello , II, 

My whole charge consists of ancients, corporals, 
lieutenants, gentlemen of companies. . . . 

Henry IV, Parti, IV, ii. 

Ancient Lights on a notice board means that 
for at least 20 years uninterruptedly a certain 
window has admitted light, and no building 
may be erected that shall so darken this window 
as to exclude light. 

Ancient Mariner. The story in Coleridge’s 
Rime of the Ancient Mariner (first published 
in the Lyrical Ballads , 1798) is founded partly 
on a dream told by the author’s friend, 
Cruickshank, and partly on passages in various 
books that he had read. Wordsworth told 
him the story of the privateer George Shcl- 
vocke who, while rounding Cape Horn in the 
Speedwell , in 1720, shot a black albatross. 
For many weeks following the vessel encoun- 
tered bad weather, being driven hither and 
thither before making the coast of Chile, 
and this ill luck was attributed to the shooting 
of the bird. Thomas James’s Strange and 
Dangerous Voyage (1683) is thought to have 
suggested some of the more eerie episodes, 
while the Letter of St. Paulinas to Macarius , 
in which he relates astounding wonders con - 
cerning the shipwreck of an old man (1618), 
giving a story of how there is only one sur- 
vivor of a crew and how the ship was 
navigated by angels and steered by “the 
Pilot of the World,” may have furnished the 
basis of part of the Rime. 

Ancient of Days. A scriptural name given 
to God ( Dan . vii, 9). 

Ancile (an' sil). The Palladium of Rome; the 
sacred buckler said to have fallen from heaven 
in the time of Nurna. To prevent its being 
stolen, he caused eleven others to be made 
precisely like it, and confided them to the 
twelve Salii, dancing priests of Mars {see 
Salif.ns), who bore them in procession through 
the city every year at the beginning of March. 

& (And). See Ampersand. 

Andiron (andTrbn). A fire-dog; that is, a 
contrivance consisting of a short horizontal 
bar projecting from an upright stand or rod, 
the whole usually of iron, for the purpose of 




Andrea Ferrara 


33 


Angel-beast 


holding up the ends of logs in a wood fire. 
Though the contrivance is made of iron the 
word originally had nothing to do with the 
metal, but is from the Old French andier , after 
the Late Latin andedus , andena , or anderius. 
The English form of the word — like the Latin — 
has, even in modern times, had many varia- 
tions, such as end-iron and hand-iron. And- 
irons are also known as dogs, or fire-dogs. 

Andrea Ferrara (an dra' a fe ra' r&). A sword, 
also called, from the same cause, an Andrew 
and a Ferrara . All these expressions are 
common in Elizabethan literature. So called 
from a famous 16th-century sword-maker of 
the name. 

Here’s old tough Andrew . . . 

John Fletcher: The Chances (1618). 
Andrew, a name used in old plays for a valet 
or manservant. See Merry Andrew. 

Andrew, St., depicted in Christian art as 
an old man with long white hair and beard, 
holding the Gospel in his right hand, and lean- 
ing on a St. Andrew’s cross. His day is 
November 30th. it is said that he suffered 
martyrdom in Patras (a.d. 70). See Rule, St. 

Androcles and the Lion (an dro' klez). An 
Oriental apologue on the benefits to be 
expected as a result of gratitude; told in 
AEsop, and by Aldus Gellius, in the Gesta 
Romanorum , etc., but of unknown antiquity. 

Androcles was a runaway slave who took 
refuge in a cavern. A lion entered, and 
instead of tearing him to pieces, lifted up his 
fore paw that Androcles might extract from it 
a thorn. The slave being subsequently cap- 
tured was doomed to fight with a lion in the 
Roman arena. It so happened that the same 
lion was let out against him, and recognizing 
his benefactor, showed towards him every 
demonstration of love and gratitude. Bernard 
Shaw wrote a play based on the story. 

Android. An old name for an automaton 
figure resembling a human being (Gr. andros- 
eidos, a man’s likeness). 

Andromache (an drom' a ki). In Greek legend 
she was the wife of Hector, subsequently of 
Neoptolemus, and finally of Helenus, Hec- 
tor’s brother. It is also the title of a play of 
Euripides. 

Andromeda (an drom' c da). Daughter of 
Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Her mother boasted 
that the beauty of Andromeda surpassed that 
of the Nereids; so the Nereids induced Neptune 
to send a sea-monster to the country, and an 
oracle declared that Andromeda must be given 
up to it. She was accordingly chained to a 
rock, but was delivered by Perseus, who 
married her and, at the wedding, slew Phincus, 
to whom she had been previously promised, 
with all his companions. After death she was 
placed among the stars. 

Angary, Right of. The right of a belligerent, 
under stress of necessity, to confiscate or 
destroy neutral property, especially shipping, 
subject to claim for compensation. 

Angel. In post-canonical and apocalyptic 
literature angels arc grouped in varying orders, 
and the hierarchy thus constructed was 
adapted to Church uses by the early Christian 


Fathers. In his De Hierarchia Celesti the 
pseudo-Dionysius (early 5th century) gives the 
names of the nine orders; they are taken from 
the Old Testament, Eph . i, 21, and Col . i, 16, 
and are as follows: — 

Seraphim and Cherubim, in the first circle. 
Thrones and Dominions, in the second, 
Virtues, Powers, Principalities, 

Archangels and Angels in the third. 

Botticelli’s great picture. The Assumption 
of the Virgin , in the National Gallery, London, 
well illustrates the mediaeval conception of the 
“ triple circles.” 

The seven holy angels are — Michael, 
Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Chamuel, Jophiel, 
and Zadkiel. Michael and Gabriel are men- 
tioned in the Bible, Raphael in the Apocrypha, 
and all in the apocryphal book of Enoch 
(viii, 2). 

Milton (Paradise Lost t Bk. I, 392) gives a 
list of the fallen angels. 

Mohammedans say that angels were created 
from pure, bright gems ; the genii, of fire; and 
man, of clay. 

Angel. An obsolete English coin, current 
from the time of Edward IV to that of 
Charles I, its full name being the Angel- 
noble, as it was originally a reissue of the 
noble (r/.r.), bearing the figure of the archangel 
Michael slaying the dragon. Its value varied 
from 6s. 8d. in 1465 (when first coined) to 
10s. under Edward VI. It was the coin 
presented to persons touched for the King’s 
Evil ( q.v .). 

Angel. In modern theatrical parlance the 
word is used to denote the financial backer to 
a play. 

Angel. See Public-house Signs. 


On the side of the angels. See Side. 

Angel of the Schools. St. Thomas Aquinas. 

See Angelic Doctor. 


Angels of Mons. The 3rd and 4th Divisions 
of the Old Contemptibles, under the command 
of Gen. Smith-Dorrien, w ere sorely pressed in 
the retreat from Mons, August 26th and 27th, 
1914. Their losses were heavy, and that they 
survived at all was by some attributed to 
divine interposition. Writing from Fleet 
Street, Arthur Machen, a London journalist, 
described with great verisimilitude the host of 
angels who, clad in conventional white and 
armed with flaming swords, held back the 
might of the German First Army. What at 
first had been a “might have been” became 
with some a “had been”; the Angels of Mons 
thus grew into a phrase and a fable. 


Angel-beast. A 17th-century card-game. 
Five cards were dealt to each player, and three 
heaps formed — one for the king, one for play, 
and the third for Triolet. The. name of the 
game was la bite (beast), and an angel was a 
usual stake; hence the full name, much as we 
speak of “halfpenny nap,” or “shilling 
bridge.” 

This gentleman offers to play at Angel-beast, 
though he scarce knows the cards. — Sedley : Mtd~ 
berry Garden (1668). 


Angel visits 


34 


Animals 


Angel visits. Delightful intercourse of 
short duration and rare occurrence. 

Like angel visits, few and far between. 

Campbell: Pleasures of Hope, IT, 378. 

Angel-water. An old Spanish cosmetic, 
made of roses, trefoil, and lavender. So 
called because it was originally made chiefly 
of angelica. 

Angel-water was the worst scent about her. 

Sedley: Be 1 1 am . 

Angelic Brothers. A sect of Dutch Pietists 
founded in the 16th century by George Gichtel. 
Their views on marriage were similar to those 
held by the Abelites and Adamites ( qq.v .). 

Angelic Doctor. Thomas Aquinas was so 
called, because of the purity and excellence of 
his teaching. His exposition of the most 
recondite problems of theology and philosophy 
was judged to be the fruit of almost more than 
human intelligence, and within the present 
century a Pope has laid it down that from St. 
Thomas and his Summa Theologica all teaching 
must derive. 

Angelic Hymn, The. The hymn beginning 
with Glory to God in the highest , etc. ( Luke 
ii, 14); so called because the former part of 
it was sung by the angel host that appeared 
to the shepherds of Bethlehem. 

Angelic Salutation, The. The Ave Maria 
(tf-v.). 

Angelica (an jel' i k&). This beautiful but 
fickle young woman was the heroine of 
Boiardo’s Orlando Innamorato and Ariosto’s 
Orlando Furioso . Orlando's unrequited love 
for her drove him mad. The name was used 
also by Congreve for the principal character 
in Love for Love and by Farquhar in The 
Constant Couple and Sir Harry Wildair. 

Angelical Stone. The speculum of Dr. Dee. 
Hfe asserted that it was given him by the angels 
Raphael and Gabriel. It passed into the 
possession of the Earl of Peterborough, thence 
to Lady Betty Germaine, by whom it was given 
to the Duke of Argyll, whose son presented it 
to Horace Walpole. It was sold in 1 842, at the 
dispersal of the curiosities of Strawberry Hill. 
Angelus, The (an' je lus). A Roman Catholic 
devotion in honour of the Incarnation, con- 
sisting of three texts, each said as versicle 
and response and followed by the Ave Maria, 
and a prayer. So called from the first words, 
“Angelus Domini’* (The Angel of the Lord, 
etc.). 

The prayer is recited three times a day, at 
6 a.m., noon, and 6 p.m., at the sound of a 
bell called the Angelus. 

Angevin Kings of England (&n'jevin). The 
early Plantagenet kings, from Henry II to 
John. Anjou first became connected with 
England in 1127, when Matilda, daughter of 
Henry I, married Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou; 
their son became Henry If of England (and 
Count of Anjou), and until 1205 Anjou was 
united to the English crown. Cp . Planta- 
genet. 

Angle, A Dead. A term applied in old books 
on fortification to the ground before an angle 
in a wall which can neither be seen nor 
defended from the parapet. 


Angle with a silver hook. To buy fish at the 
market; said of an angler who, having been 
unsuccessful, purchases fish that will enable 
him to conceal his failure. 

The Father of Angling. Izaak Walton 
(1593-1683). See Gentle Craft, The. 

Angles. Non Angli, sed angeli (Not Angles, 
but angels). Pope Gregory the Great (reigned 
590-604) who sent St. Augustine to convert 
the English, is said to have made this remark. 
He saw some fair-haired boys from England 
in the Roman slave market and inquired about 
them. On being told that they were Angles, 
he said, “Not Angles, but Angels — had they 
but the Gospel.” 

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This relates the 
history of England from the birth of Christ to 
1154. It is written in Old English prose, and 
was probably begun in the time of Alfred the 
Great. It is valuable for the information it 
gives regarding the 8th and 9th centuries. 

Angra Mainyu. See Ahriman. 

Angry Young Men. Name applied to certain 
living British dramatists, particularly John 
Osborne, from wTose play Look Back in Anger 
(1956) the term wars derived. Though not a 
school or a coterie in the usual senses, these 
dramatists are characterized by dissatisfaction 
with current social, moral, political, and intel- 
lectual values. 

Angurvadel. Frithiof’s sword, inscribed with 
runic letters, which blazed in time of war, but 
gleamed with a dim light in time of peace. 
See Sword. 

Anima Mundi (&n' i ma mun' di) (Eat. the soul 
of the world), with the oldest of the ancient 
philosophers meant “the source of life”; 
with Plato, it meant “the animating principle 
of matter”, inferior to pure spirit; with the 
Stoics, it meant “ the whole vital force of the 
universe”. 

G. E. Stahl (1660-1734) taught that the 
phenomena of animal life are due to an im- 
mortal anima , or vital principle distinct from 
matter. 

Animals in art. Some animals are appro- 
priated to certain saints: as the calf or ox to 
St. Luke; the cock to St. Peter; the eagle to 
St. John the Divine; the lion to St. Mark and 
St. Jerome; the raven to St. Benedict, etc. 

Animals In Heaven. According to 
Mohammedan legend the following ten ani- 
mals have been allowed to enter naradisc: — 

(1) Jonah’s whale; (2) Solomon’s ant; 
(3) the ram caught by Abraham and sacrificed 
instead of Isaac; (4) the lapwing of Balkis; 
(5) the camel of the prophet Saleh ; (6) Balaam’s 
ass; (7) the ox of Moses; (8) the dog Kratim 
of the Seven Sleepers; (9) A1 Borak, Moham- 
med’s ass; and (10) Noah’s dove. 

Animals in symbolism. The Iamb, the 
pelican, and the unicorn, arc symbols of 
Christ. 

The dragon, serpent, and swine, symbolize 
Satan and his crew. 

The ant symbolizes frugality and prevision; 
ape, uncleanness, malice, lust, and cunning; 




Animals 


35 


Annie Laurie 


ass, stupidity; bantam cock, pluckiness, prig- 
gishness; bat, blindness; bear, ill-temper, un- 
couthncss; bee, industry; beetle, blindness; 
bull, strength, straightforwardness; bull-dog, 
pertinacity; butterfly, sportiveness, living in 
pleasure; calf, lumpishness, cowardice; camel, 
submission; cat, deceit; cicada, poetry; cock, 
vigilance, overbearing insolence; crocodile, 
hypocrisy; crow, longevity; cuckoo, cuckol- 
dom; dog, fidelity, dirty habits; dove, inno- 
cence, harmlessness; duck, deceit (French, 
canard , a hoax); eagle, majesty, inspiration; 
elephant, sagacity, ponderosity; fly, feeble- 
ness, insignificance; fox, cunning, artifice; 
frog and toad, inspiration; goat, lascivious- 
ness; goose conceit, folly; grasshopper, old 
age; gull, gullibility; hare, timidity; hawk, 
rapacity, penetration; hen, maternal care; 
hog, impurity; horse, speed, grace; jackdaw, 
vain assumption, empty conceit; jay, senseless 
chatter; kitten, playfulness; lamb, innocence, 
sacrifice; lark, cheerfulness; leopard, sin; lion, 
noble courage; lynx, suspicious vigilance; 
magpie, garrulity; mole, blindness, obtuse- 
ness; monkey, tricks; mule, obstinacy; 
nightingale, forlornness; ostrich, stupidity; 
owl, wisdom ; ox, patience, strength, and pride; 
parrot, mocking verbosity; peacock, pride; 
pig, obstinacy, dirtiness, gluttony; pigeon, 
cowardice (pigeon-livered); puppy, conceit; 
rabbit, fecundity; raven, ill luck; robin red- 
breast, confiding trust; serpent, wisdom; sheep, 
silliness, timidity; sparrow, lasciviousness; 
.spider, wiliness; stag, cuckoldom; swan, 
grace; tiger, ferocity; tortoise, chastity; turkey- 
cock, official insolence; turtle-dove, conjugal 
fidelity; vulture, rapine; wolf, cruelly, ferocity; 
worm, cringing; etc. 


Animals sacred to special deities. To 
Aisculapius, the serpent; to Apollo, the wolf, 
the grilTon, and the crow; to Bacchus, the 
dragon and the panther; to Diana, the stag; 
to Hercules, the deer; to Isis, the heifer; to 
Juno, the peacock and the lamb; to Jupiter, 
the eagle; to the Lares, the dog; to Mars, the 
horse and the vulture; to Mercury, the cock; 
to Minerva, the owl; to Neptune, the bull; to 
Tcthys, the halcyon; to Venus, the dove, the 
swan, and the sparrow; to Vulcan, the lion, 
etc. 


Animals, Cries of. To the cry, call, or voice 
of many animals a special name is given; to 
apply these names indiscriminately is always 
wrong and frequently ludicrous. Thus, we 
do not speak of the “ croak ” of a dog or the 
“ bark ’* of a bee. Apes gibber; asses bray; 
bears growl; bees hum; beetles drone; bitterns 
boom; blackbirds and thrushes whistle; bulls 
bellow; calves bleat; cats mew, purr, swear, 
and caterwaul; chaffinches chirp and pink; 
chickens peep; cocks crow; cows moo or 
low; crows caw; cuckoos cry cuckoo; deer 
bell; dogs bark, bay, howl, and yelp; doves 
coo; ducks quack; eagles, vultures, and 
peacocks scream; falcons chant; flies buzz; 
foxes bark and yelp; frogs croak; geese 
cackle and hiss; grasshoppers chirp and pitter; 
guineafowls cry “Come back"; and guinea- 
pigs and hares squeak; hawks scream; hens 
cackle and cluck; horses neigh and whinny; 
hyenas laugh; jays and magpies chatter; 

2 * 


kittens mew; linnets chuckle in their call; 
lions and tigers roar and growl; mice squeak 
and squeal; monkeys chatter and gibber; 
nightingales pipe and warble — we also speak 
of its “jug-jug”: owls hoot and screech; 
oxen low and bellow; parrots talk; peewits cry 
pee-wit ; pigs grunt, squeak, and squeal ; pigeons 
coo; ravens croak; rooks caw; screech- 
owls screech or shriek; sheep and lambs baa 
or bleat; snakes hiss; sparrows chirp; stags 
bellow and call; swallows twitter; swans cry 
and are said to sing just before death ( see 
Swan); turkey-cocks gobble; wolves howl. 
Most birds, besides many of those here 
mentioned, sing, but we speak of the chick- 
chick of the black-cap, the drumming of the 
grouse, and the chirr of the whitethroat. 

Animosity meant originally animation, spirit, 
as the fire of a horse, called in Latin equi 
animositas. Its present exclusive use in a 
bad sense is an instance of the tendency which 
words originally neutral have come to assume 
a bad meaning. 

Animula, vagula, etc. (an im' G D vag' G Id). 
The opening of a poem to his soul, ascribed 
by his biographer, AElius Spartianus, to the 
dying Emperor Hadrian: — 

Animula, vagula, blandula, 

Hospcs, comesque corporis; 

Quae nunc abibis in loca, 

Pallidula, rigida, nudula; 

Ncc ut soles, dabis jocos! 

It was Englished by Byron: — 

Ah! gentle, fleeting, wavering sprite. 

Friend and associate of this clay! 

To what unknown region borne, 

Wilt thou now wing thy distant flight? 

No more with wonted humour gay. 

But pallid, cheerless, and forlorn. 

Ann, Mother. Ann Lee (1736-1784), the 
founder and “ spiritual mother ” of the 
American Society of Shakers ( q.v .). 

Annabel, in Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophcl , 
is designed for Anne Scott, Duchess of Mon- 
mouth and Countess of Buccleuch, the richest 
heiress in Europe. The Duke was faithless to 
her, and, after his death, the widow, still 
handsome, married again. 

To all his [Monmouth’s] wishes, nothing he [David] 
denied; 

And made the charming Annabel his bride. 

I, 33. 

Annates (&n' atz) (Lat. anrtus, a year). One 
entire year's income claimed by the Pope on 
the appointment of a bishop or other ecclesias- 
tic in the Catholic Church, also called the 
first fruits . By the Statute of Recusants 
(25 Hen. VIII, c. 20, and the Confirming Act), 
the right to English Annates and Tenths was 
transferred to the Crown; but, in the reign of 
Queen Anne, annates were given up to form a 
fund for the augmentation of poor livings. 
See Queen Anne v s Bounty, 

Anne's Great Captain. The Duke of Marl- 
borough (1650-1722). 

Annie Laurie was eldest of the three daughters 
of Sir Robert Laurie, of Maxwelton, bom 
December 16th, 1682. William Douglas, of 
Fingland (Kirkcudbright), wrote the popular 
song, but Annie married, in 1709, Alexander 
Fergusson, of Craigdarroch, and was the 




Annie Oakley 


36 


St. Anthony’s Pig 


randmother of Alexander Fergusson, the 
ero of Burns’s song called The Whistle . 

Annie Oakley. See Oakley. 

Anno Domini (an' 6 dom' i ni) (Lat.). In the 
Year of our Lord; i.e. in the year since the 
Nativity: generally abbreviated to “a.d.” It 
was Dionysius Exiguus who fixed the date of 
the Nativity; he lived in the early 6th century, 
and his computation is probably late by some 
three to six years. 

The phrase is sometimes used as a slang 
synonym for old age; thus, “Anno Domini 
is his trouble,” means that he is suffering from 
senile decay. 

Annunciation, The Feast of the. March 25th, 
also called Lady Day , on which the angel 
announced to the Virgin Mary that she would 
be the mother of the Messiah. 

Order of the Annunciation. An Italian 
order of military knights, founded as the 
Order of the Collar by Amadeus VI of Savoy 
in 1362, and dating under its present name 
from 1518. It has on its collar the letters 
FERT. Fert (Lat. he bears) is an ancient 
motto of the House of Savoy; but the letters 
have also been interpreted as standing for the 
initials of Fortitudo Ejus Rhodum Tenuity in 
allusion to the succour rendered to Rhodes 
by Savoy in 1310; Fcedere et Reliyione 
Tenemury on the gold doubloon of Victor 
Amadeus I (1718-1730); or, Fortitudo Ejus 
Rempublicam Tenet . 

Sisters of the Annunciation. See Fran- 
ciscans. 

Annus Luctus (an' us luk' tus) (Lat. the year 
of mourning). The period during which a 
widow is supposed to remain unmarried. If 
she marries within about nine months from 
the death of her husband and a child is born, 
a doubt might arise as to its paternity. Such 
a marriage is not illegal. 

Annus Mirabilis (an' us mir ab' i lis). The 
year of wonders, 1666, memorable for the 
great fire of London and the successes of 
English arms over the Dutch. Dryden wrote a 
poem with this title, in which he described 
both these events. 

Anodyne Necklace, An. An anodyne is a 
medicine to relieve pain, and the anodyne 
necklace was an amulet supposed to be 
efficacious against various diseases. In John- 
son’s Idler , No. 40, we read : — 

The true pathos of advertisements must have sunk 
deep into the heart of every man that remembers the 
zeal shown by the seller of the anodyne necklace , 
for the ease and safety of poor toothing infants. 

The term soon came to be applied to the 
hangman’s noose, and we have George Prim- 
rose saying: — 

May I die by an anodyne necklace, but I had 
rather be an under-turnkey than an usher in a board- 
ing-school. — Goldsmith: Vicar of Wakefield, ch. xx. 

Anon. The O.E. on ane , in one (state, mind, 
course, body, etc.), the present meaning — 
soon t in a little while — being a misuse of the 
earlier meaning — straightway , at once — much 
as directly and immediately are misused. 
Mark i, 30, gives an instance of the old 
meaning — 

But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and 
anon they tell him of her. 


This is the Authorized Version; the Revised 
Version gives straightway . Wordsworth’s — 
Fast the churchyard fills; — anon 
Look again, and they all are gone. 

White Doc of Ry 1st one, I, 31. 

exemplifies the later meaning. The word 
also was used by servants, tapsters, etc., as 
an intcrjcctory reply meaning “Coming, sir!” 

Answer is the O.E. and-sworu, verb and - 
swarian or swerian, where ami is the preposi- 
tion ^the Lat. re in re-spond-eo. To swear 
( q.v .) means literally “to affirm something”, 
and to an-swear is to “say something” by 
way of rejoinder. 

To answer its purpose. To carry out what 
was expected or what was intended. 

To answer more Scotico. To divert the 
direct question by starting another question 
or subject. 

Antaeus (an te' us), in Greek mythology, a 
gigantic wrestler (son of Earth and Sea, Ge 
and Poseidon), whose strength was invincible 
so long as he touched the earth. When he 
was lifted his strength diminished, but it was 
renewed by touching the earth again. 

Antarctica (an tark' tik a). The name given 
to the great continent that covers the region 
of the South Pole. Its area is about 5,000,000 
sq. miles. It contains mountains from 8,000 
to 15,000 ft. in height, with several volcanoes, 
of which only one, Mt. Erebus, is now active. 
There arc no land animals, but it is notable 
for its penguins. There is no international 
agreement as to territorial rights, which lie 
largely between Britain, the Commonwealth of 
Australia and Argentina. 

Antediluvian. Before the Deluge. The word 
is colloquially used in a disparaging way for 
anything that is very out of date. 

Anthology. The Greek anthology is a col- 
lection of several thousand short Greek poems 
by many authors of every period of Greek 
literature from the Persian war to the decad- 
ence of Byzantium. The most complete 
edition was published in 1794-1814. 

Anthony the Great, St. The patron saint of 
swineherds; he lived in the 4th century, and 
was the founder of the fraternity of ascetics 
who lived in the deserts. I he story of his 
temptations by the devil is well known in 
literature and art. His day is January 17th. 
Not to be confused w ith St. Anthony of Padua, 
who was a Franciscan of the 13th century, and 
is commemorated on June 13th. See also 
Tantony. 

St. Anthony’s fire. Erysipelas is so called 
from the tradition that those who sought the 
intercession of St. Anthony recovered from 
the pestilential erysipelas called the sacred 
fire , which proved so fatal in 1089. 

St. Anthony’s pig. A pet pig, the smallest 
of the litter, also called the “tantony pig” 
(</.v.); in allusion to St. Anthony being tho 
patron saint of swineherds. 

The term is also used of a sponger or hanger- 
on. Stow says that the officers of the market 
used to slit the cars of pigs unfit for food. 



Anthroposophus 


37 


A-per-se 


One day one of the proctors of St, Anthony’s 
Hospital tied a bell about a pig whose ear 
was slit, and no one would ever hurt it. The 
pig would follow like a dog anyone who fed it. 

Anthroposophus (&n thro pos' 6 fiis). The 
nickname of Thomas Vaughan (1622-1666), 
the alchemist, twin-brother of Henry Vaughan, 
the Silurist. He was rector of St. Bridget’s in 
Brecknockshire, and was so called from his 
Artthroposophia Teomagica (1650), a book 
written to show the condition of man after 
death. 

Anthroposophy (an thro pos" 6 fi). The word 
comes from the Greek anthropos , a man, and 
sophia , knowledge, and is the name given to 
a system of esoteric philosophy enunciated by 
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) who deiined it as 
“the knowledge of the spiritual human being 
. . . and of everything which the spirit man 
can perceive in the spiritual world.” 

Anti-pope. A pope chosen or nominated by 
temporal authority in opposition to one 
canonically elected by the cardinals; or one 
who usurps the papacy: the term is par- 
ticularly applied to rival claimants to the 
papal Throne during the Great Schism of the 
West, 1309-1376. They are:— 

Nicholas V 1328-1330 Clement XIII 1424-1429 

Clement VII 1378-1394 Benedict XIV 1424 

Benedict XIII 1394-1424 Felix V 1439-1449 

Antic Hay. See Hay. 

Antichrist. The many legends connected 
with Antichrist, or the Man of Sin, expected 
by some to precede the second coming of 
Christ, that were so popular in the Middle 
Ages, arc chiefly founded on II Thess. ii, 1-12, 
and Rev. xiii. In ancient times Antichrist 
was identified with Caligula, Nero, etc., and 
there is little doubt that in II Thess. ii, 7, St. Paul 
was referring to the Roman Empire. Mo- 
hammed was also called Antichrist, and the 
name has been given to many disturbers of 
the world’s peace, even to Napoleon and to 
William 11 of Germany (see Number of the 
Beast). The Mohammedans have a legend 
that Christ will slay the Antichrist at the gate 
of the church at Lydda, in Palestine. 

Antigone (an tig' 6 ni). The subject of a 
tragedy by Sophocles; she was the daughter 
of (1- dipus by his mother, Jocasta. In con- 
sequence of disobeying an edict of Crcon she 
was imprisoned in a cave, where she slew 
herself. She was famed for her devotion to her 
brother, Polynices, hence the Duchess of 
Angouleme (1778-1851), sister and prison 
companion of Louis XVII, was sometimes 
called the Modern Antigone. 

Antimony (an' ti mon i). A word of unknown, 
but (as it was introduced through alchemy) 
probably of Arabian, origin. “Popular 
etymology” has been busy with this word, 
and Johnson — copying earlier writers — in his 
Dictionary derives it from the Greek antimon - 
achos (bad for monks), telling the story that 
a prior once gave some of this mineral to 
his convent pigs, who thrived upon it, and 
became very fat. He next tried it on the 
monks, who died from its effects. 


Antinomian (an ti no' mi an) (Gr. anti-nomos t 
exempt from the law). One who believes that 
Christians are not bound to observe the “law 
of God,” but “may continue in sin that grace 
may abound.” The term was first applied 
to John Agricola by Martin Luther, and was 
given to a sect that arose in Germany about 
1535. 

Antinous (an tin' 6 us). A model of manly 
beauty. He was the page of Hadrian, the 
Roman Emperor. 

Antiquarian. A standard size of drawing 
paper measuring 53 in. by 31 in. 

Antisthenes (an tis' the nez). Founder of the 
Cynic School in Athens, born about 444 b.c., 
died about 370. He wore a ragged cloak, 
and carried a wallet and staff like a beggar. 
Socrates, whose pupil he was, wittily said he 
could “see rank pride peering through the 
holes of Antisthenes’ rags.” 

Antoninus (an to nl' nus). The Wall of Anto- 
ninus. A wall of regularly laid sods resting 
on a stone pavement, built by the Romans 
about 100 miles north of Hadrian’s Wall, 
from Dumbarton on the Clyde to Carriden on 
the Forth, under the direction of Lollius Urbi- 
cus, governor of the province under Antoninus 
Pius, about a.d. 140. It was probably some 
14 ft. thick at the base and about the same 
height ; it was fortified at frequent intervals, and 
was fronted by a deep ditch. 

Antrustions (an trQs' ti onz) (O.Fr. ; from 
O.H.Ger. Trost y trust, fidelity). The chief 
followers of the Frankish kings, who were 
specially trusty to them. 

None but the king could have antrustions. 

Stubbs: Constitutional History, I, ix. 

Anubis (& nu' bis). In Egyptian mythology 
similar to the Hermes of Greece, whose office 
it was to take the souls of the dead before the 
judge of the infernal regions. Anubis was 
the son of Osiris the judge, and is represented 
with a human body and jackal’s head. 

Anvil. It is on the anvil, under deliberation; 
the project is in hand. 

Anzac. Word coined in 1915 from the 
initials of Australian and New Zealand Army 
Corps. It was then applied to the area in 
Gallipoli where those troops landed. The 
word was used again in World War II. 

Anzac Day. April 25th, commemorating 
the landing of the Corps in Gallipoli in 1915. 

Anzac Pact. The agreement between Aus- 
tralia and New Zealand in 1944. 

Aonian (a 6' ni an). Poetical, pertaining to 
the Muses. The Muses, according to Greek 
mythology, dwelt in Aonia, that part of Boeotia 
which contains Mount Helicon and the Muses’ 
Fountain. Milton speaks of “the Aonian 
mount” ( Paradise Lost , I, 15), and Thomson 
calls the fraternity of poets 
The Aonian hive 

Who praised are, and starve right merrily. 

Castle of Indolence , ii, 2. 

A outrance. See A l’outrance. 

A-per-se (a p£r se). An A 1 ; a person or thing 
of unusual merit. “A” all alone, with no 




A-pigga-back 


38 


Apollo 


one who can follow, nemo proximus aut 

ecundus . 

Chaucer calls Cresseide “the floure and 
A-per-se of Troi and Greek.'* 

London, thou art of town£s A-per-se. 

Dunbar (1501). 

A-pigga-back. See Pick-a-back. 

Apache (& p&ch' i). The name of a tribe of 
North American Indians, given to — or adopted 
by — the hooligans and roughs of Paris about 
the opening of the present century (in this case 
pronounced a p&sh'). The use of the name 
For this purpose has a curious parallel in the 
Mohocks of the 17th century. 

Ape. To copy, to imitate. 

The buffoon ape, in Dryden’s The Hind and 
the Panther , means the Freethinkers. 

Next her [the bear) the buffoon ape, as atheists use, 

Mimicked all sects, and had his own to choose. 

Part I. 39. 

He keeps them, like an ape, in the corner of 
his jaw; first mouthed, to be last swallowed 
t Hamlet , IV, ii). Most of the Old World 
monkeys have check pouches, which they use 
as receptacles for food. 

To lead apes in hell. It is an old saying 
(frequent in the Elizabethan dramatists) that 
this is the fate of old maids. Hence, ape-leader , 
an old maid. 

I will even take sixpence in earnest of the bear- 
ward. and lead his apes into hell. 

Shakespeare: Much Ado about Nothing, II, i. 

To play the ape, to play practical jokes; to 
play silly tricks; to make facial imitations, like 
an ape. 

To put an ape into your hood (or cap) — i.e. 
to make a fool of you. Apes were formerly 
carried on the shoulders of fools and simple- 
tons. 

To say an ape's paternoster, is to chatter with 
fright or cold, like an ape. One of the books 
in Rabelais’ “Library of St. Victor” is called 
“The Ape’s Paternoster.” 

Apelles (a pel' ez). A famous Grecian painter, 
contemporary with Alexander the Great. He 
was born at Colophon, on the coast of Asia 
Minor, and is known as the Chian painter — 
The Chian painter, when he was required 
To portrait Venus in her perfect hue. 

To make his work more absolute, desired 
Of all the fairest maids to have the view. 

Spenser: Dedicatory Sonnets, xvii. 

Apemantus (dp e m&n Tus). A churlish philo- 
sopher, in Timon of Athens. 

Apex. The topmost height, summit, or tiptop; 
originally the pointed olive-wood spike on the 
top of the cap of a Roman flamen; also the 
crest or spike of a helmet. 

Aphrodite (dT ro di ti) (Gr. aphros , foam). 
The Greek Venus; so called because she sprang 
from the foam of the sea. 

Aphrodite’s girdle. The cestus (q.v.). 

Apicius (a pis' i us) A gourmand. Marcus 
Gabius Apicius was a Roman gourmand of 
the time of Augustus and Tiberius, whose 
income being reduced by his luxurious living 
to only ten million sesterces, put an end to his 
life, to avoid the misery of being obliged to 
live on plain diet. 


Apis (a' pis). In Egyptian mythology, the bull 
of Memphis, sacred to Osiris of whose soul it 
was supposed to be the image. The sacred 
bull had to have natural spots on the forehead 
forming a triangle, and a half-moon on the 
breast. It was not suffered to live more than 
twenty-five years, when it was sacrificed and 
buried with great pomp. Cambyses, King 
of Persia (529-522 b.c.), and conqueror of 
Egypt, slew the sacred bull of Memphis with 
his own hands, and is said to have become mad 
in consequence. 

Apocalyptic Number. 666. See Number of 
THE BEAST. 

Apocrypha (& pok' ri fa) (Gr. apokrupto , hid- 
den); hence, of unknown authorship: the 
explanation given in the Preface to the 
Apocrypha in the 1539 Bible that the books are 
so called “because they were wont to be read 
not openly . . . but, as it were, in secret and 
apart” is not tenable. Those books included 
in the Septuagint and Vulgate versions of the 
Old Testament, but which, at the Reformation, 
were excluded from the Sacred Canon by the 
Protestants, mainly on the grounds that they 
were not originally written in Hebrew, and 
were not looked upon as genuine by the Jews. 
They are generally not included in Protestant 
Bibles in ordinary circulation, but in the 
Authorized Version, as printed in 1611, they 
are given immediately after the Old Testa- 
ment. The books are as follows: — 

I and II Esdras. Baruch, with the Epistle of Jcre- 
Tobit. miuh. 

Judith. The song of the Three Children. 

The rest of Esther. The Story of Susanna. 

Wisdom. The Idol Bel and the Dragon. 

Ecclesiasticus. The Prayer of Manasses. 

I and II Maccabees. 

The New Testament also has a large number 
of apocryphal books more or less attached to 
it; these consist of later gospels and epistles, 
apocalypses, etc., as well as such recently 
discovered fragments as the Login (sayings of 
Jesus) of the Oxyrhynchus papyrus. The best- 
known books of the New Testament apocrypha 
are: — 

Protevangelium, or the Book of James. 

Gospel of Nicodcmus, or the Acts of Pilate. 

The Ascent of James. 

The Acts of Paul and Thecla. 

Letters of Abgarus to Christ. 

Epistles of Paul to the Laodiceans, and to the 
Alexandrines, and the Third Epistle to the 
Corinthians. 

The Teaching of the Apostles (Didach6). 

The three books of the Shepherd of Hennas. 

Apollinarians (£ pol in ar' i anz). An heretical 
sect founded in the middle of the 4th century 
by Apollinaris, a presbyter of Laodicea. They 
denied that Christ had a human soul, and 
asserted that the Logos supplied its place. The 
heresy was condemned at the Council of 
Chalcedon, the fourth General Council, 451 . 

Apollo (a pol' d). In Greek and Roman myth- 
ology, son of Zeus and Leto (Latona), one 
of the great gods of Olympus, typifying the sun 
in its light- and life-giving as well as in its 
destroying power; often identified with Helios, 
the sun-god. He was god of music, poetry, 
and the healing art, the latter of which he 




Apollo 


39 


Apostles 


bestowed on his son, Aesculapius. He is 
represented in art as the perfection of youthful 
manhood. 

The fire-robed god, 

Golden Apollo. 

Shakespeare: Winter's Tale , IV, iv. 

A perfect Apollo is a model of manly 
beauty, referring to the Apollo Belvedere ( q.v .). 

Apollo of Portugal. Luis Camoens (c. 1 524- 
1580), author of the Lusiad ; the great 
Portuguese poet, who ended his days in 
poverty. 

Apollo Belvedere. An ancient marble 
statue, supposed to be a Roman-Greek copy of 
a bronze votive statue set up at Delphi in 
commemoration of the repulse of an attack 
by the Gauls on the shrine of Apollo in 279 b.c. 
It represents the god holding the remains of a 
bow, or (according to some conjectures) an 
asgis, in his left hand, and is called Belvedere 
from the Belvedere Gallery of the Vatican, 
where it stands, it was discovered in 1495 
amidst the ruins of Antium and was purchased 
by Pope Julius II. 

Apollodoros (& pol' 6 dor' us). Plato says: 
“Who would not rather be a man of sorrows 
than Apollodoros, envied by all for his 
enormous wealth, yet nourishing in his heart 
the scorpions of a guilty conscience?” (The 
Republic). This Apollodorus was the tyrant 
of Cassandrea. He obtained the supreme 
power in 379 b.c., exercised it with the utmost 
cruelty, and was put to death by Antigonos 
Gonatas. 

Apollonius of Tyana. (11 c. 4 b.c.). A 

Pythagorean philosopher. He professed to 
have powers of magic and it was he who 
discovered that the young Phoenician woman 
whom Mcnippus Lycius intended to \sed was 
in fact a serpent, or lamia. This story was 
noted by Robert Burton in his Anatomy of 
Melancholy , and it forms the subject of Keats's 
Lamia. 

Apollonius of Tyre. See Pericles. 

Apollyon ta poP yon). The Greek name of 
Abaddon (</.v.), king of hell and angel of the 
bottomless pit (Rev. ix, 11). His introduc- 
tion by Bunyan into the Pilgrim's Progress has 
made his name familiar. 

Aposiopcsis. See Quos ego. 

Apostate, The. Julian, the Roman emperor 
(331-363). He was brought up as a Christian, 
but on his accession to the throne (361) he 
announced his conversion to paganism and 
proclaimed the free toleration of all religions. 

A posteriori (a pos te' ri or' i) (Lat. from the 
latter). An a posteriori argument is proving 
the cause from the effect. Thus, if we see a 
watch we conclude there was n watchmaker. 
Robinson Crusoe inferred there was another 
human being on the desert island, because he 
saw a human footprint in the wet sand. It is 
thus that the existence and character of God 
arc inferred from His works. See A priori. 

Apostles. In the preamble of the statutes 
instituting the Order of St. Michael, founded in 
1469 by Louis XI, the archangel is styled “my 


lord,” and is created a knight. The apostles 
had been already ennobled and knighted. We 
read of “the Earl Peter,” “Count Paul,” 
“the Baron Stephen,” and so on. Thus, in 
the introduction of a sermon upon St. 
Stephen’s Day, wc have these lines: — 

Contes vous vueille la patron 
De St. Estieul le baron. 

The Apostles were gentlemen of bloude . . . and 
Christ . . . might, if He had esteemed of the vayne 
glorye of this world, have borne coat armour. 

The Blazon of Gentrie. 

The badges or symbols of the fourteen 
apostles {Le. the twelve original apostles with 
Matthias and Paul). 

Andrew, an X- shaped cross , because he was cruci- 
fied on one. 

Bartholomew, a knife , because he was flayed with 
a knife. 

James the Great, a scallop shelf a pilgrim's staff, 
or a gourd bottle , because he is the patron saint of 
pilgrims. See Scallop Shell. 

James the Less, a fuller's pole , because he was 
killed by a blow on the head with a pole, dealt him 
by Simeon the fuller. 

John, a cup with a winged serpent flying out of it , 
in allusion to the tradition about Aristodemos, 
priest of Diana, who challenged John to drink a 
cup of poison. John made the sign of a cross on 
the cup, Satan like a dragon flew from it, and John 
then drank the cup which was quite innocuous. 

Judas Iscariot, a bag , because he had the bag and 
“bare what was put therein” (John xii, 6). 

Jude, a club , because he was martyred with a club. 

Matthew, a hatchet or halberd , because he was 
slain at Nadabar with a halberd. 

Matthias, a battleaxe , because he was first stoned, 
and then beheaded with a battleaxe. 

Paul, a sword , because his head was cut off with 
a sword. The convent of La Lisla, in Spain, boasts 
of possessing the very instrument. 

Peter, a bunch of keys , because Christ gave him 
the “ke>s of the kingdom of heaven.” A cock , 
because he went out and wept bitterly when he heard 
the cock crow' (Matt, xxvi, 75). 

Philip, a long staff surmounted with a cross , because 
he suffered death by being suspended by the neck 
from a tall pillar. 

Simon, a saw , because he was sawn to death, 
according to tradition. 

Thomas, a lance , because he was pierced through 
the body, at Meliapore, with a lance. 

According to Catholic legend, seven of the 
Apostles are buried at Rome. 

Andrew lies buried at Amalfi (Naples). 

Bartholomew, at Rome, in the church of Bar- 
tholomew, on the Tiber Island. 

James the Great was buried at St. Jago de Com- 
postella, in Spain. 

James the Less, at Rome, in the church of SS. 
Philip and James. 

John, at Ephesus. 

Judf, at Rome. 

Matthew, at Salerno (Naples). 

Matthias, at Rome, in the church of St. Peter. 

Paul, at Rome, in the church of S. Paolo fuori le 
Mura. 

Peter, at Rome, in the church of St. Peter. 

Philip, at Rome. 

Simon or Simfon, at Rome. 

Thomas, at Ortona (Naples). (? Madras.) 

The supposed remains of Mark the Evangelist 
were buried at Venice, about 800. 

Luke the Evangelist is said to have been buried 
at Padua. 

N.B. — Italv claims thirteen of these apostles or 
evangelists — kome seven, Naples three, Mark at 
Venice, Luke at Padua, and Paul at Rome. 

See Evangelists. 



Apostles of 


40 


Apple 


Apostles of 

Abyssinians, St. Frumentius. (Fourth century.) 

Alps , Felix Neff. (1798-1829.) 

Andalusia , Juan de Avila. (1500-1569.) 

Ardennes , St. Hubert. (656-727.) 

Armenians , Gregory of Armenia, “The Illumina- 
tor.’* (256-331.) 

Brazil , Jos6 de Anchieta, a Jesuit missionary. 
(1533-1597.) 

English , St. Augustine. (Died 604.) St. George. 

Free Trade , Richard Cobden. (1804-1865.) 

French , St. Denis. (Third century.) 

Frisians, St. Willibrod. (657-738.) 

Ortw/5, St. lremeus (130-200); St. Martin of Tours. 
(338-401). 

Gentiles , St. Paul. 

Germany , St. Boniface. (680-755.) 

Highlanders , St. Columba. (521-597.) 

Hungary , St. Anastatius. (954-1044.) 

Indians {American), Bartolome de Las Casas 
(1474-1566); John Eliot. (1604-1690.) 

Indies {East), St. Francis Xavier. (1506-1552.) 

Infidelity , Voltaire. (1694-1778.) 

Ireland , St. Patrick. (373-463.) 

North , St. Ansgar or Anscarius, missionary to 
Scandinavia (780-864); Bernard Gilpin, Archdeacon 
of Durham, evangelist on the Scottish border. 
(1517-1583.) 

Peru , Alonzo de Barcena, a Jesuit missionary. 
(1528-1598.) 

Piets , St. Ninian. (Fifth century.) 

Scottish Reformers , John Knox. (1505-1572.) 

St. Cyril, (c. 820-S69.) 

Spain, St. James the Great. (Died 62.) 

The Sword , Mohammed. (570-632.) 

Temperance, Father Mathew. (1790-1856.) (^.r.) 

Yorkshire , Paulinus, bishop of York and Rochester. 
(Died 644.) 

Wales, St. David. (Died about 601.) 

Prince of the Apostles. St. Peter. {Matt. 
xvi, 18, 19.) 

Twelve Apostles. The last twelve names on 
the poll or list of ordinary degrees were so 
called, when the list was arranged in order of 
merit, and not alphabetically, as now; they 
were also called the Chosen Twelve. The last 
of the twelve was designated “St. Paul,” from 
a play on the verse I Cor. xv, 9. The same 
term was later applied to the last twelve in the 
Mathematical Tripos. 

Apostle spoons. Spoons having the figure 
of one of the apostles at the top of the handle, 
formerly given at christenings. Sometimes 
twelve spoons, representing the twelve apos- 
tles; sometimes four, representing the four 
evangelists; and sometimes only one, was 
presented. Occasionally a set occurs contain- 
ing in addition the “ Master Spoon ” and the 
“ Lady Spoon.” 

Apostles’ Creed. A Church creed supposed 
to be an epitome of doctrine taught by the 
apostles. It was received into the Latin 
Church, in its present form, in the 1 1 th century, 
but a formula somewhat like it existed in the 
2nd century. Items were added in the 4th 
and 5th centuries, and verbal alterations much 
later. 

Apostolic Fathers. Christian authors born 
in the 1st century, when the apostles lived. 
John is supposed to have died about a.d. 99, 
and Polycarp, the last of the Apostolic Fathers, 
bom about 69, was his disciple. Clement of 
Rome (i d . c. a.d. 100), Ignatius (d. c. a.d. 
115), Polycarp (c. a.d. 69-155). St. Barnabas, to 
whom an apocryphal epistle (now usually 


assigned to the 2nd century) was ascribed by 
Clemens Alexandrinus and Origen (martyred, 
61), Hermas (author of The Shepherd of 
Her mas, and possibly identical with the 
Hermes of Rom. xvi, 14), and Papias, a bishop 
of Hierapolis, mentioned by Eusebius. 

Apostolic Majesty. A title borne by the 
emperors of Austria, as kings of Hungary. It 
was conferred by Pope Sylvester II on the King 
of Hungary in 1000. Cp. Religious. 

Apostolic Succession. This is the term in 
use for the doctrine that the mission given to 
the apostles by Christ {John xx, 23 and Matt. 
xxviii, 19) must extend to their legitimate 
successors in an unbroken line. This means 
in practice that only those clergy who have 
been ordained by bishops who are themselves 
in the succession can administer the sacra- 
ments and perform other sacerdotal functions. 

Apparel. One meaning of this word used to be 
“ornament” or “embellishment,” especially 
the embroidery on ecclesiastical vestments. In 
the 19th century it was revived, and applied 
to the ornamental parts of the alb at the lower 
edge and at the w r rists. Pugin says: — 

The albc should be made with apparels worked in 
silk or gold, embroidered with ornaments . — Glossary 
of Ecclesiastical Ornament (1844). 

Appeal to the Country, To. To ask the nation 
to express their opinion on some moot 
question. In order to obtain such public 
opinion Parliament must be dissolved and a 
general election held. 

Appiades (ap 7 i a de/). Five divinities whose 
temple stood near the fountains of Appius, 
in Rome. Their names are Venus, Pallas, 
Concord, Peace, and Vesta. They were 
represented on horseback, like Amazons. 

Appian Way (ftp 7 i an). The oldest and best 
known of all the Roman roads, leading from 
Rome to Brundisium (Brindisi) by way of 
Capua. This “queen of roads” was begun 
by Appius Claudius, the decemvir, 313 b.c. 

Apple. The well-known story of Newton and 
the Apple originated with Voltaire, who tells 
us that Mrs. Conduit, Newton’s niece, told 
him that Newton was at Woolsthorpe (visiting 
his mother) in 1666, when, seeing an apple fall, 
he was led into the train of thought which 
resulted in his establishment of the law of 
gravitation (1685). 

Prince Ahmed’s apple. In the Arabian 
Nights story of Prince Ahmed, a cure for every 
disorder. The prince purchased it at Samar- 
kand. 

Apple of Discord. A cause of dispute; 
something to contend about. At the marriage 
of Thetis and Pelcus, where all the gods and 
goddesses met together, Discord ( Kris), who 
had not been invited, threw on the table a 
golden apple “for the most beautiful.” Juno, 
Minerva, and Venus put in their separate 
claims; the point was referred to Paris (</.v.), 
who gave judgment in favour of Venus. This 
brought upon him the vengeance of Juno and 
Minerva, to whose spite the fall of Troy is 
attributed. 



Apple 


41 


Apron 


The apple appears more than once in Greek 
story; see Atalanta’s Race; Hesperides. 

There is no mention of an apple in the Bible 
story of Eve’s temptation. We have no 
further particulars than that it was “the fruit 
of the tree in the midst of the garden,” and 
the Mohammedans leave the matter equally 
vague, though their commentators hazard the 
guess that it may have been an ear of wheat, or 
the fruit of the vine or the fig. The apple is a 
comparatively late conjecture. 

For the story of William Tell and the apple, 
see Tell. 

Apple of the eye. The pupil, because it 
was anciently supposed to be a round solid 
ball like an apple. Figuratively applied to 
anything extremely dear or extremely sensitive. 
He kept him as the apple of his eye. — Deut. xxxii, 10. 

Apple Tree Gang. The name given to John 
Reid, and his friends, from Scotland, who were 
responsible for the introduction of Golf into 
U.S.A. in 1888, at Yonkers, N.Y. The name 
was coined in 1892 when Reid and his friends 
moved to their 3rd “ course ” at Yonkers — a 
34-acre orchard which yielded six holes. 

Apple-cart. To upset the apple-cart. To 
ruin carefully laid plans. To have one’s 
expectations blighted, as a farmer’s might be 
when his load of apples w as overturned. This 
phrase is recorded as in use as early as 1796. 

Apple-islanders. Nickname for the inhabi- 
tants of Tasmania, Australia, who are also 
known as Tassies and Mountain-devils. 

Apple-jack. An apple-turnover is some- 
times so called in East Anglia. In the United 
States the name is given to a drink distilled from 
fermented apple juice — like French Calvados. 

Apple-john. An apple so called from its 
being at maturity about St. John’s Day (Dec. 
27th). We arc told that apple-johns will keep 
for two years, and arc best when shrivelled. 

I am withered like an old apple-john. 

Shakf.spFarl : Henry 1Y\ Pt. /, III, iii. 

Sometimes incorrectly called the Apples of 
King John. 

Apple-pie bed. A bed in which the sheets 
are so folded that a person cannot get his legs 
down; perhaps a corruption of “a nappe-pli 
bed,” from the Fr. nappe pliee, a folded sheet. 
Also incorrectly used by schoolboys to describe 
a bed into which a quantity of strange objects 
have been piled to discomfit the occupant. 

Apple-pie order. Prim and precise order. 
The origin of this phrase is still doubtful. 
Perhaj)s the suggestion made above of nappe- 
pli (Fr. nappes pliees , folded linen, neat as 
folded linen) is near the mark. 

Apple-polishing. An attempt to win favour 
by gifts or flattery. From the practice of 
American schoolchildren of bringing shiny 
apples to their teachers. 

Apples of Istakhar are ‘‘all sweetness on one 
side, and all bitterness on the other.” 

Apples of Paradise, according to tradition, 
had a bite on one side, to commemorate the 
bite given by Eve. 


Apples of perpetual youth. In Scandinavian 
mythology, the golden apples of perpetual 
youth, in the keeping of Idnunn, daughter of 
the dwarf Svald, and wife of Bragi. It is by 
tasting them that the gods preserve their 
youth. 

Apples of Pyban, says Sir John Mandeville, 
fed the pigmies with their odour only. 

Apples of Sodom. Thevenot says — “There 
are apple-trees on the sides of the Dead Sea 
which bear lovely fruit, but within are full of 
ashes.” Josephus, Strabo, Tacitus, and others 
speak of these apples, and are probably 
referring to the galls produced by the 
insect Cynips insana. The phrase is used 
figuratively for anything disappointing. 

Apres moi le deluge. After me the deluge — I 
care not what happens after I am dead and 
gone. It is recorded that Madame de 
Pompadour (1721-64), mistress of Louis XV, 
said, Apres nous le deluge , when remonstrated 
with on account of the extravagances of the 
Court. It is probable that she had heard the 
phrase on the lips of her royal lover. Metter- 
nich, the Austrian statesman (1773-1859), also 
used the expression, but his meaning was that 
when his guiding hand was removed, things 
would probably go to rack and ruin. 

April. The month w'hen trees unfold and the 
w omb of Nature opens with young life. (Lat. 
aperire y to open.) 

The old Dutch name was Gras-maand 
(grass-month); the old Saxon, Easter-monath 
(orient or pascal-month). In the French 
Republican calendar it was called Germinal 
(the time of budding, March 21st to April 19th). 

April fool. Called in France un poisson 
d'avril (tf.v.), and in Scotland a gowk (cuckoo). 
In Hindustan similar tricks are played at the 
Huli Festival (March 31st), so that it cannot 
refer to the uncertainty of the weather, nor yet 
to a mockery of the trial of our Redeemer, the 
two most popular explanations. A better 
solution is this: As March 25th used to be 
New Year’s Day, April 1st was its octave, 
when its festivities culminated and ended. 

It may be a relic of the Roman “Cerealia,” 
held at the beginning of April. The tale is 
that Proserpina was sporting in the Elysian 
meadows, and had just filled her lap with 
daffodils, when Pluto carried her off to the 
lower world. Her mother, Ceres, heard the 
echo of her screams, and went in search of 
“the voice”; but her search was a fool’s 
errand, it was hunting the gowk, or looking for 
the “echo of a scream.” 

A priori (a pH or 'i) (Lat. from an ante- 
cedent). An a priori argument is one in which 
a fact is deduced from something antecedent, 
as when we infer certain effects from given 
causes. All mathematical proofs are of the 
a priori kind, whereas judgments in the law 
courts are usually a posteriori (^.v.); we infer 
the animus from the act. 

Apron (O.Fr. napperon). Originally napron in 
English, this word is representative of a 
considerable number that have either lost or 
gained an “n” through coalescence — or the 
reverse — with the article “a" or “an.” A 



Apron-string tenure 


42 


Aram, Eugene 


napron became an apron . Other examples are 
adder for a nadder, auger for a nauger , and 
umpire for a numpire. The opposite coales- 
cence may be seen in newt for an ewt , nickname 
for an ekename , and the old nuncle for mine 
uncle. Cp. Nonce. 

A bishop’s apron represents the short 
cassock which, by the 74th canon, all clergy- 
men were enjoined to wear. 

A kilt-apron is a brown linen washable 
apron with a pocket in front in lieu of a sporran, 
worn with the kilt by Scottish troops in battle 
or when they have dirty work to do. 

Apron-string tenure. A tenure held in virtue 
of one’s wife. Tied to his mother’s apron- 
strings. Completely under his mother’s thumb. 
Applied to a big boy or young man who is still 
under mother rule. 

Aqua Regia (ak' wa re' j&) (Lat. royal water). 
A mixture of one part of nitric acid, with from 
two to four of hydrochloric acid; so called 
because it dissolves gold, the king of metals. 

Aqua Tofana (Sk' wa tof' a na). A poison- 
ous liquid containing arsenic, much used in 
Italy in the 18th century by young wives who 
wanted to get rid of their husbands. It was 
invented about 1690 by a Greek woman named 
Tofana, who called it the Manna of St. 
Nicholas of Bari , from the widespread notion 
that an oil of miraculous etlicacy llowed from 
the tomb of that saint. 

Aqua vitae (Sk' wa vi' te) (Lat. water of life). 
Brandy; any spirituous liquor; also, formerly, 
certain ardent spirits used by the alchemists. 
Ben Jonson terms a seller of such an “acqua- 
vitae man” ( Alchemist , I, i). The “elixir of 
life ” (<y.v.) was made from these spirits. See 
Eau de Vie. 

Aquarius (£ kwar' i (is) (Lat. the water-bearer). 
The eleventh of the twelve zodiacal constel- 
lations, representing the figure of a man with 
his left hand raised and with his right pouring 
from a ewer a stream of water; it is the eleventh 
division of the ecliptic, which the sun enters on 
January 21st, though this does not now 
coincide with the constellation. 

AquiJa non captat muscas (&k' wi la non 
c£p' tat mus' kas). A Latin phrase, “An 
eagle does not hawk at flies,” a proverbial 
saying implying that little things are beneath a 
great man’s contempt. 

Aquiline. Raymond’s matchless steed. See 
Horse. 

Aquinian Sage, The. Juvenal is so called 
because he was born at Aquinum, a town of 
the Volscians. 

Arabesque. An adjective and noun applied to 
the Arabian and Moorish style of decoration 
and architecture. One of its chief features is 
that no representation of animal forms is 
admitted. During the Spanish wars in the 
reign of Louis XIV, arabesque decorations 
were profusely introduced into France. 

Arabia. It was Ptolemy who was the author 
of the threefold division into Arabia Petraea, 
“Stony Arabia” • Arabia Felix ( Yemen), 
“Fertile Arabia, i.e. the south-west coast; 
and Arabia Deserta, “Desert Arabia.” 


Arabian Bird, The. The phoenix; hence, 
figuratively, a marvellous or unique person. 

All of her that is out of door most rich! 

If she be furnish'd with a mind so rare, 

She is alone the Arabian bird. 

Shakespeare: Cymbeline , I, vi. 

Arabian Nights Entertainments, The. A 
collection of ancient Oriental tales, first 
collected in its present form about 1450, 
probably in Cairo. The first European 
translation was the French one by Antoine 
Galland (12 vols., 1704-8), which is a free 
rendering of the oldest known MS. (1548). 
There are English translations founded on this 
by R. Heron (4 vols., 1792), W. Beloc (4 vols., 
1795), and others. In 1840 E. W. Lane 
published an entirely new translation (3 vols.) 
made from the latest Arabic edition (Cairo 
1835); John Payne’s translation appeared in 
4 vols., 1882-4. Sir Richard Burton’s literal 
translation was the first unexpurgated edition, 
and is enriched by a great number of exhaustive 
notes on Oriental manners and customs. It 
was issued by the Kamashastra Society of 
Benares, in 10 vols., 1885-6, followed by 6 vols. 
of Supplemental Nights in 1886-8. The 
standard French translation is that by J. C. 
Mardrus, 16 vols., 1899-1904, which has been 
severely criticized by Arabic scholars. 

Arabians. A name given to the early 
Ncstorians and Jacobites in Arabia; also to an 
heretical Arabian sect of the 3rd century, which 
maintained that the soul dies with the body; 
and to a sect which believed that the soul died 
and rose again with the body. 

Arabic figures. The figures 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. 
So called because they were introduced into 
Luropc (Spain) by the Moors or Arabs (about 
the end of the 10th century), who brought them 
from India about 250 years earlier. Tliey were 
not generally adopted in Europe till after the 
invention of printing. Far more important 
than the characters is the decimalism of these 
figures: 1 figure ----- units, 2 figures -- tens, 3 
figures ~ hundreds, and so on ad injinitum. 
Cp. Numerais. 

The figures i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi, vii, viii, ix, x, etc., 
are called Roman figures. 

Street Arabs. Children of the houseless 
poor; street children. So called because, like 
the Arabs, they are nomads or wanderers with 
no settled home. 

Arachne’s Labours (& rak' ni). In Greek 
legend Arachne was so skilful a spinner that 
she challenged Minerva to a trial of skill, and 
hanged herself because the goddess beat her. 
Minerva then changed her into a spider. 
Hence Arachnida, the scientific name for 
spiders, scorpions, and mites. 

Aram, Eugene (ar' am) (1704-59). This mur- 
derer was a man of considerable learning, who, 
while a schoolmaster at Knaresborough, 
became involved with a man named Clark in 
a scries of frauds. In 1745 he murdered Clark, 
but the crime was not discovered until 1758, 
when Clark’s skeleton was found. Aram was 
arrested while teaching in a school at King’s 
Lynn, tried and executed on 6 August, 1759. He 
was said to be a proficient scholar in Latin, 



Aratus 


43 


Arcos Barbs 


Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, French, and Welsh. 
His story forms the theme of Lytton’s novel 
Eugene Aram. 

Aratus (ara'tus). A Greek statesman and 
general (271-213 b.c.), famous for his patriot- 
ism and devotion to freedom. He liberated 
his native Sicyon from the usurper Nicocles, 
and would not allow even a picture of a king 
to exist. He was poisoned by Philip of 
Maccdon. 

Arbor Day. A day set apart in Canada and 
the United States for planting trees. It was 
iirst inaugurated about 1885 in Nebraska. 
Arbor Judae. See Judas Tree. 

Arcadia (ar ka' di a). A district of the Pelo- 
ponnesus which, according to Virgil, was the 
home of pastoral simplicity and happiness. 
The name was taken by Sidney as the title of 
his romance (1590), and it was soon generally 
adopted in English. 

Arcadian beasts. An old expression, to be 
found in Plautus, Pliny, etc. See Persius, 
iii, 9: — 

Arcadiae pecuaria rudere credas 

and Rabelais, V, vii. So called because the 
ancient Arcadians wen* renowned as simple- 
tons. Juvenal (vii, 160) has arcadicus juvenis , 
meaning a stupid youth. 

Arcades ambo (ar' kd dez am' bo) (Lat.). 
From Virgil’s seventh Eclogue: “ Ambo fior- 
entes cetatibus , Arcades ambo" (Roth in the 
Rower of youth, Arcadians both), meaning 
4 ‘ both poets or musicians,” now extended to 
two persons having tastes or habits in common. 
Byron gave the phrase a whimsical turn: — 
Each pulled dilferent ways with many an oath, 

“ Arcades ambo ” — id e^t, blackguards both. 

Don Juan, iv, 93. 

Areas. See Calisto. 

Archangel. In Christian legend, the title is 
usually given to Michael, the chief opponent of 
Satan and his angels and the champion of the 
Church of Christ on earth. In the medieval 
hierarchy (see Angel) the Archangels comprise 
an order of the third division. 

According to the Koran, there are four 
archangels: Gabriel, the angel of revelations, 
who writes down the divine decrees; Michael, 
the champion, who lights the battles of faith; 
Azracl, the angel of death; and Jsrafcl, who is 
commissioned to sound the trumpet of the 
resurrection. 

Archers. The best archers in British history 
and story arc Robin Hood and his two com- 
rades Little John and Will Scarlet. Robin 
Hood, we are told, could shoot an arrow a 
mile or more. 

The famous archers of Henry IT weteTepus, 
his bowman of the Guards, Gilbert of the 
white hind, Hubert of Suffolk, and Clifton of 
Hampshire. 

Nearly equal to these were Egbert of Kent 
and William of Southampton. See also Clym 
of the Clough. 

Domitian, the Roman emperor, wc arc told, 
could shoot four arrows between the spread 
fingers of a man’s hand. 

Tell, who shot an apple set on the head of 


his son, reproduces the Scandinavian tale of 
Egil, who, at the command of King Nidung, 
performed a precisely similar feat. 

Arches, Court of. The ecclesiastical court of 
appeal for the province of Canterbury, which 
was anciently held in the church of St. Mary- 
le-Bow (S. Maria de Arcubus ), Cheapside. 
London. 

Archeus (ar ke' us). The immaterial principle 
which, according to the Paracelsians, energizes 
all living substances. There were supposed to 
be numerous archei , but the chief one was said 
to reside in the stomach. 

Archies. This was the name given in World 
War I to anti-aircraft guns and batteries 
— probably from Archibald, the eponymous 
hero of one of George Robey’s songs. 

Archilochian Bitterness (ar ki 16' ki &n). Ill- 
natured satire, so named from Archilochus, 
the Greek satirist (fl. 690 b.c.). 

Archimago (ar ki ma' $*6). The enchanter in 
Spenser’s Faerie Queene (Bks. I and II), 
typifying hypocrisy and false religion. 

Archimedean Principle (ar ki me' di &n). The 
apparent loss in weight of a body immersed 
in water will equal the weight of the water 
displaced. This scientific fact was noted by 
the philosopher Archimedes of Syracuse (c. 
287-212 b.c.). See Eureka. 

Archimedean screw* An endless screw, 
used for raising water, etc., invented by 
Archimedes. 

Architecture, Orders of. These five are the 
classic orders: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corin- 
thian, and Composite. 

In ancient times the following was the usual 
practice: 

Corinthian, for temples of Venus, Flora, 
Proserpine, and the Water Nymphs. 

Doric, for temples of Minerva, Mars, and 
Hercules, 

Ionic, for temples of Juno, Diana, and 
Bacchus. 

Tuscan, for grottoes and all rural deities. 
Archon. In ancient Greece the archon was a 
chief magistrate; in the 2nd century a sect of 
the Gnostics, known as Archontics, applied the 
word to a subordinate power (analogous, 
perhaps, to the angels), who, at the bidding of 
God, made the world. 

Arcitc (ar si' ti, ar' sit). A young Theban 
knight, made captive by Duke Theseus, and 
imprisoned with Palamon at Athens. Both 
captives fell in love with Emily, the duke's 
sister, sister-in-law, or daughter (according to 
different versions), and after they had gained 
their liberty Emily was promised by the duke 
to the victor in a tournament. Arcite won, 
but, as he was riding to receive the prize, he was 
thrown from his horse and killed. Emily be- 
came the bride of Palamon. The story has 
been told many times and in many versions, 
notably by Boccaccio, Chaucer (Knight's Tale), 
Dryden, and Fletcher (Two Noble Kinsmen ). 

Arcos Barbs. War steeds of Arcos, in 
Andalusia, very famous in Spanish ballads. 
See Barb. 



Arctic Region 


44 


Argyle 


Arctic Region means the region of Arcturos 
(the Bear stars), from Gr. arktos , meaning both 
the animal and the constellation, and arktikos , 
pertaining to the bear, hence, northern. 
Arcturus (the bear-ward) is the name now given 
to the brightest star in Bootes that can be 
readily found by following the curve of the 
Great Bear’s tail; but in Job xxxviii, 32, it 
means the Great Bear itself. 

Arden, The Forest of. This was once a large 
tract of forest land in Warwickshire, to the 
north of the Avon. Shakespeare was well 
acquainted with the forest and laid the rural 
scenes of As You Like It among its glades. 

Arden, Enoch. The story in Tennyson’s 
poem of this name, first published in 1864 (of 
a husband who mysteriously and unwillingly 
disappears, and returns years later to find that 
his wife — who still loves his memory — is 
married to another), was, he says — 
founded on a theme given me by the sculptor 
Woolner. I believe that his particular story came 
out of Suffolk, but something like the same story is 
told in Brittany and elsewhere. 

It is not uncommon, either in fact or fiction. 
Tennyson said that several similar true stories 
had been sent to him since its publication, and 
four years before it appeared Adelaide Anne 
Procter’s Homeward Bound , to which Enoch 
Arden bears a strong resemblance, was 
published in her Legends and Lyrics (1858). 
Mrs. Gaskeli’s Manchester Marriage has a 
similar plot. 

Arden of Feversham. This tragedy, first 
printed in 1592, was at one time attributed to 
Shakespeare; it is possibly the work of Thomas 
Kyd ( c . 1557-c. 1595). The story is of Alice 
Arden, whose love for her base paramour 
Mosbie leads her to plan the murder of her 
husband. This is carried out while he and 
Mosbie are playing a game of draughts; on 
Mosbie giving the signal by saying, “Now' I 
take you,” a couple of hired ruffians dash in 
and murder Arden, it is based upon a murder 
in Faversham, Kent. 

In 1736 George Lillo wrote a play on this 
theme, which was not acted until 1759. This, 
again, being altered, the revised play was put 
on the stage in 1790. 

Areopagus (ar e op' a gus) (Gr. the hill of Mars, 
or Ares). The seat of a famous tribunal in 
Athens; so called from the tradition that the 
first cause tried there was that of Mars or 
Ares, accused by Neptune of the death of his 
son Halirrhothius. 

Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ Hill. — Acts 
xvii, 22. 

Ares (ar' ez). The god of war in Greek 
mythology, son of Zeus and Hera. In certain 
aspects he corresponds with the Roman Mars. 

Arethusa. See Fountain of Arethusa. 

Aretlnian Syllables. Ut , re, mi, fa, sol , la, used 
by Guido d’Arez/o in the 11th century for his 
hexachord, or scale of six notes. They are the 
first syllables of some words in the opening 
stanza of a hymn for St. John’s Day (see Doh). 
Si, the seventh note, was not introduced till 
the 17th century. 


Argan (ar'gbn). The principal character in 
Moli£re’s Malade i magi noire, a hypochondriac 
uncertain whether to think more of his ailments 
or of his purse. 

Argand Lamp. A lamp with a circular wick, 
through which a current of air flows, to supply 
oxygen to the flame, and increase its brilliancy. 
Invented by Aime Argand, 1789. 

Argenis (ar'jenis). A political allegory by 
John Barclay, written originally in Latin and 
published in 1621. It is apparently a romance 
of gallantry and heroism, and it contains 
double meanings throughout. “Sicily” is 
France, “Poliarchus” (with whom Argenis is 
in love), Henri IV, “ Hyanisbe,” Queen 
Elizabeth I, and so on. It deals with the state 
of Eiurope, and more especially of France, 
during the time of the League. 

Argentine, Argentina (ar' jen tin, arjen te' na). 
The name of this great S. American republic 
means The Silver Republic and is akin to that 
of its principal river, Rio de la Plata, turned 
into English as the River Plate. Buenos Aires, 
the capital city, was founded in 1 535, and direct 
Spanish rule lasted until 1816, when a republic 
was declared. Latin-American politics do 
not lend themselves to a concise summary; 
suffice it to say that Argentina is now one of 
the richest and most powerful states on the 
S. American continent. 

Argo (Gr. argos, swift). The galley of Jason 
that went in search of the Golden Fleece. The 
story is told by Apollonius of Rhodes. Hence, 
a ship sailing on any specially adventurous 
voyage, and figuratively. 

Argonauts. The sailors of the ship Argo , 
who sailed from Greece to Colchis in quest of 
the Golden Fleece. The name is also given 
to the paper-nautilus, a cephalopod mollusc. 
Argosy. Originally a merchant ship built at, 
or sailing from, Ragusu in Dalmatia. The 
w'ord is particularly interesting as an early 
example of the adaptation of a place-name to 
ordinary use; it was frequent in the 16th- 
century English. 

He hath an argosy bound to Tripoliss another to 
the Indies ... a third at Mexico, a fourth for 
England. § HAKf . S |>| ARt • Merchant of Venice, I, iii. 

Argot (ar' go). Slang or flash language. The 
word is French, and was formerly used only for 
the canting jargon of thieves, rogues, and 
vagabonds. 

Argus-eyed. Jealously watchful. According 
to Grecian fable, the fabulous creature, Argus, 
had 100 eyes, and Juno set him to watch Jo, 
of whom she was jealous. Mercury, however, 
charmed Argus to sleep and slew him; where- 
upon Juno placed his eyes in the tail of a 
peacock (cp. Peacock’s Feather). 

Return to your Charge, be Argus-eyed, 

Awake to the affair you have in hand. 

Bf.n Jonson: Staple of News, HI, ii. 

So praysen babes the Peacocks spotted traine. 

And wondren at bright Argus blazing eye. 

Spfnsf.r: Shepheard \v Calendar, October. 

Argyle (ar gfl'), of whom Thomson says, in his 
Autumn (928-30) — 

On thee, Argyle, 

Her hope, her stay, her darling, and her boast. 

Thy fond, imploring country turns her eye 



Ariadne 


45 


Aristotelian philosophy 


was John, the great duke , who lived only two 
years after he succeeded to the dukedom. 
Pope (Ep. Sat. II, 86, 87) says — 

Argyle the state’s whole thunder born to wield, 

And shake alike the senate and the field. 

“God bless the Duke of Argyle ” is a 
phrase supposed to be ejaculated by High- 
landers when they scratched themselves. The 
story is that a Duke of Argyle caused posts to 
be erected in a treeless portion of his estates 
so that his cattle might have the opportunity of 
rubbing themselves against them and so casing 
themselves of the “torment of flies.” It was 
not long before the herdsmen discovered the 
efficacy of the practice, and as they rubbed their 
itching backs against the posts they thankfully 
muttered the above words. 

Ariadne (a ri ad' ni). In Greek mythology, 
daughter of the Cretan king, Minos. She 
helped Theseus to escape from the labyrinth, 
and later went with him to Naxos, where he 
deserted her and she became the wife of 
Bacchus ( q.v .). 

Arians (ar' i anz). The followers of Arius, a 
presbyter of the Church of Alexandria, in the 
4th century. He maintained (1) that the 
Father and Son are distinct beings: (2) that the 
Son, though divine, is not equal to the Father; 
(3) that the Son had a state of existence 
previous to His appearance on earth, but not 
from eternity; and (4) that the Messiah was not 
real man, but a divine being in a veil of flesh. 
Their tenets varied from time to time and also 
among their different sections. The heresy 
was formally anathematized at the Council of 
Niccca (325), but the sect was not, and never 
has been, wholly extinguished. 

Ariel (ar'iel). The name of a spirit. Used in 
cabalistic angelology, and in Heywood’s 
Hierarchic of the Messed Angels (1635) for one 
of the seven angelic “princes" who rule the 
waters; by Milton lor one of the rebel angels 
{Paradise Lost , VI, 371); by Pope ( Rape of the 
Lock) for a svlph, the guardian of Belinda; but 
especially by Shakespeare, in the Tempest , for 
“ an ayrie spirit.” 

He was enslaved to the witch Sycorax on 
the island where she held sway: she overtasked 
him, and in punishment for not doing what 
was beyond his power, shut him up in a pine- 
rift for twelve years. On the death of Sycorax, 
Ariel became the slave of her son Caliban, 
who tortured him most cruelly. Prospero, the 
shipwrecked Duke of Milan, who was able to 
gain control of the island because his know- 
ledge of magic w'as superior to Caliban’s, 
liberated him from the pine- rift, and the grate- 
ful fairy served him for sixteen years, helping 
to bring about Prospered revenge on his 
brother, after which he was set free. 

Aries (ar' ez). The Ram. The sign of the 
Zodiac in which the sun is from March 21st 
to April 20th; the first portion of the ecliptic* 
between 0° and 30° longitude. The first point 
of Aries is the spot in the celestial equator 
occupied by the sun at the spring equinox. 
It is in celestial mensuration what the meridian 
of Greenwich is in terrestrial. 


Arimancs (a ri ma' nez). The same as Ahri- 
man (q.v.). In Manfred Byron introduces him 
under this name, seated “ on a Globe of Fire, 
surrounded by the Spirits.” 

Arimaspians (Sr im as' pi &nz). A one-eyed 
people of Scythia (spoken of in Lucan’s 
Pharsalia , iii, 280, by Pliny, Herodotus, and 
others), who adorned their hair with gold. 
They were constantly at war with the gryphons 
who guarded the gold mines. Rabelais (IV, 
lvi, and V, xxix) uses the name for the peoples 
of Northern Europe who had accepted the 
Reformation, the suggestion being that they 
had lost one eye — that of faith. 

Arioch (ar' i ok). In Paradise Lost (VI, 371) 
one of the fallen angels. The word means a 
fierce lion ; Milton took it from Dan. ii, 14, 
w here it is the name of a man. 

Arion (a ri' on). A Greek poet and musician 
who flourished about 700 b.c., and who, 
according to legend, was cast into the sea by 
mariners, but carried to Taenaros on the back 
of a dolphin. 

Ariosto of the North (ar i os' to). So Byron 
called Sir Walter Scott, ( Childe Harold , iv, 
40.) 

Aristides (a ris' ti dez). An Athenian states- 
man and general, who died about 468 b.c., 
and was surnamed “The Just.” He was 
present at the battles of Marathon and Salamis, 
and was in command at Plataea. 

“The British Aristides” was Andrew 
Marvell, the poet and satirist (1621-78). 
“The French Aristides” was Francois Paul 
Jules Grevy, president of the Third Republic 
from 1879 till he W'as compelled to resign in 
1887 in consequence of a scandal connected 
with the sale of offices and honours. 

Aristippus (a ris tip' pus). A Greek philosopher 
(fl. 375 b.c.), pupil of Socrates, and founder of 
the Cyrenaic school of hedonists. See 
Hedonism. 

Aristocracy (Gr. aristo-cratia , rule of the best 
born). Originally, the government of a state 
by its best citizens. Carlyle uses the term in 
this sense in his Latter-day Pamphlets (iii, 41): 
“The attainment of a truer and truer Aristo- 
cracy, or Government again by the Best.” 
The word is to-day generally applied to the 
patrician order, or to a class that is, or claims 
to be, specially privileged by reason of birth. 

Aristophanes (5r is toC d nez). The greatest of 
the Greek comic dramatists. He was born 
about 450 b.c. and died about 380 b.c., and 
is specially notable as a satirist. 

The English or modern Aristophanes. Samuel 
Foote (1720-77). 

The French Aristophanes. Moliere (1622- 

73). 

Aristotle 01r' is totl). One of the greatest of 
the Greek philosophers, pupil of Plato, and 
founder of the Peripatetic School. See 
Peripatetic School. 

Aristotelian philosophy (dr is tot e' li &n). 
Aristotle maintained that four separate causes 
are necessary before anything exists: the 



Aristotelian Unities 


46 


Armchair general 


material cause, the formal, the final, and the 
moving cause. The first is the antecedents 
from which the thing comes into existence; the 
second, that which gives it its individuality; 
the moving or efficient cause is that which 
causes matter to assume its individual forms; 
and the final cause is that for which the thing 
exists. 

Ar istotelian Unities. See D r am atic Uniti es . 

Arm, Arms. This word, with the meaning of 
the limb, has given rise to a good many 
common phrases, such as: — 

Arm iit arm. Walking in a friendly way with 
arms linked. 

Arm of the sea. A narrow inlet. 

Secular arm. Civil, in contra-distinction to 
ecclesiastical, jurisdiction. 

To chance your arm. See Chance. 

At arm’s length. At a good distance; hence, 
with avoidance of familiarity. 

Infant in arms. One that cannot yet walk 
and so has to be carried, but a nation in arms 
is one in which all the people are prepared for 
war. 

With open arms. Cordially; as persons 
receive a dear friend when they open their arms 
for an embrace. 

The word “arm** is almost always plural 
nowadays when denoting implements or 
accoutrements for fighting, etc., and also in 
heraldic usage. Among common phrases 
are: — 

A passage of arms. A literary controversy; 
a battle of words. 

An assault at arms (or of arms). A hand-to- 
hand military exercise. 

Small arms. Those which do not, like 
artillery, require carriages. 

To appeal to arms. To determine to decide 
a litigation by war. 

* To arms. Make ready for battle. 

“To arms! ** cried Mortimer, 

And couched his quivering lance. 

Gray: The Bard. 

To lay down arms. To cease from armed 
hostility; to surrender. 

Under arms. Prepared for battle; in battle 
array. 

Up in arms. In open rebellion; figuratively, 
roused to anger. 

King of Arms. S$e Heralds. 

The right to bear arms. This is based on 
proven descent, through the male line, from 
an ancestor officially recorded as entitled to 
bear certain arms; or on a grant by the Kings 
of Arms of England (to whom authority is 
delegated by the Sovereign, subject to the 
approval of the Earl Marshal first obtained), 
or by Lyon King of Arms in Scotland. While 
arms can be borne without a crest, it is im- 
possible for a crest to be borne without arms. 
A person having such right is said to be arml- 
gerous. 

The Royal Arms of England. The three lions 
passant gardant were introduced by Richard 


Coeur de Lion after his return from the third 
Crusade; the lion rampant in the second 
quarter is from the arms of Scotland, it having 
first been used in the reign of Alexander II 
(1214-49); and the harp in the fourth quarter 
represents Ireland; it was assigned to Ireland 
in the time of Henry VIII; before that time her 
device was three crowns. The lion supporter 
is English, and the unicorn Scottish; they were 
introduced by James 1. The crest, a lion 
statant gardant, first appears on the Great Seal 
of Edward III. 

The correct emblazoning of the arms of 
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
Northern Ireland is: — 

Quarterly, first and fourth gules, three lions pas- 
sant gardant in pale, or, for England; second or, 
a lion rampant with a double tressure flory-counter- 
flory gules, for Scotland; third azure, a harp or, 
stringed argent, for Ireland; all surrounded by the 
Garter. Crest . — Upon the royal helmet, the imperial 
crown proper, thereon a lion statant gardant or, 
imperial crowned proper. Supporters . — A lion 
rampant gardant, or, crowned as the crest. Sinister, 
a unicorn argent, armed, crined, and unguled proper, 
gorged with a coronet composed of crosses patde 
and lleur de lis, a chain affixed thereto passing between 
the forelegs, and reflexed over the back, also or. 
Motto . — “ Dicu et mon Droit ” in the compartment 
below the shield, with the Union rose, shamrock, 
and thistle engrafted on the same stem. 

From the time of Edward III (1340) until the 
Union of Great Britain and Ireland (1800) the 
reigning sovereigns styled themselves “of 
Great Britain, France and Ireland, King,” 
(Elizabeth I said that if the Salic Law forbade 
her to be Queen of France she would e’en be 
King) and the tleur de lys of France was 
quartered with the arms of England and Scot- 
land. The empty title was abandoned as from 
1 January, 1801, and from that date and for that 
reason all diplomatic correspondence thence- 
forward was carried on in English instead of 
French. 

Nor has this been the only change in the 
Royal Arms. On the accession of George I 
(1714) the White Horse of Hanover was borne 
in pretence (/.<?. superimposed in the centre of 
the royal coat of arms). On the death of 
William IV (1837) the Salic Law prohibited the 
accession of Victoria to the throne of Hanover, 
and on her uncle the Duke of Cumberland 
succeeding to that throne, the Hanoverian arms 
were dropped from the British royal arms. 

Armada (ar ma' dk). Originally Spanish for 
“ army,” the word is now used, from the 
Spanish Armada, for any fleet of large size or 
strength. Formerly spelt armado. 

Armageddon (ar m& ged' 6n). The name given 
in the Apocalypse (Rev. xvi, 16) to the site of 
the last great battle that is to be between the 
nations before the Day of Judgment; hence, 
any great battle or scene of slaughter. 

The place the author of the Apocalypse had 
in mind was probably the mountainous district 
near Megidao, generally identified with the 
modern Lejjun, about 54 miles due north of 
Jerusalem. 

Armchair general. A person who thinks he 
knows how to direct affairs in which he is not 
taking part. In a similar sense one talks of 
“back-seat drivers.” 




Anne Blanche 


47 


Arteraus Ward 


Arme Blanche (arm blonsh) (Fr. white arm). 
Steel weapons — the sword, sabre, bayonet, or 
spear — in contradistinction to firearms. 

Armenian Church, The. Said to have been 
founded in Armenia by St. Bartholomew. Its 
members are to be found in Armenia, Persia, 
Syria, Poland, Asia Minor, etc.; they attribute 
only one nature to Christ and hold that the 
Spirit proceeds from the Father only, enjoin 
the adoration of saints, have some special 
ways of administering baptism and the Lord’s 
Supper, and communicate infants; they do not 
maintain the doctrine of purgatory. 

Armida (ar me' da). In Tasso’s Jerusalem 
Delivered a beautiful sorceress, with whom 
Rinaldo fell in love, and wasted his time in 
voluptuous pleasure. After his escape from 
her, Armida followed him, but not being able 
to allure him back, set fire to her palace, 
rushed into a combat, and was slain. 

In 1806, Frederick William of Prussia 
declared war against Napoleon, and his young 
queen rode about in military costume to arouse 
the enthusiasm of the people. When Napoleon 
was told of it, he said, “She is Armida, in 
her distraction setting fire to her own palace.” 

Arminians. Followers of Jacobus Harmenscn, 
or Arminius (1560-1609), a Protestant divine 
in Leyden. They were an offshoot of Calvin- 
ism, and formulated their creed (called the 
Remonstrance) in 1610, in five points. They 
asserted that God bestows forgiveness and 
eternal life on all who repent and believe; that 
He wills all men to be saved; and that His 
predestination is founded on His fore- 
knowledge. 

Armistice Day. Hostilities in World War I 
ended at 11 o’clock on November 11th, 1918, 
when an armistice was signed. In subsequent 
years November 11th was kept as Armistice 
Day, marked by a two-minute silence and 
cessation of work at 11 a.m., followed in 
various places by ceremonies. In 1946 the old 
name was changed to Remembrance Day, to 
include a memorial of the close of the 1939-45 
war, and it is kept on the Sunday nearest 11th 
November. 

Armour, Coat, or a Coat of Arms, was 
originally a drapery of silk or other rich stuff 
worn by a knight over his armour and em- 
broidered in colours with his distinguishing 
device. This practice was adopted by the 
Crusaders, who found it necessary to cover 
their steel armour from the rays of the sun. 

Armoury. Heraldry is so called, because it 
first found its special use in direct connexion 
with military equipments, knightly exercises, 
and the rntlce of actual battle. 

Armory is an Art rightly prescribing the true 
knowledge and use of Aimes. 

Guillim's Display of Heraldrie (1610). 

Armoury. The place where armour and 
arms are kept. The word may also mean armour 
collectively, as in Paradise Lost , IV, 553; — 
nigh at hand 

Celestial armoury, shields, helms, and spears, 

Hung high, with diamond flaming and with gold. 


Arnauts (ar' nauts) (Turk, brave men). Alba- 
nian mountaineers. 

Stained with the best of Amaut’s blood. 

Byron: The Giaour 

Arod. In Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel is 
designed for Sir William Waller. 

But in the sacred annals of our plot 
Industrious Arod never be forgot, 

The labours of this midnight magistrate 
May vie with Corah’s [Titus Oates] to preserve 


Aroint thee. A phrase that first appears in 
Shakespeare’s Macbeth (I, iii, 6) and King Lear 
(III, iv, 129), on both occasions in connexion 
with witches. It signifies “get ye gone,” “be 
off”; and its origin is unknown. The 
Brownings made a verb of it, Mrs. Browning 
in her To Flush — “Whiskered cats arointed 
flee,” and Browning in The Two Poets of 
Croisic y and elsewhere. 

Arondight (ar' on dit). The sword of Sir 
Launcclot of the Lake. See Sword. 

Arras (ar' &s). Tapestry; the cloth of Arras, 
in Artois, formerly famed for its manufacture. 
When rooms were hung with tapestry it was 
easy for persons to hide behind it; thus Hubert 
hid the two villains who were to put out 
Arthur’s eyes, Polonius was slain by Hamlet 
while concealed behind the arras, Falstaff 
proposed to hide behind it at Windsor, etc. 

Arria (ar' i a). The wife of Caecina Paetus, 
who, being accused of conspiring against the 
Emperor Claudius, was condemned to death by 
suicide. As he hesitated to carry out the 
sentence Arria stabbed herself, then presenting 
the dagger to her husband, said; “Paetus, it 
gives no pain” ( non dolet). (a.d. 42). See 
Pliny, vii. 

Arriere ban. See Ban. 

Arrifcre pensee (Fr. “behind-thought”). A 
hidden or reserved motive, not apparent on the 
surface. 

Arrow. See Broad Arrow; Jonathan’s 
Arrows. 

Artaxerxes (ar taks erks' ez), called by the 
Persians Artakhshathra, and surnamed the 
long-handed ( Longimanus ), because his right 
hand was longer than his left, was the first 
Persian king of that name, and reigned from 
465 to 425 b.c. He was the son of Xerxes, 
and is mentioned in the Bible in connexion + 
with the part he played in the restoration of 
Jerusalem after the Captivity. See Ezra iv, vi, 
and vii, and Neh. ii, v, and xiii. 

Artegal, or Arthegal, Sir (ar' te g&l). The hero 
of Bk. V of Spenser’s Faerie Queene, lover of 
Britomart, to whom he is made known by 
means of a magic mirror. He is emblematic of 
Justice, and in many qf his deeds, such as the 
rescue of Irena (Ireland) from Grantorto, is 
typical of Arthur, Lord Grey of Wilton, who 
went to Ireland as Lord Lieutenant in 1580 
with Spenser as his secretary. See Elidurb. 

Artemis. See Diana. 

Artemus Ward. This was the pseudonym of 
Charles Farrar Browne (1834-67), the Ameri- 
can humorist. He began as a lecturer in 




Artesian Wells 


48 


Aryans 


1861 and visited England In 1866, dying in 
Southampton before he could get back to 
America. The famous character he created 
was that of a Yankee showman. 

Artesian Wells. So called from Arte is, the Old 
French name for Artois, in France, where they 
were first bored. They are sunk with a boring 
or drilling apparatus into water or oil-bearing 
strata from which the liquid rises by its own 
pressure to the top of the bore. 

Artful Dodger. A young thief in Dickens’s 
Oliver Twist , pupil of Fagin. His name was 
Jack Dawkins, and he became a most perfect 
adept in villainy. 

Arthegal. See Artegal. 

Arthur. Historians seem in substantial agree- 
ment that an historical Romano-British 
chieftain existed who led the British against 
the Saxons in twelve great battles, culminating 
in the great victory of Mons Badonicus (which 
last took place between 493 and 516). The 
monk Gildas (c. 516-70), who gives the earliest 
record of these events, mentions British chief- 
tains but no one with the name of Arthur; 
Nenius (a 9th-century chronicler), writing of 
the same events, gives his name as Artorius. 
Such were his deeds and fame that he became 
apparently a great figure in oral tradition, was 
transformed into romantic legend, to emerge 
finally as the Arthur conceived in terms of 
mediaeval chivalry. In Arthurian romance he 
is at first the perfection of knighthood, of 
kingliness and of chivalric love, and later 
embodies the ideal Christian knight ready to 
succour the oppressed (see Arthurian 
Romances, below), 

Arthur’s Seat. A hill overlooking Edin- 
burgh from the cast. The name is not 
connected with King Arthur; it is a corruption 
of the Gaelic Ard-na-said, the height of the 
arrows, hence, a convenient ground to shoot 
from. 

Arthurian Romances. The stories which have 
King Arthur as their central figure appear as 
early as the 12th century in the Historia Regum 
Britannice of Geoffrey of Monmouth (d. 1154), 
which drew partly from the work of Nennius 
(9th century, and the first writer to mention 
Arthur), partly— according to the author — 
from an ancient British or Breton book (lost, if 
ever existing) lent him by Walter, Archdeacon 
of Oxford, and partly from sources which are 
untraced, but the originals of which are 
probably embedded in Welsh or Celtic legends, 
most of them being now non-extant. The 
original Arthur was a very shadowy warrior; 
Geoffrey of Monmouth, probably at the 
instigation of Henry I and for the purpose of 
providing the new nation with a national hero, 
made many additions; the story was taken up 
in France and further expanded; Wace, a 
French poet (who is the first to mention the 
Round Table, q.v .), turned it into a metrical 
chronicle of some 14,000 lines (Brut d'Angle- 
terre , c, 1155); Celtic and other legends, 
including those of the Grail (q.v,) and Sir Tris- 
tram, were superadded, and in about 1205 
Layamon, the Worcestershire priest, completed 
his Brut (about 30,000 lines), which included 


Wace’s work and amplifications such as the 
story of the fairies at Arthur’s birth, who, at 
his death, wafted him to Avalon, as well as Sir 
Gawain and Sir Bedivere. In France the 
legends were worked upon by Robert dc Bor- 
ron (fl. 1215), who first attached the story of 
the Grail (< 7 . v.) to the Arthurian Cycle and 
brought the legend of Merlin into prominence, 
and Chrestien de Troyes (c. 1140-90), who is 
responsible for the presence in the Cycle of the 
tale of Enid and Geraint, the tragic loves of 
Launcelot and Guinevere, the story of Perce- 
val, and other additions for many of which he 
was indebted to the Welsh Mabinogion. Many 
other legends in the form of ballads, romances, 
and Welsh and Breton songs and lays were 
popular, and in the 15th century the whole 
corpus was collected, edited, and more or less 
worked into a state of homogeneity by Sir 
Thomas Malory (d. 1471), his Le Mortc 
d' Arthur being printed by Caxton in 1485. 
For the different heroes, sections, etc., of this 
great Cycle of Romance, see the various names 
throughout this Dictionary. 

Articles of Roup. The conditions of sale at 
a roup (q.v.), as announced by a crier. 

Artists, The Prince of. Albrecht Differ (1471- 
1528) was so called by his countrymen. 

Arts. Degrees in Arts. In the mediaeval ages 
the full course consisted of the three subjects 
which constituted the Trivium , and the four 
subjects which constituted the Quadrivium : — 

The Trivium was grammar, logic, and 
rhetoric. 

The Quadrivium was music, arithmetic, 
geometry, and astronomy. 

The Master of Arts was the person qualified 
to teach or be the master of students in arts; 
as the Doctor was the person qualilied to teach 
theology, law, or medicine. 

Arundel. See Horse. 

Arundelian Marbles. A collection of ancient 
sculptures made at great expense by Thomas 
Howard, Earl of Arundel, and presented to 
the University of Oxford in 1667 by his grand- 
son, Henry Howard, afterwards Duke of 
Norfolk. They contain tables of ancient 
chronology, especially that of Athens, from 
1582 to 264 b.c\, engraved in old Greek capi- 
tals, and the famous “ Parian Chronicle,” said 
to have been executed in the island of Paros 
about 263 b.c. 

Arval Brothers. An ancient Roman college of 
priests, revived by Augustus. It consisted of 
12 priests (including the Emperor), whose sole 
duty was to preside at the festival of Dea Dia 
in May; they worshipped in the groves of that 
goddess on the Via Campana, 5 miles from 
Rome. 

Aryans. The parent stock of what is called 
the Indo-European family of nations. Their 
original home is quite unknown, authorities 
differing so widely as between a locality en- 
closed by the river Oxus and the Hindu-kush 
mountains, and the shores of the Baltic, or 
Central Europe. The Aryan family of lan- 
guages includes Sanskrit, Zend, Latin, Greek, 
Celtic, Persian and Hindu, with all the Euro- 
pean, except Basque, Turkish, Hungarian, and 



Arzina 


49 


Ashtoretfa 


Finnish. Sometimes called the Indo-European, 
sometimes the Indo-Germanic, and sometimes 
the Japhetic. 

Under the Nazi regime in Germany the word 
was prostituted by being applied to any race, 
person or thing that was not Semitic, even the 
Japanese being classified as Aryans. 

Arzina. A river that flows into the North Sea, 
near Wardhus, where Sir Hugh Willoughby’s 
three ships were ice-bound, and the whole crew 
perished of starvation. 

Asaph. In the Bible, a famous musician in 
David’s time (I Chron. xxv, 1, 2). There was 
probably no such person, but in post-exilic 
times there were two hereditary choirs that 
superintended the musical services of the 
Temple, one of which was b'ne Asaph , and the 
other b'ne Korah. The Asaph mentioned in 
Chronicles is the supposed founder of the first 
named. 

Tate, who wrote the second part of Absalom 
and Achitophel , lauds Dryden under this name. 

While Judah’s throne and Sion’s rock stand fast. 

The song of Asaph and the fame shall last. 

Absalom and Acnitophel, Pt. II, 1063. 
Ascalaphus. In Greek mythology, an in- 
habitant of the underworld w'ho, when Pluto 
gave Proserpine permission to return to the 
upper world if she had eaten nothing, said that 
she had partaken of a pomegranate. In 
revenge Proserpine turned him into an owl by 
sprinkling him with the water of Phlegethon. 
Ascendant. An astrological term. In casting 
a horoscope the point of the ecliptic or degree 
of the zodiac which is just rising at the moment 
of birth is called the ascendant, and the eastern- 
most star represents the house of life (see 
Housr), because it is in the act of ascending. 
This is a man’s strongest star, and when his 
outlook is bright, we say his star is in the 
ascendant . 

The house of the Ascendant, includes five 
degrees of the zodiac above the point just 
rising, and twenty-live below it. Usually, the 
point of birth is referred to. 

The lord of the Ascendant is any planet 
within the “house of the Ascendant.” The 
house and lord of the Ascendant at birth were 
said by astrologers to exercise great influence 
on the future life of the child. Deborah 
referred to the influence of the stars when she 
said “the stars in their courses fought against 
Sisera” (Judges v. 20). 

Ascension Day, or Holy Thursday (q.v.). The 
day set apart by the Christian Churches to 
commemorate the ascent of our Lord from 
earth to heaven. It is the fortieth day after 
Easter. See Bounds, Blating ihf. 
Asclepiads, or Asclcpiadic Metre (as kle pi' adz). 
A term in Greek and Latin prosody denoting a 
verse (invented by Asclcpiadcs) which consists 
of a spondee, tw o (or three) choriambi, and an 
iambus, usually with a central c;esura, thus: — 



first and last two lines may be translated in the 
same metre, thus: — 

Dear friend, patron of song, sprung from the race of 
kings; 

Thy name ever a grace and a protection brings. . . . 
My name, if to the lyre haply you chance to wed, 
Pride would high as the stars lift my exalted head. 


Ascot Races. A very fashionable meeting, run 
early in June on Ascot Heath (6 miles from 
Windsor). These races were instituted early 
in the 18th centuryu 

Ascraan Poet, or Sage (&s kre' &n). Hesiod, 
the Greek didactic poet, born at Ascra in 
Boeotia. Virgil ( Eclogues , vii, 70) calls him 
the “ Old Ascraeon.” 

Asgard (as' gard) ( As , a god; gard or gardft , 
an enclosure, garth, yard). The realm of the 
ALsir or the Northern gods, the Olympus of 
Scandinavian mythology. It is said to be 
situated in the centre of the universe, and 
accessible only by the rainbow-bridge (Bifrost). 
It contained many regions and mansions, such 
as Gladsheim and Valhalla. 

Ash Tree, or Tree of the Universe. See 

Yggdrasil. 

Ash Wednesday. The first day of the season of 
Lent, so called from the Roman Catholic cus- 
tom of sprinkling on the heads of penitents 
who had confessed that day the ashes of the 
palms that w'ere consecrated on the previous 
Palm Sunday which themselves had been 
consecrated at the altar. The custom, it 
is said, was introduced by Gregory the Great. 

Ashes. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. A phrase 
from the English Burial Service, used some- 
times to signify total finality. It is founded on 
various scriptural texts, such as “Dust thou 
art, and unto dust thou shalt return” (Gen. iii, 
19), and “l will bring thee to ashes upon the 
earth in the sight of all them that behold thee” 
( Ezek . xxviii, 18). 

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust, 

If God won’t have him the Devil must. 
According to Sir Walter Scott (see his edition 
of Swift’s Journal to Stella) March 25th, 
1710-11), this was the form of burial service 
given by the sexton to the body of Guiscard, 
the French refugee who, in 1711, attempted 
the life of Harley. 

The Ashes. A cricket term applied to 
the England-Australia test matches played 
alternately in the two countries, the “ashes” 
being the mythical prize contended for. When 
England was beaten in 1882 a humorous 
epitaph on English cricket appeared in the 
Sporting Times , and it wound up with the 
remark that “ the body will be cremated and 
the ashes taken to Australia.” There are 
several more or less fabulous embroideries of 
this story. 

Ashmolean Museum (ash mo' li in). The first 
public museum of curiosities in England. It 
was presented to the University of Oxford in 
1677 by Elias Ashmolc (1617-92), the anti- 
quarian, who had inherited the greater part of 
the contents from his friend John Tradescant. 
Ashmole later gave his library to the Univer- 
sity. The museum building was the work of 
Sir Christopher Wren. 

Ashtoreth (ash' to reth). The goddess of 
fertility and reproduction among the Canaan- 
ites and Phoenicians, called by the Babylonians 
Ishtar (Venus), and by the Greeks Astarte 
(q.v.). She may possibly be the “ queen of 
heaven ” mentioned by Jeremiah (vii, 18; xliv. 



Ashur 


50 


Ass 


17, 25). Formerly she was supposed to be a 
moon-goddess, hence Milton’s reference in his 
Ode on the Nativity. 

Mooned Ashtarbth, 

Heaven’s queen and mother both. 

Ashur. See Asshur. 

Asinego (as i ne' go) (Port.) A young ass, a 
simpleton. 

Thou hast no more brain than I have in mine 
elbows; an asinego may tutor thee — 

Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida , II, i. 
Asir. See i£siR. 

Ask. The dialectal ax was the common 
literary form down to about the end of the 
16th century. The word comes from the O.E. 
ascian , which, by metathesis, became acsian , 
and so axian. Chaucer has : — 

How sholde 1 axen mercy of Tisbe 
Whan I am he that have yow slain, alias! 

Legend of Good Women , 835. 

and the Wyclif version of Matt, vii, 7-10, 
reads: — 

Axe ye and it schal be gyven to you; seke yee, 
and yee schulen fynde; knocke ye: and it schal be 
openid to you. For ech that axith, takith, and he 
that sekith, fundith: and it schal be opened to him 
that knockith. What man of you is, that if his sone 
axe him breed: whether he wolc take him a stoon? 
Or if he axe fish, whether he wole give him an 
Eddre? 

Asmodeus (as mo de'us, as mo' di us). The “evil 
demon’’ who appears in the Apocryphal book 
of Tobit , borrowed (and to some extent trans- 
formed) from Aeshma, one of the seven 
archangels of Persian mythology. The name 
is probably the Zend Aeshmo daeva (the demon 
Aeshma), and is not connected with the Heb. 
samad , to destroy. The character of Asmo- 
deus is explained in the following passage from 
The Testament of Solomon — 

I am called Asmodeus among mortals, and my 
business is to plot against the newly-wedded, so that 
they may not know one another. And I sever them 
utterly by many calamities; and I waste away the 
beauty of virgins, and estrange their hearts. 

In Tobit Asmodeus falls in love with Sara, 
daughter of Raguel, and causes the death of 
seven husbands in succession, each on his bridal 
night. After her marriage to Tobias, he was 
driven into Egypt by a charm, made by Tobias 
of the heart and liver of a fish burnt on per- 
fumed ashes, and being pursued was taken 
prisoner and bound. 

Le Sage gave the name to the companion of 
Don Cleofas in his Devil on Two Sticks. 

Asmodfeus flight. Don Cleofas, catching 
hold of his companion’s cloak, is perched on 
the steeple of St. Salvador. Here the foul fiend 
stretches out his hand, and the roofs of all the 
houses open in a moment, to show the Don 
what is going on privately in each respective 
dwelling. 

Asoka (&$' 5 k&). An Indian king of the 
Maurya dynasty of Magadha, 263-226 b.c., 
who was converted to Buddhism by a miracle 
and became its “nursing father,’’ as Constan- 
tine was of Christianity. He is called “ the 
king beloved of the gods.” 

Asjpasia (a spa' zi &). A Milesian woman (fl. 
440 b.c.), celebrated for her beauty and talents, 
who lived at Athens as mistress of Pericles, and 


whose house became the centre of literary and 
philosophical society. She was the most 
celebrated of the Greek Hctaerae, and on the 
death of Pericles (429 b.c.) lived with the 
democratic leader, Lysicles. 

Aspatia (a spa' sh&), in the Maid's Tragedy , of 
Beaumont and Fletcher, is noted for her deep 
sorrows, her great resignation, and the pathos 
of her speeches. Amyntor deserts her, women 
point at her with scorn, she is the jest and by- 
word of everyone, but she bears it ali with 
patience. 

Aspen. The aspen leaf is said to tremble, from 
shame and horror, because our Lord’s cross 
was made of this wood. In fact, owing to the 
shape of the leaf and its long, flexible leaf-stalk, 
it is peculiarly liable to be acted on by the least 
breath of air. The aspen or asp is more 
generally known as the trembling poplar. 

Asphaltic Lake. The Dead Sea, where asphalt 
abounds both on the surface of the water and 
on the banks. Asphalt is a bitumen. 

There was an asphaltic and Bituminous nature in 
that Lake before the tire of Gomorrah. 

Sir Thos. Browne: Religio Medici , i, 19. 

There is a bituminous, or asphalt, lake in 
Trinidad. 

Asphodel (as' fo del). Old-fashioned garden 
flowers of the plant family Liliaccac. The 
name daffodil is a corruption of asphodel. In 
the language of flowers it means “regret.’’ It 
was said that the spirits of the dead sustained 
themselves on the roots of this fiower, and the 
ancients planted them on graves. Pliny and 
others said that the ghosts beyond Acheron 
roamed through the meadows of asphodel, in 
order to reach the waters of Lethe or Oblivion. 

Ass. The dark stripe running down the back 
of an ass, crossed by another at the shoulders, 
is, according to tradition, the cross that was 
communicated to the creature when our Lord 
rode on the back of an ass in His triumphant 
entry into Jerusalem. 

Till the ass ascends the ladder — i.e. never. A 
rabbinical expression. The Romans had a 
similar one, Cum a sinus in teg id is ascendent 
(When the ass climbs to the tiles). 

That which thou knowest not perchance thine 
ass can tell thee. An allusion to Balaam's ass. 

Ass, deaf to music. This tradition arose 
from the hideous noise made by “Sir Balaam” 
in braying. See Ass-eared. 

An ass in a lion’s skin. A coward who 
hectors, a fool that apes the wise man. The 
allusion is to the fable of an ass that put on a 
lion’s hide, but was betrayed when he began to 
bray. 

To make an ass of oneself. To do something 
very foolish. To expose oneself to ridicule. 

Sell your ass. Get rid of your foolish ways. 

The ass waggeth his ears. This proverb is 
applied to those who lack learning, and yet 
talk as if they were very wise; men wise in their 
own conceits. The ass, proverbial for having 
no “taste for music,” will nevertheless wag 
its ears at a “concord of sweet sounds,” just 
as if it could well appreciate it. 



Ass 


51 


Assemblage, Nouns of 


An ass with two panniers. Said of a man 
walking the streets with a lady on each arm. 
The Italian equivalent is a pitcher with two 
handles , and formerly it was called in London 
walking bodkin (q.v.). Our expression is from 
the French faire le panier a deux anses , a 
colloquialism for walking with a lady on each 
arm. 

Ass’s bridge. See Pons Asinorum. 

Well, well! honey is not for the ass’s mouth. 
Persuasion will not persuade fools. The 
gentlest words will not divert the anger of the 
unreasonable. 

Wrangle for an ass’s shadow. To contend 
about trifles. The tale told by Demosthenes 
is, that a man hired an ass to take him to 
Megara; and at noon, the sun being very hot, 
the traveller dismounted, and sat himself down 
in the shadow of the ass. Just then the owner 
came up and claimed the right of sitting in this 
shady spot, saying that he let out the ass for 
hire, but there was no bargain made about the 
ass’s shade. The two men then fell to blows 
to settle the point in dispute. While they 
were wrangling the ass took to its heels and 
ran away, leaving them both in the glare of 
the sun. 

Asses as well as pitchers have ears. Children, 
and even the densest minds, hear and under- 
stand many a word and hint which the speaker 
supposed would pass unheeded. 

Feast of Asses. See Fools. 

Asses that carry the mysteries {asini portant 
mysteria). A classical knock at the Roman 
clergy. The allusion is to the custom of 
employing asses to carry the cista which con- 
tained the sacred symbols, when processions 
were made through the streets. (Warburton: 
Di vine Legation , ii, 4.) 

Golden Ass, See Goldf.n. 

Ass-eared. Midas had the ears of an ass. 
The talc says Apollo and Pan had a contest, 
and chose Midas to decide which was the better 
musician. Midas gave sentence in favour of 
Pan; and Apollo, in disgust, changed his ears 
into those or an ass. 

Avarice is as deaf to the voice of virtue, as the 
ass to the voice of Apollo . — Orlando Furiosio, xvii. 

Assassins (& s3s' inz). A sect of Oriental 
fanatics of a military and religious character, 
founded in Persia in 1090 by Hassan ben 
Sabbah, better known as the Old Man (or 
Sheikh) of the Mountains ( see under Moun- 
tain), because the sect migrated to Mount 
Lebanon and made it its stronghold. This 
band was the terror of the world for two 
centuries, and, to the number of 50,000 strong, 
offered formidable opposition to the Crusaders. 
Their religion was a compound of Magianism, 
Judaism, Christianity, and Mohammedanism, 
and their name is derived from haschisch 
(bang), an intoxicating drink, with which they 
are said to have “doped” themselves before 
perpetrating their orgies of massacre. They 
were finally put down by the Sultan Bibars, 
about 1272. 

Assay (A sa), or Essay (through O.Fr. from 
Lat. exagium , to weigh). To try or test; to 
determine the amount of different metals in an 


ore, etc.; and, formerly, to taste food or drink 
before it is offered to a sovereign; hence, to 
take the assay is to taste wine to prove it is not 
poisoned. 

The aphetic form of the word, “say,” was 
common down to the 17th century, and 
Edmund, in King Lear (V, v), says to Edgar, 
“Thy tongue, some say of breeding breathes”: 
i.e. thy speech gives indication of good 
breeding — it savours of it. 

Assay, as a noun, means a test or trial, as 
in — 

[He] makes vow before his uncle never more 

To give the assay of arms against your majesty. 

Shakespeare: Hamlet , II, ii. 
But for the last three hundred years the spel- 
ling essay has been adopted (from French) for 
the noun, in all uses except those connected 
with the assaying of metals. 

Assaye Regiment. See Regimental Nick- 
names. 

Assemblage, Nouns of. Long custom and 
technical usage have ascribed certain words to 
assemblages of animals, things, or persons. 
Some of the principal are given here: 

Animals, birds, etc. 

antelopes: a herd. 

asses: a pace or herd. 

badgers: a cete. 

bears: a sleuth. 

bees: a swarm, a grist. 

birds: a flock, flight, congregation, volery. 

bitterns: a sedge or siege. 

boars: a sounder. 

bucks: a brace or leash. 

buffaloes: a herd. 

cattle: a drove or herd. 

chickens: a brood. 

choughs: a chattering. 

coots: a covert. 

cranes: a herd, sedge, or siege. 

crows: a murder. 

cubs: a litter. 

curlews: a herd. 

deer: a herd. 

ducks: (in flight) a team. 

elk: a gang. 

ferrets: a fesnyng. 

fishes: a shoal, draught, haul, run, or catch, 
flies: a swarm, 
foxes: a skulk. 

geese: (in flight) a skein: (on the ground), a gaggle, 
gnats: a swarm or cloud, 
goats: a herd or tribe, 
goldfinches: a charm. 

grouse: (a single brood), a covey; (several broods), a 
pack. 

hares: a down or husk. 

hawks: a cast. 

hens: a brood. 

herons: a sedge or siege. 

herrings: a shoal. 

hounds: a pack or mute. 

kangaroos: a troop. 

kine: a drove. 

kittens: a kindle. 

larks: an exaltation. 

leopards: a leap. 

lions: a pride. 

mares: a stud. 

monkeys: a troop. 

nightingales: a watch. 

oxen : a yoke, drove, team, or herd. 

partridges: a covey. 

peacocks: a muster. 

pheasants: a nye or nide. 

pigeons: a flock or flight. 




Asshur 


52 


Astraea 


pilchards: a shoal. 

plovers: a wing or congregation. 

porpoises: a school. 

pups: a litter. 

quails: a bevy. 

rooks: a building or clamour 

seals: a herd or pod. 

sheep: a flock. 

swans: a herd or bevy. 

swifts: a flock. 

swine: a sounder or drift, 

teals: a spring. 

whales: a school, gam, or pod. 
wolves: a pack, rout, or herd, 
woodcock: a fall. 

Things 

aeroplanes: a flight, squadron. 

arrows: a sheaf. 

bells: a peal. 

boats: a flotilla. 

bowls: a set. 

bread: a batch. 

cars: a fleet. 

cards: a pack, a deck (Am.), 
eggs: a clutch. 

flowers: a bouquet or nosegay. 

golf-clubs: a set. 

guns: (sporting), a pair. 

grapes: a cluster or bunch. 

onions: a rope. 

pearls: a rope or string. 

rags: a bundle. 

sails: an outfit. 

ships: a fleet or squadron. 

stars: p cluster or constellation. 

steps: a flight. 

trees: a clump. 

Persons 

actors: a company, cast, or troupe. 

angels: a host. 

baseball team: a nine. 

beaters: a squad. 

bishops: a bench. 

cricket team: an eleven. 

dancers: a troupe. 

football: (Association), an eleven; (Rugby), a fifteen. 

girls: a bevy. 

labourers: a gang. 

magistrates: a bench. 

minstrels: a troupe. 

musicians : a band, an orchestra. 

police: a posse. 

rowing: an eight, a four, a pair. 

runners: a field. 

sailors: a crew. 

savages: a horde. 

servants: a staff. 

worshippers: a congregation. 

Asshur. The chief god of the Assyrian 

f )antheon, perhaps derived from the Baby- 
onian god of heaven, Anu. His symbol was 
the winged circle in which was frequently en- 
closed a draped male figure carrying three 
horns on the head and with one hand stretched 
forth, sometimes with a bow in the hand. His 
wife was Belit (i.e. the Lady, par excellence ), 
who has been identified with the Ishtar (see 
Ashtoreth) of Nineveh. 

Assiento Treaties (Sp. asiento , agreement). 
Contracts entered into by Spain with Portugal, 
France, and England to supply her South 
American colonies with Negro slaves. Eng- 
land joined in 1713, after the peace of Utrecht, 
and kept the disgraceful monopoly (with a few 
breaks) till 1750. 

Association Cup. This is the trophy competed 
for annually by football clubs playing the 


Association game. The first final was played 
at Kennington Oval, 16th March, 1872, when 
Bolton Wanderers beat the Royal Engineers, 
1 — 0. Since then the cup has been contested 
year by year except for the war years 1939-45. 
Since 1930 the winners have been: — 

1931 West Bromwich Albion. 

1932 Newcastle United. 

1933 Everton. 

1934 Manchester City. 

1935 Sheffield Wednesday. 

1936 Arsenal. 

1937 Sunderland. 

1938 Preston North End. 

1939 Portsmouth. 

1946 Derby County. 

1947 Charlton Athletic. 

1948 Manchester United. 

1949 Wolverhampton Wanderers. 

1950 Arsenal. 

1951-52 Newcastle United. 

1953 Blackpool. 

1954 West Bromwich Albion. 

1955 Newcastle. 

1956 Manchester City. 

1957 Aston Villa. 

1958 Bolton Wanderers. 

1959 Nottingham Forest. 

1960 Wolverhampton Wanderers. 

1961-62 Tottenham Hotspur. 

Assumption, Feast of the. In the R.C. 
Church the principal feast day of the Virgin 
Mary, observed on August 15th. On Novem- 
ber 1st, 1950, Pope Pius XII declared ex 
cathedra that thenceforth it would be a dogma 
of the Church that at the death of the Virgin 
her body was preserved from corruption, 
and that shortly afterwards it was assumed 
(Lat. assumerc t to take to) into heaven and 
reunited to her soul. 

Assurance. Audacity, brazen sclf-confidcncc. 
“His assurance is quite unbearable.’* 

Assurance provides for the contingcnce of a 
certainty, e.g. life assurance is a financial 
provision for the certain fact of death. Insur- 
ance provides against what may or may not 
happen, e.g. burglary, fire. 

To make assurance doubly sure. To make 
security doubly secure. 

But yet I’ll make assurance double sure. 

And take a bound of fate. 

Shakespeare: Macbeth , IV, i. 
Astarte (a star' ti). The Greek name for 
Ashtoreth ( q.v .), sometimes thought to have 
been a moon-goddess. Hence Milton’s allu- 
sion: — 

With these in troop 

Came Astoreth, whom the Phoenicians called 

AstartS, queen of heaven, with crescent horns. 

Paradise Lost , I, 437. 

Byron gave the name to the lady beloved by 
Manfred in his drama, Manfred. It has been 
suggested that Astarte was drawn from the 
poet’s sister, Augusta (Mrs. Leigh). 

Astolat (as' to lit). This town, mentioned in 
the Arthurian legends, is generally identified 
with Guildford, in Surrey. 

The Lily Maid of Astolat. Elaine (q.v.). 
Astoreth. See Ashtoreth. 

Astraea (3s tre' a). Equity, innocence. Dur- 
ing the Golden Age this goddess dwelt on 
earth, but when sin began to prevail, she 
reluctantly left it, and was metamorphosed into 
the constellation Virgo. 



Astrakhan 


53 


Athens 


Pope gave the name to Mrs. Aphra Behn 
(1640-89), playwright and novelist, author of 
the once-popular novel Oroonoko. 

Sir John Davies (1569-1626) wrote a series 
of twenty-six acrostics, entitled Hymns to 
Astraea , in honour of Queen Elizabeth I. 

Astrakhan. Takes its name from the province 
of Astrakhan in Russia and is the fur, or 
wool, of a karakul lamb. 

Astral Body. In theosophical parlance, the 
phantasmal or spiritual appearance of the 
hysical human form, that is existent both 
efore and after the death of the material body, 
though during life it is not usually separated 
from it; also the “kamarupa” or body of 
desires, which retains a finite life in the astral 
world after bodily death. 

Astral spirits. The spirits of the dead that 
occupy the stars and the stellar regions, or 
astral world. According to the occultists, each 
star has its special spirit; and Paracelsus 
maintained that every man had his attendant 
star, which received him at death, and took 
charge of him till the great resurrection. 

Astrology. The ancient and mediaeval so- 
called “science” that professed to foretell 
events by studying the position of the stars and 
discovering their occult influence on human 
affairs. It is one of the most ancient super- 
stitions; it prevailed from earliest times among 
the Chaldeans, Egyptians, Etruscans, Hindus, 
Chinese, etc., and had a powerful influence in 
the Europe of the Middle Ages, Natural Astro - 
logy — i.c. the branch that dealt with meteor- 
ological phenomena and with time, tides, 
eclipses, the fixing of Easter, etc. — was the 
forerunner of the science of Astronomy; what 
is now known as “astrology” was formerly 
differentiated from this as Judicial Astrology , 
and dealt with star-divination and the occult 
planetary and sidereal influences upon human 
affairs. See Houses, Astrological; Horo- 
scope; Microcosm. 

Astronomers Royal. (1) Flamsteed, 1675; 
(2) Halley, 1719; (3) Bradley, 1742; (4) Bliss, 
1762; (5) Maskclyne, who originated the 
Nautical Almanack, 1765; (6) Pond, 1811; (7) 
Airy, 1835; (8) Christie, 1881; (9) Sir F. W. 
Dyson, 1910; (10) Sir H. S. Jones, 1933; (11) 
Sir Richard Woolley, 1956. 

Astrophcl (as 7 tro fel). Sir Philip Sidney 
(1554-86). “Phil. Sid.” being a contraction of 
Philos Sidus, and the Latin sidus being changed 
to the Greek as t ran, we get astron-philos (star- 
lover). The “star” that he loved was 
Penelope Dcvereux, whom he called Stella 
(star), and to whom he was betrothed. Spen- 
ser wrote a pastoral called Astrophcl , to the 
memory of his friend and patron, who fell at 
the battle of Zutphcn. 

Asur (3s 7 ur). The national god of the ancient 
Assyrians; the supreme god over all the gods. 
See Asshur. 

Asurbanipal. See Sardanapalus. 

Asylum means, literally, a place where pillage 
is forbidden (Gr. a , not; sulon, right of pillage). 
The ancients set apart certain places ot refuge, 
where the vilest criminals were protected, from 
both private and public assaults. 


Asynja (Ss in' ya). The goddesses of Asgard; 
the feminine counterparts of the Aisir. 

At Home. See Home. 

Atalanta’s Race (St a lan' t&). Atalanta, in 
Greek legend, was a daughter of Iasus and 
Clymene. She took part in the Calydonian 
hunt and, being very swift of foot, refused to 
marry unless the suitor should first defeat her 
in a race. Milanion overcame her at last by 
dropping, one after another, during the race, 
three golden apples that had been given him 
for the purpose by Venus. Atalanta was not 
proof against the temptation to pick them up, 
and so lost the race and became a wife. In the 
Boeotian form of the legend Hippomenes takes 
the place of Milanion. 

Atargatis (at ar git' is). A fish-goddess of the 
Phoenicians. Her temple at Carnaim is men- 
tioned in the Apocryphal book of II Maccabees 
(xii, 26), and she had another at Ascalon. 

Ate (a 7 te). In Greek mythology, the goddess 
of vengeance and mischief; she was driven out 
of heaven, and took refuge among the sons of 
men. 

With Ate by his side come hot from hell. . . . 
Cry “ Havoc ” and let slip the dogs of war. 

.Shakespeare: Julius C cesar. III, i. 

In Spenser’s Faerie Queene (IV, i, iv, ix, etc.), 
the name is given to a lying and slanderous hag, 
the companion of Duessa. 

Atellanse, or Atellan Farces (a t6 la' ne). 
Licentious interludes in the Roman theatres, 
introduced from Atella, in Campania. The 
characters of Macchus and Bucco are the fore- 
runners of our Punch and Clown. 

Athanasian Creed (ath a na 7 shan). One of the 
three creeds accepted by the Roman and 
Anglican Churches; so called because it em- 
bodies the opinions of Athanasius respecting 
the Trinity. It was compiled in the 5th 
century by Hilary, Bishop of Arles. 

In the Episcopal Prayer Book of America 
this creed is omitted. 

Atheists. During World War II Father W. T. 
Cummings, an American army chaplain at 
Bataan, in one of his sermons used the phrase, 
“there are no atheists in foxholes,” meaning 
that no one can deny the existence of God in 
the face of imminent death. 

Athenaeum (ath e ne 7 um). A famous academy 
or university situated on the Capitoline Hill at 
Rome, and founded by Hadrian about a.d. 133 . 
So called in honour of Athene. As now used 
the name usually denotes a literary or scientific 
institution. 

The Athenxum Club in London was 
established in 1824; the review of this name 
(now merged in the Spectator) was founded by 
James Silk Buckingham in 1828. 

Athene (a the 7 ne). The goddess of wisdom 
and of the arts and sciences in Greek mytho- 
logy: the counterpart of the Roman Minerva 
(?-v.). 

Athens. When the goddess of wisdom dis- 
puted with the sea-god which of them should 
give name to Athens, the gods decided that it 
should be called by the name of that deity 
w hich bestowed on man the most useful boon. 



Athens of Ireland 


54 


Atomic theory 


Athene (the goddess of wisdom) created the 
olive tree, Poseidon created the horse. The 
vote was given in favour of the olive tree, and 
the city was called Athens. An olive branch was 
the symbol of peace , and was also the highest 

rize of the victor in the Olympic games. The 

orse, on the other hand, was the symbol of 
war . 

Athens of Ireland. Belfast. 

Athens of the New World. Boston. 

Athens of the West. Cordoba, in Spain, was 
so called in the Middle Ages. 

The Modern Athens. Edinburgh. 

Athenian Bee. Plato (429-327 b.c.), a 
native of Athens, was so called because, 
according to tradition, when in his cradle a 
swarm of bees alighted on his mouth, and in 
consequence his words flowed with the sweet- 
ness of honey. The same tale is told of St. 
Ambrose, and others. See Bee. Xenophon 
(444-359 B.c.) is also called “ the Bee of 
Athens,” or “ the Athenian Bee.” 

Athole Brose (Scots). A compound of oat- 
meal, honey, and whisky. 

Atkins. See Tommy Atkins. 

Atlantean Shoulders. Shoulders able to bear 
a great weight, like those of Atlas (q.v.). 

Sage he stood. 

With Atlantean shoulders, fit to hear 
The weight of mightiest monarchies. 

Milton: Paradise Lost , IT, 305. 

Atlantes (at lan' tez). Figures of men, used in 
architecture as pillars. So called from Atlas 
{q.v.). Female figures are called Caryatides 
(<?.v.). See also Telamones. 

Atlantic Charter. President Roosevelt and 
Winston Churchill after meeting at sea dur- 
ing the 1939-45 War made a declaration of 
their common principles, August 14th 1941, 
known as the Atlantic Charter. They de- 
clared, among other things, that the U.S. and 
Great Britain desired no aggrandizement, that 
they wished all peoples to live under their 
chosen form of Government and to have access 
to those raw materials necessary to their 
economic prosperity, that they hoped for 
improved labour standards and social security 
for all, and that when peace came they wished 
all men to live free from fear and from want. 
Finally, they urged general disarmament at 
the end of hostilities. 

Atlantic Ocean. The ocean is so called 
either from the Atlas mountains, the great 
range in north-west Africa which, to the 
ancients, seemed to overlook the whole 
ocean, or from Atlantis (q.v.). 

Atlantic Wall. The name given by the 
Germans in World War II to their defences 
built up around the west coast of France to 
resist tne expected Allied landings. 

Atlantis. A mythical island of great extent 
which was anciently supposed to have existed 
in the Atlantic Ocean. It is first mentioned 
by Plato (in the Timceus and Critias ), and Solon 
was told of it by an Egyptian priest, who said 
that it had been overwhelmed by an earthquake 
and sunk beneath the sea 9,000 years before 
his time. Cp. Lemuria; Lyonesse. 


The New Atlantis. An allegorical romance 
by Bacon (written between 1614 and 1618) in 
which he describes an imaginary island where 
was established a philosophical commonwealth 
bent on the cultivation of the natural sciences. 
See Utopia; City of the Sun. 

Mrs. Manley, in 1709, published under the 
same title a scandalous chronicle, in which the 
names of contemporaries are so thinly dis- 
guised as to be readily recognized. 

Atlas (&t' las). In Greek mythology, one of 
the Titans condemned by Zeus for his share in 
the War of the Titans to uphold the heavens on 
his shoulders. He was stationed on the Atlas 
mountains in Africa, and the tale is merely a 
poetical way of saying that they prop up the 
heavens, because they are so lofty. 

Bid Atlas, propping heaven, as poets feign, 

His subterranean wonders spread! 

Thomson: Autumn , 797. 

A book of maps is so called because the 
figure of Atlas with the world on his back was 
employed by Mercator on the title-page of his 
collection of maps in the 16th century. In the 
paper trade A this is a standard size of drawing- 
paper measuring 26 x 34 in. 

Atli. See Etzel. 

Atman (at' man). In Buddhist philosophy, 
the noumenon of one’s own self. Not the Ego, 
but the Ego divested of all that is objective; the 
“spark of heavenly flame.” In the Upani- 
shads the Atman is regarded as the sole reality. 

The unseen and unpcrceivable, which was formerly 
called the soul, was now called the self, Atman. 
Nothing could be predicated of it except that it was, 
that it perceived and thought, and that it must be 


Atomic Energy and the Atomic Bomb. All 

matter consists of atoms, and science asserts 
that each atom is composed of three types of 
particle, the proton, the electron and the 
neutron; the first possesses a positive electric 
charge, the second a negative charge of equal 
value, the neutron has no such charge. The 
protons, neutrons and some of the electrons 
form a nucleus around which the remainder of 
the electrons revolve. The binding force of 
the nucleus is not the same for every element. 
When the nucleus of one atom of Uranium 235 
is split up energy is released, due to the forma- 
tion of an element with a lower binding force. 
In addition neutrons are emitted which, in their 
turn, split up other atoms. If the whole pro- 
cess expands in this way it is called a chain 
reaction, and if sufficient material is available 
a terrific explosion results. 

Atomic philosophy. The hypothesis of 
Leucippus, Democritus, and Epicurus, that the 
world is composed of a concourse of atoms, or 
particles of matter so minute as to be incapable 
of further diminution. Cp . Corpuscular 
Philosophy. 

Atomic theory. The doctrine that all 
elemental bodies consist of aggregations of 
atoms ( i.e . the smallest indivisible particles of 
the element in question), not united fortuit- 
ously, but according to fixed proportions. 
The four laws of Dalton are — constant pro- 
portion, reciprocal proportion, multiple pro- 
portion, and compound proportion. 




Atomic volume 


55 


Au fait 


Atomic volume* The space occupied by a 
quantity of an element compared with, or in 
proportion to, atomic weight. 

Atomic weight. The weight of an atom of 
an element, compared with an atom of hydro- 
gen, the standard of unity. 

Atomy. See Anatomy. 

Atossa (atos' &). Sarah, Duchess of Marl- 
borough (1660-1744), so called by Pope ( Moral 
Essays , ii), was the friend of Lady Mary 
Wortley Montagu, whom he calls Sappho. 
Herodotus says that Atossa, the mother of 
Xerxes, was a follower of Sappho. 

A-trip. The anchor is a-trip when it has just 
been drawn from the ground in a perpendicular 
direction. A sail is a-trip when it has been 
hoisted from the cap, and is ready for trim- 
ming. 

Atropos (St' ro pos). In Greek mythology the 
eldest of the Three Fates, and the one who 
severs the thread of human life. 

Attaint (etymologically the same word as 
attain , through Fr. from Lat. ad , to; tangere, 
to touch). An old term in chivalry, meaning 
to strike the helmet and shield of an antagonist 
so lirnily with the lance, held in a direct line, 
as either to break the lance or overthrow the 
person struck. Hence, to convict, condemn; 
hence, to condemn one convicted of treason to 
loss of honours and death. The later develop- 
ment of the word was affected by its fanciful 
association with taint. 

Attic. The Attic Bee, Sophocles (495-405 r.c.), 
the tragic poet, a native of Athens; so called 
from the great sweetness of his compositions. 
See also Athenian Bee. 

The Attic Bird. The nightingale; so called 
either because Philomel was the daughter of 
the King of Athens, or because of the great 
abundance of nightingales in Attica. 

Where the Attic bird 

Trills her thick-warbled notes the summer long. 

Milton: Paradise Regained, IV, 245. 

The Attic Boy. Cephalos, beloved by 
Aurora or Morn; passionately fond of hunting. 
Till civil-suited Morn appear. 

Not tricked and frounced, as she was wont 
With the Attic boy to hunt, 

But kerchiefed in a comely cloud. 

Milton: II Penscroso. 

Attic faith. Inviolable faith, the very 
opposite of Punic faith. See Punica Fides. 

The Attic Muse. Xenophon (444-356 n.c.), 
the historian, a native of Athens; so called 
because the style of his composition is a model 
of elegance. 

Attic salt. Elegant and delicate wit. Salt, 
both in Latin and Greek, was a common term 
for wit, or sparkling thought well expressed; 
thus Cicero says, Scipio omnes sale superabat 
(Scipio surpassed ali in wit). The Athenians 
were noted for their wit and elegant turns of 
thought. 

Atticus (at' i kus). The most elegant and 
finished scholar of the Romans, and a book- 
seller (109-32 n.c.). His admirable taste and 
sound judgment were so highly thought of 
that even Cicero submitted several of his 
treatises to him. 


The Christian Atticus. Reginald Heber 
(1783-1826), Bishop of Calcutta, a great book- 
collector. 

The English Atticus. Joseph Addison 
(1672-1719), so called by Pope ( Prologue to 
Satires ), on account of his refined taste and 
philosophical mind. 

The Irish Atticus. George Faulkner (1700- 
75), bookseller, publisher, and friend of $wift: 
so called by Lord Chesterfield when Viceroy of 
Ireland. 

Attila. See Etzel. 

Attis. See Atys. 

Attorney (a ter' ni) (Fr. atourner , to attorn, or 
turn over to another). One who acts as agent 
for another, especially in legal matters. The 
work of an attorney is now undertaken by a 
solicitor, and the term is only used in “Power 
of Attorney” described below. A solicitor is 
one who solicits or petitions in Courts of 
Equity through counsel. At one time soli- 
citors belonged to Courts of Equity, and 
attorneys to the other courts. 

From and after Act 36, 37 Viet, lxvi, 87, 44 all 
persons admitted as solicitors, attorneys, or proc- 
tors . . . empowered to practise in any court, the 
jurisdiction of which is hereby transferred to the 
High Court of Justice, or the Court of Appeal, 
shall be called Solicitors of the Supreme Court.’* 
(1873). 

Power of Attorney. Legal authority given 
to another to collect rents, pay wages, invest 
money, or to act in matters stated in the 
instrument, according to his own judgment. 
In such cases quod aliquis facit per aliquem , 
facit per se. 

Warrant of Attorney. The legal instrument 
which confers on another the “Power of 
Attorney.” 

The Attorney-General is the chief law officer 
of the Government and head of the Bar. He 
conducts cases on behalf of the Crown, 
advises the various departments of State on 
legal matters, and, if necessary, justifies such 
advice and action in Parliament. 

Atys (a' tis). The Phrygian counterpart of the 
Greek Adonis and Phoenician Tammuz. He 
was beloved by Cybele, the mother of the gods, 
who changed him into a pine-tree as he was 
about to commit suicide. A three-days’ festi- 
val was held in his honour every spring; great 
grief and mourning was expressed, he was 
sought for on the mountains, and on the third 
day brought back to the shrine of Cybele amid 
great rejoicing. 

A.U.C. Abbreviation of the Lat. Anno Urbls 
Conditarj “from the foundation of the city” 
(Rome). It is the starting point of the Roman 
system of dating events, and corresponds with 
753 b.c. 

Au courant (6 koo' ron) (Fr.), 4 'acquainted 
with” (literally, in the current [of events])- 
To keep one au courant of everything that 
passes, is to keep one familiar with, or in- 
formed of, passing events. 

Au fait (Fr.). Skilful, thorough master of; 
as. He is quite au fait in those matters, i.e. 
quite master of them or conversant with them. 


Au pied de la lettre 


56 


Auld Hornie 


Au pied de la lettre (Fr.). Literatim et 
verbatim; according to the strict letter of the 
text. 

Arthur is but a boy, and a wild, enthusiastic 
young fellow whose opinions one must not take 
au pied de la lettre. 

Thackeray: Pendennis, i, 11. 

Au revoir (Fr.). “Good-bye for the 
present.** Literally, till seeing you again. 

Aubaine. See Droit d’Aubaine. 

Aubry’s Dog. See Dog. 

Auburn (aw' bern). It is supposed that this 
hamlet described by Goldsmith in The Deserted 
Village was Lissoy, County Westmeath, 
Ireland. 

Audley. We will John Audley it. A theatrical 
phrase meaning to abridge, or bring to a 
conclusion, a play in progress. It is said that 
in the 18th century a travelling showman 
named Shuter used to lengthen out his per- 
formance till a goodly number of newcomers 
were waiting for admission to the next house. 
An assistant would then call out, “Is John 
Audley here?’* and the play was brought to an 
end as soon as possible. 

Audrey. In Shakespeare’s As You Like It , an 
awkward country wench, who jilted William 
for Touchstone. See also Tawdry. 

Augean Stables (aw jo' an). The stables of 
Augeas, the mythological king of Elis, in 
Greece. In these stables he had kept 3,000 
oxen, and they had not been cleansed for 
thirty years. One of the labours of Hercules 
(q.v.) was to cleanse them, and he did so by 
causing two rivers to run through them. 
Hence the phrase, to cleanse the Augean stables, 
means to clear away an accumulated mass of 
corruption, moral, religious, physical, or legal. 

Augsburg Confession. The chief standard of 
faith in the Lutheran Church, drawn up by 
Melancthon and Luther in 1530. and presented 
to Charles V and the Diet of the Holy Roman 
Empire, which was sitting at Augsburg. 

The Interim of Augsburg. A Concordat 
drawn up by Charles V in 1548 to allay the 
religious turmoil of Germany. It was a pro- 
visional arrangement, based on the Augsburg 
Confession, and was to be in force till some 
definite decision could be pronounced by the 
General Council to be held at Trent. The 
Interim of Ratisbon was a similar temporary 
arrangement, resulting from the Diet of 
Ratisbon (1541). 

Augury (aw' gu ri) (probably from Lat. avis , a 
bird, and garrire , to talk), means properly the 
function of an augur, i.e. a religious official 
among the Romans who professed to foretell 
future events from omens derived chiefly from 
the actions of birds. The augur, having taken 
his stand on the Capitoline Hill, marked out 
with his wand the space of the heavens to be 
the field of observation, and divided it from top 
to bottom. If the birds appeared on the left 
of the division the augury was unlucky, but if 
on the right it was favourable. 

This form of divination may have been due 
to the earliest sailors, who, if they got out of 
sight of land, would watch the flight of 


birds for indications of the shore. Cp. 
Inaugurate; Sinistfr. 

August. This month was once called sextilis, 
as it was the sixth from March, with which the 
year used to open, but it was changed to 
Augustus in compliment to Augustus (63 b.c.- 
a.d. 14), the first Roman Emperor, whose 
“lucky month*’ it was. Cp. July. It was the 
month in which he entered upon his first 
consulship, celebrated three triumphs, received 
the oath of allegiance from the legions which 
occupied the Janiculum, reduced Egypt, and 
put an end to the civil wars. 

Tffc old Dutch name for August was Cost - 
maatul (harvest-month); the old Saxon Weod- 
monath (weed-month), where weed signifies 
vegetation in general. In the French Re- 
publican calendar it was called Thermidor 
(hot-month, July 19th to August 17th). 

Augusta. The Roman name for the town 
that occupied the site of the City of London. 

Augustan Age The most fruitful and splen- 
did time of Latin literature, so called from the 
Emperor Augustus. Horace, Ovid, Pro- 
pertius, Tibullus, Virgil, etc., flourished in his 
reign, from 27 u.c. to a.d. 14. 

Augustan Age of English Literature. The 
period of the classical writers of the time of 
Queen Anne and George I. 

Augustan History. A series of histories of 
the Roman Empire from Hadrian to Numeri- 
anus (117-285), of unknown authorship. Jt is 
now generally accepted that the work was 
compiled in 362-3 as propaganda for Julian 
the Apostate. 

Augustine, The Second. Thomas Aquinas, the 
A ngelic Doctor (q.v.). 

Augustinian Canons. An order of monks 
founded in the 1 1th century by Ivo, Bishop of 
Chartres, and following the traditionary rule 
of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (d. 430). They 
came to England in the reign of Henry I, and 
had houses at Oxford, Bristol, Carlisle, 
Walsingham, Newstead, etc. 

Augustinian, or Austin, Friars. A mendicant 
order founded by Innocent IV in 1250; they 
came to England two years later. See 
Begging Friars. 

Augustus. A title conferred in 27 n.c. upon 
Caius Julius Caisar Octavianus, the first Roman 
Emperor, meaning reverend , or venerable , and 
probably in origin consecrated by augury. In 
the reign of Diocletian (284-313) the two 
emperors each bore the title, and the two 
viceroys that of Ccesar. Prior to that time 
Hadrian limited the latter to the heir presump- 
tive. 

Augustus was the name given to Philippe II 
of France (1165-1223) and to Sigismund II of 
Poland (1520-72) both of whom were born in 
the month of August. 

Auld Brig and New Brig. Robert Burns thus 
refers to the bridges over the river Ayr. 

Auld Hornie. After the establishment of 
Christianity, the heathen deities were degraded 
by the Church into fallen angels; and Pan, with 
his horns, crooked nose, goat’s beard, pointed 




Auld Reekie 


57 


Autarchy 


ears, and goat’s feet, was transformed to his 
Satanic majesty, and called Old Horney. 

O thou, whatever title suit thee, 

Auld Hornie, Satan, Nick, or Clootie. 

Burns. 

Auld Reekie. Edinburgh old town; so 
called because it generally appeared to be 
capped by a cloud of “reek” or smoke. 

Aulic Council (Lat. aula , a court). The 
council of the Emperor in the Holy Roman 
Empire, from which there was no appeal. It 
was instituted in 1501, and came to an end with 
the extinction of the Empire in 1806, though 
the name was afterwards given to the Emperor 
of Austria’s Council of State. 

Aulis (aw' lis). A harbour in Boeotia where 
the Greek fleet is said to have assembled before 
sailing against Troy. The goddess Artemis 
becalmed the vessels because Agamemnon had 
once killed a stag in the grove sacred to her, and 
it was declared that she could be propitiated 
only by the sacrifice of Agamemnon’s 
daughter Iphigcnia. The story is the subject 
of an opera (1774) by Gluck. 

Aums-ace. See Ambsas. 

Aunt Sally. A game in which sticks or cudgels 
are thrown at a wooden head mounted on a 
pole, the object being to hit the nose of the 
figure, or break the pipe stuck in its mouth. 
The word aunt was anciently applied to any 
old woman; thus, in Shakespeare, Puck speaks 
of 

The wisest aunt telling the saddest tale. 

Midsummer Night's Dream , II, i. 
Aureole. Strictly speaking, the same as the 
vesica piscis (q.v.), i.e. an elliptical halo of light 
or colour surrounding the whole figure in early 
paintings of the Saviour and sometimes of the 
saints. Now, however, frequently used as 
though synonymous with nimbus (q.v.). Du 
Cange informs us that the aureole of nuns is 
white, of martyrs red, and of doctors green. 
Auri sacra fames (aw' ri sak' ra fa' me/). A 
Latin “tag” from the Aineid ( 1 1 1 , 57), meaning, 
the cursed hunger for wealth. It is applied to 
that restless craving for money which is almost 
a monomania. 

Aurignacian (aw rig na' shim). An early palaeo- 
lithic period in which the graphic arts were 
developed, as evidenced in the grotto at 
Aurignac, Haute Garonne, France. Flint and 
bone instruments and ornaments belong to this 
period. 

Aurora (aw ror' a). Early morning. Accord- 
ing to Grecian mythology, the goddess Aurora, 
called by Homer “rosy-fingered,” sets out 
before the sun, and is the pioneer of his rising. 

Aurora’s tears. The morning dew. 

Aurora borealis. The electrical lights 
occasionally seen in the northern part of the 
sky; also called “Northern Lights,” and 
“Merry Dancers.” See Derwent water. 
The similar phenomenon that occurs in the 
south and round the South Pole is known as 
the Aurora Australis. 

Ausone, Ch&teau (aw son). A very line claret, 
so called because the vineyard is reputed to be 
on the site of a villa built by the poet Ajusonius 
(4th century a.d.) at Lucaniacum (St. Emilion). 


Ausonia (aw so' ni a). An ancient name of 
Italy; so called from Auson, son of Ulysses, 
and father of the Ausones. 

Auspices (aw' spi se/). In ancient Rome the 
auspex (pi. auspices ; from avis, a bird and 
specere , to observe) was one who observed the 
flight of birds and interpreted the omens. Cp. 
Augury. 

Only the chief in command was allowed to 
take the auspices of war, and if a subordinate 
gained a victory, he was said to win it “under 
the good auspices” of his superior. Hence 
our modern use of the term. 

Aussie (aw' si, os' i). This was a familiar 
name given to the Australian troops during 
and after World War 1. Among themselves 
a common colloquial epithet was “digger.” 

Auster (Gr. austeros , hot, dry). A wind 
pernicious to flowers and health. In Italy one 
of the South winds was so called; its modern 
name is the Sirocco . In England it is a damp 
wind, generally bringing wet weather. 

Austin Friars. See Augustinian Friars. 
The narrow lane in the City of London of this 
name is so called because it is on part of the 
site of an Augustinian priory, the church of 
which remained until 1941 when it was 
destroyed in an air raid. 

Australia. The States of Australia have their 
own familiar names: — 

South Australia, the Wheat State. 

Queensland, Bananaland. 

Victoria, the Cabbage Patch. 

New South Wales, Ma State. 

Northern Territory, Land of the White Ant. 

Among the cities, Perth is called The Swan 
City; Adelaide, The City of the Churches; 
Melbourne, City of the Cabbage Garden. 

Austrian Lip. No one who has seen portraits 
of the Spanish royal family of Hapsburgs can 
have failed to notice the curiously protruded 
lower jaw and lip that marked them all. This 
is one of the most famous cases of inherited 
physical deformities. It is said to have been 
derived originally through marriage with a 
daughter of the Polish princely family of 
Jageilon. Describing the Emperor Charles V, 
at the age of fifty-five, Motley says “the lower 
jaw protruded so far beyond the upper that it 
was impossible for him to bring together the 
few fragments of teeth which still remained, 
or to speak a whole sentence in an intelligible 
voice.” Of Charles II of Spain, his descen- 
dant in the fourth generation, and the last of 
the Hapsburgs, Macaulay says, “the mal- 
formation of the jaw, characteristic of his 
family, was so serious that he could not 
masticate his food.” 

Aut Caesar aut nullus (awt se' sar awt nfll' us) 
(Lat. either a Caesar or a nobody). Every- 
thing or nothing; all or not at all. Caesar used 
to say, “he would sooner be first in a village 
than second in Rome.” The phrase was used 
as a motto by Ctesar Borgia (1478-1507), the 
natural son of Pope Alexander VI. 

Autarchy and Autarky (aw'tarki). These 
homonyms have widely different meanings. 
Autarchy is despotism, self-government, abso- 



Authentic Doctor 


58 


Avenger of Blood 


lute dictatorship; autarky means self-suffici- 
ency, independence, especially in the economic 
sphere. 

Authentic Doctor." A title bestowed on the 
scholastic philosopher, Gregory of Rimini 
(d. 1358). 

Authorized Version, The. See Bible, the 
English. 

Auto da Fe (aw' to da fa) (Port, an act of faith). 
An assembly of the Spanish Inquisition for the 
examination of heretics, or for the carrying 
into execution of the sentences imposed by it. 
Those who persisted in their heresy were 
delivered to the secular arm and usually burnt. 
The reason why inquisitors burnt their victims 
was, because they were forbidden to “shed 
blood**; a tergiversation based on the axiom 
of the Roman Catholic Church, Ecclesia non 
novit sanguinem (The Church is untainted with 
blood). 

Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. A name 
given to Oliver Wendell Holmes, who wrote a 
series of essays under this title for the first 
twelve numbers of the Atlantic Monthly in 
1857. They were published in volume form 
the following year. 

Autolycus (aw tol' i kus). In Greek mytho; 
logy, son of Mercury, and the craftiest of 
thieves. He stole the flocks of his neighbours, 
and changed their marks; but Sisyphus out- 
witted him by marking his sheep under their 
feet. Autolycus, delighted with this device, 
became friends with Sisyphus. Shakespeare 
uses his name for the rascally pedlar in The 
Winter' s Tale , and says: — 

My father named me Autolycus; who being, as I 
am, littered [l.e. born] under Mercury, was likewise 
a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles. 

Winter's Tale , IV, ii. 

Automedon (aw tom" 6 don). A coachman. 
He was, according to Homer, the companion 
and the charioteer of Achilles, but according to 
Virgil the brother-in-arms of Achilles’s son, 
Pyrrhus. 

Autumn. The third season of the year; 
astronomically , from September 2 1st to Decem- 
ber 21st, but popularly comprising (in England) 
September, October, and November. 

Figuratively the word may mean the fruits 
of autumn, as in Milton’s : — 

Raised of grassy turf 

Their table was, and mossy seats had round, 

And on her ample square, from side to side, 

All autumn piled. 

Paradise Lost , V, 391. 

or, a season of maturity or decay, as in 
Shelley’s : — 

His limbs were lean; his scattered hair, 
Sered by the autumn of strange suffering, 

Sung dirges in the wind, 
y a. A las tor , 248. 

lie Is come to his autumn. A colloquialism, 
which may mean that he has entered on his 
period of (natural or induced) decay. 

Ava (a' va). A ruined city in Burma, situated 
on the Irawaddy, some 10 miles south-west of 
Mandalay. It was the capital of the Burman 
empire until 1782 and again from 1823 to 1837. 


On being raised to the marquisate in 1888, the 
Earl of Dufferin, who had negotiated the 
annexation of Upper Burma, added the name 
of Ava to his title, becoming 1st Marquis of 
Dufferin and Ava. 

Avalon (av' k Ion). A Celtic word meaning 
“the island of apples,” and in Celtic myth- 
ology applied to the Island of Blessed Souls, an 
earthly paradise set in the western seas. In 
the Arthurian legends it is the abode and 
burial-place of Arthur, who was carried hither 
by Morgan le Fay. Its identification with 
Glastonbury ( q.v .) rests on etymological con- 
fusion. Ogier le Dane and Overon also held 
their courts at Avalon. 

Avant-courier (a' von kur' yer). An Angli- 
cized form of Fr. avant-coureur , a messenger 
sent before, one who is to get things ready for 
a party of travellers, soldiers, etc., or to 
announce their approach. Figuratively, any- 
thing said or done to prepare the way for 
something more important; a feeler, a har- 
binger. 

Avant-garde (a' von gard) (Fr.). The ad- 
vanced guard of an army, usually nowadays 
cut down to vanguard . The term is also 
applied to ulta-modern and experimental 
young artists and writers. 

Avars. See Banat. 

Avatar (Sans, avatara , descent; hence, in- 
carnation of a god). In Hindu mythology, 
the advent to earth of a deity in a visible form. 
The ten avataras of Vishnu are by far the most 
celebrated. The 1st advent (the Matsya), in the 
form of a fish; 2nd (the Kurina) in that of a 
tortoise; 3rd (the Varaha), of a boar; 4th (the 
Narasinha), of a monster, half man and half 
lion; 5th (the Vamana), in the form of a dwarf; 
6th (Parashurama), in human form, as Rama 
with the axe; 7th (Ramachandra), again as 
Rama; 8th, as Krishna (r/.v.); 9th, as Buddha. 
These are all past. The 10th advent will occur 
at the end of four ages, and will be in the form 
of a white horse (Kalki) with wings, to destroy 
the earth. 

The word is used metaphorically to denote a 
manifestation or embodiment of some idea or 
phase : — 

I would take the last years of Queen Anne’s reign 
as the zenith, or palmy state, of Whiggism, in its 
divinest avatar of common sense. 

Cou-kidgi-': Table-talk. 
Ave (a' vi, a' va). Latin for “Hail!” 

Ave atque vale. See Vale. 

Avc Maria (Lat. Hail, Mary!). The first 
two words of the angel’s salutation to the 
Virgin Mary (Luke i, 28). In the Roman 
Catholic Church the phrase is applied to an 
invocation to the Virgin beginning with those 
words; and also to the smaller beads of a 
rosary, the larger ones being termed pater- 
nosters. 

Avenger of Blood, The. The man who, in the 
Jewish polity, had the right of taking vengeance 
on him who had slain one of his kinsmen 
(Josh, xx, 5, etc.). The Avenger in Hebrew is 
called goel. 




Aver 


59 


Ayah 


Cities of refuge were appointed for the 
protection of homicides, ana of those who had 
caused another's death by accident. ( Num . 
xxxv, 12.) The Koran sanctions the Jewish 
custom. 

Aver. See Avoirdupois. 

Avernus (a ver' nus) (Gr. a-ornis , “without a 
bird”). A lake in Campania, so called from 
the belief that its sulphurous and mephitic 
vapours caused any bird that attempted to fly 
over it to fall into its waters. Latin mythology 
placed the entrance to the infernal regions near 
it; hence Virgil’s lines: — 

Facilis descensus Averno 
Nodes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis; 

Sed revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras, 
Hoc opus, hie labor est. 

AZneid, VI 126. 

Englished by Dryden as follows: — 

Smooth the descent and easy is the way 
(The Gates of Hell stand open night and day); 
But to return, and view the cheerful skies, 

In this the task and mighty labour lies. 

Bad habits are easily acquired, but very hard 
to give up. 

Avesta (a ves' ta). The Zoroastrian and Par- 
see Bible, dating in its present form from the 
last quarter of the 4th century, a.d., collected 
from the ancient writings, sermons, etc., of 
Zoroaster (fl. before 800 b.c.), oral traditions, 
etc. It is only a fragment, and consists of 
(1) the Yasna, the chief liturgical portion, 
which includes Gathers, or hymns; (2) the 
Vispered, another liturgical work; (3) the Ven- 
didad, which, like our Pentateuch, contains 
the laws; (4) the Yashts, dealing with stories of 
the different gods; together with prayers and 
other fragments. 

The books are sometimes erroneously called 
the Zend-Avesta; this is a topsy-turvy mis- 
understanding of the term “Avesta-Zend,” 
which means simply “text and commentary.” 

Avianus (civ i a' nus). A writer of imitations of 
/Esop’s fables in the decline of the Roman 
Empire. In the Middle Ages they were used 
as a first lesson book in schools. 

Avicenna (Abou Ibn Sina) (980-1037). Arabian 
physician, philosopher, scientist, statesman 
and poet. Born at Afshena, Persia, he be- 
came a prodigy of learning and by the age of 
twenty-one had compiled an encyclopaedia of 
every science except mathematics. One of 
the greatest of physicians (his Canon of 
Medicine is the most famous of all medical 
treatises), he is also one of the greatest of the 
Arabic philosophers. 

Avignon Popes (a vc' nyon). In 1309 Pope 
Clement V left Rome and transferred the papal 
court to Avignon, where the popes remained 
for seventy years of strife and confusion. The 
Avignon popes were: 

Clement V 1305-1314 Innocent VI 1352-1362 

John XXII 1316-1334 Urban V 1362-1370 

Benedict XII 1334-1342 Gregory XI 1370-1378 

Clement VI 1342-1352 

A vinculo matrimonii (a ving' kfl 16 mat ri mo' 
ni I) (Lat.). A total divorce from marriage 
ties. A divorce a ntensa et thoro (i.e. from 
table and bed — from bed and board) is partial, 
because the parties may. if they choose, come 
B.D.—-3 


together again ; but a divorce a vinculo 
matrimonii is granted in cases in which the 
“marriage” was never legal owing to a pre- 
contract (bigamy), consanguinity, or affinity. 
Avoid Extremes. A traditional saying of 
Pittacus of Mitylene (652-569 b.c.), one of the 
seven Wise Men of Greece. It is echoed in 
many writers and literatures. Compare the 
advice given by Phoebus to Phaethon when he 
was preparing to drive the chariot of the sun: — 

Medio tutissimus ibis (You will go more safely in 
the middle). — O vid: Met , ii. 137. 

Avoirdupois (av' er du poiz). Fr. avoir , aver 
or avier, goods in general, and poise = poids 
(weight). Not the verb, but the noun avoir . 
Properly avoir de poids (goods having weight), 
goods sold by weight. There is an obsolete 
English word aver , meaning goods in general, 
hence also cattle; whence such compounds as 
aver -corn, aver- penny , aver -silver and a ver- land. 
A war. One of the sons of Eblis (q.v.). 
A-weather. A sailor’s term; towards the 
weather, or the side on which the wind strikes, 
the reverse of a-lee, which is in the lee or 
shelter, and therefore opposite to the wind side. 
Awkward Squad. Military recruits not yet 
fitted to take their place in the ranks. 

A “squad” is a contraction of “squadron.” 
Awl. “I’ll pack up my awls and be gone,” 
i.e . all my goods. The play is on awl and all. 
Axe. To hang up one’s axe. To retire from 
business, to give over a useless project. 
The allusion is to the battle-axe, formerly 
devoted to the gods and hung up when fighting 
was over. See Ask. 

To put the axe on the helve. To solve a 
difficulty. To hit the nail on the head. 

To send the axe after the helve. To spend 
money in the hope of recovering bad debts. 

He has an axe to grind. Some selfish motive 
in the background; some personal interest to 
answer. Franklin tells of a man who wanted 
to grind his axe, but had no time to turn the 
grindstone. Going to the yard where he saw 
oung Franklin, he asked the boy to show him 
ow the machine worked, kept praising him 
till his axe was ground, and then laughed 
at him for his pains. 

Axinomancy (Sks' in 6 mSn' si). A method of 
divination practised by the ancient Greeks 
with a view to discovering crime. An agate, 
or piece of jet, was placed on a red-hot axe, 
and indicated the guilty person by its motion 
(Gr. axine tnanteia). 

Axis. The term used by the Fascist states of 
Central Europe, in the sense of an alliance. 

It was first used by Mussolini, in 1936 in 
a speech in which he declared the German- 
Italian agreement to be “an axis round which 
all European states animated by the will to 
collaboration and peace can also a$seiribl&” 

Axis of advance. A military term for 'the 
road or track running through an area to be 
attacked and used by the attackers to maintain 
direction. 

Ayah O' ya). Now an Anglo-Indian word, but 
originally Portuguese. A native Hindu nurse 
or lady’s maid. 




Ayeshah 


60 


Baalbec 


Ayeshah (I yesh' a). Mohammed’s second and 
favourite wife. He married her when she was 
only nine years old. and died in her arms. She 
was born abodt 61 1 and died about 678. 
Aymon ? The Four Sons of (a 7 mon). Aymon is 
a semi-mythical hero, and was father of 
Reynaud (or Rinaldo, q.v .), Guiscard, Alard, 
and Richard, all of whom were knighted by 
Charlemagne. The earliest version was prob- 
ably compiled by Huon de Villeneuve from 
earlier chansons in the 13th century. The 
brothers, and their famous horse Bayard (q.v.), 
appear in many poems and romances, includ- 
ing Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered , Pulci’s 
Morgante Maggiore , Boiardo’s Orlando Inna- 
morato , Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso , etc., and 
the story formed the basis of a number of 
French chap-books. 

Ayrshire Poet. Robert Burns (1759-96), who 
was born at Alloway near the town of Ayr. 

Azazel (a zaz' el). In Lev. xvi we read that 
among other ceremonies the high priest, on the 
Day of Atonement, cast lots on two goats; one 
lot was for the Lord , and the other lot for 
Azazel. Milton uses the name for the 
standard-bearer of the rebel angels ( Paradise 
Lost . I, 534). In Mohammedan legend, Azazel 
is a jinn of the desert; when God commanded 
the angels to worship Adam, Azazel replied, 
“Why should the son of tire fall down before 
a son of clay?” and God cast him out of 
heaven. His name was then changed to Eblis 
(q.v.), which means “despair.” 

Azaziel (azaz'iel). In Byron’s Heaven and 
Earth , a seraph who fell in love with Anah, a 
randdaughter of Cain. When the flood came, 
e carried her under his wing to another planet. 

Azilian (a z\Y i an). The main period of the 
Mesolithic Age, of w hich many harpoons made 
from stag bones have been found in the 
Pyrenean cave at Mas Azil. 

Azoth (az'oth) (Arab.). The alchemists* name 
for mercury; also the panacea or universal 
remedy of Paracelsus. Browning, in his poem 
Paracelsus (Bk. V), gives the name to Paracel- 
sus’s sword. 

Last, my good sword; ah, trusty, Azoth, leapest 
Beneath thy master’s grasp for the last time? 

Azrael (az' ral). In Mohammedan legend, the 
angel that watches over the dying, and takes 
the soul from the body; the angel of death. 
He will be the last to die, but will do so at the 
second trump of the archangel. See Adam. 

The Wings of Azrael. The approach of 
death; the signs of death coming on the dying. 

Azrafil. See Israfel. 

Aztecs (3z' teks). A branch of the Nahuatl 
Indians who came (probably) from the north- 
west and settled in the valley of Mexico about 
the 11th or 1 2th century, and ultimately subju- 
gated the aborigines. A wealthy and highly 
civilized people renowned for their building. 
Their power was brought to an end by the 
Spaniards under Cortes between 1519 and 1 530. 
Azure (Szh' Qr, a' zOr). Heraldic term for the 
colour blue. Represented in royal arms by 
the planet Jupiter, in noblemen's by the 
sapphire. The ground of the old shield of 


France was azure. Emblem of fidelity and 
truth. Represented in heraldic devices by 
horizontal lines. Ultimately Arabic or Per- 
sian, and connected with “lapis lazuli for 
which the word “azure” used to stand. Also 
used as a synonym for the clear, blue sky. 


B 

B. The form of the Roman capital “B” can 
be traced through early Greek to Phoenician and 
Egyptian hieratic; the small “b” is derived 
from the cursive form of the capital. The 
letter is called in Hebrew beth (a house); in 
Egyptian hieroglyphics it was represented by 
the crane. 

B in Roman notation stands for 300; with a 
line above , it denotes 3,000. 

Marked with a B. In the Middle Ages, and 
as late as the 17th century (especially in 
America), this letter was branded on the fore- 
head of convicted blasphemers. In France 
etre marque an “6” means to be one-eyed, 
hump-backed, or lame (borgne. bossu , boiteux) ; 
hence, an ill-favoured creature. 

Not to know B from a battledore, or from a 
bull’s foot. To be quite illiterate, not to know 
even one’s letters. Conversely, / know B from 
a bull's foot means “I’m a sharp, knowing 
person; you can't catch meV' Cp. Hawk and 
Handsaw. 

B. and S. Brandy and soda. 

B.C. In dates an abbreviation for “Before 
Christ,” before the Christian era. 

Marked with B.C. When a soldier dis- 
graced himself by insubordination he was 
formerly marked with “B.C.” (bad character) 
before he was drummed out of the regiment. 

B Flats. Bugs; which obnoxious insects are 
characterized by their flatness. 

B. of B. K. Some mysterious initials applied 
to himself in his diary by Arthur Orton, “the 
Tichborne Claimant.” Supposed to denote 
“Baronet of British Kingdom.” For some 
time it was a phrase applied popularly to any- 
one who put on airs. 

Baal. A Semitic word meaning proprietor or 
possessor , primarily the title of a god as lord of 
a place ( e.g . Baal-peor, lord of Poor), or as 
possessor of some distinctive attribute (e.g. 
Baal-zebub , or Beelzebub , q.v.). The worship of 
the Baals— for each village community had its 
own — was firmly established in Canaan at the 
time of the Israelites’ incursion: the latter 
adopted many of the Canaamtish rites, and 
grafted them on to their own worship of Jahwe 
(Jehovah), Jahwe becoming — especially when 
worshipped at the “high places’ —merely the 
national Baal. It was this form of worship 
that Hosea and other prophets denounced as 
heathenism. Bel (?.v.) is the Assyrian form 
of the name. See also Belphegor. 

Baalbec. See Chilminar. 




Babau 


61 


Bacchus 


Babau (ba bo). A French bogeyman, once 
used to terrify unruly children. 

Babbitt (b&b' it). The leading character in 
Sinclair Lewis’s novel of this name. He is a 
prosperous “realtor” or estate agent in the 
Western city of Zenith, a simple, likeable 
fellow, with faint aspirations to culture that 
are forever smothered in the froth and futile 
“hustle” of American business life. Drive 
(which takes him nowhere), hustle (by which 
he saves no time) and efficiency (which does 
not enable him to do anything) are the key- 
notes of his life. Babbitt in present usage 
typifies the business man of orthodox outlook 
and virtues, with no interest in cultural values. 

Babel. A perfect Babel. A thorough con- 
fusion. “A Babel of sounds.” A confused 
uproar, in which nothing can be heard but 
hubbub. The allusion is to the confusion of 
tongues at Babel {Gen. xi). 

Babes in the Wood. See Children. The 
phrase has been humorously applied to (1) 
simple trustful folks, never suspicious, and 
easily gulled; (2) insurrectionary hordes that 
infested the mountains of Wicklow and the 
woods of Enniscorthy towards the close of the 
18th century; and (3) men in the stocks or in 
the pillory. 

Babes, Protecting deities of. According to 
Varro, Roman infants were looked after by 
Vagitanus, the god who caused them to utter 
their first cry ; Fabulinus, who presided over 
their speech ; Cuba, the goddess who protected 
them in their cots: and Domiduca, who 
brought young children safe home, and kept 
guard over them when out of their parents’ 
sight. In the Christian Church St. Nicholas is 
the patron saint of children. 

Babies in the Eyes. Love in the expression of 
the eyes. Love is the little babe Cupid, and 
hence the conceit, originating from the 
miniature image of oneself in the pupil of 
another’s eyes. 

She clung about his neck, gave him ten kisses. 

Toyed with his locks, looked babies in his eyes. 

Hr y wood: Love's Mistress. 

Baby doll. American slang term for a pretty 
girl. 

Babylon (bdb r i 16n), The Modern Babylon. 
So London is sometimes called, on account of 
its wealth, luxury, and dissipation; also (with 
allusion to Babel) because ol the many nation- 
alities that meet, and languages that are spoken 
there. 

The hanging gardens of Babylon. See 

Hanging. 

The whore of Babylon. An epithet bestowed 
on the Roman Catholic Church by the early 
Puritans and some of their descendants. The 
allusion is to Rev. xvii-xix. ( Cp . Scarlet 
Woman.) In the book of the Revelation 
Babylon stands for Rome, the capital of the 
world, the embodiment of luxury, vice, splen- 
dour, tyranny, and all that the early Church 
knew was against the spirit of Christ. 

Babylonian Captivity. The seventy years 
that the Jews were captives in Babylon. They 
were made captives by Nebuchadnezzar, and 
released by Cyrus (536 b.c.). 


Babylonian numbers. Nec Babylonios temp - 
taris numeros (Horace: Odes , Bk. I* xi. 2). Do 
not pry into futurity by astrological calcula- 
tions and horoscopes. Do riot corisult 
fortune-tellers. The Chaldeans were the most 
noted of astrologers. 

Babylonish garment, A. Babylonica vestis , 
a garment woven with divers colours. Pliny , 
viii, 74. 

I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment. 

Josh, vii, 21. 

Baca, The Valley of (ba' ka). An unidentified 
place mentioned in Ps. lxxxiv, 6, meaning the 
Valley of Weeping, and so translated in the 
Revised Version. Baca trees were either mul- 
berry trees or balsams. 

Bacbuc (bak' buc). A Chaldean or Assyrian 
word for an earthenware pitcher, cruse, or 
bottle, taken by Rabelais as the name of the 
Oracle of the Holy Bottle (and of its priestess), 
to which Pantagruel and his companions made 
a famous voyage. The question to be pro- 
posed was whether or not Panurge ought to 
marry. The Holy Bottle answered with a click 
like the noise made by a glass snapping. 
Bacbuc told Panurge the noise meant trine 
(drink), and that was the response, the most 
direct and positive ever given by the oracle. 
Panurge might interpret it as he liked, the 
obscurity would always save the oracle. See 
Oracle. 

Bacchus (b&k' us). In Roman mythology, the 
god of wine, the Dionysus of the Greeks, son 
of Zeus and Semele. He is represented in 
early art as a bearded man and completely clad, 
but after the time of Praxiteles as a beautiful 
youth with black eyes, golden locks, flowing 
with curls about his shoulders, and filleted 
with ivy. In peace his robe was purple, in war 
he was covered with a panther’s skin. His 
chariot was drawn by panthers. 

In the famous statue in Rome he has a 
bunch of grapes in his hand and a panther at 
his feet. Pliny tells us that, after his conquest 
of India, Bacchus entered Thebes in a chariot 
drawn by elephants, and, according to some 
accounts, he married Ariadne after Theseus 
had deserted her in Naxos. 

The name “Bacchus” is a corruption of 
Gr. lacchus (from / ache , a shout), and was 
originally merely an epithet of Dionysus as the 
noisy or rowdy god. 

As jolly Bacchus, god of pleasure. 

Charmed the wide world with drink and dances, 

And all his thousand airy fancies. 

Parnell. 

Bacchus sprang from the thigh of Zeus. The 
tale is that Semele, at the suggestion of Juno, 
asked Zeus to appear before her in all his glory, 
but the foolish request proved her death. 
Zeus saved the child, which was prematurely 
born, by sewing it up in his thigh till it came to 
maturity. 

What has that to do with Bacchus? i.e. What 
has that to do with the matter in hand ? When 
Thespis introduced recitations in the vintage 
songs, the innovation was suffered to pass, so 
long as the subject of recitation bore on the 
exploits of Bacchus: but when, for variety’s 




Bacchus 


62 


Back 


sake, he wandered to other subjects, the Greeks 
pulled him up With the exclamation, “ What 
has that to do with Bacchus?” 

Bacchus a noye plus d’hommes que Neptune. 
The ale-house wrecks more men than the 
ocean. 

A priest, or son, of Bacchus. A toper. 

Bacchus, in the Lusiad , is the evil demon or 
antagonist of Jupiter, the lord of destiny. As 
Mars is the guardian power of Christianity, 
Bacchus is the guardian power of Moham- 
medanism. 

Bacchanalia. The triennial festivals held at 
night in Rome in honour of Bacchus, called in 
Greece Dionysia , Dionysus being the Greek 
equivalent of Bacchus. In Rome, and in later 
times in Greece, they were characterized by 
drunkenness, debauchery, and licentiousness of 
all kinds; but originally they were very differ- 
ent and were of greater importance than any 
other ancient festival on account of their 
connexion with the origin and development of 
the drama; for in Attica, at the Dionysia 
choragic literary contests were held, and from 
these both tragedy and comedy originated. 
Hence bacchanalian , drunken. The terms are 
now applied to any drunken and convivial 
orgy on the grand scale. 

Bacchanals (bak' a nal/) (see also Bag o' 
Nails), Bacchants , Bacchantes. Priests and 
priestesses, or male and female votaries, of 
Bacchus; hence, a drunken roysterer. 

Bacchante (ba kan' ti). A female wine- 
bibber; so called from the “bacchantes,” or 
female priestesses of Bacchus. They wore 
fillets of ivy. 

Bacharach (bak' a rak). A brand of Rhine 
wine made in this small Rhenish town some 
23 miles south of Coblentz. It once enjoyed 
great popularity in England and the name 
appears in many forms in Elizabethan and 
later literature — backrack , backrag, baccharic , 
etc. 

I’m for no tongues but dry*d ones, such as will 

Give a fine relish to my backrag. 

Maynf: The City Match (1629). 

Good backrack ... to drink down in healths 
Fi.etchfr: Beggar's Bush. 

Bachelor. A man who has not been married. 
This is a word whose ultimate etymology is 
unknown; it is from O.Fr. bacheler , which is 
from a late Latin word baccalaris. This last 
may be merely a translation of the French 
word, as it is only of rare and very late 
occurrence, but it may be allied to baccalarius , 
a late Latin adjective applied to farm labourers, 
the history of which is very doubtful. 

In the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales ( 1 , 
80), Chaucer uses the word in its old sense of a 
knight not old enough to display his own 
banner, and so following that of another: 

With him ther was his sone, a young Squyer, 

A lovycre, and a lusty bacheler. 

Taxes on bachelors. By an Act of 1694 a 
tax was imposed on unmarried male persons 
above the age of twenty-five, varying in amount 
from £12 10s. to Is. according to the tax- 
payer’s status. It was repealed in 1706. In 
1785 bachelors’ servants were subjected to a 
higher tax than those of other persons. In the 


graduated Income Tax designed by Pitt in 
1799 the rate for bachelors was higher than for 
married men. In the existing Income Tax 
system a bachelor pays at a higher rate than a 
married man by having no allowances for wife, 
children, etc. 

Bachelor of Arts. A student who has taken 
the university degree below that of Master, 
and in strict usage referred to as the bac- 
calaureate, from mediaeval Lat. baccalaureatus . 

Bachelor of Salamanca. The last novel of 
Le Sage (published in 1736); the hero is a 
bachelor of arts, Don Cherubin de la Ronda; 
he is placed in different situations of life, and 
associates with all classes of society. 

Bachelor’s buttons. Buttons made of small 
steel pressings, with a head on the button side 
and a small stem protruding from the inside. 
This stem is pushed through a hole in a jacket 
or trousers and then another small flange is 
snapped on to this and secures the button. No 
sewing is required, hence the name. 

Several flowers, with real or supposed 
resemblance to these buttons, are so named. 
These are red bachelor's buttons (double red 
campion), yellow (the upright crowfoot), and 
white (white ranunculus or white campion). 

Bachelor’s fare. Bread and cheese and 
kisses. 

Bachelor's porch. An old name for the 
north door ol a church. Menservants and 
poor men used to sit on benches down the 
north aisle, and maidservants and poor women 
on the south side. After service the men 
formed one line and the women another, down 
which the clergy and gentry passed. 

Bachelor’s wife. A hypothetical ideal or 
perfect wife. 

Bachelors’ wives and maids* childien be well taught. 

H f-Ywoon : pro verbs . 

Back, To. To support with money, influence, 
or encouragement; as to “back a friend”; 
to lay money on a horse in a race, “backing” 
it to win or for a place. 

A commercial term, meaning to endorse. 
When a merchant backs or endorses a bill, he 
guarantees its value. 

Fulstalf says to the Prince 

You care not who sees your back. Call you that 
backing of your friends? A plague upon such 
backing! 

Henry IV Pi. J, II, iv. 

Back-of-beyond. A phrase originating in 
Australia to describe the wide inland spaces, 
the great Outback. The phrase backblock is 
found in 1850, referring to those vast territories 
divided up by the government into blocks for 
settlement. 

Back the oars, or back water, is to row back- 
wards, that the boat may move the reverse of 
its ordinary direction. 

Back and edge. Entirely, heartily, tooth and 
nail, with mignt and main. The reference is, 
perhaps, to a wedge driven home to split wood. 

Laid on one’s back. Laid up with chronic 
ill-health ; helpless. 

Thrown on his back. Completely beaten. 
A figure taken from wrestling. 




Back, To 


63 


Baconian Philosophy 


To back and fill. A nautical phrase, 
denoting a mode of tacking when the tide is 
with the vessel and the wind against it. 
Metaphorically, to be irresolute. 

To back out. To withdraw from an engage- 
ment, bargain, etc.; to retreat from a difficult 
position. 

To back the field. To bet on all the horses 
bar one. 

To back the sails. So to arrange them that 
the ship's way may be checked. 

To back up. To uphold, to support. As 
one who stands at your back to support you. 
An advance by the batsman not taking strike 
at cricket in order to be ready to take a quick 
run if the striker makes an opportunity. 

To break the back of. To finish the hardest 
part of one’s work. 

To get one’s back up. To be irritated. The 
allusion is to a cat, which sets its back up when 
attacked by a dog or other animal. 

To go back on one’s word. To withdraw 
what one has said; to refuse to perform what 
one has promised. To go back on a person is 
to betray him. 

To have one’s back to the wall. To act on 

the defensive against odds. One beset with 
foes tries to get his back against a wall that he 
may not be attacked by foes behind. 

To take a back seat. To withdraw from a 
position one has occupied or attempted to 
occupy; to retire into obscurity, sometimes as 
a confession of failure. 

Backbite, To. To slander behind one's 
back. 

To be prvnces in pr>de and pouerte to despise 

To backbite, and to hasten and here fah witnesse. 

Piers Plowman. 

He that backbiteth not with his tongue. 

Psalm xv, 3. 


Backfire. An explosion in the exhaust of a 
motor-car. In prairie or forest tires the term 
is applied to a fire deliberately started and 
controlled which is driven towards the danger- 
ous conflagration so that the two burn 
themselves out. 

Backgammon. The O.E. bay ganien (back 
game), so called because the pieces (in certain 
circumstances) are taken up and obliged to go 
back to enter at the table again. 


Back-hander. A blow with the back of the 
hand. Also one who takes back the decanter 
in order to hand himself another glass belore 
the decanter is passed on. 

I’ll take a back-hander, as Clive don t seem to drink. 

Thackeray: The Newcomes , ch. xlui. 

A back-handed compliment: a compliment 
which is so phrased as to imply deprecation. 

Backroom boys. A name given familiarly to 
the scientists and others who, unknown to 
the general public, devised and developed in 
their studies and laboratories methods ot 
scientific warfare. The name has since been 
applied generally to such unknown workers m 
all branches of technology. The phrase comes 
from a speech by Lord Beaverbrook on war 


production, 24 March, 1941 : “To whom must 
praise be given ... to the boys in the back 
room.” 

Back-slang. A species of slang which con- 
sists in pronouncing the word as though spelt 
backwards. Thus police becomes ecilop 
(hence the term slop for a policeman), par - 
snips, spinsrap, and so on. It was formerly 
much used by “flash” Cockneys, thieves, etc. 


Backstairs influence. Private or unrecog- 
nized influence, especially at Court. Royal 
palaces have more than one staircase, and 
those who sought the sovereign upon private 
matters would use one in an unobtrusive 
position; it was, therefore, highly desirable 
to conciliate the servants or underlings in 
charge of the “back stairs.” 

Hence, backstairs gossip , tittle-tattle ob- 
tained from servants; backstairs plots, or 
politics , underground or clandestine intrigue. 

Backward blessing. A curse. To say the 
Lord’s Prayer backwards was to invoke the 
devil. 


Backwardation. A Stock Exchange term 
denoting the sum paid by a speculator on a 
“bear account” (/.<?. a speculation on a fall 
in the price of certain stock), in order to post- 
pone the completion of the transaction till the 
next settling day. Cp. Contango. 

Backwater. This means properly a pool or 
creek of still water fed indirectly by a river or 
stream. It has come to mean figuratively any 
state in which one is isolated from the active 
flow of life. 

Bacon. To baste your bacon. To strike or 
scourge one. Bacon is the outside portion ot 
the sides of pork, and may be considered 
generally as the part which would receive a 
blow. „ _ , 

Falstaffs remark to the travellers at Gads- 
hill, “On. bacons, on!” (Henry /K, Pt. /, II»n) 
is an allusion to the fact that formerly swine s 
flesh formed the staple food of English rustics, 
hence such terms as bacon-brains and chaw- 
bacon for a clownish blockhead. 


To bring home the bacon. To bring back 
the prize; to succeed. This phrase may have 
originated in reference to the contest for the 
Dunmow flitch, or to the sport of catching a 
greased pig at country fairs. 


To save one’s bacon. To save oneself from 
iniury; to escape loss. The allusion may be to 
the care taken by our forefathers to save from 
the numerous dogs that frequented .their 
houses the bacon which was laid up for winter. 
But here I say the Turks were much mistaken. 

Who, hating hogs, yet wished to save their bacon. 

Hvonv Dnn JllUft . Vli. 42 . 


He may fetch a flitch of bacon from punmow. 
He is so amiable and good-tempered, he will 
never quarrel with his wife. The allusion is to 
the Dunmow Flitch. See Dunmow. 

Baconian Philosophy. A system of philosophy 
based on principles laid down by Franc s 
Bacon Lord Verulam, in the 2nd book of his 
Novum Orgamm. It is also called inductive 
philosophy. 



Baconian Theory 


64 


Baedeker Raids 


Baconian Theory. See Shakespeare. 
Bacon’s Brazen Head. See Brazen Head. 

Bactrian Sage. Zoroaster, or Zara th rust ra, 
the founder of the Perso-Jranian religion, who 
is supposed to have flourished in Bactria (the 
modern Balkh) before 800 b.c. 

Bad. Among rulers surnamed “The Bad” 
are William I, King of Sicily from 1154 to 
1166, Albert, Landgrave of Thuringia and 
Margrave of Meissen (d. 1314), and Charles II, 
King of Navarre (1332-87). 

Bad blood. Vindictiveness, ill-feeling; 
hence, to make bad blood , or to stir up bad 
blood y to create or renew ill-feeling and a 
vindictive spirit. 

You are in my bad books. See Black 
Books. 

Bad debts. Debts not likely to be paid. 

Bad egg. A disreputable character; a 
thoroughly bad fellow. 

A bad excuse is better than none. An adage 
that first appeared in Nicolas Udall’s Ralph 
Roister Doister (1541), the first comedy written 
for the English stage. 

Bad form. Not in good taste. 

Bad Hat. British slang for a rascal or a 
good-for-nothing fellow; in American slang 
it is also applied to a bad actor. 

The Bad Lands. In America, the Mauvaises 
Terres of the early French settlers west of 
Missouri; extensive tracts of sterile, alkali 
hills, rocky, desolate, and almost destitute of 
vegetation, in South Dakota. 

A bad lot. A person of bad moral character, 
or one commercially unsound. Also a com- 
mercial project or stock of worthless value. 
Perhaps from auctioneering slang, meaning a 
lot which no one will bid for. 

A bad shot. A wrong guess. A sporting 
phrase; a bad shot is one which does not bring 
down the bird shot at, one that misses the 
mark. 

He is gone to the bad. Has become a 
ruined man, or a depraved character. He is 
mixing with bad companions, has acquired bad 
habits, or is (usually implying “through his 
own fault”) in bad circumstances. 

To the bad. On the wrong side of the 
account; in arrears. 

Badge-men. Licensed beggars, or almshouse 
men; so called because they wore some special 
dress, or other badge, to indicate that they 
belonged to a particular foundation. 

He quits the gay and rich, the young and free, 

Among the badge-men with a badge to be. 

Crabbl: Borough. 

In former times those who received parish 
relief also had to wear a badge. It was the 
letter P, with the initial of the parish to which 
they belonged, in red or blue cloth, on the 
shoulder of the right sleeve. See Dyvour. 

Badger, A. A hawker, huckster, or itinerant 
dealer, especially in corn, but also in butter, 
eggs, fish, etc. The word is still in use in some 


dialects: its derivation is not certainly known, 
but it is not in any way connected with a badge 
worn. Fuller derived it from Lat. bajularey to 
carry, but there is no substantiation for this. 
The modern hawker’s licence dates from the 
licences that badgers had to obtain from a 
Justice under Act 5 and 6 Edw. VI, c. 14, §7. 

Under Dec. 17, 1565, we read of “ Certain persons 
upon Humber side who . . . buy great quantities of 
corn, two of whom were authorised badgers.” 

State Papers (Domestic Scries). 

To badger. To tease, annoy, or persistently 
importune, in allusion to badger-baiting. A 
badger was kennelled in a tub, where dogs were 
set upon him to worry him out. When 
dragged from his tub the poor beast was 
allowed to retire to it till he recovered from 
the attack. This process was repeated several 
times. 

It is a vulgar error that the legs of a badger 
are shorter on one side than on the other. 

I think that Titus Oates was as uneven as a badger. 

Macaulay. 

Drawing a badger, is drawing him out of his 
tub by means of dogs. 

In the U.S.A. badger is the slang name of an 
inhabitant of Wisconsin. 

Badinguet (ba' din ga). A nickname given to 
Napoleon III. It is said to be the name of the 
workman whose clothes he wore when he 
contrived to escape from the fortress of Ham, 
in 1846. 

If Badinguet and Bismarck have a row together 
let them settle it between them with their fists, 
instead of troubling hundreds of thousands of men 
who . . . have no wish to fight. 

Zola: The Downfall, ch. ii. 
Napoleon’s adherents were known as Badin- 
gueux. 

Badminton (bad' min tdn). The country scat 
of the Dukes of Beaufort in Gloucestershire. 
It has given its name to a drink and a game. 
The drink is a claret-cup made of claret, sugar, 
spices, soda-water, and ice. In pugilistic 
parlance blood, which is sometimes called 
“claret” (q.v.), is also sometimes called 
“badminton,” from the colour. 

The game badminton is a predecessor of, 
and is similar to, lawn tennis; it is played with 
shuttlecocks instead of balls. 

Badoura (ba doo' ra). “ The most beautiful 
woman ever seen upon earth,” heroine of the 
story of Camaralzaman and Badoura in the 
Arabian Nights. 

Baedeker (ba' dd ker). Starred in Baedeker. 
For many years tourists the world over have 
flocked to places of interest, red guide-book in 
hand. Karl Baedeker (1801-59) brought out 
his first guide-book (to Holland, Belgium and 
the Rhine) by arrangement with Mr. John 
Murray in 1839. In subsequent years he and 
his agents wrote exhaustive guide-works of 
almost every part of the world. Baedeker 
inaugurated the somewhat invidious and not 
always reliable system of marking with one or 
more stars objects and places of interest 
according to their historic or aesthetic im- 
portance. 

Baedeker Raids. A phrase first used in 
Britain April 29th, 1942, to describe German 



Baffle 


65 


Bailey 


air raids which, in reprisal for damage done to 
Cologne and Lubcck, were deliberately 
directed on historic monuments (e.g. Bath, 
Canterbury, Norwich) listed as such in Baede- 
ker’s guide. 

Baffle. Originally a punishment meted out to 
a recreant or traitorous knight by which he was 
degraded and thoroughly disgraced, part of 
which seems to have consisted in hanging him 
or his effigy by the heels from a tree and loudly 
proclaiming his misdeeds. See Spenser’s 
Faerie Queenc, VI, vii, 26: — 

He by the heeles him hung upon a tree. 

And baffuld so, that all which passed by, 

The picture of his punishment might see. 

Bag and Baggage, as “Get away with you, bag 
ana baggage,” i.e. get away, and carry with 
you all your belongings. Originally a military 
phrase signifying the whole property and 
stores of an army and of the soldiers compos- 
ing it. Hence the bag and baggage policy. In 
1876 Gladstone, speaking on the Eastern 
question, said, “Let the Turks now carry away 
their abuses in the only possible manner, 
namely, by carrying away themselves. . . . One 
and all, bag and baggage , shall, I hope, clear 
out from the province they have desolated and 
profaned.” See also Baggage. 

A bag of bones. Very emaciated; generally 
“A mere bag of bones.” 

Bag o* Nails. Corruption of Bacchanals. 
A not uncommon inn-sign. The Devil and the 
Bag u frails, represents Pan, with his cloven 
hoofs and his horns, accompanied by satyrs. 

A bag of tricks, or the whole bag of tricks. 
The whole lot, the entire collection. This is 
an allusion to the conjuror’s bag in which he 
carries the various properties and impedimenta 
for performing his tricks. 

The bottom of the bag. The last expedient, 
basing emptied every other one out of one’s 
bag; a trump card held in reserve. 

In the bag. As good as certain. 

To be left holding the bag. To have one’s 
comrades decamp or withdraw leaving one 
with the entire onus of what was originally a 
group responsibility. 

To empty the bag. To tell the whole matter 
and conceal nothing (Fr. vider le sac , to expose 
all to view). 

To give the hag, now means the same as 
to give the sack (see Sack), but it seems 
originally to have had the reverse meaning; 
a servant or employee leaving without having 
given notice was said to have given his master 
“the bag.” 

To let the cat out of the bag. See under Cat. 

To bag. Secure for oneself; probably an 
extension of the sporting use of the word, 
meaning, to put into one’s bag what one has 
shot, caught, or trapped. Hence, a good bag, 
a large catch of game, fish, or other animals 
sought after by sportsmen. 


Bag-man, A. A commercial traveller, who 
carries a bag with samples to show to those 
whose custom he solicits. In former times 
commercial travellers used to ride a horse with 
saddle-bags sometimes so large as almost to 
conceal the rider. 

Bags I. See Fains. 

Bags. Slang for “trousers,” which may be 
taken as the bags of the body. When the 
pattern was very staring and “loud,” they 
once were called howling-bags. 

Oxford bags are wide-bottomed flannel 
trousers. 

Bags of mystery. Slang for sausages or 
saveloys; the allusion is obvious. 

Ba^a de Secretis. Records in the Record 
Office of trials for high treason and other State 
offences from the reign of Edward IV to the 
close of the reign of George III. These 
records contain the proceedings in the trials of 
Anne Boleyn, Sir Walter Raleigh, Guy Fawkes, 
the regicides, and of the risings of 1715 and 
1745. 

Baggage, as applied to a worthless or a 
flirtatious woman, dates from the days when 
soldiers’ wives taken on foreign service with 
the regiment travelled with the regimental 
stores and baggage. 

Bagstock, Major. A blustering old toady 
figuring in Dickens's Dombey and Son. He 
always alludes to himself in the third person 
as “Joey B.,” “Old Josh B.,” and so forth. 

Bahram (ba' ram). Governor of Media, and a 
famous Persian general in the 6th century a.d. 
He was “Bahram the Great Hunter” of 
Omar Khayyam. The Aga Khan’s horse of 
this name won the Derby in 1935. 

Bail (Fr. bailler , to deliver up). Security 
given for the temporary release of an accused 
person pending his trial or the completion of 
his trial; also the person or persons giving such 
security. See also Leg-bail. 

Common bail, or bail below. A bail given 
to the sheriff to guarantee the appearance of 
the defendant in court at any day and time the 
court demands. 

Special bail, or bail above. A bail which 
includes, besides the guarantee of the defen- 
dant’s appearance, an undertaking to satisfy 
all claims made on him. 

Bail up ! The Australian bushranger’s 
equivalent for the highwayman’s “Stand and 
deliver!” 

Bailey (probably in ultimate origin from O.Fr. 
bailler , to enclose). The external wall of a 
mediieval castle, forming the first line of 
defence; also the outer court of the castle, the 
space immediately within the outer wall. The 
entrance was over a drawbridge, and through 
the embattled gate. When there were two 
courts they were distinguished as the outer and 
inner bailey. Subsequently; the word in- 
cluded the court and all its buildings; and when 
the court was abolished, the term was attached 
to the castle, as the Old Bailey (London) and 
the Bailey (Oxford). 




Bailey bridge 


66 


Balafr* 


Bailey bridge. The name given in World 
War II to a metal bridge made of easily 
portable sections of amazing strength whicn 
could be speedily erected. A major factor in 
the rapidity of Allied advances, particularly in 
N.W. Europe, was the employment of these 
bridges. They were invented by the British 
engineer, D. C. Bailey. 

Bailiff, See Bum-bajliff. 

Bailiwick (ba 7 li wik). The county in which a 
sheriff, as bailiff of the King, exercises juris- 
diction; or the liberty of some lord “who has 
an exclusive authority within its limits to act 
as the sheriff does in the county.” 

The sheriff of the shire, whose peculiar office it 
is to walke continuallye up and downe his balywick 
as ye would have a marshall. 

Spenser: State of Ireland, 1597. 

Out of one’s bailiwick, far from home, on 
strange ground. 

Baily’s Beads. See Bead. 

Bain Marie (ban m& re). The French name 
for a double saucepan like a glue-pot. The 
term is sometimes used in English kitchens. 
It appears earlier (as in Mrs. Glasse’s Cookery 
Book , 1796) under its Latin name. Balneum 
Maria?, hence the “St. Mary’s bath” of Ben 
Jonson’s Alchemist , II, iii. The name is 
supposed to be due to the gentleness of this 
method of heating. 

Bairam (bi 7 ram). The name given to two 
great Mohammedan feasts. The Lesser begins 
on the new moon of the month Shawwal, at 
the termination of the fast of Ramadan, and 
lasts three days. The Greater fldul’-Kabir) 
is celebrated on the tenth day of the twelfth 
month (Dhul Hijja), lasts for four days, and 
forms the concluding ceremony of the pilgrim- 
age to Mecca. It comes seventy days after the 
Lesser Bairam. 

Bajadere. See Bayadere. 

Bajan, Bajanella. See Bejan. 

Bajazet (baj 7 a zet). Sultan of the Turks from 
1389 to 1403, he was a great warrior, among his 
other victories being that of Nicopolis in 1396 
when he defeated the allied armies of the 
Hungarians, Poles, and French. But he was 
himself beaten by Timur at Ankara (1402) and 
held prisoner by him until his death. There is 
no warrant whatsoever for the story that Timur 
carried him about in an iron cage, but the 
story inspired both Marlowe and Rowe to 
some of their finest writing. 

Baked Meats, or Bake-meats. Meat pies. 
The funeral baked meats 
Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. 

Hamlet, I, ii. 

i.e. the hot meat pies served at the funeral and 
not eaten, were served cold at the marriage 
banquet, so short was the interval between the 
death of GejUrude’s husband (Hamlet’s 
father) and hefpNTiarriage to Claudius. 

Baker, The. Louis XVI was called “the 
baker,” his Queen was called “the baker’s 


wife” (or La Boulangdre ), and the Dauphin the 
“shop boy”; because they gave bread to the 
mob of starving men and women who came to 
Versailles on October 6th, 1789. 

The return of the baker, his wife, and the shop- 
boy to Paris [after the king was brought from 
Versailles! had not had the expected effect. Flour 
and bread were still scarce. — A. Dumas: The Countess 
de Chorny, ch. ix. 

Baker’s dozen. Thirteen for twelve. When 
a heavy penalty was inflicted for short weight, 
bakers used to give a surplus number of loaves, 
called the inbread , to avoid all risk of incurring 
the fine. The 13th was the “vantage loaf.” 

To give one a baker’s dozen, in slang 
phraseology, is to give him a sound drubbing 
— i.e. all he deserves and one stroke more. 

Baker’s knee. Knock-knee. Bakers were 
said to be particularly liable to this deformity 
owing to the constrained position in which they 
have to stand when kneading bread. 

Bakha. The sacred bull of Hermonthis in 
Egypt. He changed colour every hour of the 
day, and is supposed to have been an incarna- 
tion of Menthu, the Egyptian personification 
of the heat of the sun. 

Baksheesh (bak 7 shesh). A Persian word for a 
gratuity. These gifts arc insolently and per- 
sistently demanded throughout the Near East 
by beggars, camel-men, servants and all sorts 
of officials more as a claim than a gratuity. 

1 was to give the men. too, a “ baksheish ,” that 
is a present of money, which is usually made upon 
the conclusion of any sort of treaty. — Kincilaki:: 
hothen. 

Balaam (ba 7 lam). (1) In Dryden’s Absalom 
and Achitophcl, the Earl of Huntingdon, one of 
the rebels in Monmouth’s army. 

(2) T he “citizen of sober fame,” who lived 
hard by the Monument, in Pope’s Moral 
Essays, Ep. iii, was drawn, in part, from 
Thomas Pitt (“Diamond Pitt,” see Pm 
Diamond), grandfather of the Lari of Chat- 
ham. He “was a plain, good man; religious, 
punctual, and frugal”; he grew rich; got 
knighted; seldom went to church; became a 
courtier; “took a bribe from France”; was 
hanged for treason, and all his goods were 
confiscated to the State. 

This word was also used for matter kept in 
type for filling up odd spaces in periodicals. 
Lockhart, in his Life of Scott (ch. Ixx) tells us : — 
Balaam is the cant name for asinine paragraphs 
about monstrous productions of nature and the like, 
kept standing in type to be used whenever the real 
news of the day leaves an awkward space that must 
he tilled up somehow. 

Hence Balaam basket or box; the printer’s 
slang term for the receptacle for such matter, 
and also (in America) for the place where 
stereotyped “fill-ups” are kept. 

Balafr6, Le (bal 7 a fra) (Fr. the gashed). 
Henri, second Duke of Guise (1550-88). In 
the Battle of Dormans he received a sword-cut 
which left a frightful scar on his face. Henri's 
son, Francois, third Duke of Guise, also 
earned — and was awarded — the same title; 
and it was given by Scott (in Quentin Durward) 
to Ludovic Lesly, an archer of the Scottish 
Guard. 




Balan 


67 


Balk 


Balan (bS,' l£n). The name of a strong and 
courageous giant in many old romances. In 
Fierabras (q.v.) the “Sowdan of Babylon,'* 
father of Fierabras, ultimately conquered by 
Charlemagne. In the Arthurian cycle, brother 
of Balin (< q.v .). 

Balance, The. “Libra,” an ancient zodiacal 
constellation between Scorpio and Virgo; also 
the 7th sign of the zodiac, which now contains 
the constellation Virgo, and which the sun 
enters a few days before the autumnal equinox. 

According to Persian mythology, at the Last 
Day a huge balance, as big as the vault of 
heaven, will be displayed; one scale pan will 
be called that of light, and the other that of 
darkness. In the former all good will be 
placed, in the latter all evil; and everyone will 
receive his award according to the verdict of 
the balance. 

In commercial parlance one’s balance is the 
total money remaining over after all assets are 
realized and all liabilities discharged. Hence 
the phrases: — 

He has a good balance at his banker’s. His 
credit side shows a large balance in his favour. 

To strike a balance. To calculate the exact 
difference, if any, between the debit and credit 
side of an account. 

Balance of trade. The money-value differ- 
ence between the exports and imports of a 
nation. 

Balance of power. Such an adjustment of 
power among sovereign States as results in 
no one nation having such a preponderance as 
could enable it to endanger the independence 
of the rest. 

Balclutha (b31 cloo' tha). A fortified town on 
the banks of the Clutha (i.e. the Clyde) 
mentioned in Cartlwn y one of the Ossian 
poems. It was captured and burnt by Fin- 
gal’s father, Comhal, in one of his forays 
against the Britons. 

Bald. Charles 1c Cbauve. Charles I of France 
(823, 840-77), son of Louis le Debonnaire, was 
surnamed “the Bald” (le Chauve). 

Baldheaded. To go for someone baidheaded, 
that is, without restraint or compunction, 
probably dating from the days when men wore 
wigs, and any energetic action required that 
the wig should be thrown aside and the owner 
go into the fray unencumbered. 

Baldachin (boP d& kin). The dais or canopy 
under which, in Roman Catholic processions, 
the Holy Sacrament is carried : also the canopy 
above an altar. It is the Ital. baldacchino , so 
called from Baldacco (Ital. for Bagdad), where 
the cloth was originally made. 

Balder (boP der). Son of Odin and Frigga; 
the Scandinavian god of light, who dwelt at 
Breidhablik, one of the mansions of Asgard. 
He is the central figure of many myths, the 
chief being connected with his death. He is 
said to have been slain by his rival Hodhr 
while fighting for possession of the beautiful 
Nanna. Another legend tells that Frigga 
bound all things by oath not to harm him, but 
accidentally omitted the mistletoe, with a twig 
of which Balder was slain. His death was the 
prelude to the final overthrow of the gods. 

3 * 


Balderdash. A word of uncertain origin, 
formerly meaning froth, also a mixture of 
incongruous liquors (such as wine and beer or 
beer and milk), but now denoting nonsensical 
talk, ridiculous poetry, jumbled ideas, etc. It 
may be connected with the Dan. balder , noise, 
clatter; but in view of the earlier senses of the 
word this is, at least, doubtful. 

Baldwin. (1) In the Charlemagne romances, 
nephew of Roland and the youngest and 
comeliest of Charlemagne’s paladins. 

(2) Brother of Godfrey of Bouillon, whom 
he succeeded (1 100) as King of Jerusalem. He 
figures in Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered as the 
restless and ambitious Duke of Bologna, leader 
of 1,200 horse in the allied Christian army. 
He died in Egypt, 1 1 18. 

Bale. When bale is highest, boot is nighest. 
An old Icelandic proverb that appears in 
Heywood and many other English writers. It 
means, when things have come to the worst 
they must needs mend. Bale means “evil,” 
and is common to most Teutonic languages; 
boot (q.v.) is the M.E. bote y relief, remedy. 

Bale out. The literal meaning of this phrase 
is to ladle out with buckets, as when one 
empties the water out of a small boat. Among 
flying men “to bale out” means to descend 
from an aircraft by parachute when some 
emergency necessitating this arises, and in the 
army to get out of a tank in a hurry when it is 
hit. 

Balfour of Burley, John. Leader of the 
Covenanters in Scott’s Old Mortality. His 
prototype in real life was John Balfour of 
Kinloch. Scott seems to have confused him 
with John, Lord Balfour of Burleigh, who died 
in 1688 and was not a Covenanter. 

Balin (baP in). Brother to Balan in the 
Arthurian romances. They were devoted to 
each other, but they accidentally met in single 
combat and slew one another, neither knowing 
until just before death who was his opponent. 
At their request they were buried in one grave 
by Merlin. The story is told in Malory, Bk. II. 
Tennyson gives a much altered version in the 
Idylls of the King. 

Balias. See Horse. 

Balisarda. See Sword. 

Balistraria (Ml is trar' i d) (mediaeval Lat.). 
Narrow apertures in the form of a cross in the 
walls of ancient castles, through which cross- 
bow-men discharged their arrows. 

Balk (bawk). Originally a ridge or mound on 
the ground (O.E. balca ), then the ridge between 
two furrows left in ploughing, the word came 
to be figuratively applied to any obstacle, 
stumbling-block, or check on one’s actions; 
as in billiards, the balk (or baulk) is the part 
of the table behind the baulk-line from which 
one has to play when, in certain circumstances, 
one’s freedom is checked. So, also, to balk is 
to place obstacles in the way. 

A balk of timber is a large beam of timber, 
often in the rough. 

To make a balk. To miss a part of the field 
in ploughing. Hence, to disappoint, to with- 
hold deceitfully. 



Balker 


68 


Balmerino 


Balker. One who from an eminence on shore 
directs fishermen where shoals of herrings 
have gathered together. Probably from the 
Dutch balken , to shout, and connected with 
the O.E. bcelcan , with the same meaning. 

Balkis (bol' kis). The Mohammedan name 
for the Queen of Sheba, who visited Solomon. 

Ball. “Ball,” the spherical body, is a Middle 
English and Old Teutonic word; “ball,” the 
dancing assembly, is from O.Fr. baler , to 
dance, from Late Lat. ballare. The two are in 
no way connected. 

To keep the ball rolling. To continue 
without intermission. To keep the fun, or the 
conversation, etc., alive; to keep the matter 
going. A metaphor taken from several games 
played with balls. 

To have the ball at your feet. To have a 

reat opportunity. A metaphor from foot- 

all. 

To take the ball before the bound. To 
anticipate an opportunity; to be over-hasty. 
A metaphor from cricket. 

The ball is with you, or in your court. It is 
your turn now. 

A ball of fortune. One tossed like a ball, 
from pillar to post; one who has experienced 
many vicissitudes of fortune. 

To open the ball. To lead off the first dance 
at a ball. 

To strike the ball under the line. To fail in 
one's object. The allusion is to tennis, in 
which a line is stretched in the middle of the 
court, and the players standing on each side 
have to send the ball over the line. 

Ball-game. The game of baseball. 

“Play ball!” Phrase used by the umpire 
in baseball to indicate that the game may begin. 

Balls, The three golden. The well-known 
sign of the pawnbroker; it was originally the 
sign hung up over their places of business in 
London by the Lombard merchants who were 
the first recognized moneylenders in England. 

Also the emblem of St. Nicholas of Bari, 
who is said to have given three purses of gold 
to three virgin sisters to enable them to marry. 

Ballad. Originally a song to dance-music, or 
a song sung while dancing. It is from Late 
Lat. ballare , to dance (as “ball,” the dance), 
through Provencal balacla , and O.Fr. balade. 

Let me make the ballads, and who will may 
make the laws. Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, 
in Scotland, wrote to the Marquis of Montrose, 
“1 knew a very wise man of Sir Christopher 
Musgrave’s sentiment. He believed, if a man 
were permitted to make all the ballads, he need 
not care who should make the laws” (1703). 

Ballade (bal ad'). This is an artificial verse- 
form originating with the Provencal trouba- 
dours. In its normal type it consists of three 
stanzas of eight lines, followed by a verse of 
four lines known as the Envoi. The principal 
rules for the ballade are: The same set of 
rhymes in the same order they occupy in the 
first stanza must repeat throughout the whole 
of the verses. No word used as a rhyme must 


be used again for that purpose throughout the 
ballade. Each stanza and the Envoi must 
close with the refrain; the Envoi always taking 
the same rhymes as the last half of the preced- 
ing verse. Only three rhymes are permissible. 
The sequence of the rhymes is usually: — 
a, b, a, b, b, c, b, c, for each verse and b, c, b, c, 
for the Envoi. 

Ballet. A theatrical representation of some 
adventure, intrigue, or emotional phase by 
pantomime and dancing. Baldassarino de 
Belgiojoso, director of music to Catherine de 
Medici, is said to have been the inventor of 
ballets as presented in modern times: for long 
they were an integral part of Italian opera. 

Balliol College, Oxford, founded in 1263, by 
Sir John de Baliol (father of Baliol, King of 
Scotland) and his wife, Devorguilla. 

Balloon. The balloon was invented by Jacques 
Etienne Montgolfier (1745-1799). The first 
ascent was made in 1783, the balloon being 
caused to rise by hot air. In 1825 Charles 
Green went up in the first gas-filled balloon. 
During the siege of Paris, in 1871, fifty-four 
balloons were dispatched carrying 2,500,000 
letters. In World War 1 captive balloons were 
largely used by both sides to observe the 
enemy’s movements and dispositions. A 
barrage of captive balloons was used in both 
World Wars as a defence of cities against 
enemy aircraft. 

Ballot. This method of voting is so called 
because it was originally by the use of small 
balls secretly put into a box, as is still done in 
clubs, etc. Voting for Parliamentary elec- 
tions was first carried out by ballot in 1870 
(the Ballot Act was two years later) and the 
method then introduced has since obtained. 
The names of candidates are printed in 
alphabetical order on a voting paper, the 
elector marks a cross against his choice, and 
the folded paper is then slipped into a sealed 
box. 

Ballyhoo (bal i hoo ). The word is said to 
come from Ballyhooly, a village in Co. Cork, 
but in its present sense its origin is in the U.S.A. 
Ballyhoo means noisy demonstration to attract 
attention, exaggerated publicity, or extravagant 
advertisement. 

Balm (Fr. ban me ; a contraction of balsam). 
An aromatic, resinous gum exuding from cer- 
tain trees, and used in perfumery and medicine; 
hence, a soothing remedy or alleviating agency. 

Is there no balm in Gilead? (Jer. viii, 22). Is 
there no remedy, no consolation? “Balm” 
in this passage is the Geneva Bible’s translation 
of the Heb. sori y which probably means mastic, 
the resin yielded by the mastic tree, Pistucia 
lentiscus , which was formerly an ingredient 
used in many medicines. In Wyclif’s Bible the 
word is translated “gumme,” and in Cover- 
dale’s “triaclc.” See Treacle. 

The gold-coloured resin now known as 
“Balm of Gilead” is that from the Balsa - 
modendron gileadense 9 an entirely different 
tree. 

Balmerino (Ml mer' i no). The story was long 
current that when Lord Balmerino was 
executed for his part in the Jacobite rebellion 



Balmy 


69 


Banco 


ofl 745, the executioner bungled and only half 
cut off his head; whereupon his lordship 
turned round and grinned at him. 

Balmy. “I am going to the balmy” — i.e. to 
“balmy sleep”; one of Dick Swiveller’s pet 
phrases (Dickens: Old Curiosity Shop). 

For balmy in the sense of silly, or mildly 
idiotic, see Barmy. 

Balnibarbi (bal ni bar' bi). A land occupied 
by projectors (Swift: Gulliver's Travels ). 

Balthazar (Ml thaz' ar). One of the kings of 
Cologne. See Magi. 

Baltic Sea. Scandinavia used to be known as 
Baltia. There is a Lithuanian word, baltas , 
meaning “white,” from which the name may 
be derived; but it may also be from Scand. 
balta , a strait or belt , and the Baltic would then 
be the sea of the “ belts.” 

Baltic, The, in commercial parlance is the 
familiar name of the Baltic Mercantile and 
Shipping Exchange , which was founded in the 
17th century. It deals with chartering of 
ships, freights, marine insurance, etc., all over 
the world. 

Bamberg Bible, The. See Bible, specially 

NAMED. 

Bambino (b3m be' no). An image of the in- 
fant Jesus, swaddled. The word is Italian, 
meaning an infant. 

Bambocciades (bam boch' i adz). Pictures of 
scenes in low life, such as country wakes, 

f enny weddings, and so on, so called from the 
tal. barnboccio , a cripple, a nickname given 
to Pieter van Laar (c. 161 3-c. 1674), a noted 
Dutch painter of such scenes. See Michel- 
Ange des Bamboches. 

Bamboozle. To cheat by cunning, or daze 
with tricks. It is a slang term of uncertain 
origin which came into use about the end of 
the 17th century. 

All the people upon earth, excepting those two 
or three worthy gentlemen, are imposed upon, 
cheated, bubbled, abused, bamboozled. 

Addison: The Drummer. 

Bampton Lectures. Founded by the Rev. John 
Bampton, canon of Salisbury, who, in 1751, 
left £120 per annum to the university of Ox- 
ford, to pay for eight divinity lectures on given 
subjects to be preached yearly at St. Mary’s 
Church, and printed afterwards. M.A.s of 
Oxford or Cambridge are eligible as lecturers, 
but the same person may never be chosen 
twice. Cp. Hulsean Lectures. 

Ban (O.E. bannan , to summon, O.Teut. to 
proclaim). Originally meaning to summon, 
the verb came to mean to imprecate, to anathe- 
matize, to pronounce a curse upon; and the 
noun from oeine a general proclamation was 
applied specifically to an ecclesiastical curse or 
denunciation, a formal prohibition, a sentence 
of outlawry, etc. Banish and Banns (^.v.), 
are from the same root. 

Lever le ban ct l’arrterc ban (Fr.). To levy 
the ban was to call the king’s vassals to active 
service; to levy the arridreban was to levy the 
vassals of a suzerain or under-lord. 


Ban, King. In the Arthurian legends, father 
of Sir Launcelot du Lac. He died of grief 
when his castle was taken and burnt through 
the treachery of his seneschal. 

Banagher, That beats (b&n her). Wonder- 
fully inconsistent and absurd — exceedingly 
ridiculous. Banagher is a town in Ireland, on 
the Shannon, in Offaly. It formerly sent two 
members to Parliament, and was a famous 
pocket borough. When a member spoke of 
a family borough where every voter was a man 
employed by the lord, it was not unusual to 
reply, “Well, that beats Banagher.” 

Grose, however, gives another explanation. 
According to him Banagher (or Banaghan) 
was an Irish minstrel famous for telling wonder- 
ful stories of the Munchausen kind. 

“Well,” says he, “to gratify them I will. So 
just a morsel. But, Jack, this beats Banagher.” — 
W. B. Yeats: Fairy Tales of the Irish Peasantry , 
p. 196. 

Bananalanders. Nickname for the inhabitants 
of Queensland, Australia, who are also known 
as Canecutters. 

Banat (ban' at). A territory under a ban 
(Persian for lord, master), particularly certain 
districts of Hungary and Croatia. The word 
was brought into Europe by the Avars, a Ural- 
Altaic people allied to the Huns, who appeared 
on the Danube and settled in Dacia in the 
latter half of the 6th century. 

Banbury. A town in Oxfordshire, proverbially 
famous for its Puritans, its “ cheese-paring, 
its cakes, and its cross. Hence a Banbury man 
is a Puritan or bigot. The term is common in 
Elizabethan literature: Zcal-of-the-land Busy, 
in Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair , is described as 
a “ Banbury man,” and Braithwaite’s lines in 
Drunken Barnabee's Journal (1638) are well 
known: 

In my progresse travelling Northward, 

Taking my farewell o’th Southward, 

To Bcmbery came I, O prophane one! 

Where I saw a Puritane one. 

Hanging of his Cat on Monday, 

For killing of a Mouse on Sonday. 

As thin as Banbury cheese. In Marston’s 
Jack Drum's Entertainment (1600) we read, 
“You arc like a Banbury cheese, nothing but 
paring ”; and Bardolph compares Slender to 
Banbury cheese ( Merry Wives , I, i). The 
Banbury cheese is a rich milk cheese about an 
inch in thickness. 

Banbury cake is a sort of spiced, pastry 
turnover, once made exclusively at Banbury. 

Banbury Cross was removed bv the Puritans 
as a heathenish memorial in 1646, and the 
present one was placed on the site in 1858. 

Banco (b5ng' kd). A commercial term de- 
noting bank money of account as distinguished 
from currency; it is used principally in 
exchange business, and in cases where there is 
an appreciable difference between the actual 
and the nominal value of money. 

In banco. A Late Latin legal phrase, mean- 
ing “on the bench”; it is applied to sittings 
of the Superior Court of Common Law in its 
own benen or court, and not on circuit, or at 
Nisi Prius (q.v.). 



Banco 


70 


Bankside 


Mark Banco. The mark of fixed value 
employed as an invariable standard in the old 
Bank at Hamburg, and used by the Hanseatic 
League. Deposits in gold and silver were 
credited in Mark Banco , and all banking ac- 
counts were carried on in Mark Banco , so that 
it was a matter of no moment how exchange 
varied. 

Bancus Regius (bang' kus). The King's or 
Queen’s Bench. Bancus Communis, the bench 
of Common Pleas. 

Bandana or Bandanna (ban dan' &). An Indian 
word ( bandhnu , a mode of dyeing) now usually 
restricted to handkerchiefs of either silk or 
cotton having a dark ground of Turkey red or 
blue, with white or yellow spots. 

Bandbox, He looks as if he were just out of a. 
He is so neat and precise, so carefully got up 
in his dress and person, that he looks like some 
company dress, carefully kept in a bandbox, a 
cardboard box for millinery formerly used by 
parsons for keeping their clerical bands (q.v.) 
m. 

Neat as a bandbox. Neat as clothes folded 
and put by in a bandbox. 

The Bandbox Plot. Rap in ( History of 
England , iv, 297) tells us that a bandbox was 
sent to the lord-treasurer, in Queen Anne’s 
reign, with three pistols charged and cocked, 
the triggers being tied to a pack-thread fastened 
to the lid. When the lid was lifted, the pistols 
would go off and shoot the person who 
opened the lid. He adds that Dean Swift 
happened to be by at the time the box arrived, 
and seeing the pack-thread, cut it, thereby 
saving the life of the lord-treasurer. 

Bandicoot. To bandicoot is an Australian 
phrase meaning to steal vegetables — often by 
removing the roots — as with potatoes and 
carrots — and leaving the tops standing in the 
ground so that the theft is not noticed. 

Bands. Clerical bands are a relic of the 
ancient amice , a square linen tippet tied about 
the neck of priests during the saying of Mass. 
They are rarely worn in England nowadays, 
but are still used by Presbyterian ministers 
and clerics on the Continent. 

Legal bands are a relic of the wide falling 
collars which formed a part of the ordinary 
dress in the reign of Henry VIII, and which 
were especially conspicuous in the reign of 
the Stuarts. In the showy days of Charles II 
the plain bands were changed for lace ends. 

The eighth Henry, as I understand, 

Was the first prince that ever wore a band. 

John Taylor, the Water Poet (1580-1654). 

Bandwagon. To climb on the bandwagon is 
to show support for a popular movement or 
cause with intent to reap easy material benefit. 

It was customary in the U.S.A., particularly 
the Southern States, for a band to play 
through the streets on a wagon to advertise 
a forthcoming meeting, political or otherwise. 
At election time local leaders would show 
their support of a candidate by climbing on 
the wagon and riding with the band. 


Bandy. I am not going to bandy words with 

you — i.e. to wrangle. The metaphor is from 
the Irish game bandy (the precursor of 
hockey), in which each player has a stick with 
a crook at the end to strike a wooden or other 
hard hall. The ball is bandied from side to 
side , each party trying to beat it home to the 
opposite goal. The derivation of the word is 
quite uncertain. It was earlier a term in 
tennis, as is shown by the passage in Webster’s 
Vittoria Corombona (IV, iv), where the 
conspirators regret that the handle of the 
racket of the man to be murdered had not been 
poisoned — 

That while he had been bandying at tennis. 

He might have sworn himself to hell, and strook 
His soul into the hazard. 

Bane really means ruin, death, or destruction 
(O.E. bana 9 a murderer); and “I will be his 
bane” means I will ruin or murder him. Bane 
is, therefore, a mortal injury. 

My bane and antidote are both before it. 

This tswordj in a moment brings me to an end. 

But this [Plato] assures me I shall never die. 

Addison: Cato. 

Bangers (bang' crz). One of the many slang 
terms for sausages. 

Bangorian Controversy. A theological paper- 
war stirred up by a sermon preached March 
31st, 1717, before George I, by Dr. Hoadly, 
Bishop of Bangor, on the text, “ My kingdom 
is not of this world,” the argument being that 
Christ had not delegated His power or 
authority to either king or clergy. The ser- 
mon was printed by royal command; it led to 
such discord in Convocation that this body 
was prorogued, and from that time till 1852 
was allowed to meet only as a matter of form. 

Banian, Banyan (b5n' yan) (Sanskrit vanij, a 
merchant). This was the name applied to a 
caste of Hindu traders, who wore a particular 
dress, were strict in their observance of fasts, 
and abstained from eating any kind of llesh. 

It is from this circumstance that sailors speak 
of Banyan Day (q.v.). 

The word is also used to describe a sort of 
loose house-coat worn by Anglo-Indians. 

Bank. The original meaning was “bench” 
or “shelf”; in Italy the word (banco) was 
applied specially to a tradesman’s counter, and 
hence to a money-changer’s bench or table, 
which gives the modern meaning of an 
establishment which deals in money, invest- 
ments, etc. 

Bank of a river. Stand with your back to 
the source, and face to the sea or outlet: 
the left bank is on your left, and right bank on 
your right hand. 

Bankside. Part of the borough of South- 
wark on the right bank of the Thames, 
between Blackfriars and Waterloo Bridges. In 
Shakespeare’s time it was noted for its 
theatres, its prison, and its brothels. * Hence, 
Sisters of the Bank, an old term for prostitutes. 

Come I will send for a whole coach or two of 
Bankside ladies, and we will be jovial. — RANDOLPH: 
The Muses’ Looking Glatts % II, iv. 



Bankrupt 


71 


Baptism 


Bankrupt. In Italy, when a moneylender 
was unable to continue business, his bench 
or counter (see Bank) was broken up, and he 
himself was spoken of as a bancorotto — i.e. a 
bankrupt. This is said to be the origin of 
our term. 

Banks’s Horse. A horse trained to do all 
manner of tricks, called Marocco, and be- 
longing to one Banks about the end of the 
reign of Queen Elizabeth I. One of his exploits 
is said to have been the ascent of St. Paul’s 
steeple. A favourite story of the time is of 
an apprentice who called his master to see the 
spectacle. “Away, you fool,” said the shop- 
keeper; “what need I go to see a horse on the 
top when I can see so many asses at the 
bottom!” When Banks went to Paris in 1601 
he was packed off to prison, as the city 
authorities and the Church suspected that 
Marocco’s tricks were performed by black 
magic. 

Bannatyne Club. A literary club, named after 
George Bannatyne (d. c. 1608), to whose 
industry we owe the preservation of much early 
Scottish poetry. It was instituted in 1823 by 
Sir Walter Scott, and had for its object the 
publication of rare works illustrative of 
Scottish history, poetry, and general literature. 
The club was dissolved in 1859. 

Banner of the Prophet, The. What purports 
to be the actual standard of Mohammed 
is preserved in the Fyab mosque of Constan- 
tinople. It is called Sin'aqu'sh-shari and is 
12 feet in length. It is made of four layers 
of silk, the topmost being green, embroidered 
with gold. In times of peace the banner 
is guarded in the hall of the “noble vestment,” 
as the dress worn by the Prophet is styled. 
In the same hall are preserved many other 
relics including the stirrup, the sabre, and the 
bow of Mohammed. 

Banner of France, The sacred, was the Ori- 

fiamme (< 7 . v.). 

Banners in churches. These are suspended 
as thank offerings to God. Those in St. 
George’s Chapel, Windsor, Henry VIl’s 
Chapel, Westminster, etc., are to indicate that 
the knight whose banner is hung up avows 
himself devoted to God's service. 

Banneret. One who leads his vassals to battle 
under his own banner. Also an order of 
knighthood formerly conferred on the field of 
battle for deeds of valour. The first knight- 
banneret to be made seems to have been John 
de Copeland, who, in 1346, captured King 
David Bruce at Neville’s Cross, The order 
was allowed to become extinct soon after the 
first creation of baronets, in 1611. 

Banns of Marriage. The publication in the 
parish church for three successive Sundays of 
an intended marriage. It is made after the 
Second Lesson of the Morning Service. To 
announce the intention is called “Publishing 
the banns,” from the words “I publish the 
banns of marriage between . . .” The word is 
from the same root as Ban (q.v.). 

To forbid the banns. To object formally to 
the proposed marriage. 

And a better fate did poor Maria deserve than to 
have a banns forbidden by the curate of the parish 
who published them. — Sterne: Sentimental Journey. 


Banquet used at one time to have, besides its 
present meaning, the meaning of dessert. 
Thus, in the Penny less Pilgrimage (1618) John 
Taylor, the Water Poet, says: “Our first and 
second course being three-score dishes at one 
boord, and after that, always a banquet.” 
The word is from Ital. banco (see Bank), a 
bench or table; at which one sits for a meal, 
hence “bad manners at table.” 

Banshee. The domestic spirit of certain Irish 
or Highland Scottish families, supposed to 
take an interest in its welfare, and to wail at the 
death of one of the family. The word is the 
Old Irish ben side , a woman of the elves or 
fairies. 

Bantam. A little bantam cock. A plucky 
little fellow that will not be bullied by a person 
bigger than himself. The bantam cock will 
encounter a dunghill cock five times his own 
weight, and is therefore said to “have a great 
soul in a little body.” The bantam originally 
came from Bantam, in Java. 

Banting. Reducing superfluous fat by living 
on meat diet, and abstaining from beer, farina- 
ceous food, and vegetables, according to the 
method adopted by William Banting ( 1 797- 
1878), a London cabinet-maker, once a very 
fat man. The w'ord was introduced about 
1864. 

A greater benefactor to mankind was Sir 
Frederick Grant Banting (1890-1941) who 
discovered insulin in 1922. 

Bantling. A child, a brat; usually with a 
depreciatory sense, or meaning an illegitimate 
child. It is from Ger. Rankling , a bastard, 
from Bank , a bench; hence, a child begotten 
casually, as on a bench, instead of in the 
marriage-bed. The word has been confused 
with bundling , taken to mean a little one in 
swaddling clothes. 

Banyan Day. An old English nautical phrase 
to describe a day in which no meat came in the 
rations. In Australia it found its way to out- 
stations where the hands were likely to have 
eaten all their meat before the last day of the 
ration period, thus becoming involuntary 
vegetarians. In Australia it is found in 
official documents in the later 18th century. 

Banzai. The Japanese victory cry, meaning 
“ Ten thousand years.” 

Baphomet. An imaginary idol or symbol, 
which the Templars were said to worship in 
their mysterious rites. The word is a cor- 
ruption of Mahomet. (Fr. Baphomet ; O.Sp. 
Matomat.) 

Baptcs. Priests of the goddess Cotytto, the 
Thracian goddess of lewd ness, whose mid- 
night orgies were so obscene that they dis- 
gusted even the goddess herself. They re- 
ceived their name from the Greek verb bapto, 
to wash, because of the so-called ceremonies of 
purification connected with her rites. ( Juvenal , 
ii, 91.) 

Baptism. This sacrament of the Christian 
Church dates back in one form or another to 
pre-apostolic times. 



Baptism for the dead 


72 


Barbarian 


Baptism for the dead was the baptism of a 
living person instead of and for the sake of one 
who had died unbaptized. 

Baptism of blood was martyrdom for the sake 
of Christ and supplied the place of the sacra- 
ment if the martyr was unbaptized. 

Baptism of desire is the virtue or grace of 
baptism acquired by one who dies earnestly 
desiring baptism before he can receive it. 

Baptism of fire is really martyrdom, but the 
phrase was misapplied by Napoleon III to one 
who went under fire in battle for the first time. 

Bar. The whole body of barristers; as bench 
means the whole body of judges. The bar 
is the partition separating the seats of the 
benchers from the rest of the hall, and, like the 
rood-screen of a church, which separates the 
chancel from the rest of the building, is due to 
the old idea that the laity form an inferior 
order of beings. 

To be called to the bar. To be admitted a 
barrister. Students having attained a certain 
status used to be called from the body of the 
hall within the bar, to take part in the proceed- 
ings of the court. To disbar means to expel a 
barrister from his profession. 

To be called within the bar. To be appointed 
Queen’s Counsel. 

Trial at Bar. By full court of judges in the 
Queen’s Bench division. These trials are for 
very difficult causes, before special juries, and 
occupy the attention of the four judges in 
the superior court, instead of at Nisi Prius. 

At the bar. The prisoner at the bar, the 
prisoner in the dock before the judge. 

Bar, excepting. Jn racing phrase a man will 
bet “Two to one, bar one,” that is, two to 
one against any horse in the field with one 
exception. The word means “barring out,” 
shutting out, debarring, as in Shakespeare’s: — 

Nay, but I bar to-night: you shall not gage me by 
what we do to-night.— Merchant of Venice , II, ii. 

Bar. An honourable ordinary, in heraldry, 
consisting of two parallel horizontal lines 
drawn across the shield and containing a fifth 
part of the field. 

A barre ... is drawne overthwart the escochon 
... it containeth the fifth part of the Field. 

Gwillim: Heraldry. 

Bar sinister. A phrase popularly used to 
imply bastardy, though the heraldic sign 
intended is a bend sinister (q.v.). 

Barring out. In the brave days when 
schoolboys played pranks on their masters, 
they occasionally vented their humour — and 
sometimes their spleen — on one by barricading 
windows and doors to prevent his entering the 
school. Miss Edgev/orth has a story thus 
entitled. 

Baralipton. See Syllogism. 

Barataria. Sancho Panza’s island-city, in 
Don Quixote , over which he was appointed 
governor. The table was presided over by 
Doctor Pedro Rezio de Aguero, who caused 
every dish set upon the board to be removed 
without being tasted — some because they 
heated the blood, and others because they 
chilled it, some for one ill effect, and some for 


another; so that Sancho was allowed to eat 
nothing. The word is from Span, barato , 
cheap. 

Barataria is also the setting of Act II of 
The Gondoliers. 

Barathron, or Barathrum. A deep ditch be- 
hind the Acropolis of Athens into which male- 
factors were thrown; somewhat in the same 
way as criminals at Rome were cast from the 
Tarpeian Rock. Sometimes used figuratively, 
as in Massinger’s New Way to Pay Old Debts , 
where Sir Giles Overreach calls Greedy a 
“barathrum of the shambles” (III, ii), mean- 
ing that he was a sink into which any kind 
of food or offal could be thrown. 

Mercury: Why, Jupiter will put you all into a sack 
together, and toss you into Barathrum, terrible 
Barathrum. 

Carion: Barathrum? What’s Barathrum? 

Mer.: Why, Barathrum is Pluto’s boggards 
[privy]: you must be all thrown into Barathrum. 

Randolph: Hey Jor Honesty , V, i (c.1630). 

Barb (Lat. barba , a beard). Used in early 
times in England for the beard of a man, and 
so for similar appendages such as the feathers 
under the beak of a hawk; but its first English 
use was for a curved-back instrument such as a 
fish-hook (which has one backward curve, or 
barb), or an arrow (which has two). The barb 
of an arrow is, then, the metal point having 
two iron “feathers,” which stick out so as to 
hinder extraction, and docs not denote the 
feather on the upper part of the shaft. 

Barb. A Barbary steed, noted for docility, 
speed, endurance, and spirit, formerly also 
called a Barbary, as in Ben Jonson’s:— - 

You must ... be seen on your barbary often, or 
leaping over stools for the credit of your back. 

Silent Woman, IV, i. 

C/7. Barbary Roan. 

Barbara. See Syllogism. 

Barbara, St. The patron saint of arsenals 
and powder magazines. Her father delivered 
her up to Martian, governor of Nicomedia, for 
being a Christian. After she had been sub- 
jected to the most cruel tortures, her unnatural 
father was about to strike off her head, when 
a lightning Hash laid him dead at her feet. 
Hence, St. Barbara is invoked against lightning. 
Her feast day is December 4th. 

Barbari (bar' b£r e). Quod non fecerunt bar- 
ban, feccrunt Barberini, i.c. What the bar- 
barians left standing, the Barberini contrived 
to destroy. A saying current in Rome at the 
time when Pope Urban VIII (3arbcrini) 
converted the bronze fittings of the Pantheon — 
which had remained in splendid condition 
since 27 b.c. — into cannon (1635). 

Barbarian. The Greeks and Romans called 
all foreigners barbarians (babblers; men who 
spoke a language not understood by them); 
the word was probably merely imitative of un- 
intelligible speech, but may have been an 
actual word in some outlandish tongue. 

If then I know not the meaning of the voice 
[words], I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian, 
and he that speaketh will be a barbarian unto me. 

I Cor. xiv, 11. 




Barbarossa 


73 


Bard 


Barbarossa (bar b& ros' h). {Red-beard, similar 
to Rufus). The surname of Frederick I of 
Germany (1121-90). Khaireddin Barbarossa , 
the famous corsair, became Bey of Algiers in 
1518, and in 1537 was appointed high admiral 
of the Turkish fleet. With Francis I he 
captured Nice in 1543; he died at Constanti- 
nople three years later. 

Barbary Roan, the favourite horse of Richard 
II. See Horse. 

O, how it yearned my heart when I beheld 

In London streets that coronation day, 

When Bolingbroke rode on roan Barbary! 

That horse that thou [Rich. 11] so often hast bestrid. 

That horse that I so carefully have dressed. 

Shakespeare: Richard II, V, v. 

C/7. Barbed Steed. 

Barbason (bar' ba son). A fiend mentioned by 
Shakespeare in the Merry Wives of Windsor , 
II, ii, and in Henry V, II, i. 

Amaimon sounds well, Lucifer well, Barbason well, 
yet they are . . . the names of fiends. — Merry Wives. 

The name seems to have been obtained from 
Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), where 
we are told of “Marbas, alias Barbas,” who — 
is a great president, and appeareth in the forme of 
a mightie lion; but at the commandment of a con- 
juror cummeth up in a likencs of a man, and answer- 
t'h fullie as touching anie thing which is hidden or 
secret. 

Barbecue (bar' be ku) (Sp. barbacoa , a wooden 
framework set on posts). A term used in 
America formerly for a wooden bedstead, and 
also for a kind of large gridiron upon which an 
animal could be roasted whole. Hence, an 
animal, such as a hog, so roasted; also the 
feast at which it is eaten, and the process of 
roasting it. 

Oldfield, with more than harpy throat subdued. 
Cries, “ Send me, ye gods, a whole hog barbecued!** 
Pope: Satires, ii, 25. 

Barbed Steed. A horse in armour. Barbed 
should properly be barded ; it is from the Fr. 
barde , horse-armour. Horses’ “ bards ” were 
the metal coverings for the breast and flanks. 
And now, instead of mounting barbed steeds 
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries. 

He capers nimbly in a lady’s chamber. 

To the lascivious pleasing of a lute. 

Shakespeare: Richard III, I, i. 
Barber. Every barber knows that. 

Omnibus notum tonsoribus. 

Horace: I Satires, vii, 3. 

From ancient Roman times the barber’s shop 
has been a centre for the dissemination of 
scandal, and the talk of the town. 

Barber Poet. Jacques Jasmin (1798-1864), 
a Provencal poet, who was also known as 
“ the last of the Troubadours,” was so called. 
He was a barber. 

Barber’s pole. This pole, painted spirally 
with two stripes of red and white, and dis- 
played outside barber’s shops as a sign, is a 
relic of the days when the callings of barber and 
surgeon were combined; it is symbolical of the 
winding of a bandage round the arm previous 
to blood-letting. The gilt knob at its end 
represents the brass basin which is sometimes 
actually suspended on the pole. The basin 
has a curved gap cut in it to nt the throat, and 
was used for lathering customers before 
shaving them. The Barber-Surgeons’ Com- 


pany was founded in 1461 and was re-incorpor- 
ated in 1540. In 1745 it was decided that the 
business or trades of barber and surgeon were 
really independent of each other and the two 
branches were separated; but the ancient 
company, or guild, was allowed to retain its 
charter. The last barber-surgeon in London 
is said to have been one Middleditch, of Great 
Suffolk Street in the Borough, who died 1821. 

To this year (1541), (says Wornum) . . . belongs 
the Barber-Surgeons’ picture of Henry (VIII) grant- 
ing a charter to the Corporation. The barbers and 
surgeons of London, originally constituting one 
company, had been separated, but were again, in 
the 32 Henry VIII, combined into a single society, 
and it was the ceremony of presenting them with a 
new charter which is commemorated by Holbein’s 
picture, now in their hall in Monkwell Street. 

Barber of Seville. The comedy by this 
name ( Le Barbier de Seville) was written by 
Beaumarchais and produced in Paris in 1775. 
In it appeared for the first time the famous 
character of Figaro. In 1780 Paisiello pro- 
duced an opera bouffe on the same lines, but 
this was eclipsed in 1816 by the appearance of 
Rossini’s Barbiere di Siviglia , with words by 
Sterbini. On its first appearance it was hissed 
but it has since maintained its place as one of 
the most popular operas ever written. 

Barbican. The outwork intended to defend 
the drawbridge in a fortified town or castle 
(Fr. barbacane). Also an opening or loophole 
in the wall of a fortress, through which guns 
may be fired. The street of this name in 
London is built partly on the site of a barbican 
that was in front of Aldersgate. 

Barcarole (bar ka rol). Properly, a song sung 
by Venetian boatmen as they row their 
gondolas (It. barcaiuolo , a boatman). 

Barcelona (bar se 16' n&). A fichu, piece of 
velvet for the neck, or small necktie, made at 
Barcelona, and common in England in the 
early 19th century. Also a neckcloth of some 
bright colour, as red with yellow spots. 

Now on this handkerchief so starch and W’hite 

She pinned a Barcelona black and tight. 

Peter Pindar: Portfolio (Dinah). 

Barchester. An imaginary cathedral town 
(the author had Winchester in mind), in the 
county of Barsetshire; the setting of the 
“Barchester Novels” by Anthony Trollope 
(1815-82). These are: The Warden , 1855; 
Barchester Towers, 1857; Doctor Thorne, 1858; 
Fra m ley Parsonage , 1861; The Small House at 
Ailing ton, 1864; and Last Chronicle of Barset , 
1867. 

Barcochebah or Barchochebas (Shimeon) 
(bar koch' e ba). An heroic leader of the Jews 
against the Romans in a.d. 132. He took 
Jerusalem in 132, and was proclaimed king, 
many of the Jews believing him to be the 
Messiah, but in 135 he was overthrown with 
great slaughter. Jerusalem was laid in ruins, 
and he himself slain. It is said that he gave 
himself out to be the “ Star out of Jacob ” 
mentioned in Numb, xxiv, 17. (Bar Cochba in 
Hebrew means " Son of a star.”) 

Bard. The minstrel of the ancient Celtic 
peoples, the Gauls, British, Welsh, Irish, and 
Scots; they celebrated the deeds of gods and 


Bard of Avon 


74 


Baiiaam 


heroes, incited to battle, sang at royal and other 
festivities, and frequently acted as heralds. 
The oldest bardic compositions that have been 
preserved are of the 5th century. 

Bard of Avon. William Shakespeare (1564- 
1616), who was born and buried at Stratford- 
upon-Avon. 

Bard of Ayrshire. Robert Burns (1759-96), 
a native of Ayrshire. 

Bard of Hope. Thomas Campbell (1777- 
1844), author of The Pleasures of Hope . 

Bard of the Imagination. Mark Akenside 
(1721-70), author of Pleasures of the Imagina- 
tion. y 

Bard of Memory. Samuel Rogers (1763- 
1855), author of The Pleasures of Memory. 

Bard of Olney. William Cowper (1731- 
1800), who resided at Olney, in Bucks, for 
many years. 

Bard of Prose. Boccaccio (1313-75), author 
of the Decameron. 

The Bard of Prose, creative spirit! he 
Of the Hundred Tales of Love. 

Byron: Chi hie Harold , IV, Ivl. 

Bard of Rydal Mount. William Wordsworth 
(1770-1850); so called because Rydal Mount 
was his home. 

Bard of Twickenham. Alexander Pope 
(1688-1744), who resided at Twickenham, and 
contemporaries sometimes called him the 
Wasp of Twickenham because of his disposi- 
tion. 

Bardolph (bar' dolf). One of FalstafT’s in- 
ferior officers. Falstaff calls him " the knight 
of the burning lamp,” because his nose was so 
red, and his face so “ full of meteors.” He is 
a low-bred, drunken swaggerer, without 
principle, and poor as a church mouse. 
{Henry IV, Parts I and II, Henry V, Merry 
Wives.) 

Barebones Parliament, The. The Parliament 
convened by Cromwell in 1653; so called from 
Praise-God Barebones, a fanatical leader, who 
was a prominent member. Also called the 
Little Parliament , because it comprised fewer 
than 150 members and lasted only live months. 

Barefaced. The present meaning, audacious , 
shameless , impudent , is a depreciation of its 
earlier sense, which was merely open or un- 
concealed. A “ bare face ” is, of course, one 
that is beardless, one the features of which are 
in no way hidden. The French equivalent is 
a visage decouvert , with uncovered face. 

Barefooted. Certain friars and nuns (some 
of whom use sandals instead of shoes), particu- 
larly the reformed section of the Order of 
Carmelites (White Friars) that was founded by 
St. Theresa in the 16th century. These are 
known as the Discalced Carmelites (Lat. 
calceus , a shoe). The practice is defended by 
the command of our Lord to His disciples: 
“ Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes ” 
{Luke x, 4). The Jews and Romans used to 
put off their shoes in mourning and public 
calamities, by way of humiliation. 


Bare Poles, Under. A nautical term, implying 
that on account of rough weather and high 
winds the ship carries no sails on the mast9. 
Figuratively applied to a man reduced to the 
last extremity. 

Bargain. Into the bargain. In addition there- 
to; besides what was bargained for. 

To make the best of a bad bargain. To make 
the best of a matter in which one has been 
worsted. 

To stand to a bargain. To abide by it; the 
Lat. stare convent is, conditionibus stare , pact is 
stare , etc. 

Barisal Guns. A name given to certain 
mysterious booming sounds heard in many 
parts of the world as well as Barisal (Bengal), 
generally on or near water. They resemble 
the sound of distant cannon, and are probably 
of subterranean origin. At Seneca Lake, New 
York, they are known as Lake guns, on the 
coast of Holland and Belgium as mistpoeffers, 
and in Italy as bombiti, baturlio marina , etc. 

Bark. Dogs in their wild state never bark; 
they howl, whine, and growl, but do not bark. 
Barking is an acquired habit. 

Barking dogs seldom bite. Huffing, bounc- 
ing, hectoring fellow's rarely possess cool 
courage. Similar proverbs are found in Latin, 
French, Italian, and German. 

To bark at the moon. To rail uselessly, 
especially at those in high places, as a dog 
thinks to frighten the moon by baying at it. 
There is a superstition that when a dog does 
this it portends death or ill-luck. 

I’d rather be a dog, and bay the moon. 

Than such a Roman. 

Shakespeare: Julius Ccrsar, VI, iif. 

His bark is worse than his bite. He scolds 
and abuses roundly, but does not bear malice, 
or do mischief. 

To bark up the wrong tree. To waste energy, 
to be on the wrong scent. t The phrase comes 
from raccoon hunting. This sport always takes 
place in the dark, with dogs which are supposed 
to mark the tree where the raccoon has taken 
refuge, and bark until the hunter arrives. 
But even dogs can mistake the tree in the dark, 
and often bark up the wrong one. 

Barker. A pistol, which barks or makes a 
loud report. 

The term is also used by circus people, etc., 
for the man who stands at the entrance to a 
side-show and shouts out the attraction to be 
seen within. 

Barkis is willin’. The message sent by Barkis 
to Pcggotty by David Copperfield, expressing 
his desire to marry. It has passed into a pro- 
verbial expression indicating willingness. 
Barlaam and Josaphat (bar' l&m, jos' & fat). 
An Eastern romance telling how Barlaam, an 
ascetic monk of the desert of Sinai, converted 
Josaphat, son of a Hindu king, to Christianity. 
Probably written in the first half of the 7th 
century, it seems to have been put into its final 
form by St. John of Damascus, a Syrian monk 
of the 8th century; it became immensely popu- 
lar in the Middle Ages, and includes (among 



Barley 


75 


Barnwell, George 


many other stories) the Story of the Three 
Caskets, which was used by Shakespeare in the 
Merchant of Venice. A poetical version was 
written by von Ems (13th cent.). 

Barley. To cry barley. To ask for truce (in 
children’s games). Probably a corruption of 
arley , from Fr. parler, to speak. In Scots, to 
avc a barley is to have a break, to pause for a 
moment’s rest. 

Barley-break. An old country game like 
the modern “ Prisoners’ Base, having a 
“ home ” which was called 44 hell.” Herrick 
has a poem, Barley-break , or Last in Hell. 

Barley-bree. Ale : malt liquor brewed from 
barley, also called barley-broth. 

The cock may craw, the day may daw, 

And aye we’ll taste the barley-bree. 

Burns: Willie Brew'd a Peek o' Maut. 

To wear the barley cap. To be top-heavy or 
tipsy with barley-bree. 

John or Sir John Barleycorn. A personifica- 
tion of malt liquor. The term was made 
popular by Burns. 

Inspiring bold John Barleycorn, 

What dangers thou canst make us scorn! 

Tam o' Shunter, 105, 106. 

Barley-mow. A heap or stack of barley. 
(O.E. muga ; cp. Icel. muge, a swathe.) See 
Mow. 

Barmecide’s Feast (bar me sld). An illusion: 
particularly one containing a great disappoint- 
ment. The reference is to the Story of the 
Barber’s Sixth Brother in the Arabian Nights. 
A prince of the great Barmecide family in 
Bagdad, wishing to have some sport, asked 
Schacabac, a poor, starving wretch, to dinner, 
and set before him a series of empty plates. 
44 How do you like your soup?” asked the 
merchant. '‘Excellently well,” replied Schaca- 
bac. “Did you ever see whiter bread?” 
“Never, honourable sir,” was the civil 
answer. Illusory wine was later offered him, 
but Schacabac excused himself by pretending 
to be drunk already, and knocked the Barme- 
cide down. The latter saw the humour of the 
situation, forgave Schacabac, and provided 
him with food to his heart’s content. 

Barmy. Mad, crazy. Sometimes spelled 
“balmy,” but properly as above, as from 
“barm,” froth, ferment. Burns has: — 

Just now I’ve taen the fit o’ rhyme. 

My barmie noddle’s working prime. 

To James Smith, 19. 

Hence, in prison slang to put on the barmy 
stick is to feign insanity; and the “Barmy 
Ward” is the infirmary in which the insane, 
real or feigned, are confined. 

Barnabas. St. Barnabas’ Day, June 11th. St. 
Barnabas was a fellow-labourer of St. Paul. 
His symbol is a rake, because June 11th is the 
time of hay harvest. 

Bamabites. An Order of regular clerks of St. 
Paul, founded 1533, so called because the 
church of St. Barnabas, in Milan, was given to 
them to preach in. 

Bamaby Bright. An old provincial name for 
St. Barnabas’ Day (June 11th). Before the 


reform of the calendar it was the longest day, 
hence the jingle in Ray’s Collection of Pro- 
verbs — 

Bamaby bright! Bamaby bright! 

The longest day and the shortest night. 

Bamaby Lecturers. Four lecturers in the 
University of Cambridge, elected annually on 
St. Barnabas’ Day (June 11th), to lecture on 
mathematics, philosophy, rhetoric, and logic. 

Bamaby Rudge. The principal interest in 
this book is the picture it gives of the Gordon 
Riots of 1780. For the general impression he 
gives and some of the particulars Dickens 
relied upon the descriptions given to him by 
those who remembered the event clearly. The 
book came out in parts in 1840, sixty years 
after the riots. 

Barnacle. A species of wild goose allied to 
the brent goose, also the popular name of the 
Cirripedes, especially those which are attached 
by a stalk to Boating balks of timber, the 
bottoms of ships, etc. In mediaeval times it 
was thought that the two were different forms 
of the same animal (much as are the frog and 
the tadpole), and as lnte as 1636 Gerard speaks 
of “broken pieces of old ships on which is 
found certain spume or froth, which in time 
breedeth into shells, and the fish which is 
hatched therefrom is in shape and habit like 
a bird.” 

The name was first applied to the bird, and later 
to the shell. In M.E. it was bernekke or bernake 
from medi eval Latin bernaca through O. Fr. bernaque. 

The name is given figuratively to close and 
constant companions, hangers on, or syco- 
phants; also to placemen who stick to their 
offices but do little work, like the barnacles 
which stick to the bottoms of ships but impede 
their progress. 

Barnacles. Spectacles; especially those of a 
heavy or clumsy make or appearance. A 
slang term, from their supposed resemblance 
in shape to the twitches or “barnacles” 
formerly used by farriers to keep under re- 
straint unruly horses during the process of 
bleeding, shoeing, etc. This instrument con- 
sisted of two branches joined at one end by a 
hinge, and was employed to grip the horse’s 
nose. The word is probably a diminutive of 
the O.Fr. bernac , a kind of muzzle for horses. 

Barnard’s Inn. One of the old Inns of Chan- 
cery, formerly situated on the south side of 
Holborn, east of Staple Inn. It was once 
known as “Mackworth’s Inn,” because Dean 
Mackworth of Lincoln (d. 1454) lived there. 

Barn-burners. Destroyers, who, like the 
Dutchman of story, would burn down their 
barns to rid themselves of the rats. 

Barnstormer. A slang term for a strolling 
player, and hence for any second-rate actor, 
especially one whose style is of an exaggerated 
declamatory kind. From the custom of 
itinerant troupes of actors giving their shows in 
village barns when better accommodation was 
not forthcoming. 

Barnwell, George. The chief character in The 
London Merchant , or the History of George 
Barnwell , a prose tragedy by George Lillo, 
produced in 173 1 . It is founded on a popular 



Baron 


Barrier Treaty 


76 


17th-century ballad which is given in Percy’s 
Reliques. Barnwell was a London apprentice 
who was seduced by Sarah Millwood, a 
disappointed and repulsive woman of the town, 
to whom he gave £200 of his master’s money. 
He next robbed and murdered his pious uncle, 
a rich grazier at Ludlow. Having spent the 
money, Sarah turned him out; each informed 
against the other, and both were hanged. The 
story is mentioned frequently in 19th-century 
literature. 

Baron is from Late Lat. baro (through O.Fr. 
barun ), and meant originally “a man,” 
especially opposed to something else, as a 
freeman to a slave, a husband to a wife, etc., 
and also in relation to someone else, as ‘‘the 
king’s man.” From the former comes the 
legal and heraldic use of the word in the 
phrase baron and feme , husband and wife: 
from the latter the more common use, the 
king’s “man” or “baron” being his vassal 
holding land direct from the king by virtue of 
military or other service. To-day a baron is a 
member of the lowest order of nobility; he is 
addressed as “My Lord,” and by the Sovereign 
as “Our right trusty and well beloved.” The 
premier English barony is that of De Ros, 
dating from 1264. 

The War of the Barons was the insurrection 
of the barons, under Simon de Montfort, 
against the arbitrary government of Henry III, 
1263-65. Drayton’s poem The Barons' Wars 
was published in 1603. 

Baron Bung. Mine host, master of the beer 
bung. 

Baron Munchausen. See Munchausen. 

Baron of beef. Two sirloins left uncut at 
the backbone. The baron is the backpart of 
the ox, called in Danish, the rug . Jocosely, 
but wrongly, said to be a pun upon baron and 
sir loin. 

Baronet. An hereditary titled order of com- 
moners, ranking next below barons and next 
above knights, using (like the latter) the title 
“Sir” before the Christian name, and the con- 
traction “Bt.” after the surname. The degree, 
as it now exists, was instituted by James I, and 
the title was sold for £1,000 to gentlemen 
possessing not less than £1,000 per annum, for 
the plantation of Ulster, in allusion to which 
the Red Hand of Ulster (see under Hand) is 
the badge of Baronets of England, the United 
Kingdom, and of Great Britain, also of the old 
Baronets of Ireland (created prior to the Union 
in 1800). 

The premier baronetcy is that of Bacon of 
Redgrave, originally conferred in 1611 on 
Nicholas, half-brother of Sir Francis Bacon, 
Viscount St. Albans. 

Barque, barquentine (bark, bar' k6n ten). In 
the old days of sailing these words described 
two different rigs. A barque was a sailing ship 
with three masts, having the fore- and main- 
masts square rigged and the mizen-mast fore- 
and-aft rigged. A barquentine was a three- 
masted vessel square-rigged on the fore-mast 
and fore-and-aft rigged on the main- and 
mizen-mast. See Ship. 


Barrack. To barrack, is to jeer or shout rude 
commentaries at the players of games. The 
word came into use about 1880 in Australia 
where barracking is considered a legitimate and 
natural hazard with which, for instance, first- 
class cricketers have to contend. 

Barracks. Soldiers’ quarters of a permanent 
nature. The word was introduced in the 17th 
century from Ital. baracca , a tent, through Fr. 
baroque , a barrack. 

Barrage (b;V razh) (Fr.). The original mean- 
ing of this word was an artificial dam or bar 
across a river to deepen the water on one side 
of it, as the great barrage on the Nile at 
Aswan. But from World War I the term 
is appiied to a curtain of projectiles from 
artillery which is ranged to fall in front of 
advancing troops, or to keep off raiding air- 
craft, or to shield offensive operations, etc., 
Cp. Balloon. 

Creeping barrage. A curtain of artillery 
fire moving forward on a time schedule. 

Box barrage. A curtain of artillery fire laid 
down round a locality either to contain or 
exclude the enemy. 

Barratry. A legal term denoting (1) the 
offence of vexatiously exciting or maintaining 
lawsuits, and (2) — the commoner use — fraud 
or criminal negligence on the part of the master 
or crew of a ship to the detriment of the owners. 
Like many of our legal terms, it is from Old 
French. 


Barren’s Blues. The 4th Foot: so called from 
the colour of their facings, and William Barrcll, 
colonel of the regiment (1734-9). Now called 
“The King’s Own (Royal Border Regi- 
ment).” They were called “Lions” from 
their badge, the Lion of England. 

Barricade. To block up a street, passage, etc. 
The term rose in France in 1588, when Henri 
de Guise returned to Paris in defiance of the 
king’s order. The king sent for his Swiss 
Guards, and the Parisians tore up the pave- 
ment, threw chains across the streets, and piled 
up barrels (Fr. barriques) filled with earth and 
stones, behind which they shot down the Swiss. 


The day of the Barricades — 

(1) May 12th, 1588, when the people forced 
Henry 111 to flee from Paris. 

(2) August 5th, 1648, the beginning of the 
Fronde (</.v.). 

(3) July 27th, 1830, the first day of la grande 
semaine which drove Charles X from the 
throne. 

(4) February 24th, 1848, which resulted in 
the abdication of Louis Philippe. 

(5) June 25th, 1848, when the Archbishop of 
Paris was shot in his attempt to quell the 
insurrection. 

(6) December 2nd, 1851, the day of the 
coup d'etat , when Louis Napoleon made his 
appeal to the people for re-election to the 
Presidency for ten years. 


Barrier Treaty. A treaty fixing frontiers; 
especially that of November 15th, 1715, signed 
by Austria, Great Britain, and the Netherlands, 
by which the Low Countries were guaranteed 




Barrister 


Basil 


77 , 


to the House of Austria, and the Dutch were 
to garrison certain fortresses. The treaty was 
annulled at Fontainebleau jin 1785. 

Barrister. One admitted to plead at the bar; 
one who has been “called to the bar.** See 
Bar. They are of two degrees, the lower order 
being called simply “barristers,” or formerly 
“outer” or “utter” barristers; the higher 
“Queen’s Counsel.” Until 1880 there was a 
superior order known as “Serjeants-at-Law” 
(q.v.). The Queen’s Counsel (Q.C.) is a senior, 
and when raised to this position he is said to 
“take silk,” being privileged to wear a silk 
gown and, on special occasions, a full- 
bottomed wig. The junior counsel, or 
barristers, wear a plain stuff gown and a short 
wig. 

A Revising Barrister. One appointed to 
revise the lists of electors for members of 
parliament. 

A Vacation Barrister. Formerly one newly 
called to the bar, who for three years had to 
attend in “Long Vacation.” The practice 
(and consequently the term) is now obsolete. 

Barristers’ Bags. See Lawyers. 

Barristers’ gowns. “Utter barristers wear 
a stuff or bombazine gown, and the puckered 
material between the shoulders of the gown is 
all that is now left of the purse into which, in 
early days, the successful litigant . . . dropped 
his . . . pecuniary tribute ... for services 
rendered’' ( Notes and Queries , March 11th, 
1893, p. 124). The fact is that the counsel was 
supposed to appear merely as a friend of the 
litigant. Even now he cannot recover his fees 
by legal process. 

Barry Cornwall, poet. The tiom de plume of 
Bryan Waller Proctor (1787-1874). Writer of 
once-popular songs. 

Bartholomew, St. The symbol of this saint is 
a knife, in allusion to the knife with which he 
was Hayed alive. He is commemorated on 
August 24th, and is said to have been martyred 
in Armenia, a.d. 44. 

Bartholomew doll. A tawdry, over-dressed 
woman ; like one of the flashy, bespangled dolls 
offered for sale at Bartholomew Fair. 

Bartholomew Fair. A fair held for centuries 
from its institution in 1133 at Smithfield, 
London, on St. Bartholomew’s Day: after the 
change of the calendar in 1752 it was held on 
September 3rd. While it lasted the Fair was 
the centre of London life; Elizabethan and 
Restoration playwrights and story-tellers are 
full of its amusements and dissipations. Be- 
sides the refreshment stalls, loaded with roast 
pork and cakes, there were innumerable side- 
shows: — 

Here’s that will challenge all the fairs. 

Come buy my nuts and damsons, and BurgamypearsI 
Here’s the Woman of Babylon , the Devil and the Pope , 
And here’s the little girl, just going on the rope! 
Here’s Dives and Lazarus , and the World's Creation ; 
Here’s the Tall Dutchwoman, the like’s not in the 
nation. 

Here is the booths where the high Dutch maid is, 
Here are the bears that dance like any ladies; 

Tat, tat, tat, tat, says little penny trumpet; 


Here’s Jacob Hall, that does so jump it, jump it; 
Sound trumpet, sound, for silver spoon and fork. 
Come, here’s your dainty pig and pork' 

Wit and Drollery (1682). 

Not even the Puritans were able to put down 
the riotings of Bartholomew Fair, and it went 
on in ever increasing disrepute until 1840, 
when it was removed to Islington. This was 
its death, and in 1855 it disappeared from utter 
neglect and inanition. Ben Jonson wrote a 
comedy satirizing the Puritans under this name. 

Bartholomew, Massacre of St. The slaugh- 
ter of the French Huguenots in the reign of 
Charles IX, begun on St. Bartholomew’s Day, 
August 24th, 1572, at the instigation of Cath- 
erine de’ Medici, the mother of the young king. 
It is said that 30,000 persons fell in this dread- 
ful persecution. 

Bartholomew pig. A very fat person. At 
Bartholomew Fair one of the chief attractions 
used to be a pig, roasted whole, and sold 
piping hot. Falstaff calls himself— 

A little tidy Bartholomew boar-pig . — Henry IV, Pt . 
//, II, iv. 

Bartolist. One skilled in law or, specifically, 
a student of Bartolus. Bartolus (1314-57) was 
an eminent Italian lawyer who wrote extensive 
commentaries on the Corpus Juris Civilis, and 
did much to arouse and stimulate interest in 
the ancient Roman law. 

Bas Bleu. See Blue Stocking. 

Base Tenure. Originally, tenure not by 
military , but by base, service, such as a serf or 
villein might give: later, a tenure in fee-simple 
that was determinate on the fulfilment of some 
contingent qualification. 

Base of operations. In military parlance, 
the protected place from which operations are 
conducted, where magazines of all sorts are 
formed, and upon which (in case of reverse) 
the army can fall back. 

Bashaw (b& shaw'). An arrogant, domineering 
man; a corruption of the Turkish pasha , a 
viceroy or provincial governor. 

A three-tailed bashaw. A beglerbcg or 
prince of princes among the Turks, who has a 
standard of three horse-tails borne before him. 
The next rank is the bashaw with two tails, and 
then the bey, who has only one horse-tail. 

Bashi-bazouk (bash' i ba zookT A savage 
and brutal ruffian. The word is Turkish and 
means literally “one whose head is turned”; 
it is applied in Turkey to non-uniformed 
irregular soldiers who make up in plunder for 
what they do not get in pay. It came into 
prominence at the time of the Crimean War, 
and again in that of the Bulgarian atrocities of 
1876. 

Basic English. A fundamental selection of 
850 English words designed by C. K. Ogden 
as a common first step in the teaching of 
English and as an auxiliary language. The 
name comes from the initials of the words 
British, American, Scientific, International, 
Commercial. 

Basil (biz' il) (Gr. basilikos , royal). An 
aromatic plant so called because it was thought 
to have been used in making royal perfume, 




BosHian Monks 


,78 


Bath 


The story of Isabella who placed her murdered 
lover’s head in a pot and planted basil on top, 
which she watered with her tears, was taken by 
Keats from Boccaccio’s Decameron , V, 5. 

Basilian Monks. Monks of the Order of St. 
Basil, who lived in the 4th century. It is said 
that the Order has produced 14 popes, 1,805 
bishops, 3,010 abbots/and 11,085 martyrs. 

Basilica (ba zi V i k&) (Gr. basilikos, royal). 
Originally a royal palace, but afterwards (in 
Rome) a large building with nave, aisles, and 
an apse at one end, used as a court of justice 
and for public meetings. By the early 
Christians they were easily adapted for 
purposes of worship; the church of St. John 
Lateran at Rome was an ancient basilica. 
Basilisco (ba zil is 'ko). A cowardly, bragging 
knight in Kyd’s tragedy. Solyman and Perscda 
(1588). Shakespeare (King John , I, i) makes 
the Bastard say to his mother, who asks him 
why he boasted of his ill-birth, “Knight, 
knight, good mother, Basilisco-like” — i.e. my 
boasting has made me a knight. In the earlier 
play Basilisco, speaking of his name, adds, 
“Knight, good fellow, knight, knight!” and 
is answered, “Knave, good fellow, knave, 
knave!” 

Basilisk (baz 7 i lisk). The king of serpents 
(Gr. basileus , a king), a fabulous reptile, also 
called a cockatrice (q.v.) y and alleged to be 
hatched by a serpent from a cock’s egg; 
supposed to have the power of “looking any- 
one dead on whom it fixed its eyes.” 

The Basiliske . . . 

From powerful eyes close venlm doth convay 
Into the lookers hart, and killetli farre away. 

Spensfr: Faerie Queene , IV, vii, 37. 

Also the name of a large brass cannon in use 
in Elizabethan times. 

Basinful. He’s got a basinful, meaning, He’s 
got just as much trouble, etc., as he can stand. 

Basket. To be left in the basket. Neglected 
or uncared for. At one time foundling 
hospitals used to place baskets at their doors 
for the reception of abandoned babies. 

To give a basket. To refuse to marry. In 
Germany it was an old custom to fix a basket 
to the roof of one who had been jilted. 

To go to the basket. Old slang for to go to 

f jrison; referring to the dependence of the 
owest grade of poor prisoners (those in the 
“Hole”) for their sustenance upon what 
passers-by put in the basket for them. 

Basochians (ba sosh' yanz). An old French 
term for Clerks of the Parlements, hence, 
lawyers. The chief of the Basochians was 
called Le roi de la basoche , and had his court, 
coin, and grand officers. He reviewed his 
“subjects” every year, and administered 
justice twice a week. The basoche was 
responsible for public amusements, the presen- 
tation of farces, soties, and moralities, etc. 
Henri III suppressed the “king,” and trans- 
ferred all his functions and privileges to the 
Chancellor. 

Hence monnaie de Basoche , worthless money, 
from the coins at one time made and circulated 
by the lawyers of France, which had no 
currency beyond their own community. 


Bass (b&s). The inner bark of the limetree, 
or linden, properly called bast, a Teutonic 
word the ultimate, origin of which is unknown. 
It is used by gardeners for packing, tying up 
plants, protecting trees, etc.; also for making 
mats, light baskets, hats, and (in Russia) 
shoes, while in parts of Central Europe a 
cloth is woven from it. 

Bast. See Bubastis. 

Bastard. An illegitimate child; a French 
word, from the Old French and Provencal 
bast , a pack-saddle. The pack-saddles were 
used by muleteers as beds; hence, as bantling 
(q.v.) is a “bench-begotten” child, so is 
bastard , literally, one begotten on a pack- 
saddle bed. 

The name was formerly given to a sweetened 
Spanish wine (white or brown) made of the 
bastard muscadine grape. 

Baste. I’ll baste your jacket for you, i.e. cane 
you. I’ll give you a thorough basting, i.e. 
beating. ( A word of uncertain origin). 
Bastille (bis tel') means simply a building 
(O.Fr. bastir , now bdtir, to build). The 
famous state prison in Paris was commenced 
by Charles V as a royal chateau in 1370, and 
it was first used as a prison by Louis XL It 
was seized and sacked by the mob in the French 
Revolution, July 14th, 1789, and on the first 
anniversary its final demolition was begun and 
the Place de la Bastille laid out on its site. 
July 14th is the national holiday in France. 

Bat. Harlequin’s lath wand (Fr. batte , a 
wooden sword). 

Off his o*\n bat. By his own exertions; on 
his own account. A cricketer’s phrase, 
meaning runs made by a single player. 

To carry one’s bat (in cricket). A batsman 
who goes in first and is “not out ” at the end 
of the innings. 

Parliament of Bats. See Club Parliament. 

To get along at a great bat. Here the word 
means beat, pace, rate of speed. 

To have bats in the belfry. To be crazy in 
the head, bats in this case being the nocturnal 
creatures. 

Batman. A military officer’s soldier-servant; 
but properly a soldier in charge of a bat-horse 
(or pack-horse) and its load. From Fr. bat , a 
pack-saddle (O.Fr. bast ; see Bastard). 

Batavia (ba ta' vi &). The Netherlands; so 
called from the Batavi, a German tribe which 
in Roman times inhabited the modern Hol- 
land. 

Bate me an Ace. See Bolton. 

Bath. Knights of the Bath. This name is 
derived from the ceremony of bathing, which 
used to be practised at the inauguration of a 
knight, as a symbol of purity The last 
knights created in the ancient manner were at 
the coronation of Charles II in 1661. The 
Order was revived by George I, in 1725, and 
remodelled by the Prince Regent in 1815. 
G.C.B. stands for Grand Cross of the Bath (the 
first class); K.C.B., Knight Commander of the 
Bath (the second class); C.B., Companion of the 
Bath (the third class). 




Bath brick 


79 


Battle 


Bath brick. Alluvial matter compressed to 
the form of a brick, and used for cleaning 
knives, polishing metals, etc. It is made at 
Bridgwater, the material being dredged from 
the river Parrett, which runs through Bridg- 
water. 

Bath chair. A chair mounted on wheels 
and used for invalids. First used at Bath, 
which for long has been frequented by in- 
valids on account of its hot springs. 

There, go to Bath with you! Don't talk non- 
sense. Insane persons used to be sent to Bath 
for the benefit of its mineral waters. The 
implied reproof is, what you say is so silly, you 
ought to go to Bath. 

Bath, King of. Richard Nash (1674-1762), 
generally called Beau Nash, a celebrated 
master of the ceremonies at Bath for fifty-six 
years. 

Bath King-of-Arms. See Heraldry ( Col- 
lege of Arms). 

Bath metal. An alloy like pinchbeck (q.v.) 
consisting of about sixteen parts copper and 
five of zinc. 

Bath Oliver. A special kind of biscuit in- 
vented by Dr. William Oliver (1695-1764), 
physician to the Bath Mineral Water Hospital, 
and an authority on gout. 

Bath post. A letter paper with a highly 
glazed surface, used by the ultra-fashionable 
visitors of Bath when that watering-place was 
at its prime. See Post-paper. 

Bath shillings. Silver tokens coined at Bath 
in 1811-12 and issued by various tradespeople, 
with face values of 4s., 2s., and Is. 

Bath stone. A limestone used for building, 
and found in the Lower Oolite, near Bath. It 
is easily wrought in the quarry but hardens on 
exposure to the air. 

Bath, St. Mary’s. See Bain Marie. 

Bathia (bath' i a). The name given in the 
Talmud to the daughter of Pharaoh who 
found Moses in the ark of bulrushes. 

Bath-kol (bath kof) (daughter of the voice). 
A sort of divination common among the 
ancient Jews after the gift of prophecy had 
ceased. When an appeal was made to Bath- 
kol, the first words uttered after the appeal 
were considered oracular. See Ray's Three 
Physico-Theological Discourses , iii, 1693. 

Bathos (ba' thos) (Gr. bathos , depth). A 
ludicrous descent from grandiloquence to 
commonplace. A good example is the well- 
known couplet given by Pope: 

And, thou, Dalhousie, the great god of war. 
Lieutenant-general to the earl of Mar. 

Bathos , ix. 

Bathsheba (bath' sh£ ba). In Dryden's Absa- 
lom and Achitophel , intended for the Duchess 
of Portsmouth, a favourite of Charles II. The 
allusion is to the wife of Uriah the Hittite, 
beloved by David (II Sam . xi). 

Bathyllos (bath' i 10s). A beautiful boy of 
Samos, greatly beloved by Polycrates the 
tyrant, and by the poet Anacreon. (Horace: 
Epistle xiv, 9.) 


Batiste (ba test'). A kind of cambric ($.v.), 
so called from Baptiste of Cambrai, who first 
manufactured it in the 13th century. 

B&ton de comma ndement (b&t' on de kom and' 
mon) (Fr. literally “commander’s truncheon”). 
The name given by archaeologists to a kind of 
rod, usually of reindeer horn, pierced with one 
or more round holes, and sometimes embel- 
lished with carvings. It belongs to the 
Magdalenian age; but its use or purpose is 
quite unknown. 

Batrachomyomachia (ba' trak 6 mi' 6 ma kya). 
A storm in a tea-cup ; much ado about nothing. 
The word is the name of a mock heroic Greek 
epic, supposed to be by Pigres of Caria, but 
formerly attributed to Homer. It tells, as its 
name imports, of a Battle between the Frogs 
and Mice. 

Batta (bat' a). An Anglo-Indian term for 
perquisites. Properly, an extra allowance to 
troops when in the field or on special service. 
Sometimes spelt batty . 

He would rather live on half-pay in a garrison 
that could boast of a fives-court than vegetate on 
full batta where there was none. — G. R. Gleig: 
Thomas NSunro , vol. I, ch. iv, p. 287. 

Battels (bat' elz). At Oxford University the 
accounts for board and provisions, etc., pro- 
vided by the kitchen and also (more loosely) 
one’s total accounts for these together with 
fees for tuition, membership of clubs, etc., for 
the term. The word has also been used for the 
provisions or rations themselves; which is 
the earlier use has never been decided, and 
the derivation of the word is still a matter 
for conjecture. 

Battersea. You must go to Battersea to get 
your simples cut. A reproof to a simpleton, or 
one who makes a very foolish observation. 
The market gardeners of Battersea used to 
grow simples (medicinal herbs), and the Lon- 
don apothecaries went there to select or cut 
such as they wanted. 

Battle. A pitched battle. A battle which has 
been planned, and the ground pitched on or 
chosen beforehand. 

A close battle. Originally a naval fight at 
“close quarters,” in which opposing ships 
engage each other side by side. 

Line of battle. The formation of the ships 
in a naval engagement. A line of battle ship 
was a capital ship fit to take part in a main 
attack. Frigates did not join in a general 
engagement. 

Half the battle. Half determines the battle. 
Thus, “The first stroke is half the battle,” 
that is, the way in which the battle is begun 
determines what the end will be. 

Trial by battle. The submission of a legal 
suit to a combat between the litigants, under 
the notion that God would defend the right. 

Wager of battle. One of the forms of ordeal 
or appeal to the judgment of God, in the old 
Norman courts of the kingdom. It consisted 
of a personal combat between the plaintiff and 
the defendant, in the presence of the court itself. 
Abolished by 59 Geo. 111. c. 46 (1819). 


Battle 


80 


Bawtry 


Battle above the Clouds. See Clouds. 

Battle bowler. This was a nickname given 
in World War I to the steel helmet or “tin 
hat” worn at the front. Used again 1939-45, 
when it was also called a “tin topee.” 

Battle of the Books. A satire by Swift 
(written 1697, published 1704), on the literary 
squabble as to the comparative value of ancient 
and modern authors. In the battle the ancient 
books fight against the modern books in St. 
James’s Library. See Boyle Controversy. 

Battle of Britain. The prolonged aerial 
operations over Southern England and the 
Channel, August-September 1940, in which the 
German Luftwaffe endeavoured to seize 
superiority in the air from the R.A.F. (as a 
necessary prelude to the invasion of Britain) 
and was defeated. 

Battle of the Frogs and Mice. See Batra- 

CHOMYOMACHIA. 

Battle of the Giants. See Giants. 

Battle of the Herrings. See Herrings. 

Battle of the Nations. See Nations. 

Battle of the Poets, The. A satirical poem 
(1725) by John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, 
in which the versifiers of the time are brought 
into the field. 

Battle of the Spurs. See Spurs. 

Battle of the Standard. See Standard. 

Battle of the Three Emperors. See Three 
Emperors. 

Battle-painter, The, or Michelangelo delle 
Battaglie. Michael Angelo Ccrquozzi (1600- 
1660), a Roman artist noted for his battle- 
scenes, was so called. 

Battle royal. A certain number of cocks, 
say sixteen, are pitted together; the eight 
victors are then pitted, then the four, and last 
of all the two; and the winner is victor of the 
battle royal. Metaphorically, the term is 
applied to any contest of wits, etc. 

Battle, Sarah. A character in one of Lamb’s 
Essays of Elia , who considered that whist “was 
her life business; her duty; the thing she came 
into the world to do, and she did it. She un- 
bent her mind afterwards over a book.” 

Battledore. Originally the wooden bat used 
in washing linen. The etymology of the word 
is not at all certain, but there is an old Pro- 
vencal word batedor , meaning a washing-beetle. 

Battledore book. A name sometimes 
formerly given to a horn-book ( q.v.) y because 
of its shape. Hence, perhaps, the phrase 
“Not to know B from a battledore.” See B. 

Battue (bd tG). A French word meaning 
literally “a beating,” used in English as a 
sporting term to signify a regular butchery of 
game, the “guns” being collected at a certain 
spot over which the birds are driven by the 
beaters who “beat” the bushes, etc., for the 
purpose. Hence, a wholesale slaughter, 
especially of unarmed people. 

Batty. See Batta. 


Baturlio marina. See Barisal Guns. 

Baubee. Sec Bawbee. 

Bauble. A fool should never hold a bauble in 
his hand. “Tis a foolish bird that fouls its 
own nest.” The bauble was a short stick, 
ornamented with ass’s ears, carried by licensed 
fools. (O.Fr. babel , or baubel, a child’s toy; 
perhaps confused with the M.E. babyll or 
babulle , a stick with a thong, from bablyn , to 
waver or oscillate.) 

If every fool held a bauble, fuel would be 
dear. The proverb indicates that the world 
contains a vast number of fools. 

To deserve the bauble. To be so foolish as 
to be qualified to carry the fool’s emblem of 
office. 

Baucis. See Philemon. 

Bauld Wullie. Sec Belted Will. 

Baulk. See Balk. 

Baviad, The (bav' i ad). A merciless satire by 
Gifford on the Della Cruscan poetry, pub- 
lished 1794, and republished the following year 
with a second part called The Mceviad. Bavius 
and M^evius were two minor poets pilloried 
by Virgil ( Eclogue , iii, 9). 

He may with foxes plough, and milk he-goats. 
Who praise Bavius or on Mscvius dotes. 

And their names are still used for inferior 
versifiers. 

May some choice patron bless each grey goose quill, 
May every Bavius have his Bufo still. 

Popii: Prologue to Satires, 249. 

Bavieca. The Cid’s horse. 

Bavius. See Baviad. 

Bawbee. A debased silver coin representing 
six Scots pennies and about equal in value to an 
English halfpenny, first issued in 1541, in the 
reign of James V. The word is probably 
derived from the laird of Sillebawby, a con- 
temporary mint-master, as appears from the 
Treasurer’s account, September 7th, 1541, “//* 
argento receptis a Jacobo Aizinsone y et Alex- 
andra Or ok de Sillebawby respective .” 

Jenny’s bawbee. Her marriage portion. 
Wha’ll hire, whit’ll hire, wha’ll hire me? 

Three plumps and a wallop for ae bawbee. 

An old rhyme embodying a rctlection on the 
supposed parsimony and poverty of the Scots. 
The tradition is that the people of Kirkmanhoc 
were so poor, they could not afford meat for 
their broth. A cobbler bought four sheep- 
shanks, and for the payment of one bawbee 
would “plump” one of them into the boiling 
water, and give it a “wallop” or whisk round. 
The sheep-shank was called a gustin bone , and 
was supposed to give a rich “gust” to the 
broth. 

Bawtry. Like the saddler of Bawtry, who was 
hanged for leaving his liquor (Yorkshire pro- 
verb). It was customary for criminals on their 
way to execution to stop at a certain tavern in 
York for a “parting draught.” The saddler 
of Bawtry refused to accept the liquor and was 
hanged. If he had stopped a few minutes at 
the tavern, his reprieve, which was on the road, 
would have arrived in time to save his life. 



Baxterians 


81 


Bayeux Tapestry 


Baxterians. Followers of Richard Baxter 
(1615-91), a noted English Nonconformist. 
His chief doctrines were — (1) That Christ died 
in a spiritual sense for the elect, and in a general 
sense for all; (2) that there is no such thing as 
reprobation; (3) that even saints may fall from 
grace. He thus tried to effect a compromise 
between the “heretical” opinions of the 
Arminians and the Calvinists. 

Bay. The shrub was anciently supposed to be 
a preservative against lightning, because it was 
the tree of Apollo. Hence, according to Pliny, 
Tiberius and other Roman emperors wore a 
wreath of bay as an amulet, especially in 
thunder-storms. 

Reach the bays — 

I’ll tie a garland here about his head; 

’Twill keep my boy from lightning. 

Webster: Vittoria Corumbona , V, i. 

The bay being sacred to Apollo is accounted 
for by the legend that he fell in love with, and 
was rejected by, the beautiful Daphne, 
daughter of the river-god Peneos, in Thessaly, 
who had resolved to pass her life in perpetual 
virginity. She fled from him and sought the 
protection of her father, who changed her into 
the bay-tree, whereupon Apollo declared that 
henceforth he would w'ear bay leaves instead 
of the oak, and that all who sought his favour 
should follow his example. 

The withering of a bay-tree was supposed to 
be the omen of a death. Holinshed refers to 
this superstition: — 

In this ycarc [1399J in a manner throughout ail 
the realme of England, old baie trees withered, and, 
afterwards, conlraric to all mens thinking, grew 
greenc againe; a strange sight, and supposed to 
import some unknown event. — 111, 496, 2, 66. 

in another sense Bay is a reddish-brown 
colour, generally used of horses. The word 
is the Fr. bai , from Lat. baditts , a term used 
by Varro in his list of colours appropriate to 
horses. Bayard (q.w) means “bay-coloured.” 

Crowned with bays. A reward of victory: 
from the custom that obtained in ancient Rome 
of so crowning a victorious general. 

The Queen’s Bays. See Regimental Nick- 
names. 

Bay at the nioon, To. See Bark. 

Bay salt. Coarse-grained salt, formerly 
obtained by slow evaporation of sea-water and 
used for curing meat, etc. Perhaps so called 
because originally imported from the shores of 
the Bay of Biscay. “Bay,” in this case, does 
not signify the colour. 

Bay Psalm Book. A metrical version of the 
Psalms published by Stephen Dayc at Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts, in 1680. One of the 
first printed works of the New World, and now 
highly prized. The Bodleian Library, Oxford, 
possesses a copy. “What the Gutenberg Bible 
is to Europe, the Bay Psalm Book is to the 
United States” — A. E. Newton. In 1947 a 
copy changed hands at auct ion for $ 1 5 1 ,000.00. 

Bay State, The. Massachusetts. In Colon- 
ial days its full title was “The Colony of 
Massachusetts Bay”: hence the name. 

Bayadere (ba ya' dar). A Hindu dancing girl 
employed both for religious dances and for 
private amusement. The word is a French 


corruption of the Portuguese bailadeira, a 
female dancer. 

Bayard (ba' yard). A horse of incredible 
swiftness, given by Charlemagne to the four 
sons of Aymon. See Aymon. If only one 
of the sons mounted, the horse was of the 
ordinary size; but if all four mounted, his body 
became elongated to the requisite length. He 
is introduced in Boiardo’s Orlando Innamorato , 
Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso , and elsewhere, and 
legend relates that he is still alive and can be 
heard neighing in the Ardennes on Midsummer 
Day. The name is used for any valuable or 
wonderful horse, and means a “high bay- 
coloured horse.” 

Bold as Blind Bayard. Foolhardy. If a 
blind horse leaps, the chance is he will fall into 
a ditch. Grose mentions the following ex- 
pression, To ride Bayard of ten toes — “Going 
by the marrow-bone stage” — i.e. walking. 

Keep Bayard in the stable. Keep what is of 
value under lock and key. 

Bayard, The Chevalier de. Pierre du Terrail 
(1475-1524), a celebrated French knight and 
national hero, distinguished in the Italian 
campaigns of Charles VIII, Louis XII, and 
Francois I. Le chevalier sans peur et sans 
re pro c he. 

Bayard of the Confederate Army. Robert 
E. Lee (1807-70). 

The Bayard of the East, or of the Indian 
Army. Sir James Outram (1803-63). 

The British Bayard. Sir Philip Sidney (1554- 
86), the pride of the Elizabethan court, who 
was mortally wounded at the battle of Zutphen 
1586. 

The Polish Bayard. Prince Joseph Ponia- 
towski (1762-1813), who served with the 
greatest distinction under Napoleon. 

Bayardo. The famous steed of Rinaldo (q.v.), 
which once belonged to Amadis of Gaul. See 
Horse. 

Bayardo’s Leap. Three stones, about thirty 
yards apart, near Sleaford. It is said that 
Rinaldo was riding on his favourite steed, when 
the demon of the place sprang up behind him; 
but Bayardo in terror took three tremendous 
leaps and unhorsed the fiend. 

Bayes (buz). A character in the Rehearsal , 
by the Duke of Buckingham (1671), designed 
to satirize Drydcn. The name refers to the 
laureateship. 

Dead men may rise again, like Bayes’s 
troops, or the savages in the Fantocini. In the 
Rehearsal a battle is fought between foot- 
soldiers and great hobby-horses. At last 
Drawcansir kills all on both sides. Smith then 
asks how they are to go off, to which Bayes 
replies, “As they came on — upon their legs”; 
upon which they all jump up alive again. 

Bayeux Tapestry (bf' yer). A strip of linen 
231 ft. long and 20 in. wide on which is 
represented in tapestrv the mission of Harold 
to William, Duke of Normandy (William the 
Conqueror), and all the incidents of his 
history from then till his death at Hastings in 
1066. It is preserved at Bayeux, and is 



Bayonet 


82 


Beam 


supposed to be the work of Matilda, wife 
of William the Conqueror. 

In the tapestry, the Saxons fight on foot with 
javelin and battle-axe, and bear shields with 
the British characteristic of a boss in the centre. 
The men are moustached. 

The Normans are on horseback, with long 
shields and pennoned lances. The men are 
not only shaven, but most of them have a 
complete tonsure on the back of the head, 
whence the spies said to Harold, “There are 
more priests in the Norman army than men in 
Harold’s.” 

Bayonet (ba' 6 n£t). A stabbing weapon fixed 
to a rifle for shock action by infantry. Its 
name is said to be taken from Bayonne where 
it was first made. The bayonet is mentioned 
in the memoirs of Puys6gur as being used in 
1647; it was introduced into the English army 
in 1672. In its original form it was a plug 
bayonet, fitted into the barrel of the musket, 
and had therefore to be removed before the 
gun could be fired. 

Bayonets. A synonym of “rank and file,” 
that is, privates and corporals of infantry. As, 
“the number of bayonets was 25,000.” 

It is on the bayonets that a Quartermaster-General 
relies for his working and fatigue parties. — Howirr: 
Hist, of Eng. (year 1854, p. 260). 

Bayou State (bf yoo). The State of Missis- 
sippi; so called from its numerous bayous. A 
bayou is a creek, or sluggish and marshy over- 
flow of a river or lake. The word may be of 
native American origin, but is probably a 
corruption of Fr. boyau , gut. 

Bazooka. American one-man, short-range 
anti-tank weapon (1941-45). The name be- 
came freely applied to the British and German 
weapons of the same nature (P.I.A.T. — pro- 
jectile infantry anti-tank — and Panzer /bust). 

To be bazookaed. To be in a tank struck by 
such a projectile. 

Beachcomber. One who, devoid of other 
means of existence, subsists on what flotsam 
and jetsam he can find on the seashore. The 
word originated in New Zealand, where it is 
found in print by 1844; an earlier form (1827) 
was beach ranger , analogous to Bushranger 
(q.v.). 

Bead. From O.E. - bed (in gebed ), a prayer, 
biddan , to pray. “Bead,” thus originally 
meant simply “a prayer”; but as prayers were 
“told” (i.e. account kept of them) on a 
“paternoster,” the word came to be trans- 
ferred to the small globular perforated body a 
number of which, threaded on a string, 
composed this paternoster or “rosary.” 

To count one’s beads. To say one’s prayers. 
See Rosary. 

To draw a bead on. See Draw. 

To pray without one’s beads. To be out of 
one’s reckoning. 

Bally ’s beads. When the disc of the moon 
has (in an eclipse) reduced that of the sun to a 
thin crescent, the crescent assumes the appear- 
ance somewhat resembling a string of beads. 
This was first described in detail oy Francis 


Baily in 1 836, whence the name of the phenom- 
enon, the cause of which is the sun shining 
through the depressions between the lunar 
mountains. 

St. Cuthbert’s beads. Single joints of the 
articulated stems of encrinites. They are 
perforated in the centre, and bear a fanciful 
resemblance to a cross; hence, they were once 
used for rosaries (q.v.). St. Cuthbert was a 
Scottish monk of the 6th century, and may be 
called the St. Patrick of the Border. Legend 
relates that he sits at night on a rock in Holy 
Island and uses the opposite rock as his anvil 
while he forges the beads. 

St. Martin’s beads. Flash jewellery. St. 
Martin-le-Grand was at one time a noted place 
for sham jewellery. 

Bead-house. An almshouse for beadsmen. 

Bead-roll. A list of persons to be prayed 
for; hence, also, any list. 

Beadsman or Bedesman. Properly, one who 

rays; hence, an inmate of an almshouse, 

ecause most charities of this class were 
instituted so that the inmates might “pray for 
the soul of the founder.” See Bead. 

Beadle. A person whose duty it is to bid or 
cite persons to appear to a summons; also a 
church servant, whose duty it is to bid the 
parishioners to attend the vestry, or to give 
notice of vestry meetings. It is ultimately a 
Teutonic word (Old High Ger. Bitel, one who 
asks, whence the O.E. hcodan, to bid, and 
by del. a herald), but it came to us through the 
O.Fr. badef a herald. See Bedel. 

Beak. Slang for a police magistrate, but 
formerly (16th and 17th cent.) for a constable. 
Various fanciful derivations have been sug- 
gested, but the etymology of the word is 
unknown. 

Beaker. A drinking-glass; a rummer; a wide- 
mouthed glass vessel with a lip, used in 
scientific experiments. A much-travelled 
word, having come to us by way of the Scan- 
dinavian bikkar , a cup (Dut. beker ; Ger. 
Bee her), from Greek bikos , a wine-jar, which 
was of Eastern origin. Our pitcher is really 
the same word. 

Beam. Thrown on my beam-ends. Driven to 
my last shift. An old phrase of the days of 
sail, for a ship was said to be on her beam-ends 
when she was laid by a heavy gale completely 
on her side, i.e. the part where her beams end. 
Not infrequently the only means of righting 
her in such a case was to cut away her masts. 

On the port beam. A distant point out at 
sea on the left-hand side, and at right angles 
to the keel. 

On the starboard beam. A similar point on 
the right-hand side. 

On the weather beam. On that side of a ship 
which faces the wind. 

To be on the beam is to be on the right course. 
A modern phrase coming from the directing of 
aircraft by means of a radio beam. 

To kick the beam. See Kick. 




Beam 


83 


A bridled bear 


Beam (of a stag). The main trunk of the 
horn, the part that bears the branches (O.E. 
bdam, a tree). 

Bean. Every bean has its black. Nemo sine 
\itiis nascitur (Everyone has his faults). The 
bean has a black eye. ( Ogni grano ha la sua 
seniola.) 

He has found the bean in the cake. He has 
got a prize in the lottery, has come to some 
unexpected good fortune. The allusion is to 
twelfth-night cakes in which a bean is buried. 
When the cake is cut up and distributed, he 
who gets the bean is the twelfth-night king. 
See Bean-king. 

Jack and the bean-stalk. See Jack. 

Old bean. A slang expression of good- 
natured familiarity that became very common 
early in the 20th century. 

Bean-feast. Much the same as wayz-goose 
(q.w). A feast given by an employer to those 
he employs. Probably so called because either 
beans or a bean-goose used to be a favourite 
dish on such occasions. 

Bean-goose. A migratory bird which 
appears in England in the autumn; so named 
from a mark on its bill like a horse-bean. It is 
next in size to the greylag-goose. 

Bean-king. Rev de hi abas, the child 
appointed to play the part of king on twelfth- 
night. Twelfth-night was sometimes known 
as the Bean-king's Jest ixal. 

Beans. Slang for properly, money; also 
for a sovereign, and (formerly) a guinea. In 
this sense it is probably the O.Fr. cant, biens , 
meaning property: but in such phrases as not 
worth a bean , the allusion is to the bean’s small 
value. 

Like a beanc [alnis-money] in a monkeshood. 

Color a ve. 

Blue beans. Bullets or shot: hence. “Three 
blue beans in a blue bladder," a rattle for 
children. 

Fort.: (Of his purse). Hark! dost rattle? 

Sired.: Yes, like three beans in a blue bladder, 
rattle bladder, rattle; your purse is like my bells, 
th’ one’s without money, th’ other without meat. 

Dikkjr: Old Fortunatus, 1, ii. 

Three small bullets or large shot in a bladder 
would make a very good rattle for a child. 

Beans are in flower. A catch-phrase said 
to one by way of accounting for his being so 
silly. Our forefathers imagined that the per- 
fume of the flowering bean made men silly or 
light-headed. 

He knows how many beans make five. He is 
“uj) to snuff”; he is no fool; he is not to 
be imposed upon. The reference is to an old 
trap. Everyone knows that five beans make 
five, and on this answer being correctly given 
the questioner goes on, “But you don't know' 
how many blue beans make five white ones.” 
The complete answer to this is “Five — if 
peeled." 

Full of beans. Said of a fresh and spirited 
horse; hence, in good form; full of health and 
spirits. 

I’ll give him beans. I’ll give him a thrashing. 
There is a similar French proverb, S'il me 


dome des pois t je lui donnerai des fives (i.e. If 
he gives me peas I will give him beans), I will 
give him tit for tat, a Roland for an Oliver. 

In ancient times Pythagoras forbade the use 
of beans to his disciples — not the use of beans 
as food, but for political elections. Magis- 
trates and other public officers were elected by 
beans cast by the voters into a helmet, and 
what Pythagoras advised was that his disciples 
should not interfere with politics or “love 
beans” — i.e. office. But according to Aris- 
totle the word bean implied venery, and that 
the prohibition to “abstain from beans” was 
equivalent to “keeping the body chaste.” 

Without a bean. Penniless, “broke.” 

To spill the beans. To give away a secret; 
to let the cat out of the bag. 

Bear. In the phraseology of the Stock 
Exchange, a speculator for a fall. ( Cp . Bull.) 
Thus, to operate for a bear, or to bear the 
market, is to use every effort to depress prices, 
so as to buy cheap and make a profit on the 
rise. Such a transaction is known as a Bear 
account. 

The term was current at least as early as 
the South Sea Bubble, in the 18th century, 
its probable origin will be found in the 
proverb, “Selling the skin before you have 
caught the bear.” One who sold stocks in 
this way was formerly called a bearskin jobber. 

The Bear. Albert, margrave of Branden- 
burg (1106-70). He was so called from his 
heraldic device. 

The bloody bear, in Dryden’s The Hind and 
the Panther , means the Independents. 

Bear cubs licked into shape. See under Lick. 

The Great Bear, and Little Bear. These 
constellations were so named by the Greeks, 
and their word, arktos , a bear, is still kept in 
the names A returns (the bear-ward, ourcs, 
guardian) and Arctic (q.v.). The Sanskrit 
name for the Great Bear is from the verb rakh , 
to be bright, and it has been suggested that the 
Greeks named it arktos as a result of con- 
fusion between the two words. Cp. Charles’s 
Wain; Northern Wagoner. 

The wind-shaked surge, with high and monstrous 
mane. 

Seems to cast water on the burning bear 
And quench the guards of th’ ever-fixed pole. 

Shakespeare: Othello , II, i. 

The guards referred to in the above extract 
are £ and y of Ursa Minor. They are so 
named, not from any supposed guarding that 
they do, but from the It. guar dare, to behold, 
because of the great assistance they were to 
mariners in navigation. 

The classical fable is that Calisto, a nymph 
of Diana, had two sons by Jupiter, which Juno 
changed into bears, and Jupiter converted into 
constellations. 

’Twas here we saw Calisto’s star retire 
, Beneath the waves, unawed by Juno’s ire. 

CamoGns: Lnsiad , Bk. V. 

The Northern Bear. In political cartoons, 
etc., Russia is depicted as a bear. 

A bridled bear. A young nobleman under 
the control of a travelling tutor. See Bear- 
leader. 



Bear 


84 


Beard 


The bear and ragged staff. A crest of (he 
Nevilles and later Earls of Warwick, often 
used as a public-house sign. The first earl is 
said to have been Arth or Arthgal, of the 
Round Table, whose cognizance was a bear, 
arth meaning a bear (Lat. ursa). Morvid, the 
second earl, overcame, in single combat, a 
mighty giant, who came against him with a 
club consisting of a tree pulled up by the roots, 
but stripped of its branches. In remembrance 
of his victory over the giant he added “the 
ragged staff.” 

The bear and the tea-kettle. Said of a 
person who injures himself by foolish rage. 
The story is that one day a bear entered a hut 
in Kamschatka, where a kettle was on the fire. 
Master Bruin smelt at it and burnt his nose; 
greatly irritated, he seized it with his paws, and 
squeezed it against his breast. This, of course, 
made matters worse, for the boiling water 
scalded him terribly, and he growled in agony 
till some neighbours put an end to his life with 
their guns. 

A bear sucking his paws. It used to be 
believed that when a bear was deprived of food 
it sustained life by sucking its paws. The 
same was said of the badger. The phrase is 
applied to industrious idleness. 

As savage as a bear with a sore head. Un- 
reasonably ill-tempered. 

As a bear lias no tail. 

For a lion he’ll fail. 

The same as Ne sutor supra erepldam (Let 
not the cobbler aspire above his last). Robert 
Dudley, Earl of Leicester, a descendant of the 
Warwick family, is said to have changed his 
own crest, “a green lion with two tails,” for 
the Warwick “bear and ragged staff.” When 
made governor of the Low Countries, he was 
suspected of aiming at absolute supremacy, or 
the desire of being the monarch of his fellows, 
as the lion is monarch among beasts. Some 
wit wrote under his crest the Latin verse, Ursa 
caret cauda non queat esse leo. i.e . — 

Your bear for lion needs must fail. 

Because your true bears have no tail. 

To take the bear by the tooth. To put your 
head into the lion’s mouth; needlessly to run 
into danger. 

Bear garden. This place is a perfect bear 

garden — that is, full of confusion, noise, tumult, 
and quarrels. In Elizabethan and Stuart times 
the gardens where bears were kept and baited 
for public amusement were famous for all 
sorts of riotous disorder. 

Bear-leader. A common expression in the 
18th century denoting a travelling tutor who 
escorted a young nobleman, or youth of 
wealth and fashion, on the “Grand Tour.” 
From the old custom of leading muzzled bears 
about the streets, and making them show off in 
order to attract notice and money. This 
practice was made illegal only in 1925. 

Bear! (said Dr. Pangloss to his pupil). Under 
favour, young gentleman, I am the bear-leader, being 
appointed your tutor. — G. Colman: Hcir-at-lMw. 

Bear, To. Come, bear a hand! Come and 
render help. Bring a hand, or bring your hand 
to bear on the work going on. 


To bear arms. To do military service; to 
be entitled to heraldic coat of arms and crest. 

To bear away (nautical). To keep away 
from the wind. 

To bear one company. To be one’s com- 
panion. 

His faithful dog shall bear him company. 

Port: Essay on Man , epistle i, 112. 

To bear down. To overpower. 

To bear down upon (nautical). To approach 
from the weather side. 

Bear in mind. Remember; do not forget. 
Carry in your recollection. 

To bear out. To corroborate, to confirm. 

To bear up. To support; to keep the spirits 
up. 

To bear with. To show forbearance; to 
endure with complacency. 

To bear the bell. See Bei l. 

Beard. Among the Jews, Turks, and Eastern 
nations generally the beard has long been 
regarded as a sign of manly dignity. To cut 
it off w ilfully was a deadly insult, and the Jews 
were strictly forbidden to cut it off cere- 
monially, though shaving it was a sign of 
mourning. No greater insult could be 
offered a man than to pluck or even touch his 
beard, hence the phrase to beard one, to defy 
him, to contradict him flatly, to insult him. 
By touching or swearing by one’s own beard 
one’s good faith was assured. 

The dyeing of beards is mentioned by Strabo, 
and Bottom the Weaver satirizes the custom 
when he undertakes to play Pyramus, and asks, 
“What beard were I best to play it in ? ” 

Beards are encouraged in the Royal Navy, 
but not permitted in the other Services, though 
in World War II the Army turned a blind eye 
to the beards of some individuals performing 
unusually hazardous duty behind tnc enemy’s 
lines. 

To beard the lion in his den. To defy person- 
ally or face to face. 

To make one’s beard. To have one wholly 
at your mercy, as a barber has when holding 
a man’s beard to dress it, or shaving the chin 
of a customer. So, to be able to do what you 
like with one, to outwit or delude him. 

Though they preye Argus, with his hundred ydn. 

To be my vvardc-cors, as he can best. 

In feith, he shal nat kepe nic but me lest; 

Yet coudc 1 make his herd, so moot I thee. 

CitAt c tR; Wife of Bath's Prologue, 358. 

I told him to his beard. 1 told him to his face, 
regardless of consequences; 1 spoke to him 
openlv and fearlessly. 

Maugre his beard. In spite of him. 

“*Tis merry in hall when beards wag all” — 

i.e. when feasting goes on. 

Then was the minstrel’s harp with rapture heard; 

The song of ancient days gave huge delight; 

With pleasure too did wag the minstrel’s beard, 

For Plenty courted him to drink and bite. 

Peter Pindar: Elegy to Scotland. 



Beard 


85 


Beat 


To laugh at a man's beard. To attempt to 
make a fool of him — to deceive by ridiculous 
exaggeration. 

“By the prophet! but he laughs at our beards,” 
exclaimed the Pacha angrily. ‘‘These are foolish 
lies.” — M arry at: Pacha of Many Tales. 

To laugh in one’s beard. To laugh up one’s 
sleeve, that is, surreptitiously. 

To lie in one’s beard. To accuse someone 
of so doing is to stress the severity of the 
accusation (Elizabethan). 

To run in one’s beard. To offer opposition 
to a person; to do something obnoxious to a 
person before his face. 

With the beard on the shoulder. (Sp.). In 
the attitude of listening to overhear something; 
with circumspection, looking in all directions 
for surprises and ambuscades. 

They rode, as the Spanish proverb expresses it 
“with the beard on the shoulder,” looking round 
from time to time, and using every precaution . . . 
against pursuit. — Scott: Peveril of the Peak , ch. vii. 

Tax upon beards. Peter the Great imposed 
a tax upon beards. Every one above the 
lowest class had to pay 100 roubles, and the 
lowest class had to pay a copeck, for enjoying 
this “luxury.” Clerks were stationed at the 
gates of every town to collect the beard tax. 

Bearded Master (A f agister barbatus ). So 
Persius styled Socrates, under the notion that 
the beard is the symbol of wisdom. 

The bearded. A surname or nickname 
(Pogonatus) given to Constantine IV. Emperor 
of the East, 668-85; also to Baldwin IV, Count 
of Flanders, 988-1036, Geoffrey the Crusader, 
Bouchard of the house of Montmorency, and 
St. Paula. See Bearded Women. 

Bearded women. St. Paula the Bearded, a 
Spanish saint of uncertain date of whom it is 
said that when being pursued by a man she 
fled to a crucifix and at once a beard and 
moustache appeared on her face, thus dis- 
guising her and saving her from her would-be 
ravisher. A somewhat similar story is told of 
St. Wilgefortis, a mythical saint supposed to 
have been one of seven daughters born at a 
birth to a king of Portugal; also of the English 
saint, St. Uncumbcr. 

Many bearded women are recorded in 
history; among them may be mentioned: — 

Bartel Grictie, of Stuttgart, born 1562. 

Charles XII had in his army a woman whose 
beard was a yard and a half long. She was 
taken prisoner at the battle of Pullawa, and 
presented to the Czar, 1724. 

Mile Bois de Chcne, born at Geneva in 
1834, and exhibited in London in 1852-3; 
she had a profuse head of hair, a strong black 
beard, large whiskers, and thick hair on her 
arms and back. 

Julia Pastrana, found among the Digger 
Indians of Mexico, was exhibited in London in 
1857; died, 1862, at Moscow'; was embalmed 
by Professor SuckalolT; and the embalmed 
body was exhibited in London. 

Bearings. I’ll bring him to his bearings. PH 
bring him to his senses, put him on the right 
track. Bearings is a term in navigation 
signifying the direction in which an object is 


seen. Thus to keep one’s bearings is to keep 
on the right course, in the right direction. 

To lose one’s bearings. To become be- 
wildered; to get perplexed as to which is the 
right road. 

To take the bearings. To ascertain the 
relative position of some object. 

Bearnais, Le. Henry IV of France (1553-1610); 
so called from Le Bearn , his native province. 

Beast. The Number of the Beast. See 
Number. 

Beast of Belsen. In World War II the name 
applied to Joseph Kramer, commandant of the 
notorious Belsen Concentration Camp. 

Beasts of heraldry. In English heraldry all 
manner of creatures have been borne as 
charges or as crests, the principal being the 
lion, bear, bull, boar, cat, swallow’ (called a 
martlet), pelican, unicorn, stag. The attitude 
or position of the animals is described as 
follows: couchant , squatting, with head erect; 
dormant , lying down asleep; passant , walking, 
with one paw raised; passant guardant , walking 
but looking at the spectator; rampant , on its 
hind legs: rampant combat tant^ two beasts 
rampant facing one another; rampant endorsed , 
two beasts rampant back to back. A beast 
can be proper , which is emblazoned in some 
colour similar to its natural colour; naissant, 
showing its upper half as though it were 
emerging from the womb; erased , showing its 
head and shoulders only. 

Beat (O.E. beat an). The first sense of the word 
was that of striking; that of overcoming or 
defeating followed on as a natural extension. 
A track, line, or appointed range. A walk 
often trodden or beaten by the feet, as a 
policeman’s beat. The word means a beaten 
path. 

Not in my beat. Not in my line; not in the 
range of my talents or inclination. 

Off his beat. Not on duty; not in his 
appointed walk; not his speciality or line. 

Off his own beat his opinions were of no value. 

EMtRSON: English Traits , ch. i. 

On his beat. In his appointed walk; on 
duty. 

Out of his beat. In his wrong walk; out of 
his proper sphere. 

Dead beat. So completely beaten or 
w orsted as to have no leg to stand on. Like a 
dead man with no fight left in him; quite tired 
out. 

Dead heat escapement (of a watch). One in 
w hich there is no reverse motion of the escape- 
wheel. 

That beats Banagher. See Banagher; Ter- 
magant. 

To beat about. A nautical phrase, meaning 
to tack against the wind. 

To beat about the bush. To approach a 
matter cautiously or in a roundabout way; 
to shilly-shally; perhaps because one goes 
carefully when beating a bush to find if any 
game is lurking within. 



Beat 


86 


Beau trap 


To beat an alarm. To give notice of danger 
by beat of drum. 

To beat a retreat (Fr. battre en retraite ); 
to beat to arms ; to beat a charge. Military 
terms similar to the above. 

To beat down. To make a seller abate his 
price. 

To beat or drum a thing into one. To repeat 
as a drummer repeats his strokes on a drum. 

To beat hollow, or to a mummy, a frazzle, to 
ribbons, a jelly, etc. To beat w holly, utterly, 
completely. 

To beat the air. To strike out at nothing, 
merely to bring one's muscles into play, as 
pugilists do before they begin to light; to toil 
without profit; to work to no purpose. 

So fight I, not as one that beateth the air. — 1 Cor. 
ix, 26. 

To beat the booby. See Booby. 

To beat the bounds. See Bounds. 

To beat the bush. To allow another to profit 
by one’s exertions: “one beat the bush and 
another caught the hare.” “Other men 
laboured, and ye are entered into their labours” 
(John iv, 38). The allusion is to beaters, whose 
business it is to beat the bushes and start the 
game for a shooting party. 

To beat the devil’s tattoo. See Tattoo. 

To beat the Dutch. To draw a very long 
bow; to say something very incredible. To 
beat the band means the same thing. 

To beat time. To mark time in music by 
beating or moving the hands, feet, or a baton. 

To beat up against the wind. To tack against 
an adverse wind; to get the better of the wind. 

To beat up someone’s quarters. To hunt 
out where he lives; to visit without ceremony. 
A military term, signifying to make an un- 
expected attack on an enemy in camp. 

To beat up the quarters of some of our less-known 
relations. — Lamb: Essays of Elia. 

To beat up recruits or supporters. To hunt 
them up or call them together, as soldiers arc 
summoned by beat of drum. 

To beat one with his own staff. To confute 
him by his own words. An argument urn ad 
hominem. 

Can High Church bigotry go farther than this? 
And how well have I since been beaten with mine 
own statr. — J. Wesley. [He refers to his excluding 
Bolzius from Communion because he had not been 
canonically baptized.] 

Bead Possidentes (be a' tl pos i den' tcz). Bles- 
sed are those who have (for they shall receive). 
“Possession is nine points of the law.” 

Beatific Vision. The sight of God, or of 
the blessed in the realms of heaven, especially 
that granted to the soul at the instant of death. 
See Is. vi, 1-4, and Acts vii, 55, 56. 

Beatification (be &t i fi ka' shim). In the R.C. 
Church this is a solemn act by which a de- 
ceased person is formally declared by the Pope 
to be one of the blessed departed and therefore 
a proper subject for a mass and office in his 
honour, generally with some local restriction. 
Beatification is usually, though not necessarily, 
a step to canonization. 


Beatitude (bS at' i tad). In theology this 
is the perfect good which completely satisfies 
all desire. 

The Beatitudes are the eight blessings pro- 
nounced by Our Lord at the opening of the 
Sermon on the Mount (Matt, v, 3-11). 

Beatnik. A “beat” person, one who lives a 
beat life. The term is akin to hipster (Ameri- 
can slang). Socially, politically, intellectually, 
and artistically the beatnik stands apart, and is 
an angry young man or woman, ultra-bohe- 
mian, flouting all or most of the usual con- 
ventions and values. Beatniks are often 
recognizable by their unconventional dress, 
and the women are sometimes barefooted. 
The term may derive from the “beat genera- 
tion” (meaning dissatisfied young people) and 
a Russian suffix (nik, as in sputnik). 

Beatrice. Celebrated by Dante in the Vita 
Nuova and the Divina Commedia, this girl was 
born 1266 and died in 1290, under twenty-four 
years old. She was a native of Florence, of the 
Portinari family, and married Simone de’ Bardi 
in 1287. Dante married Gemma Donati 
about two years after Beatrice’s death. 

Beau (bo). The French word, which means 
“line,” or “beautiful,” has, in England, often 
been prefixed to the name of a man of fashion, 
or a fop as an epithet of distinction. The 
following are well known: — 

Beau Brummel. George Bryan Brummcl 
(1778-1840). 

Beau D’Orsay. Count D’Orsay (1801-52), 
called by Byron Jeunc Cupidon. 

Beau Feilding. Robert Feilding (d. 1712). 
called “Handsome Feilding” by Charles N. 
He died in Scotland Yard, London, after 
having been convicted of bigamously marrying 
the Duchess of Cleveland, a former mistress 
of Charles II. He figures as Orlando in 
Steele’s Taller (Nos. 50 and 51). 

Beau Hewitt. The model for “Sir Fopling 
Flutter,” hero of Fthercdgc’s Man of Mode. 

Beau Nash. Richard Nash (1674-1762). 
Son of a Welsh gentleman, a notorious diner- 
out. He undertook the management of the 
rooms at Bath, and conducted the public balls 
with a splendour and decorum never before 
witnessed. 

Beau Didapper, in Fielding’s Joseph 
Andrews , and Beau Tibbs, noted for his finery, 
vanity, and poverty in Goldsmith’s Citizen of 
the World , may also be mentioned. 

In America the word beau is applied to a 
girl’s favourite admirer, or lover 

Beau ideal. Properly, the ideal Beautiful, 
the abstract idea of beauty, ideal , in the French, 
being the adjective, and beau, the substantive: 
but in English the parts played by the words 
are usually transposed, and thus have come to 
mean the ideal type or model of anything in its 
most consummate perfection. 

Beau monde. The fashionable world; people 
who make up the coterie of fashion. 

Beau trap. An old slang expression for a 
loose paving-stone under which water lodged, 
and which squirted up filth when trodden on, 
to the annoyance of the smartly dressed. 




Beauclerc 


87 


Bed 


Beauclerc (bo' kldrk) (good scholar). Applied 
to Henry I (1068-1135), who had clerk-like 
accomplishments, very rare in the times in 
which he lived. 

Beaumontague or Beaumontage. Material 
used for filling in accidental holes in wood- or 
metal-work, repairing cracks, disguising bad 
joinery, etc. Said to be so called from the 
celebrated French geologist, Elie de Beaumont 
(1798-1874), who also gave his name to 
beaumonlite, a silicate of copper. 

Beauscant (bo sa' on). The battle-cry of the 
Knights Templar. See Templars. 

Beautiful Parricide. Beatrice Cenci, daughter 
of Francesco Cenci, a dissipated and passion- 
ate Roman nobleman. With her brothers, she 
plotted the death of her father because of his 
unmitigated cruelty to his wife and children. 
She was executed in 1599, and at the trial her 
counsel, with the view of still further gaining 
popular sympathy for his client, accused the 
father, probably without foundation, of having 
attempted to commit incest with her. Her 
story has been a favourite theme in poetry and 
art; Shelley’s tragedy The Cenci is particularly 
noteworthy. 

Beauty. Beauty is but skin deep. 

O formose puer, nimium ne crede colori. 

Virgil: Eclogues, ii. 

(O my pretty boy, trust not too muen to your 
rretty looks.) 

Beauty and the Beast. The hero and 
heroine of the well-known fairy tale in which 
Beauty saved the life of her father by consent- 
ing to live with the Beast; and the Beast, being 
disenchanted by Beauty’s love, became a 
handsome prince, and married her. 

The story is found in Straparola’s Piacevoli 
Notti (1550), and it is from this collection that 
Mme le Prince de Beaumont probably ob- 
tained it when it became popular through her 
French version (1757). It is the basis of 
Gretry’s opera Zernire et Azor (1771). 

The story of a handsome and wealthy prince 
being compelled by enchantment to assume the 
appearance and character of a loathsome beast 
or formidable dragon until released by the pure 
love of one w'ho does not suspect the disguise, 
is of great antiquity and takes various forms. 
Sometimes, as in the story of Lamia, and the 
old ballads Kempion and The Laidley Worm of 
Spindlestonche ugh , it is the woman — the 
“ Loathly Lady ” of the romances — who is 
enchanted into the form of a serpent and is 
only released by the kiss of a true knight. 

Beauty of Buttermere. Mary Robinson, 
married in 1802 to John Hatfield (c. 1758- 
1803), a heartless impostor, and already a 
bigamist, who was executed for forgery at 
Carlisle in 1803. She was the subject of many 
dramas and stories. 

Wordsworth told her story in The Prelude , 
VII, 231-58. 

Beauty sleep. Sleep taken before midnight. 
Those who habitually go to bed, especially 
during youth, after midnight, are supposed to 
become pale and more or less haggard. 

Beaux Esprits (b& zS sprS) (Fr.). Men of wit 


or genius (singular, Un bel esprit , a wit, a 
genius). 

Beaux yeux (bo zyer 7 ) (Fr.). Beautiful eyes 
or attractive looks. “I will do it for your 
beaux yeux ” (because you are so pretty, or 
because your eyes are so attractive). 

Beaver. The lower and movable part of a 
helmet; so called from Fr. bavidre , which meant 
a child’s bib, to which this part had some 
resemblance. It is not connected with bever 
(q.w), the afternoon draught in the harvest- 
field. 

Hamlet: Then you saw not his face? 

Horatio: O yes, my lord: he wore his beaver up. 

Shakespeare: Hamlet , I, ii. 

Beaver is also an old name for a man’s hat; 
because they used to be made of beaver fur. 
For some years in the 1920s the word was 
applied to anyone wearing a beard. 

Beavers or Bevers. Refreshments of bread 
and beer served in the afternoon, answering to 
the modern 5 o’clock tea. It is still a rural 
term for afternoon ‘’elevenses.” 

Bed. The great bed of Ware. A bed eleven 
feet square, and capable of holding twelve 
persons. It dates from the last quarter of the 
16th century. In 1931 it came into the 
possession of the Victoria and Albert Museum. 

Although the sheet were big enough for the bed of 
Ware in England. -SHAKi SPtARt : Twelfth Night, III, ii. 

As you make your bed you must lie on it. 
Everyone must bear the consequences of his 
own acts. 

To bed out. To plant what are called 
“bedding-out plants” in a flower-bed. Bed- 
ding-out plants are reared in pots, generally in 
a hothouse, and are transferred into garden- 
beds early in the summer. Such plants as 
geraniums, marguerites, fuchsias, pentstemons, 
petunias, verbenas, lobelias, calceolarias, etc., 
are meant. 

To make the bed. To arrange it and make it 
fit for use. In America this sense of “make” 
is more common than it is in Britain. “Your 
room is made.” arranged in due order. 

You got out of bed the wrong way, or with the 
left leg foremost. Said of a person who is 
moody and ill-tempered. It was an ancient 
superstition that it was unlucky to set the left 
foot on the ground first on getting out of bed. 
The same superstition applies to putting on 
the left shoe first, a “fancy” not yet wholly 
exploded. Augustus Oesar was very super- 
stitious in this respect. 

Bed of justice. See Lit. 

A bed of roses. A situation of ease and 
pleasure. 

A bed of thorns. A situation of great anxiety 
and apprehension. 

In the twinkling of a bed-post or bed-staff. 
As quickly as possible. In old bed-frames it is 
said that posts were placed in brackets at the 
two sides of the bedstead for keeping the bed- 
clothes from rolling off; there was also in 
some cases a staff used to beat the bed 
and clean it. In the reign of Edward I, Sir 
John Chichester had a mock skirmish with his 



Bedchamber 


8 $ 


Bee 


servant (Sir John with his rapier and the 
servant with the bed-staff), in which the servant 
was accidentally killed. Wright, in his 
Domestic Manners , shows us a chambermaid 
of the 17th century using a bed-staff to beat up 
the bedding. ‘Twinkling” is from O.E. 
twinclian, a frequentative verb connected with 
twiccan, to twitch, and connotes rapid or 
tremulous movement. 

I'll do it instantly, in the twinkling of a bed-staff. 

Shadwell: Virtuoso , I, i (1676). 

The phrase is probably due to the older and 
more readily understandable one, in the 
twinkling of an eye, in the smallest thinkable 
fraction of time: — 

We shall all be changed in a moment, in the 
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. — 1 Cor . 
xv, 51, 52. 

Bedchamber Question. In May, 1839, Lord 
Melbourne’s Whig ministry resigned, and when 
Sir Robert Peel formed a government he 
intimated to Queen Victoria that he would 
expect the Whig ladies of the bedchamber to be 
replaced by Tories. The Queen refused to 
accede to this request, and persisting in her 
refusal, called Lord Melbourne to her aid. A 
new Whig ministry was formed, which lasted 
until 1841, by which time the Prince Consort 
was able to smooth over the difficulty when a 
Tory government was formed. 

Bedel, or Bedell (be' del). Old forms of the 
word beadle (q.v.), still used at Oxford and 
Cambridge in place of the modern spelling for 
the officer who carries the mace before the Vice- 
Chancellor and performs a few other duties. 
At Oxford there are four, called bedels ; at 
Cambridge there are two, called bedells , or 
esquire-bedells. 

Beder (be' der). A village between Medina 
and Mecca famous for the first victory gained 
by Mohammed over the Koreshites (624 a.d.). 
In the battle he is said to have been assisted by 
3,000 angels, led by Gabriel, mounted on his 
horse Haizum. 

Bedesman. See Beadsman. 

Bedford Level. The large tract of marshy 
land about 60 miles in breadth and 40 in 
length which lies in the counties of Norfolk, 
Suffolk, Cambridge, Huntingdonshire, North- 
amptonshire, and Lincolnshire, and includes 
the Isle of Ely and the whole of the Fen district. 
So called from Francis, 4th Earl of Bedford, 
who undertook the draining of the Fens in 1 634. 

Bedford Book of Hours. An illuminated 
manuscript of extraordinary beauty made for 
John, Duke of Bedford, second son of King 
Henry IV, whose wife presented it to King 
Henry VI at Christmas, 1430. it is now in the 
British Museum. 

Bedivere, or Bedver. In the Arthurian ro- 
mances, a knight of the Round Table, butler 
and staunch adherent of King Arthur. It was 
he who, at the request of the dying king, threw 
Excalibur into the Lake, and afterwards bore 
his body to the ladies in the barge which was 
to take him to Avalon. 

Bedlam. A lunatic asylum or madhouse; a 
contraction for Bethlehem , the name of a 
religious house in London, converted into a 


hospital for lunatics. St. Mary of Bethlehem 
was the first English and the second European 
lunatic asylum. Founded in Bishopsgate, 
London, in 1247, it became a madhouse in 
1403. In 1676 it was transferred to Moor- 
fields, near where Liverpool-St. Station now 
stands, and was one of the sights of London, 
where, for twopence, anyone might wander 
in and gaze at the poor distracted wretches 
behind their bars and bait them with foolish 
and cruel questions. It was a holiday resort 
and place for assignations, one of the dis- 
graces of 17th-century London. 

All that I can say of Bedlam is this; ’tis an alms- 
house for madmen, a showing room for harlots, a 
sure market for lechers, a dry walk for loiterers. 

Ward’s London Spy (1698). 

In 1815 Bedlam was moved to St. George’s 
Fields, Lambeth, and in 1926 to the country, 
near Beckenham, Kent. 

Bedlamite. A madman, a fool, an inhabi- 
tant of Bedlam. See Abram-man. 

Bedlam, Tom o’. See Tom. 

Bednall Green. See Beggar’s Daughter. 

Bedouins (bed' ou inz). French (and thence 
English) form of an Arabic word meaning “a 
dweller in the desert,” given indiscriminately 
by Europeans to the nomadic tribes of Arabia 
and Syria, and applied in journalistic jargon to 
gipsies, or the homeless poor of the streets. 
In this use it is merely a further extension of 
the term “street Arab,” which means the same 
thing. 

Bed-rock. American slang for one’s last 
shilling. A miner’s term for the hard basis 
rock which is reached when the mine is 
exhausted. “I’m come down to the bed- 
rock,” i.e. my last dollar. 

Bedroll (western U.S.A.). A tarpaulin in 
which a cowboy keeps his blankets and pos- 
sessions. Once he has thrown it on to the 
cook's chuck-wagon he owes complete 
allegiance to the outfit. 

Bee. Legend has it that Jupiter was nourished 
by bees in infancy, and Pindar is said to have 
been nourished by bees with honey instead of 
milk. 

The Greeks consecrated bees to the moon. 
With the Romans a flight of bees was con- 
sidered a bad omen. Appian (Civil War , Bk. 
II) says a swarm of bees lighted on the altar and 
prognosticated the fatal issue of the battle of 
Pharsalia. 

The coins of Ephesus had a bee on the 
reverse. 

When Plato was an infant, bees settled on 
his lips when he was asleep, indicating that he 
would become famous for his honeyed words. 

And as when Plato did i’ the cradle thrive. 

Bees to his lips brought honey from their hive. 

W. Browne: Britannia's Pastorals, If. 

The same story is told of Sophocles, Pindar, 
St. Chrysostom, and others, including St. 
Ambrose, who is represented with a beehive. 

The Bee was the emblem of Napoleon I. 

The name bee is given, particularly in 
America, to a social gathering for some useful 
work, the allusion being to the social and 
industrious character of bees. The name of 
the object of the gathering generally precedes 




Bee 


89 


Befana 


the word, as a spelling-bee (for a competition 
in spelling), apple-bees , husking-bees , etc. It 
is an old Devonshire custom, carried across the 
Atlantic in Stuart times, but the name appears 
to have originated in America. 

See also Animals in Symbolism. 

The Athenian Bee. See Athenian. 

Bee-line. The shortest distance between two 
given points; such as a bee is supposed to take 
in making for its hive. Air-line is another 
term for the same thing. 

To have your head full of bees, or to have a 
bee in your bonnet. To be cranky; to have an 
idiosyncrasy; to be full of devices, crotchets, 
fancies, inventions, and dreamy theories. The 
connexion between bees and the soul was once 
generally maintained: hence Mohammed 
admits bees to Paradise. Porphyry says of 
fountains, “they are adapted to the numpns, or 
those souls which the ancient called bees.” Cp . 
Maggot. 

Beef. This word, from the O.Fr. boef (mod. 
Fr. bceuf ), an ox, is, like mutton (Fr. mouton ), 
a reminder of the time when, in the years 
following the Norman Conquest, the Saxon 
was the down-trodden servant of the con- 
querors: the Normans had the cooked meat, 
and when set before them used the word they 
were accustomed to; the Saxon was the herds- 
man, and while the beast was under his charge 
called it by its Saxon name. 

Beefeaters. The popular name of the Yeo- 
men of the Guard in the royal household, 
appointed, in 1485, by Henry VII, to form part 
of the royal train at banquets and on other 
grand occasions; also of the Yeomen Extra- 
ordinary of the Guard, who were appointed as 
Warders of the Tower of London by Edward 
VI, and wear the same Tudor-period costume 
as the Yeomen of the Guard themselves. 

That “eater” was formerly used as a 
synonym for “servant” is clear, not only from 
the fact that the O.E. hldf-cvta (literally, “loaf- 
eater”) meant “a menial servant,” but also 
from the passage in Ben Jonson’s Silent 
Woman III, ii, (1609) where Morose, calling for 
his servants, shouts. 

Bar my doors! bar my doors! Where are all my 
eaters? My mouths, now? Bar up my doors, you 
varlcts! 

Sir S. D. Scott, in his The British Army 
(I, 513), quotes an early use of the w'ord from 
a letter of Prince Rupert's dated 1645, and 
shows (p. 517) that the large daily allowance of 
beef provided for their table makes the words 
in their literal meaning quite appropriate. 

There is plenty of evidence to show that in 
the 17th century there was little doubt of the 
meaning of the word: e.g. Cartwright’s The 
Ordinary , II, i (1651): — 

Those goodly Juments of the guard would fight 

(As they eat beef) ufter six stone a day. 

The popular name was first specifically 
applied to the Yeomen of the Guard probably 
about the middle of the 17th century. 

Beef-steak Club. The present Beef-steak Club 
dates from 1876 , but the original club of this 
name was founded about 1 707 . Its badge was 
a gridiron, and it was said to comprise “the 


chief wits and great men of the nation.” In 
1735 the “Sublime Society of the Steaks,” 
which has sometimes been confused with this, 
but which scorned to be called a club, was 
inaugurated through a chance dinner taken by 
Lord Peterborough in the scene-room of Rich, 
over Covent Garden Theatre. His lordship 
was so delighted with the steak provided and 
cooked by the actor that he proposed to 
repeat the entertainment every Saturday. The 
“Sublime Society,” which was then founded, 
continued to meet at Covent Garden till the 
fire of 1808, and, after various vicissitudes, 
was finally dissolved in 1867. The original 
gridiron on which Rich broiled the peer’s 
steak is still in existence. 

Beelzebub. The name should be spelt 
Beelzebul (or, rather, Baalzebul , see Baal), and 
means “lord of the high house”; but, as this 
title was ambiguous and might have been 
taken as referring to Solomon’s Temple, the 
late Jews changed it to Beelzebub , which has 
the meaning “lord of flies.” Beelzebub was 
the particular Baal worshipped originally in 
Ekron and afterwards far and wide in Palestine 
and the adjacent countries. To the Jews he 
came to be the chief representative of the false 
gods, and he took an important place in their 
hierarchy of demons. He is referred to in 
Matt, xii, 24, as “the prince of the devils,” 
and hence Milton places him next in rank to 
Satan. 

One next himself in power, and next in crime. 

Long after known in Palestine, and named 

Beelzebub. Paradise Lost , I, 79. 

Beer. See Ale. 

He does not think small beer of himself. See 
Small Beer. 

Life is not all beer and skittles, i.e. not all 
eating, drinking, and play; not all pleasure; 
not ait harmony and love. 

Sport like life, and life like sport. 

Isn’t all skittles and beer. 

Beeswing. The second crust, or film, com- 
posed of shining scales of mucilage, which 
forms in good port and some other wines after 
long keeping, and which bears some resem- 
blance to the wdngs of bees. Unlike the 
“crust” which forms on the bottle, it is not 
detrimental if it passes into the decanter at 
decanting. 

Beetle, To. To overhang, to threaten, to jut 
over. The word seems to have been first used 
by Shakespeare: 

Or to the dreadful summit of the din. 

That beetles o’er his base into the sea. 

Hamlet , f, iv. 

It is formed from the adjective, beetle- 
browed, having prominent or shaggy eyebrows; 
and it is not the case, as has sometimes been 
stated, that the adjective was formed from the 
verb. The derivation of beetle in this use is 
not quite certain, but it probably refers to the 
tufted antenme which, in some beetles, stand 
straight out from the head. 

Befana (be fa' na). The good fairy of Italian 
children, who is supposed to fill their stockings 
with toys when they go to bed on Twelfth 
Night. Someone enters the children’s bed- 
room for the purpose, and the wakeful 



Before the Lights 


90 


Behmenists 


youngsters cry out, “ Ecco la Befana 
According to legend, Befana was too busy 
with house alfairs to look after the Magi when 
they went to offer their gifts, and said she 
would wait to see them on their return; but 
they went another way, and Befana, every 
Twelfth Night, watches to see therm The 
name is a corruption of Epip/uinia. 

Before the Lights. See Lights. 

Before the Mast. Sec Mast. 

Beg. A Turkish chief or governor. See Bey. 
Beg the Question, To. To assume a proposi- 
tion which, in reality, involves the conclusion. 
Thus, to say that parallel lines will never meet 
because they are parallel, is simply to assume 
as a fact the very thing you profess to prove. 
The phrase is the common English equivalent 
of the Latin term, petitio prineipii. 

Beggar. A beggar may sing before a pick- 
pocket. Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator 
{Juvenal, x, 22). A beggar may sing in the 
presence of thieves because he has nothing in 
his pocket to lose. 

Beggar of Bednall Green. See Bessee, the 
beggar's daughter, below. 

Beggars cannot be choosers. Beggars must 
take what is given them, and not dictate to the 
giver what they like best. They must accept 
and be thankful. 

Beggars’ barm. The thick foam which 
collects on the surface of ponds, brooks, and 
other pieces of water where the current meets 
stoppage. It looks like barm or yeast, but, 
being unfit for use, is only beggarly barm at 
best. 

Beggars’ bullets. Stones. 

To go by beggar's bush, or Go home by 
beggar’s bush — i.e. to go to ruin. Beggar’s 
bush is the name of a tree which once stood on 
the left hand of the London road from 
Huntingdon to Caxton; so called because it 
was a noted rendezvous for beggars. These 
punning phrases and proverbs are very 
common. 

Beggars of the Sea. See Gueux, Les. 

Bessee, the beggar’s daughter of Bednall 
Green, the heroine of an old ballad given in 
Percy’s Reliques , and introduced by Chcttle 
and Day into their play The Blind Beggar of 
Bednal Green (1600). Sheridan Knowles also 
has a play on the story (1834). Bessee was 
very beautiful, and was courted by four 
suitor^ at once — a knight, a gentleman of 
fortune, a London merchant, and the son of 
the innkeeper at Romford. She told them 
that they must obtain the consent of her father, 
the poor blind beggar of Bethnal Green. 
When they heard that, they all slunk off except 
the knight, who went to ask the beggar’s leave 
to wed the “pretty Bessee.” The beggar gave 
her £3,000 for her dower, and £100 to buy her 
wedding gown. At the wedding feast he 
explained to the guests that he was Henry, son 
and heir of Sir Simon de Montfort. 

Beggar’s Opera. Opera produced in Lon- 
don in 1727 with enormous success. The 
words are by Gay and the music, partly 


traditional ballads and partly contemporary 
“hits,” was arranged by Pepusch. The 
“hero” is a highwayman, MacHeath, and the 
originality lay in composing an opera round 
criminals and Newgate Prison. 

King of the beggars. Bampfylde Moore 
Carew (1693-1770), a famous English vaga- 
bond who was elected King of the Gipsies. 
He fell into the hands of the Law, was trans- 
ported to Maryland but escaped and got back 
to England. He was one of the Young 
Pretender’s troopers in the ’45 and followed 
him to Derby. 

Set a beggar on horseback, and he’ll ride to 
the de’il. There is no one so proud and 
arrogant as a beggar who has suddenly grown 
rich. 

Such is the sad effect of weatth — rank pride — 
Mount but a beggar, how the rogue will ride! 

Peter Pindar: Epistle to Lord Lonsdale. 
The proverb is common to many languages. 

Begging Friars. See Mendicant Orders. 

Bcghards (be gardz). A monastic fraternity 
which rose in the Low Countries in the 12th 
century, so called from Lambert le Bdgue, a 
priest of Li&ge, who also founded a sisterhood. 
They took no vows, and were free to leave the 
society when they liked, in the 17th century, 
those who survived the persecutions of the 
Popesand Inquisition joined the Tcrtiarii of the 
Franciscans. See Beguines. 

Beglerbed. See Bashaw. 

Begorra. An Irish form of the English 
minced oath “begad,” for “By God.” 

Beguine (b6 gen'). A popular Martinique 
and South American dance, or music for this 
dance, in bolero rhythm. This rhythm in- 
spired Cole Porter’s success of the 1930s, 
“Begin the Beguine.” 

Beguines (ba gen). A sisterhood founded in 
the 12th century by Lambert le Begue (sec 
Beghards). The Beguines were at liberty to 
uit the cloister and to marry; they formerly 
ourished in the Low Countries, Germany, 
France, and Italy; and there are still com- 
munities with this name in Belgium. The cap 
called a beguin was named from this sisterhood. 

Begum. A lady, princess, or woman of high 
rank in the Indian sub-continent; the wife of 
a ruler (fern, of Beg , sec Bey). 

Behemoth (be he' moth). The animal de- 
scribed under this name in Job xl, 15 et seq., 
is thought by modern scholars to refer prob- 
ably to the hippopotamus, the greatest of land 
animals. The English poet Thomson, ap- 
parently took it to be the rhinoceros: 

Behold! in plaited mail, 

Behemoth rears his head. 

The Seasons: Summer , 709. 
The word is sometimes pronounced 
Be' hemoth; but Milton, like Thomson, places 
the accent on the second syllable. 

Scarce from his mold 

Behemoth, biggest born of earth, upheaved 
His vastness. 

Paradise Lou , VII, 471. 

Behmenists (ba' men ists). A sect of theoso- 
phical mystics, so called from Jacob Behmen, 



Behratn 


91 


Bell 


or Bohme (1 575-1624), their founder. The 
first Behmenist sect in England was founded 
under the name of Philadelphists by a certain 
Jane Leade, in 1697. 

Bchram (ba' ram). The most holy kind of fire, 
according to Parseeism (q.v.). See also 
Guebres. 

Bejan (be'jan). A freshman or greenhorn. 
This term was introduced into some of the 
Scottish Universities from the University of 
Paris, and is a corruption of Fr. bee jaune , 
yellow beak, with allusion to a nestling or un- 
fledged bird. At Aberdeen a woman student 
is called a banjanella or bejanella. 

In France bejaune is still the name for the 
repast that the freshman is supposed to provide 
for his new companions. 

Bel. The name of two Assyrio- Babylonian 
gods; it is the same word as Baal (q.v,). The 
story of Bel and the Dragon, in which we are 
told how Daniel convinced the king that Bel 
was not an actual living deity but only an 
image, was formerly part of the Book of 
Daniel , but is now relegated to the Apocrypha. 

Bel Esprit (bel es pre) (Fr.). Literally, fine 
mind, means, in English, a vivacious wit; one 
of quick and lively parts, ready at repartee (pi. 
beaux e sprits). 

Belch, Sir Toby. A reckless, roistering, jolly 
fellow: from the knight of that name in 
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. 

Belcher. A pocket-handkerchief — properly, 
one with white spots on a blue ground; so 
called from Jim Belcher (1781-1811), the 
pugilist, w'ho adopted it. The Belcher ring 
was a massive gold affair, sometimes set with 
a precious stone. 

Beldam. An old woman. This is not from 
the French belle dame , but from English dam , 
a mother, and bel-, a prefix expressing 
relationship as does grand - in grandmother , 
etc. Belfather is an old term for grandfather. 
Old men and beldames in the streets 
Do prophesy upon it dangerously. 

Shakespeare: King John , IV, ii. 

Belfast Regiment, The. See Regimental 
Nicknames. 

Bel-fires. See Beltane. 

Belfry. A military tower, pushed by besiegers 
against the wall of a besieged city, that missiles 
may be thrown more easily against the de- 
fenders. (From O.Fr. berfrei , berfroi , Mid. 
High Ger. Bercfrit — Berc, shelter, Fride , 
peace — a protecting tower.) A church steepte 
is called a belfry from its resemblance to these 
towers, and not because bells are hung in it. 

Belial (be' li &1) (Hcb.L The worthless or 
lawless one, i.e. the devil. 

What concord hath Christ with Belial? 

II Cor. vi, 15. 

Milton, in his pandemonium, makes him 
a very high and distinguished prince of dark- 
ness. 

Belial came last — than whom n spirit more lewd 
Fell not from heaven, or more gross to love 
Vice for itself. 

Paradise Lost, I, 490. 

B.D. — 4 


Sons of Belial. Lawless, worthless, rebel- 
lious people. 

Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial. 

I Sam. ii, 12. 

Belisarius (bel i sar' i us). Belisarius begging 
for an obolus. Belisarius (d. 565), the greatest 
of Justinian’s generals, being accused of con- 
spiring against the life of the emperor, was 
deprived of all his property. The tale is that 
his eyes were put out, and that when living as a 
beggar in Constantinople he fastened a bag 
to his roadside hut, with the inscription, 
“Give an obolus to poor old Belisarius.” 
This tradition is of no historic value. 

Belit. See Asshur. 

Bell, Acton, Currer, and Ellis. These were the 
names under which Anne, Charlotte, and 
Emily Bronte wrote their novels. 

Bell. As the bell clinks, so the fool thinks, 
or, As the fool thinks, so the bell clinks. The 
tale says when Whittington ran away from his 
master, and had got as far as Highgate Hill, 
he was hungry, tired, and wished to return. 
Bow Bells began to ring, and Whittington 
fancied they said, “Turn again, Whittington, 
Lord Mayor of London.” The bells clinked 
in response to the boy’s thoughts. 

At three bells, at five bells, etc. A term on 
board ship with much the same meaning as our 
expression o'clock. Five out of the seven 
watches last four hours, and each half-hour is 
marked by a bell, which gives a number of 
strokes corresponding to the number of half- 
hours passed. Thus, “three bells” denotes 
the third half-hour of the watch, “five bells” 
the fifth half-hour of the watch, and so on. 
The two short watches, which last only two 
hours each, are from four to six and six to 
eight in the afternoon. “Eight bells” is rung 
at noon, four, and eight o'clock, and is the 
signal for the beginning of a new watch. See 
Watch. 

Bell, book, and candle. The popular phrase 
for ceremonial excommunication in the Roman 
Catholic Church. After pronouncing sen- 
tence the officiating ecclesiastic closes his 
book, quenches the candle by throwing it to 
the ground, and tolls the bell as for one who 
has died. The book symbolizes the book of 
life, the candle that the soul is removed from 
the sight of God as the candle from the sight 
of men. 

Hence, in spite of bell, book, and candle, 
signifies in spite of all the opposition which 
even the Christian hierarchy can offer. 

Give her the bells and let her fly. Don't 
throw good money after bad; make the best of 
the matter, but do not attempt to bolster it up. 
The metaphor is from falconry; w'hen a hawk 
was worthless the bird was suffered to escape, 
even at the expense of the bells attached to her. 

I’ll not hang all my bells on one horse. I’ll 
not leave all my property to one son. The 
allusion is manifest. 

Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and 
harsh ( Hamlet , III, i). A metaphor for a 
deranged mind, such as that of Ophelia, or of 
Don Quixote. 



Beil 


92 


Belle 


Passing bell. The hallowed bell which used 
to be rung when persons were in extremis , to 
scare away evil spirits which were supposed to 
lurk about the dying ready to pounce on the 
soul while passing from the body. It is a very 
ancient custom, and the Athenians used to 
beat on brazen kettles at the moment of a 
decease to scare away the Furies. A secon- 
dary object was to announce to the neigh- 
bourhood the fact that all good Christians 
might offer up a prayer for the safe passage of 
the soul into Paradise. The bell rung at a 
funeral is sometimes improperly called the 
“passing bell.” 

The Koran says that bells hang on the trees 
of Paradise, and are set in motion by wind 
from the throne of God, as often as the 
blessed wish for music. 

Ringing the hallowed bell. Consecrated 
bells were believed to be able to disperse 
storms and pestilence, drive away devils (see 
Passing Bell, above), and extinguish fire. In 
France in quite recent times it was by no 
means unusual to ring church bells to ward off 
the effects of lightning, and as lately as 1852 it 
is said that the Bishop of Malta ordered the 
church bells to be rung for an hour to “lay 
a gale of wind.” 

Funera plango, fulgura frango, sabbata pango, 

Excito lentos, dissipo ventos, paco cruentos. 

A Helpe to Discourse (1668). 
(Death’s tale I tell, the winds dispel, ill-feeling quell. 

The slothful shake, the storm-clouds break, the 

Sabbath wake.) 

The legend on the Munster bell, cast at 
Basle in 1486, known as Schiller’s bell because 
it furnished him with the idea for his Lied von 
der Glocke , reads: 

Vivos * Voco * Mortuos * Plango * Fulgura * Frango. 

Ringing the bells backwards, is ringing a 
muffled peal. Backwards is often used to 
denote “in a reverse manner,” as, “I hear you 
are grown rich ” “Yes, backwards,” mean- 

ing “quite the reverse.” A muffled peal is a 
peal of sorrow, not of joy, and was formerly 
sometimes employed as a tocsin, or notice of 
danger. 

Sound as a bell. Quite sound. A cracked 
bell is useless. 

Tolling the bell for church. The “ church- 
going bell,” as Cowper called it ( Alexander 
Selkirk) was in pre-Reformation days rung, 
not as an invitation to church, but as an Ave 
Bell, to invite worshippers to a preparatory 
prayer to the Virgin. 

To bear or carry away the bell. To be first 
fiddle; to carry off the palm; to be the best. 
The leader of the flock, the “bellwether,” bore 
the bell; hence the phrase; but it has been 
confused with an old custom of presenting to 
winners of horse-races, etc., a little gold or 
silver bell as a prize. 

Jockey and his horse were by their masters sent 

To put in for the bell. . . . 

They arc to run and cannot miss the bell. 

North: Forest of Varieties, 

Warwick shakes his bells. Beware of 
danger, for Warwick is in the field. Trojans 
beware, Achilles has donned his armour. A 


metaphor from falconry, the bells being those 
of a hawk. 

Neither the king, nor he that loves him best. 
Dares stir a w ing, if Warwick shakes the bells. 

Shaklspeare: Henry VI, Pt. Ill , I , i. 

Who is to bell the cat? Who will risk his 
own life to save his neighbour’s? Anyone who 
encounters great personal hazard for the sake 
of others undertakes*to “bell the cat.” The 
allusion is to the fable of the cunning old 
mouse (given in Piers Plowman and elsewhere), 
who suggested that they should hang a bell on 
the cat’s neck to give notice to all mice of her 
approach. “Excellent,” said a wise young 
mouse, “but who is to undertake the job?” 

Bcll-the-Cat. Archibald Douglas, fifth Earl 
of Angus (d. 1514), was so called. James III 
made favourites of architects and masons. 
One mason, named Cochrane, he created Earl 
of Mar. The Scottish nobles held a council in 
the church of Lauder for the purpose of putting 
down these upstarts, when Lord Gray asked, 
“Who will bell the cat?” “That will I,”, 
said Douglas, and he fearlessly put to death, in 
the king's presence, the obnoxious minions. 

Bellman. A town-crier. Before the present 
olice force was established, watchmen or 
ellmen used to parade the streets at night, and 
at Easter a copy of verses was left at the chief 
houses in the hope of obtaining an offering. 
These verses were the relies of the old in- 
cantations sung or said by the bellman to keep 
off elves and hobgoblins. 

Bell-rope. A humorous name for a curl 
worn by a man — a “rope” for the “belles” 
to play with. Cp. Bow-catcher. 

Bell Savage. See La Belle Sauvage. 

Bel I- wavering. Vacillating, swaying from 
side to side like a bell. A man whose mind 
jangles out of tune from delirium, drunkenness, 
or temporary insanity, is said to have his wits 
gone bell-wavering. 

Bellwether of the Hock. A jocose and rather 
deprecatory term applied to the leader of a 
parly. The allusion is to the wether or sheep 
which leads the flock with a bell fastened to 
its neck. 

Belladonna (bel a don' a). The Deadly Night- 
shade. The name is Italian, and means 
“beautiful lady”; it is not certainly known 
why it should have been given to the plant. 
One account says that it is from a practice 
once common among ladies of touching their 
eyes with it to make the pupils large and lus- 
trous; but another has it that it is from its 
having been used by an Italian poisoner, 
named Lcucota, to poison beautiful women. 
It is used today by ophthalmic surgeons in order 
to enlarge the pupil so that they may more 
easily examine the inside of the eye. 

Bellarmine (bel' ar min). A larijc Flemish 
gotch, or stone beer-jug, originally made in 
Flanders in ridicule of Cardinal Bellarmine 
(1542-1621), the great persecutor of the 
Protestants there. It carried a rude likeness 
of the cardinal. Cp. Greybeard. 

Belle (bel) (Fr.). A beauty. The Belle of the 
ball. The most beautiful woman in the room. 




Belle 


93 


Belt 


La belle France. A common French phrase 
applied to France, as “Merrie England* is to 
our own country. 

Belles lettres (bel letr). Polite literature; 
poetry, and standard literary works which are 
not scientific or technical: the study or pursuit 
of such literature. The term — which is French 
— has given birth to Jhe very ugly words 
belle ttr is t and bellettristic. 

Bellerophon (be ler' 6 fon). The Joseph of 
Greek mythology; Antaja, the wife of Prcetus, 
being the “Potiphar’s wife” who tempted 
him, and afterwards falsely accused him. Her 
husband, Prcctus, sent Bellerophon with a 
letter to Iobates, the King of Lycia, his wife’s 
father, recounting the charge, and praying 
that the bearer might be put to death. Iobates, 
unwilling to slay him himself, gave him many 
hazardous tasks (including the killing of the 
Chimaera, q.v.), but as he was successful in all 
of them Iobates made him his heir. Later 
Bellerophon is tabled to have attempted to fly 
to heaven on the winged horse Pegasus, but 
Zeus sent a gadfly to sting the horse, and the 
rider was thrown. 

Bellerophon has frequently been used for the 
name of a ship in the British Navy. The most 
famous took part in the Battle of the Nile, 
Trafalgar, etc., and was the vessel in which 
Napoleon surrendered himself to the British 
and which brought him to England. It was 
corrupted by sailors, etc., to Billy Ruffian,” 
“Bully-rufTran,” “Belly-ruflron,” etc. 

Why, she and the Belly-rufTron seem to have 
pretty well shared and shared alike. — Captain 
Marryat: Poor Jock, eh. xiii. 

Bellerus (be le' rus). The name of a giant in- 
vented by Milton by way of accounting for 
“Bellerium,” the old Roman name for the 
Land’s End district of Cornwall: 

Slecp’st by the fable of Bellerus old. 

Milton: Lyculas, 160. 

Milton had originally written “Corineus” 
{q.v.) t a name already well known in British 
legend. 

Bellona. In Roman mythology, the goddess 
of war and wife (or sometimes sister) of Mars. 
She was probably in origin a Sabine deity. 

Belly. Ilie belly and its members. The fable 
of Menenius Agrippa to the Roman people 
when they seceded to the Sacral Mount : 
“Once on a time the members refused to work 
for the lazy belly; but, as the supply of food 
was thus stopped, they found there was a 
necessary and mutual dependence between 
them.” The fable is given by yEsop and by 
Plutarch, whence Shakespeare introduces it in 
his Coriolanus , I, i. 

The belly has no ears. A hungry man will 
not listen to advice or arguments. The 
Romans had the same proverb. Venter non 
habet aures ; and in French, Ventre affame na 
point d'oreilles. 

Belly-timber. Food. The term is quite an 
old one, and was not originally slang. It is 
used seriously by Massinger and other 
Elizabethan dramatists, and is given by Cot- 
grave (1611) as a translation of the French 


Carrelure de ventre (literally, a resoling, or re- 
furnishing, of the stomach.) 

. . . through deserts vast 
And regions desolate they pass’d 
Where belly-timber above ground 
Or under, was not to be found. 

Butler: Hudibras. 

Belomancy (bel' 6 man si) (Gr.). Divination 
by arrows. Labels being attached to a given 
number of arrows, the archers let them fly, and 
the advice on the label of the arrow which flies 
farthest is accepted and acted on. Sir Thomas 
Browne describes a method of belomancy in 
Pseudodoxia Epidernica , v, 23, and says that 
it — 

hath been in request with Scvthians, Alanes, Ger- 
mans, with the Africans andflprks of Algier. 

Beloved Disciple. St. {John xiii, 23, etc.) 

Beloved Physician. St. Luke. {Col. iv, 14.) 

Belphegor (bel' fe gor). The Assyrian form of 
“ Baal-Peor ” {see Baal), the Moabitish god 
to whom the Israelites became attached in 
Shittim {Numb, xxv, 3). 

The name was given in a mediaeval Latin 
legend to a demon who was sent into the world 
from the infernal regions by his fellows to 
test the truth of certain rumours that had 
reached them concerning the happiness — and 
otherwise — of married life on earth. After a 
thorough trial, the details of which are told 
with great intimacy, he fled in horror and 
dismay to the happy regions where female 
society and companionship was non-existent. 
Hence, the term is applied both to a misan- 
thrope and to a nasty, licentious, obscene 
fellow. 

The story is found in Machiavelli’s works, 
and became very popular. Its first appearance 
in English is in Barnabe Rich’s Farewell to the 
Military Profession (1581); and it either forms 
the main source of, or furnishes incidents to, 
many plays including Grim, the Collier of 
Croydon (1600), Jonson’s The Devil is an /4ss 
(1616), and John Wilson’s Belphegor , or the 
Marriage of the Devil (1691). 

Belphcebe (bel fe' bi). The huntress-goddess 
in Spenser’s Faerie Queene , daughter of 
Chrysogonc and sister of Amorct, typifies 
Queen Elizabeth I as a model of chastity. She 
was of the Diana and Minerva type; cold as an 
icicle, passionless, immovable, and, like a 
moonbeam, light without warmth. 

Belt. To hit below the belt. To strike un- 
fairly. It is prohibited in the Quecnsberry 
rules of prize-fighting to hit below the waist- 
belt. 

To hold the belt. To be the champion. In 
pugilism, a belt usually forms part of the prizs 
in big events, and is typical of the champion- 
ship. 

To belt the grape. American slang meaning 
to drink heavily. 

Belted earl, knight. This refers to the belt 
and spurs with which knights, etc. were in- 
vested when raised to the dignity. In Ameri- 
can usage belted earl is a person who claims 
noble birth. 



Beltane 


94 


Benefice 


Belted Will. Lord William Howard (1563- 
1640), a Border chief, son of the fourth Duke 
of Norfolk, and warden of the western 
marches. He was so called by Scott. To his 
contemporaries he was known as “Bould 
Wullie.” His wife was called “Bessie with 
the braid apron.” 

Beltane (bel' tan). In Scotland, old May- 
day, the beginning of summer; also the festival 
that was held on that day, a survival of the 
ancient heathen festival inaugurating the 
summer, at which the Druids lit two “bel-fires” 
between which the cattle were driven, either 
preparatory to sacrifice or to protect them 
against disease. The word is Gaelic, and 
means literally “the blaze-kindling.” 

Belvedere (bel' ve der). A sort of pleasure- 
house built on an eminence in a garden, from 
which one can survey the surrounding pros- 
pect, or a look-out on the top of a house. 
The word is Italian, and means a fine sight. 

Benares (ben ar' ez). The holy city of the 
Hindus, being to them what Mecca is to the 
Moslems. It was founded about 1200 b.c. 
and was for many years a Buddhist centre, 
being conquered by the Mohammedans in 
1193, It is celebrated for its temples and 
shrines to which pilgrims go from all over India. 

Bench. Originally the same word as Bank, 
it means, properly, a long wooden seat, hence 
the official seat of judges in Court, bishops in 
the House of Lords, aldermen in the council 
chamber, etc.; hence, by extension judges, 
bishops, etc., collectively, the court or place 
where they administer justice or sit officially, 
the dignity of holding such an official status, 
etc. Hence Bench of bishops. The whole 
body of prelates who sit in the House of Lords. 

To be raised to the bench. To be made a 
judge. To be raised to the Episcopal bench. 
To be made a bishop. 

King’s (or Queen’s) Bench. See Quefn’s. 

Bench and Bar. Judges and barristers. 
See Bar; Barrister. 

Benchers. Senior members of the Inns of 
Court. They exercise the functions of calling 
students to the bar (q.v.) and have powers of 
expulsion. 

Bend. In heraldry, an ordinary formed by 
two parallel lines drawn across the shield from 
the dexter chief (i.e. the top left-hand corner 
when looking at the shield) to the sinister 
base point (i.e. the opposite corner). It is 
said to represent the sword-belt. 

Bend sinister. A bend running across the 
shield in the opposite direction, i.e. from right 
to left. It is occasionally an indication of 
bastardy ( cp . Bar Sinister) though more often 
a baton sinister is used ; hence the phrase "he 
has a bend sinister,” he was not born in lawful 
wedlock. 

Beyond my bend, i.e. my means or power. 
The phrase is probably a corruption of beyond 
my bent , but it may be in allusion to a bow or 
spring, which, if strained beyond its bending 
power, breaks. 


Bendcmeer (ben' de mer). A river that flows 
near the ruins of Chilminar or lstachar, in the 
province of Chusistan, in Persia. 

Bender. A sixpenny-piece; perhaps because 
it can be bent without much difficulty. Also 
(in schoolboy slang) a “licking” with the 
cane, the culprit being in a bent position. In 
Scotland it is an old term for a hard drinker, 
and in the United States it is still given to a 
drinking bout. 

Bendigo (ben' di go). The nickname (said to 
be a corruption of “Abednego”) of William 
Thompson (1811-89), a well-known pugilist. 
He left his nickname to a township in Victoria, 
Australia, and also to a rough fur cap. The 
Australian town changed its name to Sand- 
hurst, but subsequently officially reverted to its 
original appellation. 

Bendy, Old. One of the numerous euphemistic 
names of the devil, who is willing to bend to 
anyone’s inclination. 

Benedicite (ben e d Is' i ti). The 2nd pers. pi. 
imperative of the Latin verb, benedicere , 
meaning “bless you,” or “may you be 
blessed.” In the first given sense it is the 
opening word of many old graces (“Bless ye 
the Lord,” etc.); hence, a grace, or a blessing. 

The second sense accounts for its use as 
an interjection or expression of astonishment, 
as in Chaucer's 

The god of love, A benedicite. 

How myghty and how great a lord is he! 

Knight's Tale , 927. 

Benedick. A sworn bachelor caught in the 
snares of matrimony: from Benedick in 
Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing. 

Benedick and Benedict are used indis- 
criminately, but the distinction should be 
observed. 

Benedict. A bachelor, not necessarily one 
pledged to celibacy, but simply a man of 
marriageable age, not married. St. Benedict 
was a most uncompromising stickler for 
celibacy. 

Is it not a pun? There is an old saying, “Needles 
and pins; when a man marries his trouble begins.” 
If so, the unmarried man is benedict us. — IJJe in the 
West (1843). 

Benedictine. A liqueur made at the Benedic- 
tine monastery at Fecamp, France. 

Benedictines. Monks who follow the rule of 
St. Benedict. They recite the Divine Office 
at the canonical hours, and are at other times 
employed in study, teaching or manual labour. 
They are known as the “Black Monks” 
(the Dominicans being the Black Friars). The 
Order was founded by St. Benedict at Subiaco 
and Monte Cassino, Italy, about 530, and its 
members have from the earliest times been 
renowned for their learning. A similar order 
for nuns was founded by St. Scholastica, sister 
of St. Benedict. 

Benefice. Under the Romans certain grants 
of lands made to veteran soldiers were called 
beneficia , and in feudal times an estate held 
for life in return for military or other service 
ex mero beneficio of the donor was called “a 
benefice,'’ When the popes assumed the 



Benefit of Clergy 


95 


Berlin 


power of the feudal lords with reference to 
ecclesiastical patronage the name was re- 
tained for a “living.” 

Benefit of Clergy. Originally, the privilege 
of exemption from trial by a secular court 
enjoyed by the clergy if arrested for felony. In 
time it comprehended not only the ordained 
clergy, but all who, being able to write and 
read, were capable of entering into holy 
orders. It seems to have been based on the 
text, “Touch not mine anointed, and do my 
prophets no harm” (l Chron. xvi, 22), and it 
was finally abolished in the reign of George 
IV (1827). Cp. Neck-verse. 

Benelux. A name for the customs union 
(1947) of Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxem- 
bourg, the first letters of which form this 
convenient portmanteau word. 

Benevolence. A means of raising money by 
forced loans and without the instrumentality 
of Parliament, first resorted to in 1473 by 
Edward IV. It seems to have been used for 
the last time by James I in 1614, but it was not 
declared illegal till the passing of the Bill of 
Rights in 1689. 

Bengal Tigers. The old 1 7th Foot, whose 
badge, a royal tiger, was granted them for 
their services in India (1802-23). Now The 
Royal Leicestershire Regiment and known 
simply as “The Tigers.” 

Bengodi (ben go' di). A “land of Cockaigne” 
mentioned in Boccaccio’s Decameron (viii, 3), 
where “they tie the vines with sausages, 
where you may buy a fat goose for a penny 
and have a gosling into the bargain; where 
there is also a mountain of grated Parmesan 
cheese, and people do nothing but make 
cheesecakes and macaroons. There is also a 
river which runs Malmsey wine of the very 
best quality”; etc., etc. 

Benicia Boy (ben is' ya). John C. Heenan, 
the American pugilist, who challenged and 
fought Tom Sayers for “the belt” in 1860; 
so called from Benicia in California, his birth- 
place. 

Benjamin. The pet, the youngest; in allusion 
to Benjamin, the youngest son of Jacob (Gen. 
xxxv, 18). Also (in early- and mid- 19th cent.), 
an overcoat (and it is still a slang term for 
overcoat in the U.S.A.); so called from a tailor 
of the name, and rendered popular by its 
association with Joseph’s “coat of many 
colours.” 

Benjamin’s mess. The largest share. The 
allusion is to the banquet given by Joseph, 
viceroy of Egypt, to his brethren. “Ben- 
jamin’s mess was five times so much as any of 
theirs” (Gen. xliii, 34). 

Benjamin tree. A tree of the Sty rax family 
that yields benzoin, of which the name is a 
corruption, and so used by Ben Jonson in 
Cynthia's Revels (V, ii), where the Perfumer 
says : — 

Taste, smell; I assure you, sir, pure benjamin, the 
only spirited scent that ever awaked a Neapolitan 
nostril. 

Benthos (ben 7 thos). This is a new word in 
English, coming directly from a Greek word 


meaning the sea-bottom. It is now applied 
particularly to the bottom of deep oceans and 
to the minute aquatic organisms that live down 
there. 

Beowulf (ba' 6 wulf). The hero of the ancient 
Old English epic poem of the same name, 
of unknown date and authorship, but certainly 
written before the coming of the Saxons to 
England, and modified subsequent to the 
introduction of Christianity. 

The scene is laid in Denmark or Sweden: 
the hall (Heorot) of King Hrothgar is raided 
nightly by Grendel (q.v.), whom Beowulf 
mortally wounds after a fierce fight. Gren- 
del’s dam comes next night to avenge his 
death. Beowulf pursues her to her lair under 
the water and ultimately slays her with a magic 
sword. Beowulf in time becomes king, and 
fifty years later meets his death in combat with 
a dragon, the guardian of an immense hoard, 
the faithful Wiglaf being his only follower at 
the end. 

The epic as we know it dates from the 8th 
century, but it probably represents a gradual 
growth which existed in many successive ver- 
sions. In any case, it is not only the oldest 
epic in English, but the oldest in the whole 
Teutonic group of languages. 

Bereans. Followers of John Barclay, of Kin- 
cardineshire, who seceded from the Scottish 
Kirk in 1773. They believed that all we know 
of God is from revelation; that all the Psalms 
refer to Christ; that assurance is the proof of 
faith; and that unbelief is the unpardonable 
sin. They took their name from the Bereans, 
mentioned in Acts xvii, 11, who “received the 
Word with all readiness of mind, and searched 
the Scriptures daily.” 

Berecynthian Hero. Midas, the mythological 
king of Phrygia; so called from Mount 
Berecyntus, in Phrygia. 

Berenice. The sister-wife of Ptolemy Euer- 
getes, king of Egypt (247-222 b.c.). She 
vowed to sacrifice her hair to the gods, if her 
husband returned home the vanquisher of 
Asia. She suspended her hair in the temple 
of Arsinoe at Zephyrium, but it was stolen the 
first night, and Conon of Samos told the king 
that the winds had wafted it to heaven, where 
it still forms the seven stars near the tail of 
Leo, called Coma Berenices . 

Bergomask (ber' go mask). A rustic dance 
(see Midsummer Night's Dream , V, i); so 
called from Bergamo, a Venetian province, 
the inhabitants of which were noted for their 
clownishness. Also, a clown. 

Berkshire (bark' sher). From the O.E. Berroc- 
shvre , either from its abundance of berroc 
(box-trees), or the bare-oak-shire, from a 
polled oak common in Windsor Forest, where 
the Britons used to hold meetings. 

Berlin. An old-fashioned four-wheeled car- 
riage with a hooded seat behind. It was intro- 
duced into England by a German officer about 
1670. 

Berlin Decree. A decree issued at Berlin by 
Napoleon I in November, 1806, forbidding 
any of the nations of Europe to trade with 




Bermoothes 


96 


Besom 


Great Britain, proclaiming her to be in a state 
of blockade, declaring all British property 
forfeit, and all British subjects on French soil 
prisoners of war. 

Bermoothes (ber mo ooth 7 ez). The name of 
the island in The Tempest , feigned by Shakes- 
speare to be enchanted and inhabited by 
witches and devils. 

From the still-vexed Bermoothes, there she’s hid. 

The Tempest , I, ii. 

Shakespeare almost certainly had the 
recently discovered Bermudas in mind. 

Bermudas (ber mu' daz). The Bermudas was 
an old name for a district of London — thought 
to have been the narrow alleys in the neigh- 
bourhood of Covent Garden, St. Martin's 
Lane, and the Strand — which was an Alsatia 
(< 7 .v\), where the residents had certain privileges 
against arrest. Hence, to live in the Bermudas, 
to skulk in some out-of-the-way place for 
cheapness or safety. 

Bernard, St. Abbot of the monastery of 
Clairvaux in the 12th century (1090-1 153). 
His fame for wisdom was very great, and few 
Church matters were undertaken without his 
being consulted. 

Bonus Bernardus non videt omnia. (“The 
good Bernard docs not see everything”). We 
are all apt to forget sometimes: events do not 
always turn out as they are planned before- 
hand. Cp. Homer Sometimes Nods. 

St. Bernard Soup. See Stone Soup. 

Petit Bernard. Solomon Bernard, engraver 
of Lyons (16th century). 

Poor Bernard. Claude Bernard, of Dijon, 
philanthropist (1588-1641). 

Lucullus Bernard. Samuel Bernard, a 
famous French capitalist (1651-1739). 

Le gentil Bernard. Pierre Joseph Bernard, 
the French poet (1710-75). 

St. Bernard dogs. See Sr. Bernard 
Passes. 

Bernardine. A monk of the Order of St. 
Bernard of Clairvaux; a Cistercian (q. r.). 

Bernardo del Carpio. A semi-mythical Span- 
ish hero of the 9th century, and a favourite 
subject of the minstrels, and of Lope de Vega 
who wrote many plays around his exploits. 
He is credited with having defeated Roland at 
Roncesvalles. 

Bemesque Poetry. Serio-comic poetry; so 
called from Francesco Berni (1498-1535), 
of Tuscany, who greatly excelled in it. Byron’s 
Beppo is a good example of Lnglish bemesque; 
and concerning it Byron wrote to John 
Murray, his publisher: — 

Whistlccraft is my immediate model, but Berni is 
the father of that kind of writing. 

Berserker. In Scandinavian mythology, a 
wild, ferocious, warlike being who was at 
times possessed of supernatural strength and 
fury. The origin of the name is doubtful; 
one account says that it was that of the grand- 
son of the eight-handed Starkader and the 
beautiful Alfhilde, who was called bcer-serce 


(bare of mail) because he went into battle 
unharnessed. Hence, any man with the 
lighting fever on him. 

Another disregards this altogether and holds 
that the name means simply “men who have 
assumed the form of bears.” It is used in 
English both as an adjective denoting excessive 
fury and a noun denoting one possessed of 
such. 

Berth. He has tumbled into a nice berth. 

A nice situation or fortune. The place in 
which a ship is anchored is called its berth, 
and the sailors call it a good or bad berth as 
they think it favourable or otherwise. The 
space allotted to a seaman for his hammock 
is called his berth. 

To give a wide berth. Not to come near a 
person; to keep a person at a distance; literally, 
to give a ship plenty of room to swing at 
anchor. 

Bertha, Frau. A German impersonation of 
the Epiphany, corresponding to the Italian 
Befana ( q.v .). She is a white lady, who steals 
softly into nurseries and rocks infants asleep, 
but is the terror of all naughty children. Her 
feet are very large, and she has an iron nose. 

Berthe au Grand Pied (bert 6 gron pe a). 
Mother of Charlemagne, and great-grand- 
daughter of Charles Martel; so called because 
she had a club-foot. She died at an advanced 
age in 783. 

Bertram, Count of Rousillon, beloved by 
Helena, the hero of Shakespeare's All's Well 
that Ends Well. 

I cannot reconcile my heart to Bertram, a man 
noble without generosity, and young without truth; 
who marries Helena as a coward, and leaves her as 
a profligate. — Dr. Johnson. 

Besaile. A word formerly used in England 
for a great-grandfather; it is the French 
bi sale id. 

Writ of besaile. An old legal term mean- 
ing:— 

A writ that lies for the heire, where his great 
grandfather was seized the day that he died, or died 
seised of Land in fee-simple, and a stranger enters 
the day of the death of the great grandfather, or 
abates after his death, the heire shall have writ 
against such a disseisor or abator . — Termes dc la Ley 
( 1641 ). 

Besant. See Bezant. 

Beside the Cushion, an odd phrase first used 
by Judge Jeffreys in the sense of “beside the 
question,” “not to the point.” Any cogent 
point raised by some wretch in his own defence 
was ruthlessly swept away as “beside the 
cushion.” 

Besom. To hang out the besom. To have a 
fling when your wife is gone on a visit. To be 
a quasi bachelor once more. Cp. the French 
colloquialism, rotir le balai (literally, “to 
roast the besom”) which means “to live a fast 
life” or “to go on the razzle-dazzle.” 

Jumping the besom. Omitting the marriage 
service after the publication of banns, and 
living together as man and wife. 



Bess 


97 


Betrothal 


In Lowland Scots, besom is a contemp- 
tuous name applied to a prostitute or woman of 
low character, but it is by no means certain 
that the word is connected with either of the 
above usages. 

Bess, Good Queen. Queen Elizabeth I (1533- 
1603). 

Bess o’ Bedlam. A female lunatic vagrant. 
See BrDLAM. 

Bess of Hardwick. Elizabeth Talbot, Coun- 
tess of Shrewsbury (1518-1608), to whose 
charge, in 1569, Mary Queen of Scots was 
committed. The countess treated the captive 
queen with great harshness, being jealous of 
the earl her husband. Bess of Hardwick 
married four times: Robert Barlow (when she 
was only fourteen): Sir William Cavendish; 
Sir William St. Eoe, Captain of Queen 
Elizabeth’s Guard; and lastly, George, sixth 
Earl of Shrewsbury. She built Hardwick 
Hall, and founded the wealth and dignity of 
the Cavendish family. 

Bessee of Bednall Green. See Beggar’s 
Daughter. 

Bessemer Process. The conversion of cast iron 
to steel by oxidizing the carbon by passing 
currents of air through the molten metal, 
patented by Sir Henry Bessemer in 1856. 

Bessie Bell and Mary Gray. A ballad re- 
lating how two young women of Perth, to 
avoid the plague of 1666, retired to a rural 
retreat called the Burnbracs, near Lynedock, 
the residence of Mary Gray. A young man, 
in love with both, carried them provisions, and 
they all died of the plague and were buried at 
Dornock Hough. 

Bessie with the braid apron. See Belted 
Will. 

Best. At best or At the very best. Looking 
at the matter in the most favourable light. 
Making every allowance. 

Man is a short-sighted creature at best. — D efoe: 
Colonel Jack. 

At one’s best. At the highest or best point 
attainable by the person referred to. 

For the best. With the best of motives; 
with the view of obtaining the best results. 

I must make the best of my way home. It is 
getting late and I must use my utmost diligence 
to get home as soon as possible. 

To best somebody. To get the better of him; 
to outwit him and so have the advantage. 

To have the best of it, or. To have the best of 
the bargain. To have the advantage or best of 
a transaction. 

To make the best of the matter. To submit 
to ill-luck with the best grace in your power. 

See also Better. 

Bestiaries or Bcstials. Books very popular in 
the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries, containing 
accounts of the supposed habits and peculiar- 
ities of animals, which, with the legendary lore 
connected with them, served as texts for 
devotional homilies. They were founded on 
the old Physiologic and those in English were, 
for the most part, translations of Continental 
originals. The Bestiaires of Philippe de 


Thaon, Guillaume le Clerc, and Le Bestiaire 
(V Amourby Richard de Fournival, were among 
the most popular. 

Bete Noire (bat nwar) (Fr. black beast). The 
thorn in the side, the bitter in the cup, the 
spoke in the wheel, the black sheep, the object 
of aversion. A black sheep has always been 
considered an eyesore in a flock, and its wool 
is really less valuable. In times of supersti- 
tion it was looked on as bearing the devil’s 
mark. 

The Dutch sale of tin is the bete noire of the 
Cornish miners . — The Times. 

Beth Gelert (Beddgelert), or “the Grave of the 
Greyhound.’’ A ballad by the Hon. William 
Robert Spencer (1769-1834), based on tradi- 
tional legend. The tale is that one day 
Llewelyn returned from hunting, when his 
favourite hound, covered with gore, ran to 
meet him. The chieftain ran to see if any- 
thing had happened to his infant son, found 
the cradle overturned, and all around was 
sprinkled with blood. Thinking the hound 
had eaten the child, he stabbed it to the heart. 
Afterwards he found the babe quite safe, and 
a huge wolf under the bed, dead; Gelert had 
killed the wolf and saved the child. The 
story is of very old origin and very widespread : 
with variations it is found in Sanskrit and in 
most ancient literatures. 

It is told of Tsar Piras of Russia and in the Gesta 
Romunoruni of Folliculus a knight, but instead of a 
wolf the dog is said to have killed a serpent. The 
story occurs again in the Seven Wise Masters . In 
the Sanskrit version the dog is called an ichneumon 
and the wolf a “ black snake.” In the Hitopadesa 
(iv, 3) the dog is an otter; in the Arabic a weasel; 
in the Mongolian a polecat; in the Persian a cat, etc. 

Bethlehemites. An order of reformed Dom- 
inicans, the friars of which wore a star upon 
the breast in memory of the Star of Bethlehem, 
introduced into England about 1257. Also 
a branch of the Augustinians, founded in 
Guatemala in 1653 by Peter Betancus, a 
native of the Canaries, for spreading the 
Gospel and serving the sick in Spanish 
America. Its members wore a shield on the 
right shoulder, on which was shown the 
manger of Bethlehem. 

Bethlemenites. Followers of John Huss, so 
called because he used to preach in the church 
called Bethlehem of Prague. 

Bethnal Green. See Beggar’s Daughter. 

Betrothal. An engagement is nowadays 
considered a more or less private affair which 
may or may not be made the occasion of 
celebrations. It was formerly — and still is on 
ihe Continent — a ceremony of more public 
importance. Canon law recognizes betrothal 
as a formal ceremony consisting of an ex- 
change of rings (hence the English engage- 
ment ring), a kiss (not unknown in England 
either), and the joining of hands in the pres- 
ence of witnesses. In France all this had to be 
done in the presence of the parish priest. It 
was also usual for the parties to break a coin 
and each keep a portion. This ceremony was 
binding, though the engagement could be 
broken by mutual consent. The Church, 


Betrothed 


98 


however, reserved to itself the right to ex- 
communicate either party who, without cause 
or agreement with the other, broke it off. In 
England the Civil Law came down in the 
same sense when, in 1735, an Act was passed 
enabling an aggrieved party to bring an action 
at common law for breach of promise. 

Betrothed, The. Curiously enough, this title 
was chosen independently of one another by 
two great writers. Sir Walter Scott’s Betrothed 
(1825) is a tale of the Crusaders and Wales; 
Manzoni’s Betrothed (7 Promessi Sposi ) is 
about Milan in the 17th century. Although 
the first two volumes are dated 1825, the work 
did not appear until 1827. 

Better. Better off. In easier circumstances. 

For better for worse. For ever. From the 
English marriage service, expressive of an 
indissoluble union. 

My -better half. A jocose way of saying my 
wife. As the twain are one, each is half. 
Horace calls his friend animat di midi urn mete 
( Odes 1 , iii, 8). 

To be better than his word. To do more 
than he promised. 

To think better of the matter. To give it 
further consideration; to form a more correct 
opinion respecting it and, usually, to revise 
one’s intentions as a result. 

Bettina. The name taken by Elizabeth 
Brentano, Countess von Arnim (1785-1859), 
in her publication. Letters to a Child , in 1835. 
The letters purported to be her correspondence 
with Goethe (1807-11), but they are largely 
spurious. 

Betubium (be tiV bi urn). The old poetic 
name for the Cape of St. Andrew, Scotland. 
The north-inflated tempest foams 
O’er Orka’s and Betubiurn’s highest peak. 

Thomson: Autumn. 

Between. Between hay and grass. Neither 
one thing nor yet another; a hobbledehoy, 
neither a man nor yet a boy. 

Between cup and lip. See Slip. 

Between Scylla and Charybdis. See C'haryb- 

DIS. 

Between two fires. Between two dangers. 
Troops caught between fire from opposite 
sides. 

Between two stools you fall to the ground. 
The allusion is to a practical joke played at 
sea, in which two stools are set side by side, 
and it is arranged that the victim shall un- 
expectedly fall between them. 

Between you and me. In confidence be it 
spoken. Sometimes, Between you and me and 
the gatepost (or bed-post). These phrases, for 
the most part, indicate that some illnatured 
remark or slander is about to be made of a 
third person, but occasionally they refer to 
some offer or private affair. Between ourselves 
is another form of the same phrase. 


Bevy 

Betwixt. Betwixt and between. Neither one 
nor the other, but somewhere between the 
two. Thus, grey is neither white nor black, 
but betwixt and between the two. 

Betwixt wind and water. A nautical phrase 
denoting that part of the hull that is below the 
water-line except when the ship heels over under 
pressure of the wind. It was a most dangerous 
place for a man-of-war to be holed; hence a 
“knock-out” blow is often said to have 
caught the victim betwixt wind and water. 

Beulah. See Land of Beulah. 

Bever (bev' er). A “snack” or light repast 
(originally a drink) between meals; through 
O.Fr. beivre (Mod. Fr. bo ire) from Lat. 
bibere , to drink — beverage has the same 
ancestry. At Eton they used to have “Bever 
days,” when extra beer and bread were served 
during the afternoon in the College Hall to 
scholars, and any friends whom they might 
bring in. 

He is none of these same ordinary eaters, that will 
devour three breakfasts, and as many dinners without 
any prejudice to their bevers, drinkings, or suppers. 
Beaumont and Eli. ic her: Woman Hater, I, iii. 

Chapman, in the Odyssey , however, uses 
the word for “supper":-- 

“ So chance it, friend,” replied Telemachus, 

“ Your bever taken, go. In first of day 
Come and bring sacrifice the best you may.” 

Bk. XVII, 794. 

Bevin Boys. Under the Emergency Powers 
Defence Bill, of 1940, certain lads were 
directed to work in coal mines. Ernest Bevin 
(1881-1951) was Minister of Labour and 
National Service, and his name was popularly 
attached to the boys thus directed. 

Bevis (be' vis). Marmion’s horse. See 
Horse. 

Sir Bevis of Haintown. A mediaeval 
chivairic romance, slightly connected with the 
Charlemagne cycle, which (in the English 
version) tells how the father of Bevis was slain 
by the mother, and how, on Bevis trying to 
avenge the murder, she sold him into slavery 
to Eastern merchants. After many adven- 
tures he converts and carries off Josian, 
daughter of the Soldan, returns to England, 
gets his revenge, and all ends happily. “Ham- 
town” is generally taken as meaning “South- 
ampton,” but it is really a corruption of 
Antonoy for in the original Italian version the 
hero is called “Beuves d’Antone," which, in 
the Ercnch, became “Beuves d’Hantone.” 
Drayton tells the story in his Pulyolhiotu Song 
ii, lines 260-384. 

Bevoriskius (be vor is' ki us), whose Com- 
mentary on the Generations of Adam is referred 
to by Sterne in the Sentimental Journey , was 
Johan van Beverwyck (1594-1647), a Dutch 
medical writer and author of a large number 
of books. 

Bevy. A throng or company of ladies, roe- 
bucks, quails, or larks. The word is the 
Italian beva t a drink, but it is not known how 
it acquired its present meaning. It may be 
because timid, gregarious animals, in self- 
defence, go down to a river to drink in 
companies. 



Bey 


99 


The Great Bible 


Bey. A Turkish word for the governor of a 
town or province; also a title conferred by the 
Sultan, and a courtesy title given to the sons 
of Pashas. See Bashaw; Begum; and cp. Dey. 

Bezaliel (be za' li el). In Dryden’s Absalom 
and Achitophel is meant for Henry Somerset, 
3rd Marquis of Worcester and 1st Duke of 
Beaufort (1629-1700). He was an adherent of 
Charles II. 

Bezaliel with each grace and virtue fraught. 

Serene his looks, serene his life and thought; 

On whom so largely Nature heaped her store. 
There scarce remained for arts to give him more. 

Pt. 11,947. 

Bezant (be zant') (from Byzantium , the old 
name of Constantinople). A gold coin of 
greatly varying value struck at Constantinople 
by the Byzantine Emperors. It was current 
in England till the time of Edward III. In 
heraldry , the name is given to a plain gold 
roundel borne as a charge, and supposed to 
indicate that the bearer had been a Crusader. 

Bezoar (be' zor). A stone from the stomach 
or gall-bladder of an animal, set as a jewel and 
believed to be an antidote against poison. 

Bezonian (be zd' ni an). A new recruit; 
applied originally in derision to young soldiers 
sent from Spain to Italy, who landed both ill- 
accoutred and in want of everything (Ital. 
bisoxni, from bisogno , need; Er. be so in). 
“Under which king, bezonian? Speak or 
die" (Hen. IV, Pt. 77, V, iii). Choose your 
leader or take the consequences. 

Great men oft die by vile Ivzonians. 

Shaki spfari : Henry ( 7, Pt. //, IV, i. 

Bianchi (be ang' ki). The political faction in 
Tuscany to which Dante belonged. It and 
the Ncri, both being branches of the Guelph 
family, engaged in a feud shortly before 1300 
which became very violent in Florence and the 
neighbouring cities, and eventually the 
Bianchi joined the Ghibcllines, the opponents 
of the Guelphs. In 1301 the Bianchi, includ- 
ing Dante, were exiled from Florence. 

Bias (bi' as). The weight in bowls which 
makes them deviate from the straight line; 
hence any favourite idea or pursuit, or what- 
ever predisposes the mind in a particular 
direction. 

Bowls are not now loaded, but the bias 
depends on the shape of the bowls. They are 
flattened on one side, and therefore roll 
obliquely. 

Your stomach makes your fabric roll 
Just as the bias rules the bowl. 

Prior: Alma, tn. 

Bib. Best bib and tucker. See Tucker. 

Biberfus Caldius Mero. The punning nick- 
name of Tiberius Claudius Nero (the Roman 
Emperor, Tiberius, who reigned from a.d. 14 
to 37). Biberius (Tiberius) drink-loving, 
Caldius Mero (Claudius Nero), by metathesis 
for calidus mero , hot with wine. 

Bible, The English. The principal versions of 
the English Bible in chronological order are: 

Wyclif’s Bible. The name given to two 
translations of the Vulgate, one completed 
possibly before 1382 and the other probably 
between 1395 and 1408. Wyclif may have 
4* 


translated a small portion of the earlier ver- 
sion. Nicholas of Hereford made the first 
version as far as Baruch iii, 20; who was 
responsible for the remainder is unknown. 
The second version has been ascribed to John 
Purvey, a follower of Wyclif. The earlier 
translation was the first complete version in 
English; as a whole it remained unprinted until 
1 850, when the monumental edition of the two 
versions by Forshall and Madden appeared, 
but in 1810 an edition of the New Testament 
was published by H. H. Baber, an assistant 
librarian at the British Museum. 


Tyndale’s Bible. This consists of the New 
Testament (printed at Cologne, 1525), the 
Pentateuch (Marburg, Hesse, 1530 or 1531), 
Jonah , Old Testament lessons appointed to 
be read in place of the Epistles, and a MS. 
translation of the Old Testament to the end of 
Chronicles w'hich was afterwards used in 
Matthew’s Bible ( q.v. ). His revisions of the 
New Testament were issued in 1534 and 1535. 
Tyndale’s principal authority was Erasmus’s 
edition of the Greek Testament, but he also 
used Erasmus’s Latin translation of the same, 
the Vulgate, and Luther’s German version. 
Tyndale’s version fixed the style and tone of 
the English Bible, and subsequent Protestant 
versions of the books on which he worked 
should — with one or two minor exceptions — 
be looked upon as revisions of his, and not as 
independent translations. 

Coverdale’s Bible. The first complete 
English Bible to be printed, published in 1535 
as a translation out of Douche ( i.e . German) 
and Latin by Mvles Coverdale. It consists of 
Tyndale’s translation of the Pentateuch and 
New Testament, with translations from the 
Vulgate, a Latin version (1527-8) by the Italian 
Catholic theologian, Sanctcs Peginus, Luther’s 
German version (1534) and the Swiss- 
German version of Zwingli and Leo Juda 
(Zurich, 1527-9). The first edition was printed 
at Antwerp, but the second (Southwark, 1537) 
was the first Bible printed in England. Mat- 
thew’s Bible (q.v.) is largely based on Cover- 
dale’s. See Bug Bible, below. 


Matthew’s Bible. A pronouncedly Protes- 
tant version published in 1537 as having been 
“truly and purely translated into English by 
Thomas Matthew,” which was a pseudonym, 
adopted for purposes of safety, of John 
Rogers, an assistant of Tyndale. It was 
probably printed at Antwerp, and the text 
is made up of the Pentateuch from Tyndale s 
version together w'ith his hitherto unprinted 
translation of Joshua to II Chronicles inclusive 
and his revised edition of the New Testament, 
with Coverdale’s version of the rest of the Old 
Testament and the Apocrypha. It was quickly 
superseded by the Great Bible (^.v.), but it is 
of importance as it formed the starting-point 
for the revisions which culminated in the 
Authorized Version. See Bug Bible, below. 


The Great Bible. Coverdale’s revision of 
his own Bible of 1535 (see ■ Coverdale’s 
Bible, above), collated with Tyndale s and 
Matthew’s, printed in Paris by Regnault, and 
published by Grafton and Whitchurch m 1539. 
It is a large folio, and a splendid specimen 



Cranmer’s Bible 


100 


The Bad Bible 


of typography. It is sometimes called 
“Cromwell’s Bible,” as it was undertaken at 
Thomas Cromwell’s direction, and it was made 
compulsory for all parish churches to purchase 
a copy. The Prayer Book version of the 
Psalms comes from the November, 1540, 
edition of the Great Bible. See also Cran- 
mer’s Bible. 

Cranmer’s Bible. The name given to the 
Great Bible (< q.v .) of 1540. It, and later 
issues, contained a prologue by Cranmer, and 
on the wood-cut title-page (by Holbein) 
Henry VIII is shown seated while Cranmer and 
Thomas Cromwell distribute copes to the 
people. 

Cromwell’s Bible. The Great Bible (q.v.) of 
1539. The title-page (see Cranmer’s Bible, 
above ) includes a portrait of Thomas Cromwell. 

The Bishops’ Bible. A version made at the 
instigation of Archbishop Parker (hence also 
called “Matthew Parker’s Bible”), to which 
most of the Anglican bishops were contribu- 
tors. It was a revision of the Great Bible 
(</.v.), first appeared in 1568, and by 1602 had 
reached its eighteenth edition. It is this 
edition that forms the basis of our Authorized 
Version. See Treacle Bible, below . 

The Geneva Bible. A revision of great 
importance in the history of the English Bible, 
undertaken by English exiles at Geneva during 
the Marian persecutions and first published in 
1560. It was the work of William Whitting- 
ham, assisted by Anthony Gilby and Thomas 
Sampson. Whittingham had previously(1557) 
published a translation of the New Testament. 
The Genevan version was the first English 
Bible to be printed in roman type instead or 
black letter, the first in which the chapters are 
divided into verses (taken by Whittingham 
from Robert Stephen’s Greek- Latin Testa- 
ment of 1537), and the first in which italics are 
used for explanatory and connective words and 
phrases (taken from Bcza’s New Testament ot 
1556). It was immensely popular; from 1560 
to 1616 no year passed without a new edition, 
and at least two hundred are known. In 
every edition the word “breeches” occurs in 
Gen. iii, 7; hence the Geneva Bible is popularly 
known as the “Breeches Bible” (</.v.). See 
Goose Bible, Place-makers’ Bible, below. 

The Authorized Version. This, the version 
in general use in England, was made by a body 
of scholars working at the command of King 
James 1 (hence sometimes called “King 
James’s Bible”) from 1604 to 1611, and was 
published in 1611. The modern “Authorized 
Version” is, however, by no means an exact 
reprint of that authorized by King James; a 
large number of typographical errors which 
occurred in the first edition have been cor- 
rected, the orthography, punctuation, etc., has 
been modernized, and the use of italics, 
capital letters, etc., varied. The Bishops’ 
Bible (q.v.) was used as the basis of the text, but 
Tyndale’s, Matthew’s, Coverdale’s, and the 
Geneva translations were also followed when 
they agreed better with the original. 


The Revised Version. A revision of the 
Authorized Version commenced under a 
resolution passed by both Houses of Con- 
vocation in 1870 by a body of twenty-five 
English scholars (assisted and advised by an 
American Committee), the New Testament 
published in 1881, the complete Bible in 1885, 
and the Apocrypha in 1895. 

Revised Standard Version. The work of 
American scholars, issued between 1948 and 
1952. It attempts to avoid archaic language 
on the one hand and complete modernity on 
the other by using no words that have not 
been in use at least for a century. 

Taverner’s Bible. An independent trans- 
lation by a Greek scholar, Richard Taverner, 
printed in 1539 (the same year as the first 
Great Bible) by T. Petit for T. Berthelct. It 
had no influence on the Authorized Version, 
but is remarkable for its vigorous, idiomatic 
English. 

The Douai Bible (dou' a). A translation of 
the Vulgate, made by English Catholic 
scholars in France for the use of English boys 
designed for the Catholic priesthood. The 
New Testament was published at Rheims in 
1582, and the Old Testament at Douai in 
1609; hence sometimes called the Rheims- 
Douai version. See Rosin Bible. 

King James’s Bible. The Authorized Ver- 
sion (q.v.). 

Matthew Parker’s Bible. The Bishops’ 
Bible (q.v.). 

There have been several versions of the 
scriptures in modern English, of which the 
following are noteworthy: 

The New Testament in Modern Speech, 
translated from the Greek by R. F. Wey- 
mouth, 1903. 

A new translation of the Bible by James 
Moffat (N.T., 1913; O.T., 1924). 

A new translation from the Vulgate by R. A. 
Knox, 1944. 

The New English Bible. A translation under- 
taken by the Protestant churches and other 
organizations of Britain and Ireland under the 
general directorship of Professor C. H. Dodd. 
Only the New Testament, published in 1961, 
has so far appeared. The introduction states 
that the object w r as to provide “English readers, 
whether familiar with the Bible or not, with a 
faithful rendering of the best available Greek 
text into the current speech of our time, and a 
rendering which should harvest the gains of 
recent biblical scholarship.” 

Specially named editions of the Bible. 
The following Bibles are named either from 
typographical errors or archaic words that they 
contain, or from some special circumstance 
in connexion with them: — 

Adulterous Bible. The “Wicked Bible” 

(tf-v.). 

Affinity Bible, of 1923, which contains a 
table of affinity with the error: “A man may 
not marry his grandmother’s wife.” 

The Bad Bible. A Bible printed in 1653 
with a deliberate perversion of Acts vi, 6 



Bible 


101 


Bible 


whereby the ordination of deacons was 
ascribed to the “multitude of the disciples’* 
and not to the apostles. A copy exists in one 
of the churches in Lyme Regis. 

The Bear Bible. The Spanish Protestant 
version printed at Basle in 1569; so called 
because the woodcut device on the title-page 
is a bear. 

Bedell’s Bible. A translation of the Author- 
ized Version into Irish carried out under the 
direction of Bedell (d. 1642), Bishop of Kilmore 
and Ardagh. 

The Breeches Bible. The Genevan Bible 
(. see above ) was popularly so called because in it 
Gen. iii, 7, was rendered, “The eyes of them 
bothe were opened . . . and they sowed figge- 
tree leaves together, and made themselves 
breeches.” This reading occurs in every 
edition of the Genevan Bible, but not in any 
other version, though it is given in the then 
unprinted Wyclif MS. (“ya swiden ye levis of 
a fige tre and madin brechis”), and also in the 
translation of the Pentateuch given in Caxton’s 
edition of Voragine’s Golden Legend (1483). 

The Brothers’ Bible. The “ Kralitz Bible ” 

The Bug Bible. Covcrdale’s Bible (q.v.), of 
1535, is so called because Ps. xci, 5, is trans- 
lated, “Thou shalt not nede to be afrayed for 
eny bugges by night.” The same reading 
occurs in Matthew’s Bible ( q.v .) and its re- 
prints; the Authorized and Revised Versions 
both read “ terror.” 

Camels Bible, of 1823. Genesis xxiv, 61 
reads “And Rebekah arose, and her camels” 
for “ damsels.” 

Complutensian Polyglot. The great edition, 
in six folio volumes, containing the Hebrew 
and Greek texts, the Septuagint, the Vulgate, 
and the Chaldee paraphrase of the Pentateuch 
with a Latin translation, together with Greek 
and Hebrew grammars and a Hebrew Diction- 
ary, prepared and printed at the expense of 
Cardinal Ximenes, and published at Alcala 
(the ancient Complutum) near Madrid, 
1513-17. 

The Denial Bible was printed in Oxford in 
1792. In Luke xxii, 34 the name Philip is 
substituted for Peter, as the apostle who 
should deny Jesus. 

The Discharge Bible. An edition printed in 
1806 containing discharge for charge in I Tint. 
v, 21: “I ^/.v-charge thee before God, . . . that 
thou observe these things, etc.” 

The Ears to Ear Bible. An edition of 1810, 
in which Matt, xiii, 43, reads: “Who hath 
ears to ear , let him hear.” 

The Ferrara Bible. The first Spanish edition 
of the Old Testament, translated from the 
Hebrew in 1553 for the use of the Spanish 
Jews. A second edition was published in the 
same year for Christians. 

The Fool Bible. During the reign of Charles 
I an edition of the Bible was printed in which 
the text of Psalm xliv, 1 read “The fool hath 
said in his heart there is a God.” For this 
mistake the printers were fined £3,000 and all 
copies were suppressed. 


Forgotten Sins Bible, of 1638. Luke vii, 47 
reads “Her sins which are many arc for- 
gotten.” 

The Forty-two Line Bible. The “ Mazarin 
Bible ” (<?.v.). 

The Goose Bible. The editions of the 
Genevan Bible (q.v.) printed at Dort; the Dort 
press had a goose as its device. 

The Gutenberg Bible. The “ Mazarin 
Bible ” (q.v.). 

The He Bible. In the two earliest editions of 
the Authorized Version (both 1611) in the 
first (now known as “the He Bible”) Ruth iii, 
15, reads: “and he went into the city”; the 
other (known as “the She Bible”) has the 
variant “s/ie.” “He” is the correct trans- 
lation of the Hebrew, but nearly all modern 
editions — with the exception of the Revised 
Version— perpetuate the confusion and print 
“she.” 

The Idle Bible. An edition of 1809, in 
which “the idole shepherd” (Zech. xi, 17) is 
printed “ the idle shepherd.” In the Revised 
Version the translation is “the worthless 
shepherd.” 

Incunabula Bible. The date on the title-page 
reads 1495 instead of 1594. 

Indian Bible. The first complete Bible 
printed in America, being translated into the 
dialect of the Indians of Massachusetts by 
John Eliot, and published by Samuel Green 
and Marmaduke Johnson (with the king’s 
permission) in 1663. 

Judas Bible of 1611. Matt, xxvi, 36 reads 
“Judas” instead of “Jesus.” 

The Kralitz Bible. The Bible published by 
the United Brethren of Moravia (hence known 
also as the Brothers ’ Bible) at Kralitz, 1579- 
93. 

The “Large Family” Bible. An Oxford 
edition of 1820 prints Isaiah lxvi, 9 “Shall I 
bring to the birth and not cease [instead of 
cause] to bring forth.” 

The I eda Bible. The third edition (second 
folio) of the Bishops’ Bible (q.v.), published in 
1572, and so called because the decoration to 
the initial at the Epistle to the Hebrews is a 
startling and incongruous woodcut of Jupiter 
visiting Leda in the guise of a swan. This, 
and several other decorations in the New 
Testament of this edition, were from an 
edition of Ovid's Metamorphoses ; they created 
such a storm of protest that they were never 
afterwards used. 

The Leopolita Bible. A Polish translation 
of the Vulgate by John of Lemberg (anc., 
Leopolis) published in 1561 at Cracow. 

The Lions Bible. A Bible issued in 1804 
contains a great number of printers’ errors of 
which the following are typical: Numbers 
xxxv, 18, “The murderer shall surely be put 
together” instead of “to death”; I Kings viii, 
19, “but thy son that shall come forth out of 
thy lions” instead of “loins”; Galatians v, 
17, “For the flesh lusteth after the Spirit** 
instead of “against the Spirit**. 



Bible 


102 


Bible 


The Mazarin Bible. The first printed Bible 
(an edition of the Vulgate), and the first known 
book to be printed from movable type. It 
contains no date, but was printed probably in 
1455, and was certainly on sale by the middle 
of 1456. It was printed at Mainz, probably by 
Fust and SchoetTer, but as it was for long 
credited to Gutenberg — and it is not yet 
agreed that he was not responsible — it is 
frequently called the Gutenberg Bible. By 
bibliographers it is usually known as the 
Forty-two Line Bible (it having 42 lines to the 
page), to differentiate it from the Bamberg 
Bible of 36 lines. Its popular name is due to 
the fact that the copy discovered in the Mazarin 
Library, Paris, in 1760, was the first to be 
known and described. A copy of Vol. I in 
unusually fine state and contemporary binding 
fetched a record price of £21,000 at auction in 
London, in 1947. 

“More Sea” Bible, of 1641. Rev. xxi, 1 
reads “and there was more sea” instead of 
“no more sea.” 

The Murderers* Bible. An edition of 1801 
in which the misprint murderers for murmurers 
makes Jude, 16, read: “These are murderers, 
complainers, walking after their own lusts, 
etc.’ 5 

The Old Cracow Bible. The “Leopolita 
Bible” (q.v.). 

The Ostrog Bible. The first complete 
Slavonic edition; printed at Ostrog, Volhynia, 
Russia, in 1581. 

Pfister’s Bible. The “Thirty-six Line 
Bible” (q.v.). 

The Place-makers’ Bible. The second 
edition of the Geneva Bible (q.v.), 1562; so 
called from a printer’s error in Matt, v, 9, 
“Blessed are the placemakers [peacemakers], 
for they shall be called the children of God. 

It has also been called the “Whig Bible.” 

The Printers’ Bible. An edition of about 
1702 which makes David pathetically com- 
plain that “printers [princes] have perse- 
cuted me without a cause ” (Fs. cxix, 161). 

The Proof Bible (Probe-Bibel). The revised 
version of the first impression of Luther’s 
German Bible. A final revised edition 
appeared in 1892. 

The Rosin Bible. The Douai Bible ( q.v .), 
1609, is sometimes so called, because it has in 
Jer . viii, 22: “Is there noe rosin in Galaad.” 
The Authorized Version translates the word 
by “balm,” but gives “rosin” in the margin 
as an alternative. Cp. Treacle Bible, below. 

Sacy’s Bible. A French translation, so 
called from Louis Isaac le Maistre de Sacy, 
director of Port Royal, 1650-79. He was 
imprisoned for three years in the Bastille for 
his Jansenist opinions, and there translated 
the Bible, 1667, completing it a few years later, 
after his release. 

Schelhom’s Bible. A name sometimes given 
to the “Thirty-six Line Bible” (q.v.). 

The September Bible. Luther’s German 
translation of the New Testament, published 


anonymously at Wittenberg in September, 
1522. 

The She Bible. See He Bible. 

“Sin on’* Bible. The first Bible printed in 
Ireland was dated 1716. John v, 14 reads 
“sin on more” instead of “sin no more.” 
The mistake was not found out until the 
impression of 8,000 copies had been printed 
and bound. 

The Standing Fishes Bible. An edition of 
1806 in which Ezck. xlvii, 10, reads: “And it 
shall come to pass that the fishes [instead of 
fishers ] shall stand upon it, etc.” 

Sting Bible, of 1746. Mark vii, 35 reads 
“the sting of his tongue” instead of “string.” 

The Thirty-six Line Bible. A Latin Bible 
of 36 lines to the column, probably printed by 
A. Pfister at Bamberg in 1460. It is also 
known as the Bamberg, and Pfistcr’s, Bible, 
and sometimes as Schelhorn’s, as it was first 
described by the German bibliographer J. G. 
Schelhorn, in 1760. 

The To-remain Bible. In a Bible printed at 
Cambridge in 1805 Gal. iv, 29, reads: “Perse- 
cuted him that was born after the spirit to 
remain, even so it is now.” The words “to 
remain” were added in error by the composi- 
tor, the editor having answered a proof- 
reader’s query as to the comma after “spirit” 
with the pencilled reply “to remain” in the 
margin. The mistake v as repeated in the 
first 8vo edition published by the Bible Society 
(1805), and again in their 12mo edition dated 
1819. 

The Treacle Bible. A popular name for 
the Bishops’ Bible (q.v.), 1568, because in it, 
Jer. viii, 22, reads: “Is there no tryacle in 
Gilead, is there no phisition there?” Cp. 
Rosin Bible above. In the same Bible 
“ tryacle ” is also given for “balm” in Jer. 
xlvi, 11, and Ezek. xxvii, 17. Coverdale’s 
Bible (1535) also uses the word “triacle.” 
See Treacle. 

The Unrighteous Bible. An edition printed 
at Cambridge in 1653, containing the printer’s 
error, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall 
inherit [for shall not inherit ) the Kingdom 
of God ?” (I Cor. vi, 9). The same edition 
gave Rom. vi, 13, as: “ Neither yield ye your 
members as instruments of righteousness unto 
sin,” in place of “^righteousness.” This is 
also sometimes known as the “Wicked Bible.” 

The Vinegar Bible. An edition printed at 
Oxford in 1717 in which the chapter heading 
to Luke xx is given as “The parable of the 
Vinegar” (instead of “Vineyard”). 

The Whig Bible. Another name for the 
“Place-makers’ Bible” (^.v.). 

The Wicked Bible. So called because the 
word not is omitted in the seventh command- 
ment, making it, “Thou shalt commit 
adultery.” Printed at London by Barker and 
Lucas, 1632. The “Unrighteous Bible ” 
(q.v.) is also sometimes called by this name. 

The Wife-hater Bible. An 1810 edition of 
the Bible gives Luke xiv, 26 as “If any man 




Bible 


103 


Bid 


come to me, and hate not his father and 
mother . . . yea, and his own wife also'* 
instead of “life." 

Wuyck’s Bible. The Polish Bible author- 
ized by the Roman Catholics and printed at 
Cracow in 1599. The translation was made 
by the Jesuit, Jacob Wuyck. 

The Zurich Bible. A German version of 
1530 composed of Luther’s translation of the 
New Testament and portions of the Old, with 
the remainder and the Apocrypha by other 
translators. 


Statistics of the Bible. The following 
statistics are those given in the Introduction to 
the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Bible , 
by Thos. Hartwell Horne, D.D., first published 
in 1818. They apply to the English Author- 
ized Version. 


O.T. N.T. Total. 

39 27 66 

929 260 1,189 

23,214 7,959 31,173 

593,493 181,253 774,746 

2,728,100 838,380 3,566,480 

Apocrypha . Books, 14; chapters, 183; verses, 
6,031; words, 125,185; letters, 1,063,876. 

O.T. N.T. 

Proverbs. II Thess. 

Job xxix. Rom. xiii and xiv. 

II Chron. xx, Acts xvii, 17. 

17 & 18. 


Books 

Chapters 

Verses 

Words 

Letters 


Middle book 
Middle chapter 
Middle verse 


Shortest verse I Chron. i, 25. John xi, 35. 
Shortest chapter Psalm cxvii. 

Longest chapter Psalm cxix. 

Ezra vii, 21, contains all the letters of the alphabet 
except j. 

II Kings xix, and Isaiah xxxvii are exactly alike. 
The last two verses of II Chron. and the opening 
verses of Ezra are alike. 

Ezra ii, and Nehemiah vii arc alike. 

The word and occurs in the O.T. 35,543 times, and 
in the N.T. 10,684 times. 

The word Jehovah occurs 6,855 times, and Lord 
1,855 times. 

About 30 books are mentioned in the Bible, but 
not included in the canon. 


Bible-backed. Round-shouldered, like one 
who is always poring over a book. 


Bible-carrier. A vagrant’s term for an 
itinerant vendor of ballads who does not sing 
them; also a scornful term for an obtrusively 
pious person. 

Some sco He at such as carry the scriptures with 
them to church, terming them in reproach Bible- 
carriers . — Gouge: Whole Armour of God , p. 318 
(1616). 

Bible Christians. An evangelical sect 
founded in 1815 by William O’Bryan, a 
Wesleyan, of Cornwall; also called Bryanites. 

Bible-Clerk. A sizar of certain colleges at 
Oxford who formerly got advantages for 
reading the Bible at chapel. 

Biblia Pauperum ( the poor mans Bible). A 
picture-book, widely used by the illiterate in 
the Middle Ages in place of the Bible. It was 
designed to illustrate the leading events in the 
salvation of man, and later MSS. as a rule had 
a Latin inscription to each picture. These 
biblia were among the earliest books to be 
printed, and they remained popular long after 
the invention of movable type. See Speculum 
Humana Salvationis. 


Bibliomancy. Divination by means of the 
Bible. See Sortes. 

Bibliomania. A love of books pursued to the 
point of unreason or madness. There is a 
legend that Don Vicente, a Spanish scholar, 
committed murder to obtain possession of 
what he thought was a unique book. 

Bibliophilia is a devotion to books and the 
collecting of them, that stops short of biblio- 
mania. 

Bibulus (bib 7 Q lus). Colleague of Julius 
Caesar, a mere cipher in office, whence his 
name has become proverbial for one in office 
who is a mere faineant. 

Bickerstaff, Isaac. A name assumed by Dean 
Swift in a satirical pamphlet against Partridge, 
the almanack-maker. This produced a paper 
war so diverting that Steele issued the Tatler 
under the editorial name of “Isaac Bickerstaff, 
Esq., Astrologer" (1709). Later there was an 
actual Isaac Bickerstaffe, a playwright, born 
in Ireland in 1735. 

Bicorn (bi 7 korn). A mythical beast, fabled by 
the early French romancers to grow very fat 
and well-favoured through living on good and 
enduring husbands. It was the antitype to 
Chichevache {q.v.). 

Chichevache (or lean cow ) was said to live on good 
women; and a world of sarcasm was conveyed in 
always representing Chichevache as very poor, — 
all ribs, in fact — her food being so scarce as to keep 
her in a wretched state of famine. Bycorne, on 
the contrary, was a monster who lived on good men; 
and he was always bursting with fatness, like a prize 
pig. — Sidney Lanier: Shakespere and his Fore- 
runners, , ch. vi. 

Bi-corn (two-horns) contains an allusion 
to the horned cuckold. 

Bid. The modern verb, “to bid," may be 
from either of the two Old English verbs, 

(1) beodan , meaning to stretch out, offer, 
present, and hence to inform, proclaim, 
command, or (2) biddan , meaning to impor- 
tune, beg, pray, and hence also, command. 
The two words have now become very con- 
fused, but the four following examples are 
from (1), beodan: — 

To bid fair. To seem likely; as “He bids 
fair to do well"; “It bids fair to be a fine day." 

To bid for (votes). To promise to support 
in Parliament certain measures, in order to 
obtain votes. 

To bid against one. To offer or promise a 
higher price for an article at auction. 

I bid him defiance. I offer him defiance; I 

defy him. 

The examples next given are derived from 

(2) , biddan : — 

1 bid you good night. I wish you good night, 
or I pray that you may have a good night. 
“Bid him welcome." 

Neither bid him God speed. — II John 10. 

To bid one’s beads. To tell off one’s prayers 
by beads. See Beads. 

To bid the (marriage) banns. To ask if 
anyone objects to the marriage of the persons 
named. “5/ quis" (g.v.). 



Bid 


104 


Bilbo 


To bid to the wedding. In the New Testa- 
ment is to ask to the wedding feast. 

Bid-ale. An entertainment at which drink- 
ing formed the excuse for collecting people 
together so that they could subscribe money for 
the benefit of some poor man or other charity. 
Bid-ales frequently developed into orgies. 

There was an antient custom called a Bidale or 
Bidder-ale . . . when any honest man decayed in 
his estate was set up again by the liberal benevolence 
and contributions of friends at a feast to which those 
friends were bid or invited. It was most used in 
the West of England, and in some counties called 
a Help-ale. 

Brand’s Popular Antiquities (1777). 

Bjdding-prayer(O.E. biddan\ see Bid). This 
term, now commonly applied to a prayer for 
the souls of benefactors said before the sermon, 
is due to its having been forgotten after the 
Reformation that when the priest was telling 
the congregation who or what to remember 
in “bidding their prayers” he was using the 
verb in its old sense of “pray,” i.e. “praying 
their prayers.” Hence, in Elizabeth I’s time 
the “bidding of prayers” came to signify 
“the directing” or “ enjoyning ” of prayers; 
and hence the modern meaning. 

Biddy (i.e. Bridget). A generic name for an 
Irish servant-maid, as Mike is for an Irish 
labourer. These generic names were once 
very common: for example, Tom Tug, a 
waterman; Jack Pudding, a buffoon; Cousin 
Jonathan, a citizen of the United States; 
Cousin Michel, a German; John Bull, an 
Englishman; Colin Tampon, a Swiss; Nic 
Frog, a Dutchman; Mossoo, a Frenchman; 
John Chinaman, and many others. 

In Arbuthnot’s John Bull Nic Frog is cer- 
tainly a Dutchman; and Frogs are called 
“Dutch Nightingales.” As the French have 
the reputation of feeding on frogs the w ord has 
been transferred to them, but, properly, Nic 
Frog is a Dutchman. 

Red Biddy is a highly intoxicating concoc- 
tion with a basis of cheap port. It is popular 
among certain elderly women in the East End 
of London. 

Bideford Postman. Edward Capern (181 9-94), 
the poet, so called from his former occupation 
and abode. 

Bidpay. See Pilpay. 

Bifrost (Icel. bifa , tremble; rost, path). In 
Scandinavian mythology, the bridge between 
heaven and earth, Asgard and Midgard; 
the rainbow may be considered to be this 
bridge, and its various colours are the reflec- 
tions of its precious stones. 

The keeper of the bridge is Heimdall (q.v.). 

Big. To look big. To assume a consequen- 
tial air. 

To look as big as bull beef. To look stout 
and hearty, as if fed on bull beef. Bull beef 
was formerly recommended for making men 
strong and muscular. 

To talk big. To boast or brag. 

Big Ben. The name given to the large bell 
in the Clock Tower (or St. Stephen’s Tower) 
at the Houses of Parliament. It weighs 13 J 


tons, and is named after Sir Benjamin Hall, 
Chief Commissioner of Works in 1856, when 
it was cast. 

Big Bertha. A gun of large calibre used by 
the Germans to shell Paris from a range of 
75 miles, during the 1914-18 War. It was so 
named by the French in allusion to Frau 
Bertha Krupp, of armament fame. In 
American slang “Big Bertha” means a fat 
woman. 

To get the big bird (i.e. the goose). To be 
hissed; to receive one’s cong6; originally 
purely a theatrical expression. To-day the 
more usual phrase is “to get the bird.” 

Big brother refers to the police activities of 
an authoritarian state, and derives from George 
Orwell’s 1984 (1949). 

Big-endians. In Swift’s Gulliver's Travels , 
a party in the empire of Lilliput, who made it a 
matter of conscience to break their eggs at the 
big etid\ they were looked on as heretics by 
the orthodox party, who broke theirs at the 
little end. The Big-endians typify the Catholics, 
and the Little-endians the Protestants. The 
terms are still used in connexion with argu- 
ments arising out of trifling differences of 
opinion, especially in matters of doctrine. 

Big Gooseberry Season, The. The “silly 
season,” the dead season, when newspapers are 
glad of any subject to fill their columns; 
monster gooseberries will do for such a 
purpose. 

Big House. An American slang term for 
prison. 

Big-wig. A person in authority, a “nob.” 
Of course, the term arises from the custom of 
judges, bishops, and so on, wearing large wigs. 
Bishops no longer wear them. 

Bigamy (big' a mi). Though many plots and 
stories have been worked up on the theme of 
supposed bigamous marriages, the Law is very 
plain and outspoken on the matter. If a 
spouse has not been heard of for seven years 
or more before a second marriage, the prosecu- 
tion has to prove that the prisoner had good 
cause to believe that the real spouse was alive; 
if he or she is able to convince the Court that 
there was every reason to believe the missing 
spouse dead, even though seven years had not 
elapsed since the last communication, the 
prisoner is entitled to a verdict of Not Guilty. 
The maximum punishment is seven years* 
penal servitude. 

Bigaroon (big a roon'). A white-heart cherry. 
(Fr. bigarreauy variegated; Lat. bis varellus y 
double-varied, red and white mixed.) 

Bight (bit). To hook the bight — i.e. to get 
entangled. A nautical phrase; the bight is 
the bend or doubled part of a rope, and w hen 
the fluke of one anchor gets into the “bight” 
of another’s cable it is “hooked.” 

Bilbo (bil' bo). A rapier or sword. So 
called from Bilbao, in Spain, once famous for 
its finely tempered blades. Falstaff says to 
Ford : 

I suffered the pangs of three several deaths; first, 
an intolerable fright, to be detected . . . next, to 
be compassed, like a good bilbo . . . hilt to point, 
heel to head; and then . . . — Merry Wives , III, v. 



Bilboes 


105 


Billabong 


Bilboes. A bar of iron with fetters annexed 
to it, by which mutinous sailors or prisoners 
were linked together. The word is probably 
derived, as the preceding, from Bilbao, in 
Spain, where they may have been first made. 
Some of the bilboes taken from the Spanish 
Armada are still kept in the Tower of London. 

Bile. It rouses my bile. It makes me angry 
or indignant. In Latin, biliosus (a bilious man) 
meant a choleric one. According to the 
ancient theory, bile is one of the humours of 
the body, black bile is indicative of melan- 
choly, and when excited abnormally bile was 
supposed to produce cholcr or rage. 

It raised my bile 

To see him so reflect their grief aside. 

Hood: Plea of Midsummer Fairies , stanza liv. 

Bilge-water. Stale dregs; bad beer; any 
nauseating drink. Slang from the sea; the 
bilge is the lowest part of a ship, and, as the 
rain or sea-water which trickles down to this 
part is hard to get at, it is apt to become foul 
and very offensive. 

In slang bilge is any worthless or sickly 
sentimental stulf. 

Bilk. Originally a word used in cribbage, 
meaning to spoil your adversary’s score, to 
balk him; perhaps the two words are mere 
variants. 

The usual meaning now is to cheat, to 
obtain goods and decamp without paying for 
them; especially to give a cabman less than his 
fare, and, when remonstrated with, give a false 
name and address. 

Bill. The nose, also called the beak. Hence, 
“Billy” is slang for a pocket-handkerchief. 

Bill, A. The draft of an Act of Parliament. 
When a Bill is passed and has received the 
royal sanction it becomes an Act. 

A public bill is the draft of an Act affecting 
the general public. 

A private bill is the draft of an Act for the 
granting of powers or benefits to a com- 
pany, corporation, or certain individuals. 

A private member’s bill is a public bill 
introduced by a Member of Parliament; 
members of Government and Opposition 
parties have this privilege. 

A true bill. Under the old judicial system 
before a case went to the criminal Assizes it 
was examined by the Grand Jury whose duty 
it was to decide whether or not there was 
sufficient evidence to justify a trial. If they 
decided that there was they were said “to find 
a true bill”; if, on the other hand, they decided 
there was not sufficient evidence they were said 
‘‘to ignore the bill.” Hence to find a true bill 
is a colloquial way of saying that after proper 
examination one can assert that such and such 
a thing is true. 

Bill of Attainder. A legislative Act, 
introduced and passed exactly like any other 
Bill, declaring a person or persons attainted. 
It was originally used only against offenders 
who fled from justice, but was soon perverted 
to the destruction of political opponents, etc. 
The last Bill of Attainder in England was that 


passed in 1697 for the attainting and execution 
of Sir John Fenwick for participation in the 
Assassination plot. 

Bill of exchange. An order transferring a 
named sum of money at a given date from the 
debtor (“drawee”) to the creditor (“drawer”). 
The drawee having signed the bill becomes the 
“acceptor,” and the document is then 
negotiable in commercial circles just as is 
money itself. 

Bill of fare. A list of the dishes provided, 
or which inay be ordered, at a restaurant, etc.; 
a menu. 

Bill of health. A document, duly signed by 
the proper authorities, to certify that when the 
ship set sail no infectious disorder existed in 
the place. This is a clean bill of health, and 
the term is frequently used figuratively. 

A foul bill of health is a document to show 
that the place was suffering from some infec- 
tion when the ship set sail. If a captain 
cannot show a clean bill, he is supposed to 
have a foul one. 

Bill of lading. A document signed by the 
master of a ship in acknowledgment of goods 
laden in his vessel. In this document he binds 
himself to deliver the articles in good condition 
to the persons named in the bill, certain 
exceptions being duly provided for. These 
bills are generally in triplicate — one for the 
sender, one for the receiver, and one for the 
master of the vessel. 

Bill of Pains and Penalties. A legislative 
Act imposing punishment (less than capital) 
upon a person charged with treason or other 
high crimes. It is like a Bill of Attainder (<?.v.), 
differing from it in that the punishment is never 
capital and that children are not affected. 

Bill of quantities. An abstract of the prob- 
able cost of a building, etc. 

Bill of Rights. A measure enacted in 
December 1689, embodying the rights of 
Parliament and the citizen, and ensuring the 
supreme authority of the King in Parliament 
after the success of the Revolution of 1688. 

Bill of sale. When a person borrows money 
and delivers goods as security, he gives the 
lender a “ bill of sale,” that is, permission to 
sell the goods if the money is not returned on 
a stated day. 

Bills of Mortality. In 1592, when a great 
pestilence broke out, the Company of Parish 
Clerks, representing 109 parishes in and around 
London, began to publish weekly returns of 
all deaths occurring; these later included births 
or baptisms, but continued to be known as 
“bills of mortality.” The term is now used 
for those abstracts from parish registers which 
show the births, deaths, and baptisms of the 
district. 

Within the Bills of Mortality means within 
the district covered by the 109 parishes men- 
tioned above. 

Bills receivable. Promissory notes, bills 
of exchange, or other acceptances held bv a 
person to whom the money stated is payable. 
Billabong (Austr.). A dried-up water course, 
from billa, a creek, and bong, to die. 



Billies and Charleys 


106 


Bird 


Billies and Charleys. Bogus medieval metal 
objects cast in lead or cock-metal (an alloy of 
lead and copper) and artificially aged with acid. 
Between 1847 and 1858 William Smith and 
Charles Eaton produced these objects literally 
by the thousand and planted them or had them 
planted on sites being excavated in and around 
London. Finally exposed as forgeries, the 
objects are affectionally known by the names of 
their manufacturers and today command a 
market as ingenious curiosities. 

Billingsgate. The site of an old passage 
through that part of the city w'all that protected 
London on the river side: the name derives 
from an early owner of property in the area. 
Billingsgate has been the site of a fish-market 
for many centuries, and its porters, etc., were 
famous for their foul and abusive language at 
least four hundred years ago. 

To talk Billingsgate. To slang; to use foul, 
abusive language; to scold in a vulgar, coarse 
style. • 

You are no better than a Billingsgate fish-fag. 

You are as rude and ill-mannered as the women 
of Billingsgate fish-market. 

Billingsgate pheasant. A red herring; a 
bloater. 

Billy. A policeman’s staff, which is a little 
bill or billet. 

A pocket-handkerchief (see Bill). “A 
blue billy ” is a handkerchief with blue ground 
and white spots. 

The tin in which originally Australian 
station-hands made tea and did most of their 
cooking. The word probably comes from 
billa, a creek — hence water. 

Billy Barlow. A street droll, a merry- 
andrew; so called from a half-idiot of the 
name, who fancied himself some great person- 
age. He was well known in the East of Lon- 
don in the early half of last century, and 
died in Whitechapel workhouse. Some of his 
sayings were really witty, and some of his 
attitudes really droll. 

Billy and Charley. See Forgeries. 

Billy boy. A bluflf-bowed, North Country 
coasting vessel of river- barge build. 

Billy goat. A male goat. From this came 
the term once common for a tufted beard — a 
“billy” — or goatee. 

Billycock Hat (biT i kok). A round, low- 
crowned, soft felt hat with a wide brim. One 
account says that the name is the same as 
“bully-cocked,” that is, cocked in the manner 
of a bully, or swell, a term which was applied 
to a hat in the description of an Oxford dandy 
in Amherst’s Terra Filius (1721). Another 
account says that it was first used by Billy 
Coke (Mr. William Coke) at the great shoot- 
ing parties at Holkham about 1850; and old- 
established hatters in the West End still call 
them ” Coke hats.” See also Bowler Hat. 
Bi-metallism (bi met' a lizm). The employ- 
ment for coinage of two metals, silver and gold, 
which would be of fixed relative value. 

Bimini. A legendary island of the Bahamas 
where the fountain of youth gave everlasting 
life to all who drank of it. From this legend 
there is an island named Bimini or Bernini. 


Binary Arithmetic (bi' nk ri). Arithmetic in 
which the base of the notation is 2 instead of 
10, a method suggested for certain uses by 
Leibnitz. The unit followed by a cipher 
signifies two, by another unit it signifies tliree, 
by two ciphers it signifies four, and so on. 
Thus, 10 signifies 2, 100 signifies 4; while 11 
signifies 3, etc. 

Binary Theory. A theory which supposes 
that all acids arc a compound of hydrogen with 
a simple or compound radicle, and all salts are 
similar compounds in which a metal takes the 
place of hydrogen. 

Bingham’s Dandies. See Regimental Nick- 
names. 

Binnacle (bin' akl). The case of the mariner’s 
compass, which used to be written bittacle , 
a corruption of the Port, bitdcola , from Lat. 
habitaculum , an abode. 

Birchin Lane. I must send you to Birchin 
Lane, i.e. whip you. The play is on birch (a 
rod), but the actual derivation of the name 
means something quite different — “the lane of 
the barbers.” 

A suit in Birchin Lane. Birchin Lane was 
once famous for all sorts of apparel; references 
to second-hand clothes in Birchin Lane are 
common enough in Elizabethan books. 

Passing through Birchin Lane amidst a camp-royal 
of hose and doublets, 1 took . . . occasion to slip 
into a captain’s suit — a valiant buff doublet stuffed 
with points and a pair of vehet slops scored thick 
with lace. — Middleton: Black Book (1604). 

Bird. This is the Middle English and Old 
English bricl (occasionally byrde in M.E.), 
which meant only the young of feathered 
Hying animals, foul , Joule, or fowel being the 
M.E. corresponding to the modern bird. 

An endearing name for a girl; this use of 
the word is connected with burd a 

poetic word for a maiden (cp. bride) which 
has long been obsolete, except in ballads. In 
modern slang “ bird ” has by no means the 
same significance as it is a rather contemptuous 
term for a young woman. 

Bird is also a familiar term for the shuttle- 
cock used in Badminton. 

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush ; a 
pound in the purse is worth two in the book. 

Possession is better than expectation. 

It is found in several languages: 

Italian : £ meglio aver oggi un uovo, che 
domani una gallina. 

French : Un tiens vaut, cc dit-on, mieux 
que deux tu 1’auras. 

L’un cst sur, l’autre ne Test pas. 

La Fontaine , V. iii. 

German: Ein Vogel in der Hand ist besser als 
zehn fiber Land. 

Besser ein Spatz in der Hand, als cin Storch 
auf dem Dache. 

Latin : Certa amittimus dum incerta petimus 
(Plautus). 

On the other side we have “Qui ne s’aven- 
ture, n’a ni cheval ni mule.” “Nothing 
venture, nothing gain.” “Use a sprat to 
catch a mackerel.” “ Chi non s’arriscnia non 
guadagna.” 




Bird of ill-omen 


107 


Bishop 


A bird of ill-omen. A person who is regarded 
as unlucky; one who is in the habit of bringing 
ill news. The phrase dates from the time of 
augury ( q.v .) in Greece and Rome, and even 
to-day many look upon owls, crows, and 
ravens as unlucky birds, swallows and storks 
as lucky ones. 

Ravens, by their acute sense of smell, can 
locate dead and decaying bodies at a great 
distance; hence, perhaps, they indicate death. 
Owls screech when bad weather is at hand, 
and as foul weather often precedes sickness, 
so the owl is looked on as a funeral bird. 

A bird of passage. A person who shifts from 
place to place; a temporary visitant, like a 
cuckoo, the swallow, starling, etc. 

A little bird told me so. From Eccles. x, 20; 
“Curse not the king, no not in thy thought, 
. . . for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, 
and that which hath wings shall tell the 
matter.” 

Birds of a feather flock together. Persons 
associate with those of a similar taste and 
station as themselves. Hence, of that feather , 
of that sort. 

1 am not of that feather to shake off 
My friend, when he must need me. 

Shakcspearl : Timon of Athens, I, i. 

Fine feathers make fine birds. See Fi at her. 

Old birds are not to be caught with chafT. 

Experience teaches wisdom. 

One beats the bush, another takes the bird. 

The workman docs the work, master makes the 
money. See Beat. 

The Arabian bird. The phoenix (q.v.). 

The bird of Juno. The peacock. Minerva's 
bird is either the cock or the owl; that of Venus 
is the dove. 

The bird of Washington. The American 
or bald-headed eagle. 

Thou has kept well the bird in thy bosom. 

Thou hast remained faithful to thy allegiance 
or faith. The expression was used of Sir 
Ralph Percy (slain in the battle of Hedgeley 
Moor in 1464) to express his having preserved 
unstained his fidelity to the House of Lan- 
caster. 

’Tis the early bird that catches the worm. 
It’s the energetic man who acts promptly that 
succeeds. 

To get the bird. To be hissed; to meet with 
a hostile reception. See Bn; Bird. 

To kill two birds with one stone. To effect 
two objects with one outlay of trouble. 

Birdie. A hole at golf which the player has 
completed in one stroke less than par (the 
official figure). Two strokes less is an eagle. 

Birds protected by Superstitions: 

Choughs were protected in Cornwall, 
because the soul of King Arthur was fabled to 
have migrated into a chough. 

The Hawk was held sacred by the Egyptians, 
because it was the form assumed by Ra or 
Horus; and the Ibis because it was said that 
the god Thoth escaped from the pursuit of 
Typhon disguised as an Ibis. 


Mother Carey’s Chickens, or Storm Petrels, 
are protected by sailors, from a superstition 
that they are the living forms of the souls of 
deceased sailors. See also under Mother. 

The Robin is protected, both on account of 
Christian tradition and nursery legend. See 
Robin Redbreast. 

The Stork is a sacred bird in Sweden, from 
the legend that it flew round the cross, crying 
Styrka , Styrka> when Jesus was crucified. 
See Stork. 

Swans are superstitiously protected in 
Ireland from the legend of the Fionnuala 
(daughter of Lir), who was metamorphosed 
into a swan and condemned to wander in lakes 
and rivers till Christianity was introduced. 
Moore wrote a poem on the subject. 

Birdcage Walk (St. James’s Park, London); 
so called from an aviary established there in 
the time of James I. 

Birler. In Cumberland, a birler is the master 
of the revels at a bidden-wedding, who is to 
see that the guests are well furnished with 
drink. To birl is to carouse or pour out 
liquor (O.E. byre Han). 

Birmingham Poet. John Frceth, who died at 
the age of seventy-eight in 1808. He was wit, 
poet, and publican, who not only wrote the 
words and tunes of songs, but sang them also, 
and sang them well. 

Birnam Wood (ber / nam). Birnam is a hill in 
Perthshire, 1 1 miles north-west of Perth, and 
formerly part of the royal forest known as 
Birnam Wood. 

Birthday Suit. He was in his birthday suit. 

Quite nude, as when born. 

Birthstones. See Precioi s Stones. 

Bis (Lat. twice). French and Italian audi- 
ences at theatres, concerts, etc., use this word 
as English audiences use “Encore.” 

Bis dat, qui cito dat (he gives twice who gives 
promptly) — i.e. prompt relief will do as much 
good as twice the sum at a future period 
( Publius Syr us Proverbs). 

Biscuit. The French form of the Lat. bis 
cocrunu i.e. twice baked. In English it was 
formerly spelt as pronounced — hisket — the 
irrational adoption of the foreign spelling 
without the foreign pronunciation is com- 
paratively modern. 

In pottery, earthenware or porcelain, after 
it has been hardened in the fire, but has not 
yet been glazed, is so culled. Porcelain groups 
so prepared at Sevres, and neither coloured nor 
glazed, were made fashionable in the 1750s 
by Mme de Pompadour, who had a great 
liking for them. 

Bise (bez). A keen dry wind from the north, 
sometimes with a bit of east in it, that is 
prevalent in Switzerland and the neighbouring 
parts. 

Bishop (O.E. biscop ; from Lat. episcopus , and 
Gr. episkopos , an inspector or overseer). One 
of the higher order of the Christian priesthood 
who presides over a diocese (either actually or 
formally) and has the power of ordaining and 


Bishop 


108 


Bitter End 


confirming in addition to the rights and duties 
of the inferior clergy. 

The name is given to one of the men in chess 
(formerly called the “archer ”), to the lady- 
bird ( see Bishop Barnabee, below), and to a 
drink made by pouring red wine (such as 
claret or burgundy), either hot or cold, on 
ripe bitter oranges, the liquor being sugared 
and spiced to taste. Similar drinks are 
Cardinal, which is made by using white wine 
instead of red, and Pope , which is made by 
using tokay. 

See also Boy Bishop. 

The bishop hath put his foot in it. Said of 
milk or porridge that is burnt, or of meat over- 
roasted. Tyndale says, “If the porage be 
burned to, or the mcate ouer rosted, we saye 
the byshope hath put his fote in the potte,” 
and explains it thus, “because the bishopes 
burn who they lust.” Such food is also said 
to be bis hopped. 

To bishop. There are two verbs, “to 
bishop,” both from proper names. One is 
obsolete and meant to murder by drowning: 
it is from a man of this name who, in 1831, 
drowned a little boy in Bethnal Green and 
sold his body to the surgeons for dissection. 
The other is slang, and means to conceal a 
horse’s age by “faking” his teeth. 

Bishop Barker. An Australian term used 
around Sydney for the largest glass of beer 
available, named from Frederick Barker 
(1808-82), Bishop of Sydney (consecrated 
1854) who was a very tall man. 

Bishop Barnabee. The May-bug, ladybird, 
etc. 

There is an old Sussex rhyme: — 

Bishop, Bishop Barnabee, 

Tell me when my wedding shall be; 

If it be to-morrow day, 

Ope your wings and fly away. 

Bishop in Partibus. See In Partibus. 

The Bishops’ Bible. See Bible, The English. 
Bissextile (bi seks' til). Leap-year (q.v.). We 
add a day to February in leap-year, but the 
Romans counted February 24tn twice. Now, 
February 24th was called by them “ dies 
bissextus ” ( sexto calendas Manias ), the 

sextile or sixth day before March 1st; and this 
day being reckoned twice (bis) in leap-year, 
which was called “ annus bissextus .” 

Bisson (bis' on). Shakespeare ( Hamlet , II, ii) 
speaks of bisson rheum (blinding tears), and in 
Coriolanus II, i, “What harm can your bisson 
conspectuities glean out of this character?” 
This is the M.E. bisen and O.E. bisene , pur- 
blind. The ultimate origin of the word is 
unknown, but there was an O.E. sten , power of 
seeing, and it may be from this with the 
privative prefix be as in behead. 

Bistonians (bis to' ni &nz). The Thracians; 
so called from Biston, son of Mars, who built 
Bistonia on the Lake Bistonis. 

Bistro. A small, unpretentious restaurant in 
France where a cheap meal may be obtained 
quickly. Derived from the Russian word 
“bistro,” meaning “quick”. When the Russian 
army entered Paris in 1815, the troops wanted 
large meals at a low price and were always in 
a hurry; whenever they entered a restaurant 


they shouted “Bistro! bistro!” and the French 
adopted the word. 

Bit. A piece, a morsel. Really the same word 
as bite (O.E. bitan), meaning a piece bitten off, 
hence a piece generally; it is the substantive 
of bite, as morsel (Fr. morceau) is of mordre. 

Also used for a piece of money, as a 
“threepenny-bit,” a “two-shilling bit,” etc. 

Bit is old thieves’ slang for money generally, 
and a coiner is known as a “bit-maker”; but 
in Spanish North America and the West Indies 
it was the name of a small silver coin represent- 
ing a portion, or “bit,” of the dollar. In 
U.S.A. a “bit” is 12A cents, half a quarter. 

In the 1920s bit was a contemptuous phrase 
for someone's girl, short for “bit of fluff.” 

Bit (of a horse). To take the bit in (or be- 
tween) one’s teeth. To be obstinately self- 
willed; to make up one’s mind not to yield. 
When a horse has a mind to run away, he 
catches the bit “between his teeth,” and the 
driver has no longer control over him. 

Bite. A cheat; one who bites us. “The 
biter bit” explains the origin. We say “ a 
man was bitten” when he “burns his fingers” 
meddling with something which promised well 
but turned out a failure. Thus, Pope says, 
“The rogue was bit,” he intended to cheat, 
but was himself taken in. “The biter bit” 
is the moral of /Esop’s fable called The Viper 
and the File', and Goldsmith’s mad dog, which, 
“for some private ends, went mad and bit 
a man,” but the biter was bit, for “The man 
recovered of the bite, the dog it was that 
died.” 

Bites and Bams. Hoaxes and quizzes; 
humbug. 

[His] humble efforts at jocularity were chiefly 
confined to . . . bite* and barns. — Scorr: Guy 
Mannering, iii. 

To bite one’s thumb at another. To insult or 
defy a man by putting the thumbnail into the 
mouth and clicking it against the teeth. It is 
difficult to see why this should have such 
provocative significance. 

Gregory: I will frown us I pass by; and let them 
take it as they list. 

Sampson: Nay, as they dare. I will bite my thumb 
at them: which is a disgrace to them, if they bear it. 

Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, I, i. 

To bite the dust, or the ground. To be 
struck from one’s horse, hence to be slain. 
The phrase “Another Redskin bit the dust” 
was used in R.A.F. circles, 1939-45, to indicate 
that an exploit just recounted was considered 
a “line” (q.v.); it originates from the fabulous 
Western Stories of Buffalo Bill and other heroes 
who slew incredible numbers of Red Indians 
and always survived. 

To bite the lip, indicative of suppressed 
chagrin, passion, or annoyance. 

To bite upon the bridle. To champ the bit, 
like an impatient or restless horse. 

Bitt. To bitt the cable is to fasten it round 
the “bitt” or frame made for the purpose, 
and placed in the fore part of the vessel. 

Bitter End, The. A outrance ; with relentless 
hostility; also applied to affliction, as, “she 
bore it to the bitter end,” meaning to the last 




Bittock 


109 


Black cap 


stroke of adverse fortune. “Bitter end” in 
this phrase is a sea term meaning the end of a 
rope, or that part of the cable which is “abaft 
the bitts.” When there is no windlass the 
cables are fastened to bitts, that is, wooden 
posts fixed in pairs on the deck; and when a 
rope is paid out until all of it is let out and 
no more remains, the end at the bitts — hence 
the bitter end, as opposed to the other end — is 
reached. In Captain Smith’s Seaman's Gram- 
mar (1627) we read; — 

A Bitter is but the turne of a Cable about the Bits, 
and veare it out by JittJe and little. And the Bitters 
end, is that part of the Cable doth stay within boord. 

However, we read in Prov. v, 4, “Her end 
is bitter as wormwood,” which may share the 
origin of the modern use of this phrase. 

Bittock. A little bit; -ock as a diminutive is 
preserved in bull-ock, hill-ock, butt-ock, etc. 
“A mile and a bittock” is a mile and a little 
bit. 

Black for mourning was a Roman custom 
( Juvenal , x, 245) borrowed from the Egyptians. 
Mutes at funerals who wore black cloaks, 
were sometimes known as the blacks , and 
sometimes as the Black Guards. Cp. Black- 
guards. 

I do pray yc 

To give me leave to live a little longer. 

You stand about me like my Blacks. 
Beaumont and Fli/ichfr: Monsieur Thomas , III, i. 

In several of the Oriental nations it is a 
badge of servitude, slavery, and low birth. 
Our word blackguard (ty.v.) seems to point to 
this meaning, and the Lat. niger, black, also 
meant bad, unpropitious . Sec under Colours 
for its symbolism, etc. 

Black as a crow, etc. Among the many 
common similes used in connexion with 
“black” are black as a crow, a raven, a 
raven’s wing, ink, hell, hades, death, the grave, 
your hat, a thundercloud, Egypt’s night, a 
Newgate knocker (q.v.) t ebemy, a wolf’s mouth, 
a coal-pit, coal, pitch, soot, etc. Most of these 
are self-explanatory. 

Beaten black and blue. So that the skin is 
black and blue with the marks of the beating. 

Black in the face. Extremely angry. The 
face is discoloured with passion or distress. 

Mr. Winkle pulled . . . till he was black in the 
face. — Die kins: Pickwick Papers. 

He swore himself black in the face . — Peter Pindar 
(Wolcott). 

I must have it in black and white, i.e. in plain 
writing; the paper being white and the ink 
black. 

To say black’s his eye, i.e. to vituperate, to 
blame. The expression. Black’s the white of 
his eye, is a modern variation. To say the eye 
is black or evil, is to accuse a person of an evil 
heart or great ignorance. 

I can say black’s your eye though it be grey. I 
have connived at this. — Beaumont and Fletcher; 
Love's Cure , II, i. 

To swear black is white. To swear to any 
falsehood no matter how patent it is. 

Black and Tans. Members of the irregular 
force enlisted in 1920 for service in Ireland as 
auxiliaries to the Royal Irish Constabulary. 
So called because their original uniform was 


the army khaki with the black leather accoutre- 
ments of the R.I.C. 

Black Act. An Act passed in 1722 (9 Geo. 
I, c. 22) imposing the death penalty for certain 
offences against the Game Laws, and specially 
directed against the Waltham deer-stealers, 
who blackened their faces and, under the 
name of Blacks , committed depredations in 
Epping Forest. This Act was repealed in 
1827. 

Black Art. The art practised by conjurors, 
wizards, and others who professed to have 
dealings with the devil; so called from the idea 
that necromancy (< q.v .) was connected with the 
Lat. niger , black. 

Wi’ deils, they say, L d safe’s! colleaguin’ 

At some black art. 

Burns: On Grose's Peregrinations. 

Black Assize. July 6th, 1577, when a putrid 
pestilence broke out at Oxford during the time 
of assize. The chief baron, the sheriff, and a 
large number of the Oxford gentry (some 
accounts say 300) died. 

Blackamoor. Washing the blackamoor white 

— i.e. engaged upon a hopeless and useless task. 
The allusion is to one of j4Esop’s fables so 
entitled. 

Black-balled. Not admitted to a club, 
or suchlike; the candidate proposed is not 
accepted as a member. In voting by ballot, 
those who accepted the person proposed used 
to drop a white or red ball into the box, but 
those who would exclude the candidate dropped 
into it a black one. 

Blackbeetles. See Misnomers. 

Blackbirds. Slang for Negro slaves or 
indentured labourers. Hence blackbirding , 
capturing or trafficking in slaves. Cp. Black 
Cattle. 

Black books. To be in my black books. In 
bad odour; in disgrace; out of favour. A 
black book is a book recording the names of 
those who are in disgrace or have merited 
punishment. Amherst, in his Terra Filins , or 
the Secret History of the Universities of Oxford 
(1726), speaks of the Proctor’s black book, 
and tells us that no one can proceed to a degree 
whose name is found there. 

Black Book of the Admiralty. An old navy 
code, said to have been compiled in the reign 
of Edward III. 

Black Book of the Exchequer. An official 
account of the royal revenues, payments, 

f ierquisites, etc., in the reign of Henry II. 
ts cover was black leather. There are two of 
them preserved in the Public Record Office. 

Black Brunswickers. A corps of 700 
volunteer hussars under the command of 
Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick, who 
had been deprived by Napoleon of his father’s 
dukedom. They were called “Black” from 
their uniform. 

Black cap. A small square of black cloth. 
In Britain this is worn by a judge when he 
passes sentence of death on a prisoner; it is 
part of the judge’s full dress, and is also worn 
on November 9th, when the new Lord 



Black Cattle 


110 


Black jack 


Mayor takes the oath at the Law Courts. 
Covering the head was a sign of mourning 
among the Israelites, Greeks, Romans, and 
Anglo-Saxons. Cp. II Sam. xv, 30. 

Black Cattle. Negro slaves. Cp. Black- 
birds, and see Black Ox. 

Black Country, The. The crowded manu- 
facturing district of the Midlands of which 
Birmingham is the centre. It includes 
Wolverhampton, Walsall, Redditch, etc., and 
has been blackened by its many coal and iron 
mines, and smoking factory shafts. 

Black Death. A plague which ravaged 
Europe in 1348-51; it was a putrid typhus, in 
which the body rapidly turned black. It 
reached England in 1349, and is said to have 
carried off twenty-live millions (one fourth of 
the population) in Europe alone, while in 
Asia and Africa the mortality was even greater. 

Black Diamonds. Coals. Coals and dia- 
monds are both forms of carbon. 

Black Dog. See Dog. 

A common name in the early 18th century 
for counterfeit silver coin. It was made of 
pewter double washed. “Black," as applied 
to bad money, was even then an old term. 

To blush like a black dog. See Dog. 

Black Doll. The sign of a marine store 
shop. The doll was a dummy dressed to 
indicate that cast-off' garments were bought. 
See Dolly shop. 

Black Douglas. Sec Douglas. 

Blackfellons. The name given to the 
aborigines of Australia. Their complexion is 
not really black, but a dark coffee colour. 

Black Flag. The pirate’s flag; the “Jolly 
Roger.” 

Pirates of the Chinese Sea who opposed the 
French in Tonquin were known as “the Black 
Flags,” as also were the troops of the Caliph 
of Bagdad because his banner— that of the 
Abbasides — was black, while that of the 
Fatimites was green and the Ommiades white. 
It is said that the black curtain which hung 
before the door of Ayeshah, Mohammed’s 
favourite wife, was taken for a national flag, 
and is still regarded by Mussulmans as the 
most precious of relics. It is never unfolded 
except as a declaration of war. 

A black flag is run up over a prison im- 
mediately after an execution has taken place 
within its walls. 

Blackfoot. A Scottish term for a match- 
maker, or an intermediary in love affairs; if he 
chanced to play the traitor he was called a 
white-foot . 

In the first half of the 19th century the name 
was given to one of the Irish agrarian secret 
societies: — 

And the Blackfoot who courted each focman’r, 
approach. 

Faith! ’tis hot-foot he’d fly from the stout Father 
Roach. 

Lover. 

Blackfeet. The popular name of two North 
American Indian tribes, one an Algonquin 


nation calling themselves the Siksika , and 
coming originally from the Upper Missouri 
district, the other, the Sihasapa. 

Black Friars. The Dominican friars; so 
called from their black cloaks. The district of 
this name in the City of London is the site of 
a large monastery of Dominicans who used to 
possess rights of sanctuary, etc. 

Black Friday. December 6th, 1745, the 
day on which the news arrived in London that 
the Pretender had reached Derby; also May 
10th, 1886, when widespread panic was caused 
by Overend, Gurney and Co., the brokers, 
suspending payment. 

Black Game. Heath-fowl; in contra-dis- 
tinction to red game, as grouse. The male 
bird is called a blackcock. 

Black Genevan. A black preaching gown, 
formerly used in many Anglican churches, and 
still used by Nonconformists. So called from 
Geneva, where Calvin preached in such a robe. 

Blackguards. The origin of this term, 
which for many years has been applied to low 
and worthless characters generally, and 
especially to roughs of the criminal classes, is 
not certainly known. It may be from the 
link-boys and torch-bearers at funerals, who 
were called by this name, or from the scullions 
and kitchen-knaves of the royal household 
who, during progresses, etc., had charge of the 
pots and pans and accompanied the wagons 
containing these, or from an actual body, or 
guard, of soldiers wearing a black uniform. 
The following extract from a proclamation of 
May 7th, 1683, in the Lord Steward’s office 
would seem to bear out the second sug- 
gestion: — 

Whereas ... a sort of vicious, idle, and master- 
less boyes and rogues, commonly called the Black 
guard, with divers other lewd and loose fellows . . . 
do usually haunt and follow the court. . . . Wee do 
hereby strictly charge . . . all those so called, . . . 
with all other loose idle . . . men . . . who have 
intruded themselves into his Majesty’s court and 
stables ... to depart upon pain of imprisonment. 

Black Hand. A lawless secret society, 
formerly active in the U.S.A.; most of the 
members were Italians. 

Black Hole of Calcutta. A dark cell in a 
rison into which Suraja Dowlah thrust 146 
ritish prisoners on June 20th, 1756. Next 
morning only twenty-three were found alive. 

The punishment cell or lock-up in barracks 
is frequently called the “black hole.” 

Black Horse. See Regimental Nicknames. 

Black jack. A large leather gotch, or can, 
for beer and ale, so called from the outside 
being tarred. 

He hath not pledged one cup, but looked most 
wickedly 

Upon good Malaga; flies to the black-jack still, 

And sticks to small drink like a water-rat. 

Middleton: The Witch I, i. 

In Cornwall the miners call blende or 
sulphide of zinc “Black Jack,” the occurrence 
of which is considered by them a favourable 
indication. Hence the saying, Black Jack 




Blacklead 


111 


Black Russia 


rides a good horse, the blende rides upon a lode 
of good ore. 

A blackjack is a small club weighted at the 
end, much used by gangsters for knocking 
people unconscious. 

The name Black Jack was given to the 
American general John Alexander Logan 
(1826-86) on account of his dark complexion 
and hair. It was also given to General 
Pershing (1860-1948) who commanded the 
Americans in World War I. 

Blacklead. See Misnomers. 

Black-leg. An old name for a swindler, 
especially in cards and races; now used almost 
solely for a non-union workman, one who 
works for less than trade-union wages, or one 
who continues to work during a strike. 

Black letter. The Gothic or German type 
which, in the early days of printing, was the 
type in commonest use. The term came into 
use about 1600, because of its heavy, black 
appearance in comparison with roman type. 

Black letter day. An unlucky day; one to 
be recalled with regret. The Romans marked 
their unlucky days with a piece of black 
charcoal, and their lucky ones with white chalk, 
but the allusion here is to the old liturgical 
calendars in which the saints’ days and festivals 
are distinguished by being printed in red. 

Black list. A list of persons in disgrace, or 
who have incurred censure or punishment; a 
list of bankrupts for the private guidance of 
the mercantile community. See Black Books. 

Blackmail (blak' mal). “Mail” here is the 
Old English and Scottish word meaning rent, 
tax, or tribute. In Scotland mails and duties 
are rents of an estate in money or otherwise. 
Blackmail was originally a tribute paid by the 
Border farmers to freebooters in return for 
protection or for immunity from molestation. 
Hence the modern signification — any pay- 
ment extorted by intimidation or pressure. 

Black Maria. The van, usually painted 
black, which conveys prisoners from the police 
courts to jail. 

Black market. A phrase that came into use 
during World War 11, to describe illicit dealing 
in rationed goods. 

Black Mass. This is the name given to the 
sacrilegious mass said by diabolists in which 
the Devil was invoked in place of God and 
various obscene rites performed in ridicule of 
the proper ceremony. 

Black Monday. Supposedly Easter Mon- 
day, April 14th, 1360. Edward 111 was with his 
army lying before Paris, and the day was so 
dark, with mist and hail, so bitterly cold and 
so windy, that many of his horses and men 
died. 

As a matter of fact April 14th, 1360, was a 
Tuesday; moreover Easter fell the previous 
week in that year. The Monday after Easter 
Monday is called “Black Monday,” in allusion 
to this fatal day. 

February 27th, 1865, w'as so called in 
Melbourne from a terrible sirocco from the 
NNW., which produced dreadful havoc 
between Sandhurst and Castlemain. 


Black money. See Black Dog, above. 

Black Monks. The Benedictines (q.v.). 

Black-out. From the day war was declared 
against Germany (Sept. 3rd, 1939) to the day 
hostilities ceased in Europe (May 8th, 1945) it 
was obligatory throughout Great Britain to 
shield windows at night so that no slightest 
gleam of light should be visible from without. 
By this means enemy raiding aircraft were 
deprived of the help of landmarks and were 
literally left in the dark as to where there were 
towns or villages. 

Black ox. The black ox has trod on his 
foot — i.e. misfortune has come to him. Black 
oxen were sacrificed to Pluto and other 
infernal deities. 

Black Parliament. This is the name often 
given to the Parliament that was opened in 
Nov., 1529, for the purpose of furthering 
Henry VIIPs seizing and consolidating his 
thefts of Church property. During the six 
and a half years of its existence it carried out 
the king’s arbitrary orders with a servility no 
parliament has shown before or since. 

Black Pope. See Pope. 

Black Prince. Edward, Prince of Wales 
(1330-76), eldest son of Edward III. Froissart 
says he was “styled black by terror of his 
arms” (c. 169). Strutt confirms this saying: 
“for his martial deeds surnamed Black the 
Prince” (Antiquities). Meyrick says there is 
not the slightest proof that he ever wore 
black armour, and, indeed, there is indirect 
proof against the supposition. Thus, there 
was a picture on the w'all of St. Stephen’s 
Chapel, Westminster, in which the prince was 
clad in gilt armour; Stothard says “the effigy 
is of copper gilt”; and in the British Museum 
is an illumination of Edward III granting to 
his son the duchy of Aquitaine, in which both 
figures are represented in silver armour with 
gilt joints. The first mention of the term 
“Black Prince ” occurs in a parliamentary 
paper of the second year of Richard II; so 
that Shakespeare has good reason for the use 
of the word in his tragedy of that king: — 
Brave Gaunt, thy father and myself 
Rescued the Black Prince, that young Mars of men, 
From forth the ranks of many thousand French. 

Richard II, II, iii. 

Black Rod. The short title of a Court 
official, who is styled fully “Gentleman Usher 
of the Black Rod,” so called from his staff of 
office — a black wand surmounted by a golden 
lion. He is the Chief Gentleman Usher of the 
Lord Chamberlain’s Department, and also 
Usher to the House of Lords and the Chapter 
of the Garter. 

Black Rood of Scotland. The “piece of 
the true cross” or rood , set in an ebony 
crucifix, which St. Margaret, the wife of King 
Malcolm Canmore, left to the Scottish nation 
at her death in 1093. It fell into the hands of 
the English at the battle of Neville’s Cross 
(1346), and was deposited in St. Cuthbert’s 
shrine at Durham Cathedral, but was lost at 
the Reformation. 

Black Russia. A name formerly given to 


Blacks 


112 


Blanket 


Central and Southern Russia, from its black 
soil. 

Blacks, The. See Black Horse, under Regi- 
mental Nicknames. 

Black Saturday. August 4th, 1621; so 
called in Scotland, because a violent storm 
occurred at the very moment the Parliament 
was sitting to enforce episcopacy on the people. 

Black Sea, The. Formerly called the 
Euxine (^.v.), this sea probably was given its 
present name by the Turks who, accustomed 
to the yFgean with its many islands and har- 
bours, were terrified by the dangers of this 
larger stretch of water which was destitute of 
shelter and was liable to sudden and violent 
storms and thick fogs. 

Black sheep. A disgrace to the family or 
community; a mauvais sujet. Black sheep are 
looked on with dislike by some shepherds, and 
are not so valuable as white ones. Cp. B£te 
noire. 

Black Shirts. The black shirt was the 
distinguishing garment worn by the Italian 
Fascists and adopted in England by their 
imitators. 

Blacksmith. A smith who works in black 
metal (such as iron), as distinguished from a 
whitesmith, who works in tin or other white 
metal. See Harmonious, Learned. 

Black Stone. The famous stone kissed by 
every pilgrim to the Kaaba (q.v.) at Mecca. 
Moslems say that it was white when it fell 
from heaven, but it turned black because of the 
sins of mankind. The stone was worshipped 
long before the time of Mohammed, and in the 
2nd century a.d. Maximus Tyrius spoke of 
Arabian homage to it, and in Persian legend it 
was an emblem of Saturn. 

Black strap. Bad port wine. A sailor’s 
name for any bad liquor. In North America, 
“Black-strap” is a mixture of rum and 
molasses; sometimes vinegar is added. 

The seething blackstrap was pronounced ready for use. 

Pinkerton: Molly Maguires (1882). 

Black swan. See Rara Avis. 

Blackthorn winter. The cold weather which 
frequently occurs when the blackthorn is in 
blossom. See Ice-saints. 

Black Thursday. February 6th, 1851; so 
called in Victoria, Australia, from a terrible 
bush-fire which then occurred. 

Black Tom. The Earl of Ormonde, Lord 
Deputy of Ireland in the reign of Elizabeth I; 
so called from his ungracious ways and 
“black looks.” 

Black velvet. A drink composed of 
champagne and Guinness stout in equal parts. 
It was the favourite drink of the Iron Chancel- 
lor, Bismarck. 

Black Watch. Originally companies em- 
ployed about 1725 by the English government 
to watch the Islands of Scotland. They 
dressed in a “black” or dark tartan. They 
were enrolled in the regular army as the 42nd 
regiment under the Earl of Crawford, in 1737. 
Their tartan is still called “The Black Watch 
Tartan.” The regiment is called The Black 
Watch (Royal Highland Regiment). They are 


easily recognized by the small bunch of red 
feathers, known as the red hackle, which they 
wear on their bonnets in lieu of a regimental 
badge. 

Blade. A knowing blade, a sharp fellow; 
a regular blade, a buck or fop. As applied to 
a man the word originally carried the sense of 
a somewhat bullying bravado, a fierce and 
swaggering man, and he was probably named 
from the sword that he carried. 

Bladud (bla' dud). A mythical king of Eng- 
land, father of King Lear. He built the city 
of Bath, and dedicated the medicinal springs 
to Minerva. Bladud studied magic, and, 
attempting to fly, fell into the temple of Apollo 
and was dashed to pieces. ( Geoffrey of 
Monmouth.) 

Blanch, To. A method of testing the quality 
of money paid in taxes to the King, invented 
by Roger of Salisbury in the reign of Henry I. 
44 shillings’ worth of silver coin was taken at 
random from the amount being paid. The 
Master of the Assaye then melted a pound’s 
weight of it and the impurities were skimmed 
off. If the resulting mass was then light, the 
tax-payer had to throw in enough pennies to 
balance the scale. 

Blanchefleur (blonsh' fler). The heroine of the 
Old French metrical romance, Flore et Blanche - 
fleur , which was used by Boccaccio as the basis 
of his prose romance, 11 Filocopo. The old 
story tells of a young Christian prince who 
falls in love with the Saracen slave-girl with 
whom he has been brought up. They are 
parted, but after many adventures he rescues 
her unharmed from the harem of the Emir of 
Babylon. It is a widespread story, and is 
substantially the same as that of Dorigen and 
Aurelius by Chaucer, and that of Dianora 
and Ansaldo in the Decameron. See Dorigen. 

Blank. To draw blank. See Draw. 

Blank cartridge. Cartridge with powder 
only, that is, without shot, bullet, or ball. 
Used in drill and in saluting. Figuratively, 
empty threats. 

Blank cheque. A cheque duly signed, but 
without specifying any sum of money; the 
amount to be filled in by the payee. 

To give a blank cheque is, figuratively, to 
give carte blanche (q.v.). 

Blank verse. Rhymeless verse in continu- 
ous decasyllabics with iambic or trochaic 
rhythm, first used in English by the Earl of 
Surrey in his version of the /line'ub about 1540. 
There is other unrhymed verse, but it is not 
usual to extend to such poems as Collins’s 
Ode to Evening, Whitman’s Leaves of Grass , or 
the vers libre of to-day, the name blank verse. 
Blanket. The wrong side of the blanket. An 
illegitimate child is said to come of the wrong 
side of the blanket. 

A wet blanket. A discouragement; a 
marplot or spoil-sport. A person who dis- 
courages a proposed scheme is a wet blanket. 
“Treated with a wet blanket,” discouraged. 
“A wet blanket influence,” etc. A wet 
blanket is used to smother fire, or to prevent 
one escaping from a fire from being burnt. 




Blanketeers 


113 


Bleed 


Blanketeers. The name given to a body of 
some 5,000 working men out of employment 
who assembled on St. Peter’s Field, Manches- 
ter, March 10th, 1817, and provided themselves 
with blankets intending to march to London, 
to lay before the Prince Regent a petition of 
grievances. Only six got as far as Ashbourne 
Bridge, when the expedition collapsed. 

In more recent times journalists have applied 
the name to similar bodies of unemployed, 
both in Great Britain and in America. 
Blarney. Soft, wheedling speeches to gain 
some end; flattery, or lying, with unblushing 
effrontery. Blarney is a village near Cork. 
Legend has it that Cormack Macarthy held 
its castle in 1602, and concluded an armistice 
with Carcw, the Lord President, on condition 
of surrendering the fort to the English garrison. 
Day after day his lordship looked for the 
fulfilment of the terms, but received nothing 
but soft speeches, till he became the laughing- 
stock of Elizabeth I’s ministers, and the dupe 
of the Lord of Blarney. 

To kiss the Blarney Stone. In the wall of 
the castle at Blarney, about twenty feet from 
the top and difficult of access, is a triangular 
stone containing this inscription: “Cormac 
Mac Carthy fortis me fieri fecit , a.d. 1446.” 
Tradition says that to whomsoever can kiss this 
is given the power of being able to obtain all 
his desires by cajolery. As it is almost 
impossible to reach, a substitute has been 
provided by the custodians of the castle, and 
it is said that this is in every way as efficacious 
as the original. 

Among the criminal classes of America “to 
blarney” means to pick locks. 

Blas£. Surfeited with pleasure. A man blase 
is one who has had his fill of all the pleasures 
of life and has no longer any appetite for 
any of them. The word comes from the 
French blaser , to exhaust with enjoyment. 
Blasphemy (bias' fe mi). The Greek from 
which this word comes means “evil speaking” 
but in English the term is limited to any 
impious or profane speaking of God or of 
sacred things. In Law blasphemy is con- 
stituted by the publication of anything ridicul- 
ing or insulting Christianity, or the Bible, or 
God in the shape of any Person of the Holy 
Trinity. At one time the courts held that 
unorthodox arguments constituted blasphemy. 
In 1930 a Bill was introduced to make prosecu- 
tions for blasphemy illegal, but it was dropped. 

Blasphemous Balfour. Sir James Balfour, 
the Scottish judge, was so called because of his 
apostasy. He died in 1583. He served, 
deserted, and profited by all parties. 

Blast. To strike by lightning; to cause to 
wither. The “blasted oak.’ This is the 
sense in which the word is used as an expletive. 

If it [the ghost] assume my noble father’s person, 

I’ll cross it, though it blast me. 

Shakespeare: Hamlet , I, i. 

The use of Blast! as an imprecation goes 
back to at least Stuart times; as an imprecatory 
adjective — “a blasted rascal” — it is employed 
even by the elegant Chesterfield. 

In full blast. In full swing; “all out.” As 
one might say, “The speakers at Hyde Park on 


Saturday were in full blast.” A metaphor 
from the blast furnace in full operation. 

Blatant Beast. In Spenser’s Faerie Queene “a 
dreadful fiend of gods and men, ydrad”; the 
type of calumny or slander. He was begotten 
of Cerberus and Chimaera, and had a hundred 
tongues and a sting; with his tongues he 
speaks things “most shameful, most un- 
righteous, most untrue”; and with his sting 
“steeps them in poison.” Sir Calidore 
muzzled the monster, and drew him with a 
chain to Faerie Land. The beast broke his 
chain and regained his liberty. The word 
“blatant” seems to have been coined by 
Spenser, and he never uses it except as an 
epithet for this monster, who is not mentioned 
till the twelfth canto of the fifth book. It is 
probably derived from the provincial word 
blate , meaning to bellow or roar. 

Blayney’s Bloodhounds. See Regimental 
Nicknames. 

Blaze. A white mark in the forehead of a 
horse, and hence a w hite mark on a tree made 
by chipping ofif a piece of bark and used to 
serve as an indication of a path, etc. The 
word is not connected with the blaze of a fire, 
but is from Icel. blesi, a white star on the 
forehead of a horse, and is connected with 
Ger. blasZy pale. 

To blaze a path. To notch trees as a clue. 
Trees so notched arc called in America 
“blazed trees,” and the white wood shown 
by the notch is called a blaze. 

To blaze abroad. To noise abroad. 
“Blaze” here is the Icel. blasa , to blow, from 

0. Teut. blcesan, to blow, and is probably 
ultimately the same as Lat. Jlare. Dutch 
blazcn and Ger. blasen are cognate words. 
See Blazon. 

He began to publish it much and to blaze abroad 
the matter . — Mark i, 45. 

Blazer. A brightly coloured jacket, used in 
boating, cricket, and other summer sports. 
Originally applied to those of the Lady 
Margaret crew (Camb.), whose boat jackets 
are the brightest possible scarlet. 

A blazer is the red flannel boating jacket worn by 
the Lady Margaret, St. John’s College, Cambridge 
Boat Club . — Daily News, August 22nd, 1889. 

Blazon. To blazon is to announce by a blast 
or blow (see Blaze abroad, above) of a trum- 
pet, hence the Ghost in Hamlet says. 

But this eternal blazon must not be 
To ears of flesh and blood, 

1. e. this talk about eternal things, or things 
of the other world, must not be made to per- 
sons still in the flesh. Knights were, an- 
nounced by the blast of a trumpet on itheir 
entrance into the lists; the flourish was 
answered by the heralds, who described aloud 
the arms and devices borne by the knight: 
hence, to blazon came to signify to “describe 
the charges borne”; and blazonry is “the 
science of describing or deciphering arms.” 
See Heraldry. 

B16 de mars. See Bloody Mars. 

Bleed. To make a man bleed is to make him 

S ay dearly for something; to victimize him. 
loney is the life-blood of commerce. 



Bleed 


114 


Blind 


It makes my heart bleed. It makes me very 
sorrowful. 

Bleeding Heart, Order of the. One of the 
many semi-religious orders instituted in the 
Middle Ages in honour of the Virgin Mary, 
whose “heart was pierced with many sorrows.” 

Bleeding of a dead body. It was at one 
time believed that, at the approach of a 
murderer, the blood of the murdered body 
gushed out. If in a dead body the slightest 
change was observable in the eyes, mouth, feet, 
or hands, the murderer was supposed to be 
present. The notion still survives in some 
places. 

Bleeding the monkey. The same as 
Sucking the Monkey . See Monkey. 

Blefuscu (ble fas' kQ). An island in Swift’s 
Gulliver's Travels . In describing it Swift 
satirized France. 

Blemmyes (blem' iz). An ancient nomadic 
Ethiopian tribe mentioned by Roman writers 
as inhabiting Nubia and Upper Egypt. They 
were fabled to have no head, their eyes and 
mouth being placed in the breast. Cp. 
Acephalites; Caora. 

Blenheim Palace (blen' im). The mansion 
near Woodstock, Oxfordshire, given by the 
nation to the Duke of Marlborough, for his 
victory over the French at Blenheim, Bavaria, 
in 1704. 

The building was completed in 1716, and 
the architect was Sir John Vanbrugh. A 
certain Abel Evans suggested the following 
epitaph for him : 

Lie heavy on him. Earth, for he 

Laid many a heavy load on thee. 

and of all his buildings Blenheim w as probably 
the heaviest. 

The Palace has given its name to a small 
dog, the Blenheim Spaniel , a variety of King 
Charles’s Spaniel, and to a golden-coloured 
apple, the Blenheim Orange. 

Blenheim Steps. Going to Blenheim Steps 
meant going to be dissected, or unearthed from 
one’s grave. There was an anatomical school, 
over which Sir Astley Cooper presided, at 
Blenheim Steps, Bond Street. Here “re- 
surrectionists” were sure to find a ready mart 
for their gruesome wares, for which they 
received sums of money varying from £3 to 
£10, and sometimes more. 

Bless. He has not a sixpence to bless himself 
with,.!.?, in his possession; wherewith to make 
himself happy. This expression may perhaps 
be traced to the time when coins were marked 
with a deeply indented cross; silver is still 
used by gipsy fortune-tellers and so on for 
crossing one’s palm for good luck. 

Blessing. Among Greek and R.C. ecclesi- 
astics the thumb and first two fingers, repre- 
senting the Trinity, are used in ceremonial 
blessing in the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The thumb, 
being strong, represents the Father ; the long 
or second finger, Jesus Christ ; and the first 


finger, the Holy Ghost , which proceedeth 
from the Father and the Son. 

Blighter. Slightly contemptuous but good- 
natured slang for a man, a fellow; generally 
with the implication that he is a bit of a scamp 
or, at the moment, somewhat obnoxious. 
Blighty. Soldiers’ slang for England or the 
homeland — came into popular use during 
World War I, but was well known to soldiers 
w'ho had served in India long before. It is the 
Urdu Vilayati or Bilati, an adjective meaning 
provincial, removed at some distance; hence 
adopted by the military for England. 

Blimey. One of the numerous class of mild 
oaths or expletives whose real meaning is little 
understood by those who use them. This is a 
corruption of “blind me! ’’ 

Blimp, Colonel. The term “blimp” was 
originally applied to a captive observation 
balloon, numbers of which were anchored 
along the front line in World War L “Colonel 
Blimp” was invented by David Low, the 
cartoonist, to embody the elderly, dyed-in- 
the-wool Tory, mouthing stale political 
cliches and opposing any change in any 
shape. Colonel Blimp is usually depicted 
with white walrus moustache and naked save 
for a towel wrapped round him, as his great 
ideas occur in the Turkish bath. 

Blind. A pretence; something ostensible to 
conceal a covert design. The metaphor is 
from w'indow'-blinds, which prevent outsiders 
from seeing into a room. 

As an adjective blind is one of the many 
euphemisms for “drunk” — short for “blind 
drunk,” so drunk as to be unable to dis- 
tinguish things clearly. 

l andlady, count the law in. 

The day is near the duwin; 

Ye’re a* blind drunk, boys, 

And I’m but jolly foil. 

In engineering a tube, valve or aperture of 
which one end which would be expected to be 
open is in fact closed, either as called for in 
the design or unintentionally through faulty 
workmanship, is described as blind. Cp. 
Blind Alley. 

Blind as a bat. A bat is not blind, but if 
disturbed and forced into the sunlight it 
cannot see, and blunders about. It sees best 
in the dusk. 

Blind as a beelle. Beetle* arc not blind, but 
the dor-beetle or hedge-chafer, in its rapid 
(light, will occasionally bump against one as 
if it could not see. 

Blind as a mole. Moles are not blind, but 
as they work underground, their eyes are very 
small. There is a mole found in the south of 
Europe, the eyes of which are covered by 
membranes, and probably this is the animal 
to which Aristotle refers when he says, “ the 
mole is blind.” 

Blind as an owl. Owls are not blind, but 
being night birds, they see better in partial 
darkness than in the full light of day. 

Blind leaders of the blind. Those who give 
advice to others in need of it, but who arc, 
themselves, unfitted to do so. The allusion 
is to Matt . xv, 14. 




Blind 


115 


Blood 


To go it blind. To enter upon some 
undertaking without sufficient forethought, 
inquiry, or preparation. 

When the devil is blind. A circumlocution 
for “never.” For similar phrases see Never. 

You came on his blind side. His tender- 
hearted side. Said of persons who wheedle 
some favour out of one who yielded because he 
was not awake to his own interest. 

Blind alley, A. A cul de sac , an alley with 
no outlet. It is blind because it has no “ eye ” 
or passage through it. 

Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green. See 

Beggar's Daughter. There is a public- 
house of this name in the Whitechapel Road. 

Blind Department, The. In Post Office 
parlance, a colloquialism for the “Returned 
Letter Office ” (formerly known also as the 
“Dead Letter Office”), the department where 
letters with incoherent, insufficient, or illegible 
addresses are examined, and, if possible, put 
upon the proper track for delivery. The clerk 
in charge was called “The Blind Man.” 

One of these addresses was “ Santlings, Hilewite *’ 
(St. Helen’s, Isle of Wight). Dr. Brewer had one 
from France addressed, “A. Mons. E. C'obham, 
brasseur, Angleterre,” and it reached him. Another 
address was “Haselfeach in no fanushere” (Ha/.el- 
bcach, Northamptonshire). 

Blind ditch. One which cannot be seen. 
Here blind means obscure, or concealed, as 
in Milton’s “In the blind mazes of this 
tangled wood” {Com us, 181). 

Blind Half-hundred, The. An old name for 
the 50th Regiment of Foot. Many of them 
suffered from ophthalmia in the Egyptian 
campaign of 1801. The 3rd. 50th and 97th 
now form The Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal 
Kent Regiment. 

Blind Harper, The. John Parry, who died 
in 1782. He lived at Ruabon, and published 
collections of Welsh music. 

Blind Harry. A Scottish minstrel who died 
about 1492 and left in MS. an epic on Sir 
William Wallace which runs to 1 1,858 lines. 

Blind hedge. A ha-ha (</.v ). 

Blind Magistrate, The. Sir John Fielding, 
knighted in 1761, was born blind. Sitting at 
Bow Street, he was in the commission of the 
Peace for Middlesex, Surrey, Essex, and the 
liberties of Westminster. 

Blind Man. See Blind Department. 

Blindman’s buff. A very old-established 
name for an old and well-known children's 
game. “Buff” here is short for “buffet,” 
and is an allusion to the three buffs or pats 
which the “blind man” gets when he has 
caught a player. 

Blindinan’s holiday. The hour of dusk, 
when it is too dark to work, and too soon to 
light candles. The phrase was in common use 
at least as early as Elizabethan times. 

What will not blind Cupid doe in the night, which 
is his blindman’s holiday. 

T. Nashe: Iu'ntcn Stuffe (1599). 

Blindmen’s Dinner, The. A dinner unpaid 
for, the landlord being made the victim. 


Eulenspiegel (q.v.) being asked for alms by 
twelve blind men, said, “Go to the inn; eat, 
drink, and be merry, my men; and here are 
twenty florins to pay the bill.” The blind men 
thanked him; each supposing one of the others 
had received the money. Reaching the inn, 
they told the landlord of their luck, and were 
at once provided with food and drink to the 
amount of twenty florins. On asking for 
payment, they all said, “Let him who received 
the money pay for the dinner ”; but none had 
received a penny. 

Blindworm. See Misnomers. 

Blind spot. This is a small area not 
sensitive to light, situated on the retina where 
the optic nerve enters. The term is used 
figuratively to describe some area in one’s 
discernment where judgment and under- 
standing are lacking. 

Block. To block a Bill. In parliamentary 
language means to postpone or prevent the 
passage of a Bill by giving notice of opposition, 
and thus preventing its being taken after ten 
o’clock at night. 

A chip of the old block. See Chip. 

To cut blocks with a razor. See Cut. 

Blockhead. A stupid person; one without 
brains. The allusion is to a wig-makcr’s 
dummy or fete a perruque , on which he fits his 
wigs. 

Your wit will not so soon out as another man's 
will; 'tis strongly wedged up in a blockhead. 

Shakespeare: CorioUwus , III, iii. 

Blockhouscrs. The oldest Negro Regiment in 
the U.S. Army, nicknamed from its gallant 
assault on a blockhouse in the Spanish- 
American War. 

Blondin (blon' din). One of the most famous 
acrobats of all time. He was a Frenchman 
(1824-1897), his real name being Jean 
Francois Gravelet. He began performing at 
the age of five and acquired considerable 
repute by his aerial tricks. His great feat, 
however, was performed in 1859 when he 
crossed the Niagara Falls on a tight-rope. 
This he did several times, embellishing the 
performance by wheeling a barrow, twirling an 
umbrella, etc. He made a fortune by this show, 
and soon after his return settled in England, 
where he gave performances until too old to 
do so. 

Blood. In figurative use, blood, being treated 
as the typical component of the body inherited 
from parents and ancestors, came to denote 
members of a family or race as distinguished 
from other families and races, hence family 
descent generally, and hence one of noble or 
gentle birth, which latter degenerated into a 
buck, or aristocratic rowdy. 

The gallants of those days pretty much resembled 
the bloods of ours. 

Goldsmith: Reverie at thS Boar's Head Tavern. 

A blood horse. A thoroughbred; a horse of 
good parentage or stock. 

A prince of the blood. One of thf Royal 
Family. See Blood Royal. 

Bad blood. Anger, quarrels; as, Jt stirs 
up bad blood. It provokes to ill-feeling and 
contention. 



Blood 


116 


Bloody hand 


Blood and iron policy — le a policy requiring 
war as its instrument. The phrase was coined 
by Bismark in 1886. 

Blood is thicker than water. Relationship 
has a claim which is generally acknowledged. 
It is better to seek kindness from a kinsman 
than from a stranger. Water soon evaporates 
and leaves no mark behind; not so blood. So 
the interest we take in a stranger is thinner and 
more evanescent than that which we take in a 
blood relation. The proverb occurs in Ray’s 
Collection (1672) and is probably many years 
older. 

Blood money. Money paid to a person for 
giving such evidence as shall lead to the con- 
viction of another; money paid to the next of 
kin to induce him to forgo his “right” of 
seeking blood for blood, or (formerly) as 
compensation for the murder of his relative; 
money paid to a person for betraying another, 
as Judas was paid blood-money for his betrayal 
of the Saviour. 

Blood relation. One in direct descent from 
the same father or mother; one of the same 
family stock. 

Blue blood. See Blue. 

In cold blood. Deliberately; not in the 
excitement of passion or of battle. 

It makes one’s blood boil. It provokes 
indignation and anger. 

It runs in the blood. It is inherited or exists 
in the family or race. 

It runs in the blood of our family. — Sheridan: 
The Rivals , IV, ii. 

Laws wTitten in blood. Demades said that 
the laws of Draco were written in blood, 
because every offence was punishable by 
death. 

My own flesh and blood. My own children, 
brothers, sisters, or other near kindred. 

The blood of the Grograms. Taffeta 
gentility; make-believe aristocratic blood. 
Grogram is a coarse silk taffeta stiffened with 
gum (Fr. gros groin). 

Our first tragedian was always boasting of his 
being “an old actor,” and was full of the “blood 
of the Grograms.” 

C. Thomson: Autobiography , p. 200. 

Blood, toil, tears and sweat. The words 
used by Winston Churchill in his speech to the 
House of Commons, May 1 3th, 1940, on be- 
coming Prime Minister. ‘T would say to the 
House, as I have said to those who have joined 
this Government. I have nothing to offer but 
blood, toil, tears and sweat.” In his Anatomie 
of the World John Donne says, “Mollifie it 
with thy teares, or sweat, or blood.” 

The field of blood. Aceldama (Acts i, 19), 
the piece of ground purchased with the blood- 
rttonev of our Saviour, and set apart for the 
burial of strangers. 

The field of the battle of Cannae, where 
Hannibal defeated the Romans, 216 b.c\, is 
also so called. 

Young blood. Fresh members; as, “To 
bring young blood into the concern.” The 
term with the article, “a young blood,” 
signifies a young rip, a wealthy young aristo- 
crat of convivial habits. 


Blood Royal. The royal family or race; 
also called simply “the blood,” as “a prince 
of the blood.” 

Man of blood. Any man of violent temper. 
David was so called in II Sam. xvi, 7 (Rev. Ver.), 
and the Puritans applied the term to Charles I. 

Bloodhound. Figuratively, one who follows 
up an enemy with pertinacity. Bloodhounds 
used to be employed for tracking wounded 
game by the blood spilt; subsequently they 
were employed for tracking criminals and 
slaves who had made their escape, and were 
hunters of blood, not hunters by blood. The 
most noted breeds are the African, Cuban, and 
English. 

Bloodstone. See Heliotrope. 

Bloodsucker. An animal like the leech, or 
the fabled vampire which voraciously sucks 
blood and which, if allowed, will rob a person 
of all vitality. Hence, a sponger, a parasite, 
or one intent upon another's material ruin. 

See Regimental Nicknames. 

Bloody. Several fanciful derivations have 
been found for this expletive, once considered 
more vulgar than recent usage suggests. The 
most romantic of these was that the word is a 
corruption of “By our Lady'’; another school 
of thought imagined that it came from an 
association of ideas with “bloods” or 
aristocratic rowdies. There is little doubt, 
however, that its original meaning was, as it 
implies, “covered with blood.” Partly owing 
to its unpleasant, violent, and lurid associa- 
tions, it easily became applied as an intensive in 
a general w^ay. 

It was bloody hot walking to-day. — S wift: Journal 
to Stella , letter xxii. 

As a title the adjective has been bestowed on 
Otto II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, 
973-983, and the English Queen Mary I (1553- 
58) has been called “Bloody Mary” on 
account of the religious persecutions which 
took place in her reign. 

Bloody Angle. A section of the battlefield 
of Spottsylvania Court House, Virginia, where 
on May 11 and 12, 1864, the armies of Grant 
and Lee fought one of the bloodiest battles of 
the Civil War. 

Bloody Assizes. The infamous assizes held 
by Judge Jeffreys in 1685. Three hundred 
were executed, more whipped or imprisoned, 
and a thousand sent to the plantations for 
taking part in Monmouth’s rebellion. 

Bloody Bill. The 31 Henry VIII, c. 14, 
which denounced death, by hanging or burn- 
ing, on all who denied the doctrine of transub- 
stantiation. 

Bloody-bones. A hobgoblin; generally 
“Raw-head and Bloody-bones.” 

Bloody Eleventh. See Regimental Nick- 
names. 

Bloody hand. A term in old Forest Law 
denoting a man whose hand was bloody, and 
was therefore presumed to be the person 
guilty of killing the deer, shot or otherwise slain, 
in heraldry , the “bloody hand” is the badge 




Bloody Mars 


117 


Blow 


of a baronet, and the armorial device of Ulster. 
In both uses it is derived from the O’Neills. 
See Ulster, Red Hand of, and Hand, the 
Red. 

Bloody Mars. A local English name for a 
variety of wheat. It is a corruption of the 
French ble de mars , March grain. 

Bloody-nose. The popular name of the 
common wayside beetle, Timarcha lavigata , 
which can emit a reddish liquid from its joints 
when disturbed. 

Bloody Pots, The. See Kirk of Skulls. 

Bloody Thursday. The Thursday in the first 
week in Lent, that is, the day after Ash Wed- 
nesday, used to be so called. 

Bloody Wedding. The massacre of St. 
Bartholomew in 1572 is so called because it 
took place during the marriage feast of Henri 
(afterwards Henri IV) and Marguerite 
(daughter of Catherine de’ Medici). 

Bloomers. A female costume consisting of a 
short skirt and loose trousers gathered closely 
round the ankles, so called from Mrs. Amelia 
Bloomer, of New York, who tried in 1849 to 
introduce the fashion. Nowadays “bloomers” 
is usually applied only to the trousers portion 
of the outfit. 

Blooming. A meaningless euphemism for the 
slang epithet “bloody.” 

Bloomsbury Group. A group of friends of 
intellectual distinction who were so called 
because they met frequently at two houses in 
Bloomsbury, London, where the son and 
daughter (the latter became Virginia Woolf) 
of Leslie Stephen lived. Among the best 
known of the group were Virginia and Leo- 
nard Woolf, J. M. Keynes, G. Lytton Strachey, 
E. M. Forster, and David Garnett. The 
beginnings of their association can be traced 
to Cambridge, where Strachey, Forster, and 
Woolf were contemporaries. Although of 
diverse callings, they were united by intellectual 
and artistic interests, and most of them were 
influenced by the work of the Cambridge 
philosopher G. Fi. Moore. The group was 
prominent from about 1904 until World War 

Blouse. A short smock-frock of a blue colour 
worn commonly by French workmen. Bleu 
is French argot for manteau. 

A garment called hliaur or bliuus, which appears 
to have been another name for a surcoat. ... In 
this bliaus wc may discover the modern French 
blouse, a . . . smock-frock. 

Blanche: British Costume. 
The word is more commonly used for a 
woman’s light bodice worn with a skirt. 

Blow. The English spelling blow represents 
three words of different origin, viz . — 

(1) To move as a current of air, to send a 
current of air from the mouth, etc., from the 
O.E. blawan , cognate with the Mod. Ger. 
blahen and Lat. Jtare. 

(2) To blossom, to flourish, from O.E. 
blowan , cognate with bloom , Ger. bluhen , and 
Lat. florere ; and 

(3) A stroke with the fist, etc., which is 


most likely from an old Dutch word, blau , to 
strike. 

In the following phrases, etc., the numbers 
refer to the group to which each belongs. 

A blow out (1). A “tuck in,” or feast 
which swells out the paunch. Also applied 
to the sudden flattening of a pneumatic tyre 
when the inner tube is punctured. 

At one blow (3). By one stroke. 

Blow me tight (1). A mild oath or expletive. 
If there’s a soul, will give me food, or find me in 
employ. 

By day or night, then blow me tight! (he was a vulgar 
boy). 

Ingoldsby Legends: Misadventures at Margate. 

You be biowed (1). A mild imprecation or 
expletive. 

Don’t link yourself with vulgar folks, who’ve got no 
fixed abode, 

Tell lies, use naughty words, and say “ they wish 
they may be blow’d! ” 

Ingoldsby Legends , ibid. 

To blow one’s top (1). To lose one’s temper. 

Blown (1), in the phrase “fly-blown,” is a 
legacy from pre-scientific days, when natura- 
lists thought that maggots were actually blown 
on to the meat by blow-flies. 

Blown (1). Phrase applied to an internal 
combustion engine in which the fuel is forced 
into the cylinders with the aid of a super- 
charger, or blower. 

Blown herrings (1). Herrings bloated, 
swollen, or cured by smoking; another name 
for bloaters. 

Blown upon (1). Made the subject of a 
scandal. His reputation has been blown upon , 
means that he has been the subject of talk 
wherein something derogatory was hinted at or 
asserted. Blown upon by the breath of 
slander. 

Blow-point (I). A game similar to pea- 
puffing, only instead of peas small wooden 
skewers or bits of pointed wood were puffed 
through the tube. The game is alluded to by 
Florio, Strutt, and several other authors. 

It will soon blow over (1). It will soon be no 
longer talked about; it will soon come to an 
end, as a gale or storm blows over or ceases. 

I will blow him up sky high (1). Give him 
a good scolding. The metaphor is from 
blasting by gunpowder. 

The first blow is half the battle (3). Well 
begun is half done. Pythagoras used to say: 
“The beginning is half "the whole.” “ Ineipe , 
Di midi uni Jacti est caposse ” (Ausonius). 
“ Dimidium facti , qui coepit , habet ” (Horace). 
“Ce n'est que le premier pas qui cotile.” \ ; 

To blow a cloud (1). To smoke a cigar, pipe, 
etc. This term was in use in Queen Eliza- 
beth I’s reign. 

To blow a trumpet (1). To sound a trumpet. 
But when the blast of war blows in our ears, 
Then imitate the action of the tiger. dk 

Henry V , III, i. 

To blow great guns (1). Said of a wind 
which blows so violently that its noise resembles 
the roar of artillery. 


Blow 


118 


Blue 


To blow hot and cold (1). To be inconsistent. 
The allusion is to the fable of a traveller who 
was entertained by a satyr. Being cold, the 
traveller blew his lingers to warm them, and 
afterwards blew his hot broth to cool it. The 
satyr, in great indignation, turned him out of 
doors, because he blew both hot and cold 
with the same breath. 

To blow off steam (1). To get rid of super- 
fluous temper. The allusion is to the forcible 
escape of superfluous steam no longer required. 

To blow the gaff (1). To let out a secret; 
to inform against a companion; to “peach.” 
Here##//' is a variant of gab {q.v.). 

To blow up (1). To inflate, as a bladder; 
to explode, to burst into fragments; to censure 
severely. See i will blow him up, above . 

Without striking a blow. Without coming 
to a contest. 

Blower. A common term in the Army for 
wireless and telephone apparatus. Also term 
in motor sport used for a supercharger; a 
supercharged engine is said to be “blown.” 

Blowzelinda (blou ze lin' da). A common 
18th-century name applied to a rustic girl. 
See Gay’s Shepherd's Week : — 

Sweet is my toil when Blowzelind is near; 

Of her bereft, ’tis winter all the year. . . . 
Come, Blowzelinda, ease thy swain’s desire, 

My summer’s shadow and my winter’s fire. 

Pastoral, i. 

A blowze was a ruddy fat-cheeked wench: — 
Sweet blowze, you are a beauteous blossom, sure. 

Shakespeare: Titus Amtronkus , IV, ii. 

Blowzy'. Coarse, red-faced, bloated; applied 
to women. The word is allied to blush, 
blaze, etc. 

A face made blowzy by cold and damp. 

George Ei.iot: Silas Marner . 

Blubber (M.E. bloberen, probably of imitative 
origin). To cry like a child, with noise and 
slavering; cp. slobber , slaver . 

I play the boy, and blubber in thy bosom. 

Otway: Venice Preserved, i, i. 

The word is also used attributivcly, as in 
blubber-lips, blubber-cheeks, fat flabby checks, 
like whalers blubber. 

Bluchers (bloo' kerz). Half boots; so called 
after Field-Marshal von Blucher (1742-1819). 

Bludger (Austr.). Originally (19th century) 
a pimp, but later any scrounger or one taking 
profit without risk. In World War I to bludge 
on the flag meant to slack in the army. The 
opprobrious adjective bludging is now widely 
used. 

Bludsoe, Jim. The hero of a poem by the 
American John Hay. He was the engineer of 
d steamboat on the Mississippi who, when the 
vessel caught fire, sacrificed himself to save 
his passengers. 

Blue or Azure is the symbol of Divine eternity 
and human immortality. Consequently, it is 
a mortuary colour — hence its use in covering 
the comns of young persons. When used for 
the garment of an angel, it signifies faith and 
fidelity. As the dress of the Virgin, it indicates 
modesty. In blazonry , it signifies chastity, 
loyalty, fidelity, and a spotless reputation, and 


seems frequently to represent silver; thus wc 
have the Blue Boar of Richard III, the Blue 
Lion of the Earl of Mortimer, the Blue Swan 
of Henry IV, the Blue Dragon , etc. 

The Covenanters wore blue as their badge, 
in opposition to the scarlet of royalty. They 
based their choice on Numb . xv, 38, “Speak 
unto the children of Israel, and bid them that 
they make them fringes in the borders of their 
garments . . . and that they put upon the 
fringe ... a ribband of blue.” 

See Colours for its symbolisms. 

A blue, or a “true blue,” descriptive of 
political opinions, lor the most part means a 
Tory, for in most counties the Conservative 
colour is blue. See Blue-coat School; 
Blue Stocking. 

Also, at Oxford and Cambridge, a man who 
has been chosen to represent his ’Varsity in 
rowing, cricket, etc. Some sports, such as 
hockey and lacrosse, come in a lower category, 
and for these a “half blue” is awarded. 

A dark blue. An Oxford man or Harrow 
boy. 

A light blue. A Cambridge man or Eton 
boy. 

The Oxford Blues. Sec Regimental Nick- 
names. 

True blue will never stain. A really noble 
heart will never disgrace itself. The reference 
is to blue aprons and blouses worn by butchers, 
which do not show blood-stains. 

True as Coventry blue. The reference is to a 
blue cloth and blue thread made at Coventry, 
noted for its permanent dye. 

’Twas Presbyterian true blue ( Hudibras , I, i). 
The allusion is to the blue apron which some 
of the Presbyterian preachers used to throw 
over their preaching tub before they began to 
address the people. In one of the Rump 
songs we read of a person going to hear a 
lecture, and the song says — 

Where I a tub did view. 

Hung with an apron blue; 

Twas the preacher’s I conjecture. 

To look blue. To be depressed. 

He was blue in the face. He had made too 

great an clfort; was breathless and exhausted 
either bodily or with suppressed anger or 
emotion. 

A priest of the blue bag. A cant name for a 
barrister. See Lawyer’s Bag. 

Bluebeard. A bogy, a merciless tyrant, in 
Charles Perrault’s Contes dtt Temps (1697). 
The tale of Bluebeard (Chevalier Raoul) is 
known to every child, but many have specu- 
lated on the original of this despot. Some say 
it was a satire on Henry VIII, of wife-killing 
notoriety. Dr. C. Taylor thinks it is a type 
of the castle lords in the days of knight- 
errantry. Holinshed calls Gilles de Retz, 
Marquis dc Laval, the original Bluebeard; he 
lived at Machccoul, in Brittany, was accused 
of murdering six of his seven wives, and was 
ultimately strangled and burnt in 1440. 

Campbell has a Bluebeard story in his Tales 
of the Western Highlands , called The Widow 
and her Daughters ; it is found also in Strapola’s 




Blue 


119 


Blue 


Nights , the Pentamerone , and elsewhere. Cp. 
the Story of the Third Calender in the Arabian 
Nights. 

Bluebeard’s key. When the blood stain 
of this key was rubbed out on one side, it 
appeared on the opposite side; so prodigality 
being overcome will appear in the form of 
meanness; and friends, over-fond, will often 
become enemies. 

Blue billy. A blue neckcloth with white 
spots. See Billy. 

Blue Bird of Happiness. This is an idea 
elaborated from Maeterlinck’s play of that 
name, first produced in London in 1910. It 
tells the story of a boy and girl seeking “the 
blue bird’’ which typifies happiness. This 
fancy of Maeterlinck’s introduced for a time 
the phrase into English. 

Blue blood. H igh or noble bi rth or descent ; 
it is a Spanish phrase, and refers to the fact 
that the veins shown in the skin of the pure- 
blooded Spanish aristocrat, whose race had 
Mififered no Moorish or other admixture, were 
more blue than those of persons of mixed, and 
therefore inferior, ancestry. 

Blue Boar. A public-house sign; the 
cognisance of Richard JII. In Leicester is a 
lane in the parish of St. Nicholas, called the 
Bine Boar Lane , because Richard slept there 
the night before the battle of Bosworth Field. 

Blue Bonnets, or Blue Caps. The High- 
landers of Scotland, or the Scots generally. 
So called from the blue woollen cap at one 
time in very general use in Scotland, and still 
far from uncommon. 

He is there, too, . . . and a thousand blue caps more. 

Henry IV , Ft. II, II, iv. 

Blue Books. In England, parliamentary 
reports and official publications presented by 
the Crown to both Houses of Parliament. 
Each volume is in folio, and is covered with a 
blue wrapper. 

Short Acts of Parliament, etc., even without 
a wrapper, come under the same designation. 

The official colour of' Spain is red, of Italy green, 
of France yellow , of Germany and Portugal, white. 

In America the “Blue Books” (like the British 
“Red Books”) contain lists of those persons who 
hold government appointments. 

Bluebottle. A constable, a policeman; 
also, formerly, an almsman, or anyone whose 
distinctive dress w'as blue. 

You proud varJets, you need not be ashamed to 
wear blue when your master is one of your fellows. 

Dekkhr: The Hottest Whore (1602). 

Shakespeare makes Doll Tearshcet denounce 
the beadle as a “blue-bottle rogue.’’ 

I’ll have you soundly swinged for this, you blue- 
bottle rogue. — S hakespf.arl:: Henry IV, Ft . II, v, 4. 

Blue Caps. See Blue Bonnets. 

Blue-coat School. Christ’s Hospital is so 
called because the boys there wear a long blue 
coat girded at the loins with a leather belt. 
Some who attend the mathematical school are 
termed King's boys , and those who constitute 
the highest class are Grecians. The school 
was founded by Edward VI the year of his 
death. It was moved from London to 
Horsham in 1902. 


Blue-eyed Maid. Minerva, the goddess of 
wisdom, is so called by Homer. 

Now Prudence gently pulled the poet’s ear. 

And thus the daughter of the Blue-eyed Maid, 

In flattery’s soothing sounds, divinely said, 

“ O Peter, cldest-bom of Phoebus, hear.” 

Peitr Pindar : A Falling Minister. 

Blue fish, The. The shark, technically 
called Carcharinus glaucus, the upper parts of 
which are blue. This should be distinguished 
from blue fish, an edible fish found in American 
waters. 

Blue gown. A harlot. Formerly a blue 
gown was a dress of ignominy for a prostitute 
who had been arrested and placed in the House 
of Correction. 

The bedesmen, to whom the kings of 
Scotland distributed certain alms, were also 
known as blue gowns, because their dress was 
a cloak or gown of coarse blue cloth. The 
number of these bedesmen was equal to that of 
the king’s years, so that an extra one was 
added at every returning birthday. These 
paupers were privileged to ask alms through- 
out Scotland. See Gaberlunzie. 

Blue Guards. So the Oxford Blues, now 
called the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues), 
were called during the campaign in Flanders 
(1742-5). 

Blue Hen’s Chickens. The nickname for 
inhabitants of the State of Delaware. It is 
said that in the Revolutionary War a certain 
Captain Caldwell commanded, and brought to 
a high state of efficiency, a Delaware regiment. 
He used to say that no cock could be truly 
game whose mother was not a blue hen. 
Hence the Delaware regiment became known 
as “Blue Hen’s Chickens,’* and the name was 
transferred to the inhabitants of the State 
generally. 

Bluejackets. Sailors; so called because the 
colour of their jackets is blue. 

Blue John. A blue fluor-spar, found in the 
Blue John mine near Castleton, Derbyshire; 
so called to distinguish it from the Black Jack, 
an ore of zinc. Called John from John Kirk, 
a miner, who first noticed it. 

Blue laws. This is a phrase used in U.S.A. 
to describe laws which interfere with personal 
freedom, tastes and habits, such as sumptuary 
laws and those regulating private morals. The 
name was first given to several laws of this 
kind said to have been imposed in the colonies 
of Connecticut and New Haven in the early 
18th century. 

Blue-light Federalists. A name given to 
those Americans who were believed to have 
made friendly (“blue-light”) signals to 
British ships in the war of 1812. 

Bluemantle. One of the four English 
Pursuivants (q.v.) attached to the College of 
Arms, or Heralds’ College, so called from his 
official robe. 

Blue Monday. The Monday befipre Lent, 
spent in dissipation. It is said that dissipation 
gives everything a blue tinge. Hence "blue” 
means tipsy. 

Blue moon. Once in a blue moon. Very 
rarely indeed. 


Blue 


120 


Blurb 


Blue murder. To shout blue murder. 
Indicative more of terror or alarm than of real 
danger. It appears to be a play on the French 
exclamation morbleu ; there may also be an 
allusion to the common phrase “blue ruin.” 

Blue-noses. The Nova Scotians. 

“Pray, sir,” said one of my fellow-passengers, 
“can you tell me the reason why the Nova Scotians 
are called 4 Blue-noses ’? ” 

“It is the name of a potato,” said I, “which they 
produce in the greatest perfection, and boast to be 
the best in the world. The Americans have, in 
consequence, given them the nickname of Bine Noses." 

Haliburton: Sam Slick. 

Blue Peter* A flag with a blue ground and 
white square in the centre, hoisted as a signal 
that the ship is about to sail. It takes its 
narhe from a “repeater”, a naval flag hoisted 
to indicate that a signal has not been read and 
should be repeated, this llag having been used 
with that meaning originally. 

Blue Ribbon. The blue ribbon is the Garter, 
the badge of the highest and most coveted 
Order of Knighthood in the gift of the British 
Crown; hencp the term is used to denote the 
highest honour attainable in any profession, 
Walk of life, etc. The blue ribbon of the 
Church is the Archbishopric of Canterbury, 
that in law is the office of Lord Chancellor. 
See Cordon Bleu. 

The Blue Ribbon of the Turf. The Derby. 
Lord George Bentinck sold his stud, and found 
to his vexation that one of the horses sold won 
the Derby a few months afterwards. Be- 
wailing his ill-luck, he said to Disraeli, “Ah! 
you don’t know what the Derby is.” “Yes, 
I do,” replied Disraeli; “it is the blue ribbon 
of the turf.” 

A weal from a blow has had the term “blue 
ribbon” applied to it, because a bruise turns 
the skin blue. 

“Do you want a blue ribbon round those white 
sides of yours, you monkey? ” answered Orestes: 
“because, if you do, the hippopotamus hide hangs 
ready outside.” — Kingsley: Hypatia , ch. iv. 

Blue Ribbon Army. The Blue Ribbon 
Army was a teetotal society founded in the 
early eighties of the last century by Richard 
Booth in the U.S.A., and soon extending to 
Great Britain. The members were distin- 
guished by wearing a piece of narrow blue 
ribbon in the buttonhole of the coat. From 
this symbol the phrase Blue Ribbon Army 
came in time to be applied to the body of 
teetotallers generally, whether connected with 
the original society or not. In 1883 the 
society took the name of Gospel Temperance 
Union. 

Blue Shirts. A force of Irish Volunteers 
taken to Spain by General O’Duffy to help 
General Franco in the civil war, 1936-9. 

Blue Squadron. One of the three divisions 
of the British Fleet in the 17th century. See 
Admiral of the Blue. 

Blue-stocking. A female pedant. In 1400 
a society of ladies and gentlemen was formed 
at Venice, distinguished by the colour of their 
stockings, and called della calza . It lasted till 
1590, when it appeared in Paris and was the 


rage among the lady savants. From France it 
came to England in 1780, when Mrs. Mon- 
tague displayed the badge of the Bas-bleu club 
at her evening assemblies. Mr. Benjamin 
Stillingfleet was a constant attendant of the 
soirees. The last of the clique was Miss 
Monckton, afterwards Countess of Cork, who 
died 1840, but the name has survived. 

Blues. A traditional form of American 
Negro folk-song, of obscure origin, but 
expressive of the unhappiness of slaves in the 
Deep South. Usually consists of 12 bars, 
made up of three 4-bar phrases in 4/4 time. 
Both the words and accompaniment (which 
form an antiphonal) should be improvised, 
though many famous Blues have been written 
down; the subject matter is usually love, the 
troubles which have beset the singer, or a 
nostalgic longing for home. The best-known 
Blues singer was Bessie Smith (d. 1936). 

Blucy. The Australian name for bluc- 
coloured blankets in wide use in the 19th 
century. From this the word became 
attached to the swag which tramps carried in 
their blankets. In Tasmania a bluey was a 
blue shirt-like garment issued to convicts. 

Bluff, To. In Poker and other card-games, to 
stake on a bad hand. This is a dodge 
resorted to by players to lead an adversary to 
throw up his cards and forfeit his stake rather 
than risk them against the “bluffer.” 

So, by extension, to bluff is to deceive by 
pretence. To call someone’s bluff is to un- 
mask his deception. 

Bluff Harry or Hal. Henry VIII, so called 
from his blulf and burly manners (1491-1547). 

Blunderbore. A nursery-talc giant, brother of 
Cormoran, who put Jack the Giant Killer to 
bed and intended to kill him; but Jack thrust 
a billet of wood into the bed, and crept under 
the bedstead. Blunderbore came with his 
club and broke the billet to pieces, but was 
much amazed at seeing Jack next morning at 
breakfast-time. When his astonishment was 
abated he asked Jack how he had slept. 
“Pretty well,” said the Cornish hero, “but 
once or twice l fancied a mouse tickled me 
with its tail.” This increased the giant’s 
surprise. Hasty pudding being provided for 
breakfast, Jack stowed away such huge stores 
in a bag concealed within his dress that the 
giant could not keep pace with him. Jack 
cut the bag open to relieve “the gorge,” and 
the giant, to affect the same relief, cut his 
throat and thus killed himsell. 

Blunderbuss. A short gun with a large bore. 
(Dut. donderbus , a thunder-tube.) 

Blunt. Ready money; a slang term, the origin 
of which is unknown. 

To get a Signora to wafble a song. 

You must fork out the blunt with a haymaker’s 
prong! 

Hood: A Tale of a Trumpet. 

Blurb. A paragraph printed on the dust- 
wrapper or in the preliminary leaves of a book 
purporting to tell what the book is about, 




Blurt Out 


121 


Board 


written by the publisher and usually of a 
laudatory nature. The phrase was coined by 
Gelett Burgess, the American novelist (1866- 
1951), about the year 1914, when he defined it 
as “self-praise: to make a noise like a 
publisher. 

Blurt Out, To. To tell something from 
impulse which should not have been told. To 
speak incautiously, or without due reflection. 
Florio makes the distinction, to “Hurt with 
one’s fingers, and blurt with one’s mouth.” 


ledge prepared for popular use. None but 
Buddha himself must take the responsibility of 
giving out occult secrets, and he died while 
preparing for the general esoteric knowledge. 

The bristled Baptist boar. So Dryden 
denominates the Anabaptists in his Hind and 
Panther. 

The bristled Baptist boar, impure as he [the ape]. 
But whitened with the foam of sanctity, 

With fat pollutions filled the sacred place, 

And mountains levelled in his furious race. 

Ft. I, 43. 


Blush. At first blush, at first sight, on the first 
glance. The word comes from the Middle 
English blusche , a gleam, a glimpse, a momen- 
tary view. This sense of the word dropped 
out of use in the 16th century, except in the 
above phrase. 

To hide a blisful blusch of the bright sunne. 

Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight. 

At the first blush we thought they had been shippes 
come from France. — Hakluyt's Voyages , 111. 

To blush like a blue dog. See Dog. 

To put to the blush. To make one blush 
with shame, annoyance, or confusion. 

Bo. You cannot say Bo! (or Boo!) to a Goose. 
A proverbial saying, so far traced back to the 
16th century, implying timidity, lack of 
courage. 

Boa. Pliny ( Natural History , VIII, xiv) says 
the word is from Lat. bos (a cow), and arose 
from the belief that the boa sucked the milk 
of cows. 

Boadicea (boadise'a). Much has been 
written about this heroic queen of the ancient 
Britons, who should correctly be called 
Boudicca. She was the wife of Prasutagus, 
king of the Iceni, on whose death the Romans 
seized the territory, scourged the widow and 
ill-treated the daughters. Infuriated and 
crying for vengeance, Boadicea raised a revolt 
of the Iceni and Trinobantes, burned Camu- 
lodunum and Londinium (Colchester and 
London) but was eventually defeated (a.d. 62) 
by Suetonius Paulinus. Rather than fall 
into the hands of the Romans she took poison 
and died. 

Boanerges (bo a ner' jez). A name given to 
James and John, the sons of Zcbedee, because 
they wanted to call down “lire from heaven” 
to consume the Samaritans for not “receiving” 
the Lord Jesus. It is said in the Bible to 
signify “sons of thunder,” but “sons of 
tumult” would probably be nearer its meaning 
( Luke ix, 54; see Mark iii, 17). 

Boar, The. Richard 111. See Blue Boar. 

The wretched, bloody, and usurping boar 

That spoiled your summer fields and fruitful vines: 

. . . This foul swine . . . lies now . . . 

Near to the town of Leicester, as we learn. 

Shaklspearl: Richard III , V, iii. 

Buddha and the boar. A Hindu legend 
relates that Buddha died from eating boar’s 
flesh drie$i. The third avatar of Vishnu was in 
the form Of a boar, and in the legend “dried 
boar’s flesh” probably typifies esoteric know- 


The Calydonian boar. In Greek legend, 
CEneus, king of Calydon, in .Etolia, having 
neglected to sacrifice to Artemis, was punished 
by the goddess sending a ferocious boar to 
ravage his lands. A band of heroes collected 
to hunt the boar, which was wounded by 
Atalanta, and killed by Meleager. 

The wild boar of the Ardennes. Guillaume, 
Comte dc la Marck (d. 1485), so called 
because he was fierce as the wild boar, which 
he delighted to hunt. Introduced by Scott in 
Quentin D nr ward. 

Boar’s Head. The Old English custom of 
serving this as a Christmas dish is said to 
derive from Norse mythology. Freyr, the 
god of peace and plenty, used to ride on the 
boar Gullinbursti: his festival was held at 
Yuletide ( winter solstice ), when a boar was 
sacrificed to his honour. 

The head was carried into the banqueting 
hall, decked with bays and rosemary on a gold 
or silver dish, to a flourish of trumpets and 
the songs of the minstrels. Many of these 
carols arc still extant (see Carol), and the 
following is the first verse of that sung before 
Prince Henry at St. John’s College, Oxford, 
at Christmas, 1607: — 

The Boar is dead. 

So, here is his head; 

What man could have done more 
Than his head off to strike, 

Meleager like 

And bring it as I do before? 


The Boar’s Head Tavern. Made immortal 
by Shakespeare, this used to stand in East- 
cheap. Destroyed in the Great Fire, it was 
rebuilt, and in the 18th century an annual 
Shakespeare dinner was held there until 1784. 
It w'as demolished soon afterwards. 


Board. In all its many senses, this word is 
ultimately the same as the O.E. bord , a board, 
plank, or table; but the verb, to board , 
meaning to attack and enter a ship by force, 
hence to embark on a ship, and figuratively 
to accost or approach a person, is short for* 
FT. a horde, from aborder^ which itself is from 
the same w ord, bord , as meaning the side of a 
ship. In starboard , larboard \ on board and 
overboard the sense “the side of a ship” is 
still evident. 

I’ll board her, though she chide as loud 

As thunder. 


Taming of the Shrew , I, ii. 


A board. A council which sits at a board or 
table; as “Board of Directors,” “Board of 
Guardians,” “School Board,” “Board of 
Trade,” etc. 



Board 


122 


Bobby-sox 


The Board of Green Cloth. A Court that 
used to form part of the English Royal House- 
hold' and was presided over by the Lord 
Steward. It was so called because it sat at a 
table covered with green cloth. It existed 
certainly in the reign of Henry I, and probably 
earlier. It is now concerned with the royal 
domestic arrangements, under the authority 
of the Master of the Household. 

Board of Green Cloth, June 12th, 1681. Order 
was this day given that the Maides of Honour 
should have cherry-tarts instead of gooseberry-tarts, 
it being observed that cherrys are threepence a pound. 

In modern slang the board of green cloth 
is the card-table or billiard-table. 

Board School. An undenominational ele- 
mentary school managed by a School Board as 
established by the Elementary Education Act 
in 1870, and supported by a parliamentary 
grant collected by a rate. When the School 
Boards were abolished by the Education Act 
of 1902 and the County Councils were given 
their duties, the name Board School was 
dropped and the schools became known as 
County or Council Schools. 

He is on the boards. He is an actor by 
profession. 

To sweep the board. To win and carry off 
all the stakes in a game of cards, or all the 
prizes at some meeting. 

To board. To feed and lodge together, is 
taken from the custom of the university 
members, etc., dining together at a common 
table or board. 

Boarding school. A school where the 
pupils are fed and lodged as well as taught. 
The term is sometimes applied to “prison.” 
I am going to boarding school, going to prison 
to be taught good behaviour. 

Board wages. Wages paid to servants 
which includes the cost ot their food. Ser- 
vants “on board wages” provide their own 
victuals. 

Board, in many sea phrases, is all that space 
of the sea which a ship passes over in tacking. 

To go by the board. To go for good and all, 
to be quite finished with, thrown overboard. 
Here board means the side of the ship. 

To make a good board. To make a good 
or long tack in beating to windward. 

To make a short board. To make a short 
tack. “To make short boards,” to tack 
frequently. 

To make a stern board. To sail stern fore- 
most. 

To run aboard of. To run foul of another 
ship. See also Aboard. 

Boast of England, The. A name given to 
“Tom Thumb” or “Tom-a-lin” by Richard 
Johnson, who in 1599 published a “history 
of this ever-renowned soldier, the Red Rose 
Knight, surnamed The Boast of England, 
showing his honourable victories in foreign 
countries, with his strange fortunes in Faery 
Land, and how he married the fair Angliterra, 
daughter of Prestcr John. . . .” 


Boatswain (bo' s&n). The officer who has 
charge of the boats, sails, rigging, anchors, 
cordage, cables, and colours. Swain is the 
old Scand. sveintu a boy, servant, attendant; 
hence the use of the word in poetry for a 
shepherd and a sweetheart. 

The merry Bosun from his side 
His whistle takes. 

Dryden: Albion and Albanius. 

Boaz. See Jachin. 

Bob. Slang for a shilling. The origin of the 
word is unknown. It dates from about 1800. 

Bob. A term used in campanology de- 
noting certain changes in the long peals rung 
on bells. A bob minor is rung on six bells, 
a bob triple on seven, a bob major on eight, a 
bob royal on ten, and a bob maximus on twelve. 

To give the bob to anyone. To deceive, to 
balk. Here bob is from M.E. bobben, O.Fr. 
bober , to befool. 

With that, turning his baeke, he smiled in his 
sleeve, to .see hovve kindely hee had given her the 
bobbe.— Greenl: Mcnaphon (1589). 

To bob for apples or cherries is to try and 
catch them in the mouth while they swing 
backwards and forwards. Bab here means to 
move up and down buoyantly; hence, the 
word also means “to curtsy,” as in the 
Scottish song, If it isn’t weel bobbit we’ll bob 
it again, signifying, if it is not well done we’ll 
do it again. 

To bob for eels is to fish for them with a bob , 
which is a bunch oflobworms like a small mop. 
Fletcher uses the word in this sense:-- 

What, dost thou think I fish without a bait, wench 7 

I bob for tools: he is mine own, I have him. 

I told thee what would tickle him like a trout; 

And, as I cast it, so 1 caught him daintily. 

Kule a Wife and Have a Wife , II, iv. 

To bob means also to thump, and a bob is a 
blow. 

He that a fool doth very wisely hit. 

Doth very foolishly, although he smart, 

Not to seem senseless of the bob. 

As You Like It , II, vii. 

Bear a bob. Be brisk. The allusion is to 
bobbing for apples, which requires great agility 
and quickness. 

A bob wig. A wig in which the bottom 
locks are turned up into bobs or short curls. 

Bobbed hair is hair that has been cut short — 
docked — like a bobtailed horse’s tail. 

Bob’s your uncle. In other words, “That’ll 
be all right; you needn’t bother any more.” 
The origin of the phrase is unknown; it was 
certainly in use in the 1880s, but no satisfactory 
explanation of who “Bob” was has been 
brought forward. 

Pretty bobbish. Pretty well (in spirits and 
health), from bob , as in the phrase bear a bob 
above. 

Bobby. A policeman; this slang word is 
derived from Sir Robert Peel, and became 
popular through his having in 1829 remodelled 
the Metropolitan Police Force. Cp. Peeler. 

Bobby-sox. Long white cotton socks worn 
up to just below the knee or as anklets with 



Bobadil 


123 


Bceotia 


thick cuffs. They were affected by teen-age 
girls in the LJ.S.A. in the early 1940s; hence 
the noun Bobby-soxers, young women who 
achieved notoriety by unruly demonstrations 
at the public appearances of fashionable 
crooners. 

Bobadil. A military braggart of the first water. 
Captain Bobadil is a character in Ben Jonson’s 
Every Man in his Humour. This name was 
probably suggested by Bobadilla, first governor 
of Cuba, who sent Columbus home in chains. 

Bobbery, as Kicking up a bobbery, making a 
squabble or tumult, kicking up a shindy. It is 
much used in India, and most probably comes 
from Hind, bapre, “Oh, father!” a common 
exclamation of surprise. 

Boccus, King. See Sidrac. 

Bockland or Bookland. Land severed from 
the folkland {i.e. the common land belonging 
to the people) and held either communally 
or in severally, and converted into a private 
estate of perpetual inheritance by a written 
boc (or book), i.e. a deed. 

The place-name Buckland is derived from 
this word. 

Bodkin. A word of uncertain origin, originally 
signifying a small dagger. In the early years 
of Elizabeth l’s reign it was applied to the 
stiletto worn by ladies in the hair. In the 
Seven Champions , Castria took her silver 
bodkin from her hair, and stabbed to death 
first her sister and then herself, and it is 
probably with this meaning that Shakespeare 
used the word in the well-known passage from 
Hamlet , 

When he himself might his quietus make 
With a bare bodkin. 

To ride bodkin. To ride in a carriage be- 
tween two others, the accommodation being 
only for two. There is no ground for the 
suggestion that bodkin in this sense is a contrac- 
tion of bodykin , a little body. The allusion to 
something so slender that it can be squeezed in 
anywhere is obvious. 

If you can bodkin the sweet creature into the coach. 

Gibbon. 

There is hardly room between Jos and Miss Sharp, 
who are on the front seat, Mr. Osborne sitting bodkin 
opposite, between Captain Dobbin and Amelia. 

Thackeray: Vanity Fair. 

Bodle. A Scotch copper coin, worth about 
the sixth of a penny; said to be so called from 
Bothwcll, a mint-master. 

Fair play, he car’d na deils a boddle. 

Burns: Tam o’ Shantcr , 110. 

To care not a bodle is equivalent to our 
English phrase, “Not to care a farthing.” 

Bodleian Library (bod lc' an) (Oxford). So 
called because it was restored by Sir Thomas 
Bodley in 1597. It was originally established 
in 1455 and formally opened in 1488, but it fell 
into neglect in the course of the next century. 
It is now, in size and importance, second only 
to the library of the British Museum, and is 
one of the five libraries to which a ^opy of all 
copyright books must be sent. 

Body (O.E. bodig). 

B.D. — 5 


A compound body, in old chemical phrase- 
ology, is one which has two or more simple 
bodies or elements in its composition, as 
water. 

A regular body, in geometry, means one of 
the five regular solids, called “Platonic” 
because first suggested by Plato. See Pla- 
tonic Bodies. 

The heavenly bodies. The sun, moon, stars, 
and so on. 

The seven bodies (of alchemists). The seven 
metals supposed to correspond with the seven 
“planets.” 


Planets. Metals. 

1. Apollo, or the Sun .. Gold. 

2. Diana, or the Moon . . Silver. 

3. Mercury .. .. .. Quicksilver. 

4. Venus . . . . . . Copper. 

5. Mars . . . . . . Iron. 

6. Jupiter Tin. 

7. Saturn . . . . . . Lead. 


To body forth. To give mental shape to an 

ideal form. 

Imagination bodies forth 
The forms of things unknown. 

Shakespeare: Midsummer Night’s Dream, V, i. 

To keep body and soul together. To sustain 
life; from the notion that the soul gives life. 
The Latin anima , and the Greek psyche , mean 
both soul and life; and, according to Homeric 
mythology and the common theory of 
“ghosts,” the departed soul retains the shape 
and semblance of the body. See Astral 
Body. 

Body colour. Paint containing body or 
consistency. Water-colours are made opaque 
by mixing with white lead. 

Body corporate. An aggregate of indivi- 
duals legally united into a corporation. 

Body politic. A whole nation considered 
as a political corporation; the state. In Lat., 
totum corpus reipublicce. 

Bodyline. A cricket term for fast bowling 
at the batsman instead of at the wicket, with 
the object of forcing him to give a catch while 
defending his person. The accurate but 
dangerous bowling of Larwood and Voce won 
the Ashes (q.v.) for England in Australia in 
1932-33, but precipitated a crisis which 
caused a change in the rules of the game. 

Body-snatcher. One who snatches or pur- 
loins bodies, newly buried, to sell them to 
surgeons for dissection. The first instance 
on record was in 1777, when the body of Mrs. 
Jane Sainsbury was “resurrected” from the 
burial ground near Gray's Inn Lane. The 
“resurrection men” (q.v.) were imprisoned 
for six months. 

By a play on the words, a bum-bailiff was so 
called, because his duty was to snatch or 
capture the body of a delinquent. 

Beotia (be o' sh&). The ancient name for a 
district in central Greece, probably so called 
because of its abundance of cattle, but, 
according to fable, because Cadmus was con- 
ducted by an ox (Gr. bous) to the spot where 
he built Thebes. 




Boeotian 


124 


Bolingbroke 


Boeotian (be 6' shan). A rude, unlettered per- 
son, a dull blockhead. The ancient Boeotians 
loved agricultural and pastoral pursuits, so 
the Athenians used to say they were as dull and 
thick as their own atmosphere; yet Hesiod, 
Pindar, Corinna, Plutarch, Pelopidas, and 
Epaminondas, were all Boeotians. 

Boeotian ears. Ears unable to appreciate 
music or rhetoric. 

Well, friend, I assure thee thou hast not got 
Boeotian ears [because you can appreciate the beauties 
of my sermons]. — Le Sage: Gil Bias, vii, 3. 

Boethius (bo e' thi us). Interest in this Roman 
author (a.d. c. 475-c. 524) chiefly arises from 
the fhet that his De Consolatione Philosophiae 
was translated by King Alfred and by Chaucer, 
who mentions him in the Canterbury Tales. 

Boffin. A nickname given in the R.A.F. 
during World War II to research scientists or 
“backroom boys” ( q.v .). In naval slang it is 
a term for any officer over forty. 

Bogey. See Bogy. 

Bogomili (bog 6 mil' i). An heretical sect 
which seceded from the Greek Church in the 
12th century. Their chief scat was Thrace, 
and they were so called from a Bulgarian 
priest, Bogomil, a reformer of the 10th century. 
Their founder, Basilius, was burnt by Alex- 
ius Comnenus in 1118; they denied the 
Trinity, the institutions of sacraments and of 
priests, believed that evil spirits assisted in the 
creation of the world, etc. 

Bog-trotters. Irish tramps; so called from 
their skill in crossing the Irish bogs, from 
tussock to tussock, either as guides or to 
escape pursuit. 

Bogus. An adjective applied to anything 
spurious, sham, or fraudulent, as bogus 
currency , bogus transactions. The word came 
fipm America, and there are several possible 
derivations. It may come from the activities 
ofa certain counterfeiter whose machine was 
called a bogus in Ohio in 1827, or from a 
notorious Italian swindler named Borghcse 
active about 1835. It is a Scotch gipsy word 
( bogftus ) for counterfeit coin; and there is the 
French word bagasse (cane-trash, waste from 
olive- or raisin-presses, etc.), or it may derive 
from the old word bogy. 

Bogy. A hobgoblin; a person or object of 
terror; a bugbear. The word appeared only 
in the early 19th century, and is probably 
connected with the Scottish bogle y and so with 
the obsolete bug . 

Colonel Bogy. A name given in golf to an 
imaginary player whose score for each hole 
is settled by the committee of the particular 
club and is supposed to be the lowest that a 
good average Jjiayer could do it in. Beating 
Bogy or the Colonel , is playing the hole in a 
less number of strokes. 


During World War I trdops on the march 
were forbidden to sing a catchy song entitled 
Colonel Bogy as the words they substituted for 
the real ones were not considered edifying. 

Bohea (bo he'). A type of tea much favoured 
in the 1 8th century. The name is a corruption 
of Wu-i, the hills in China upon whose slopes 
it is grown. 

Bohemia, The Queen of. This old public- 
house sign is in honour of Elizabeth, daughter 
of James I, who was married to Frederick, 
elector palatine, for whom Bohemia was 
raised into a separate kingdom. It is through 
her that the Hanoverians succeeded to the 
throne of Great Britain. 

Bohemian. A slang term applied to literary 
men and artists of loose and irregular habits, 
living by what they can pick up by their wits. 
Originally the name was applied to the gipsies, 
from the belief that before they appeared in 
western Europe they had been denizens of 
Bohemia, or because the first that arrived in 
France came by way of Bohemia (1427). 
When they presented themselves before the 
gates of Paris they were not allowed to enter 
the city, but were lodged at La Chapelle, St. 
Denis. The French nickname for gipsies is 
cagoux (unsociables). 

Bohemian Brethren. A religious sect formed 
out of the remnants of the Hussites. They 
arose at Prague in the 15th century, and are 
the forerunners of the modern Moravians. 

Boiling-point. He was at boiling-point. Very 
angry indeed. Properly the point of heat 
at which water, under ordinary conditions, 
boils (212° Fahrenheit, 100° Centigrade, 80° 
Reaumur). 

Bold. Bold as Beauchamp. It is said that 
Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, with 
one squire and six archers, overthrew 100 
armed men at Hogges, in Normandy, in 1346. 

This exploit is not more incredible than that 
attributed to Captal-de-Buch, who, with forty 
followers, cleared Meux of the insurgents 
called La Jacquerie , 7,000 of whom were slain 
by this little band, or trampled to death in the 
narrow streets as they fled panic-stricken 
(1358). 

Bold as brass. Downright impudent; 
without modesty. Similarly we say “brazen- 
faced.” 

I make bold to say. I take the liberty of 

saying; I venture to say. 

Bolerium Promontory (bol e' ri urn). Land’s 
End; the Bellcrium (see Bellerus) of the 
Romans. 

Bolero (bo lar' 6). A Spanish dance; so called 
from the name of the inventor. 

Bolingbroke (bol' ing bruk). Henry IV of 
England; so called from Bolingbroke, in 
Lincolnshire, where he was born (1367-1413). 




Bollandists 


125 


King Bomba 


Bollandists. Editors of the Acta Sanctorum 
begun by John Bollandus, Dutch Jesuit 
martyrologist (1596-1665); the first two 
volumes were published in 1643; these contain 
the saints commemorated in January. The 
work is not yet finished, but the sixty-first 
folio volume was published in 1875. 

Bollen. Swollen. The past participle of the 
obsolete English verb, bell , to swell. Hence 
“joints bolne-big” ( Golding ), and “bolne in 
pride” ( Phaer ). The seed capsule or pod of 
flax or cotton is called a “boll.” 

The barley was in the ear, and the flax was boiled. 

Exod. ix, 31. 

Bologna Stone (bo Ion' y&). A sulphate of 
baryta found in masses near Bologna. After 
being heated, powdered, and exposed to the 
light it becomes phosphorescent. 

Bolognese School. There were three periods 
to the Bolognese School in painting — the 
Early, the Roman, and the Eclectic. The first 
was founded by Marco Zoppo, in the 15th 
century, and its best exponent was Francia. 
The second was founded in the 16th century 
by Bagnacavallo, and its chief exponents were 
Primaticio, Tibaldi, and Nicolo dell’Abate. 
The third was founded by the Carracci, at 
the close of the 16th century, and its best 
masters have been Domenichino, Lanfranco, 
Guido, Schidone, Guercino, and Albani. 

Boloney (b6 16' ni). Originally meaning a 
Bologna sausage, the word is now used to 
describe something pretentious but useless 
and worthless. “Bunk ’ and “hooey” are 
employed in this same way. 

Bolshevik (bol' she vik) or (less correctly) 
Bolshevist. Properly, a member of the Russian 
revolutionary party that seized power under 
Lenin in 1917, declared war on capitalism and 
the bourgeoisie in all lands, and aimed at the 
establishment of supreme rule by the pro- 
letariat. The Bolshevik government was so 
called because it professed to act in the name 
of the majority ( bolshe is the comparative of 
the adjective bolshoi , big, large, and bolsheviki 
~ majority). 

Bolt. Originally meaning a short thick arrow 
with a blunt head, is an Anglo-Saxon word, 
and must not be confused with the old word 
bolt (O.Fr. baiter, connected with Lat. burra, a 
coarse cloth) meaning a sieve, or to sieve. 
This latter word is almost obsolete, but is used 
by Browning: — 

The curious few 

Who care to sift a business to the bran 

Nor coarsely bolt it like the simpler sort. 

Ring and the Book , i, 923. 

From meaning an arrow bolt came to be 
applied to the door fastening, which is of a 
similar shape, and these meanings (a missile 
capable of swift movement, and a fastening) 
have given rise to combinations and phrases of 
widely different meaning, as will be seen from 
the following. 

Bolted arrow. A blunt arrow for shooting 
young rooks with a cross-bow; called “bolting 
rooks.” A gun would not do, and an arrow 
would mangle the little things too much. 


Bolt upright. Straight as an arrow. 

Winsinge she was, as is a jolly colt. 

Long as a mast, and upright as a bolt. 

Chaucer: Miller's Tale , 77. 

The fool’s bolt is soon spent. A foolish 
archer shoots all his arrows so heedlessly that 
he leaves himself no resources in case of need. 

The horse bolted. The horse shot off like a 
bolt or arrow. 

To bolt food. To swallow it auickly without 
waiting to chew it; hence, to bolt a Bill, a 
political phrase used of Bills that are passed 
whole before proper time or opportunity has 
been given for their consideration. 

To bolt out the truth. To blurt it out; also 
to bolt out, to exclude or shut out by bolting 
the door. 

A bolt from the blue. A sudden and wholly 
unexpected catastrophe or event, like a 
“thunderbolt” from the blue sky, or flash of 
lightning without warning and wholly un- 
expected. Here “bolt” is used for lightning, 
though, of course, in strict language, a 
meteorite, not a flash of lightning, is a 
thunderbolt. 

Bolt In tun. In heraldry, a bird-bolt, in 
pale, piercing through a tun, often used as a 
public-house sign. The punning crest of 
Serjeant Bolton, who died 1787, was “on a 
wreath a tun erect proper, transpierced by an 
arrow fesseways or.” Another family of the 
same name has for crest “a tun with a bird- 
bolt through it proper.” A third, harping on 
the same string, has “a bolt gules in a tun or.” 
The device was adopted as a public-house 
sign in honour of some family who own it as 
a coat of arms. 

There is a Bolt-in-Tun Court off Fleet 
Street, London, but in this case it is a rebus 
of the Bolton family. 

Bolton. Bate me an ace, quoth Bolton. Give 
me some advantage. What you say must be 
qualified, as it is too strong. Ray says that a 
collection of proverbs was once presented to 
the Virgin Queen, with the assurance that it 
contained all the proverbs in the language; 
but the Queen rebuked the boaster with the 
proverb, “Bate me an ace, quoth Bolton,** 
a proverb omitted in the compilation. John 
Bolton was one of the courtiers who used to 
play cards and dice with Henry VIII, and 
flattered the king by asking him to allow him 
an ace or some advantage in the game. 

Bolus. Properly, a rather large-sized pill; 
so called from a Greek word meaning a 
roundish lump of clay. 

Bomb. A metal shell filled with an explosive. 
From the Gr. bombos , any deep, especially 
humming, noise (ultimately the same word as 
boom). 

King Bomba. A nickname given to Ferdin- 
and II, King of Naples, in consequence of his 
cruel bombardment of Messina in 1848, in 
which the slaughter and destruction of 
property was most wanton. 

Bomba II was the nickname given to his son 
Francis II for bombarding Palermo in 1860. 
He was also called Bombalino (Little Bomba). 



Bombshell 


126 


Bone 


Bombshell. A word used figuratively in 
much the same way as bolt a bolt from the 
blue . 

Bombast literally means the produce of the 
bombyx, or silk-worm (Gr. bombux ); formerly 
applied to cottonwool used for padding, and 
hence to inflated language. 

We have received your letters full of love. . . . 
And in our maiden council rated them . . . 

As bombast and as lining to the time. 

Shakespeare: Love's Labour's Lost, V, ii. 

Bombastes Furioso (bom bas' tez fQ ri o' zo). 
One who talks big or in an ultra-bombastic way. 
From the hero of a burlesque opera so called 
by William Barnes Rhodes, produced in 1813 
in parody of Orlando Furioso. 

Bombay Duck. A fish, the bummalo, which 
is dried and eaten with curries. 

Bombiti. See Barisal Guns. 

Bon Gaultier Ballads (bon gol' ty£r). Parodies 
of contemporary poetry by W. E. Aytoun and 
Sir Theodore Martin. They first appeared in 
Tail's , Fraser's , and Blackwood's Magazine in 
the 1840s, and were published in volume form 
in 1885. 

Bon mot (bong mo) (Fr.), A good or witty 
saying; a pun; a clever repartee. 

Bon ton (Fr.). Good manners or manners 
accredited by good society. 

Bon vivant (Fr.). A free liver; one who 
indulges in the “good things of the table.” 
Bon viveur means much the same, but is 
rather stronger, suggesting one who makes a 
pursuit of other pleasures besides those of the 
table. 

Bona Fide (bo' nk fl' di) (Lat.). Without sub- 
terfuge or deception; really and truly. Liter- 
ally, in good faith. To produce bona tides is to 
produce credentials, to give proof that some- 
one is what he appears to be or can perform 
that which he says he can. 

Bonanza (bon &n' za). This is a Spanish and 
Portuguese word meaning fair weather at sea, 
and prosperity generally. It found its way 
into English through the miners on the Pacific 
coast of N. America who applied it to any very 
rich body of ore in a mine. The silver 
deposits of the Comstock Mine in Nevada 
were thus called the Bonanza Mines. 

Bona-roba (bo' n& rd' ba) (from Ital. buona 
roba , good stuff, fine gown, fine woman). A 
courtesan; so called from the smartness of 
her robes or dresses. 

We knew where the bona-robas were. 

Henry IV, Pt. II, III, ii. 

Bond. Wines, and spirits and any dutiable 
article may be imported and left in bond in 
warehouses supervised by H.M. Customs and 
Excise without duty being paid. This enables 
a merchant to re-export without financial 
complications, or to import in bulk and pay 
duty on part of the goods at a time as he 
requires them. Wines and spirits are some- 
times described as “bottled in bond” — l.e. 
bottled in H.M. warehouses, before there 
could be any adulteration. 


Bonduca (bon da' ka). One of the many forms 
of the name of the British Queen, which in 
Latin was frequently (and in English is now 
usually) written Boadicea ( q.v .). Fletcher 
wrote a fine tragedy with this name (1616), the 
principal characters being Caractacus and 
Bonduca. 

Bone. Old thieves’ slang for “good,” 
“excellent.” From the Fr. bon. The lozenge- 
shaped mark chalked by tramps and vagabonds 
on the walls of houses where they have been 
well received is known among the fraternity as 
a “bone.” 

Also slang for dice and counters used at 
cards; and the man who rattles or plays the 
bones in a negro minstrel show is known as 
“Uncle Bones.” 

Bone, To. To filch, as, I boned it. Shake- 
speare {Henry VI , Pt. II, I, iii) says, “By these ten 
bones, my lord . . .” meaning the ten fingers; 
and ( Hamlet , III, ii) calls the fingers “pickers 
and stealers.” So “to bone” may mean to 
finger, that is, “to pick and steal.” 

Other suggested explanations of the origin 
of the term are that it is in allusion to the way 
in which a dog makes off with a bone, and that 
it is a corruption of the slang “bonnet” (q.v.). 
You thought that I was buried deep 
Quite decent-like and chary, 

But from her grave in Mary-bone, 

They’ve come and boned your Mary! 

Hood: Mary's Ghost. 

A bone of contention. A disputed point; a 
point not yet settled. The metaphor is taken 
from two dogs fighting for a bone. 

Bred in the bone. A part of one’s nature. 
“What’s bred in the bone will come out in the 
flesh.” A natural propensity cannot be 
repressed. 

I have a bone in my throat. I cannot talk; l 
cannot answer your question. 

I have a bone in my leg. An excuse given 
to children for not moving from one’s seat. 
Similarly, “I have a bone in my arm,” and 
must be excused using it for the present. 

Napier’s bones. See Napier. 

One end is sure to be bone. It won’t come up 
to expectation. “All is not gold that glitters. ,r 

To give one a bone to pick. To throw a sop 
to Cerberus; to give a lucrative appointment to 
a troublesome opponent or a too zealous ally 
in order to silence him and keep him out of the 
way. It is a method frequently resorted to in 
political life; one whose presence is not 
convenient in the House of Commons is sent 
to the Lords, given a Colonial appointment, 
or a judgeship, etc. 

To have a bone to pick with someone. To 
have an unpleasant matter to discuss and settle. 
This is another allusion from the kennel. 
Two dogs and one bone invariably forms an 
excellent basis for a fight. 

To make no bones about the matter. To do 
it, say it, etc., without hesitation; to offer no 
opposition, present no difficulty or scruple. 
Dice are called “bones,” and the Fr .flatter le 
di (to mince the matter) is the opposite of our 
expression. To make no bones of a thing is 



Bone-lace 


127 


Booby-prize 


not to flatter, or “make much of,** or humour 
the dice in order to show favour. Hence, 
without more bones. Without further scruple 
or objection. 

Bone-lace. Lace woven on bobbins made 
of trotter-bones. 

Bone-shaker. An “antediluvian,” dilapi- 
dated four-wheel cab; also an early type of 
bicycle in use before rubber tyres, chain drive, 
spring saddles, etc., were thought of. 

Boney (bo' ni). “If you aren’t a good boy 
Boney will catch you” was an old threat of 
the short-tempered nurse, Boney being 
Napoleon Bonaparte, whose threatened in- 
vasion of England was a real scare in the early 
19th century. 

Bonfire. Originally a bone-fire , that is, a fire 
made of bones; see the Festyvall of 1493, 
printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1515: “In 
the worship of St. John, the people . . . made 
three manner of fires: one was of clean bones 
and no wood, and that is called a bonefirc; 
another of clean wood and no bones, and that 
is called a wood-fire . . . and the third is made 
of wood and bones, and is called * St. John’s 
fire’ and: — 

In some parts of Lincolnshire . . . they make 
fires in the public streets . . . with bones of oxen, 
sheep, etc. . . . heaped together . . . hence came 
the origin of bon-fires. — L elano (1552). 

Bonhomie (bon' o me) (Fr.). Kindness, good 
nature; free and easy manners; the quality of 
being “a good fellow .” 

The other redeeming qualities of the Meccan arc 
his courage, his bonhomie, his manly suavity of 
manners. — R. F. Burton, lil-Medinah. 

Bonliomme. See Jacquerie. 

Boniface. A sleek, good-tempered, jolly 
landlord. From Farquhar’s comedy of The 
Beaux' Stratagem (1707). 

St. Boniface. The apostle of Germany, a 
West Saxon whose English name was 
Wynfrith (680-750). 

St. Boniface’s cup. An extra cup of wine; 
an excuse for an extra glass. Pope Boniface, 
we arc told in the Ebrietatis Encomium , 
instituted an indulgence to those who drank 
his good health after grace, or the health of the 
Pope of the time being. This probably refers 
to Boniface VI, an abandoned profligate who 
was elected Pope by the mob in 896 and held 
the position for only fifteen days. The only 
Saint Boniface to be Pope was Boniface I, who 
died in 422. 

Bonne Bouche (Fr.). A delicious morsel; a 
tit-bit. 

Bonnet. A player at a gaming-table, or 
bidder at an auction, to lure others to play or 
bid, so called because he blinds the eyes of his 
dupes, just as if he had struck their bonnet 
over their eyes. 

Braid bonnet. The old Scottish cap, made 
of milled woollen, without seam or lining. 

Glengarry bonnet. The Highland bonnet, 
which rises to a point in front. 


He has a green bonnet. Has failed in trade. 
In France it used to be customary, even in the 
17th century, for bankrupts to wear a green 
bonnet (cloth cap). 

He has a bee in his bonnet. See Bee. 

Bonnet lairds. Local magnates or petty 
squires of Scotland, who wore the braid 
bonnet, like the common people. 

Bonnet-piece. A gold coin of James V of 
Scotland, the king’s head on which wears a 
bonnet. 

Bonnet Rouge. The red cap of Liberty 
worn by the leaders of the French revolution. 
It is the emblem of Red Republicanism. 

Bonnie Dundee. John Graham, of Claver- 
house, Viscount Dundee. Born about 1649, 
he became a noted soldier in the Stuart cause, 
and was killed at the Battle of Killiecrankie in 
1689. 

Bonny-clabber. Sour buttermilk used as a 
drink. (Irish bainne , milk; claba , thick or 
thickened.) 

It is against my freehold, my inheritance, 

My Magna Charta, cor Icctificat , 

To drink such balderdash or bonny-clabber! 
Give me good wine! 

Ben Ionson: The New Inn , I, i. 

Bonus. Something “extra”; something over 
and above what was expected, due, or earned; 
something “to the good” (Lat. bonus , good). 
An extra dividend paid to shareholders out of 
surplus profits is called a bonus; so is the 
portion of profits distributed to certain 
insurance-policy-holders; and also — as was 
the custom in the case of Civil Servants and 
others — a payment made to clerks, workmen, 
etc., over and above that stipulated for to meet 
some special contingency that had been un- 
provided for when the rate was fixed. 

Bonze. The name given by Europeans to the 
Buddhist clergy of the Far East, particularly of 
Japan. In China the name is given to the 
priests of the Fohists. 

Booby. A spiritless fool, who suffers himself 
to be imposed upon. 

Ye bread-and-butter rogues, do ye run from me? 

An my side would give me leave, I would so hunt ye. 
Ye porridge-gutted slaves, ye veal-broth boobiesl 
Beaumont and Fletcher: 

Humorous Lieutenant , III, vii. 

The player who comes in last in whist- 
drives, etc.; the lowest boy in the class. 

Also a species of gannet, whose chief 
characteristic is that it is so tame that it can 
often be taken by hand. 

A booby will never make a hawk. The 
booby, that allows itself to be fleeced by other 
birds, will never become a bird of prey itself. 

To beat the booby. A sailors’ term for warm- 
ing the hands by striking them under the 
armpits. 

Booby-prize. The prize^— often one of a 
humorous or worthless kind — given to the 
“booby” at card parties, children’s parties, 
etc., i.e . to the player who makes the lowest 
score. 



Booby trap 


128 


Book-binding 


Booby trap. A trap set to discomfit an 
unsuspecting victim — e.g. 4 among children, 
placing a book on top of a door to fall on 
whoever opens the door; in war, attaching an 
explosive charge to the door so that whoever 
opens it will be killed. 

Boogie-woogie (boo' gi woo' gi). A style of 

iano playing. The left hand maintains a 

eavy repetitive pattern over which the right 
hand improvises at will. Probably developed 
in the Middle West by jazz musicians early in 
the 20th century, and later given its name by 
the negro pianist Cou-Cou Davenport, from 
“Boogie,’* the devil, or all the troubles in life. 

Boojum. See Snark. 

Book (O.E. boc\ Dan. beuke ; Ger. Buche , a 
beech-tree). Beech-bark was employed for 
carving names before the invention of printing. 

In betting, the book is the record of bets made 
by the bookmaker with different people on 
different horses. 

In whist, bridge, etc., the book is the first 
six tricks taken by either side. The whole 
pack of cards is sometimes called a “book” — 
short for “the Devil’s picture-book.” 

Bell, book and candle. See Bell. 

Beware of a man of one book. Never 
attempt to controvert the statement of anyone 
in his own special subject. A shepherd who 
cannot read will know more about sheep than 
the wisest bookworm. This caution is given 
by St. Thomas Aquinas. 

He is in my books, or in my good books. The 
former is the older form; both mean to be in 
favour. The word book was at one time used 
more widely, a single sheet, or even a list being 
called a book. To be in my books is to be on 
my list of friends. 

He is in my black (or bad) books. In dis- 
favour. See Black Books. 

On the books. On the list of a club, the list 
of candidates, the list of voters, or any official 
list. At Cambridge University they say “on 
the boards.” 

Out of my books. Not in favour; no longer 
on my list of friends. 

The Battle of the Books. The Boyle contro- 
versy {q.v.). 

That does not suit my book. Does not 
accord with my arrangements. The reference 
is to betting-books, in which the bets are 
formally entered. 

The Book of Books. The Bible; also called 
simply “the Book,” or “the good Book.” 

The Book of Life, or of Fate. In Bible 
language, a register of the names of those who 
are to inherit eternal life {Phil, iv, 3 ; Rev. xx, 
12 ). 

To book it. To take down an order; to 
make a memorandum; to enter in a book. 

To bring him to book. To make him prove 
his words; to call him to account. Make him 
show that what he says accords with what is 
written down in the indentures, the written 
agreement, or the book which treats of the 
subject. 


To kiss the book. See Kiss. 

To know one’s book. To know one’s own 
interest; to know on which side one’s bread is 
buttered. Also, to have made up one’s mind. 

To speak by the book. To speak with 
meticulous exactness. To speak literatim , 
according to what is in the book. 

To speak like a book. To speak with great 
precision and accuracy; to be full of informa- 
tion. Often used of a pedant. 

To speak without book. To speak without 
authority; from memory only, without con- 
sulting or referring to the book. 

To take one’s name off the books. To 
withdraw from a club. In the passive voice 
it means to be excluded, or no longer ad- 
missible to enjoy the benefits of the institution. 
See On the Books, above . 

Book-binding. A craft practised since the 
early Middle Ages when books had become 
made up of leaves instead of being in a long 
roll. Most styles of binding are known by 
the names of their practitioners, but there are 
others which are known either from the type 
of design or the name of the patron com- 
missioning them, e.g .: — 

Aldine. A simple design including a few 
graceful arabesques, the style in which the 
Venetian printer Aldus Manutius (tl. 1494- 
1515) had his wares bound for the general 
public. 

Blind-tooled. A binding on which the 
ornament is colourless, i.e. the tools are 
pressed direct on to the leather without gold. 

Canevari. A style combining gilt arabesques 
with a cameo, usually of some classical subject, 
impressed in the centre in blind. Generally 
ascribed to the Italian Demetrio Canevari, 
first half 16th century. 

Cathedrale. Bindings executed during the 
second quarter of the 19th century. Under 
the influence of the Gothic Revival in France 
and England, the designs resemble the tracery 
of church windows, hence reliures d la 
cathedrale. 

Club. Highly ornamental bindings exe- 
cuted at the “Club Bindery,” the private 
workshop organized by the Grolier Club, New 
York, during the first decade of the 20th 
century. 

Cottage. Peculiar to England in the later 
17th century; the frame-work in the gilt design 
includes at top and bottom a triangle resemb- 
ilng a low gable. Associated with Samuel 
Mearnc, a stationer who (though not himself 
a binder) was binder by appointment to 
Charles II. 

Dentelle. (Fr.) “Lacc” style, so called 
because the intricacy and delicacy of the design 
in gilt resembled lace. Associated particu- 
larly with the Padeloup family of binders in 
France, first half 18th century. 

Dos d Dos (Fr.). Back to back. Two 
books share three boards between them and 
open on opposite sides. Popular in the 17th 
century for binding books in pairs, such as the 
Old and New Testaments. 

Fanfare (Fr. pomp.). With an intricate 
pattern in gold over the whole, working out 



Booking office 


129 


Boot and Saddle 


to the edges from a small oval in the centre 
which was either left plain or contained the 
coat of arms of the owner. Particularly 
brilliant exponent was the French binder 
Nicholas Eve, late 16th century. 

Grolier. Bindings in the Italian arabesque 
style done for the French statesman and 
bibliophile Jean de Grolier (1479-1565). 
They all bear on the upper cover the lettering 
J. Grolerii et amicorum. 

Harleian. A style used upon the great col- 
lection of Robert Harley, first Earl of Oxford 
(1661-1724). Usually red leather, with an 
ornate diamond-shaped pattern in the centre, 
surrounded by a broad rectangular border. 

Little Giclding. Nicholas Ferrar set up an 
English Protestant Nunnery at Little Gidding 
(Huntingdon) in 1625, at which binding was 
practised by all the inmates. Many bindings, 
particularly embroidered ones, are ascribed to 
them, but without any certainty. 

Lyonese. An intricate pattern of strapwork 
in gold is supplemented and heightened by 
staining the leather or inlaying it with another 
colour. As these bindings, which date from 
the second half of the 16th century, are mostly 
found on books printed at Lyons, they are so 
called, though it is not certain that they were 
done there. 

Macabre. Bindings executed for Henry III 
of France after the death of the Princessc de 
Cloves, and using tears, skulls and bones 
tooled in silver to express his grief. 

Pointille. In this style all gilt lines are 
broken into a series of little dots to give a 
shimmering brilliance. The best exponent 
was the French binder Le Gascon, mid- 17th 
century. 

Roxburghe. Quarter bound in brown 
leather with crimson paper sides, the style 
chosen by the Roxburghe Club (q.v.). 

Sombre. Bindings in black leather tooled 
entirely in blind, a style affected in the 17th 
century in England for religious works. 

Wotton. Bindings executed for Thomas 
Wotton, called the English Grolier because, 
copying the French collector, he had Thomae 
Wottoni et amicorum stamped on his books. 
Mid-16th century. 

Full bound. Bound fully in leather. 

Half bound. Leather back and corners, 
with cloth or paper sides. 

Quarter bound. Leather back with cloth or 
paper sides. 

Booking office. In coaching days, when 
accommodation in the stage coaches was very 
limited, the traveller had to enter his name in a 
book kept in the office of the coaching inn, 
and wait his turn for a place in the coach. 
For the first few years after the introduction of 
railways all tickets were written out and entered 
up in their books by the clerks in the booking 
offices. 

Book-keeper. Clerk who keeps the accounts 
in merchant’s offices, etc. 

Book-keeping is the system of keeping 
debtor ahd creditor accounts in books pro- 
vided for the purpose, cither by single or by 
double entry. In the first named each debit or 
credit is entered only once into the ledger, 


either as a debit or credit item, under the 
customer’s or salesman’s name; in double 
entry, each item is entered twice into the 
ledger, once on the debit and once on the 
credit side. 

Day book. A book in which are set down 
the debits and credits which occur day by 
day. These are ultimately “posted” in the 
ledger. 

Waste book. A book in which items are 
not posted under heads, but as each transac- 
tion occurred. 

Bookmaker. A professional betting man 
who makes a “book” (see above ) on horse- 
races, etc. Also called a bookie. 

Bookworm. One always poring over books ; 
so called in allusion to the maggot that eats 
holes in books, and lives both in and on their 
leaves. 

Boom (boom). A sudden and great demand for 
a thing, with a corresponding rise in its price. 
This usage of the word seems to have arisen in 
America, probably with allusion to the sudden- 
ness and rush with which the shares “go off,” 
the same word being used for the rush of a 
ship under press of sail. The word arises from 
the sound of booming or rushing water, and 
the sound made by the bittern is known as 
booming. 

It is also used of a period of rising prices and 
prosperity, general or particular. 

Also a spar on board ship, or the chained 
line of spars, balks of timber, etc., used as a 
barrier to protect harbours, is the Dutch 
boom , meaning a tree or pole, our beam. 

Boom-passenger. A convict on board a 
transport ship, who was chained to the 
boom when made to take his daily exercise. 

Boomer. The Australian name, in use since 
the early 19th century, for their national 
animal, the kangaroo. It is possibly of 
Tasmanian aboriginal derivation. 

Boon Companion. A convivial or congenial 
companion. A bon vivant is one fond of good 
living. “Who leads a good life is sure to live 
well.” (Fr. bon , good.) 

Boondoggling. An expression used in the 
early 1930s to denote useless spending, 
usually referring to the spending of money by 
the U.S. government to combat the depression. 
It derives apparently from the Scottish word 
boondoggle , meaning a marble you receive as 
a gift without having worked for it. 

Boot. An instrument of torture made of four 

{ jieces of narrow board nailed together, of a 
ength to fit the leg. The leg being placed 
therein, wedges were inserted till the victim 
confessed or fainted. 

AH your empirics could never do the like cure 
upon the gout as the rack in England or your Scotch 
boots. — Marston : The Malcontent. 

Boot and saddle. The order to cavalry for 
mounting. It is a corruption of the Fr. 
boute selle , put on the saddle, and has nothing 
to do with Soots. 



Boot 


130 


Bore 


I measure five feet ten inches without mjr 
boots. The meaning is^ obvious but there is 
also an allusion to the chopinfc or high-heeled 
boot, worn at one time to increase the stature. 

Like old boots. Slang for vigorously; “like 
anything.** “I was working like old boots” 
means “I was doing my very utmost.” 

Seven-leagued boots. The boots worn by 
the giant in the fairy tale, called The Seven - 
leagued Boots . A pace taken in them 
measured seven leagues. 

The boot is on the other foot. The case is 
altered; you and I have changed places, and 
whereas before / appeared to be in the wrong 
you are now shown to be. 

The order of the boot. “The sack**; notice 
oLdismissal from one’s employment. 

To go to bed in one’s boots. To be very tipsy. 

To have one’s heart in one’s boots. To be 
utterly despondent. 

I will give you that to boot, i.e. in addition. 
The O.E. hot (Gothic bota ) means advantage, 
good, profit; as in Milton’s “Alas, what boots 
it with uncessant care” ( Lycidas ), Alas, what 
profit is it . . .? 

It also meant compensation paid for injury; 
reparation. Cp. House-bote. 

As anyone shall be more powerful ... or higher 
in degree, shall he the more deeply make boot 
for sin, and pay for every misdeed. 

Laws of King El he l red. 

Boot-hill (western U.S.A.). A frontier 
cemetery, so called because so many of its 
occupants died with their boots on. 

Bootless errand. An unprofitable or futile 
message. 

I sent him 

Bootless home and weather-beaten back. 

Shakespeare: Henry IV, Ft. /, III, i. 

When bale is highest boot is nighest. See 
Bale. 

Boot-jack. See Jack. 

Boots. A servant at inns, etc., whose duty 
it is to clean the boots. Dickens has a Christ- 
mas Tale (1855) called The Boots of the Holly- 
tree Inn . 

The bishop with the shortest period of 
service in the House of Lords, whose duty it is 
to read prayers, is colloquially known as the 
“Boots,*’ perhaps because he walks into the 
House in a dead man’s shoes or boots, i.e. he 
was not there till some bishop died and left a 
vacancy. 

Bo5tes (b6 oo' tSz). Greek for “the plough- 
man”; the name of the constellation which 
contains the bright star, Arcturus. See 
IcARrus. According to ancient mythology, 
Bootes invented the plough, to which he 
oked two oxen, and at death, being taken to 
eaven with his plough and oxen, was made a 
constellation. Homer calls it “the wagoner,” 
i.e. the wagoner of “Charles’s Wain,” the 
Great Bear. 

Booty. The spoils of war. 

Playing booty. A trick of dishonest jockeys 
— appearing to use every effort to come in first, 
but really determined to lose the race. 


1 Mr. Kemble [in the Iron Chest] gave a slight touch 
of the jockey, and “played booty.” He seemed to 
do justice to the play, but really ruined its success. 

George Colman the Younger. 

Booze. To drink steadily and continually. 
Though regarded as slang, this is the M.E. 
bouse n, to drink deeply, probably connected 
with Dut. buizen , and Ger. bousen , to drink 
to excess. Spenser uses the word in his 
description of Gluttony: — 

Still as he rode, he somewhat still did eat. 

And in his hand did beare a bouzing can, 

Of which he supt so oft, that on his seat 
His drunken corse he scarse upholden can. 

Faerie Queene, I, iv, 22. 

Bor. A familiar term of address in East 
Anglia to a lad or young man; as, “Well, bor, 
I saw the mauther you spoke of” — i.e. “Well, 
boy, I saw the lass. . . .’ It is connected with 
the Dut. boer, a farmer, and with -bour of 
neighbour. 

Borachio (bo ra' cho). Originally a Spanish 
wine bottle made of goat-skin; hence a drunk- 
ard, one who fills himself with wine. 

A follower of Don John, in Much Ado About 
Nothing , is called Borachio; he thus plays upon 
his own name: — 

1 will like a true drunkard [borachio], utter all to 
thee. — III, iii. 

Borak or A1 Borak (bor' ak) (the lightning). 
The animal brought by Gabriel to carry 
Mohammed to the seventh heaven, and itself 
received into Paradise. It had the face of a 
man, but the cheeks of a horse; its eyes were 
like jacinths, but brilliant as the stars; it had 
the wings of an eagle, spoke with the voice of 
a man, and glittered all over with radiant light. 

Bordar. In Anglo-Saxon England, a villein 
of the lowest rank who did menial service for 
his lord in return for his cottage; the bordcirs , 
or bordarii , were the labourers, and the word is 
the Med. Lat. bordarius , a cottager. 

Border, The. The frontier of England and 
Scotland, which, from the 11th to the 15th 
century, was the field of constant forays, and 
a most fertile source of ill blood between 
North and South Britain. 

Border Minstrel. Sir Walter Scott (1771- 
1832), because he sang of the border. 

Border States, The. The five “slave” 
states (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Ken- 
tucky, and Missouri) which lay next to the 
“free states” were so called in the American 
Civil War, 1861-65. 

Bore. A person who bestows his tedious- 
ness on you, one who wearies you with his 
prate, his company, or his solicitations. 

The derivation of the word is uncertain; in 
the 18th century it was used as an equivalent 
for ennui ; hence, for one who sutlers from 
ennui, and afterwards for that which, or one 
who, causes ennui. 

In racing terminology to bore is to ride so 
that another horse is thrust or pushed otf the 
course, a sense in which it is also used of 
boats in rowing; in pugilistic language it is to 
force one’s opponent on to the ropes of the 
ring by sheer weight. 




Bore of the Severn 131 Borstal! 


Bore of the Severn. In the Severn and other 
river estuaries certain winds cause a bore, or 
great tidal wave that rushes up the channel 
with violence and noise. In England it is 
best known in the Severn, Trent, Wye, and 
Solway Firth, but bores also occur in the 
Ganges, Indus* and Brahmaputra, in which 
last the wave rises to some 12 feet. 

Boreas (bor' e as). In Greek mythology, the 
god of the north wind, and the north wind 
itself. He was the son of Astraeus, a Titan, 
and Eros, the morning, and lived in a cave of 
Mount Haemus, in Thrace. 

Hence boreal , of or pertaining to the north. 

In radiant streams. 

Bright over Europe, bursts the Boreal mom. 

Thomson: Autumn , 98. 

Borgias (bor'jaz). A glass of wine with the 
Borgias was a great and sometimes fatal 
honour, for Ca;sar and Lucretia Borgia, 
children of Pope Alexander VI, were reputed 
to be adept in ridding themselves of foes or 
unwanted friends by inducing them to respond 
to pledges in poisoned wine. 

Borley or bawley (baw 7 li). The local name 
for a fishing-boat at the mouth of the Thames. 

Born. Born in the purple (a translation of Gr. 
porphyrogenitus). The infant of royal parents 
in opposition to one born in the gutter, or the 
child of beggars. This refers to the chamber 
lined with porphyry by one of the Byzantine 
empresses for her accouchement, and has 
nothing to do with the purple robes of royalty. 

Born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth. 
Born to good luck; born with hereditary 
wealth. The reference is to the usual gift of 
a silver spoon by the godfather or godmother 
of a child. The lucky child does not need to 
wait for the gift, for it is born with it in its 
mouth or inherits it at birth. A phrase with 
a similar meaning is born under a lucky star; 
this, of course, is from astrology. 

In all my born days. Ever since I was bom ; 
in ail my experience. 

Not bom yesterday. Not to be taken in; 
worldly wise. 

Poets are born, not made. One can never 
be a poet by mere training or education if one 
has been born without the “divine afflatus.” 
A translation of the Latin phrase Poeta nos - 
citur non fit, of which an extension is Nascimur 
poetce fimus or at ores, we are born poets, we are 
made orators. 

Borough (biT r6). There are several kinds of 
civic government classed under this term. 

A Municipal Borough is a town with a fully 
organized municipal government with a mayor 
and corporation, usually possessing certain 
privileges granted by royal charter. 

A Parliamentary Borough is one that sends 
at least one member to Parliament. 

A Rotten or Pocket Borough was one of the 
small boroughs (sometimes consisting \>f but 
three or four electors) controlled by a wealthy 
or influential landowner, who as often as not 
sold the right of sitting in Parliament as 
representative of this borough for some 

5* 


thousands ('of pounds. These men were 
frequently called Borough-mongers. 

The Borough, used as a proper name, is 
applied to Southwark. It is also the title of a 
collection of poetical tales by George Crabbe 
(1810) about the Suffolk borough of Aldeburgh. 
One of these tales forms the theme of Peter 
Grimes, an opera by Benjamin Britten. 

The word is sometimes spelled “burgh” 
and sometimes “boro” but it is always ppp- 
nounced as above. » ’ h 

Borough English. A custom by which real 
estate passes to the youngest instead of the 
eldest son. It is of English, as opposed to 
French, origin, and was so called to distinguish 
it from the Norman custom. 

If the father has no son, then the youngest 
daughter is sole heiress. If neither wife, son, 
nor daughter, the youngest brother inherits; 
if no brother, the youngest sister; if neither 
brother nor yet sister, then the youngest next 
of kin. See Cradle-holding, and cp . 
Gavelkind. 

The custom of Borough English abounds in Kent, 
Sussex, Surrey, the neighbourhood of London, and 
Somerset. In the Midlands it is rare, and north of 
the Humber ... it does not seem to occur.— F. Pol- 
lock: Macmillan's Magazine , XLVI (1882). 

Borowe. See Borrow. 

Borrow. Originally a noun (O.E. borg ) 
meaning a pledge or security, the modern 
sense of the verb depended on the actual giving 
in pledge of something as security for the loan; 
a security is not now essential in a borrowing 
transaction, but the idea that the loan is the 
property of the lender and must be returned 
some day is always present. The noun sense 
is seen in the old oath St. George to borowe , 
which is short for “I take St. George as 
pledge,” or “as witness”; also in: — 

Yc may retain as borrows my two priests. — S cott: 
Ivanhoe , ch. xxxiii. 

Borrowed or borrowing days. The last 
three days of March are said to oe “borrowed 
from April,” as is shown by the proverb in 
Ray’s Collection — “March borrows three 
days of April, and they are ill.” The following 
is an old rhyme on the same topic: — 

March said to Apcrill, 

I see 3 boggs [hoggets, sheep] upon a hill: 

And if you’ll lend me dayes 3 

I’ll find a way to make them dee [die J. 

The first o’ them was wind and weet, 

The second o’ them was snaw and sleet. 

The third o’ them, was sic a freeze 
It froze the birds’ nebs to the trees. 

But when the Borrowed Days were gane 
The 3 silly hoggs came hirpling [limping] hame. 

February also (in Scotland) has its “bor* 
rowed” days. They are the 12th, 13th and 
14th, which are said to be borrowed from 
January. If these prove stormy the year will 
be favoured with good weather; but if fine, the 
year will be foul and unfavourable. They are 
called by the Scots Faoil teach, and hence 
faoilteach means execrable weather. 

Borrowed time, to live on. To continue to 
live after every reasonable presumption is that 
one should be dead, /.^.living on time borrowed 
from Death. 

Borstal] (O.E. beork , a hill, and steall, place, or 
stigol, stile). A narrow roadway up the steep 


132 


Bottle 


ftosey 




ascent of hills or downs. The word has given 
the name to the village of Borstal, near 
Rochester (Kent), and hence to the Borstal 
system , a method of treating youthful offenders 
against the law by technical instruction and 
education in order to prevent their drifting 
into the criminal classes. The first reforma- 
tory of this kind was instituted at Borstal in 
1902 . 

Bosey (Austr.). A cricket term for a googly 
and so called from the English bowler 
B. J. T. Bosanquet who toured Australia in 
1903-04. The term was also applied to a single 
bomb dropped from a plane, in World War 11. 

Bosh. A Persian word meaning worthless. 
It was popularized by James Morier in his 
novel Ayesha (1834), and other eastern 
romances. 

Bosky. On the verge of drunkenness. This 
is a slang term, and it is possibly connected 
with the legitimate bosky meaning bushy, or 
covered with thickets, as in Shakespeare’s: — 
And with each end of the blue bow dost crown 
My bosky acres and my unshrubb’d down. 

Tempest , IV, i, 81. 

As “ bosky acres ” were overshadowed or 
obscured, so can a “ bosky man ” be said to be. 

Bosom Friend. A very dear friend. Nathan 
says, “It lay in his bosom, and was unto him 
as a daughter” (II Sam. xii, 3). Bosom friend, 
ami de cceur. St. John is represented in the 
New Testament as the “bosom friend” of 
Jesus. 

Bosom sermons. Sermons committed to 
memory and learnt by heart; not extempore 
ones or those delivered from notes. 

The preaching from “bosom sermons,” or from 
writing, being considered a lifeless practice before 
the Reformation. 

Blunt: Reformation in England , p. 179. 

Bosporus (bos 7 por us) (incorrectly written 
Bosphorus) is a Greek compound meaning 
“the ford of the ox.” Legend says that 
Zeus greatly loved lo; he changed her into 
a white cow or heifer from fear of Hera, 
to flee from whom Io swam across the strait, 
which was thence called bos poros, the pas- 
sage of the cow. Hera discovered the trick, 
and sent a gadfly to torment Io, who was 
made to wander, in a state of frenzy, from land 
to land. The wanderings of Io were a 
favourite subject of story with the ancients. 
Ultimately, the persecuted Argive princess 
found rest on the banks of the Nile. 

Boss, a master, is the Dut. baas, head of the 
household. Hence the great man, chief, an 
overseer. 

The word was originally more widely used 
in the United States than in England, it having 
been attached to political leaders, financial 
magnates, etc., who — generally by dubious 
methods — seek to obtain a preponderating 
influence. 

Boss-eyed. Slang for having one eye 
injured, or a bad squint, or for having only 
one eye in all. Hence, boss one’s shot, to miss 
one’s aim, as a person with a defective eye 
might be expected to do; and a boss, a bad 
shot. Boss-backed, a good old word for 


“hump-backed,” is in no way connected with 
this. Boss here is a protuberance or promin- 
ence, like thfe bosses on a bridle or a shield. 

Boston Tea-party. An incident leading up to 
the American War of Independence. The 
British Parliament had passed laws which 
favoured the London East India Company at 
the expense of American traders. Three 
cargoes of tea which arrived at Boston Har- 
bour in 1773, shortly after the legislation, were 
thrown overboard as a protest by a party of 
colonists dressed as Indians. This act of 
defiance is known as the Boston Tea-party. 

Botanomancy (bot' 5n 6 man' si). Divination 
by leaves. One method was by writing 
sentences on leaves which were exposed to the 
wind, the answer being gathered from those 
which were left; another was through the 
crackling made by the leaves of various plants 
when thrown on the fire or crushed in the 
hands. 

Botany Bay. An extensive inlet in New South 
Wales, discovered by Captain Cook in 1770. 
It was the first place of his landing upon 
Australian soil, and Cook himself thus 
named it on account of the great variety of 
new plants found there. Botany Bay was 
wrongly applied as a name of the convict settle- 
ment established in 1788 at Sydney Cove. In 
contemporary parlance the name was applied 
not only to New South Wales but even to the 
whole of Australia. 

Both ends against the middle. To play (western 
U.S.A.). A method of rigging a pack of cards 
in faro, from which the expression became 
common for any sharp practice with a risk 
of being found out. 

Bothie (both' I). An Irish or Gaelic word for 
a hut or cottage. The bothie system is a custom 
common in Scotland of housing the unmarried 
menservants attached to a farm in a large, 
one-roomed bothie. 

The bothie system prevails, more or less, in the 
eastern and north-eastern districts. — J. Begg, D.D. 

Botley Assizes. The joke is to ask a Botlcy 
man, “When are the assizes coming on?” 
The reference is to the tradition that the men of 
Botley once hanged a man because he could 
not drink so deep as his neighbours. 

Bo-tree. The pi pal tree, or Ficus religiosa , 
of India, allied to the banyan, and so called 
from Pali Bodhi , perfect knowledge, because 
it is under one of these trees that Gautama 
attained enlightenment and so became the 
Buddha. At the ruined city of Anuradhapura 
in Ceylon is a bo-tree that is said to have grown 
from a cutting sent by King Asoka in 288 b.c. 

Bottle. The accepted commercial size of a wine 
bottle is one holding 26} fluid ounces per 
reputed quart. Large bottles are named as 
follows: — 

Magnum . . holding 2 ordinary bottles. 


Double-magnum 
or Jeroboam 

,, 4 

Rehoboam 

6 

Methuselah . . 

„ 8 

Salmanazar . . 

,, 12 

Balthazar 

„ 16 

Nebuchadnezzar 

„ 20 


Bottle 


133 


Boulangism 


A three-bottle man. A toper who can drink 
three bottles of port at a sitting. 

Brought up on the bottle. Said of a baby 
which is artificially fed instead of being nursed 
at the breast. 

Looking for a needle in a bottle of hay, or in a 
haystack. Looking for a very small article 
amidst a mass of other things. Bottle is a 
diminutive of the Fr. botte , a bundle; as botte 
de Join, a bundle of hay. 

Metbinks I have a great desire to a bottle of hay. 

Midsummer Night's Dream , IV, i. 

To bottle up one’s feelings, emotions, etc. 
To suppress them; to hold them well under 
control. 

To put new wine into old bottles. A saying 
founded on Matt, ix, 17 ; typical of incongruity. 
New wine expands as it matures. If put in a 
new skin (bottle) the skin expands with it; 
if in an old skin, when the wine expands the 
skin bursts. 

Bottle-chart. A chart of ocean surface 
currents made from the track of scaled bottles 
thrown from ships into the sea. 

Bottle-holder. One who gives moral but 
not material support. The allusion is to 
boxing or prize-fighting, where the attendant 
on each combatant, whose duty it is to wipe 
off blood, refresh him with water, and do other 
services to encourage his man to persevere and 
win, is called “the bottle-holder.” 

Lord Palmerston considered himself the bottle- 
holder of oppressed States ... He was the stead- 
fast partisan of constitutional liberty in every part 
of the world. — The Times . 

Bottle-washer. Chief agent; the principal 
man employed by another; a factotum. The 
full phrase — which usually is applied more or 
less sarcastically — is “chief cook and bottle- 
washer.” 

Bottled moonshine. Social and benevolent 
schemes, such as Utopia, Coleridge’s Pantiso- 
cracy, the dreams of Owen, Fourier, St. Simon, 
the New Republic, and so on. 

The idea was probably suggested by Swift’s 
Laputan philosopher, in Gulliver 1 s Travels , 
who 

Had been eight years upon a project of extracting 
sunbeams out of cucumbers, which were to be put 
into phials hermetically sealed, and let out to warm 
the air in raw inclement summers. 

Bottom. In nautical language the keel of a 
ship, that part of the hull which is below the 
waves; hence, the hull itself, and hence 
extended to mean the whole ship, especially in 
such phrases as goods imported in British 
bottoms or in foreign bottoms. 

A vessel is said to have a full bottom when 
the lower half of the bull is so disposed as to 
allow large stowage, and a sharp bottom when 
it is capable of speed. 

Never venture all in one bottom — i.e. “do 
not put all your eggs into one basket,” has 
allusion to the marine use of the word. 

My ventures are not in one bottom trusted. 

Shakespeare: Merchant of Venice , I, L 

At bottom. Radically, fundamentally: as, 
the young prodigal lived a riotous life, but was 
good at bottom, or below the surface. 


At the bottom. At the base or root. 

From the bottom of my heart. Without 

reservation. 

If one of the parties ... be content to forgive 
from the bottom of his heart all that the other hath 
trespassed against him. — Prayer Book. 

He was at the bottom of It. He really 
instigated it, or prompted it. 

To have no bottom. To be unfathomable; 
to be unstable. ■ 

To get to the bottom of the matter. To 
ascertain the entire truth; to bolt a matter 'to 
its bran. 

To knock the bottom out of anything. See 

Knock. 

To stand on one’s own bottom. To be 
independent. “Every tub must stand on its 
own bottom.” 

To touch bottom. To reach the lowest 
depth. 

A horse of good bottom means of good 
stamina, good foundation. 

Bottom the Weaver. A man who fancies he 
can do everything, and do it better than any- 
one else. Shakespeare has drawn him as 
profoundly ignorant, brawny, mock heroic, and 
with an overflow of self-conceit. He is in one 
part of Midsummer Night's Dream represented 
with an ass’s head, and Titania, queen of the 
fairies, under a spell, caresses him as an 
Adonis. 

The name is very appropriate, as one mean- 
ing of bottom is a ball of thread used in weaving, 
etc. Thus in Clark’s Heraldry we read, 
“The coat of Badland is argent , three bottoms 
in fess gules, the thread or. 11 

Bottomless Pit, The. Hell is so called in 
the book of Revelation , xx, 1. The expression 
had previously been used by Coverdale in 
Job xxxvi, 16. 

William Pitt was humorously called the 
bottomless Pitt , in allusion to his remarkable 
thinness. 

Bottomry. A nautical term implying a 
contract by which in return for money ad- 
vanced to the owners a ship, or bottom ( q.v .), 
is, in a manner, mortgaged. If the vessel is 
lost the lender is not repaid; but if it completes 
its voyage he receives both principal and 
interest. 

Boudicca. The preferred form of Boadicea 
(q.v.). 

Boudoir. Properly speaking, a room for 
sulking in (Fr. bouder , to sulk). When the 
word was introduced into England in the last 
quarter of the 18th century it was as often 
applied to a man’s sanctum as to a woman’s 
retiring room; now, however, it is used only 
for a private apartment where a lady may 
retire, receive her intimate friends, etc. 

Bought and Sold, or Bought, Sold, and Done 
For. Ruined, done for, outwitted. 

Bouillabaisse (boo'yabas). A soup, for 
which Marseilles is celebrated, made of fish 
boiled with herbs in water or white wine. 

Boulangism (boo lonj' izm). This was a sort of 
political frenzy that swept over France in 
1886-87. General Boulanger (1837-91) was a 


Boulle 


134 


Boustrophedon 


smart Soldier who, in 1886, was appointed 
minister of war. By genuine reforms in the 
army, but more by a spectacular display of his 
handsome person on a fine horse at reviews, 
he won the hearts and stirred the imagination 
of the Paris mob, who cried that he was the one 
man in France to retrieve the glories lost in the 
disastrous Franco-Prussian war. But Bou- 
langer was really a man of straw, played on by 
all the reactionary parties in France, and after 
sweeping the country in a wave of patriotism 
aiuji xenophobia, the Boulangist movement 
didd out from lack of any man to lead it. 
Boulanger fled to exile, and eventually com- 
mitted suicide in Brussels. 

Boulle (bool). A kind of marquetry in which 
brass, gold, or enamelled metal is inlaid into 
wood or tortoise-shell, named after Andre 
Charles Boulle (1642-1732), the celebrated 
cabinet-maker who worked for Louis XIV on 
the decorations and furniture at Versailles. 

Bounce. Brag, swagger; boastful and men- 
dacious exaggeration. 

He speaks plain cannon, fire, and smoke, and bounce. 

Shakespeare: King John , II, ii. 

On the bounce. Ostentatiously swaggering. 
Trying to effect some object “on the bounce” 
is trying to attain one’s end through making an 
impression that is unwarrantable. 

That’s a bouncer. A gross exaggeration, a 
braggart’s lie. A bouncing lie is a thumping 
lie and a bouncer is a thumper. 

Bounds, Beating the. An old custom, still kept 
up in a few English parishes, of going round 
the parish boundaries on Holy Thursday, or 
Ascension Day. The school-children, accom- 
panied by the clergymen and parish officers, 
walked through their parish from end to end; 
the boys were switched with willow wands all 
along the lines of boundary, the idea being to 
teach them to know the bounds of their parish. 

Many practical jokes were played even dur- 
ing the first quarter of the 19th century, to 
make the boys remember the delimitations: 
such as “pumping them,” pouring water 
candestinely on them from house windows, 
beating them with thin rods, etc. 

Beating the bounds was called in Scotland 
Riding the marches (bounds), and in England 
the day is sometimes called gang-clay. 

Bounder. To call a man a bounder was to 
stigmatize him as a vulgar, ill-mannered cad, 
an outsider, one who did not behave himself, 
especially where women were concerned. 

Bounty. See Queen Anne’s Bounty; Royal 
Bounty. 

Bounty, The Mutiny of the. Much has been 
written and acted on the theme of this famous 
tragedy. In 1788 Captain William Bligh was 
sent in command of H.M.S. Bounty to the 
Society Islands to collect vegetable products 
with a view to propagating them in the W. 
Indies, In April, 1789, his crew mutinied and 
Bljgh, with 18 loyal sailors, was set adrift in an 
open boat, ultimately landing in Timor, near 
Java. Meanwhile the crew of the Bounty 
reached Tahiti, whence nine of them, ac- 
companied by some native men and women, 


sailed to the uninhabited Pitcairn Island where 
they settled. Ten years later only one of the 
men, John Adorns, was alive, but there were 
several women and children from whom the 
present inhabitants are descended. 

Bourbon (boor' bon). The Bourbon Kings of 
France were Henry IV, Louis XIII, XIV, XV, 
and XVI (1589-1793), Louis XVIII and 
Charles X (1814-30). The family is so named 
from the seigniory of Bourbon, in the Bour- 
bonnais, in Central France, and is a branch of 
the Capet stock, through the marriage of 
Beatrix, heiress of the Bourbons, to Robert, 
Count of Clermont, sixth son of Louis IX, in 
1272. Henry IV was tenth in descent from 
Louis IX and the twentieth king to succeed him. 

Bourbons also reigned over Naples and the 
two Sicilies, and the royal house of Spain (not 
reigning at present) is Bourbon, being des- 
cended from Philippe, Duke of Anjou, a 
grandson of Louis XIV, who became King of 
Spain in 1700. 

It was said of the Bourbons that they forgot 
nothing and learned nothing. Hence in the 
U.S.A. in the 1880s it became a nickname for 
a member of the Democratic Party. 

In U.S.A. the term Bourbon is used for 
whisky made from Indian corn, sometimes with 
rye or malt added. The first Kentucky 
whisky was made by a Baptist clergyman 
named Elijah Craig at Royal Spring, near 
Georgetown, in 1789. Georgetown (now 
county seat of Scott County) was then in 
Bourbon (pron. b£r' bun) County. 

Bourgeois (Fr.). Our burgess; a member of 
the class between the “gentlemen” and the 
peasantry. It includes merchants, shop- 
keepers, and the so-called “middle class.” 

In typography, bourgeois (pronounced bur- 
joisO is the name of a size of type between long 
primer and brevier. 

Bourgeoisie (Fr.). The merchants, manu- 
facturers, and master-tradesmen considered as 
a class. 

The Commons of England, the Tiers-Etat of 
France, the bourgeoisie of the Continent generally, 
are the descendants of this class [artisans] generally. 

Mill: Political Economy. 

In recent years, particularly since the Russian 
Revolution, when this class was held to be 
chiefly responsible for the continuance of 
privilege and for all sorts of abuses during the 
old regime and the early part of the new, the 
word bourgeoisie has been applied more 
particularly to the unimaginative, conventional 
and narrow-minded section of the middle 
classes. 

Bouse. See Booze. 

Boustrapa. A nickname of Napoleon III ; in 
allusion to his unsuccessful attempts at a 
couDd'itat at Boulogne (1840) and Strasbourg 
(1836) and the successful one at Paris (1851). 

Boustrophedon (boo strof' e d6n). A method 
of writing found in early Greek inscriptions in 
which the lines run alternately from right to 
left and left to right, like the path of oxen in 
ploughing. (Gr. boustrepho , ox-turning.) 



Bouts-rimls 


135 


Bower anchor 


Bouts-rim6s (boo re' m&) (Fr. rhymed -endings). 
A parlour game which, in thp 18th century* 
haa a considerable vogue in literary circles as a 
test of skill. A list of words that rhyme with 
one another is drawn up; this is handed to the 
competitors, and they have to make a poem 
to the rhymes, each rhyme-word being kept 
in its place on the list. 

Bovey Coal. A lignite found at Bovey Tracey, 
in Devonshire. 

Bow (bo) (O.E. boga; connected with the 
O.Teut. beguan, to bend.) 

Draw not your bow till your arrow is fixed. 
Have everything ready before you begin. 

He has a famous bow up at the castle. Said 
of a braggart or pretender. 

He has two strings to his bow. Two means 
of accomplishing his object; if one fails, he can 
try the other. The allusion is to the custom 
of bowmen carrying a reserve string for 
emergency. 

To be too much of the bow-hand. To fail in 
a design; not be sufficiently dexterous. The 
bow-hand is the left hand; the hand which 
holds the bow. 

To draw a bow at a venture. To attack with- 
out proper aim ; to make a random remark 
which may hit the truth. 

A certain man drew a bow at a venture and smote 
the King of Israel. — I Kings xxii, 34. 

To draw the longbow. To exaggerate. The 
longbow was the famous English weapon till 
gunpowder was introduced, and it is said that 
a good archer could hit between the fingers of 
a m?n’s hand at a considerable distance, and 
could propel his arrow a mile. The tales told 
about longbow adventures, especially in the 
Robin Hood stories, fully justify the applica- 
tion of the phrase. 

To unstring the bow will not heal the wound 

(Ital.). Ren? of Anjou, king of Sicily, on the 
death of his wife, Isabeau of Lorraine, adopted 
the emblem of a bow with the string broken, 
with the words given above for the motto, 
by which he meant, ‘‘Lamentation for the loss 
of his wife was but poor satisfaction.’* 

Bow (bou). The fore-end of a boat or ship. 
(O.E. bog or bolt; connected with Dan. boug , 
Icel. bogr , a shoulder.) 

On the bow. Within a range of 45° on one 
side or the other of the prow. 

Up in the bows, To be. To be enraged. 

Bow Bells (bo). Born within sound of Bow 
bells. Said of a true cockney ( q.v .). St. 
Mary-le-Bow long had one of the most cele- 
brated bell-peals in London. John Dun, 
mercer, gave in 1472 two tenements to maintain 
the ringing of Bow bell every night at nine 
o’clock, to direct travellers on the road to 
town; and in 1520 William Copland gave a 
bigger bell for the purpose of “sounding a re- 
treat from work.*’ Bow Church, in Cheapside, 
is in the centre of the City of London. The 
interior of the church was totally destroyed in 
an air raid in 1941, but the tower remained 
almost unharmed though the bells were 
destroyed. 


Bow-catcher (b6). A corruption df “Beau 
catcher,” a love-curl, termed by the French an 
accroche-casur. A love-curl worn by a man is 
a Bell-ropey i.e. a rope to pull the belles with. 

Bow-street Runners (bo). Detectives who 
scoured the country to find criminals, before 
the introduction of the police force. Bow r 
Street, near Covent Garden** is where the 
principal London police-court stands. 

Bow-wow Word (bou wou). A word in imita- 
tion of the sound made, as hiss, cackle* 
murmur, cuckoo, etc. Hence the Bow-Wow 
school , a term applied in ridicule to philologists 
who sought to derive speech and language from 
the sounds made by animals. The terms were 
first used by Max Muller. See Onomatopeia. 

Bowden fbou' den). Not every man can be 
vicar of Bowden. Not everyone can occupy 
the first place Bowden is one of the best 
livings in Cheshire. 

Bowdlerize (bou' dler Iz). To expurgate a 
book. Thomas Bowdler, in 1818, gave to the 
world an edition of Shakespeare’s works “in 
which nothing is added to the original text; 
but those words and expressions are omitted 
which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a 
family.** This was in ten volumes. Bowdler 
subsequently treated Gibbon’s Decline and 
Fall in the same way. Hence the words 
Bowdlerist, Bowdierizer, Bowdlerism, etc. 

Bowels of Mercy. Compassion, sympathy. 
The affections were at one time supposed to be 
the outcome of certain secretions or organs, as 
the bile, the kidneys, the heart, the head, the 
liver, the bowels, the spleen, and so on. 
Hence such words and phrases as melancholy 
(black bile); the Psalmist says that his reins, 
or kidneys, instructed him ( Ps . x, 7), meaning 
his inward conviction; the head is the seat of 
understanding; the heart of affection and 
memory (hence “learning by heart’*), the 
bowels of mercy, the spleen of passion or 
anger, etc. 

His bowels yearned over, upon, or towards 
him. He felt a secret affection for him. 

Joseph made haste, for his bowels did yearn upon 
his brother. — Gen. xliii, 30; see also I Kings iii, 26. 

Bower. A lady’s private room. (O.E. bur, 
a chamber.) 

But come to my bower, my Glasgerion, 

When all men are at rest: 

As I am a ladie true of my promise. 

Thou shalt bee a welcome guest. 

From the ballad Glasgerion . 

Hence, bower-woman, a lady’s maid and 
companion. 

Bower, the terra used in euchre, is an 
entirely different word. It is Bauer, a peasant 
or knave. 

But the hands that were played 
By that heathen Chinee, 

And the points that he made. 

Were quite frightful to see — 

Till at last he put down a right bower 
Which the same Nye had dealt unto me. 

Bret Harte: Plain Language from Truthful James. 

The right bower is the knave of trumps; the 
left bower is the other knave of the same colour. 

Bower anchor. An anchor carried at the 


Bfcwer of Bliss 


136 


Boxers 


bow of a Ship. „ There are two : one called the 
best bow€tr y and th^ other the small bower. 

> Starboard being the best bower, and port the small 
bower. — Smyth: Sailor's Word-book. 

Bower of Bliss. In Spenser’s Faerie Queene 
(Bk. II) the enchanted home of Acrasia. 

Bowie Knife. James Bowie ( pron . Boo-ee) 
was a Southerner who for some years from 
1818 smuggled negro slaves with the great 
pirate Jean Lafitte. In 1827 he was present 
at a duel on a sandbar in the Mississippi near 
Natchez which ended in a general metee in 
which six of the seconds and spectators were 
killed and fifteen wounded. Bowie killed one 
Major Norris Wright with a knife he had made 
from a blacksmith’s rasp — 10 to 15 inches 
. long, with one sharp edge and curving to a 
point. This knife attracted so much attention 
that Bowie sent it to a cutler in Philadelphia, 
who marketed copies as the Bowie-knife. 
Bowie moved to Texas where, in the revolution 
against Mexico, he was killed with Davy 
Crockett by General Santa Anna after the fall 
of the Alamo ( q.v .) on March 6th, 1836. 

Bowing (bou ' ing). We uncover the head when 
we wish to salute anyone with respect; but the 
Jews, Turks, Siamese, etc., uncover their feet. 
The reason is this: With us the chief act of 
investure is crowning or placing a cap on the 
head; but in the East it is putting on the 
slippers. 

Bowler Hat. A stiff felt hat, known in the 
U.S.A. as the Derby Hat. William Coke, a 
keen horseman and rich landowner of Nor- 
folk, is said to have first inspired the idea of 
the hat. Finding that his tall riding hat was 
frequently swept off by overhanging branches, 
he asked (c. 1850) a famous hatter of the 
period, a Mr. Beaulieu (hence bowler) to design 
a lower crowned hard felt hat. See also 
Billycock Hat. 

Bowling, Tom (bo ling). The type of a model 
sailor; from the character of that name in 
Smollett’s Roderick Random. 

The Tom Bowling referred to in Dibdin’s 
famous sea-song was Captain Thomas Dibdin, 
brother of Charles Dibdin (1768-1833), who 
wrote the song, and father of Thomas Frognall 
Dibdin, the bibliomaniac. 

Here a sheer hulk lies poor Tom Bowling, 

The darling of the crew. 

Bowls. They who play bowls must expect to 
meet with rubbers. Those who touch pitch 
must expect to defile their fingers. Those who 
enter upon affairs of chance, adventure, or 
dangerous hazard must make up their minds 
to encounter crosses, losses, or difficulties. 
The rubber is the final game which decides who 
is the winner. 

Bowyer God. The “archer god,’’ usually 
Cupid, but in his translation of the Iliad 
Bryant (I, v, 156) applies the epithet to Apollo. 

Box. I’ve got into the wrong box. I am out 
of my element, or in the wrong place. Lord 
Lyttelton used to say that whenever he went to 
Vauxhall and heard the mirth of his neighbours, 
he used to fancy pleasure was in every box but 


his own. Wherever he went for happiness, he 
somehow always got into the wrong box. 

“Box about, ’twill come to my father anon.” 
During an argument with his son, Sir Walter 
Raleigh gave him a blow on the head. Not 
wishing to strike his father back, young 
Walter hit the man on the other side of him 
at table with the above words, intending that 
the blow should go right round the table and 
get back to his father. According to Aubrey 
this became a common proverb in the 17th 
century. 

To be in the same box. To be in the same 
predicament as somebody else; to be equally 
embarrassed. 

To box Harry. A phrase in use among 
commercial travellers; applied to one who 
avoids the table d'hote and takes something 
substantial for tea, in order to save expense; 
also, to cut down one’s expenditure after a 
bout of extravagance. To box a tree is to cut 
the bark to procure the sap, and these travel- 
lers drain the landlord by having a cheap tea 
instead of an expensive dinner. 

To box the compass. A nautical phrase 
meaning to name the thirty-two points of the 
compass in their correct order. Hence, a 
wind is said “to box the compass” when in a 
short space of time it blows from every 
quarter in succession; hence, the figurative use 
of the term — to go right round, in political 
views, etc., or in direction, and to end at one’s 
starting-place. 

Box and Cox has become a phrase which can 
only be explained by the story. Box and Cox 
were two lodgers who, unknown to each 
other, occupied the same room, one being out 
at work all day, the other all night. 

Box-cars. In throwing dice, in the U.S.A., 
a double six is known as a box-cars; from its 
resemblance to freight cars, or goods wagons. 

Box Days. In the Scottish Court of Session, 
two days in spring and autumn, and one at 
Christmas, during vacation, in which pleadings 
may be filed. This custom was established in 
1690, for the purpose of expediting business. 
Each judge has a private box with a slit, into 
which informations may be placed on box 
days, and the judge, who alone has the key, 
examines the papers in private. 

Boxing-Day. See Christmas Box. 

Boxing weights. — 

Flyweight, 1 12 lb. and under. 

Bantam, 118 1b. „ 

Feather, 126 1 b. „ 

light, 135 1b. 

Welter, 147 lb. 

Middle, 160 1b. „ 

Light heavy, 175 lb. „ 

Heavy, all over 175 lb. 

Boxers. A secret society in China which took 
a prominent part in the rising against foreigners 
in 1900 and was suppressed by joint Euro- 
pean action. The Chinese name was Gee Ho 
Chuan y signifying “righteousness, harmony, 
and fists,” and implying training as in athletics, 
for the purpose of developing righteousness and 
harmony. 



Boy 


137 


Brag 


Boy. In a number of connexions “boy” has 
no reference to age. In India, the colonies, 
and elsewhere, for instance, a native or negro 
servant or labourer of whatever age is called a 
boy, and among sailors the word refers only 
to experience in seamanship. A crew is 
divided into able seamen, ordinary seamen, 
and boys or greenhorns. A “boy” is not 
required to know anything about the practical 
working of the vessel, but an “able seaman” 
must know all his duties and be able to perform 
them. 

The Boy, meaning champagne, takes its 
origin from a shooting-party at which a boy 
with an iced bucket of wine was in attendance. 
When the Prince of Wales (Edward VII), who 
was one of the shots, needed a drink he shouted 
“Where’s the boy?”, and thence the phrase 
found its way into would-be smart parlance. 

He will say that port and sherry his nice palate 
always cloy; 

He’ll nothing drink but “ B. and S.” and big mag- 
nums of “ the boy.” 

Punch (1882). 

Boy Bishop. St. Nicholas of Bari was 
called “the Boy Bishop” because from his 
cradle he manifested marvellous indications of 
piety; the custom of choosing a boy from the 
cathedral choir, etc., on his day (December 
6th), as a mock bishop, is very ancient. The 
boy possessed episcopal honour for three 
weeks, and the rest of the choir were his 
prebendaries. If he died during his time of 
office he was buried in pontificulibus. Prob- 
ably the reference is to Jesus Christ sitting in 
the Temple among the doctors while He was a 
boy. The custom was abolished in the reign 
of Henry VIII. 

Naked boy. See Naked. 

Boy Scouts were started in Great Britain 
by General (later Lord) Baden-Powell in 1908, 
with the purpose of training lads to be good 
citizens with high ideals of honour, thoughtful- 
ness for others, cleanliness, obedience and self- 
reliance. The movement spread to other 
countries and there is now a membership of 
over eight million young people. Scouts are 
graded according to age into three classes; 
Wolf Cubs, 8 to 11; Scouts, 11 and upwards; 
Rover Scouts over 17. See also Girl Guides. 

Boycott. To boycott is to use a form of 
coercion which prevents social and commercial 
dealings with a person, group, firm, or country. 
It was first used against Captain Charles C. 
Boycott (1832-97), an English land agent in Co. 
Mayo, Ireland, who came into conflict with 
Land League agitators. Under Parnell, they 
began to persecute Boycott, men refused to 
work for him, and the police had to protect 
him. The term came into use in the year 1880, 
when Boycott was first persecuted. 

Boyle Controversy. A book-battle between 
Charles Boyle, fourth Earl of Orrery, and the 
mmous Bentley, respecting the Epistles of 
Phalaris , which were edited by Boyle in 1695. 
Two years later Bentley published his cele- 
brated Dissertation , showing that the epistles 
(see Phalaris) were spurious, and in 1699 
published another rejoinder, utterly annihilat- 


ing the Boyle partisans. Swift’s Battle of the 
Books (i q.v .) was one result of the controversy. 

Boyle’s law. The volume of a gas js 
inversely proportional to the pressure if the 
temperature remains constant. If we double 
the pressure on a gas, its volume is reduced to 
one-half; if we quadruple |he pressure, it * 
will be reduced to one-fourth; and so on; so 
called from the Hon. Robert Boyle (16^7-91). 

Boyle Lectures. A course of eight sermons 
on natural and revealed religion delivered 
annually at St. Mary-le-Bow Church, London. 
They were instituted by the Hon. Robert 
Boyle, and began in 1692, the year after his 
death. 

Boz. Charles Dickens (1812-70). 

“Boz, my signature in the Morning 
Chronicle ,” he tells us, “was the nickname of a 
pet child, a younger brother, whom I had 
dubbed Moses, in honour of the Vicar of 
Wakefield , which, being pronounced Boses , got 
shortened into Boz. 1 ' 

Bozzaris, Marco. See Leonidas of Modern 
Greece. 

Bozzy. James Boswell (1740-95), the bio- 
grapher of Dr. Johnson. 

Brabanconnc (bra ban son). The national an- 
them of Belgium, composed by Van Campen- 
hout in the revolution of 1830, and so named 
from Brabant, of which Brussels is the chief 
city. 

Braccata. See Gens Braccata; Gallia. 

Brace of Shakes. See Shake. 

Bradamante (brSd' a mant). The sister of 
Rinaldo in Orlando Furioso and Innamorato. 
She is represented as a wonderful Christian 
Amazon, possessed of an irresistible spear 
which unhorsed every knight it struck. 

Bradbury. A £l-note, as issued by the 
Treasury 1914-28, bearing the signature of 
J. S. Bradbury (subsequently Baron Bradbury), 
who was at that time Permanent Secretary to 
the Treasury. 

Bradshaw’s Guide was started in 1839 by 
George Bradshaw (1801-53) printer, in 
Manchester. The Monthly Guide was first 
issued in December, 1841, and consisted of 
thirty-two pages, giving tables of forty-three 
lines of English railway. Publication was dis- 
continued in 1961. 

Brag. A game at cards; so called because the 
players brag of their cards to induce the 
company to make bets. The principal sport 
of the game is occasioned by any player 
bragging that he holds a better hand than the 
rest of the party, which is declared by saying 
“I brag,” and staking a sum of money on the 
issue. {Hoyle.) 

Brag is a good dog, but Holdfast is a better. 
Talking is all very well, but doing is far better. 
Trust none; 

For oaths are straws, men’s faiths are wafer-cakes. 
And hold-fast is the only dog, my duck. 

Shakespeare: Henry V t II, iii. 



Jack Brag 


138 


Brank 


Jack Brag. A vulgar, pretentious braggart, 
who gets into aristocratic society, where his 
vulgarity stands out in strong relief. The 
character is in Theodore Hookas novel of the 
same name. 

Braggadocio (br&g a d5' si 6). A braggart; 
one who is valiant with his tongue but a great 
coward at heart. Cp. Erythynus. The 
character is from Spenser’s Faerie Queene , and 
a type bf the “Intemperance of the Tongue.” 
After a time, like the jackdaw in borrowed 
plumes, Braggadocio is stripped of all his 

lories: his shield is claimed by Sir Marinell; 

is lady is proved by the golden girdle to be 
the false Florimel; his horse is claimed by Sir 
Guyon; Talus shaves off his beard and scourges 
his squire; and the pretender sneaks off amidst 
the jeers of everyone. It is thought that the 
° poet had the Duke d’Alencon, a suitor of 
Queen Elizabeth I, in mind when he drew this 
character ( Faerie Queene , II, iii; III, v, viii, x; 
IV, ii, iv; V, iii, etc.). 

Brahma (bra' mi). In Hinduism Brahma, 
properly speaking, is the Absolute, or God 
conceived as entirely impersonal; this theo- 
logical abstraction was later endowed with 
personality, and became the Creator of the 
universe, the first in the divine Triad, of which 
the other partners were Vishnu, the main- 
tainer, and Siva (or Shiva), the destroyer. As 
such the Brahmins claim Brahma as the 
founder of their religious system. 

Brahmin. A worshipper of Brahma, the 
highest caste in the system of Hinduism, and 
of the priestly order. See Caste. 

Brahmo Somaj (Sanskrit, “the Society of 
Believers in the One God”). A monotheistic 
sect of Brahmins, founded in 1818 in Calcutta 
by Ramohun Roy (c. 1777-1833), a wealthy 
and well-educated Brahmin who wished to 
purify his religion and found a National 
Church which should be free from idolatry and 
superstition. In 1844 the Church was re- 
organized by Debendro Nath Tagore, and 
since that time its reforming zeal and influence 
has gained it many adherents. 

Brains Trust. Originally the name “Brain 
Trust” was applied by James M. Kieran of the 
New York Times to the advisers of Franklin 
Roosevelt in his election campaign. Later 
applied to the group of college professors who 
advised him in administering the New Deal. 
In Britain the name Brains Trust was given to 
a popular radio and later, television programme 
in which well-known public figures aired their 
views on questions submitted by listeners. 

Brain-wave. A sudden inspiration; “a 
happy thought.” 

Bran. If not Bran, it is Bran’s brother. 

“Mar e Bran, is e a brachair” (if it be not Bran, 
it is Bran’s brother) was the proverbial reply of 
Maccombich. — Scott: Waveriey , ch. xiv. 

If not the real “Simon Pure,” it is just as 
good. A complimentary expression. Bran 
was Fingal’s dog, a mighty favourite. See 
also Brennus. 

Bran-new or Brand-new (O.E. brand , a torch). 
Fire new. Shakespeare, in Love's Labour Lost , 


I, i, says, “A man of fire-new words.” And 
again in Twelfth Night , III, ii, “Fire-new from 
the mint”; and again in King Lear , V, iii, 
“Fire-new fortune”; and again in Richard HI, 
I, iii, “Your fire-new stamp of honour is 
scarce current.” Originally applied to metals 
and things manufactured in metal which shine. 
Subsequently applied generally to things quite 
new. 

Brand. The merchant’s or excise mark 
branded on the article itself, the vessel which 
contains the article, the wrapper which covers 
it, the cork of the bottle, etc., to guarantee its 
being genuine, etc. 

He has the brand of villain in his looks. It 
was once customary to brand convicted 
persons with a red-hot iron; thus, in the reign 
of William III convicted criminals were 
branded with R (rogue) on the shoulders, 
M (manslaycr) on the right hand, and T (thief) 
on the left; and felons were branded on the 
cheek with an F. The custom was abolished 
by law in 1822. See Maverick. 

Brandan, St., or Brendan. A semi-legendary 
Irish saint, said to have died and been buried 
at Clonfert (at the age of about 94), in 577, 
where he was abbot over 3,000 monks. 

He is best known on account of the very 
popular mediaeval story of his voyage in search 
of the Earthly Paradise, which was supposed to 
be situated on an island in mid-Atlantic. The 
voyage lasted for seven years, and the story is 
crowded with marvellous incidents, the very 
birds and beasts he encountered being 
Christians and observing the fasts and festivals 
of the Church! 

And we came to the Isle of a Saint who had sailed 
with St. Brendan of yore, 

He had lived ever since on the Isle and his winters 
were fifteen score. 

Tennyson: Voyage of Maeldune. 

Brandenburg. Confession of Brandenburg. A 

formulary or confession of faith drawn up in 
the city of Brandenburg in 1610, by order of 
the elector, with the view of reconciling the 
tenets of Luther with those of Calvin, and to 
put an end to the disputes occasioned by the 
Confession of Augsburg ( q.v .). 

Brandon. An obsolete form of brand , a torch. 
Dominica de brandonibus (St. Valentine’s Day), 
when boys used to carry about brandons 
(Cupid’s torches). 

Brandy is a spirit distilled from the fermented 
juice of the grape, and may be made wherever 
wine is made. The most famous are those 
made in the Cognac and Armagnac districts of 
France. 

Brandy Nan. Queen Anne who was very 
fond of brandy. On her statue in St. Paul’s 
Churchyard a wit once wrote: — 

Brandy Nan, Brandy Nan, left in the lurch. 

Her face to the gin-shop, her back to the church. 

A “gin palace” used to stand at the south- 
west corner of St. Paul’s Churchyard. 

See Est-il Possible. 

Brank. A Scotch word for a gag for scolds. 
It consisted of an iron framework fitting 




Brant-goose 


139 


Breaches 


round the head, with a piece projecting in- 
wards which went into the mouth and pre- 
vented the “tongue-wagging.” One is pre- 
served in the vestry of the church of Walton- 
on-Thames. It is dated 1633, and has the 
inscription : 

Cnestcr presents Walton with a bridle 
To curb women’s tongues that talk too idle. 

Brant-goose. See Brent-goose. 

Brasenose College (braz' n6z) (Oxford). Over 
the gate is a brass nose, the arms of the college; 
but the word is a corruption of brasenhuis , a 
brasserie or brewhouse, the college having been 
built on the site of an ancient brewery. For 
over 550 years the original nose was at Stam- 
ford, for in the time of Edward III the students, 
in search of religious liberty, migrated thither, 
taking the brazen nose with them. They were 
soon recalled, but the nose remained on their 
Stamford gateway till 1890 when, the property 
coming into the market, it was acquired by the 
College. 

Brass. Impudence, effrontery. As bold as 
brass, with barefaced effrontery. Brass is also 
a slang term for money. 

A church brass is a funeral effigy made in 
latten and fastened down to a tombstone 
forming part of the floor of a church. Such 
effigies are mostly of the 14th and 15th 
centuries and are decorative in design. Rub- 
bings can be made most successfully with 
cobbler’s wax on coarse paper. 

The Man of Brass. Talus, the work of 
Vulcan. He traversed Crete to prevent 
strangers from setting foot on the island, threw 
rocks at the Argonauts to prevent their 
landing, and used to make himself red-hot, and 
then hug intruders to death. 

Brass Hat. A soldier’s name for a staff 
officer, or an officer of high rank. It dates 
from the South African War (1899-1902), and 
refers to the gold oak leaves with which such 
officers’ hats were ornamented on the brim. 

To get down to brass tacks. To get down 
to the essentials, or the tacks which hold the 
structure together. 

Brassbounder. A premium apprentice on a 
merchant ship. 

Brat. A child, especially in contempt. The 
origin of the word is unknown, but it may be 
from the Welsh breth , swaddling clothes, or 
Gaelic brat , an apron. 

O Israel! O household of the Lord! 

O Abraham’s brats! O brood of blessed seed! 

Gascoigne: Dc Profundis. 

Brave. A fighting man, among the American 
Indians, was so called. 

Alonso IV, of Portugal (1290-1357) was 
so called. 

Bravest of the Brave (Le Brave des Braves). 
Marshal Ney (1769-1815). So called by the 
troops of Friedland (1807), on account of his 
fearfess bravery. Napoleon said of him, 
“That man is a lion.’* 

Bravery. Finery is the Fr. braverie. The 
French for courage is bravoure . 


Brawn. The test of the brawn’s head. A little 

boy one day came to the court of King Arthur, 
and, drawing his wand over a boar’s head, 
declared, “There’s never a cuckold’s knife can 
carve this head of brawn.” No knight in the 
court except Sir Cradock was able to accom- 
plish the feat. (Percy’s Reliques.) 

Bray. See Vicar. 

Brazen Age. The age of war and violence. It 
followed the silver age. 

To this next came in course the brazen age, 

A warlike offspring, prompt to bloody rage, 

Not impious yet. Hard steel succeeded then, 
And stubborn as the metal were the men. 

Dryden: Metamorphoses , i. 

Brazen-faced. Bold (in a bad sense), without 
shame. 

What a brazen-faced varlet art thou! 

Shaicespeare: King Lear, II, ii. 

Brazen head. The legend of the wonderful 
head of brass that could speak and was 
omniscient is common property to early 
romances, and is of Eastern origin. In 
Valentine and Orson , for instance, we hear of a 
gigantic head kept in the castle of the giant 
Ferragus ( q.v .). of Portugal. It told those who 
consulted it whatever they required to know, 
past, present, or to come; but the most 
famous in English legend is that fabled to 
have been made by the great Roger Bacon. 

It was said if Bacon heard it speak he would 
succeed in his projects; if not, he would fail. 
His familiar, Miles, was set to watch, and while 
Bacon slept the Head spoke thrice: “Time is”; 
half an hour later it said, “Time was.” In 
another half-hour it said, “Time’s past.” fell 
down, and was broken to atoms. Byron 
refers to this legend. 

Like Friar Bacon’s brazen head, Fve spoken, 
“Time is,” “Time was,” “Time’s past.” 

References to Bacon’s Brazen Head are 
frequent in literature. Most notable is 
Robert Greene’s Honorable History of Friar 
Bacon and Friar Bungay , 1 594. Among other 
allusions may be mentioned: 

Bacon trembled for his brazen head. 

Pope: Dunctad , III, 104. 
Quoth he, “ My head’s not made of brass. 

As Friar Bacon’s noddle was.” 

Butler : Hudibras , II, ii. 
See also Speaking Heads. 

Brazen out, To. To stick to an assertion 
knowing it to be wrong; to outface in a shame- 
less manner; to disregard public opinion. 

Breach of Promise. A contract to marry is as 
binding in English law as any other contract, 
and if it is broken the party breaking it is 
liable to pay damages. The woman who 
breaks an engagement is just as liable in law 
as a man. In actions for breach of promise of 
marriage the plaintiff is entitled to the recovery 
of any pecuniary loss, such as the cost of a 
trousseau, and such sentimental or punitive 
damages as the jury may consider appropriate. 
See Betrothal. 

Breaches, meaning creeks or small bays , is to 
be found in Judges v, 17. Deborah, com- 
plaining of the tribes who refused to assist her 
in her war with Sisera, says that Asher 


Bread 


140 


Breath 


remained “in his breaches/* that is, creeks on 
the seashore. 

Spenser uses the word in the same way: — 

The heedful Boateman strongly forth did stretch 

His brawnie armes, and all his body strains, 

That th’ utmost sandy breach they shortly fetch. 

Faerie Queene, II, xii, 21. 

In Coverdale’s version of the Bible the 
passage is rendered 

Asser sat in the haven of the see, and taried in his 
porcions. 

Bread. Cast thy bread upon the waters: for 
thou shalt find it after many days ( Eccles . xi, 1). 
When the Nile overflows its banks the weeds 
perish and the soil is disintegrated. The ricc- 
seed being cast into the water takes root, and 
is found in due time growing in healthful 
vigour. 

Don’t quarrel with your bread and butter. 
Don’t foolishly give up the pursuit by which 
you earn your living. 

To break bread. To partake of food. 
Common in Scripture language. 

Upon the first day of the week, when the disciples 
came together to break bread, Paul preached to 
them. — Acts, xx, 7. 

Breaking of bread. The Eucharist. 

They continued ... in breaking of bread, and in 
prayer. — Acts, ii, 42 and 46. 

He took bread and salt, i.e. he took his oath. 
In Eastern lands bread and salt were formerly 
eaten when an oath was taken. 

To know which side one’s bread is buttered. 
To be mindful of one’s own interest. 

To take the bread out of someone’s mouth. 
To forestall another; to say something which 
another was on the point of saying; to take 
away another’s livelihood. 

Bread-basket. The stomach. 

Bread and cheese. The barest necessities of 
life. 

Breadalbane. See Albany. 

Break, To. To bankrupt {q.v.). 

To break a bond. To dishonour it. 

To break a butterfly on a wheel. To employ 
superabundant effort in the accomplishment of 
a small matter. 

To break a journey. To stop before the 
journey is accomplished, with the intention of 
completing it later. 

To break a matter to a person. To be the 
first to impart it, and to do so cautiously and 
piecemeal. 

To break bread. See Bread. 

To break cover. To start forth from a 
hiding-place. 

To break down. To lose all control of one’s 
feelings; to collapse, to become hysterical. A 
break-down is a temporary collapse in health; 
it is also the name given to a wild kind of 
negro dance. 

To break faith. To violate one’s word or 
pledge; to act traitorously. 

To break ground. To commence a new 
project. As a settler does. 


To break in. To interpose a remark. To 
train a horse to the saddle or to harness, or to 
train any animal or person to a desired way of 
life. 

To break one’s fast. To take food after long 
abstinence; to cat one’s breakfast after the 
night’s fast. 

To break one’s neck. To dislocate the bones 
of one's neck. 

To break on the wheel. To torture on a 
“wheel’’ by breaking the long bones with an 
iron bar. Cp. Coup de Grace. 

To break out of bounds. To go beyond the 
prescribed limits. 

To break the ice. To prepare the way; to 
cause the stillness and reserve of intercourse 
with a stranger to relax; to impart to another 
bit by bit distressing news or a delicate subject. 

To break your back. To make you bank- 
rupt; to reduce you to a state of impotence. 
The metaphor is from carrying burdens on the 
back. 

To break up. To discontinue classes at the 
end of term time and go home; to separate. 
Also, to become rapidly decrepit or infirm. 
“Old So-and-so is breaking up; he’s not long 
for this world.’’ 

To break up housekeeping. To discontinue 
keeping a separate house. 

To break with someone. To cease from 
intercourse. 

To get a break. To have an unexpected 
chance; to have an opportunity of advancing 
oneself in business, etc. 

To make a break may mean either to make a 
complete change, or it may imply the com- 
mitting of some social error, an unfortunate 
mistake. 

To run up a score in billiards or snooker. 

Break. A short solo improvisation in jazz 
music. 

Breakers Ahead. Hidden danger at hand. 
Breakers in the open sea always announce 
sunken rocks, sand banks, etc. 

Breaking a Stick. Part of the marriage 
ceremony of certain North American Indians, 
as breaking a wineglass is part of the marriage 
ceremony of the Jews. 

In one of Raphael’s pictures we see an 
unsuccessful suitor of the Virgin Mary break- 
ing his stick. This alludes to the legend that 
the several suitors were each to bring an almond 
stick, which was to be laid up in the sanctuary 
over-night, and the owner of the stick which 
budded was to be accounted the suitor which 
God approved of. It was thus that Joseph 
became the husband of Mary. 

In Florence is a picture in which the 
rejected suitors break their sticks on Joseph’s 
back. 

Breast. To make a clean breast of it. To 
make a full confession, concealing, nothing. 
Breath. All in a breath. Without taking 
breath (Lat. continent's spiritu). 

It takes one’s breath away. The news is so 
astounding it causes one to hold one’s breath 
with surprise. 




Breath 


141 


Brew 


Out of breath. Panting from exertion; 
temporarily short of breath. 

Save your breath to cool your porridge. 
Don’t talk to me, it is only wasting your 
breath. 

To catch one’s breath. To check suddenly 
the free act of breathing. 

“ I see her,” replied 1, catching my breath with joy. 

Capt. Marryat: Peter Simple. 

To hold one’s breath. Voluntarily to cease 
breathing for a time. 

To take breath. To cease for a little time 
from some exertion in order to recover from 
exhaustion of breath. 

Under one’s breath. In a whisper or under- 
tone of voice. 

To breathe one’s last. To die. 

Brdche dc Roland. A deep defile in the crest 
of the Pyrenees, some three hundred feet in 
width, between two precipitous rocks. The 
legend is that Roland, the paladin, cleft the 
rock in two with his sword Durandal, when he 
was set upon by the Gascons at Roncesvallcs. 

Breeches. To wear the breeches. Said of a 
woman who usurps the prerogative of her 
husband. Similar to The grey mare is the 
better horse. See Mare. 

Breeches Bible, The. See Bible, Specially 
Named. 

Breeches buoy. A pair of short canvas 
breeches forming a cradle in which, by means 
of a pulley and rope, people can be con- 
veyed from ship to ship or ship to shore. 

Breeze, meaning a light gale or strongish wind 
(and, figuratively, a slight quarrel) is from the 
Fr. brise, and Span, brisa , the north-east wind. 
Breeze , the small ashes and cinders used in 
burning bricks, and nowadays worked up into 
breeze-blocks for building, is the Fr. braise , 
older form bre.se, meaning glowing embers, or 
burning charcoal, and is connected with 
Swed. brasa , fire, and our brazier. Breeze in 
breeze-fly is O.E. briosa. So tne three words, 
breeze , are in no way connected. 

The breeze-fly. The gad-fly; called from 
its sting (O.E. briosa ; Gothic, bry, a sting). 

Breezy. A breezy person is one who is 
open, jovial, perhaps inclined to be a little 
boisterous. 

Brehon Laws (bre' hon). This is the English 
name for an ancient legal system which pre- 
vailed in Ireland from about the 7th century. 
They cover every phase of Irish life and 
furnish an interesting picture of the country in 
those early days. 

Brendan, St. See Brandan. 

Bren-gun. The World War II equivalent of a 
Lewis (< 7 . v.) machine-gun. It was originally 
made in Brno, Czechoslovakia, and then manu- 
factured in Enfield, England. The word 
“bren” is a blend of Brno and Enfield. 

Brennus. The name of the Gaulish chief who 
overran Italy and captured Rome about 
390 b.c. is the Latin form of the Celtic word 
Bren bin, king or war-chief. Bran t a name of 


frequent occurrence in Welsh history, is the 
same word. 

Brent. Without a wrinkle. Burns says of 
Jo Anderson, in his prime of life, his “locks 
were like the raven/’ and his “bonnie brow 
was brent.” , 1 

Brent-hill means the eyebrows. Looking or 
gazing from under brent-hill , in Devonshire 
means “frowning at one”; and in West 
Cornwall to bread means to wrinkle the brows. 

Brent-goose. Formerly in England, and still 
in America, called properly a brant-goose , the 
Branta bernicla , a brownish-grey goose of the 
genus Branta. 

Brentford. Like the two kings of Brentford 
smelling at one nosegay. Said of persons 
who were once rivals, but have become 
reconciled. The allusion is to The Rehearsal 
(1672), by the Duke of Buckingham. “The 
two kings of Brentford enter hand in hand,” 
and the actors, to heighten the absurdity, used 
to make them enter “ smelling at one nosegay ” 
(act II, sc. ii). 

Bressummer (bres' um dr), or Breast-summer 
(Fr. sommier , a lintel or bressummer). A 
beam supporting the whole weight of the 
building above it; as, the beam over a shop- 
front, the beam extending over an opening 
through a wall when a communication between 
two contiguous rooms is required; but pro- 
perly applied only to a bearing beam in the 
face of a building. Summer , here, is the O.Fr. 
somier , for Lat. sagmarius (Late Lat. sau- 
marius), a pack-horse, also a beam on which a 
weight can be laid. 

Bretwalda (bret' wol'da). The name given in 
the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to Egbert and 
seven earlier English kings who exercised a 
supremacy — often rather shadowy — over the 
kings of the other English states. It was 
sometimes assumed by later kings. It means 
“ruler” or “overlord of the Brets” or “Britons.” 
See Heptarchy. 

Brevet Rank (brev'dt). Titular rank without 
the pay that usually goes with it. A brevet 
major had the title of major, but the pay of 
captain, or whatever his substantive rank 
happened to be. (Fr. brevet 9 dim. of bref, a 
letter, a document.) 

Breviary (bre' vi &r i). A book containing the 
daily “Divine Office,” which those in orders in 
the Roman Catholic Church are bound to 
recite. The Office consists of psalms, collects, 
readings from Scripture, and the life of some 
saint or saints. 

Brew. Brew me a glass of grog, i.e. mix one 
for me. Brew me a cup of tea , i.e. make one 
for me. The tea is set to brew , i.e. to draw. 
The general meaning of the word is to boil or 
mix; the restricted meaning is to make malt 
liquor. 

As you brew, so you will bake. As you begin, 
so you will go on; you must take the conse- 
quences of your actions; as you make your 
bed, so you will lie in it. 

To brew up. To bum. Said of tanks in 
World War II. 



Brewer 


142 


Bridegroom’s men 


Brewer. The Brewer of Ghent, Jakob van 
Artevelde (d. 1345); a popular Flemish Ipader 
who, though by birth an aristocrat, was a 
member of the Guild of Brewers. 

Brian Boru, or Boroma (brf' dn bo roo', bo ro' 
ma). This great Irish chieftain was king of 
Munster in 978 and became chief king of all 
Ireland in 1002. On Good Friday, 1014, his 
forces defeated the Danes at the battle of 
Clontarf, but Brian, who was too old to 
fight, being almost eighty, was killed in his tent. 
Briareus (brl ar' e us), or /Egeon. A giant with 
fifty heads and a hundred hands. Homer says 
the gods called him Briareus, but men called 
him /Egeon (Iliad, I, 403). He was the off- 
spring of Heaven and Earth and was of the 
race of the Titans, with whom he fought in the 
war against Zeus. 

He [AjaxJ hath the joints of every thing, but every 
thing so out of joint that he is a gouty Briareus, 
many hands and no use, or purblind Argus, all 
eyes and no sight. — 

Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida , I, ii. 

The Briareus of languages. Cardinal 
Mezzofanti (1774-1849), who is said to have 
spoken fifty-eight different tongues. Byron 
Called him 4 *a walking polyglot; a monster of 
languages; a Briareus of parts of speech.” 

Bold Briareus. Handel (1685-1759), so 
called by Pope : — 

Strong in new arms, lo! giant Handel stands, 

Like bold Briareus, with a hundred hands; 

To stir, to rouse, to shake the soul he comes. 

And Jove’s own thunders follow Mars’s drums. 

Pope: Dunciad, IV, 65. 

Briar-root Pipe. A tobacco-pipe made from 
the root-wood of the large heath ( bruydre ), 
which grows in the south of France. 

Bribery and Corruption is a phrase often used 
rather loosely in English. In English law a 
bribe is a gift or other material inducement 
held out to a person to betray a trust or duty. 
Bribing at an election is a very serious offence, 
of which briber and bribed are held to be 
equally guilty. The payment of secret com- 
missions to induce business is forbidden by the 
Prevention of Corruption Act of 1906. The 
servant or agent asking for such a bribe is 
equally punishable with the briber, the maxi- 
mum punishment being a fine of £500 with or 
without imprisonment for a maximum of two 
years. 

Briboci (bri bd' si). Inhabitants of part of 
Berkshire and the adjacent counties referred 
to by Caesar in his Commentaries . 

Bric-&-brac. Odds and ends of curiosities. 
In French, a marclumd de bric-a-brac is a seller 
of rubbish, as old nails, old screws, old hinges, 
and other odds and ends of small value; but 
we employ the phrase for odds and ends of 
vertu. Bricoler in archaic French means 
Faire toute espdee de metier , to be Jack of all 
trades. Brae is the ricochet of brie , as 
fiddle-faddle and scores of other double words 
in English. Littr6 says that it is formed on 
the model of de brie et de broc , by hook or by 
crook. 

Brick. A regular brick. A jolly good fellow; 
perhaps because a brick is solid, four-square, 
plain, and reliable. 


A fellow like nobody else, and in fine, a brick. — 
George Eliot: Daniel Deronda , Bk. II, ch. xvi. 

To make bricks without straw. To attempt 
to do something without having the necessary 
material supplied. The allusion is to the 
Israelites in Egypt, who were commanded by 
their taskmasters so to do (Ex. v, 7). 

To drop a brick. To make a highly tactless 
remark. 

Brick-and-mortar franchise. A Chartist 
phrase for the £10 household system, long 
since abolished. 

Brickdusts. See Regimental Nicknames. 

Brickfielder (Austr.). A southerly gale 
experienced at Sydney which used to blow dust 
into the city from the nearby brickfields. 

Brick tea. The inferior leaves of the plant 
mixed with a glutinous substance (sometimes 
bullock’s or sheep’s blood), pressed into cubes, 
and dried. These blocks were frequently used 
as a medium of exchange in Central Asia. 

Bride. The bridal wreath is a relic of the 
corona nuptialis used by the Greeks and 
Romans to indicate triumph. 

Bride-ale. See Church-ale. It is from 
this word that we get the adjective bridal. 

Bride cake. A relic of the Roman confar- 
reatio , a mode of marriage practised by the 
highest class in Rome. It was performed 
before ten witnesses by the Pontifcx Maximus, 
and the contracting parties mutually partook 
of a cake made of salt, water, and flour (far). 
Only those born in such wedlock were eligible 
for the high sacred offices. 

Bride or wedding favours represent the 
true lover’s knot, and symbolize union. 

Bride of the Sea. Venice; so called from the 
ancient ceremony of the wedding of the sea 
by the Doge, who threw a ring into the Adriatic, 
saying, “We wed thee, O sea, in token of 
perpetual domination.” This took place each 
year on Ascension Day, and was enjoined upon 
the Venetians in 1177 by Pope Alexander III, 
who gave the Doge a gold ring from his own 
finger in token of the victory achieved by the 
Venetian fleet at Istria over Frederick Barba- 
rossa, in defence of the Pope’s quarrel. At the 
same time his Holiness desired that the Doges 
should throw a similar one into the sea on each 
succeeding Ascension Day, in commemoration 
of the event. See Bucentaur. 

Bridegroom. In O.E. this word was brydguma 
(the latter element from Old Teutonic gumon , 
“man”), becoming replaced after evolving into 
bridegome , by bridegroom in the 16th century. 
The last change appears to be due to confusion 
of the gome element with M.E. groom , the 
word for a man-servant. 

Bridegroom’s men. In the Roman marriage 
by confarreatio , the bride was led to the 
Pontifex Maximus by bachelors, but was 
conducted home by married men. Polydore 
Virgil says that a married man preceded the 
bride on her return, bearing a vessel of gold 
and silver. See Bride cake. 




Bridewell 


143 


Brigandine 


Bridewell. A generic term for a house of 
correction, or prison, so called from the City 
Bridewell, in Blackfriars, a hospital that was 
formerly a royal palace over a holy well of 
medical water, called St. Bride’s (Bridget’s) 
Well. After the Reformation, Bridewell was 
made a pentitentiary for unruly apprentices 
and vagrants. It was demolished in 1863. 

At my first entrance it seemed to me rather a 
Prince’s Palace than a House of Correction, till 

S azing round me, I saw in a large room a parcel of 
1-looking mortals stripped to their shirts like hay- 
makers, pounding hemp. . . . From thence we 
turned to the women’s apartment, who we found 
were shut up as close as nuns. But like so many 
slaves they were under the care and direction of an 
overseer who walked about with a very flexible 
weapon of offence to correct such hempen journey- 
women as were unhappily troubled with the spirit of 
idleness. — N ed Ward: The London Spy. 

Bridge. A variety of whist, said to have 
originated in Russia, in which one of the 
hands (“dummy”) is exposed. Auction 
Bridge is a modification of bridge, in which 
there are greater opportunities for gambling. 

Contract Bridge is a development of Auction 
Bridge in which the pair of partners cannot 
score the tricks they win towards making a 
game unless they have previously contracted to 
do so. To win a game one of the pairs must 
score 100 points for tricks as contracted, the 
value of the tricks being reckoned in points 
according to whatever suit is trumps. The 
further ramifications of Contract Bridge call 
for a modern “Hoyle” rather than a modern 
“Brewer.” 

Bridge of Gold. According to a German 
tradition, Charlemagne’s spirit crosses the 
Rhine on a golden bridge at Bingen, in seasons 
of plenty, to bless the vineyards and corn- 
fields. 

Thou standest. like imperial Charlemagne, 
Upon thy bridge of gold. 

Longfellow: Autumn. 

Made a bridge of gold for him; i.e. enabled 
a man to retreat from a false position without 
loss of dignity. 

Bridge of Jelicnnam. Another name for 
A1 Sirat (g.v.). 

Bridge of Sighs. Over this bridge, which 
connects the palace of the doge with the state 
prisons of Venice, prisoners were conveyed 
from the judgment-hall to the place of 
execution. 

A bridge over the Cam at St. John's College, 
Cambridge, which resembles the Venetian 
original, is called by the same name. 

Waterloo Bridge, in London, used, some 
years ago, when suicides were frequent there, 
to be called The Bridge of Sighs , and Hood 
gave the name to one of his most moving 
poems: — 

One more Unfortunate, 

Weary of breath, 

Rashly importunate, 

Gone to her death! 

Bridgehead. In war a small perimeter 
beyond a bridge seized by assault-troops to 
keep the enemy at bay while larger forces 
cross and deploy. A beachhead is a similar 


f >eri meter established on shore for a sea-borne 
anding, and it is often improperly referred to 
as a “bridgehead.” 

Bridgewater Treatises. Instituted by the Rev. 
Francis Henry Egcrton, Earl of Bridgewater, 
in 1829. He left the interest of £8,000 to be 
given to the author of the best treatise on “The 
power, wisdom, and goodness of God, as 
manifested in the Creation.” The money was 
divided between the following eight authors: — 
Dr. Chalmers, Dr. John Kidd, Dr. Whewell, 
Sir Charles Bell, Dr. Peter M. Roget, Dean 
Buckland, the Rev. W. Kirby, and Dr. William 
Prout. 

Bridle. To bite on the bridle is to suffer 
great hardships. Horses bite on the bridle 
when trying, against odds, to get their own 
way. 

Bridle road or way. A way for a riding- 
horse, but not for a horse and cart. 

To bridle up. In Fr. se rengorger , to draw 
in the chin and toss the head back in scorn or 
pride. The metaphor is to a horse pulled up 
suddenly and sharply. 

Bridport. Stabbed with a Bridport dagger, i.e. 
hanged. Bridport, in Dorsetshire, was once 
famous for its hempen goods, and monopolized 
the manufacture of ropes, cables, and tackling 
for the British navy. The hangman’s rope 
being made at Bridport gave birth to the 
proverb. — Fuller: Worthies. 

Brief. In legal parlance, a summary of the 
relevant facts and points of law given to a 
counsel in charge of a case. Hence, a briefless 
barrister , a barrister with no briefs, and there- 
fore no clients. 

Brief is also the name given to a papal 
letter of less serious or important character 
than a bull {q.v.)\ and, in the paper trade, to 
foolscap ruled with a marginal line, and either 
thirty-six or forty-two transverse lines, also to 
the size of a foolscap sheet when folded in half. 
Brig, brigantine (brig, brig' in ten). The 
terms applied to two smaller types of sailing 
vessel. A brig was a two-masted craft with 
both masts square-rigged; the brigantine, also 
two-masted, had the fore-mast square-rigged 
and the main-mast fore-and-aft rigged. 
Brigade of Guards. See Household Troops. 

Brigand. A French word, from the Ital. 
brigante, pres. part, of bri^are, to quarrel. In 
England brigands were originally light-armed, 
irregular troops, like the Bashi-Bazouks, and, 
like them, were addicted to marauding. The 
Free Companies of France were brigands. 

In course of time the Ital. brigante came to 
mean a robber or pirate; hence the use of 
brigandine , later brigantine, for a sailing vessel, 
and also brig (^.v.). 

Brigandine (brig' an din). The armour of a 
brigand, consisting of small plates of iron on 
quilted linen, and covered with leather, hemp, 
or something of the kind. The word occurs 
twice in Jeremiah (xlvi, 4; li, 3), and in both of 
these passages the Revised Version reads 
“coats of mail,” while for the first Coverdale 
gives “breastplates.” In the Geneva Version 
Goliath’s coat of mail is called a “brigandine” 



Brilliant 


144 


Britain 


Brilliant. A form of cutting of precious stones 
introduced by Vincenzo Peruzzi at Venice in 
the late 17th century. Most diamonds are 
now brilliant-cut, and the word “brilliant” 
commonly means a diamond cut in this way. 
In a perfect brilliant there are 58 facets. 

Brilliant Madman, The. Charles XII of 
Sweden. (1682, 1697-1718). 

Macedonia’s madman or the Swede. 

Johnson: Vanity of Human Wishes. 

Bring. To bring about. To cause a thing to 
be done. 

To bring down the house. To cause raptur- 
ous applause in a theatre. 

To bring into play. To cause to act, to set in 
motion. 

To bring round. To restore to consciousness 
or health; to cause one to recover (from a fit, 
etc.). 

To bring to. To restore to consciousness; 
to resuscitate. There are other meanings. 

“I'll bring her to,” said the driver, with a brutal 
grin; “I'll give her something better than camphor.'’ 

Mrs. Stowe: Uncle Tom's Cabin. 

To bring to bear. To cause to happen 
successfully. 

To bring to book. To detect one in a mis- 
take. 

To bring to pass. To cause to happen. 

To bring to the hammer. To offer or sell by 
public auction. 

To bring under. To bring into subjection. 

To bring up. To rear from birth or an early 
age. Also numerous other meanings. 

Brinkmanship. A term coined by Adlai 
Stevenson (though he disclaims originality) 
in 1956 with especial reference to J. Foster 
Dulles* policy as veering towards the brink of 
war. It has since been used to describe 
policies by governments or particular politi- 
cians that might lead to the outbreak of war. 

Brinvilliers, Marquise de (brin ve' ya), a noted 
French poisoner. She was born about 1630 
and was executed in Paris in 1676. Having 
ruined her husband, the Marquis, and 
squandered his fortune, she became the lover 
oi the Seigneur de Sainte Croix, who instructed 
her in the use of a virulent poison, supposed to 
have been aqua tofana. With this she 
poisoned her father and other members of her 
family in order to obtain possession of the 
family lands and wealth. Her crimes came to 
light when she accidentally poisoned Sainte 
Croix, in 1672. 

Briny. I’m on the briny. The sea, which is 
salt like brine. 

Brioche (bre'osh). A kind of sponge-cake 
made with flour, butter, and eggs. When 
Marie Antoinette was talking about the bread 
riots of Paris during October 5th and 6th, 1789, 
the Duchesse de Polignac naively exclaimed, 
“How is it that these silly people are so 
clamorous for bread , when they can buy such 
nice brioches for a few sous?” It is said that 
our own Princess Charlotte avowed “that she 


would for her part rather eat beef than starve” 
and wondered that the people should be so 
obstinate as to insist upon having bread when 
it was so scarce. 

Brisbane Line. In World War II a defensive 
position running from north of Brisbane to 
north of Adelaide, to which it was intended to 
retire if the Japanese invaded Australia in 
1942. 

Briseis (bri' se is). The patronymic name of 
Hippodamia, daughter of Briseus. She was 
the cause of the quarrel between Agamemnon 
and Achilles, and when the former robbed 
Achilles of her, Achilles refused any longer to 
go to battle, and the Greeks lost ground daily. 
Ultimately, Achilles sent his friend Patroclus 
to supply his place; he was slain, and Achilles, 
towering with rage, rushed to battle, slew 
Hector, and Troy fell. 

Brissotins. A nickname given to the advocates 
of reform in the French Revolution, because 
they were “led by the nose” by Jean Pierre 
Brissot. The party was subsequently called 
the Girondists (<?.v.). 

Bristol Board. A stiff drawing-paper with a 
smooth surface, or a fine quality of cardboard 
composed of two or more sheets pasted to- 
gether, the substance of board being governed 
by the number of sheets. Said to have been 
first made at Bristol. 

Bristol Boy, The. Thomas Chatterton 
(1752-70), who was born at Bristol, and there 
composed his Rowley Poems. See The Rowley 
Poems , under Forgeries. 

The marvellous boy. 

The sleepless soul that perished in his pride. 

Wordsworth: Resolution and Independence. 

Bristol cream is a particularly fine rich brand 
of sherry. See Bristol milk. 

Bristol diamonds. Brilliant crystals of 
colourless quartz found in St. Vincent’s Rock, 
Clifton, near Bristol. 

Spenser refers to them as “adamants”. 

Bristol fashion, In. Methodical and orderly. 
More generally Shipshape and Bristol fashion. 
A sailor’s phrase; said in Smyth’s Sailor's 
Word Book to refer to the time “when Bristol 
was in its palmy commercial days . . . and its 
shipping was all in proper good order.” 

Bristol milk. Sherry sack, at one time given 
by the Bristol people to their friends. 

This metaphorical milk, whereby Xeres or Sherry- 
sack is intended. — Fuller: Worthies. 

Bristol waters. Mineral waters of Clifton, 
near Bristol, with a temperature not exceeding 
74° F. formerly celebrated incases of pulmonary 
consumption. They are very rarely used now. 

Britain. The earliest Greek visitor to Britain, 
Pytheas (<". 300 b.c.), a member of the Greek 
colony at Massilia (Marseilles) apparently 
bestowed a name on the island which the 
Romans adopted some hundreds of years 
afterwards. It took three forms: Brittannia , 
Brittania , and Britannia. The O.E. name had 
various forms, Breoton , Brytcn , Breten , etc. 
Curiously enough, “Britain” docs not derive 
directly from any of these, but from the M.E. 




Britain 


145 


Broadside 


adoption of the O.Fr. Bretaigne (taken from 
the Latin) in the form of Bretayne or Breteyne. 

Great Britain consists of “Britannia prima” 
(England)’ “Britannia secunda” (Wales), and 
“North Britain” (Scotland), united under one 
sway. The term first came into use in 1604, 
when James I was proclaimed “King of Great 
Britain.” 

Britannia. The first known representation of 
Britannia as a female figure sitting on a globe, 
leaning with one arm on a shield, and grasping 
a spear in the other hand, is on a Roman coin 
of Antoninus Pius, who died a.d. 161. The 
figure reappeared on our copper coin in the 
reign of Charles II, 1665, and the model was 
Frances Stewart, afterwards created Duchess of 
Richmond. The engraver was Philip Roetier. 

The King’s new medall, where in little, there is 
Mrs. Stewart’s face . . . and a pretty thing it is, 
that he should choose her face to represent Britannia 
by. — Pepys's Diary. 

British Council. This was established in 1934 
for the purpose of encouraging British 
cultural interests abroad, including the 
formation of schools, the introduction of 
foreign students to this country, and the 
projection of a knowledge of all aspects of 
British life and thought through the press, 
films, distribution of literature, exhibitions, 
lectures, concerts and plays. The British 
Council is financed by Parliament, on a 
Foreign Office vote. 

British Empire, Order of the. This order 
was instituted in 1917 with two divisions, 
military and civil. It is conferred for services 
rendered to the Empire, whether at home or 
abroad and is given to women equally with 
men. There are five classes: Knight Grand 
Cross (G.B.E.); Knight Commander (K.B.E.); 
Commander (C.B.E.); Officer (O.B.E.); and 
Member (M.B.E.). In the case of women 
D.B.E. (D. = Dame) takes the place of K.B.E. 

British lion, The. The pugnacity of the 
British nation, as opposed to the John Bull, 
which symbolizes the substantiality, solidity, 
and obstinacy of the people, with all their 
prejudices and national peculiarities. 

To twist the tail of the British lion used to be 
a favourite phrase in America for attempting 
to annoy the British people and government by 
abuse and vituperation. This was usually 
resorted to with the object of currying favour 
with citizens of Irish birth and getting their 
votes. 

Britisher, A. An American term for a Briton, 
a native of the British Isles, often with a 
derogatory implication. 

Britomart (brit' 6 mart). In Spenser's Faerie 
Queene , a female knight, daughter of King 
Ryence of Wales. She is the personification of 
chastity and purity; encounters the “savage, 
fierce bandit and mountaineer” without injury, 
and is assailed by “hag and unlaid ghost, 
goblin, and swart fairy of the mine,” but 
“dashes their brute violence into sudden 
adoration and blank awe.” She finally marries 
Artegall. 

Spenser got the name, which means “ sweet 
maiden,” from Britomartis, a Cretan nymph of 


Greek mythology, who was very fond of the 
chase. King Minos fell in love with her, and 
persisted in his advances for nine months, 
when she threw herself into the sea. 

Briton. To fight like a Briton is to fight Wfth 

indomitable courage. 

To work like a Briton is to work hard and 

perseveringly. 

Certainly, without the slightest flattery, 
dogged courage and perseverance are the strong 
characteristics of John Bull. A similar phrase 
is “To work like a Trojan.” 

Brittany, The Damsel of. Eleanor, daughter 
of Geoffrey, second son of Henry II of Eng- 
land, and Constance, daughter of Conan IV 
of Brittany. At the death of Prince Arthur 
(1203) she became heiress to the English throne, 
but King John; confined her in Bristol castle, 
where she died in 1241. 

Broach. To broach a new subject. To start 
one in conversation. The allusion is to beer 
barrels, which are tapped by means of a peg 
called a broach. So “to broach a subject” 
is to introduce it, to bring it to light, as beer is 
drawn from the cask after the latter has been 
broached. 

1 did broach this business to your highness. 

Henry VII I, II, iv. 

Broad Arrow. The representation of an arrow- 
head placed on Government stores, and also 
upon the uniform of convicts. It was 
introduced by Henry, Earl of Romney, who 
was Master General of the Ordnance (1693- 
1702) and employed his own cognisance of a 
pheon, or broad arrow. 

Broad Bottom Ministry. An administration 
formed by a coalition of parties in 1744. 
Pelham retained the lead; Pitt supported the 
Government; Bubb Doddington was treasurer 
of the navy. It held office till 1754. 

Broadcasting. This is the term used to 
describe the sending out of wireless pro- 
grammes of news, music, etc., to be received 
by those who have the necessary apparatus to 
listen in. The first transmitting station for 
entertainment and educational purposes began 
broadcasting in 1920. In May, 1922, the 
Marconi Co. began a programme of speech 
and music from Marconi House, London 
(2LO). In October of the same year the 
British Broadcasting Company came into 
being, and in 1926 this became the British 
Broadcasting Corporation (B.B.C.) with a 
royal charter. 

Broadcloth. The best cloth for men’s clothes. 
So called from its great breadth. It required 
two weavers, side by side, to fling the shuttle 
across it. Originally two yards wide, now 
about fifty-four inches; but the word is 
now used to signify a fine, plain-wove, black 
cloth. 

Broadside. A large sheet of paper printed 
on one side only; strictly, the whole should be 
in one type and one measure, i.e. must not be 
divided into columns. It is also called a 
broadsheet. 

In naval language, a broadside means the 
whole side of a ship; and to “open a broad- 



Brobdingnag 


146 


Browbeat 


side on the enemy” is to discharge all the guns 
on one side at the same moment. 

Brobdingnag. In Swift’s Gulliver's Travels , 
the country of giants, to whom Gulliver was a 
pigmy “not half so big as a round little worm 

S lacked from the lazy finger of a maid.” 
fence the adjective, Brobdingnag ian , colossal. 

Brocken. See Spectre. 

Brodie, Steve. He jumped off Brooklyn 
Bridge 23rd July, 1886. Known as “the man 
who wouldn’t take a dare,” he made this leap 
to win a bet of $200. 

Brogue. An Irish word, brog, a shoe, con- 
nected with O.E. broc> breeches. A brogue is 
properly, a stout coarse shoe of rough hide: 
and secondarily hose, trousers. The use of 
brogue for the dialect or manner of speaking 
may be from this — i.e. “brogue” is the speech 
of those who wear “brogues”. 

Broken Music. In Elizabethan England this 
term meant (a) part, or concerted music, i.e. 
music performed on instruments of different 
classes, such as the “consorts” given in 
Morley’s Consort Lessons (1599), which are 
written for the treble lute, cithern, pandora, 
flute, treble viol, and bass viol, and ( b ) music 
played by a string orchestra, the term in this 
sense probably originating from harps, lutes, 
and such other stringed instruments as were 
played without a bow, not being able to sustain 
a long note. It is in this sense that Bacon 
uses the term: — 

Dancing to song is a thing of great state and 
pleasure. I understand it that the song be in quire, 
placed aloft and accompanied with some broken 
music. — Essays: Of Masques and Triumphs. 

Shakespeare two or three times makes 
verbal play with the term: — 

Land.: What music is this? 

Serv .: I do but partly know, sir; it is music in 
parts. . . . 

Pand .: . . . Fair Prince, here is good broken 
music. 

Paris.: You have broke it, cousin; and by my life, 
you shall make it whole again. 

T roil us and Cressida, III, i. 

Broker. This word meant originally a man 
who broached wine, and then sold it; hence, 
one who buys to sell again, a retailer, a second- 
hand dealer, a middleman. The word is 
formed in the same way as tapster , one who 
taps a cask. In modern use some restricting 
word is generally prefixed: as bill-broker, 
cotton-broker, ship-broker, stock-broker, etc. 

Bromide. A person given to making trite 
remarks; later, the remark itself. It was first 
used in this sense by Gelett Burgess (1866- 
1951) in his novel Are You a Bromide? (1906). 

Bronco (western U.S.A.). A wild or semi- 
wild horse (Sp. bronco , rough). A Bronco- 
buster is a highly-skilled horse-breaker 
specializing in the training of such animals. 

Brontes (bron' tez). A blacksmith personified; 
in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclops. The 
name signifies Thunder. 

Bronx cheer. The American term for a de- 
risive sound made with the tongue between 
the lips, known in England as a r ’raspberry.” 


Broom. The small wild shrub with yellow 
flowers (Lat. planta genista) from which the 
English royal dynasty, the Plantagenets, took 
their name. The founder of the dynasty, 
Geoffrey of Anjou (father of Henry II) is said 
to have worn a sprig of it in his hat. The 
name was officially adopted by Richard of 
York (father of Richard III) about 1460. 

Broom. A broom is hung at the masthead 
of ships about to be sold — to be “swept away.” 
The idea is popularly taken from Admiral van 
Tromp (see Pennant); but probably this 
allusion is more witty than true. The custom 
of hanging up something special to attract 
notice is very common; thus an old piece of 
carpet from a window indicates household 
furniture for sale; a wisp of straw indicates 
oysters for sale; a bush means wine for sale, 
etc., etc. 

New brooms sweep clean. Those newly 
appointed to an office are as a rule very 
zealous and sometimes ruthless in sweeping 
away old customs. 

Brosier-my-dame. A phrase used at Eton 
for eating out of house and home. When a 
dame keeps an unusually bad table, the boys 
agree together on a day to cat, pocket, or waste 
everything eatable in t»he house. The censure 
is well understood, and the hint is generally 
effective. (Gr. broso, to eat.) 

Brother. A fellow-member of a religious 
order. Friar , from Lat. f rater, and Fr. frere, 
is really the same word. 

Also used as the official title of certain 
members of livery companies, of the members 
(always known as “Elder Brethren”) of 
Trinity House (q.v.), and the official mode of 
address of one barrister to another. 

Brother used attrlbutively with another 
substantive denotes a fellow-member of the 
same calling, order, corporation, etc. Thus 
brother birch, a fellow-schoolmaster, brother - 
blade, a fellow-soldier or companion in arms, 
brother bung , a fellow licensed victualler, 
brother mason, a fellow freemason, etc., etc. 

Brother Jonathan. It is said that when 
Washington was in want of ammunition, he 
called a council of officers, but no practical 
suggestion could be offered. “Wc must con- 
sult brother Jonathan,” said the general, 
meaning His Excellency Jonathan Trumbull, 
governor of the State of Connecticut. This 
was done, and the difficulty was remedied. 
“To consult Brother Jonathan” then became 
a set phrase, and Brother Jonathan became the 
“John Bull” of the United States, until re- 
placed by Uncle Sam (see under Sam). 

Brougham (brb' &m, brum). In old horse- 
drawn days this was the name given to a 
closed four-wheel carriage drawn by one horse, 
very similar to the old “growler” horse cab. 
It was named after Lord Brougham (1778- 
1868), a prominent Regency and Victorian 
lawyer and politician. 

Browbeat. To beat or put a man down with 
sternness, arrogance, insolence, etc.; from 
knitting the brows and frowning on one’s 
opponent. 


Brown 


147 


Brant 


Brown. A copper coin, a penny; so called 
from its colour. Similarly a sovereign was a 
“yellow boy.” 

To be done brown. To be deceived, taken 
in; to be “roasted.” This is one of many 
similar expressions connected with cooking. 
See Cooking. 

Browned off. This is a slang phrase that 
came into general use during World War II, 
meaning ‘‘Ted up,” bored or disillusioned. 
Various derivations of the phrase have been 
suggested, but none of them appears satis- 
factory. 

Brown Bess. A familiar name for the old 
flint-lock musket formerly in use in the 
British Army. In 1808 a process of browning 
was introduced, but the term was common 
long before this, and probably referred to the 
colour of the stock. Bess is unexplained; but 
may be a counterpart to Bill ( see below). 

Brown Bill. A kind of halbert used by 
English foot-soldiers before muskets were 
employed. They were staff weapons, with 
heads like bill-hooks but furnished with spikes 
at the top and back. The brown probably 
refers to the rusty condition in which they were 
kept; though, on the other hand, it may stand 
for burnished (Dut. brun, shining), as in the old 
phrases “my bonnie brown sword,” “brown 
as glass,” etc. Keeping the weapons bright , 
however, is a modern fashion; our fore- 
fathers preferred the honour of blood stains. 
In the following extract the term denotes the 
soldiers themselves: — 

Lo, with a band of bowmen and of pikes, 
Brown bills and targetiers. 

Marlowe: Edward //, I. 1324 . 

Brown Bomber. Joe Louis ( b . 1914), un- 
defeated heavyweight champion of the world 
from 1937 until his retirement in 1949. On his 
return in 1950 he was defeated by Ezzard 
Charles. He began his professional career 
in 1934, winning 27 fights, all but four by 
knockouts. He won the heavyweight title 
from Jim Braddock and successfully defended 
it more than 22 times before joining up in the 
U.S. army. Louis is possibly the greatest 
heavyweight boxer ever known. The phrase 
applied to him springs from his being a Negro 
and (presumably) from the great power of his 
punches. 

Brown, Jones, and Robinson. The typ idea- 
tion of middle-class Englishmen; from the 
adventures of three Continental tourists of 
these names which were told and illustrated in 
Punch in the 1870s by Richard Doyle. These 
sketches hold up to ridicule the gaucherie, 
insular ideas, vulgarity, extravagance, conceit, 
and snobbism that too often characterize the 
class, and are in themselves an almost un- 
surpassed example of Victorian snobbery in 
their senseless and ill-mannered jeers at un- 
educated people. 

Brown study. Absence of mind; apparent 
thought, but real vacuity. The corresponding 
French expression explains it — sombre reverie. 
Sombre and brun both mean sad, melancholy, 
gloomy, dull. 


Brownie. The house spirit in Scottish 
superstition. He is called m England Robin 
Goodfellow. At night he is supposed to busy 
himself in doing little jobs for the family over 
which he presides. Farms are his favourite 
abode. Brownies are brown or tawny spirits, 
in opposition to fairies, which are fair or 
elegant ones. See also Girl Guide. 

It is not long since every family of considerable 
substance was haunted by a spirit they called Browny, 
which did several sorts of work; and this was the 
reason why they gave him offerings ... on what 
they called “ Browny ’s stone.” — Martin: Scotland. 

Brownists. Followers of Robert Brown, of 
Rutland, a vigorous Puritan controversial- 
ist in the time of Queen Elizabeth I. The later 
“Independents” held pretty well the same 
religious tenets as the Brownists. Sir Andrew 
Aguecheek says: — 

I’d as lief be a Brownist as a politician. 

Shakespeare: TwHJth Night, III, ii. 

Browse his Jib, To. A sailors’ phrase, mean- 
ing to drink till the face is flushed and swollen. 
The jib means the face, and to browse here 
means “to fatten.” A piece of slang formed 
on the nautical phrase “to bowse the jib,” 
the metaphor signifies that the man is “tight.” 

Bruin (broo' in). In Butler’s Hudibras , one of 
the leaders arrayed against the hero. His 
prototype in real life was Talgol, a Newgate 
butcher who obtained a captaincy for valour 
at Naseby. He marched next to Orsin (Joshua 
Gosling, landlord of the bear-gardens at 
Southwark). 

Sir Bruin. The bear in the famous German 
beast-epic, Reynard the Fox. 

Brumaire (bru' mar). The month in the 
French Republican Calendar from October 
23rd to November 21st. It was named from 
brume , fog (Lat. brutna , winter). The cele- 
brated 18 Brumaire (November 9th, 1799) 
was the day on which the Directory was over- 
thrown and Napoleon established his supre- 
macy. 

Brumby. An Australian wild horse. The 
origin of the word is obscure. 

Brummagem (brtim' a jem). Worthless or 
very inferior metal articles made in imitation 
of better ones. The word is a local form of 
the name Birmingham , which is the great mart 
and manufactory of gilt toys, cheap jewellery, 
imitation gems, and the like. 

Brunhild (broon' hild). Daughter of the 
King of Issland (i.e. Isalaland, in the Low 
Countries), beloved by Giinther, one of the 
two great chieftains in the Nibelungenlied . 
She was to be carried off by force, and Gun- 
ther asked his friend Siegfried to help Wm. 
Siegfried contrived the matter by snatching 
from her the talisman which was her protector, 
but she never forgave him for his treachery. 

Brunswicker. See Black Brunswickers. 

Brunt. To bear the brunt. To bear the worst 
of the heat, and collision. The “brunt of a 
battle” is the hottest part of the fight. Cp. 
Fire-brand. 



Brant 


148 


Buchan’s Weather Periods 


Brunt is partly imitative (like dint), and is 
probably influenced by the Icel. bruna , to 
advance with the speed of fire, as a standard in 
the heat of battle. 

Brush. The tail of a fox or squirrel, which is 
brush-like and bushy. 

He brushed by me. He just touched me as 
he went quickly past. Hence also brush , a 
slight skirmish. 

Give it another brush. A little more 
attention; bestow a little more labour on it; 
return it to the file for a little more polish. 

To brash up. To renovate or revive; to 
bring again into use what has been neglected 
as, “1 must brush up my French.’* 

Brush off, to get the. Originally American 
slang and now Anglicized, it means to be put 
aside, rejected or dismissed. The origin of the 
phrase is unknown, but may have been sug- 
gested by the domestic connotation of brush- 
ing away dirt. 

Brut (brut). A rhyming chronicle of British 
history beginning with the mythical Brut , or 
Brute (q.x.), and so named from him. Wace’s 
Le Roman de Brut , of Brut d' Angleterre, 
written in French about 1150, is a rhythmical 
version of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History 
with additional legends. It is here that first 
mention is made of Arthur’s Round Table. 
Wace’s work formed the basis of Layamon’s 
Brut (early 13th cent.), a versified history of 
England from the fall of Troy to a.d. 689. 
Layamon’s poem contains 32,250 lines, Wace’s 
rather over 14,000. See Arthur. 

Brute or Brutus (broot). In the mythological 
history of England, the first king of the 
Britons was son of Sylvius (grandson of 
Ascanius and great-grandson of /Eneas). 
Having inadvertently killed his father, he first 
took refuge in Greece and then in Britain. In 
remembrance of Troy, he called the capital of 
his kingdom Troynovant ( q.x .) now London. 

Brutum fulmen (broo' turn fuL men) (Lat.). A 
noisy but harmless threatening; an innocuous 
thunderbolt. 

The phrase is from Pliny’s “ Bruta fulmina 
et vana , ut quee nulla xeniant ratione naturae ’* 
(II, xliii, 113) — Thunderbolts that strike 
blindly and harmlessly, being traceable to no 
natural cause. 

The Actors do not value themselves upon the 
Clap, but regard it as a mere Brutum fulmen , or 
empty Noise, when it has not the sound of the Oaken 
Plant in it. — Addison: Spectator (November 29th, 

1711). 

Brutus, Junius (broo' tus joo' ni us). In 
legend, the first consul of Rome, fabled to have 
held office about 509 b.c. He condemned to 
death his own two sons for joining a con- 
spiracy to restore to the throne the banished 
Tarquin. 

Brutus, Marcus (85-42 b.c.). C<esar’s friend, 
who joined the conspirators to murder him 
because he made himself a king. 

Et tu, Brute. Thou, too, Brutus! The 
reference is to the exclamation of Julius Caesar 
when he saw that his old friend was one of the 
conspirators engaged in stabbing him to death. 


The Spanish Brutus. Alphonso Perez de 
Guzman (1258-1320). While he was governor, 
Castile was besieged by Don Juan, who had 
revolted from his brother, Sancho IV. Juan, 
who held in captivity one of the sons of Guz- 
man, threatened to cut his throat unless 
Guzman surrendered the city. Guzman re- 
plied, “Sooner than be a traitor, I would 
myself lend you a sword to slay him,’* and he 
threw a sword over the city wall. The son, 
we arc told, was slain by the father’s sword 
before his eyes. 

Bryanites. See Bible Christians. 

Bub. Drink; particularly strong beer. 

Drunk with Helicon’s waters and double-brewed 
bub. — Prior: To a Person who wrote ill. 

Bubastis. Greek name of Bast, or Pasht, the 
Diana of Egyptian mythology; she was 
daughter of Isis and sister of Horus, and her 
sacred animal was the cat. See Cat. 

Bubble, or Bubble Scheme. A project or 
scheme of no sterling worth and of very 
ephemeral duration — as worthless and frail as 
a bubble. The word was in common use in 
the 18th ccnturv to denote a swindle. See 
Mississippi; South-Sea. 

The Bubble Act. An Act of George I, 
passed in 1719, its object being to punish the 
promoters of bubble schemes. It was 
repealed in 1825. 

Bubble and squeak. Cold boiled potatoes 
and greens fried up together, sometimes with 
bits of cold meat as well. They first bubbled 
in water when boiled, and afterwards hissed or 
squeaked in the frying-pan. 

Bucca (biik' a). A goblin of the wind, sup- 
posed by the ancient inhabitants of Cornwall 
to foretell shipwrecks; also a sprite fabled to 
live in the tin-mines. 

Buccaneer (buk a ner'). Properly, a seller of 
smoke-dried meat, from the Brazilian word 
toucan , a gridiron or frame on which flesh was 
barbecued, which was adopted in France, and 
boucanier formed from it. Boucanier was first 
applied to the f rench settlers in Haiti, whose 
business it was to hunt animals for their skins 
and who frequently combined with this 
business that of a marauder and pirate. 
Buccaneer thus became applied to any desper- 
ate, lawless, piratical adventurer. 

Buccntaur (bu sen' tor). The name of the 
Venetian state-galley employed by the Doge 
when lie went on Ascension Day to wed the 
Adriatic. The word is Gr. ho us, ox, and 
centauros , centaur; and the original galley was 
probably ornamented with a man-headed ox. 
The spouseless Adriatic mourns her lord 
And, annual marriage now no more renew’d. 

The Buccntaur lies rotting unrestored. 

Neglected garment of her widowhood. 

Byron: Childe Harold, iv, 9. 
The last Buccntaur , third of the name, was 
destroyed by the French in 1798. See Bride 
of the Sea. 

Bucephalus ( bull-headed ). A horse. Strictly 
speaking, the favourite charger of Alexander 
tnc Great. 

Buchan’s Weather Periods (bCT ki\n). Alex- 
ander Buchan (1829-1907) was secretary of the 




Buchanites 


149 


Buckram 


Scottish Meteorological Society which, under 
his influence, built an observatory on Ben 
Nevis. As a result of many years’ observation 
of weather and temperatures he worked out a 
curve of recurrent periods, six cold and two 
warm, in the year. The cold periods are 
Feb. 7-10; April 11-14; May 9-14; June 29- 
July 4; Aug. 6-11; Nov. 6-12. The warm 
eriods are July 12-15; Aug. 12-15. It should 
c remembered that these dates are the mean 
of many observations and do not predict the 
probable weather for every year. 

Buchanites. A sect of fanatics who appeared 
in the west of Scotland in 1783. They were 
named after Mrs. or Lucky Buchan, their 
founder, who called herself “Friend Mother 
in the Lord,” claiming to be the woman 
mentioned in Rev. xii, and maintaining that 
the Rev. Hugh White, a convert, was the 
“man-child.” 

I never heard of alewife that turned preacher, 
except Luckie Buchan in the West. 

Scott: St. Ro nan's Well , ch. ii. 

Buck. A dandy; a gay and spirited fellow; a 
fast young man. 

A most tremendous buck he was, as he sat there 
serene, in state, driving his greys. 

Thackeray: Vanity Fair , ch. vi. 

The word is also American slang for a dollar, 
derived from the time when skins were clas- 
sified as “bucks” and “does,” the former 
being the more valuable. 

Buck-basket. A linen-basket. To buck 
is to wash clothes in lye. When Cade says 
his mother was “descended from the Lacies,” 
two men overhear him, and say, “She was a 
pedlar’s daughter, but not being able to travel 
with her furred pack, she washes bucks here 
at home” (Henry VI, Ft. //, IV, ii). Thcwordis 
probably connected with Ger. bcuche , clothes 
steeped in lye, and Fr. btier , to steep in lye; 
and perhaps with O.E. buc , a pitcher. 

Buck-bean. The popular name of Meny - 
anthes trifoliata, a water-plant; an Elizabethan 
translation of the Flemish name bocks boonen 
(Mod. Dut. bocksboon ), goat’s beans. The 
name bog-bean , also given to this plant, is 
considerably later. 

Passing the buck. To evade a task or 
responsibility. The term was used originally 
in poker, and was the equivalent of passing 
(i.e. not bidding) in a game of bridge. 
Bucket, To. An obsolete slang term for to 
cheat. 

To give the bucket, to get the bucket. To 
give (or receive) notice of dismissal from 
employment. Here bucket is synonymous 
with sack (g.v.). 

To kick the bucket. To die. Bucket here is 
a beam or yoke (O.Fr. buquet , Fr. trebuchet , a 
balance), and in East Anglia the big frame in 
which a newly slaughtered pig is suspended by 
the heels is still called a “bucket.” An 
alternative theory is offered that the bucket 
was a pail kicked away by a suicide, who 
stood on it the better to hang himself. 

Bucket-shop. A term (probably from the 
old slang “to bucket,” above ) which originated 
in America, denoting the office of an “outside” 


stock-broker, i.e. one who is not a member of 
the official Stock Exchange. As these offices 
are largely used for the sole purpose of 
gambling in stocks and shares as apart from 
making investments , and as many of them have 
been run by very shady characters, the name is 
rarely used except with a bad significance. 

Buckhorn. See Stockfish. 

Buckhorse. A severe blow or slap on the face. 
So called from John Smith, a pugilist of about 
1740, whose nickname it was. “Buckhorse” 
was so insensible to pain that, for a small sum, 
he would allow anyone to strike him on the side 
of the face with all his force. 

Buckingham. 

OfT with his head! So much for Buckingham! 

A famous line, often searched for in vain in 
Shakespeare’s Richard III. It is not to be 
found there, but is in Act IV, Sc. iii, of Colley 
Cibber’s The Tragical History of Richard III , 
altered from Shakespeare (1700). 

Buckle. I can’t buckle to. I can't give my 
mind to work. The allusion is to buckling 
on one’s armour or belt. 

To cut the buckle. To caper about, to heel 
and toe it in dancing. In jigs the two feet 
buckle or twist into each other with great 
rapidity. 

Throth, it wouldn’t lave a laugh in you to see the 
parson dancin’ down the road on his way home, and 
the ministher and methodist praichcr cuttin’ the 
buckle as they went along. — W. B. Yeats: Fairy 
Tales of the Irish Peasantry , p. 98. 

To talk buckle. To talk about marriage. 

Buckler. See Shield. 

Bucklersbury (London) was at one time the 
noted street for druggists and herbalists; 
hence Falstaff says: — 

I cannot cog, and say thou art this and that, like 
a many of these lisping hawthorn buds, that come 
like women in men’s apparel, and smell like Bucklers- 
bury in simple time. 

Shakespfare: Merry Wives of Windsor, III, iii. 
Stow tells us that “the Peperers and 
Grocers” had their shops there. 

Buckley’s Chance (Austr.). An extremely 
remote chance. Two explanations of the 
phrase's origin exist. According to the first 
it comes from a convict named Buckley who 
escaped in 1803 and lived over thirty years with 
Aborigines. The second explanation derives 
it from the Melbourne business house of 
Buckley and Nunn — hence the pun “There 
are just two chances, Buckley’s or None.” 

Buckmaster’s Light Infantry. See Regimental 

Nicknames. 

Buckram. A strong coarse kind of cloth 
stiffened with gum; perhaps so called (like 
Astrakhan , from the Eastern city) from 
Bokhara. In the Middle Ages the name was 
that of a valuable fabric that came from the 
East. 

Men in buckram. Hypothetical men exist- 
ing only in the brain of the imaginer. The 
allusion is to the vaunting tale of Falstaff to 
Prince Henry (Shakespeare: Henry IV, Pt . /, 



Buckshee 


150 


Buffer 


II, iv). Hence, “a buckram army,” one the 
strength of which exists only in the imagina- 
tion. 

Buckshee (buk' she). This word undoubtedly 
comes from baksheesh (<^.v.) though in its new 
usage it means something given away free, 
something thrown in gratis. 

Buck-tooth. A large projecting front-tooth; 
formerly also called a butter-tooth . 

Buckwheat. A corruption of beech-wheat 
(O.E. boc , beech), so called because its seeds 
are triangular, like beech-mast. The botanical 
name is Fagopyrum (beech-wheat). 

Buddha (bud' a) (Sanskrit, “the Enlightened”). 
The title given to Prince Siddhartha or Gaut- 
ama (< 7 .v.), also called (from the name of his 
tribe, the Sakhyas) Sakyamuni, the founder of 
Buddhism, who lived from about 623 b.c. to 
543 B.c. 

Buddhism. The system of religion in- 
augurated by the Buddha in India in the 6th 
century b.c. The general outline of the 
system is that the world is a transient reflex of 
deity; that the soul is a “vital spark” of deity; 
and that it will be bound to matter till its 
“wearer” has, by divine contemplation, so 
purged and purified it that it is fit to be 
absorbed into the divine essence. 

The four sublime verities of Buddhism are as 
follows : — 

(1) Pain exists. 

(2) The cause of pain is “birth sin.” The 
Buddhist supposes that man has passed through 
many previous existences, and all of the heaped-up 
sins accumulated in these previous states constitute 
man’s “birth-sin.” 

(3) Pain is ended only by Nirvana. 

(4) The eightfold way that leads to Nirvana is — 
right faith, right judgment, right language, right pur- 
pose, right practice, right obedience, right memory 
and right meditation. 

The abstract nature of the religion, together 
with the overgrowth of its monastic system and 
the superior vitality and energy of Brahminism, 
caused it to decline in India itself ; but it spread 
rapidly in the surrounding countries and took 
so permanent a hold that it is computed that at 
the present time it has some 140 millmn 
adherents, of whom 10J millions are in India, 
and the rest principally in Ceylon, Tibet, 
China, and Japan. 

Esoteric Buddhism. See Theosophy. 

Bude or Gurney Light. A very bright light 
obtained by supplying an argand gas-jet with 
oxygen, invented by Sir Goldsworthy Gurney 
(1793-1875) about 1834, and first used in a 
lighthouse at Bude, Cornwall. 

Budge. Lambskin with the wool dressed 
outwards, worn on the edge of capes, gradu- 
ates* hoods, and so on. Hence the word is 
used attributively and as an adjective to denote 
pedantry, stiff formality, etc. 

O foolishness of men! that lend their ears 
To those budge-doctors of the stoic fur. 

Milton: Camus, 706. 

Budge Row, Cannon Street, is so called 
because it was chiefly occupied by budge- 
makers. 


Budge Bachelors. A company of men 
clothed in long gowns lined with budge or 
lambs’ wool, who used to accompany the Lord 
Mayor of London at his inauguration. 
Budgeree (bfij' 6r re). An Aboriginal Austra- 
lian word meaning excellent, especially good. 
Budget. The statement which the Chancellor 
of the Exchequer lays annually before the 
House of Commons, respecting the national 
income and expenditure, taxes, and revenues. 
The word is the old Fr. bougetre , a wallet, 
and the present use arose from the custom of 
bringing to the House the papers pertaining to 
these matters in a leather bag, and laying them 
on the table. Hence, to budget , to prepare a 
budget or estimate. 

A budget of news. A bagful of news, a large 
stock of news. 

Cry budget. A watchword or shibboleth; 
short for Mumbudgct (<?.v.). Slender says to 
Shallow: — 

We have a nay-word how to know one another. 
I come to her in white and cry mum: she cries budget: 
and by that we know one another. 

Shark SPFARl : Merry Wives of Windsor, V, ii. 

Buff. Properly, soft, stout leather prepared 
from the skin of the buffalo', hence, any light- 
coloured leather; and hence the figurative use, 
the bare skin. “To stand in buff” is to stand 
without clothing in one’s bare skin. “To 
strip to the buff” is to strip to the skin. 

To stand buff. To stand firm, without 
flinching. Here buff means a blow or bufTet. 
Cp . Bljndman’s bum 7 . 

I must even stand bull’ and outface him. — Pin. ding. 

The phrase also occurs as to stand bluff. 

Sheridan, .in his School for Scandal, II, iii. 
says: — 

That he should have stood bluff to old bachelor 
so long, and sink into a husband at last. 

Here the allusion is probably nautical; a 
“bluff shore” is one with a bold and almost 
perpendicular front. 

Buffs. See Regimental Nicknames. 

Buffalo Bill. This was the name made 
famous by William Frederick Cody (1846- 
1917), one of the world’s greatest showmen. 
He was born in Iowa and when little more than 
a boy was a rider of the Pony Express ( q.v .). 
In 1861 he became a scout and guide for the 
U.S. army, and fought in the Civil War. In 
1867 he made a contract to supply the labourers 
constructing the Kansas Pacific railway with 
buffalo meat, hence his sobriquet. Later on 
he was fighting once more in the Indian wars 
and single-handed killed Ycllowhand, the 
Cheyenne chief. In 1883 he organized his 
Wild West show, which he brought to Europe 
for the first time in 1887. He paid various 
visits after this and toured the Continent in 
1910. He died at Denver. It is no exaggera- 
tion to say that his show, with its Indians, 
cowboys, sharp-shooters and rough-riders has 
never been surpassed. 

Buffer. A chap, a silly old fellow. In M.E. 
buffer meant a stutterer, and the word is used 
in Is. xxii, 4, in the Wyclif version, where the 
Authorized Version reads, “And the tongue 
of the stammerers shall be ready to speak 
plainly.” 


Buffer State 


151 


Bull 


Buffer State. A small, self-governing state 
separating two larger states, and thus tending 
to prevent hostilities between the two. 
Buffoon. Properly, one who puffs out his 
cheeks, and makes a ridiculous explosion by 
causing them suddenly to collapse (Ital. 
buffone ; from bujfare , to puff out the cheeks, 
hence, to jest). 

Bug. An old word for goblin, sprite, bogy; 
probably from Welsh bwg , a ghost. The word 
Is used in Coverdale’s Bible, which is hence 
known as the “Bug Bible” (see Bible, 
specially NAMED), and survives in bogle, bogy , 
and in bugaboo , a monster or goblin, intro- 
duced into the tales of the old Italian roman- 
cers, and bugbear , a scarecrow, or sort of hob- 
goblin in the form of a bear. 

Warwick was a bug that feared us all. 

Shakespeare: Henry VI t Pt. Ill , V, ii. 

In common usage the word bug is applied 
to almost any kind of insect or germ, though 
more especially to a beetle or an insect that 
creeps or crawls. Colloquially it can be used to 
refer to any mental infection, such as “he has 
the money bug” of one whose sole interest is 
making money. 

A big bug. A person of importance — 
especially in his own eyes; a swell; a pompous 
or conceited man. There is an old adjective 
bug , meaning pompous, proud. 

Dainty sport toward, Dalyall! sit, come sit. 

Sit and be quiet: here are kingly bug-words. 

Ford: Perkin Warbeck , III, ii. 

Buhl. An incorrect form of Boulle fa.v.). 

Bulbul. An Eastern bird of the thrush 
family, noted for its beautiful singing; hence 
applied to the nightingale. 

Bull. A blunder, or inadvertent contradiction 
of terms, for which the Irish are proverbial. 
The British Apollo (No. 22, 1708) says the term 
is derived from one Obadiah Bull, an Irish 
lawyer of London, in the reign of Henry VII, 
whose blundering in this way was notorious, 
but there is no corroboration of this story, 
which must be put down as ben trovato. 
There was a M.E. verb bull , to befool, to cheat, 
and there is the O.Fr. boule or bole , fraud, 
trickery; the word may be connected with one 
of these. 

Slang for a five-shilling piece. “ Half a 
bull ” is half a crown. Possibly from bulla 
(see Pope’s bull, below); but, as bull's eye was 
an older slang term for the same thing, this is 
doubtful. Hood, in one of his comic sketches, 
speaks of a crier who, being apprehended, 
“swallowed three hogs (shillings) and a bull. 

It is also short for bull’s eye (q.v.). 

“Bull” (short for bull-shit) was originally 
British army slang for excessive requirements 
of cleanliness and neatness, needless polishing 
of equipment, etc. Now in general use as 
meaning also things or tasks that are useless, 
distasteful, or unnecessary. 

In Stock Exchange phraseology, a bull is a 
speculative purchase for a rise; also a buyer 
who does this, the reverse of a bear (q.v.). A 
bull-account is a speculation made in the hope 
that the stock purchased will rise before the 
day of settlement. 


The terms “bull” and “bear” are broadly 
used on the Stock Exchange to describe an 
optimist or pessimist in share-dealing, and 
were already used in that sense in the early 
18th century. 

In astronomy, the English name of the 
northern constellation (Lat. Taurus) which 
contains Aldebaran and the Pleiades; also the 
sign of the zodiac that the sun enters about 
April 22nd and leaves a month later. It is 
between Aries and Gemini. 

Bull is also the name given to a drink made 
from the swillings of empty spirit-casks. See 
Bulling the Barrel. 

The Pope’s bull. An edict or mandate 
issued by the Pope, so called from the heavy 
leaden seal (Lat. bulla) appended to the 
document. See Golden Bull. 

A bull in a china shop. A person who acts 
in a gauche manner, or without finesse, oreven 
with violence. 

A brazen bull. An instrument of torture. 

See Inventors. 

He may bear a bull that hath borne a calf 

(Erasmus: Proverbs) — “He that accustometh 
hym-selfe to lytle thynges, by lytle and lytle 
shal be able to go a waye with greater thynges” 
(Taverner). 

To score a bull. See Bull’s-eye. 

To take the bull by the horns. To attack or 
encounter a threatened danger fearlessly; to go 
forth boldly to meet a difficulty. 

John Bull. See John Bull. 

Bull-baiting. Bull- and bear-baiting were 
popular sports in Tudor and Stuart England. 
The beasts were tethered and set upon by dogs 
specially trained for this “sport.” In his Diary 
for June 16th, 1670, John Evelyn describes 
what he calls “a rude and dirty pastime.” Bait- 
ing was not prohibited in England until 1835. 

Bull-ring. In Spain, the arena where bull- 
fights take place; in England, the place where 
bulls used to be baited. The name still 
survives in many English towns, as in Birming- 
ham. See Mayor of the Bull- Ring. 

Bull’s-eye. The inner disk or centre of a 
target. 

To make a bull’s-eye, or to score a bull. To 
gain some signal advantage; a successful coup. 
To fire or shoot an arrow right into the centre 
disk of the target. 

A black globular sweetmeat with whitish 
streaks, usually strongly flavoured with pepper- 
mint. 

Also, a small cloud suddenly appearing, 
seemingly in violent motion, and expanding 
till it covers the entire vault of heaven, 
producing a tumult of wind and rain (I Kings 
xviii, 44). 

Also, a thick disk or boss of glass. Hence, 
a bull's-eye lantern , also called a bull's-eye . 

Bull sessions. In U.S.A. this phrase is 
applied to long talks, among men only, about 
life in general or some particular problem. 

Bull and Gate. Bull and Mouth. Public- 
house signs. A corruption of Boulogne Gate 



Bulldog 


152 


Buna 


or Mouth, adopted out of compliment to 
Henry VIII, who took Boulogne in 1544. 
The public-house sign consisting of a plain (or 
coloured) bull is usually with reference to the 
cognizance of the house of Clare. The sign 
of the famous Bull and Mouth Inn in Alders- 
gate St., London, bore the words: 

Milo the Cretonian 
An ox slew with his fist. 

And ate it up at one meal. 

Ye gods, what a glorious twist. 

The bull and the boar were signs used by the 
partisans of Clare, and Richard, Duke of 
Gloucester (Richard III). 

Bulldog. A man of relentless, savage dis- 
position is sometimes so called. A “bulldog 
courage” is one that flinches from no danger. 
The “bulldog” was^the dog formerly used in 
bull-baiting. 

In University slang the “bulldogs” or 
“bullers” are the two myrmidons (q.v.) of the 
proctor, who attend his heels like dogs, and 
are ready to spring on any olfending under- 
graduate. 

Boys of the bulldog breed. Britons 
especially with reference to their pugnacity. 
The phrase comes from the song, “Sons of the 
sea, all British born,” that was immensely 
popular at the dose of the 19th century. 

Bullet. Every bullet has its billet. Nothing 
happens by chance, and no act is altogether 
without some effect. 

Bulletin. An official report of an officer to his 
superior, or of medical attendants respecting 
the health of public figures. The word is 
borrowed from the French, who took it from 
the Ital. bulletino, a theatre or lottery ticket, 
from bulla ( see Pope’s Bull, above), because 
of their authentication by an official bulla or 
seal. 

News bulletin is the term used for the 
periodical broadcasts of news by radio etc. 

Bulling the barrel. Pouring water into a rum 
cask, when it is nearly empty, to prevent its 
leaking. The water, which gets impregnated 
with the spirit and is frequently drunk, is 
called bull. 

Seamen talk of bulling the teapot (making a 
second brew), bulling the coffee , etc. 

Bullion. Gold or silver in the mass as dis- 
tinguished from manufactured articles or 
coined money; also, a fringe made of gold or 
silver wire. The word is from the Fr. bouillon , 
boiling, and seems to refer to the “boiling,” 
or melting, of the metal before it can be utilized. 

Bully. To overbear with words. A bully is a 
blustering menacer. The original meaning of 
the noun was “sweetheart,” as in — 

1 kiss his dirty shoe, and from heart-string 
I love the lovely bully. 

Shakespeare: Henry V, IV, i. 

It is probably to be derived from Dut. boel , 
a lover; and the later meaning may have been 
influenced by Dut. bul. a bull, also a clown, 
and bulderen t to bluster. 

Bully-beef. Tinned, compressed beef. 
Probably from Fr. bouilli, boiled meat. 


Bully-rag. To intimidate; buHy-ragging is 
abusive intimidation. According to Halliwell, 
a rag is a scold, and hence a “ragging” 
means a scolding. 

Bully-rook. Shakespeare uses the term 
( Merry Wives , I, iii, 2) for a jolly companion, 
but it later came to mean a hired ruffian. 

Bum. An old word, now almost restricted to 
schoolboy slang, for the buttocks, posterior. 
It is an American term for a vagrant; hence a 
slang word describing any worthless fellow. 

Bum-bailiff. The Fr. pousse-cul seems to 
favour the notion that Z?//w-bailiff is no 
corruption. These officers, who made an 
arrest for debt by touching the debtor on the 
back, arc frequently referred to as bums . 

Scout me for him at the corner of the orchard, like 
a bum-bailiff. — Shakespeare : Twelfth Night, III, iv. 

Bum-boat. A small wide boat to carry 
provisions to vessels lying off shore. Also 
called “dirt-boats,” being used for removing 
tilth from ships lying in the Thames. 

Bumble. A beadle. So called from the 
officious, overbearing beadle in Dickens’s 
Oliver Twist; hence bumbledom , fussy 
officialism, especially on the part of the parish 
officers; also parochial officials collectively. 

Bummaree. A class of middlemen or fish- 
jobbers in Billingsgate Market, whose business 
is bummareeing , i.e. buying parcels of fish from 
the salesmen, and then retailing them. The 
etymology of the word is unknown, but it has 
been suggested that it is a corruption of bonne 
maree, good fresh fish, maree being a French 
term for all kinds of fresh sea-fish. 

Bumper. A full glass, generally connected 
with a “toast.” It may be so called because 
the surface of the wine “bumps up” in the 
middle, but it is more likely from the notion 
that it is a “bumping” or “thumping,” i.e. a 
large glass. 

Bumpkin. A loutish person. Dut. boomken , 
a little tree, a small block; hence, a blockhead. 
Bumptious. Arrogant, full of mighty airs and 
graces; apt to take offence at presumed slights. 
A humorous formation from bump , probably 
modelled on presumptuous. 

Bun. A tail. See Bunny. 

Bun. “Hot cross buns” on Good Friday 
were supposed to be made of the dough 
kneaded for the host, and were marked with 
the cross accordingly. As they are said to 
keep for twelve months without turning 
mouldy, some persons still hang up one or 
more in their house as a “charm against evil.” 

It may be remarked that the Greeks offered 
to Apollo, Diana, Hecate, and the Moon, 
cakes with “horns.” Such a cake was called 
a bous , and (it is said) never grew mouldy. 
The round bun represented the full moon, and 
the “cross” symbolized the four quarters. 
Good Friday comes this month: the old woman runs 
With one a penny, two a penny “hot cross buns”, 
Whose virtue is, if you believe what’s said. 

They’ll not grow mouldy like the common bread. 

Poor Robin's Almanack, 1733. 

Buna. The German name for synthetic rubber 
developed during World War II. It was made 
by the polymerization of butadrenc. 


Bunce 1 53 Burden of Isaiah 


Bunce. A slang term for money; particularly 
for something extra or unexpected in the way 
of profit. Thought to be a corruption of 
bonus (<?.v.). 

Bunch, Mother. A noted London ale-wife of 
the late Elizabethan period, on whose name 
have been fathered many jests and anecdotes, 
and who is mentioned more than once in 
Elizabethan drama, e.g . — 

Now, now, mother Bunch, how dost thou? What, 
dost frowne. Queen Gwyniver, dost wrinckle? 

Dekker: Satiromastix, III, i. 

In 1604 was published PasquiVs Jests , mixed 
with Mother Bunches Merriments', and in the 
“Epistle to the Merrie Reader” is given a 
humorous description of her — 

. . . She spent most of her time in telling of tales, 
and when she laughed, she was heard from Aldgatc to 
the monuments at Westminister, and all Southwarke 
stood in amazement, the Lyons in the Tower, and the 
Bulls and Beares of Parish Garden roar’d louder than 
the great roaring Megge . . . She dwelt in Cornhill 
neere the exchange, and sold strong Ale . . . and 
lived an hundred, seventy and five yeares, two days 
and a quarter, and halfc a minute. 

Other books were named after her, such, 
for instance, as Mother Bunch's Closet newly 
Broke Open , containing rare secrets of art and 
nature, tried and experienced by learned 
philosophers, and recommended to all in- 
enious young men and maids, teaching them 
ow to get good wives and husbands. 

Bunch of Fives. Slang for the hand or fist. 

Bundle Off. Get away. To bundle a person 
off \ is to send him away unceremoniously. 
Similar to pack off. The allusion is obvious. 

Bundles for Britain. An organization 
founded in U.S.A., January 1940, by Mrs. 
Wales Latham to send comfort parcels to 
Britain during World War II. 

Bundle of sticks. AZsop, in one of his 
fables, shows that sticks one by one may be 
readily broken; not so when several are bound 
together in a bundle. The lesson taught is 
that “Union gives strength.” 

The symbol was adopted by, and gave its 
name to the political philosophy of Fascism, 
from Lat. fasces , a bundle of sticks. 

Bundling. The curious and now obsolete New 
[England custom of engaged couples going to 
jbed together fully dressed and thus spending 
[the night. It was a recognized proceeding to 
[which no suggestion of impropriety was 
attached. 

•’ . Stopping occasionally in the villages to eat pumpkin 
|pies, dance at country frolics, and bundle with the 
^Yankee lasses. — Washington Irving: Knickerbocker . 

The same custom existed in Wales. 

. A cant term for a publican; also for 
fr toper. “Away, . . . you filthy bung.” says 
Poll to Pistol {Henry IV , Pt. II, II, iv). 

Bung up. Close up, as a bung closes a cask. 

Bungalow. Originally, the house of a Euro- 
Jean in India, generally of one floor only with 
i verandah all round it, and the roof thatched 
o keep off the hot rays of the sun. A dak - 
bungalow is a caravansary or house built by 
he Government for the use of travellers. 
Hindustani, bangla , of Bengal.) 


Bungay. See Friar Bungay. 

Go to Bungay w4h you! — i.e. get away and 
don’t bother me, or don’t talk such stuff. 
Bungay, in Suffolk, used to be famous for fhe 
manufacture of leather breeches, once very 
fashionable. Persons who required new ones, 
or to have their old ones new-seated, went or 
sent to Bungay for that purpose. Hence 
rose the cant saying, “Go to Bungay, and get 
your breeches mended,” shortened into “Go 
to Bungay with you!” 

Castle of Bungay. See Castle. 

Bunkum. Now used generally in the shorter 
term bunk. Claptrap. A representative at 
Washington being asked why he made such a 
flowery and angry speech, so wholly uncalled 
for, made answer, “1 was not speaking to the 
House, but to Buncombe,” which he repre- 
sented (North Carolina). 

Bunny. A rabbit. So called from the 
provincial word bun, a tail, especially of a hare, 
which is said to “cock her bun.” Bunny, a 
diminutive of bun, applied to a rabbit, means 
the animal with the “little tail.” 

Bunting. In Somersetshire bunting means 
sifting flour. Sieves were at one time made of 
a strong gauzy woollen cloth, which was tough 
and capable of resisting wear. It has been 
suggested that this material was found suitable 
for flags, and that the name for the stuff of 
which they are now made is due to this. 

A “bunt-mill” is a machine for sifting corn. 
Bunyan, Paul. A legendary hero of the lumber 
camps of the north-western U.S.A. His feats 
— such as cutting the Grand Canyon of the 
Colorado by dragging his pick behind him — 
are told and retold with embellishments by the 
lumbermen; some of them were collected in a 
curious volume titled, Paul Bunyan Comes 
West. 

Burble (ber' bel). To mutter nonsense. In 
its modern use this is a word invented by Lewis 
Carroll ( Through the Looking-glass ) with the 
meaning to make a sound somewhere between 
a bubble and a gurgle. 

The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame. 

Came whiffling through the tulgy wood 

And burbled as it came. 

Burd. A poetic word for a young lady ( cp . 
Bird), obsolete except in ballads. Burd Helen, 
who is a heroine of Scottish ballad, is a female 
personification of the Fr. preux or prud'homme , 
with this difference, that she is discreet, rather 
than brave and wise. 

Burden of a Song. A line repeated at intervals 
so as to constitute a refrain or chorus. It is 
the Fr. bourdon , the big drone of a bagpipe; or 
double-diapason of an organ, used in forte 
parts and choruses. 

Burden of Isaiah. “The burden of Babylon, 
which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.” 
Burden , here, is a literal translation of the Heb. 
massa (rendered in the Vulgate by onus), 
which means “lifting up” either a burden or 
the voice; hence “utterance,” hence a 
prophecy announcing a calamity, or a de- 
nunciation of hardships on those against 
whom the burden is uttered. 




Burden 


154 


Bursa 


The burden of proof. The obligation to 
prove something. 

The burden of proof is on the party holding the 
affirmative [because no one can prove a negative, 
except by reduct io ad absurdum]. 

Greenleaf; On Evidence , vol. I, pt. II, ch. iii. 

Bureaucracy. A system of government in 
which the business is carried on in bureaux or 
departments. Hence, bureaucrat , the head of 
a department in a bureaucracy. The Fr. 
bureau means not only the office of a public 
functionary, but also the whole staff of officers 
attached to the department. 

As a word of reproach, bureaucracy means 
the senseless and soulless application of rules 
and regulations. 

Burglary means, in English law, breaking into 
a house by night with intent to commit a 
felony. In Common Law “night” means 
between sunset and sunrise, but by the Larceny 
Act of 1861, it is limited to the hours between 
9 p.m. and 6 a.m. This Act makes it equally 
burglary to break out of a house at night after 
having committed a felony in it. When 
committed by day these offences are known as 
house-breaking and are viewed somewhat 
differently by the Law. 

Burgundian. A Burgundian blow, i.e. de- 
capitation. The Due de Biron, who was put 
to death for treason by Henri IV, was told in 
his youth, by a fortune-teller, “to beware of a 
Burgundian blow.” When going to execution, 
he asked who was to be his executioner, and 
was told he was a man from Burgundy. 

Burgundy. A name loosely applied in England 
to dark red wine of more than usual alcoholic 
strength, but really wine (both red and white) 
from the province of Burgundy, grown 
between Dijon and Chasne, south of Beaune. 

Burgundy pitch. See Misnomers. 

Burial of an Ass. No burial at all, just thrown 
on a refuse-heap. 

He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn 
and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem. 

Jer. xxii, 19. 

Buridan’s Ass. A man of indecision; like one 
“on double business bound, who stands in 
pause where he should first begin, and both 
neglects.” Buridan was a French scholastic 
philosopher who died about 1360. He is 
incorrectly reputed to be the father of the well- 
known sophism : — 

If a hungry ass were placed exactly between two 
haystacks in every respect equal, it would starve to 
death, because there would be no motive why it 
should go to one rather than to the other. 

Bu|jke. To murder by smothering. So called 
from William Burke, an Irish navvy, who, with 
his accomplice William Hare, used to suffocate 
his victims and sell the bodies to surgeons for 
dissection. Hanged at Edinburgh, 1829. 

To burke a question. To smother it at its 
birth. The publication was burked, sup- 
pressed before it was circulated. 

Burlaw. See Byrlaw. 

Burleigh. As significant as the shake of Lord 
Burleigh’s head. In Sheridan’s Critic is 
introduced a mock tragedy called The Spanish 


Armada . Lord Burleigh is supposed to be too 
full of state affairs to utter a word; he shakes 
his head, and Puff explains what the shake 
means. 

Burler. See Birler. 

Burlesque. Father of burlesque poetry. Hippo- 

nax of Ephesus (6th cent. b.c.). 

Burma Road, The. This great highway was 
constructed to open up the western interior 
of China by communication with the sea. It 
was made in 1937-39, for a distance of 770 
miles from Lashio to Kunming, in Yunnan. 
During the war it was the chief highway for 
war supplies to China until the Japanese cut it 
in 1941. It was recaptured in 1945. Lorries 
do the entire trip in seven days, and by means 
of the extension being made and planned, will 
be able to penetrate far into the country. 

Burn. His money burns a hole in his pocket. 
He cannot keep it in his pocket, or forbear 
spending it. 

The burnt child dreads the fire. Once caught , 
twice shy. “What! wouldst thou have a 
serpent sting thee twice?” 

To burn one’s boats. To cut oneself off 
from all means of hope of retreat. The 
allusion is to Julius Cesar and other generals, 
who burned their boats or ships when they 
invaded a foreign country, in order that their 
soldiers might feel that they must either con- 
quer the country or die, as retreat would be 
impossible. 

To burn one’s fingers. To suffer loss by 
speculation or mischance. The allusion is to 
taking chestnuts from the fire. 

To burn the Thames. To set the Thames 
on fire. See Thames. 

You cannot burn the candle at both ends. 

You cannot do two opposite things at one and 
the same time; you cannot exhaust your 
energies in one direction, and yet reserve them 
unimpaired for something else. If you go to 
bed late you cannot get up early. 

W'e burn daylight. We waste time in talk 
instead of action. (Shakespeare: Merry Wives 
of Windsor , II, i.) 

Burning crown. A crown of red-hot iron 
set on the head of a regicide. 

He was adjudged 

k To have his head seared with a burning crown. 

Tragedy of Hoffmann (1631). 

Burnt Candlemas. The name given by the 
Scots to the period around Candlemas Day 
(< 7 .v.), 1355-6, when Edward III marched 
through the Lothians with fire and sword. 
He burnt to the ground Edinburgh and 
Haddington, and then retreated through lack 
of provisions. 

Bursa (Gr. a hide). So the citadel of Car- 
thage was called. The tale is that when Dido 
came to Africa she bought of the natives “as 
much land as could be encompassed by a bull’s 
hide.” The agreement was made, and Dido 
cut the hide into thongs, so as to enclose a 
space sufficient for a citadel. Cp. Doncaster. 

The following is a similar story: The 
Yakutsks granted to the Russian explorers as 



Burst 


155 


Bushnell’s Turtle 


much land as they could encompass with a 
cow's hide; but the Russians, cutting the hide 
into strips, obtained land enough for the port 
and town of Yakutsk. 

The Indians have a somewhat similar 
tradition. The fifth incarnation of Vishnu 
was in the form of a dwarf called Vamen. 
Vamen obtained permission to have as much 
land as he could measure in three paces to build 
a hut on. The request was laughed at but 
freely granted; whereupon the dwarf grew so 
prodigiously that, with three paces, he strode 
over the whole world. 

Burst. To inform against an accomplice. 
Slang variety of “split” (turn king’s evidence, 
impeach). The person who does this splits 
or breaks up the whole concern. 

I’m bursting to tell you so-and-so. I’m all 
agog to tell you; I can’t rest till I’ve told you. 

On the burst. See Bust. 

Burton. Gone for a Burton. Dead, or pre- 
sumed dead, and sometimes referring to 
persons or things missing. The phrase is 
Royal Air Force slang from World War II, but 
the origin is uncertain. In the early part of 
the war air-crew wireless operators were 
trained at Blackpool, and Morse tests were 
held in a room above the local branch of 
Messrs. Burton’s. Further training depended 
upon these tests, and any trainee failing them 
was said to have “Gone for a Burton,” but it 
cannot be ascertained if the phrase originated 
from this local usage. 

Bury the Hatchet. Let bygones be bygones. 
The “Great Spirit” commanded the North 
American Indians, when they smoked their 
calumet or peace-pipe, to bury their hatchets, 
scalping-knives, and war-clubs, that all 
thought of hostility might be put out of sight. 

Buried was the bloody hatchet; 

Buried was the dreadful war-club; 

Buried were all warlike weapons. 

And the w'ar-cry was forgotten; 

Then was peace among the nations. 

Longfellow: Hiawatha , xiii. 

Burying at cross roads. See Cross- 
Roads. 

Bus. A contraction of omnibus 0 q.v .). The 
word is used by airmen and motorists in a 
humorous, almost affectionate, way for their 
conveyances. 

Busman’s holiday. Thore is a story that 
in old horse-bus days a driver spent his holiday 
travelling to and on a bus driven by one of his 
pals. From this has arisen the phrase, which 
means occupying one’s spare and free time 
in carrying on with one’s usual work, in other 
words, a holiday in name only. 

Busby. A frizzled wig; also the tall fur cap of 
a hussar, horse artilleryman, etc., with a short 
bag, which hangs from the top on the right side. 
It is not known what the word is derived from ; 
Doctor Busby, master of Westminster School 
from 1638 to 1695, did not wear a frizzled wig, 
but a close cap, somewhat like a Welsh wig. 
See Wig. 

Bush. One beats the bush, but another has the 
hare. See Beat the Bush. 

b.d. — 6 


Good wine needs no bush. A good article 
will make itself known without being advertised. 
An ivy-bush (anciently sacred to Bacchus) was 
once the common sign of taverns, and especi- 
ally of private houses where beer or wine 
could be obtained by travellers. 

Some ale-houses upon the road I saw. 

And some with bushes showing they wine did draw. 

Poor Robin's Perambulations (1678). 

The proverb is Latin, and shows that the 
Romans introduced the custom into Europe. 
“ Vino vendibili hedera non opus est ” (Colum- 
ella). It was also common to France. “ Au 
vin qui se vend bien y il ne faut point de Her re .” 

If it be true that good wine needs no bush, ’tis 
true that a good play needs no epilogue. 

Shakespeare: As You Like It (Epilogue). 

To take to the bush. To become bush- 
rangers, like runaway convicts, who live by 
plunder. See Bush, below. 

Bush. An Australian term for wild, 
wooded country, derived from the Dutch bosch. 
The word was imported from South Africa 
before 1820, and gave rise to a whole vocabu- 
lary — bushman , bush telegraphy bush ranger , 
etc. 


Bushed. An Australian word meaning 
“lost.” It has wandered so far from its 
original connotation of “bush” that we find 
such a phrase as “a small ship became 
bushed in the great Van Dieman Gulf.” 
Barratt: Coast of Adventure , 1944. 

Bushmen (Dut. Bosehjesman). Natives of 
South Africa who live in the “bush”; the 
aborigines of the Cape; dwellers in the Austra- 
lian “ bush bush farmers. 


Bushrangers. Originally escaped convicts 
in Australia who were forced to live in the 
wilds to escape recapture, in which sense it is 
found in the Sydney Gazette in 1805. The 
word has a modern sense of those who take 
advantage of their fellows, by sharp practice or 
crime. 


Bush-shanty (Austr.). A hut selling illegal 
liquor, often in the gold-rush areas. Hence to 
shanty is to pub-crawl. 

Bushwhacker (Austr.). One who lives in the 
bush. (U.S.A.) a deserter in the Civil War 
who looted behind the lines. 


Bush telegraph. In early Australian slang, 
one who informed the bushrangers (<?.v.) of 
police movements; now widespread to indicate 
any unofficial and mysterious source of 
information. 


Bushel. To measure other people’s corn by 
one’s own bushel. To make oneself the 
standard of right and wrong; to appraise 
everything as it accords or disagrees with one’s 
own habits of thought and preconceived 
opinions. The bushel was measured in a 
wooden or earthenware container, hence: 
under a bushel, secretly; in order to hide it. 

Neither do men light a candle and put it under a 
bushel, but on a candlestick. — Matt, v, 15. 

Bushnell’s Turtle. Although a Dutchman, 
Cornelius Drebbell, had successfully demon- 
strated a submarine in the Thames in the 17th 
century, the first truly successful model was 
built at Saybrook, Conn., in 1775 by Dr. David 




Business 


156 


Butter-fingers 


Bushnell. It was made of oak smeared with 
tar and looked like two turtle shells joined 
together. A foot pedal opened a cock to let in 
water when it was desired to dive, and two 
hand pumps expelled the water to make the 
submarine rise again to the surface. It carried 
an egg-shaped limpet mine, also made of oak, 
containing 30 lb. of gunpowder. A volunteer, 
Sergt. Ezra Lee, made the first submarine 
attack on shipping in New York harbour in 
1776, attempting to attach his mine to the 
Eagle , 64-gun flagship of the British Fleet; he 
was foiled by the fact that the Eagle had a 
copper sheath over her hull. But about a year 
later the Turtle was used with considerable 
success for sowing mines among British 
shipping in the Delaware river. 

Business. O.E. bisigness , from bisigian , to 
occupy, to worry, to fatigue. In theatrical 
parlance “business'* or “biz** means by- 
play. Thus, Hamlet trifling with Ophelia’s 
fan, Lord Dundreary's hop, and so on, are the 
special “business’* of the actor of the part. 
As a rule, the “business" is invented by the 
actor who creates the part, and it is handed 
down by tradition. 

Business to-morrow. When the Spartans 
seized upon Thebes they placed Archias over 
the garrison. Pclopidas, with eleven others, 
banded together to put Archias to the sword. 
A letter containing full details of the plot was 
given to the Spartan polemarch at the banquet 
table; but Archias thrust the letter under his 
cushion, saying, “Business to-morrow." But 
long ere that sun arose he was dead. 

The business end. The end of the tool, etc., 
with which the work is done. The “business 
end of a tin-tack" is its point; of a revolver, 
its muzzle; and so on. 

To do someone’s business for him. To ruin 
him, to settle him for ever; kill him. 

Busiris (bo si' ris). A mythical king of Egypt 
who, in order to avert a famine, used to 
sacrifice to the gods all strangers who set foot 
on his shores. Hercules was seized by him; 
and would have fallen a victim, but he broke 
his chain, and slew the inhospitable king. 

Busker. There is an old verb to busk , meaning 
to improvise, and it is from this that the word 
busker is derived, to describe a street or beach 
singer or performer. 

Buskin. Tragedy. The Greek tragic actors 
used to wear a sandal some two or three 
inches thick, to elevate their stature. The 
whole foot-piece made a buskin, and was 
called cothurnus . Cp. Sock. 

Or what (though rare) of later age 
Ennobled hath the buskined stage. 

Milton: II Penseroso, 79. 

Buss. To kiss. The word is obsolete; it is 
probably onomatopoeic in origin, but cp. Lat. 
basium , Ital. bacio , Sp. beso y and Fr. baiser. 

Yon towers, whose wanton tops do buss the clouds, 

Must kiss their own feet. 

Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida, IV, v. 

Bust. A frolic; a drunken debauch. The 
word is a vulgarization of burst ( q.v .). 

Busted. Done for; exploded. 


To go on the bust. To go on the spree; to 
paint the town red. 

Buster. Anything of large or unusual size or 
capacity: a "whacking great lie." 

To come a buster. To come a cropper; to 
meet with a serious set-back or fall. 

In Australia a Southerly Buster is a heavy 
gale from the south, striking the east coast of 
Australia and New Zealand. 

Busybody. A busybody was originally an 
arrangement of mirrors set outside a window 
to enable those within to see anyone approach- 
ing from cither end of the street. 

Butcher. A title given to many soldiers and 
others noted for their bloodthirstiness. 
Achmed Pasha was called djezzar (the butcher), 
and is said to have whipped off the heads of 
his seven wives. 

The Bloody Butcher. The Duke of Cumber- 
land (1721-65), second son of George II. 
So called from his barbarities in suppressing 
the rebellion of the Young Pretender. 

The Royalist Butcher. Blaise de Montluc 
(1502-77), a Marshal of France, distinguished 
for his cruelties to the Protestants in the reign 
of Charles IX. 

Butter. This word is sometimes used figura- 
tively for flattery, soft soap, “wiping down" 
with winning words. Punch expressively calls 
it "the milk of human kindness churned into 
butter." (O.E. butere , Lat. butyrum, Gr. 
boutyron , i.e. bouturos , cow-cheese, as distin- 
guished from goat- or ewe-butter.) 

Buttered ale. A beverage made of ale or 
beer mixed with butter, sugar, and cinnamon. 

He knows which side his bread is buttered. 

He knows his own interest. 

He looks as if butter would not melt in his 
mouth. He seems suspiciously amiable. He 
looks quite harmless and expressly made to be 
played upon. Yet beware, and “touch not a 
cat but a glove." 

Soft or fair words butter no parsnips. 
Saying "‘Be thou fed’ will not feed a hungry 
man.’ Merc words will not find salt to our 
porridga, or butter to our parsnips. 

To butter one’s bread on both sides. To be 

wastefully extravagant and luxurious; also, to 
run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, to 
gain advantages from two sides at once. 

Buttercups. So called because they were 
once supposed to increase the butter of milk. 
No doubt those cows give the best milk that 
asture in fields where buttercups abound, not 
ecause these flowers produce butter, but 
because they grow only on sound, dry, old 
pastures, which afford the best food. Miller, 
in his Gardener's Dictionary , says they were so 
called “under the notion that the yellow colour 
of butter is owing to these plants." 

Butter-fingers. Said of a person who lets 
things fall out of his hand. His fingers are 
slippery, and things slip from them as if they 
were greased with butter. Often heard on the 
cricket field. 

I never was a butter-fingers, though a bad batter. 

H. Kingsley. 


Butterfly 


157 


Buzzard 


Butterfly. A light, flippant, objectless young 
person who flutters from pleasure to pleasure. 
One who is in good form when all is bright and 
when every prospect pleases, but is “done for’* 
when the clouds gather. 

In the cab-trade the name used to be given 
to those drivers who took to the occupation 
only in summer-time, and at the best of the 
season. 

The feeling of the regular drivers against these 
“butterflies” is very strong. 

Nineteenth Century (March, 1893, p. 177). 

Butterfly kiss. A kiss with one’s eyelashes, 
that is, stroking the cheek with one’s eyelashes. 

Button. The two buttons on the back of a 
coat, in the fall of the back, are a survival of 
the buttons on the back of riding-coats and 
military frocks of the 18th century, occasion- 
ally used to button back the coat-tails. 

A decoy in an auction-room is colloquially 
known as a button , because he “buttons’* or 
ties the unwary to bargains offered for sale. 
The button fastens or fixes what else would slip 
away. 

Buttons. A page, whose jacket in front is 
remarkable for a display of small round 
buttons, as close as they can be inserted, from 
chin to waist. 

The titter of an electric bell brought a large fat 
buttons, with a stage effect of being dressed to look 
small. — H owell: Hazard of New Fortunes, ch. vii. 

Bachelor’s buttons. See Bachelor. 

Dash my buttons. Here, “buttons” means 
lot or destiny, and “dash” is a euphemistic 
form of a stronger word. 

He has not all his buttons. He is half-silly; 
“not all there”; he is “a button short.” 

The buttons come off the foils. Figuratively, 
the courtesies of controversy are neglected. 
The button of a foil is the piece of cork fixed 
to the end to protect the point and prevent 
injury in fencing. 

The button of the cap. The tip-top. Thus, 
in Hamlet , Guildenstern says: “On fortune’s 
cap we are not the very button” (II, ii). i.e. 
the most highly favoured. The button on the 
cap was a mark of honour. Thus, in Imperial 
China the first grade of literary honour was 
the privilege of adding a gold button to the cap, 
a custom adopted in several collegiate schools 
of England; and the several grades of man- 
darins are distinguished by a different coloured 
button on the top of their cap. Cp. Panjan- 
drum. 

’Tis in his buttons. He is destined to obtain 
the prize; he is the accepted lover. It used 
to be common to hear boys count their 
buttons to know what trade they are to follow, 
whether they are to do a thing or not, and 
whether some favourite favours them. 

’Tis in his buttons; he will carry *t. 

Merry Wives of Windsor, III, ii. 

To have a soul above buttons. To be 
worthy, or, rather, to consider oneself worthy, 
of better things; to believe that one has 
abilities too good for one’s present employ- 
ment. This is explained by George Colman 


in Sylvester Daggerwood (1795): “ My father 
was an eminent button-maker . . but I had 
a soul above buttons . . . and panted for a 
liberal profession.” 

To press the button. To set in motion, 
literally or figuratively, generally by simple 
means as the pressing of a button will start 
electrically-driven machinery or apparatus. 

To take by the button. To buttonhole. 

See below . 

Buttonhole. A flower or nosegay worn in 
the buttonhole of a coat. 

To buttonhole a person. To detain him in 
conversation; to apprehend, as, “to take 
fortune by the button.” The allusion is to a 
custom, now discontinued, of holding a 
person by the button or buttonhole in con- 
versation. The French have the same 
locution : Serrer le bouton ( a quelqiCun ). 

To take one down a buttonhole. To take 
one down a peg; to lower one’s conceit. 

Better mind yerselves, or I’ll take ye down a button- 
hole lower. — Mrs. Stowe: Uncle Tom's Cabin , iv. 

Buy. To buy in. To collect stock by pur- 
chase; to withhold the sale of something 
offered at auction, because the bidding has not 
reached the “reserve price.” On the Stock Ex- 
change buying in is the term used when, a seller 
having sold stock that he is unable to deliver, 
the buyer purchases the stock himself in the 
market and charges the extra cost, if any, to 
the original seller. 

To buy off. To give a person money to drop 
a claim, put an end to contention, or throw 
up a partnership. 

To buy out. To redeem or ransom. 

Not being able to buy out his life . . . 

Dies ere the weary sun set. 

Shakespeare: Comedy of Errors , I, ii. 

To buy over. To induce one by a bribe to 
renounce a claim; to gain over by bribery. 

To buy over a person’s head. To outbid 
him. 

To buy up. To purchase stock to such an 
amount as to obtain a virtual monopoly, and 
thus command the market; to make a corner, 
as “to buy up corn,” etc. 

Buying a pig in a poke. See Pig. 

Buzfuz (bQz' fOz). Sergeant Buzfuz was the 
windy, grandiloquent counsel for Mrs. Bardell 
in the famous breach of promise trial described 
in Pickwick Papers. He represented a type 
of barrister that flourished in the early 
19th century, seeking to gain his case by 
abuse of the other side and a distortion of the 
true facts. 

Buzz, To. Either, to empty the bottle to the 
last drop; or, when there is not enough left 
in it to allow of a full glass all round the party, 
to share it out equally. Perhaps a corruption 
of bouse . See Booze. 

Buzz. A rumour, a whispered report. 

Buzzard. In Dry den’s Hind and Panther is 
meant for Dr. Burnet, whose figure was lusty. 


Buzzard 


158 


Ca’ canny 


Buzzard called hawk by courtesy. It is a 
euphemism — a brevet rank — a complimentary 
title. 

The noble Buzzard ever pleased me best; 

Of small renown, 'tis true; for, not to lie 
We call him but a hawk by courtesy. 

Dryden: Hind and Panther, III, 1221. 

Between hawk and buzzard. Not quite the 
master or mistress nor quite a servant. 
Applied to “bear-leaders” (q.v.), governesses, 
and other grown-up persons who used to be 
allowed to come down to dessert, but not to 
the dinner-table. 

By-and-by now means a little time hence, 
but when the Authorized version of the Bible 
was prepared it meant instantly. “When 
persecution ariseth . . . by-and-by he is of- 
fended” ( Matt . xiii, 12); rendered in Mark iv 
17. by the word “immediately.” Our presently 
means in a little time or soon, but formerly it 
meant “at present,” “at once,” and in this 
sense it is not uncommonly still used in U.S.A. 

By and large. Taking one thing with an- 
other, speaking generally. This is really a 
nautical phrase. When a vessel was close- 
hauled, order might be given to sail “by and 
large,” that is, slightly off the wind, or easier 
for the helmsman and less likely for the vessel 
to be taken aback under his steering. 

By-blow. An illegitimate child. 

I it is have been cheated all this while. 
Abominably and irreparably, — my name 
Given to a cur-cast mongrel, a drab’s brat, 

A beggar’s bye-blow. 

Browning: Ring and the Book, iv, 612. 

By-laws. Local laws. From by, a borough. 
See Byrlaw. Properly, laws by a town 
council, and bearing only on the borough or 
company over which it has jurisdiction. 

By-line. A journalist’s signature. When a 
newspaper reporter progresses from anony- 
mous to signed articles, he is said to have got a 
by-line. 

By-the-by. En passant , laterally connected 
with the main subject. “By-play” is side or 
secondary play; “by-roads and streets” are 
those which branch out of the main thorough- 
fare. The first “by” means passing from one 
to another , as in the phrase “Day by day.” 
Thus “By-the-by” is passing from the main 
subject to a by or secondary one. 

By-the-way. An introduction to an in- 
cidental remark thrown in, and tending the 
same way as the discourse itself. 

Bycorne. See Bicorn. 

Bye Plot (bl). This was a plot hatched in 
1603 by a Catholic priest, Watson, who 
worked up a number of Catholic gentry to 
secure the person of James I and force him to 
grant toleration to Catholics and Puritans. 
The plot was muddled and mismanaged from 
the outset, Watson was beheaded, his fellow 
conspirators were imprisoned or banished. 

Byerly Turk. See Darley Arabian. 

Byrlaw. A local law in the rural districts of 
Scotland. The inhabitants of a district used 
to make certain laws for their own observance, 


and appoint one of their neighbours, called the 
Byrlaw- man, to carry out the pains and penal- 
ties. Byr = a burgh, common in such names 
as Derby , the burgh on the Derwent; Grimsby , 
Grims-town, etc., and is present in by-law 
(tf.v.). 

Byron. The Polish Byron. Adam Mickiewicz 
(1798-1855). 

The Russian Byron. Alexander Sergeivitch 
Pushkin (1799-1837). 

Byrsa. See Bursa. 

Byzantine (bi z5n' tin). Another name for the 
bezant ( q.v .). 

Byzantine art (from Byzantium, the ancient 
name of Constantinople). That symbolical 
system which was developed by the early Greek 
or Byzantine artists out of the Christian 
symbolism. Its chief features are the circle, 
dome, and round arch; and its chief symbols 
the lily, cross, vesica, and nimbus. St. 
Sophia, at Constantinople, and St. Mark, at 
Venice, are excellent examples of Byzantine 
architecture and decoration, and the Roman 
Catholic Cathedral at Westminster is a develop- 
ment of the same. 

Byzantine Empire. The Eastern or Greek 
Empire, which lasted from the separation of 
the Eastern and Western Empires on the death 
of Theodosius in a.d. 395, till the capture of 
Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. 

Byzantine historians. Certain Greek histor- 
ians who lived under the Eastern Empire 
between the 6 th and 15th centuries. They 
may be divided into three groups: — (1) Those 
whose works form together continuous and 
complete history of the Byzantine empire; 
( 2 ) general chroniclers who wrote histories of 
the world from the oldest period; and (3) 
writers on Roman antiquities, statistics, and 
customs. 


c 

C. The form of the letter is a rounding of 
the Gr. gamma (O, which was a modification 
of the Phoenician sign for girnel, a camel. It 
originally corresponded with Gr. gamma, as its 
place in the alphabet would lead one to 
suppose. 

When the French c has a mark called a cedilla 
under it, thus, 9 , it is to be pronounced as an s. 

There is more than one poem written of 
which every word begins with C. There is 
one by Hamconius, called “ Certamen 
catholicum cum Calvinist is,** and another by 
Henry Harder. See Alliteration. 

Ca’ canny. A Scots expression meaning “go 
easily,” “don’t exert yourself.” It is used in 
trade-union slang for working to rule, and is 
the method adopted by workmen for the pur- 
pose of bringing pressure on the employers 
when, in the workmen’s opinion, a strike would 
be hardly justifiable, expedient, or possible. 
Ca ’ is Scots caw , to drive or impel. 




Ca ira 


159 


Cable’s Length 


Ira (it will go). The name, and refrain, 
of a popular patriotic song in France which 
became the Carillon National of the French 
Revolution (1790). It went to the tune of the 
Carillon National , which Marie Antoinette was 
for ever strumming on her harpsichord. 

As a rallying cry it was borrowed from 
Benjamin Franklin, who used to say, in 
reference to the American revolution, “Ah! 
ah! ca ira , pa ira!' * (’twill be sure to do). 

The refrain of the French revolutionary 
version was : — 

Ah! ca ira, <?a ira, ca ira, 

Les aristocrates a la lantcrae. 

Caaba. See Kaaba. 

Cab. A contraction of cabriolet , a small, one- 
horse carriage, so called from Ital. capriola, a 
caper, the leap of a kid, from the lightness of 
the carriage when compared with the con- 
temporary cumbersome vehicles. Cabs were 
introduced in London about 1823. 

Cabal. A junto ( q.v .) or council of intriguers. 
One of the Ministries of Charles II was called 
a “cabal” (1670), because the initial letters of 
its members formed the word: Clifford, 
Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington, and Lauder- 
dale. This accident may have popularized the 
word, but it was in use in England many years 
before this, and is the Hebrew qabbalah. 
See Cabbala. 

Cabala, Cabalist. See Cabbala. 

Caballero. A Spanish knight or gentleman 
(literally, one who rides a horse, caballo ); also 
a grave and stately dance, so called from the 
ballad to the music of which it was danced. 
The ballad begins — 

Esta noche Ic mataron al caballero. 

Cabbage. An old slang term for odd bits of 
cloth, etc., left over after making up suits and 
so on, appropriated by working tailors as 
perquisites. Thus the Tailor in Randolph’s 
Hey for Honesty (c. 1633) says: — 

O iron age! that like the ostrich, makes me feed on 
my own goose. . . . This cross-legged infelicity, 
sharper than my needle, makes me eat my own cab- 
bage. — Act V, sc. i. 

Hence, a tailor is sometimes nicknamed 
“Cabbage,” and to cabbage means to pilfer, to 
filch. 

Cabbagc-patchers. Nickname for the in- 
habitants ot Victoria, Australia, who are also 
known as Yarra-yabbies. 

Cabbala. The doctrine of a type of Jewish 
mysticism which emerged in Spain and Prov- 
ence in the 13th century. It owes much to the 
Gnostics, conceivingthe Godhead as adynamic 
system of ten spheres. Interference with the 
system rcsultecl in sin. Every act of man was 
therefore aimed at redemption and unification 
with God. The most important Cabbalistic 
work is the Zohar. The word is the Heb. 
gabbalah , accepted tradition. 

Cabbalist. In the Middle Ages the cabbalists 
were chiefly occupied in concocting and 
deciphering charms, mystical anagrams, etc., 
by unintelligible combinations of certain 
letters, words, and numbers; in search for the 
philosopher’s stone; in prognostications, at- 
tempted or pretended intercourse with the 
dead, and suchlike fantasies. 


Cabinet, The. In Britain, those members of 
the Government who hold the highest execu- 
tive offices and who form a group which, under 
the presidency of the Prime Minister, decides 
national policy. The size of the Cabinet has 
varied, but latterly it has been just under 
twenty. Its composition is the prerogative of 
the Prime Minister, but those generally 
included nowadays are the Chancellor of the 
Exchequer, the Secretaries of State for Home 
Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Commonwealth 
Relations and Colonies (combined in one 
office for the first time in 1962), and Scotland; 
the President of the Board of Trade, the Min- 
isters of Defence, Education, Housing, 
Labour, Health, Agriculture, and Science; 
the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Privy Seal, the 
President of the Council, and sometimes the 
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. 
Ministers not in the Cabinet are not subor- 
dinate to those who are, and they are sometimes 
summoned to Cabinet meetings. The Cabinet 
is collectively responsible to Parliament; in 
theory (and general practice) they stand or fall 
together, and their decisions are binding on all 
members of the Government. 

The origins of the Cabinet can be said to go 
back to the body of advisers to the Crown that 
existed from pre-Conquest times, but the Cab- 
inet as such evolved from the Privy Council 
(q.v.) and began to assume something of its 
modern form when George I ceased to attend 
the meetings of the Cabinet Council instituted 
under Charles II. From Sir Robert Walpole’s 
long period in office (1721-42) it became the 
established practice for a group of men to 
serve under a Prime Minister and to adhere to 
a definite policy. The word Cabinet originally 
meant a small room, and came in time to be 
applied to the group of politicians deliberating 
in secret in a room. 

In the U.S.A. the Cabinet consists of the 
heads of the great departments of state, 
who are nominated by the President, meet 
with him every week and serve as his 
advisers. Unlike the members of the British 
Cabinet, who sit either in the House of Lords 
or in the House of Commons, they do not sit 
in Congress, and cannot take part in Congres- 
sional debates. Whereas in Britain the Prime 
Minister can invite any member of the Govern- 
ment to join the Cabinet, in the U.S.A. a new 
Cabinet post must be authorized by an Act of 
Congress. Members of the British Cabinet, 
unless they resign, hold their positions as long 
as the party to which they belong has a majority 
in the House of Commons; in the U.S.A. a 
Cabinet Minister holds office for the same 
four-year term as the President, unless the 
latter asks him to resign or he is impeached 
and removed. 

Cabiri (ka bi' ri). The Phoenician name for 
the seven planets collectively; also mystic and 
minor divinities worshipped in Asia Minor, 
Greece, and the islands. (Phcen. kabir y power- 
ful.) 

Cable’s Length. 100 fathoms; a tenth of a 
sea-mile — 607.56 feet. 


Cabochon 


160 


Cadi 


Cabochon (ka bo shong). A term applied to a 
precious stone, cut in a rounded shape, 
without facets. Garnets, sapphires, and rubies 
are the stones most commonly cut en cabochon . 

Caboodle (ka boodl'). The whole caboodle, 
the whole lot. The origin of the word is 
obscure, but it may come from the Dutch 
boedel, possession, household goods, property. 
In this sense it has long been a common term 
among New England long-shoremen. 

Caboose (ka boos'). On American railroads, 
a wagon used for transporting workmen or the 
train crew. 

Cachecope Bell (kSsh' kop). In some parts of 
England it was customary to ring a bell at a 
funeral when the pall was thrown over a coffin. 
This was called the cachecope bell, from Fr. 
cathe corps , conceal the body. 

Cachet (kash' a) (Fr.). A seal; hence, a dis- 
tinguishing mark, a stamp of individuality. 

Lettres de cachet (letters sealed). Under the 
old French regime, warrants, sealed with the 
king’s seal, which might be obtained for a 
consideration, and in which the name was 
frequently left blank. Sometimes the warrant 
was to set a prisoner at large, but it was more 
frequently for detention in the Bastille. 
During the administration of Cardinal Fleury 
(1726-43) 80,000 of these cachets are said to 
have been issued, the larger number being 
against the Jansenists. In the reigns of Louis 
XV and XVI fifty-nine were obtained against 
the one family of Mirabcau. This scandal was 
abolished January 15th, 1790. 

Cacodaemon (k&k 6 de' mon). An evil spirit 
(Gr. kakos daimon). Astrologers give this 
name to the Twelfth House of Heaven, from 
which only evil prognostics proceed. 

Hie thee to hell for shame, and leave the world. 
Thou ca co demon. 

Shakespeare: Richard III , I, iii. 

Cacoethes (k&k 6 eth' ez) (Gr.). A “bad 
habit.” 

As soon as he came to town, the political Cacoethes 
began to break out upon him with greater violence, 
because it had been suppressed. 

Swift: Life of Steele. 

Cacoethes loquendi. A passion for making 
speeches or for talking. 

Cacoethes scribendL The love of rushing 
into print; a mania for authorship. 

Tenet insanabile multos 
Scribendi cacoethes. Juv. vii, 51. 

The incurable itch for scribbling infects many. 

Cacus (ka' kus). In Classical mythology, a 
famous robber, represented as three-headed, 
and vomiting flames. He lived in Italy, and 
was strangled by Hercules. The curate of La 
Mancha says of the Lord Rinaldo and his 
friends, “They are greater thieves than Cacus.” 
(Don Quixote.) 

Cad. Alow, vulgar, ill-mannered fellow; also, 
before the term fell into its present disrepute, 
an omnibus conductor. The word is, like the 
Scots caddie (< q.v.), probably from cadet (q.v.). 

Caddice or Caddis. Worsted yarn or binding, 
crewel. So named from the O.Fr. cadaz, the 


coarsest part of silk; with which the Ir. cadan , 
cotton, may be remotely connected. See also 
Caddy. 

He hath ribands of all the colours i’ the rainbow; 
. . . caddisscs, cambrics, lawns. 

Shakespeare: Winter's Tale , IV, iii. 

Caddice-garter. A servant, a man of mean 
rank. When garters were worn in sight, the 
cheaper variety was worn by small tradesmen, 
servants, etc. Prince Henry calls Poins a 
“caddice-garter” ( Henry IV, Pt . /, II, iv). 

Dost hear. 

My honest caddis-garter? 

Glapthorne: Wit in a Constable (1639). 

Caddie. This means now almost solely the 
boy or man who carries a golfer’s clubs on the 
links (and, now and then, gives the tyro 
advice). It is another form of cadet (q.v.), and 
was formerly in common use in Scotland for 
errand boys, odd-job men, chairmen, etc. 

All Edinburgh men and boys know that when 
sedan-chairs were discontinued, the old caddies sank 
into ruinous poverty, and became synonymous with 
roughs. The word was brought to London by 
James Hannay, who frequently used it. — M. Pringle. 

Caddy. In some English dialects a ghost, a 
bugbear; from cad , a word of uncertain origin 
which in the 17th century meant a familiar 
spirit. This has no connexion (as has been 
suggested) with caddis , a grub, which is 
probably from caddice (q.v.), the allusion being 
to the similarity of the caddis-worm to the 
larva of the silk-worm. 

Caddy in tea-caddy is a Malay word (kati), 
and properly denotes a weight of 1 lb. 5 oz. 
2 dr., that is used in China and the East Indies. 

Cadency, Marks of. See Difference. 

Cader Idris (k&' der id' ris). Cader in Welsh is 
“chair,” and Idris is the name of one of the 
old Welsh giants. The legend is that anyone 
who passes the night sitting in this “chair” 
will be either a poet or a madman. 

Cadet (ka det'). Younger branches of noble 
families are called cadets from Fr. cadet , 
formed on Provencal capdet , a diminutive of 
Lat. caput , a head, hence, little head, little 
chieftain. Their armorial shields bore the 
mark of cadency (Lat. cadere, to fall). See 
Difference. 

Cadet is a student at the Royal Military 
Academy, Sandhurst, with which Woolwich 
Academy was amalgamated in 1946, or in one 
of H.M. training ships. From these places the 
boys are sent (after passing certain examina- 
tions) into the army as ensigns or second 
lieutenants, and into the navy as midshipmen. 

Cadger. A sponger; one who lays himself out 
to obtain drinks, “unconsidered trifles,” and 
so on, without paying for them or standing his 
share; a whining beggar. Originally an 
itinerant dealer in butter, eggs, etc., who 
visited remote farmhouses and made what 
extra he could by begging and wheedling. 
The word may be connected with catch , but 
this is not certain. 

Cadi (ka' di). Arabic for a town magistrate 
or inferior judge. 


Cadmus 


161 


Cagot 


Cadmus. In Greek mythology, the son of 
Agenor, king of Phoenicia, and Telephassa; 
founder of Thebes (Boeotia) and the introducer 
of the alphabet into Greece. ( Cp . Pala- 
medes.) The name is Semitic for “the man of 
the East.” Legend says that, having slain the 
dragon which guarded the fountain of Dirce, 
in Boeotia, he sowed its teeth, and a number of 
armed men sprang up surrounding Cadmus 
with intent to kill him. By the counsel of 
Athene, he threw a precious stone among them, 
who, striving for it, killed one another. 

Cadmcan letters. The sixteen simple Greek 
letters said, in Greek mythology, to have been 
introduced by Cadmus (q.v.) from Phoenicia. 
The Cadmeans were those who in pre-Trojan 
times occupied the country afterwards called 
Boeotia. Hence the Greek tragedians often 
called the Thebans Cadmeans. 

Cadmean victory. A victory purchased 
with great loss. The allusion is to the armed 
men who sprang out of the ground from the 
teeth of the dragon sown by Cadmus (q.v.) t 
and who fell foul of each other, only five 
escaping death. 

Cadogan (ka dug 7 an) or Catogan. A fashion 
of dressing the hair, in which the hair is 
secured at the back by a ribbon. Worn by 
men in the mid- and late 18th century. Its 
name comes from a popular portrait of the 
first Earl of Cadogan. Dashing ladies also 
affected the fashion, which was introduced at 
the court of Montbeliard by the Duchesse de 
Bourbon. 

Cadre (kad' er; kad 7 ri). (Fr. frame.) In 
military parlance a skeleton of trained or key 
men, so arranged that the addition of un- 
trained personnel will yield a full-size efficient 
unit. 

Caduceus. A white wand carried by Roman 
heralds when they went to treat for peace; 
the wand placed in the hands of Mercury, the 
herald of the gods, of which poets feign that he 
could therewith give sleep to whomsoever he 
chose; wherefore Milton styles it “his opiate 
rod” in Paradise Lost , XI, 133. It is generally 
pictured with two serpents twined about it (a 
symbol thought to have originated in Egypt), 
and — with reference to the serpents of 
iEsculapius — it was adopted as the badge of 
the Royal Army Medical Corps. 

Caedmon (kad 7 mon) (d. 680). Anglo-Saxon 
poet famed for his Hymn. Bede tells us that 
he was an ignorant man who knew nothing of 
poetry. Commanded by an angel in a dream 
to sing the Creation, Caedmon straightway 
did so. On waking he remembered his verses 
and composed more. He was received into 
the monastery of Whitby, where he spent his 
life praising God in poetry. Except for 
Caedmon’s Hymn , preserved in Bede’s Latin, 
all his work is lost. 

Caerite Franchise, The (se 7 rit). A form of 
franchise in a Roman prefecture which gave 
the right of self-government, but did not confer 
the privileges of a Roman citizen or entitle the 
holder to vote. This was a privilege first 
given to the inhabitants of Cere who, during 


the Gallic War, had assisted the Romans. 
Later, cities and citizens who had merited 
disfranchisement were degraded to the same 
position, and consequently the term became 
one of disgrace. 

Caerlcon (kar 7 le 7 on). The Isca Silurum of 
the Romans; a town on the Usk, in Wales, 
about 3 miles N.E. of Newport. It is the 
traditional residence of King Arthur, where he 
lived in splendid state, surrounded by hundreds 
of knights, twelve of whom he selected as 
Knights of the Round Table. 

Caesar (se 7 zar). The cognomen of Caius 
Julius Caesar was assumed by all the male 
members of his dynasty as a second title, even 
after the end of the end of the direct Julian 
line. From the time of Hadrian (1 17-138) the 
title was assigned to those who had been 
nominated by the emperors as their successors 
and had been associated with them in ruling. 
The titles Kaiser and Tsar are both forms of 
Caesar. 

Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion. The 
name of Pompeia having been mixed up with 
an accusation against P. Clodius, Caesar 
divorced her; not because he believed her 
guilty, but because the wife of Caesar must not 
even be suspected of crime. (Suetonius: 
Julius Ccesar , 74.) 

Caesarian operation. The extraction of a 
child from the womb by cutting the abdomen; 
so called because Julius Caesar was thus 
brought into the world. 

Caf. See Kaf. 

Caftan (kaf 7 t&n). A garment worn in Turkey 
and other Eastern countries. It is a sort of 
under-tunic or vest tied by a girdle at the waist. 
Cp. Gaberdine. 

Picturesque merchants and their customers, no 
longer in the big trousers of Egypt, but [in] the long 
caftans and abas of Syria. 

B. Taylor: Lands of the Saracen, ch. ix. 
Cage. To whistle or sing in the cage. The 
cage is a jail, and to whistle in a cage is to turn 
king’s evidence, or peach against a comrade. 
The lift in which miners descend the pit shaft 
is termed a cage. 

Cagliostro (ka lyos 7 tro). Count Alessandro 
di Cagliostro was the assumed name of the 
notorious Italian adventurer and impostor, 
Giuseppe Balsamo (1743-95), of Palermo. He 
played a prominent part in the affair of the 
Diamond Necklace (q.v.), and among his many 
frauds was the offer of everlasting youth to all 
who would pay him for his secret. 

Cagmag (k5g 7 mag). Offal, bad meat; also a 
tough old goose; food which none can relish. 

Cagot (ka 7 gd). A sort of gipsy race living 
in the Middle Ages in Gascony and B6am, 
supposed to be descendants of the Visigoths, 
and shunned as something loathsome. Cp . 
Caqueux; Colliberts. In modern French, a 
hypocrite or an ultra-devout person is called a 
cagot. From this use of the word came 
cagoule , meaning a penitent’s hood or cowl, 
and from this, again, the sinister cagoulards 
took their name— French political plotters 
hiding their infamy beneath masks and hoods. 



Cain-coloured Beard 


162 


Calculator 


Cain-coloured Beard. Yellowish, or sandy 
red, symbolic of treason. In the ancient 
tapestries Cain and Judas are represented with 
yellow beards; but it is well to note that in the 
extract below the word, in some editions, is 
printed “c<3/7e-coloured.” See Yellow. 

He hath but a little wee face, with a little yellow 
beard, a Cain-coloured beard. 

Shakespeare: Merry Wives of Windsor , I, iv. 
Cainites (ka'nitz). An heretical sect of the 
2nd century. They renounced the New 
Testament in favour of The Gospel of Judas , 
which justified the false disciple and the 
crucifixion of Jesus; and they maintained that 
heaven and earth were created by the evil 
principle, and that Cain with his descendants 
were the persecuted party. 

Caird (kard). This is a North Country and 
Scottish name for a tramp, a tinker, a Gipsy or 
even a jockey. It comes from the Gaelic 
eeard , a smith, brazier. 

Cams (kez) College (Cambridge). Elevated 
by Dr. John Caius (1510-73), of Norwich, 
into a college, from its previous status of a 
hall (Gonville), in 1 558. It had been originally 
established by Edmund Gonville in 1348. 
The full name is now Gonville and Caius. 

Cake. Obsolete slang for a fool, a poor 
thing. Cp. Half-Baked. 

Cakes and ale. A good time. Life is not 
all cakes and ale. Life is not all beer and 
skittles — all pleasure. 

My cake is dough. All my swans are 
turned to geese. Occisa est res men. Mon 
affaire est manquee ; my project has failed. 

The Land of Cakes. Scotland, famous for 
its oatmeal cakes. 

Land o’ cakes and brither Scots. — Burns. 

To go like hot cakes. To be a great success ; 
to sell well. 

To take the cake. To carry off the prize. 
The reference is to the negro cake walk, the 
prize for which was a cake. It consists of 
walking round the prize cake in pairs, while 
umpires decide which pair walk the most 
gracefully. From this a dance developed 
which was popular in the early part of the 
20th century before the serious introduction of 
Jazz. 

In ancient Greece a cake was the award of 
the toper who held out the longest; and in 
Ireland the best dancer in a dancing competi- 
tion was rewarded, at one time, by a cake. 

A churn-dish stuck into the earth supported on its 
flat end a cake, which was to become the prize of 
the best dancer. ... At length the competitors 
yielded their claims to a young man . . . who taking 
the cake, placed it gallantly in the lap of a pretty girl 
to whom ... he was about to be married. — Bart- 
lett and Coyne: Scenery and Antiquities of Ireland, 
vol. II, p. 64. 

You cannot eat your cake and have it too. 
You cannot spend your money and yet keep 
it. You cannot serve God and Mammon. 
Calaboose (k&F ft boos). This is a slang term 
in U.S.A. for a prison. It comes from the 
Spanish (originally from the Arabic), and is 
more especially applied to the common jail or 
lock-up. 


Calabre (kftl' ft ber). Squirrel fur; perhaps so 
called because originally imported from 
Calabria. Ducange says: “At Chichester the 
‘priest vicars' and at St. Paul’s the ‘minor 
canons * wore a calabre amyce” ; and Bale, in 
his Image of Both Churches , alludes to the 
“fair rochets of Raines [Rennes], and costly 
grey amices of calaber and cats’ tails.*’ 

Calainos (ka IF nos). The most ancient of 
Spanish ballads. Calainos the Moor asked a 
damsel to wife; she consented, on condition 
that he should bring her the heads of the three 
paladins of Charlemagne — Rinaldo, Roland, 
and Oliver. Calainos went to Paris and 
challenged the paladins. First Sir Baldwin, 
the youngest knight, accepted the challenge and 
was overthrown; then his uncle Roland went 
against the Moor and smote him. 

Calamanco (kftl a mftng' ko). A Low German 
word of uncertain origin denoting a glossy 
woollen fabric, sometimes striped or variegated. 
The word has been applied attributively to a 
cat, in which connexion it means striped or 
tortoiseshell. 

Calatrava, Order of (kftl a tra' va). A Spanish 
military Order of Knighthood founded by 
Sancho III of Castile in 1158 to commemorate 
the capture of the fortress of Calatrava from 
the Moors in 1147. The first knights were 
the keepers of the fortress; their badge is a 
red cross, fleury, and is worn on the left breast 
of a white mantle. 

Calceolaria (krl se 6 Jar' i ft). Little-shoe 
flowers; so called from their resemblance to 
fairy slippers (Lat. calceolus.) 

Calculate is from the Lat. calculi (pebbles), 
used by the Romans for counters. In the 
abacus iq.v.), the round balls were called 
calculi. The Greeks voted by pebbles dropped 
into an urn — a method adopted both in 
ancient Egypt and Syria; counting these 
pebbles was “calculating” the number of 
voters. 

I calculate. A peculiarity of expression 
common in the western states of North 
America. In the southern states the phrase 
is “I reckon,” in the middle states “I expect,” 
and in New England “I guess.” All were 
imported from the Mother Country by early 
settlers. 

Your aunt sets two tables, I calculate; don’t she? 

Susan Warner: Queechy , ch. xix. 

The calculator. A number of mathematical 
geniuses have been awarded this title; among 
them are: — 

Alfragan, the Arabian astronomer. Died 
830. 

Jedediah Buxton (1707-72), of Elmton, in 
Derbyshire; a farm labourer of no education 
who exhibited in London in 1754. 

George Bidder and Zcrah Colburn (1804- 
40), who exhibited publicly. 

Inaudi exhibited “his astounding powers of 
calculating” at Paris in 1880; his additions and 
subtractions, contrary to the usual procedure, 
were left to right. 

► Buxton, being asked “How many cubical eighths- 
of-an*inch there are in a body whose three sides are 




Caledonia 


163 


Calidore, Sir 


23,145,786 yards, 5,642,732 yards, and 54,965 yards?’* 
replied correctly without setting down a figure. 

Colburn, being asked the square root of 106,929 
and the cube root of 268,336,125, replied before the 
audience had set the figures down. 

Price: Parallel History , vol. II, p. 570. 

Caledonia. Scotland; the ancient Roman 
name, now used only in poetry and in a few 
special connexions, such as the Caledonian 
Railway, the Caledonian Canal, the Caledonian 
Ball, etc. 

Calembour (ka lem boor') (Fr.). A pun, a jest. 
From Wigand von Theben, a priest of Kohlen- 
berg in Lower Austria, who was introduced in 
Eulenspicgel ( q.v .). and other German tales. 
He was noted for his jests, puns, and witticisms ; 
and in the French translations appeared as 
the Abb6 de Calembourg, or Calembour. 

Calendar. 

The Julian Calendar. See Julian. 

The Gregorian Calendar. A modification 
of the Julian, introduced in 1582 by Pope 
Gregory XIII, and adopted in Great Britain in 
1752. This is called “the New Style.” See 
Gregorian Year. 

The Jewish Calendar. This dates from the 
Creation, fixed at 3760 n.c., and consists of 
12 months of 29 and 30 days alternately, with 
an additional month of 30 days interposed in 
Embolismic years to prevent any great diver- 
gence from the months of the solar year. 
The 3rd, 6th, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 19th years 
of the Metonic Cycle (q.v.) are Embolismic 
years. 

The Mohammedan Calendar, used in Moslem 
countries, dates from July 16th, 622, the day 
of the Hegira (q.v.). It consists of 12 lunar 
months of 29 days 12 hours, 44 minutes each; 
consequently the Mohammedan year consists 
of only 354 or 355 days. A cycle is 30 years. 

The French Revolutionary Calendar, adopted 
on October 5th, 1793, retrospectively as from 
September 22nd, 1792, and in force in France 
till January 1st, 1806, consisted of 12 months 
of 30 days each, with 5 intercalary days, called 
Sans Culottides (q. v.) at the end. It was devised 
by Gilbert Romme (1750-95), the names of the 
months having been given by the poet, Fabre 
d’Eglantine (1755-94). 

The Newgate Calendar. See Newgate. 

Calender. The Persian galandar , a member of 
a begging order of dervishes, founded in the 
13th century by Qalandar Yusuf al-Andalusi, 
a native of Spain, who, being dismissed from 
another order, founded one of his own, with 
the obligation on its members of perpetual 
wandering. This feature has made the 
calenders prominent in Eastern romance; the 
story of the Three Calenders in the Arabian 
Nights is well known. 

Calends. The first day of the Roman month. 
Varro say9 the term originated in the practice 
of calling together or assembling the people 
on the first day of the month, when the pon- 
tifex informed them of the time of the new 
moon, the day of the nones, with the festivals 
and sacred days to be observed. The custom 
continued till a.u.c. 450, when the fasti or 

6 * 


calendar was posted in public places. See 
Greek Calends. 

Calepin, A (k&l' e pin). (Ital. calepino.) A 
dictionary. Ambrosio Calepino, of Calepio, 
in Italy, was the author of a famous Latin 
dictionary (1502), so that “my Calepin” was 
used in earlier days as my Euclid, my Liddell 
and Scott, according to Cocker, etc., became 
common later. Generally called Calepin, but 
the subjoined quotation throws the accent on 
the le. 

Whom do you prefer 
For the best linguist? And I sillily 
Said that I thought Calepine’s Dictionary. 

Donne: Fourth Satire. 

Calf. Slang for a dolt, a “mutton-head,” a 
raw, inexperienced, childish fellow. See also 
Calves. 

The golden calf. See Golden (Phrases). 

There are many ways of dressing a calf’s head. 
Many ways of saying or doing a foolish thing; 
a simpleton has many ways of showing his 
folly; or, generally, if one way won’t do we 
must try another. The allusion is to the 
banquets of the Calves’ Head Club (q.v.). 

To eat the calf in the cow’s belly. To be 
over-ready to anticipate; to count one’s 
chickens before they are hatched. 

To kill the fatted calf. To welcome with 
the best of everything. The phrase is taken 
from the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 
xv, 30). 

Calf-love. Youthful fancy, immature love 
as opposed to a lasting attachment. 

Calf-skin. Fools and jesters used to wear 
a calf-skin coat buttoned down the back. In 
allusion to this custom, Faulconbridge says 
insolently to the Archduke of Austria, w ho had 
acted most basely to Richard Cceur-de-Lion: — 
Thou wear a lion’s hide! Doff it, for shame. 
And hang a calf-skin on those recreant limbs. 

Shakespeare: King John, III, i. 

Caliban (kal' i ban). Rude, uncouth, un- 
known. The allusion is to Shakespeare’s 
Caliban (The Tempest ), the deformed, half- 
human son of a devil and a witch, slave to 
Prospero. In this character it has been said 
that Shakespeare had not only invented a 
new creation , but also a new language. 

Coleridge says, “ In him [Caliban], as in some brute 
animals, this advance to the intellectual faculties, 
without the moral sense, is marked by the appearance 
of vice.” 

Caliburn (k&F i bern). Same as Excalibur f 
King Arthur’s well-known sword. 

Onward Arthur paced, with hand 
On Caliburn’s resistless brand. 

Scott : Bridal of Trlermain. 

Calico. So called from Calicut, in Malabar, 
once the great emporium of Hindustan and, 
next to Goa, the chief port for trade with 
Europe. 

Calidore, Sir (k&i' i dor). In Spenser’s Faerie 
Queene (Bk. VI) the type of courtesy, and the 
lover of “fair Pastorclla.” He is described 
as the most courteous of all knights, and is 
entitled the “all-beloved”; he typifies Sir 
Philip Sidney or the Earl of Essex. 




Caligula 


164 


Calliope 


Caligula (k& lig' 0 la). Roman emperor (a.d. 
37-41); so called because, when he was with 
the army as a boy, he wore a military sandal 
called a caliga , which had no upper leather, 
and was used only by the common soldiers. 

Caligula was a voluptuous brute whose 
cruelty and excesses amounted almost to 
madness. Hence Horace Walpole coined the 
word Caligulism . Speaking of Frederick, 
Prince of Wales, he says: — 

— Alas! it would be endless to tell you all his Cali- 
gulisms. — Letter to France , November 29th, 1745. 

Caligula's horse. Incitatus. It was made 
a priest and consul, had a manger of ivory, and 
drank wine from a golden goblet. 

Calipash and Calipee (kal i pash', kal i pe'). 
These are apparently fancy terms (though the 
former may come from the word Carapace) to 
describe choice portions of the turtle. Cali- 

E ash is the fatty, dull-greenish substance 
elonging to the upper shield; calipee is the 
light-yellow, fatty stuff belonging to the lower 
shield. Only epicures and aldermen can tell 
the difference. 

Cut off the bottom shell, then cut off the meat that 
grows to it (which is the callepy or fowl). 

Mrs. Raffald: English Housekeeping (1769). 

Caliph (ka' lif). A title given to the successors 
of Mohammed (Arab. Khalifah , a successor; 
khalafa , to succeed). Among the Saracens a 
caliph is one vested with supreme dignity. 
The caliphate of Bagdad reached its highest 
splendour under Haroun al-Raschid, in the 
9th century. For the last 200 years the 
appellation has been swallowed up in the titles 
of Shah, Sultan , Emir , etc. The last Sultan 
of Turkey claimed the title in a vain attempt 
to impose his authority on all Moslem lands; 
it is still used of rulers of Mohammedan States 
in their capacity as successors of Mohammed. 

Calisto and Areas (ka lis' to, ar' kas). Calisto 
was an Arcadian nymph metamorphosed into 
a she-bear by Jupiter. Her son Areas having 
met her in the chase, would have killed her, 
but Jupiter converted him into a he-bear, and 
placed them both in the heavens, where they 
are recognized as the Great and Little Bear. 

Calixtines (ka liks' tlnz). A religious sect of 
Bohemians in the 15th century; so called from 
Calix (the chalice), which they insisted should 
be given to the laity in the sacrament of the 
Lord’s Supper, as well as the bread or wafer. 
They were also called Utraquists ( q.v .). 

Call. A summons or invitation felt to be 
divine, as “a call to the ministry.” 

A curtain call. An invitation to an actor 
to appear before the curtain, and receive the 
applause of the audience. 

A call bird. A bird trained as a decoy. 

A call-boy. A boy employed in theatres to 
“call” or summon actors, when it is time for 
them to make their appearance on the stage. 

A call-box. A public telephone booth. 

Call day, or call night. The name given at 
the Inns of Court to the dates on which 
students are called to the Bar. 

A call-girl. A prostitute who advertises her 
telephone number in order to obtain clients. 


A call of the House. An imperative sum- 
mons sent to every Member of Parliament to 
attend. This is done when the sense of the 
whole House is required. 

A call on shareholders. A demand to pay 
the balance of money due for shares allotted 
in a company, or a part thereof. 

A call to the Bar. The admission of a law 
student to the privileges of a barrister. See 
Bar. 

A call to the pastorate. An invitation to a 
minister by the members of a Presbyterian or 
Nonconformist church to preside over a 
certain congregation. 

Payable at call. To be paid on demand. 

The call of Abraham. The invitation or 
command of God to Abraham, to leave his 
idolatrous country, under the promise of 
becoming the father of a great nation. 

The call of God. An invitation, exhortation, 
or warning, by the dispensations of Providence 
(Isa. xxii, 12); divine influence on the mind to 
do or avoid something ( Heh . iii, 1). 

To call. To invite: as, the trumpet calls. 

If honour calls, where’er she points the way. 

The sons of honour follow and obey. 

Churchill: The Farewell. 

In U.S.A., and less generally in Britain, to 
call means “to telephone,” though the meaning 
“to summon” is retained. 

To call (a man) out. To challenge him; to 
appeal to a man’s honour to come forth and 
fight a duel. 

To call God to witness. To declare solemnly 
that what one states is true. 

To call in question. To doubt the truth of a 
statement; to challenge the truth of a state- 
ment. “//i dubium vocare .” 

To call over the coals. See Coals. 

To call to account. To demand an explana- 
tion; to reprove. 

To be called (or sent) to one’s account. To 
be removed by death. To be called to the 
judgment seat of God to give an account of 
one’s deeds, whether they be good, or whether 
they be evil. 

To call to arms. To summon to prepare for 
battle. “Ad arma vocare .” 

To call to mind. To recollect, to remember. 

Caller Herrings. Fresh herrings. The adjec- 
tive is also applied in Scotland to fresh air, 
water, etc. 

Calligraphy. The art of handwriting. The 
finest calligraphy in western civilization is the 
Cancelleresca Corsiva or Cursive Chancellery 
hand used by the Apostolic Secretaries in the 
15th century, the hand on which italic type is 
based. To-day it is applied generally to the 
art of the scribe preparing manuscripts such 
as rolls of honour or professional presenta- 
tions. A handwriting which is based on a 
good model and has any artistic pretensions is 
called a calligraphic hand. 

Calliope (k& IF 6 pi) (Gr. beautiful voice). 
Chief of the nine Muses (<?.v.); the muse of 



Callippic Period 


165 


Calves’ Head Club 


epic or heroic poetry, and of poetic inspiration 
and eloquence. Her emblems are a stylus and 
wax tablets. 

The word is also applied to a steam-organ 
composed of steam-wnistles making a raucous 
blare. 

Callippic Period (k& lip' ik). An intended cor- 
rection of the Metomc Cycle (g.v.) by Callip- 
pus, the Greek astronomer of the 4th century 
b.c. To remedy the defect in the Metonic 
Cycle Callippus quadrupled the period of 
Meton, making his Cycle one of seventy-six 
years, and deducted a day at the end of it, by 
which means he calculated that the new and 
full moons would be brought round to the 
same day and hour. His calculation, however, 
is not absolutely accurate, as there is one whole 
day lost every 553 years. 

Callirrhoe (k&lir' 6 i). The lover of Choreas, 
in Chariton’s Greek romance entitled the 
Loves of Chcereas and Callirrhoe , probably 
written in the 6th century a.d. 

Calomel (kal' 5 mel). Hooper says:— 

This name, which means “ beautiful black,” 
was originally given to the AEthiop’s mineral, 
or black sulphuret of mercury. It was 
afterwards applied in joke by Sir Theodore 
Mayerne to the chloride of mercury, in honour 
of a favourite negro servant whom he employed 
to prepare it. As calomel is a white powder, 
the name is merely a jocular misnomer. 
Calotte (kk lot') (Ft.). Regime de la calotte. 
Administration of government by ecclesiastics. 
The calotte is the small skull-cap worn over 
the tonsure. 

Regiment de la Calotte. A society of witty 
and satirical men in the reign of Louis XIV. 
When any public character made himself 
ridiculous, a calotte was sent to him to ‘‘cover 
the bald or brainless part of his noddle.” 
Caloycrs (k k 16' yerz). Monks in the Greek 
Church, who follow the rule of St. Basil. They 
are divided into cenobites , who recite the offices 
from midnight to sunrise; anchorites , who live 
in hermitages; and recluses , who shut them- 
selves up in caverns and live on alms. (Gr. 
KaXos and ycpcov, beautiful old man). 

Calpe (kal' pi). Gibraltar, one of the Pillars 
of Hercules, the other, the opposite promon- 
tory in Africa (mod. Jcbel Musa, or Apes’ 
Hill), being anciently called Abyla. According 
to one account, these two were originally one 
mountain, which Hercules tore asunder; but 
some say he piled up each mountain separately, 
and poured the sea between them. 

The pack of hounds introduced into the 
Peninsula by Wellington’s officers is the Calpe 
Hunt. 

Calumet (kal' u met). This name for the 
tobacco-pipe of the North American Indians, 
used as a symbol of peace and amity, is the 
Norman form of Fr. chalumeau (from Lat. 
calamus , a reed), and was given by the French- 
Canadians to certain plants used by the natives 
as pipe-stems, and hence to the pipe itself. 

The calumet, or “pipe of peace,” is about 
two and a half feet long, the bowl is made of 
highly polished red marble, and the stem is a 
reed, which is decorated with eagles’ quills, 
women’s hair, and so on. 


To present the calumet to a stranger is a 
mark of hospitality and goodwill; to refuse 
the offer is an act of hostile defiance. 

Giche Manito, the mighty. 

Smoked the calumet, the Peace-Pipe 
As a signal to the nations. 

Longfellow: Hiawatha t i. 

Calvary. The Latin translation of the Gr. 
golgotha O7.V.), which is a transliteration of the 
Heorew word for “a skull.” The name given 
to the place of our Lord’s crucifixion. Legend 
has it that the skull of Adam was preserved 
here, but the name is probably due to some 
real or fancied resemblance in the configura- 
tion of the ground to the shape of a skull. 

The actual site of Calvary has not been 
determined, though there is strong evidence in 
favour of the traditional site, which is occupied 
by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. An- 
other position which has strong claims is an 
eminence above the grotto of Jeremiah, out- 
side the present wall and not far from the 
Damascus Gate on the north side of Jerusalem. 

A Calvary. A representation of the suc- 
cessive scenes of the Passion of Christ in a 
series of pictures, etc., in a church. The shrine 
containing the representations. 

A Calvary cross. A Latin cross mounted 
on three steps (or grises). 

Calvary clover. A common trefoil, Medi - 
cago echinus , said to have sprung up in the 
track made by Pilate when he went to the 
cross to see his “title affixed” (Jesus of 
Nazareth, King of the Jews). Each of the 
three leaves has a little carmine spot in the 
centre; in the daytime they form a sort of 
cross; and in the flowering season the plant 
bears a little yellow flower, like a “crown of 
thorns.” Julian tells us that each of the 
three leaves had in his time a white cross in the 
centre, and that the centre cross remains visible 
longer than the others. 

Calves. The inhabitants of the Isle of Wight 
were sometimes so called from a tradition that 
a calf once got its head firmly wedged in a 
wooden pale, and, instead of breaking up the 
pale, the farm-man cut off the calf’s head. 

His calves are gone to grass. Said of a 
spindle-legged man. And another mocking 
taunt is, “Veal will be dear, because there are 
no calves.” 

Calves’ Head Club. Instituted in ridicule 
of Charles I, and apparently first mentioned in 
a tract (given in the Harleian Miscellany) of 
1703 by Benjamin Bridgwater, stating that it 
first met in 1693. It lasted till about 1735. 
The annual banquet was held on January 30th, 
and consisted of calves’ heads dressed in 
sundry ways to represent Charles and his 
courtiers; a cod’s head, to represent Charles, 
independent of his kingly office; a pike with 
little ones in its mouth, an emblem of tyranny; 
a boar’s head with an apple in its mouth to 
represent the king preying on his subjects, etc. 
After the banquet, the Eikon Basilike was burnt, 
and the parting cup “To those worthy 
patriots who killed the tyrant,” was drunk. 




Calvinism 


166 


Camel 


Calvinism. The doctrines of the Reformer, 
Jean Calvin (1509-64), particularly as expressed 
in his Institution de la Religion Chritienne . 

The five chief points of Calvinism are: 

(1) Predestination* or particular election. 

(2) Efficacious grace. 

(3) Original sin, or the total depravity of 
the natural man, which renders it morally 
impossible to believe and turn to God of his 
own free will. 

(4) Particular redemption. 

(5) Final perseverance of the saints. 

Calydon (k&r i don). In classical geography, 
a city in Aitolia, Greece, near the forest which 
was the scene of the legendary hunt of the 
Calydonian boar (see Boar). Also, in 
Arthurian legend, the name given to a forest 
in the northern portion of England. 

Calypso (kd lip' so). In classical mythology, 
the queen oi the island Ogygia on which 
Ulysses was wrecked. She kept him there for 
seven years, and promised him perpetual 
youth and immortality if he would remain 
with her for ever. Ogygia is generally 
identified with Gozo, near Malta. 

A calypso is a type of popular song evolved 
by the Negroes of the West Indies. 

Cam and Isis. The universities of Cambridge 
and Oxford ; so called from the rivers on which 
they stand. 

Cama. The god of young love in Hindu 
mythology. His wife is Rati ( voluptuousness ), 
and he is represented as riding on a sparrow, 
holding in his hand a bow of flowers and five 
arrows (i.e. the five senses). 

Over hills with peaky tops engrail’d. 

And many a tract of palm and rice. 

The throne of Indian Cama slowly sail’d 
A summer fann’d with spice. 

Tennyson: The Palace of Art. 
Camacho (k&m a' cho). A rich but unfortu- 
nate man in one of the stories in Don Quixote , 
who is cheated out of his bride just when he 
has prepared a great feast for the wedding; 
hence tne phrase “Camacho’s wedding” to 
describe useless show and expenditure. 

Camargo (k& mar' go). Marie-Anne Cuppi 
(1710-1770). The greatest dancer of the 18th 
century, flourished in France; from her the 
modern Society in London devoted to the 
Ballet takes its name. 

Camarilla (k&m a ril' &). Spanish for a small 
chamber or cabinet; hence, a clique, a nest 
of intriguers, the confidants or private advisers 
of the sovereign. 

Camarilla. Ne ntoveas Camarinam (Don’t 
meddle with Camarina). Camarina, a lake in 
Sicily, was a source of malaria to the in- 
habitants, who, when they consulted Apollo 
about draining it, received the reply, “Do not 
disturb it.” Nevertheless, they drained it, 
and ere long the enemy marched over the bed 
Of the lake and plundered the city. The 
proverb is applied to those who remove one 
evil, but thus give place to a greater— leave 
well alone. 

Qunbalo’fl Ring. Cambalo was the second 
son of Cambuscan in Chaucer’s unfinished 


Squire's Tale . He is introduced as Cambel in 
the Faerie Queene . The ring which was given 
him by his sister Canace had the virtue of 
healing wounds. 

Camber. In British legend, the second son 
of Brute (q.v.). Wales fell to his portion; 
which is one way of accounting for its ancient 
name of Cambria. 

Cambria (k&m' bri a). The ancient name of 
Wales, the land of the Cimbri or Cymry. 

Cambrian Series. The earliest fossiliferous 
rocks in North Wales, consisting principally 
of marine sediments which were formed after 
the close of Archean times and before the 
Ordovician period. So named by Sedgwick 
(1836). 

Cambric. A kind of very fine white linen 
cloth, so named from Cambrai (Flem. 
Kameryk ), in Flanders, where for long it was 
the chief manufacture. 

He hath ribands of all the colours i’ the rainbow; 
inkles, caddisscs. cambricks. and lawns. 

Shakespeare: Winter's Tale , IV, iii. 

Cambridge Apostles, The. A debating society 
founded at Cambridge by John Sterling in 
1826, and remarkable for the talent of its 
undergraduate members and for the success 
to which they attained in after life. Among 
them may be mentioned besides Sterling him- 
self, Frederick Denison Maurice, Richard 
Chenevix Trench, John Kemble, Spedding, 
Monckton Milnes, Tennyson, and A. H. 
Hallam. 

Cambridge colours. See Colours. 

Cambuscan (k&m' bus kSn). In Chaucer’s un- 
finished Squire's Tale , the King of Sarra, in 
Tartary, model of all royal virtues. His wife 
was Elfeta; his two sons, Algarsife and 
Cambalo; and his daughter, Canace. Milton 
refers to the story in II Penseroso — 

Him that left hall-told 
The story of Cambuscan bold. 

Cambyses (k&m bi' sez). A pompous, ranting 
character in Thomas Preston's “lamentable 
tragedy” of that name (1570). 

Give me a cup of sack, to make mine eyes look 
red; for I must speak in passion, and 1 will do it in 
King Cambyses’ vein. 

Shakespeare: Henry IV y Pt. /, II, iv. 

Camden Society. An historical society 
founded in 1838 for the publication of early 
historic and literary remains connected witn 
English history, and so named in honour of 
William Camden (1551-1623), the antiquary. 
In 1897 it amalgamated with the Royal 
Historical Society, and its long series of 
publications was transferred to that body. 

Camel. The name of Mohammed’s favourite 
camel was A1 Kaswa. The mosque at Koba 
covers the spot where it knelt when Moham- 
med fled from Mecca. He considered the 
kneeling of the camel as a sign sent by God, 
and remained at Koba in safety for four days. 
The swiftest of his camels was A1 Adha, who is 
fabled to have performed the whole journey 
from Jerusalem to Mecca in four bounds, andf, 
in consequence, to have had a place in heaven 
allotted him with A1 Borak (< 7 .v.), Balaam’s ass, 
Tobit’s dog, and the dog of the seven sleepers. 




Camel 


167 


Cammock 


To break the camel’s back. To pile on one 
thing after another till at last the limit is 
reached and a catastrophe or break-down 
caused. The proverb is “It is the last straw 
that breaks the camel’s back.” See Straw. 

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye 
of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the 
kingdom of God {see Eye). In the Koran we 
find a similar expression: “The impious shall 
find the gates of heaven shut; nor shall he 
enter till a camel shall pass through the eye of 
a needle.” In the Rabbinical writings is a 
passage which goes to prove that the word 
camel should not be changed into cable , as 
Theophylact suggests: “Perhaps thou art one 
of the Pampedithians, who can make an 
elephant pass through the eye of a needle.” 

Some think to avoid a difficulty by rendering 
Matt, xix, 24, “It is easier for a cable to go 
through the eye of a needle . . .”, but the word 
is KafxrjXov and the whole force of the passage 
rests on the “impossibility” of the thing, as 
it is distinctly stated in Mark x, 24. “How 
hard is it for them that trust in [their] riches, 
ini rots xPVt iaaLV • • It is impossible by 
virtue of money or by bribes to enter the 
kingdom of heaven. 

Camelot (kani' e lot). In British fable, the 
legendary spot where King Arthur held his 
court. It nas been tentatively located at 
various places — in Somerset, near Winchester 
(<?.v.), in Wales, and even in Scotland. 

Hanmer, referring to King Lear , II, ii, says 
Camelot is Queen Camel, Somersetshire, in 
the vicinity of which “are many large moors 
where are bred great quantities of geese, so that 
many other places are from hence supplied 
with quills and feathers.” Kent says to the 
Duke of Cornwall: — 

Goose, if I had you upon Sarum Plain, 

I’d drive ye cackling home to Camelot. 

It seems, however, far more probable that Kent 
refers to Camelford, in Cornwall, where the 
Duke of Cornwall resided, in his castle of 
Tintagel. He says, “If I had you on Salisbury 
Plain [where geese aboundj, I would drive 
you home to Tintagel, on the river Camel.” 
Though the Camelot of Shakespeare is Tintagel 
or Camelford, yet the Camelot of King Arthur 
may be Queen Camel; and indeed visitors are 
still pointed to certain large entrenchments at 
South Cadbury (Cadbury Castle) called by the 
inhabitants “King Arthur’s Palace.” 

Cameo (dim' i 6). An ornamental carving in 
relief on a precious or semi-precious stone. 
It is the opposite ttf intaglio , which is an 
incised carving. Onyx and sardonyx, with 
their layers of light and dark, were much used 
by the cameo cutters of Greece and Rome, 
and have always been the favourite stones for 
these ornaments. However, amethysts, tur- 
quoises and most gems have at some time been 
cut as cameos. In the nineteenth century, 
cameos were cut in shells, coral, and jet. 
Cameos (1900) by Cyril Davenport, F.S.A., 
gives further information. 

Cameron Highlanders. The 79th Regiment of 
Infantry, raised by Allan Cameron, of Errock, 
in 1793. Now called Queen's Own High- 
landers (Seaforth and Cameron). 


Cameronian Regiment. The 26th Infantry, 
which had its origin in a body of Cameronians 
(#.v.), in the Revolution of 1688. Now The 
Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). 

Cameronians. The strictest sect of Scottish 
Presbyterians, organized in 1680, by the 
Covenanter and field preacher, Richard 
Cameron, who was slain in battle at Aird’s 
Moss in 1680. He objected to the alliance of 
Church and State, and seceded from the Kirk, 
but in 1690 his followers submitted to the 
General Assembly, and they became merged 
with the Covenanters. 

Camilla (ka mil' a). In Roman legend a virgin 
queen of the Volscians. She helped Turnus 
in his opposition to Aeneas. Virgil {ALneid. 
VII, 809) says she was so swift that she could 
run over a field of corn without bending a single 
blade, or make her way over the sea without 
even wetting her feet. 

Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain, 

Flies o’er the unbending corn and skims along the 
main. 

Pope: Essay on Criticism , 372. 

Camisarde or Camisado (kam' i sard, k5m i sa' 
do). A night attack; so called because the 
attacking party wore a camise or camisard over 
their armour, both to conceal it, and that they 
might the better recognize each other in the 
dark. 

Camisards. In French history, the Protes- 
tant insurgents of the Cevennes, who resisted 
the violence of the dragonnades, long after the 
revocation of the edict of Nantes (1685), and 
so called from the white shirts ( camisards ) worn 
by the peasants. Their leader was Jean 
Cavalier (1681-1740), afterwards Governor of 
Jersey. 

Camisole. A loose jacket worn by women 
when dressed in neglige ; an underbodice worn 
immediately beneath a blouse. 

Camisole de force. A strait waistcoat. 
Frequently mentioned in accounts of capital 
punishments in France. 

Camlan, Battle of. In Arthurian legend the 
battle which put an end to the Knights of the 
Round Table, and at which Arthur received 
his death wound from the hand of his nephew 
Modred, who was also slain. It took place 
about a.d. 537, but its site (traditionally placed 
in Cornwall) is as conjectural as that of 
Camelot (<y.v.). 

Camlet, camelot. There are two different dress 
materials to which this word is applied. As 
far back as the 13th century camlet was a rich 
stuff originally made of silk and camel’s hair: — 

After dinner I put on my new camelott suit, the 
best that I ever wore in my life, the suit costing me 
above £24. — Pepys: Diary (June 1st, 1664). 

Camlet was later the name of a very durable 
plain cloth used for cloaks, etc.; also for a 
waterproof material used before the introduc- 
tion of indiarubber. 

Cammock. As crooked as a cammock. The 
cammock is a crooked staff, or a stick with a 
crook at the head, like a hockey stick or shinty 
club; also, a piece of timber bent for the knee 
of a ship. The word is probably of Gaulish 



Camorra 


168 


Candidate 


origin; it is found in Middle English, and there 
are Gaelic, Welsh, Irish, and Manx variants. 

Though the cammock, the more it is bowed the 
better it servcth; yet the bow, the more it is bent and 
occupied the weaker it waxeth. — Lyly: Euphucs. 

Camorra (k& mor' k). A lawless, secret society 
of Italy organized early in the 19th century. 
It claimed the right of settling disputes, etc., 
and was so named from the blouse (Ital. 
camorra ) worn by its members, the Canonists. 

Campaign Wig. This style of wig came from 
France in the early 18th century. It was made 
very full, was curled, and was 18 ins. in length 
in the front, with drop locks. Sometimes the 
back part of the wig was put in a black silk 
bag. The name refers to Marlborough’s 
campaign in the Netherlands. 

Campania (kam pa' ni a) (Lat. level country). 
The ancient geographical name for the district 
south-east of the Tiber, containing the towns 
of Cumae, Capua, Baiae, Puteoli, Herculaneum, 
Pompeii, etc. 

Disdainful of Campania’s gentle plains. 

Thomson: Summer. 

Campaspe (kam pas' pe). A beautiful woman, 
the favourite concubine of Alexander the 
Great. Apellas, it is said, modelled his Venus 
Anadyomene from her. 

Cupid and my Campaspe play’d 
At Cards for kisses, Cupid paid. 

Lyly: Song from “ Campaspe .” 

Campbells are coming. The. This stirring song 
was composed in 1715, when the Earl of Mar 
raised the standard for the Stuarts against 
George I. John Campbell was Commander- 
in-Chief of his Majesty’s forces, and the 
rebellion was quashed. 

It is the Regimental March of the Argyll and 
Sutherland Highlanders, and at the Relief of 
Lucknow, in 1857, as troops of this Regiment 
approached, a Scots woman lying ill on the 
ground heard the pipes and exclaimed, “Dinna 
ye hear it? Dinna ye hear it? The pipes o’ 
Havelock sound/* 

Campbellites. Followers of John McLeod 
Campbell (1800-72), who taught the univers- 
ality of the atonement, for which, in 1830, he 
was ejected by the General Assembly of the 
Church of Scotland. 

In the United States the name is sometimes 
given to the Disciples of Christ , a body 
founded by Thomas and Alexander Campbell 
in Pennsylvania in 1809. They reject creeds, 
practise baptism by immersion and weekly 
Communion, and uphold Christian union on 
the foundation of the Bible alone. They are 
also known simply as Christians. 

Campceiling. A ceiling sloping on one side 
from the vertical wall towards a plane surface 
in the middle. A corruption of cam (twisted 
or bent) ceiling. (Halliwcll gives cam t 
“awry.**) 

Campeador. The Cid (#.v.). 

Camp-followers. The old-time armies, which 
lived on the country, moved in leisurely 
fashion and laid up in winter quarters, were 
accompanied by a number of civilian followers 
such as washerwomen and sutlers who sold 


liquors and provisions, etc. These were 
called camp-followers. 

In the moment of failure (at Bannockburn) the 
sight of a body of camp-followers whom they mistook 
for reinforcements to the enemy, spread panic 
through the English host. 

J. R. Green: Short History. 
Canaille (ka nl') (Fr. a pack of dogs). The 
mob, the rabble; a contemptuous name for 
the populace generally. 

Canard (kan' ar) (Fr. a duck). A hoax, a 
ridiculously extravagant report. Littre says 
that the term comes from an old expression, 
vendre un canard a moitie , to half-sell a duck. 
As this is no sale at all it came to mean “to 
take in,’* “to make a fool of.’* Another ex- 
planation is that a certain Cornelissen, to try 
the gullibility of the public, reported in the 
apers that he had twenty ducks, one of which 
e cut up and threw to the nineteen, who 
devoured it greedily. He then cut up another, 
then a third, and so on till the nineteenth was 
gobbled up by the survivor — a wonderful proof 
of duck voracity. 

Canary. Wine from these islands was very 
popular in the 16th and 17th centuries. 

Host: Farewell, my hearts, I will to my honest 
knight Falstaff, and drink canary with him. 

Merry Wives oj Windsor, III, ii. 

Cancan. A fast and extremely dexterous 
dance, sometimes accompanied by extravagant 
and often indecent postures, and originally 
performed in the casinos of Paris. The 
most famous example is in Offenbach’s opera 
Orpheus in the Underworld. 

They were going through a quadrille with all those 
supplementary gestures introduced by the great 
Rigolboche, a notorious danse use, to whom the 
notorious cancan owes its origin. 

A. Egmont Hake: Paris Originals (1878). 
Cancel. A leaf printed and inserted in a book 
to replace that which was originally printed, 
because of last minute corrections or errors 
detected after printing. In bibliographical 
terminology the new leaf being inserted is 
called the cancellans and that which it replaces 
is the cancellanda. 

Cancer. One of the twelve signs of the zodiac 
(the Crab). It appears when the sun has 
reached its highest northern limit, and begins 
to go backward towards the south; but, like a 
crab, the return is sideways (June 21st to 
July 23rd). 

According to fable, Juno sent Cancer 
against Hercules when he combated the Hydra 
of Lerna. It bit the hero’s foot, but Hercules 
killed the creature, and Juno took it up to 
heaven. 

Candaules (kan daw' lez). King of Lydia 
about 710 to 668 b.c. Legend relates that he 
exposed the charms of his wife to Gyges (q.v.). 

Candid Camera. An unseen camera which is 
used to photograph an unsuspecting subject. 
Candid camera shots, which are often ridicu- 
lous, are much used in pictorial journalism. 

Candidate (Lat. candidatus , clothed in white). 
One who seeks or is proposed for some office, 
appointment, etc. Those who solicited the 
office of consul, quaestor, praetor, etc., among 
the Romans, arrayed themselves in a loose 



Candide 


169 


Canny 


white robe. It was loose that they might 
show the people their scars, and white in sign 
of fidelity and humility. 

Candide (kan' ded). The hero of Voltaire’s 
philosophical novel, Candide , on VOptimisme 
(1759). All sorts of misfortunes are heaped 
upon him, and he bears them with unfailing 
optimism, in the belief that all’s for the best in 
the best of all possible worlds. 

Candle. Bell, book, and candle. See Bell. 

Fine (or Gay) as the king’s candle. “ Bariole 
comme la chandelle des rois ,” in allusion to an 
ancient custom of presenting on January 6th, 
a candle of various colours at the shrine of the 
three kings of Cologne. It is generally applied 
to a woman overdressed, especially with gay 
ribbons and flowers. ‘’Fine as fivepence.” 

He is not fit to hold the candle to him. He 

is very inferior. The allusion is to link-boys 
who held candles in theatres and other places 
of night amusement. 

The game is not worth the candle. The effort 
is not worth making: the result will not pay 
for the trouble, even the cost of the candle 
that lights the players. 

To burn the candle at both ends. See Burn. 

To hold a candle to the devil. To aid or 
countenance that which is wrong. The 
allusion is to the Roman Catholic practice of 
burning candles before the images of saints. 

To sell by the candle. A species of sale by 
auction. A pin is thrust through a candle 
about an inch from the top, and bidding goes 
on till the candle is burnt down to the pin; 
when the pin drops into the candlestick the 
last bidder is declared the purchaser. 

The Council thinks it meet to propose the way of 
selling by “inch of candle,” as being the most 
probable means to procure the true value of the goods. 

Milton: Letters , etc. 

To vow a candle to the devil. To propitiate 
the devil by a bribe, as some seek to propitiate 
the saints in glory by a votive candle. 

What is the Latin for candle? See Tace. 

Candle-holder. An abettor. The reference 
is to the practice in the Roman Catholic Church 
of holding a candle for the reader. In 
ordinary parlance' it applies to one who 
assists in some slight degree but is not a real 
sharer in an action or undertaking. 

I’ll be a candle-holder and look on. 

Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet , I, iv. 

Candlemas Day. February 2nd, the feast 
of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, when 
Christ was presented by her in the Temple; 
one of the quarter days in Scotland. In 
Roman Catholic churches all the candles which 
will be needed in the church during the year are 
consecrated on this day; they symbolize Jesus 
Christ, called “the light of .the world,’’ and 
“a light to lighten the Gentiles.’’ The 
ancient Romans had a custom of burning 
candles to scare away evil spirits. 

If Candlemas Day be dry and fair. 

The half o’ winter's come and mair; 

If Candlemas Day be wet and foul, 

The half o’ winter was gane at Youl. 

Scotch Proverb . 


The badger peeps out of his hole on Candlemas 
Day, and, if he finds snow, walks abroad; but if he 
sees the sun shining he draws back into his hole. 

German Proverb. 

Candour, Mrs. In The School for Scandal 
Sheridan drew the perfect type of female 
back-biter, concealing her venom under an 
affectation of frank amiability. 

Canecutters. Nickname for the inhabitants 
of Queensland, Australia, who are also known 
as Bananalanders. 

Canephorus (kanef'orus) (pi. canephori). A 
sculptured figure of a youth or maiden bearing 
a basket on the head. In ancient Greece the 
canephori bore the sacred things necessary at 
the feasts of the gods. 

Canicular Days (Lat. canicula , dim. of canis , 
a dog). The dog-days (</.v.). 

Canicular period. The ancient Egyptian 
cycle of 1461 years or 1460 Julian years, also 
called a Sot hie period (q.v.), during which it 
was supposed that any given day had passed 
through all the seasons of the year. 

Canicular year. The ancient Egyptian year, 
computed from one heliacal rising of the Dog 
Star ( Sirius ) to the next. 

Canister Shot. A projectile, used before the 
invention of the shell, consisting of a container 
full of shot which disintegrated and showered 
its contents on the enemy. 

Canker. The briar or dog-rose. 

Put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose. 

And plant this thorn, this canker, Bolingbroke. 
Shakespeare: Henry IV , Pt . /, I, iii. 
Also a caterpillar that destroys leaves, buds, 
etc. 

As killing as the canker to the rose. 

Milton: Lycidas. 

Canmore. See Great Head. 

Cannae. The place where Hannibal defeated 
the Romans under Varro and L. AEmilius 
Paulus with great slaughter in 216 b.c., by 
means of withdrawing his centre and so 
enveloping the enemy — one of the most 
difficult manoeuvres in war to perform. Any 
fatal battle that is the turning point of a great 
general’s prosperity may be called his Cannae. 
Thus Moscow was the Cannae of Napoleon. 

Cannel Coal. A corruption of candle coal , so 
called from the bright flame unmixed with 
smoke, which this highly bituminous coal 
yields in combustion. 

Cannibal. A word applied to those who eat 
human flesh. It is the Sp. Canibales , a corrup- 
tion of Caribes , i.e. the Caribs , inhabitants ot 
the Antilles, some of whom, when discovered 
by Columbus, were said to be man-eaters. 

The natives live in great fear of the canibals [i.e. 
Caribals, or people of Cariba]. — Columbus. 

Cannon. This term in billiards is a corruption 
of carom , which is short for Fr. carambole y the 
red ball ( caratnboler , to touch the red ball). 
A cannon is a stroke by which the player’s ball 
touches one of the other balls in such a way 
as to glance off and strike the remaining ball. 

Canny. See Ca* canny. 


Canoe 


170 


Cant 


Canoe* Like cannibal , canoe is one of the very 
few words we get from native West Indian. 
This is a Haitian word, canoa , and was brought 
to Europe by the Spaniards. It originally 
meant a boat hollowed out of a tree-trunk. 

Paddle your own canoe. Mind your own 
business. The caution was given by President 
Lincoln, but it is an older saying and was used 
by Capt. Marryat ( Settlers in Canada , ch. viii) 
in 1844. Sarah Bolton’s poem in Harper's 
Magazine for May, 1854, popularized it: — 
Voyage upon life’s sea, 

To yourself be true, 

And, whate’er your lot may be, 

Paddle your own canoe. 

Canon. From Lat. and Gr. canon , a carpen- 
ter’s rule, a rule, hence a standard (as “the 
canons of criticism”), a model, an ordinance, 
afc in Shakespeare’s : — 

Or that the Everlasting had not fixed 
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter. 

Hamlet, I, ii. 

The canon. Canon law 

In music, from the same derivation, a 
composition written strictly according to rule, 
for two or three voices which sing exactly the 
same melody one a few beats after the other, 
either at the fsame or a different pitch — as 
Three Blind Mice, 

Also, the body of the books in the Bible 
which are accepted by the Christian Church 
generally as genuine and inspired; the whole 
Bible from Genesis to Revelation , excluding the 
Apocrypha. Called also the sacred canon and 
the Canonical Books. 

The Church dignitary known as a Canon is 
a capitular member of a cathedral or collegiate 
church, usually living in the precincts, and 
observing the statutable rule or canon of the 
body to which he is attached. The canons, 
with the dean at their head, constitute the 
governing body, or chapter , of the cathedral. 

Canon law. A collection of ecclesiastical 
laws which serve as the rule of church govern- 
ment. The professors or students of canon 
law are known as canonists. 

Doubt not, worthy senators! to vindicate the 
sacred honour and judgment of Moses your pre- 
decessor, from the shallow commenting of scholastics 
and canonists. — Milton: Doctrine of Divorce, Introd. 

Canonical dress. The distinctive or appro- 
priate costume worn by the clergy according 
to the direction of the canon. Bishops, deans, 
and archdeacons, for instance, wear canonical 
hats. This distinctive dress is sometimes 
called simply “canonicals”; Macaulay speaks 
of ‘‘an ecclesiastic in full canonicals.” The 
same name is given also to the special robes of 
other professions, and to special parts of such 
robes, such as the pouch on the gown of an 
M.D., originally designed for carrying drugs; 
the lamb-skin on a B.A. hood, in imitation of 
the toga Candida of the Romans; the tippet on 
a barrister’s gown, meant for a wallet to 
carry briefs in; and the proctors’ and pro- 
proctors* tippet , for papers — a sort of sabre- 
tache. 

Canonical Epistles. The seven catholic 
epistles, i.e. one of James, two of Peter, three 


of John, and one of Jude. The epistles of Paul 
were addressed to specific churches or to 
individuals. 

Canonical hours. The different parts of the 
Divine Office which follow and are named 
after the hours of the day. They are seven— 
viz . matins, prime, tierce, sext, nones, vespers, 
and compline. Prime, tierce, sext, and nones 
are the first, third, sixth, and ninth hours of 
the day, counting from six in the morning. 
Compline is a corruption of completorium 
(that which completes the services of the day). 
The reason why there are seven canonical 
hours is that David says, “Seven times a day 
do I praise thee” ( Ps . cxix, 164). 

In England the phrase means more especially 
the time of the day within which persons can 
be legally married, i.e. from eight in the 
morning to six p.m. 

Canonical obedience. The obedience due 
by the inferior to the superior clergy. Thus 
bishops owe canonical obedience to the arch- 
bishop of the same province. 

Canopus (k& nd' pus). A seaport in ancient 
Egypt, 15 miles N.E. of Alexandria. Also the 
name of the bright star in the southern 
constellation Argo navis. Except for Sirius 
this is the brightest star in the heavens. 

Canopic vases. Vases used by the Egyptian 
priests for holding the viscera of bodies em- 
balmed, four being provided for each body. 
So called from Canopus, in Egypt, where they 
were first used. 

Canopy properly means a gnat curtain. 
Herodotus tells us (II, 95) that the fishermen 
of the Nile used to lift their nets on a pole, and 
form thereby a rude sort of tent under which 
they slept securely, as gnats will not pass 
through the meshes of a net. Subsequently 
the hangings of a bed were so called, and lastly 
the canopy borne over kings. (Gr. konops , a 
gnat.) 

Canossa (ka nos' a). Canossa, in the duchy of 
Modena, is where, in January, 1077, the 
Emperor, Henry IV, went to humble himself 
before Gregory VII (Hildebrand). 

Hence, to go to Canossa, to eat humble pie; 
to submit oneself to a superior after having 
refused to do so. 

Cant. Language peculiar to a social class, 
profession, sect, etc.; jargon; technical lan- 
guage. As its derivation (Lat. cantus , song) 
shews, the earlier application of the word was 
to music and thereby intonation. Soon the 
term came to be applied to the whining 
manner of speech of beggars, who were known 
as “the canting crew” (1 q.v .). In Harman’s 
Caveat , or Warning , for Common Cursetors , 
vulgarly called Vagabonds (1567), we read; — 

As far as I can lcarne or understand by the examina- 
tion of a number of them, their language — which they 
termc peddelars Frenche or Canting — began but 
within these xxx yeeres. 

And one of the examples of “canting” that 
he gives begins: — 

Bene Lightmans to thy quarromes. In what tipken 
hast thou lypped in this darkemans, whether in a 
lybbege or in the strummel? (Good-morrow to thy 
body, in what house hast thou lain in all night, 
whether in a bed or in the straw?) 




Canting crew 


171 


Cap 


The term was in familiar use in the time of 
Ben Jonson, signifying “professional slang,” 
and “to use professional slang.” 

The doctor here . . . 

When he discourses of dissection . . . 

Of vena cava and of vena porta . . . 

What does he else but cant? Or if he run 
To his judicial astrology, 

And trowl the trine, the quartile, and the sextile . . . 
Does he not cant? 

Ben Jonson: The Staple of Newts, IV, i (1625). 
Cant also means insincerity or conven- 
tionality in speech or thought. 

Rid your mind of cant. 

Dr. Johnson. 

From this it is extended to include any assump- 
tion or affectation of enthusiasm for high 
thoughts or aims. 

Canting crew. Beggars, gipsies, thieves, 
and vagabonds, who use ‘‘cant” (q.v.). In 
1696 “E. B. Gent” published the first English 
Slang Dictionary, with the title ‘‘A New 
Dictionary of the Terms, Ancient and Modern, 
of the Canting Crew in its several Tribes.” 

Cantabrian Surge. The Bay of Biscay. So 
called from the Cantabri who dwelt about the 
Biscayan shore. Suetonius says that a 
thunderbolt fell in the Cantabrian Lake (Spain) 
“in which twelve axes were found.” ( Galba , 
viii.) 

Cantate Sunday (kan ta' tc). Rogation Sun- 
day, the fourth Sunday after Easter. So 
called from the first word of the introit of the 
mass: “Sing to the Lord.” Similarly “Laetare 
Sunday ” (the fourth after Lent) is so called 
from the first word of the mass. 

Canteen means properly a wine-cellar (Ital. 
cantina , a cellar). Then a refreshment house 
in a barrack for the use of the soldiers, whence 
it has now come to be applied to a communal 
restaurant for members of a large firm, etc. 
Then a vessel for holding liquid refreshment, 
carried by soldiers on the march; and finally a 
complete outfit of cutlery. 

Canter. An easy gallop; originally called a 
Canterbury pace or gallop , from the ambling 
gait adopted by mounted pilgrims to the shrine 
of St. Thomas a Becket at Canterbury. 

A preliminary canter. Something which 
precedes the real business in hand. The 
reference is to the “trial trip” of horses before 
the race begins. 

To win in a canter. Easily; well ahead of all 
competitors. 

Canterbury Tales. Chaucer set it forth that he 
was in company with a party of pilgrims going 
to Canterbury to pay their devotions at the 
shrine of Thomas a Becket. The party assem- 
bled at an inn in Southwark, called the Tabard, 
and there agreed to tell one tale each, both 
in going and returning. He who told the best 
tale was to be treated with a supper on the 
homeward journey. The work is incomplete, 
and we have none of the tales told on the way 
home. 

Canucks (lea nilks'). The name given in the 
U.S.A. to Canadians generally, but in Canada 
itself to Canadians of French descent. The 


origin is uncertain, but it has been suggested 
that it is a corruption of Connaught t a name 
originally applied by the French Canadians to 
Irish immigrants. 

Canvas means cloth made of hemp (Lat. 
cannabis , hemp). To canvas a subject is to 
strain it through a hemp strainer, to sift it; 
and to canvass a borough is to solicit the votes. 

Caora (ka or' &). A river described by Eliza- 
bethan voyagers, on the banks or which 
dwelt a people whose heads grew beneath 
their shoulders. Their eyes were in their 
shoulders, and their mouths in the middle 
of their breasts. Raleigh, in his Description 
of Guiana , gives a similar account of a race of 
men. Cp . Blemmyes. 

Cap. The word is used figuratively by 
Shakespeare for the top, the summit (of 
excellence, etc.); as in They wear themselves 
in the cap of the time ( All f s Well , II, i), i.e. 
“They are the ornaments of the age”; a very 
riband in the cap of youth ( Hamlet , IV, vii); 
Thou art the cap of all the fools alive ( Timon t 
IV, iii); on fortune's cap we are not the very 
button (Hamlet , II, ii); etc. 

Black cap. See Black. 

Cap acquaintance. A bowing acquaintance. 
One just sufficiently known to touch one’s 
cap to. 

Cap and bells. The insignia of a professional 
fool or jester. 

Cap and feather days. The time of child- 
hood. 

Here I was got into the scenes of my cap and feather 
days. — C obbett. 

Cap and gown. The full academical 
costume of a university student, tutor, or 
master, worn at lectures, examinations, and 
after “hall” (dinner). 

Is it a cap and gown affair? 

C. Bede; Verdant Green. 

Cap in hand. Submissively. To wait on a 
man cap in hand is to wait on him like a 
servant, ready to do his bidding. 

Cap money. Money collected in a cap or 
hat; hence an improvised collection. 

Cap of liberty. When a slave was manu- 
mitted by the Romans, a small Phrygian cap, 
usually of red felt, called pileus , was placed on 
his head, he was termed liber tinus (a freed- 
man), and his name was registered in the city 
tribes. When Saturninus, in 100 B.c., 

possessed himself of the Capitol, he hoisted a 
similar cap on the top of his spear, to indicate 
that all slaves who joined his standard should 
be free; Marius employed the same symbol 
against Sulla ; and when Caesar was murdered, 
the conspirators marched forth in a body, with 
a cap elevated on a spear, in token of liberty. 

In the French Revolution the cap of liberty 
( bonnet rouge) was adopted by the revolution- 
ists as an emblem of their freedom from royal 
authority. 

Cap of Maintenance. A cap of dignity 
anciently belonging to the rank of duke; the 
fur cap of the Lord Mayor of London, worn 
on days of state; a cap carried before the 


Cap 


172 


Cap 


British sovereigns at their coronation. The 
significance of maintenance here is not known, 
but the cap was an emblem of very high 
honour, for it was conferred by the Pope three 
times on Henry VII and once on Henry VIII. 
By certain old families also it is borne in the 
coat of arms, cither as a charge or in place of 
the wreath. 

Cater cap. A square cap or mortar-board. 
(Fr. quartter.) 

College cap. A trencher like the caps worn 
at the English Universities by students and 
bachelors of art, doctors of divinity, etc. 

Fool’s cap. A conical cap with feather and 
bells, such as licensed fools used to wear. For 
the paper size so called, see Foolscap. 

\ Forked cap. A bishop’s mitre. 

John Knox cap. An early form of the 
trencher, mortar-board, or college cap (tf.v.), 
worn at the Scottish Universities. 

Monmouth cap. See Monmouth. 

Phrygian cap. Cap of liberty (< 7 . v.). 

Scotch cap. A cloth cap worn in Scotland 
as part of the national dress. 

Square cap. A trencher or mortar-board, 
like the college cap (q.v.). 

Statute cap. A woollen cap ordered by a 
statute of Queen Elizabeth I in 1571 to be worn 
on holidays by all citizens for the benefit of 
the woollen trade. To a similar end, persons 
were at one time obliged to be buried in 
woollens. 

Well, better wits have worn plain statute caps. 

Shakespeare: Love's Labour's Lost , V, ii. 

Trencher cap, or mortar-board. A cap with 
a sauare board, generally covered with black 
cloth, and a tassel, worn with academical 
dress; a college cap ( q.v .). 

A feather in one’s cap. An achievement to 
be proud of; something creditable. 

I must put on my thinking cap. I must 
think about the matter before I give a final 
answer. The allusion is to the official cap of a 
judge, formerly donned when passing any 
sentence, but now only when passing sentence 
of death. 

If the cap fits, wear it. If the remark applies 
to you, apply it yourself. Hats and caps differ 
very slightly in size and appearance, but 
everyone knows his own when he puts it on. 

Setting her cap at him. Trying to catch him 
for a sweetheart or a husband. In the days 
when ladies habitually wore caps they would 
naturally put on the most becoming, to attract 
the attention and admiration of the favoured 
gentleman. 

To cap. To take off, or touch, one’s cap to, 
in token of respect; also to excel. 

Well, that caps the globe. — C. BrontE: Jane Eyre. 

I cap to that. I assent to it. The allusion 
is to a custom among French judges. Those 
who assent to the opinion stated by any of the 
bench signify it by lifting their toque from their 
heads. 


To cap a story. To go one better; after a 
good story has been told to follow it up with 
a better one of the same kind. 

To cap verses. Having the metre fixed and 
the last letter of the previous line given, to add 
a line beginning with that letter, thus: 

The way was long, the wind was cold (D) 

Dogs with their tongues their wounds do heal (L). 

Like words congealed in northern air (R). 

Regions Cassar never knew (W). 

With all a poet’s ecstasy (Y). 

You may deride my awkward pace, etc., etc. 

There are parlour games of capping names, 
proverbs, etc., in the same way, as: Plato, 
Otway, Young, Goldsmith, etc., “Rome was 
not built in a day,” ‘‘Ye are the salt of the 
earth,” ‘‘Hunger is the best sauce,” ‘‘Example 
is better than precept,” “Time and tide wait 
for no man,” etc. 

To cap It all. To surpass what has gone 
before; to make things even worse. 

To gain the cap. To obtain a bow from 
another out of respect. 

Such gains the cap of him that makes them fine, 

But keeps his book uncrossed. 

Shakespeare: Cymbellne , III, iii. 

To pull caps. To quarrel like two women, 
who pull each other’s caps. An obsolete 
phrase, used only of women. In a description 
of a rowdy party in 18th-century Bath we 
read : — 

At length they fairly proceeded to pulling caps, 
and everything seemed to presage a general battle 
. . . they suddenly desisted, and gathered up their 
caps, ruffles, and handkerchiefs. 

Smollett: Humphry Clinker: Letter xix. 

To send the cap round. To make a collec- 
tion. This is from the custom of street 
musicians, acrobats, etc., of sending a cap round 
among the onlookers to collect their pennies. 

Wearing the cap and bells. Said of a person 
who is the butt of the company, or one who 
excites laughter at his own expense. The 
reference is to licensed jesters formerly 
attached to noblemen’s establishments. See 
Cap a>jd Bells, above. Their headgear was 
a cap with bells. 

One is bound to speak the truth . . . whether he 
mounts the cap and bells or a shovel hat [like a 
bishop]. — T hackeray. 

Your cap is all on one side. Many workmen, 
when they are bothered, scratch their heads 
and to do this push the cap on one side of the 
head, generally over the right ear, because the 
right hand is occupied. 

Capful of wind. Olaus Magnus tells us that 
Eric, King of Sweden, was so familiar with 
evil spirits that what way soever he turned his 
cap the wind would blow, and for this he was 
called Windy Cap. The Laplanders drove 
a profitable trade in selling winds, as have many 
ancient and primitive peoples; and even so late 
as 1814, Bessie Millie, of Pomona (Orkney), 
used to sell favourable winds to mariners for 
the small sum of sixpence. 

To be capped. A player who has represen- 
ted England, Scotland, Ireland, or Wales in an 
international match at any of the major field 
sports may wear a cap bearing the national 
emblem. Hence the phrase: He was capped 
for England. 




Capability Brown 


173 


Captain Cauf’s Tail 


Capability Brown. Lancelot Brown (1715- 
83) landscape gardener and architect, one of the 
founders of the modern or English style of 
landscape gardening. He received this name 
because he habitually assured prospective 
employers that their land held “great capa- 
bilities.” 

Cap-si-pie (kap & pe). From head to foot; 
usually with reference to arming or accoutring. 
From O.Fr. cap a pie (Mod.Fr. de pied en cap). 

Armed at all points exactly cap-a-pie. 

Shakespeare: Hamtet, II, i. 

Cape. The Cape. Cape of Good Hope 
Province. 

Cape cart. This is the name given to a two- 
wheeled, hooded, horse-drawn cart originally 
used in Cape Colony and S. Africa generally. 

Cape gooseberry. Although it takes its 
name from the Cape, this plant originally came 
from S. America and its botanical name is 
Physalis peruviana. It is much prized for its 
decorative bladder-like calyx. 

Cape of Storms. See Storms. 

Spirit of the Cape. See Adamastor. 

Capel Court. A lane adjacent to the Stock 
Exchange in London where dealers congregate 
to do business: hence used sometimes for the 
Stock Exchange itself. Hence also Capel 
Courtier , a humorous term for a professional 
stock-dealer. So called from Sir William 
Capel, Lord Mayor in 1504. 

Caper. The weather is so foul not even a 
Caper would venture out. A Manx proverb. 
A Caper is a fisherman of Cape Clear in 
Ireland, who will venture out in almost any 
weather. 

To cut capers. To spring upwards in 
dancing, and rapidly interlace one foot with 
the other; figuratively, to act in an unusual 
manner with the object of attracting notice. 
Caper here is from ltal. copra, a shc-goat, 
the allusion being to the erratic way in which 
goats will jump about. 

Cut your capers! Be off with you! 

I’ll make him cut his capers, i.e. rue his 
conduct. 

Caper Merchant. A dancing-master who 
cuts “capers.” 

Capet. Hugh Capet, the founder of the 
Capetian dynasty of France, is said to have 
been so named from the cappa , or monk’s 
hood, which he wore as lay abbot of St. 
Martin de Tours. The Capctians reigned over 
France till 1328, when they were succeeded by 
the House of Valois; but Capet was considered 
the family name of the kings, hence, Louis 
XVI was arraigned before the National 
Convention under the name of Louis Capet. 

Capital. Money or money’s worth available 
for production. 

His capital is continually going from him [the 
merchant] in some shape and returning to him in 
another. 

Adam Smith: Wealth of Nations , Bk. II, ch. i. 

Active capital. Ready money or property 
readily convertible into it. 


Circulating capital. Wages, or raw material. 
This sort of capital is not available a second 
time for the same purpose. 

Fixed capital. Land, buildings, and machin- 
ery, which are only gradually consumed. 

To make capital out of. To turn to account: 
thus, in politics, one party is always ready to 
make political capital out of the errors of the 
other. 

Capitano, El Cran (el gran kap i ta' no) (i.e. 
the Great Captain). The name given to the 
famous Spanish general Gonsalvo de Cordova 
(1453-1515), through whose efforts Granada 
and Castile were united. 

Capitulary (kap it' a lar i). A collection of 
ordinances or laws, especially those of the 
Frankish kings. The laws were known as 
capitulars because they were passed by a 
chapter (q.v.). 

Capon (ka' pon). Properly, a castrated cock; 
but the name has been given to various fish, 
perhaps originally in a humorous way by 
friars who wished to evade the Friday fast and 
so eased their consciences by changing the 
name of the fish, and calling a chicken a fish 
out of the coop. Thus we have — 

A Crail’s capon. A dried haddock. 

A Glasgow capon. A salt herring. 

A Severn capon. A sole. 

A Yarmouth capon. A red herring. 

Capon is also an obsolete term for a love- 
letter, after the Fr. poulet , which means not 
only a chicken but also a love-letter, or a sheet 
of fancy notepaper. Thus Henri IV, consult- 
ing with Sully about his marriage, says: “My 
niece of Guise would please me best, though 
report says maliciously that she loves poulets 
in paper better than in a fricassee.” 

Boyet . . . break-up this capon [i.e. open this 
love-letter]. 

Shakespeare: Love's Labour's Lost , IV, i. 
Capricorn (kap' ri korn). Called by Thomson, 
in his Winter , “the centaur archer.” An- 
ciently, the winter solstice occurred on the 
entry of the sun into Capricorn, i.e. the Goat: 
but the stars, having advanced a whole sign to 
the cast, the winter solstice now falls at the 
sun’s entrance into Sagittarius (the centaur 
archer), so that the poet is strictly right, 
though we commonly retain the ancient 
classical manner of speaking. Capricorn is 
the tenth, or, strictly speaking, the eleventh, 
sign of the zodiac (December 21 -January 20). 

According to classical mythology, Capricorn 
was Pan, who, from fear of the great Typhon, 
changed himself into a goat, and was made by 
Jupiter one of the signs of the zodiac. 

Captain. The Great Captain. See Capitano, 
El Gran. 

A led captain. An obsequious person, who 
dances attendance on the master and mistress 
of a house, for which service he has a knife and 
fork at the dinner table. 

Captain Armstrong. A name for a cheating 
jockey — one who pulls a horse with a strong 
arm , and so prevents his winning. 

Captain Cauf’s Tail. In Yorkshire, the 
commander-in-chief of the mummers who used 


Captain Copperthorne’s Crew 


174 


Carbonari 


to go round from house to house on Plough 
Monday (< 7 .v.). He was most fantastically 
dressed, with a cockade and many coloured 
ribbons; and he always had a genuine calf’s 
(cauf's) tail affixed behind. 

Captain Copperthorne’s Crew. All masters 
and no men. 

Capua (kap' 0 Capua corrupted Hannibal. 
Luxuiy and self-indulgence will ruin anyone. 
Hannibal was everywhere victorious over the 
Romans till he took up his winter quarters at 
Capua, the most luxurious city of Italy. When 
he left Capua his star began to wane, and, ere 
long, Carthage was in ruins and himself an 
exile. Another form of the saying is — 

Capua was the Canme of Hannibal (see 
Cann>e). 

' Capuchin (k5p' Q chin). A friar of the 
Franciscan Order ( q.v .) of the new rule of 1525; 
so Called from the capuce or pointed cowl. 

Capulet (kip' u let). A noble house in 
Verona, the rival of that of Montague; Juliet 
is of the former, and Romeo of the latter. 
Lady Capulet is the beau-ideal of a proud 
Italian matron of the 15th century (Shake- 
speare: Romeo and Juliet). The expression so 
familiar, “the tomb of all the Capulets,” is 
from Burke: he uses it in his Reflections on the 
Revolution in France (vol. Ill, p. 349). and again 
in his Letter to Matthew Smith , where he says : — 
I would rather sleep in the southern corner of a 
country churchyard than in the tomb of the Capulets. 

Caput Mortuum (k&p' ut mor' to um) (Lat. 
dead head). An alchemist’s term, used to 
designate the residuum left after exhaustive 
distillation or sublimation; hence, anything 
from which all that rendered it valuable has 
been taken away. Thus, a learned scholar 
paralysed is a mere caput mortuum of his for- 
mer self. The French Directory, towards its 
close, was a mere caput mortuum of a govern- 
ing body. 

Caqueux (ka k6). A sort of gipsy race in 
Brittany, similar to the Cagots of Gascony, 
and Colliberts of Poitou. 

Carabas (kar' a ba). He is a Marquis of 
Carabas, An ultra-conservative nobleman, 
of unbounded pretensions and vanity, who 
would restore the lavish foolery of the reign 
of Louis XIV; one with Fortunatus’s purse, 
which was never empty. The character is 
taken from Perrault’s tale of Puss in Boots , 
where he is Puss’s master. 

Prfctres que nous vengeons, 

Levez la dime et partageons; 

Et toi, peuple animal, 

Porte encor le bit f6odal. . . . 

Chapeau bas! Chapeau has! 

Gloire au marquis de Cara bas! 

Biranger (1816). 

The Marquis of Carabas in Disraeli’s 
Vivian Grey is intended for the Marquis of 
Clanricarde. 

Carabinier. See Carbineer. 

Caracalla (kir' a k&l' A). Aurelius Antoninus, 
Roman Emperor (21 1-17), was so called be- 
cause he adoptea the Gaulish caracalla in 
preference to the Roman toga. It was a large, 
elogNUting, hooded mantle, reaching to the 


heels, and slit up before and behind to the 
waist. 

Carack. See Carrack. 

Caradoc (k& rad' ok). A Knight of the Round 
Table, noted for being the husband of the only 
lady in the queen’s train who could wear “the 
mantle of matrimonial fidelity.’’ He appears 
(as Craddocke) in the old ballad The Boy and 
the Mantle (given in Percy’s Reliques ); — 

Craddocke called forth his ladye, 

And bade her come in; 

Saith, Winne this mantle, ladye, 

With a little dinne. 

Also, in history, the British chief whom the 
Romans called Caractacus (lived c. a.d. 50). 

Caran d’Ache (ka r&n dashT This was the 
pseudonym of Emmanuel Poird (1858-1909), a 
well-known French caricaturist. He was 
famous in his time as an illustrator of military 
subjects, and his biting cartoons and carica- 
tures appeared in various papers and maga- 
zines. 

Carat. A measure of weight, about xir of an 
ounce, used for precious stones; also a 
proportional measure of Ath used to describe 
the fineness of gold, thus, gold of 22 carats has 
22 parts pure gold and 2 parts alloy. The 
Arabic qirat , meaning the seed of the locust 
tree, the weight of which represented the 
Roman siliqua , was i^th of the golden solidus 
of Constantine, which was Uh of an ounce. 
It is from these fractions that it has come about 
that a carat is a twenty-fourth part. The 
name may come from the Arabic, or from 
Greek kc/hxtiov, seed of the locust-tree. See 
Gold. 

Caraway (kSr' & w5). The flavouring of cakes 
with caraway seeds was once more common 
than is now the case. Cakes so flavoured were 
called caraways, hence Shallow’s invitation to 
Falstaff: — 

Nay, you shall see my orchard, where in an 
arbour we will eat a last year’s pippin of my own 
brathng, with a dish of caraways. 

Henry IV, Pt. II, V, iii. 

Carbineer or Carabineer. A soldier armed 
with a short light rifle (called a carbine) such 
as is used by cavalry. The word is from Fr. 
carabine , which is either from Calabrinus , a 
Calabrian (in which case the word would 
originally mean a skirmisher or light horse- 
man), or from Late Lat. chadabula, a kind of 
ballista for hurling projectiles. The 6th 
Dragoon Guards in the British Army were 
known as the Carabiniers ; the name is now 
given to the regiment in which the 3rd and 6th 
Dragoon Guards are amalgamated as the 3rd 
Carabiniers (Prince of Wales’s Dragoon 
Guards). 

Carbonado (kar bon a' do). Grilled meat or 
fish. Strictly speaking, a carbonado is a piece 
of meat cut crosswise for the gridiron (Lat. 
carbo , a coal). 

If he do come in my way, so; if he do not — if I 
come in his willingly, let him make a carbonado of me. 

Shakespeare : Henry IV , Pt. /, V, iii. 
Carbonari (kar bo na' re) (sing, carbonaro). 
This name, assumed by a secret political 
society in Italy (organized 1808-14), means 
charcoal burners . Their place of muster they 




Carcanet 


175 


Cart 


called a “hut”; its inside, “the place for 
selling charcoal”; and the outside, the 
“forest.” Their political opponents they 
called “wolves.” Their object was to convert 
the kingdom of Naples into a republic. The 
name was later applied to other secret political 
societies. 

Carcanet (kar' k& net). A small chain of 
jewels for the neck. (Fr. carcan , a collar of 
gold.) The famous collar of Agn6s Sorel, 
favourite of Charles VII of France (1422-50), 
which she called her carcanet , was said to have 
been composed of rough diamonds. 

Like captain jewels in a carcanet. 

Shakespeare: Sonnets. 

Carcass. The shell of a house before the 
floors are laid and walls plastered; the skeleton 
of a ship, a wreck, etc. The body of a dead 
animal* so called from Fr. carcasse , Lat. car - 
cosium. 

The Goodwins, I think they call the place; a very 
dangerous flat and fatal, where the carcases of many 
a tall ship lie buried. 

Shakespeare: Merchant of Venice , III, i. 

The name was also given to an obsolete type 
of incendiary shell projected from a mortar. 

Charlestown, . . . having been fired by a carcass 
from Copp’s Hill, sent up dense columns of smoke. 

Lessing : United States. 

Card. Slang for a queer fellow, an eccentric, 
a “character.” 

You’re a shaky old card; and you can’t be in love 
with this Lizzie. 

Dickens: Our Mutual Friend , Bk. Ill, ch. i. 

Perhaps suggested by the phrase, “a sure 
card.” See below. We thus have such 
phrases as the following:— 

A cool card. A person who coolly asks for 
something preposterous or outrageous. 
“Cool” in this connexion means coolly 
impudent. Cp. Cooling card, below. 

A great card. A bigwig; the boss of the 
season; a person of note. 

A knowing card. A sharp fellow, next door 
to a sharper. The allusion is to cardsharpers 
and their tricks. 

Whose great aim it was to be considered a knowing 
card. — Dickens: Sketches, etc. 

A loose card. A worthless fellow who lives 
on the loose. 

A loose card is a card of no value, and consequently 
the properest to throw away. — Hoyle: Games, etc. 

A queer card. An eccentric person, 
“indifferent honest”; one who may be “all 
right”, but whose proceedings arouse mild 
suspicion and do not inspire confidence. 

A sure card. A person one can fully 
depend on; a person sure to command success. 
A project to be certainly depended on. As a 
winning card in one’s hand. 

A clear conscience is a sure card. 

Lyly: Euphues (1579). 

Other phrases are directly from card- 
games, or from the “card” of a compass, /.<?. 
the dial on which the points of the compass 
are displayed. The first-named group gives 
us, among others, such phrases as 

A cooling card. An obsolete expression for 
something that cools one’s ardour, probably 
derived from some old game of cards. It is 


quite common in Elizabethan literature. In 
Euphues (1579) Lyly calls the letter to Philantus 
“a cooling card for Philantus and all fond 
lovers,” and says — 

The sick patient must keep a straight diet, the silly 
sheep a narrow fold, poor Philantus must believe 
Euphues, and all lovers (he only excepted) are cooled 
with a card of ten or rather fooled with a vain toy. 

A card of ten was evidently an important 
card; Shakespeare has: — 

A vengeance on your crafty wither’d hide! 

Yet I have faced it with a card of ten. 

Taming of the Shrew , II, il. 
which means either to put a bold face on it, or 
to meet an attack with craft and subtlety. 

A leading card. The strongest point in one’s 
argument, etc.; a star actor. In card games a 
person leads from his strongest suit. 

He played his cards well. He acted judici- 
ously and skilfully, like a whist-player who, 
plays his hand with judgment. 

On the cards. Likely to happen, projected, 
and talked about as likely to occur. This 
phrase may have allusion to the programme or 
card of the races, but is more likely to derive 
from fortune-telling by cards. 

That’s the card. The right thing; probably 
referring to card games — “that is the right 
card to play” — but it may refer to tickets of 
admission, cards of the races, programmes, 
etc. 

10s. is about the card. 

Mayhew: London Labour , etc. 

That was my trump card. My best chance, 
my last resort. 

The cards are in my hands. I hold the 
disposal of events which will secure success; I 
have the upper hand, the whip-end of the 
stick. 

To ask for one’s cards. To resign one’s job, 
derived from the National Health Insurance 
card kept by the employer while the workman 
is on the job. 

To count on one’s cards. To anticipate 
success under the circumstances; to rely on 
one’s advantages. 

To go in with good cards. To have good 
patronage; to have excellent grounds for 
expecting success. 

To play one’s best card. To do that which 
one hopes is most likely to secure victory. 

To throw up the cards. To give up as a bad 
job; to acknowledge you have no hope of 
success. In some games of cards, as poker, a 
player has the liberty of saying whether he will 
play or not, and if his hand is hopelessly bad he 
throws in his cards and sits out till the next 
deal. 

From the compass card we have the phrase: 
To speak by the card, to be careful with one’s 
words; to be as deliberate, and have as much 
claim to be right, as a compass. 

Law ... is the card to guide the world by. 

Hooker: Ecc. Pol., Pt. II, sec. V. 

We must speak by the card, or equivocation will 
undo us. — Shakespeare: Hamlet , V, i. 

It is possible that this phrase has reference 
to written documents, such as agreements 


Cards 


176 


Carlists 


made between a merchant and the captain of a 
vessel. To speak by the card may be to speak 
according to the indentures or written 
instructions, but when Osric tells Hamlet (V, ii) 
that Laertes is “the card and calendar of 
gentry’* the card is a card of a compass, 
containing all its points. Laertes is the card 
of gentry, in whom may be seen all its points. 

Cards. It is said that there never was a good 
hand at whist containing four clubs. Such a 
hand is called “The Devil’s Four-poster.” 

In Spain, spades used to be columbines ; 
clubs, rabbits ; diamonds, pinks', and hearts, 
roses. The present name for spades is 
espados (swords); for clubs, bastos (cudgels); 
for diamonds, dineros (square pieces of money 
used for paying wages); for hearts, copas 
(chalices). 

, The French for spade is pique (pike); for 
club, trifle (clover); for diamond, carreau 
(building tile, or flagstone); for heart, cceur . 

The English spade is the French form of a 
pike, and the Spanish name; the club is the 
French trefoil, and the Spanish name. 

Court cards. See Court. 

Cardigan (car' di g&n). This is a knitted 
woollen over-waistcoat, with or without 
sleeves, named after the 7th Earl of Cardigan, 
who led the Light Brigade in the famous charge 
at Balaclava. The garment appears to have 
been first worn by the British in the bitter cold 
of the Crimean winter. 

Cardinal. The Lat. cardo means a hinge; its 
adjective, cardinalis , meant originally “per- 
taining to a hinge,” hence “that on which 
something turns or depends,” hence “the 
principal, the chief.” Hence, in Rome a “car- 
dinal church” ( ecclesia cardinalis ) was a prin- 
cipal or parish church as distinguished from an 
oratory attached to such, and the chief priest 
( presbyter cardinalis ) was the “cardinal,” the 
body (or “College”) of cardinals forming the 
Council of the Pope, and electing the Pope from 
their own number. This did not become a 
stabilized regulation till after the third Lateran 
Council (1173), since when the College of 
Cardinals for long consisted of six cardinal 
bishops, fifty cardinal priests, and fourteen 
cardinal deacons. Pope John XXIII (1958- 
1963) increased the number of cardinals to 
eighty-seven. 

The cardinal’s red hat was made part of 
the official vestments by Innocent IV (1245) 
“in token of their being ready to lay down 
their life for the gospel.” 

Cardinal humours. An obsolete medical 
term for the four principal “humours” of 
the body, viz. blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and 
black bile. 

Cardinal numbers. The natural, primitive 
numbers, which answer the question “how 
many?” such as 1, 2, 3, etc. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 
etc., are ordinal numbers. 

Cardinal points of the compass. Due north, 
west, east, and south. So called because they 
are the points on which the intermediate ones, 
such as NE., NW., NNE., etc., hinge or 
hang. (Lat. cardo , a hinge.) 

The poles, being the points upon which the 


earth turns, were called in Latin cardines 
(cardo, a hinge; see Cardinal, above), and the 
cardinal points are those which lie in the 
direction of the poles and of sunrise and 
sunset. Thus, also, the winds that blow due 
east, west, north, and south are known as 
the cardinal winds. It is probably from the 
fact that the cardinal points are four in number 
that the cardinal humours, virtues, etc., are 
also four. 

Cardinal signs (of the zodiac). The two 
equinoctial and the two solstitial signs, Aries 
and Libra, Cancer and Capricorn. 

Cardinal virtues. Justice, prudence, tem- 
perance, and fortitude, on which all other 
virtues hang or depend. A term of the School- 
men, to distinguish the “natural” virtues from 
the “theological” virtues (faith, hope, and 
charity). 

Care. Care killed the cat. It is said that 
“a cat has nine lives,” yet care would wear 
them all out. 

Hang sorrow! care’ll kill a cat. 

Ben Jonson: Every Man in his Humour, I, iii. 

Care Sunday. The fifth Sunday in Lent. 
“Care” here means trouble, suffering; and 
Care Sunday means Passion Sunday (as in 
Old High Ger. Kar-fritag is Good Friday). 

Care Sunday is also known as Carle , or 
Carling Sunday. It was an old custom, 
especially in the north, to eat parched peas 
fried in butter on this day, and they were 
called Carlings. 

Care-cloth. The fine silk or linen cloth 
formerly laid over the newly-married in the 
Roman Catholic Church, or held over them 
as a canopy. 

Careme (kk ram'). Lent; a corruption of 
quadragesima . 

Caricatures mean sketches “overloaded”; 
hence, exaggerated drawings. (Ital. carica - 
tura ; from caricare , to load or burden.) 

Carillons (ka ril' yonz), in France, are chimes 
or tunes played on bells; but in England the 
suites of bells that play the tunes. The word 
is the O.Fr. quarignon. from Late Lat. quatrinio , 
a chime played on four bells; carillons were 
formerly rung on four bells; nowadays the 
number is usually eight, but the “bob 
maximus” (see Bob) is rung on twelve. 

Carle Sunday; Carlings. See Care Sunday. 

Carlists (kar' lists). Don Carlos (1788-1855) 
was the second son of Charles IV of Spain, and 
on the death of his brother, Ferdinand VII, 
would have become king of Spain had not the 
Salic Law (q.v.) been set aside and Ferdinand’s 
daughter Isabella declared Queen. He set 
up his claim to the throne, the Church sided 
with him, and for years Spain was rent by 
factious war between the Carlists and the 
Queen’s party. The Carlist activities did not 
really cease until the death of Don Carlos II, 
in 1909. The last pretender died childless in 
1936, and the following year the party was 
merged by General Franco in his Falange. 




Carlovingians 


177 


Carpet 


Carlovingians (kar lo ving' gi&nz) or Carolin- 
gians . So called from Carolus Magnus, or 
Charlemagne. They were descended from 
Frankish lords in Austria in the 7th century, and 
furnished the second royal dynasty in France 
(751-987), a dynasty of German Emperors 
(752-911), and of Italian kings (774-961). 

Carmagnole (kar ma nydl). Originally the 
name of a kind of jacket worn in France in 
the 18th century, and introduced there from 
Carmagnola, in Piedmont, where it was the 
dress of the workmen. It was adopted by the 
Revolutionists, and the name thus came to be 
applied to them, to the soldiers of the first 
Republic, and to a song and a wild kind of 
dance that became immensely popular and was 
almost invariably used at the executions of 
1792 and 1793. The first verse of the song 
is: — 

Madame Veto avait promis 

De faire dgorger tout Paris, 

Madame Veto avait promis 

De faire egorger tout Paris. 

Mais son coup a manque 

Grace k nos canonmers : 

Dansons la carmagnole, Vive le son, vive le son, 

Dansons la carmagnole, Vive le son du canon. 

Madame Veto was the people’s name for 
Queen Marie Antoinette, as she was supposed 
to have inspired the king’s unfortunate use of 
the veto. 

The word was subsequently applied to other 
revolutionary songs, such as (fa ira , the 
Marseillaise, the Chant du depart ; also to the 
speeches in favour of the execution of Louis 
XVI, called by Bardre, des Carmagnoles. 

Carmelites (kar' me litz). Mendicant friars, 
the first rule of whose Order is said to have 
been given by John, patriarch of Jerusalem, 
a.d. 400, and to have been formed from the 
records of the prophet Elijah’s life on Mount 
Carmel. Also called White Friars, from their 
white cloaks. See Barefooted. 

Carmen Sylva (kar' men sil' va). This was the 
pen-name of Queen Elizabeth of Rumania 
(1843-1916). She was a woman of cultivated 
tastes, a musician, painter, and writer of poems 
and stories. 

Carminative (kar min' a tiv). A medicine 
given to relieve flatulence. The name is a relic 
of the mediaeval theory of humours; it is from 
Lat. carminare y to card wool, which, in Italian, 
also meant “to make gross humours fine and 
thin.” The object of carminatives is to expel 
wind, and they were supposed to effect this 
by combing out the gross humours as one 
combs out (or cards) the knots in wool. 

Carney. To wheedle, to caress, to coax. An 
old dialect word of unknown origin. 

Carnival. The season immediately preceding 
Lent, ending on Shrove Tuesday, and a period 
in many Roman Catholic countries devoted to 
amusement; hence, revelry, riotous amuse- 
ment. From the Lat. caro, carnis , flesh; 
levare , to remove, signifying the abstinence 
from meat during Lent. The earlier word, 
carnilevamen , was altered in Italian to carne- 
vale , as though connected with vale , farewell — 
farewell to flesh. 


Carol (from O.Fr. carole , which is probably 
from Lat. choraula , a dance). The earliest 
meaning of the word in English is a round 
dance, hence a song that accompanied the 
dance, hence a light and joyous hymn, a 
meaning which came to be applied specially to, 
and latterly almost confined to, such a hymn in 
honour of the Nativity and sung at Christmas 
time by wandering minstrels. The earliest 
extant English Christmas carol dates from the 
13th century, and was originally written in 
Old English; a translation of the first verse 
is here given. The first printed collection of 
Christmas carols came from the press of 
Wynkyn de Worde in 1521; it included the 
Boar’s Head Carol, which is still sung at 
Queen’s College, Oxford. For another ex- 
ample. see Boar’s Head. 

Lordlings, listen to our lay — 

We have come from far away 
To seek Christmas; 

In this mansion we are told 
He his yearly feast doth hold; 

’Tis to-day! 

May joy come from God above. 

To all those who Christmas love. 
Carolingians. See Carlovingians. 

Carolus (ka ro' lus). A gold coin of the reign 
of Charles I. It was at first worth 20s., but 
afterwards 23s. 

Carouse (ka rouzO. To drink deeply, to make 
merry with drinking; hence a drinking bout. 
The word is the German garaus , meaning 
literally “right out” or “completely”; it was 
used specially of completely emptying a 
bumper to someone’s health. 

The word rouse , a bumper, as in Shake- 
speare’s: — 

The king doth wake to-night, and takes his rouse. 

Hamlet , I, iv. 

robably arose from the similarity of sound 
etween “to drink carouse” and “to drink 
a rouse.” 

Carpathian Wizard. Proteus, who lived in the 
island of Carpathus (now Scarpanto), between 
Rhodes and Crete, who could transform 
himself into any shape he pleased. He is 
represented as carrying a sort of crook in his 
hand, because he was an ocean shepherd and 
had to manage a flock of sea-calves. 

Carpe Diem (kar' pa di' em). Enjoy yourself 
while you have the opportunity. Seize the 
present day. “Dum vivimus , vivamus,** 

Carpe diem quam minimum credula postere. 
r Horace: Odes , I, xi, 8. 

Seize the present, trust to-morrow e’en as little as 
you may. — C onnington. 

Carpet. The magic carpet. The carpet which, 
to all appearances, was worthless, but which, 
if anyone sat thereon, would transport him 
instantaneously to the place he wished to go, 
is one of the stock properties of Eastern 
wonder-tales and romance. It is sometimes 
termed Prince Housain's carpet , because of the 
popularity of the Story of Prince Ahmed in the 
Arabian blights , where it supplies one of the 
principal incidents; but the chief magic carpet 
is that of King Solomon, which, according to 
the Mohammedan legend related in the Koran, 
was of green silk. His throne was placed on it 
when he travelled, and it was large enough for 



Carpet 


178 


Carte 


all his forces to stand upon, the men and 
women on his right hand, and the spirits on 
his left. When all were arranged in order, 
Solomon told the wind where he wished to go, 
and the carpet, with all its contents, rose in 
the air and alighted at the place indicated. 
In order to screen the party from the sun, 
the birds of the air with outspread wings 
formed a canopy over the whole party. 

To be on the carpet, or to be carpeted. To 
be reprimanded, to be “called over the coals.” 

To bring a question on the carpet: to bring 
it up for consideration: a translation of Fr. 
sur le tapis (on the tablecloth) — i.e. before the 
House, under consideration. The question 
has been laid on the table of the House, and 
is now under debate. 

Carpet-bagger. The name given in the 
U.S.A. to the Northern political adventurers, 
who sought a career in the Southern States 
after the Civil War of 1865. Their only 
“property qualification” was in the personal 
baggage they brought with them, and they 
were looked upon with great suspicion. In 
the U.S.A. members of Congress and the State 
legislatures almost invariably reside in the 
district which they represent. 

Carpet knight. One dubbed at Court by 
favour, not having won his spurs by military 
service in the field. Perhaps because mayors, 
lawyers, and civilians generally are knighted 
as they kneel on a carpet before their sovereign 
in contradistinction to those knighthoods 
that used to be conferred on the actual field 
of battle; but more probably with allusion to 
the preference shown by non-martial knights 
for the carpeted drawing-room over the tented 
field. 

You arc women 

Or, at the best, loose carpet-knights. 

Massinger: Maid of Honour , II, v. 

Carrack. A large merchant ship which, in 
Elizabethan times, carried the valuable cargoes 
from the Spice Islands and the Far East to 
Portugal, and could readily be fitted out as a 
man-of-war. 

“ And now hath Sathanas,” seith he, “ a tayl 
Brodder than of a carrik is the sayl.” 

Chaucer: Somnour's Prologue , 23. 

Carriage. This used to mean, that which is 
carried, luggage; also the supports or mount of 
a piece of ordnance. 

And after those days we took up our carriages, and 
went up to Jerusalem . — Acts xxi, 15. 

In Num . iv, 24, where the text gives “bur- 
dens,” the marginal rendering is “carriage,” 
and the usage is not at all uncommon in the 
English of that date. 

Carriage company. Persons who go visiting 
in their private carriage. 

Seeing a great deal of carriage company. — Thackeray. 

Carronade (kSr o nad'). A short gun of 
large calibre like a mortar, having no trun- 
nions and so differing from howitzers, first 
made in 1779 at the Carron foundry, Scotland. 
Carronades are fastened to their carriages by 
a loop underneath, and were chiefly used on 
ships, to enable heavy shot to be thrown at 
close quarters. 


Carry. Carry arms! Carry swords! Military 
commands directing that the rifle or drawn 
sword is to be held in a vertical position in 
the right hand and against the right shoulder. 

Carry coals. See Coals. 

To carry everything before one. To be 

beyond competition; to carry off all the prizes: 
to be a successful competitor in any form of 
examination or sport. 

To carry fire in one hand and water in the 
other. To say one thing and mean another; 
to flatter, to deceive; to lull suspicion in order 
the better to work mischief. 

Altera manu fbrt aquam, altera ignem, 

Altera manu fert lapideum, altera panem ostentat. 

Plautus. 

In one hand he carried water, in the other fire; in 
one hand he bears a stone, in the other he shows a 
piece of bread. 

To carry on. (1) To continue an activity 
from the point already reached, particularly in 
military parlance. (2) To make a scene, lose 
one’s temper — “he carried on something 
dreadful.” 

To carry one’s point. To succeed in one’s 
aim. Candidates in Rome were balloted for, 
and the votes were marked on a tablet by 
points. Hence, omne pane turn ferre meant 
“to be carried nem. con.” or to gain every 
vote; and “to carry one’s point” is to carry 
off the points at which one aimed. 

To carry out or through. To continue a 
project to its completion. 

To carry one’s bat. Said of a batsman who 
goes in first and is “not out” at the end of the 
innings. Hcncc, figuratively, to outlast one’s 
opponents, to succeed in one’s undertaking. 

Carry swords ! See Carry armsI 

To carry the day. To win the contest; to 
carry off the honours of the day. 

To carry weight. In horse racing, to 
equalize the weight of two or more riders by 
adding to the lighter ones, till both (or all) the 
riders are made of uniform weight. 

Also, to have influence. 

Cart. To put the cart before the horse is to 
reverse the right order or allocation of 
things. 

This methinkes is playncly to sett the carte before 
the horse . — The Babees Book (Early English Tract 
Society, p. 23). 

The phrase has its counterpart in other 
languages: — 

French : Mettre la charctte avant les bceufs. 

Latin: Currus bovem trahit 
Praspostere. 

Greek: Hysteron proteron. 

German: Die Pferde hlnter den Wagcn spannen. 

Italian: Metter il carro innanzi ai buoi. 

Carte. Carte blanche (Fr.). A paper with 
only the signature written on it, so that the 
person to whom it is given may write his terms 
knowing that they will be accepted. Literally, 
a blank paper. It was originally a military 

hrase, referring to unconditional surrender; 

ut it is now used entirely in a figurative sense, 
conferring absolute freedom of action on one 
to whom it is given. 




Carte de visit© 


179 


Casket Letters, The 


Carte de vlsite (Fr.). A visiting card; a 
photographic likeness on a card, originally 
intended to be used as a visiting card. The 
idea was started in 1857, but it never “caught 
on,” as such, although the small size of photo- 
graph became very popular. 

Cartel (kar tel 7 ). This is a word with several 
meanings. Originally it was applied only to a 
written agreement between opponents in a war 
arranging the exchange of prisoners. From 
that it was extended to include the ship used 
for such an exchange. It has since come to 
mean a working arrangement between rival 
commercial concerns in one or more countries 
to regulate the price of the commodity they 
are interested in, invariably at the expense of 
the community. 

Cartesian Philosophy (kar te zhfin). The 
philosophical system of Rene Descartes (1596- 
1650), a founder of modem philosophy. The 
basis of his system is cogito ergo sum. See 
Cogito. Thought must proceed from soul, 
and therefore man is not wholly material; 
that soul must be from some Being not 
material, and that Being is God. As for 
physical phenomena, they must be the result 
of motion excited by God, and these motions 
he termed vortices. 

Carthage of the North (kar' thfij). This was 
the name given to Liibeck, when it was the 
head of the Hanseatic League. 

Carthaginem esse delendam. See Delenda 
est Carthago. 

Carthaginian faith. Treachery. See Punica 
Fides. 

Carthusians. An order of monks, founded 
about 1086 by St. Bruno, of Cologne, who, 
with six companions, retired to the solitude 
of La Grande Chartreuse, thirteen miles north- 
east of Grenoble, and there built his famous 
monastery. In 1902 the monks were evicted 
by order of the French government, and in the 
following year their buildings and property 
were sold, the monks themselves settling at the 
Certosa (Charterhouse) near Lucca. 

The first English Charterhouse was estab- 
lished in 1178; the monks of the London 
Charterhouse were among the staunchest 
opponents of Henry VIII. In 1833 the 
Carthusians were re-established in the Charter- 
house at Parkminster, Sussex. See Char- 
treuse. 

Cartoon. Originally a design drawn on 
cartone (pasteboard) to serve as a model for a 
work of art, such as a fresco or tapestry. Now 
applied to a caricature or political sketch. 

Cartridge Paper. A stout, rough paper, 
originally manufactured for cartridges. The 
word is a corruption of cartouche , from carta 
(paper). 

Carvel-built. A term in shipbuilding applied 
to a vessel whose planks are set edge to edge 
and do not overlap. From caravella (Ital.), 
a large sailing ship. See Clinker-built. 

Carvllia. See Morgan le Fay. 

Caryatides (kfir i fit' idz). Figures of women in 


Greek costume, used in architecture to support 
entablatures. Caryae, in Laconia, sided with 
the Persians at Thermopylae; in consequence of 
which the victorious Greeks destroyed the city, 
slew the men, and made the women slaves. 
Praxiteles, to perpetuate the disgrace, em- 
ployed figures of these women, instead of 
columns. Cp. Atlantes, Canephorus. 

Casablanca, Louis (kfis fi bi fing' kfi). Cap- 
tain of the French man-of-war, L'Orient . At 
the battle of Aboukir, having first secured the 
safety of his crew, he blew up his ship, to 
prevent it falling into the hands of the English. 
His little son, Giacomo Jocante, refusing to 
leave him, perished with his father. Mrs. 
Hemans made a ballad on the incident. 

Case. The case Is altered. See Plowden. 

To case. To skin an animal; to deprive it 
of its “case.” See First catch your hare, 
under Catch. 

Case-hardened. Impenetrable to all sense 
of honour or shame. The allusion is to steel 
hardened by carbonizing the surface. 

Cashier. To dismiss an officer from the army, 
to discard from society. (Dut. casseren; Fr. 
casser , to break; Ital. cassare , to blot out.) 

Cashmere. See Kerseymere. 

Casino (kfi se' no). Originally, a little casa or 
room near a theatre where persons might 
retire, after the play was over, for dancing or 
music. 

Cask. A vessel for the storing of wine in bulk. 
Some local names for casks are as follows: — 

arroba , Spain; basil , Portugal; barile , Italy; 
barrique , France; Breute , Switzerland; Drei- 
ling , Eimer , or Fuder , Austria; Oxhoft , Ham- 
burg; bochonok , Russia. 

Casket Homer. See Homer. 

Casket, Children of the. Between 1728 and 
1751 the Mississippi Company sent to New 
Orleans regular shipments of respectable 
middle-class girls to provide wives for French 
settlers in Louisiana; each was presented on 
her departure with a casket of suitable clothing. 
They were known as filles a la cassette , to 
distinguish them from the women of bad 
character shipped out from the Salpetri&re 
prison during the same period. Louisiana 
families like to claim descent from a casket 
girl as New Englanders do from a Mayflower 
pilgrim. 

Casket Letters, The. Letters supposed to 
have been written between Mary Queen of 
Scots and Bothwell, at least one of which was 
held to prove the complicity of the Queen in 
the murder of her husband, Darnley. They 
were kept in a casket which fell into the hands 
of the Earl of Morton (1567); they were 
examined and used as evidence (though 
denounced as forgeries by the Queen — who was 
never allowed to see them), and they dis- 
appeared after the execution of the Regent, the 
Earl of Gowrie (1584), in whose custody they 
had last been. They have never been re- 
covered, and their authenticity is still a matter 
of dispute. 


Cassandra 


180 


Castle of Bungay 


Cassandra (kisSn' dr&). A prophetess. In 
Greek legend the daughter of Priam and 
Hecuba, gifted with the power of prophecy; 
but Apollo, whose advances she had refused, 
brought it to pass that no one believed her 
predictions, although they were invariably 
correct. She appears in Shakespeare’s Troilus 
and Cressida . 

Cassation. The Court of Cassation, in France, 
is the highest Court of Appeal, the Court which 
can casser (quash) the judgment of other 
Courts. 

Cassi. Inhabitants of what is now the Cassio 
Hundred, Hertfordshire, referred to by Caesar, 
in his Commentaries. The name can still be 
traced in Cassiobury Park, Watford. 

Cassibelan (kSs ib' el an). Uncle to Cymbe- 
line, mentioned in Shakespeare’s play of that 
name. He is the historical Cassivellaunus, a 
British prince who ruled over the Catuvellauni 
(in Herts, Bucks, and Berks), about 50 b.c., 
and was conquered by Caesar. 

Shakespeare drew his particulars from 
Holinshed, where it is Guiderius, not Cymbe- 
line, who refuses to pay the tribute. 

Cassiopeia (k&s i o pe' &). In Greek myth- 
ology, the wife of Cepheus, King of Ethiopia, 
and mother of Andromeda (g.v.). In conse- 
quence of her boasting of her beauty, she was 
sent to the heavens as the constellation 
Cassiopeia, the chief stars of which form the 
outline of a woman seated in a chair and 
holding up both arms in supplication. 

Cassiterides (kas i ter' i dez). The tin islands, 
generally supposed to be the Scilly Islands and 
Cornwall; but possibly the isles in Vigo Bay 
are meant. It is said that the Veneti procured 
tin from Cornwall, and carried it to these 
islands, keeping its source a profound secret. 
The Phoenicians were the chief customers of 
the Veneti. 

Cast. A cast of the eye. A squint. One 
meaning of the word cast is to twist or warp. 
Thus, a fabric is said to “cast” when it 
warps; the seamen speak of “casting,” or 
turning the head of a ship on the tack it is to 
sail. We also speak of a “casting vote” 
(q.v.). 

My goode bowe clene cast [twisted] on one side. 

Ascham: Toxophilus. 

Cast down. Dejected. (Lat. dejectus.) 

To cast a sheep’s eye at one. See Sheep. 

To cast about. To deliberate, to consider, 
as, “I am casting about me how I am to meet 
the expenses.” A sporting phrase. Dogs, 
when they have lost scent, “cast for it,” i.e. 
spread out and search in different directions 
to recover it. 

To cast accounts. To balance or keep 
accounts. To cast up a line of figures is to add 
them together and set down the sum they 
produce. 

To cast anchor. To throw out the anchor 
in order to bring the vessel to a standstill. 
(Lat. anchor am jacire.) 

To cast beyond the moon. To form wild 
conjectures. One of Heywood’s proverbs. 


At one time the moon was supposed to in- 
fluence the weather, to affect the ingathering 
of fruits, to rule the time of sowing, reaping, 
and slaying cattle, etc. 

I talke of things impossible, and cast beyond the 
moon. — H eywood. 

To cast in one’s lot. To share the good or 
bad fortune of another. 

To cast in one’s teeth. To throw reproof 
at one. The allusion is to knocking one’s 
teeth out by stones. 

All his faults observed. 

Set in a note book, learned and conned by rote. 

To cast into my teeth. 

Shakespeare: Julius Casar, IV, iii. 

To cast pearls before swine. To give what 
is precious to those who arc unable to under- 
stand its value: a Biblical phrase (see Matt . vii, 
6). If pearls were cast to swine, the swine 
would trample them under foot. 

Casting vote. The vote of the presiding 
officer when the votes of the assembly are 
equal. This final vote casts, turns, or deter- 
mines the question. 

Castaly (kits' tA li). A fountain of Parnassus 
sacred to the Muses. Its waters had the power 
of inspiring with the gift of poetry those who 
drank of them. 

Caste (Port, casta , race). One of the heredi- 
tary classes of society in India; hence any 
hereditary or exclusive class, or the class 
system generally. The four Hindu castes are 
Brahmins (the priestly order), Shatriya (soldiers 
and rulers), Vaisva (husbandmen and mer- 
chants), Sudra (agricultural labourers and 
mechanics). The first issued from the mouth 
of Brahma, the second from his arms, the 
third from his thighs, and the fourth from his 
feet. Below these come thirty-six inferior 
classes, to whom the Vedas are sealed, and 
who are held cursed in this world and without 
hope in the next. 

To lose caste. To lose position in society. 
To get degraded from one caste to an inferior 
one. 

Castle. Castle in the air. A visionary pro- 
ject, day-dream, splendid imagining which has 
no real existence. In fairy tales we often 
have these castles built at a word, and vanish- 
ing as soon, like that built for Aladdin by the 
Genic of the Lamp. Also called Castles in 
Spain ; the French call them Chateaux en Es- 
pagne or Chateaux en Asie. See Chateau. 

Castle of Bungay. In Camden’s Britannia 
(1607) the following lines are attributed to 
Lord Bigod of Bungay on the borders of 
Suffolk and Norfolk: — 

Were I in my Castle of Bungay 
Upon the river of Wavcney, 

I would ne care for the King of Cockney. 

The events referred to belong to the reign 
of Stephen or Henry II. The French have a 
proverb: Je ne voudrais pas (>tre roi y si j* eta is 
privot de Bar-sur-Aube , I should not care to be 
king if I were Provost of Bar-sur-Aube (the 
most lucrative and honourable of all the 
provostships of France). A similar idea is 
expressed in the words — 


Castle of Indolence 


181 


Cat 


And often to our comfort we shall find 
The sharded beetle in a safer hold 
Than is the full-winged eagle. 

Shakespeare: Cymbeline , III, iii. 

Almost to the same effect Pope says : — 

And more true joy Marcellus exiled feels, 

Than Caesar with a senate at his heels. 

Essay on Man , iv, 257. 

Castle of Indolence. In Thomson’s poem 
of this name (1748) it is situated in the land of 
Drowsiness, where every sense is steeped in 
enervating delights. The owner was an 
enchanter, who deprived all who entered his 
domains of their energy and free will. 

Castle Terabil (or “ Terrible ”) in Arthurian 
legends stood in Launceston. It had a steep 
keep environed with a triple wall. Some- 
times called Dunheved Castle. 

Castor and Pollux (kas' t6r, poT uks). In 
Roman mythology, the twin sons of Jupiter 
and Leda. Jupiter is said to have visited Leda 
in the form of a swan; she produced two eggs, 
from one of which sprang Castor and Clytem- 
nestra, and from the other Pollux and Helen. 
Castor and Pollux, also known as the Dioscuri 
(< 7 .v.), had many adventures, were worshipped 
as gods, and were finally placed among the 
constellations. 

Their names used to be given by sailors to the 
St. Elmo's Fire or Corposant O/.v.). If only 
one flame showed itself, the Romans called it 
Helen , and said that it portended that the 
worst of the storm was yet to come; but two 
or more luminous flames they called Castor 
and Pollux , and said that they boded the 
termination of the storm. 

Casuist. One who resolves casus conscienticz 
(cases of conscience); figuratively, a hair- 
splitter. M. 1c Fdvre called casuistry “the 
art of quibbling with God.” 

Casus belli (ka' sus bel' i) (Lat.). A ground 
for war; an occurrence warranting inter- 
national hostilities. 

Cat. Called a “familiar,” from the mediaeval 
superstition that Satan’s favourite form was a 
black cat. Hence witches were said to have a 
cat as their familiar. The superstition may 
have arisen from the classical legend of 
Galinthias who was turned into a cat and 
became a priestess of Hecate. 

In ancient Rome the cat was a symbol of 
liberty. The goddess of Liberty was repre- 
sented as holding a cup in one hand, a broken 
sceptre in the other, and with a cat lying at her 
feet. No animal is so great an enemy to all 
constraint as a cat. 

In Egypt the cat was sacred to Isis, or the 
moon. It was held in great veneration, and 
was worshipped with great ceremony as a 
symbol of the moon, not only because it is 
more active after sunset, but from the dilata- 
tion and contraction of its pupil, symbolical of 
waxing and waning. The goddess Bast {see 
Bubastis), representative of the life-giving 
solar heat, was portrayed as having the head 
of a cat, probably because that animal likes 
to bask in the sun. Diodorus tells us that 
whoever killed a cat, even by accident, was 
by the Egyptians punished by death, and 
according to ancient tradition, Diana assumed 


the form of a cat, and thus excited the fury 
of the giants. 

The male, or Tom, cat was formerly — and 
in Scotland still is — known as a Gib cat; the 
female as a Doe cat. The word “cat” has other 
connotations, e.g. a spiteful woman; hence a 
spiteful remark is said to be “catty.” In 
early days “cat” was a slang term for a harlot. 
Cat Proverbs and Sayings. 

A cat has nine lives. A cat is more tenacious 
of life than many animals. It is a careful, sly, 
and suspicious beast, and — in the wild state — 
is strong, hardy, and ferocious; also, after a 
fall, it generally lights upon its feet without 
injury, the foot and toes being well padded. 

Tyb. : What wouldst thou have with me? 

Mer. : Good king of cats, nothing but one of your 
nine lives. 

Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, III, i. 

A cat has nine lives, and a woman has nine cats* 
lives. — Fuller: Gnomologia. 

A cat may look at a king. An impertinent 
remark by an inferior, meaning, “I am as 
good as you.” There was a political pam- 
phlet published with this title in 1652. 

All cats love fish but fear to wet their paws. 
An old adage, said of one who is anxious to 
obtain something of value but does not care 
to incur the necessary trouble or risk. It was 
to this saying that Shakespeare referred in 
Macbeth , I, vii: — 

Letting “ I dare not ” wait upon “ I would,” 
Like the poor cat i’ the adage. 

Before the cat can lick her ear. Never; 
before the Greek calends. No cat can lick 
her ear. See Never. 

Care killed the cat. See Care. 

Cat i’ the adage. See All cats love fish, 
above. 

To cat. See sick as a cat, below. 

To cat the anchor. To hang the anchor on 
the cathead, a piece of timber outside the ship 
to which the anchor is hung to keep it clear of 
the ship. 

The decks were all life and commotion; the sailors 
on the forecastle singing ‘‘Ho! cheerily, men! ” as 
they catted the anchor. 

H. Melville: Omoo , xxxvi. 

Cheshire cat. See To grin like a Cheshire 
cat, below. 

Dick Whittington and his cat. See Whit- 
tington. 

Enough to make a cat laugh. Incongruously 
ridiculous. 

Enough to make a cat speak. Said of some- 
thing (usually good liquor) that will loosen 
one’s tongue. 

Come on your ways: open your mouth; there is 
that which will give language to your cat, open your 
mouth! — Shakespeare: Tempest , II, ii. 

Hang me in a bottle like a cat. ( Much Ado 
about Nothing , I, i.) In olden times a cat was 
for sport enclosed in a bag or leather bottle, 
and hung to the branch of a tree, as a mark for 
bowmen to shoot at. Percy mentions a 
variant of this “sport” in his Reliques of 
Ancient English Poetry (1765): — 

It is still a diversion in Scotland to hang up a cat 
in a small cask or firkin, half filled with soot; and 
then a parcel of clowns on horseback try to beat out 


Cat 


182 


Cat 


the ends of it, in order to show their dexterity in 
escaping before the contents fall upon them. 

Vol. I, p. 155 (Ed n. of 1794). 

It is raining cats and dogs. Very heavily. 

Like a cat on hot bricks. Very uneasy; not 
at all “at home” in the situation, whatever 
it may be. 

Muffled cats catch no mice (Ital. Catta 
guantata non piglia sorce). Said of those who 
work in gloves for fear of soiling their fingers. 

Not room to swing a cat. Various explana- 
tions have been suggested to explain the origin 
of the phrase. Swinging cats by their tails as 
a mark for sportsmen was at one time a 
favourite amusement. There were several 
varieties of this diversion: see Hang Me in a 
Bottle, above , and To Fight Like Kilkenny 
Cats, below . The sailor’s abbreviation for the 
whip known as cat-o*-ninc-tails (see below) 
used to be “cat,” and in view of the restricted 
space on board old wooden ships (in which 
the “cat” was often administered) it is perhaps 
the most plausible explanation. “Cat” is also 
the old Scottish word for a rogue, and if the 
derivation is from this the swing in this case is 
the condemned rogue swinging from the 
gallows. 

See how the cat jumps. See “which way the 
wind blows”; which of two alternatives is 
likely to be the successful one before you give 
any opinion of its merit or adhesion to it, 
either moral or otherwise. The allusion is 
either to the game called “tip-cat,” in which 
before you strike you must observe which way 
the “cat” has jumped up, or to the cruel sport 
mentioned above. See Kang me in a bottle. 
He soon saw which way the cat did jump. 

And his company he offered plump. 

The Dog's-meat Man ( Universal Songster , 1825). 

Sick as a cat. Cats are very subject to 
vomiting. HenCe one is said to cat y or to shoot 
the cat in vomiting. 

To bell the cat. Sec Bell. 

To fight like Kilkenny cats. To fight till 
both sides have lost their all; to fight with the 
utmost determination and pertinacity. The 
story is that during the Irish rebellion of 1798 
Kilkenny was garrisoned by a troop of Hessian 
soldiers, who amused themselves by tying two 
cats together by their tails and throwing them 
across a clothes-line to fight. The authorities 
resolved to put a stop to the “sport,” but, 
on the officer on duty approaching, one of the 
troopers cut the two tails with a sword, and 
the cats made off. When the officer inquired 
the meaning of the bleeding tails, he was told 
that two cats had been fighting and had 
devoured each other all but the tails. 

To grin like a Cheshire cat. An old simile, 
popularized by Lewis Carroll : — 

“ Please would you tell me,” said Alice a little 
timidly, . . . ” why your cat grins like that? ” 
“It's a Cheshire cat,” said the Duchess, “and that’s 
why.” — Alice in Wonderland (1865), ch. vi. 

The phrase has never been satisfactorily 
accounted for, but it has been said that cheese 
was formerly sold in Cheshire moulded like 
a cat that looked as though it was grinning. 
The humorous explanation is that the cats 
there know that Cheshire is a County Palatine 


(</. v.), and that the idea is so funny that they are 
perpetually amused at it! 

To let the cat out of the bag. To disclose a 
secret. It was formerly a trick among 
country folk to substitute a cat for a sucking- 
pig, and bring it in a bag to market. If any 
greenhorn chose to buy a “pig in a poke” 
without examination, all very well; but if he 
opened the sack, “he let the cat out of the bag,” 
and the trick was disclosed. 

To lead a cat and dog life. To be always 
snarling and quarrelling, as a cat and dog, 
whose aversion to each other is intense. 

There will be jealousies, and a cat-and-dog life 
over yonder worse than ever. 

Carlyle: Frederick the Great , vol. II, bk. IX. 

To turn cat-in-pan. To turn traitor, to be 
a turncoat. The phrase seems to be the Fr. 
tourner cdte en peine (to turn sides in trouble). 

Touch not a cat but a glove. The punning 
motto of the Mackintosh clan, whose crest is 
“a cat-a-mountain salient guardant proper,” 
with for supporters “two cats proper.” An 
early meaning of “but” was “without” or 
“except”: for another example of this use, 
see the Prayer Book Version of Ps. xix, 3. 

What can you have of a cat but her skin? 
Said of something that is useless for any 
purpose but one. In former times the cat’s 
fur was used for trimming cloaks and coats, 
but the flesh is no good for anything. 

When the cat’s away the mice will play. 
Advantage will be taken of the absence of the 
person in authority. An old proverb, found 
in many languages. It is given in Ray’s 
Collection. 

Cat Names, Phrases, etc. 

Cat and Fiddle. Several fanciful derivations 
have been found for this inn sign. There can 
be little doubt that it comes from the nursery 
rhyme, with a possible reference to the once 
popular game of tip-cat or trap-ball, and the 
fiddle for a dance that were provided as 
attractions for customers. It is worth men- 
tioning that the Dunciad (i, 224) refers in 
contempt to Cibber as “the Bear and Fiddle 
of the town.” 

Cat and Kittens. A public-house sign, 
alluding to the range of pewter-pots of various 
sizes that were so called. Stealing these pots 
was termed “cat and kitten sneaking.” 

Cat and Mouse Act. Popular name for the 
Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill- 
Health) Act or 1913, passed during the 
Suffragette agitation. It attempted to render 
nugatory the hunger-strikes of imprisoned 
suffragettes by freeing them when necessary, 
but making them liable to re-arrest when 
sufficiently recovered to serve the remainder of 
their sentences. To play cat and mouse is to do 
what you like with someone in your power. 

Cat-call. A kind of whistle used at theatres 
by the audience to express displeasure or 
impatience. A hideous noise like the call or 
waul of a cat . 

I was very much surprised with the great consort of 
cat-calls ... to see so many persons of quality of 
both sexes assembled together in a kind of cater- 
wauling. Addison: Spectator , No. 361. 



Cat-eyed 


183 


Catch 


Cat-eyed. Able to see in the dark. 

Cat Ice* Very thin, almost transparent ice 
from which the water that was underneath 
has receded; so slight as to be unable to bear 
a cat. 

Cat-lap. A contemptuous name for tea, or 
other “soft” drink such as a cat could 
swallow; a non-alcoholic liquor. 

A more accomplished old woman never drank cat- 
lap. — Scorr: Redgauntlet , ch. xii. 

Cat-nap. To snatch a few minutes’ sleep in 
a chair or in a car, between one’s appointments 
or activities, from the propensity of cats for 
dozing off wherever they are and in any 
position. 

Cat o’ mountain. The wild-cat; also the 
leopard, or panther; hence a wild, savage sort 
of man. 

Cat-o’-nine-tails. A whip with nine lashes, 
used for punishing offenders, briefly called a 
cat. Popular superstition says that it has 
nine tails because a flogging by a “trinity of 
trinities” would be both more sacred and 
more efficacious. Thrashing in the British 
army and navy is no longer employed, but a 
modified form of it was still, though rarely, 
used as a civil punishment for crimes com- 
mitted with violence until abolished in 1948. 

Cat Stane. The name given to certain 
monoliths in Scotland (there is one near 
Kirkliston, Linlithgow), so called from Celtic 
cath , a battle, because they mark the site of 
some battle. They are not Druidical stones. 

Cat’s-brains. This curious name is given to 
a geological formation of sandstone veined with 
chalk. It is a phrase frequently met with in 
old agricultural deeds and surveys. 

Cat’s cradle. A game played with a piece 
of twine by two children. The suggestion that 
the name is a corruption of cratch-cradle , or 
the manger cradle in which the infant Saviour 
was laid (cratch is the Fr. crdche , a rack or 
manger), is unsupported by any evidence. 

Cat’s eye. A gem which possesses chatoy- 
ancy, or a changeable lustre. The true, or 
precious, cat’s eye is a variety of chrysoberyl. 
The semi-precious cat’s eye is a kind of 
quartz. 

To live under the cat’s foot. To be under 
petticoat government; to be henpecked. A 
mouse under the paw of a cat lives but by 
sufferance and at the cat’s pleasure. 

To be made a cat’s paw of, i.e. the tool of 
another, the medium of doing another’s dirty 
work. The allusion is to the fable of the 
monkey who wanted to get some roasted 
chestnuts from the fire, and used the paw of 
his friend, the cat, for the purpose. 

I had no intention of becoming a cat’s paw to draw 
European chestnuts out of the fire. — Com. Rodgers. 

At sea, light air during a calm causing a 
ripple on the water, and indicating a storm, 
is called by sailors a cat's paw , and seamen 
affirm that the frolics of a cat indicate a gale. 

The cat’s pyjamas. Something super- 
latively good; first-rate; attractive. Ameri- 
can colloquialism, in use by 1900, and Angli- 
cized by 1923, but now obsolete. 


Cat’s whisker. In the old-fashioned crystal 
wireless sets this was the name given to the 
fine wire that made contact with tne crystal. 

The cat’s whiskers. A variant of “the cat’s 
pyjamas” (see above). 

Catacomb (kat' & com). A subterranean gal- 
lery for the burial of the dead, especially those 
at Rome. The origin of the name is unknown, 
but it does not appear to have been used till 
about the 5th century of our era (though the 
catacombs themselves were in existence, and 
used for burial, long before), and then only 
in connexion with one cemetery, that of St. 
Sebastian, on the Appian Way. This was 
called the Ccemeterium Catacumbas or, 
shortly, Catacumbas , which name in course of 
time was applied equally to similar cemeteries. 
Catacumbas was probably, therefore, a place- 
name, denoting the site of this particular 
cemetery. 

Cataian (kat a' yan). A native of Cathay or 
China; hence, a thief, liar, or scoundrel, 
because the Chinese had the reputation of 
being such. 

I will not believe such a Cataian, though the priest 
of the town commended him for a true man. 

Shakespeare: Merry Wives , II, i. 

Catalogue raisonnd (ra' z6 na). A catalogue 
of books, paintings, etc., classed according 
to their subjects and often with explanatory 
notes or comments. 

Catamaran (kat a mi rfinT A scraggy old 
woman, a vixen; so called by a play on the 
first syllable. It properly means a raft 
consisting of three logs lashed together with 
ropes ; used on the coasts of Coromandel and 
Madras. 

No, you old catamaran, though you pretend you 
never read novels. . . . 

Thackeray: Lovel the Widower, ch. 1. 

Catastrophe (ka t3s' tr6 fi) (Gr. kata , down- 
wards ; strephein, to turn). A turning upside 
down. Originally used of the change which 
produces the denouement of a drama, which is 
usually a “turning upside down” of the 
beginning of the plot. 

All the actors must enter to complete and make up 
the catastrophe of this great piece. 

Sir T. Browne: Religio Medici. 

Pat, he comes, like the catastrophe of the old 
comedy. — King Lear , I, ii. 

Catch. Catch as catch can. Get by hook or 
crook all you can; a phrase from the child’s 
game of this name, or from the method of 
wrestling so called, in which the wrestlers are 
allowed to get a grip anyhow or anywhere. 

Catch me at it. Most certainly I shall never 
do what you say. 

Catch weights. A term in racing, wrestling 
or boxing, meaning without restrictions as to 
weight. 

First catch your hare. It is generally 
believed that Mrs. Glasse, in the Art of 
Cookery , gave this direction; but the exact 
words are, “Take your hare when it is cased, 
and make a pudding, . . . etc.” To “case” 
means to take off the skin, as in All's Well, III, 
vi, We’ll make you some sport with the fox ere 
we case him.” “First catch your hare,” 


Catch 


184 


Catgut' 


however, is a very old phrase, and in the 13th 
century Bracton (Bk. IV, tit. i. ch. xxi, sec. 4) 
has these words : — 

Vulgariter dicitur, quod primo oportet cervum 
caperc, et postea, cum captus fuerit, ilium excoriaro 
(it is vulgarly said that you must first catch your deer, 
and then, when it is caught, skin it). 

Hannah Glasse, who was the author of The 
Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy , 1747, 
and various other books of a similar nature, 
was habit-maker to the Prince of Wales, 1757. 

To be caught bending. To be caught at a 
disadvantage. If you catch a small boy 
bending over it is easy to smack him on that 
portion of his anatomy provided by nature for 
the purpose. Some time about 1903 one of 
George Robey’s songs declared : — 

What hoi If I catch you bending! 

To be caught napping. To suffer some 
disadvantage while off one’s guard. Pheasants, 
hares, and other animals are sometimes 
surprised “napping.” 

To catch a crab. A rowing phrase used 
when the oarsman fails to catch the water 
with the oar. He is then struck by the handle 
of the oar as it is caught in the water and 
rises. 

To catch a tartar. To catch a troublesome 
prisoner; to have dealings with a person who is 
more than a match for one; to think that one 
is going to manage a person, only to find it is 
no easy job. 

We are like the man who boasted of having caught 
a Tartar when the fact was that the Tartar had caught 
him . — Cautions for the Times. 

To catch on. To make its way; to become 
popular. As in 

One can never tell what sort of song will catch on 
with the public, but the one that does is a little gold 
mine. 

To be caught out. To be unmasked in a lie 
or subterfuge, from ball games in which to have 
a catch caught by a fieldsman puts the striker 
out. 

To catch the Speaker’s eye. To find the 
eye of the Speaker fixed on you; to be observed 
by the Speaker. In the House of Commons 
the member on whom the eye of the Speaker 
is fixed has the privilege of addressing the 
House. 

To lie upon the catch. To lie in wait; to try 
to catch one tripping. 

You’ll catch it. You’ll get severely pun- 
ished. Here “it” stands For the undefined 
punishment, such as a whipping, a scolding, 
or other unpleasant consequence. 

Catchpenny. A worthless article puffed up 
to catch the pennies of those who are foolish 
enough to buy it. 

Catchpole. A constable; a law officer 
whose business it was to apprehend criminals. 
This is nothing to do with a pole or staff, nor 
with poll , the head, but is mediaeval Lat. 
chassipullus , one who hunts or chases fowls 
( pullus , a fowl). 


Catchword. A popular cry, a word or a 
phrase adopted by any party for political or 
other purposes. “Three acres and a cow,” 
“Your food will cost you more,” are good 
examples. 

In printing, the first word on a page which 
is printed at the foot of the preceding page is 
known as the catchword ; the first book so 
printed was a Tacitus , by John de Spira, 1469. 

Printers also use the same name for the 
main words in a dictionary; i.e. those at the 
start of each article, printed in bold type so as 
to catch the eye. 

In theatrical parlance, the cue, i.e. the last 
word or so of an actor’s speech, is called the 
catchword. 

Catechumen (k3t e kQ' men). One taught by 
word of mouth (Gr. katecheein, to din into the 
ears). Those about to be baptized in the 
Early Church were first taught by word of 
mouth, and then catechized on their religious 
faith and duties. 

Caterans, or Catherans (k&t' e ranz). High- 
land Scottish freebooters; the word occurs in 
Scottish romances and ballads. 

Cater-cousin. An intimate friend; a remote 
kinsman. The name probably has reference 
to persons being catered for together, or 
boarded together, who would naturally be- 
come more or less intimate; ‘Triends so 
familiar that they eat together.” 

His master and he, saving your worship’s reverence, 
are scarce cater-cousins. 

Shakespeare: Merchant of Venice, II, ii. 

Caterpillar. Caterpillar Club. An unofficial 
club started by the Irvin Parachute Company, 
during the 1939-45 war, who presented a 
small gold caterpillar pin to any R.A.F. 
airman who had baled out in action, on his 
supplying the number of the parachute which 
had saved his life. A similar organization 
known as the Goldfish Club existed for those 
who had been forced to use their rubber 
dinghies. 

Caterpillar traction. This is a device for 
moving a heavy load over soft ground where 
wheels will sink. Round the wheels passes 
an endless band of linked plates which so 
forms a track along which the vehicle pro- 
gresses. The device is much used for agricul- 
tural vehicles and for tanks and other military 
vehicles. 

Catgut. Cord of various thicknesses, made 
from the intestines of animals (usually sheep, 
but never cats), and used for strings of musical 
instruments and racquets for ball games. Why 
it should have been called cat- gut has never 
been satisfactorily explained, but it may be 
a corruption of kit-gut , kit being an old word 
for a small fiddle. In support of this we have 
the following from Cartwright’s The Ordinary 
(1634):— 

Hearsay: Do you not hear her guts already squeak 
Like kit-strings? 

Slicer: They must come to that within 

This two or three years: by that time 
she’ll be 

True perfect cat. Act I, ii. 




Catgut 


185 


Catiline’s Conspiracy 


Here’s a tune indeed! pish, 

I had rather hear one ballad sung i’ the nose now 
Than all these simpering tunes played upon cat’s-guts 
And sung by little kitlings. 

Middleton: Women Beware Women, III, ii. 

Shakespeare, however, definitely gives cat- 
gut its true origin : — 

Now, divine air! Now is his soul ravished! Is it 
not strange that sheep’s guts should hale souls out 
of men’s bodies? Well, a horn for my money, when 
all’s done. — Much Ado, II, iii. 

Catgut scraper. A fiddler. 

Catharine. See Catherine. 

Cathay (k& tha'). Marco Polo’s name for a 
country in Eastern Asia, roughly identical 
with Northern China; from Ki-tah , the name 
of the ruling race in those parts in the 10th 
century. 

Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay. 

Tennyson: Locksley Hall. 

Cathedrals of the Old Foundation. The 

ancient cathedrals that existed in England 
before Henry VI II founded and endowed new 
cathedrals out of the revenues of the dissolved 
monasteries. These latter are known as 
Cathedrals of the New Foundation ; they are 
Chester, Gloucester, Peterborough, Bristol, 
and Oxford. 

Catherine, St. St. Catherine was a virgin of 
royal descent in Alexandria, who publicly 
confessed the Christian faith at a sacrificial 
feast appointed by the Emperor Maximinus, 
for which confession she was put to death by 
torture by means of a wheel like that of a 
chaff-cutter. Hence 

Catherine wheel, a sort of firework; in the 
form of a wheel which is driven round by the 
recoil from the explosion of the various squibs 
of which it is composed. 

Catherine-wheel window. A wheel-window, 
sometimes called a rose-window, with radiating 
divisions. 

The Order of St. Catherine. A Russian 
order founded for ladies of the nobility by 
Peter the Great after his naval victory of 
Aland in 1714, and so named in compliment 
to his wife, Catherine. 

To braid St. Catherine’s tresses. To live a 
virgin. 

Thou art too fair to be left to braid St. Catherine’s 
tresses. — Longfellow : Evangeline. 

Catherine Thcot (ta' 6). This French vision- 
ary was somewhat like our Joanna Southcott, 
calling herself The Mother of God and 
changing her name to Theos (God), in the 
height of the Revolution she preached the 
worship of the Supreme Being and announced 
that Robespierre was the forerunner of The 
Word. Robespierre himself believed in her, 
and she called him her well-beloved son and 
chief prophet. She was guillotined in 1795, 
being just seventy years of age. 

Catholic. The word (Gr. katholikos y general, 
universal) means general, universal, compre- 
hensive — a sense which is seen in such a 
sentence as Wordsworth’s: — 

Creed and test 

Vanish before the unreserved embrace 

Of catholic humanity. 

Ecclesiastical Sonnets , III, xxxvi. 


Hence from the Church point of view, it 
distinguishes first the whole body of Christians 
as apart from “Jews, heretics, and infidels”; 
secondly, a member of a Church which claims 
the Apostolic Succession and direct descent 
from the earliest body of Christians; and 
thirdly, a member of the Roman Catholic 
Church, i.e. the Western or Latin branch of 
the ancient Catholic (or universal ) Church. 

Alphonso I, King of Asturias, 739-757, was 
surnamed The Catholic on account of his zeal 
in erecting and endowing monasteries and 
churches. See Catholic King. 

A man of catholic tastes is one who is 
interested in a wide variety of subjects. 

Catholic Church. The entire body of 
Christians considered as a whole, as distin- 
guished from the Churches and sects into which 
it has divided. At the Reformation the 
Western Church was called by the Reformers 
the Roman Catholic Church, and the Estab- 
lished Church of England was called the 
“Protestant Church,” or the “Reformed 
National Church.” Many members of the 
Anglican Church still consider and call 
themselves Catholics. 

Catholic and Apostolic Church. The name 
given to the followers of Edward Irving (1792- 
1834), and to the Church founded by him 
in 1829. Also called Irvingites. 

Catholic Epistles. Those Epistles in the 
New Testament not addressed to any particular 
church or individual; the general epistles, viz. 
those of James, Peter and Jude, and the first 
of John; II John is addressed to a “lady”, 
and III John to Gaius, and these are usually 
included. 

Catholic King, or His Most Catholic 
Majesty. A title given by the Pope to Ferdin- 
and, King of Aragon (1474-1516), for expelling 
the Moors from Spain, and thereafter used as 
the appellation of the kings of Spain. Cp . 
Religious. 

Catholic League. A confederacy of Catho- 
lics formed in 1614 to counter-balance the 
Evangelic League of Bohemia. The two 
Leagues kept Germany in perpetual distur- 
bance, and ultimately led to the Thirty Years 
War (1618-48). 

Catholic Roll. A document which English 
Roman Catholics were obliged to sign on 
taking their seats as Member of Parliament. 
It was abolished, and a single oath prescribed 
to all members by the 29, 30 Victoria, c. 19 
(1866). 

Catholicon (k& thoT i k6n). A panacea, a 
universal remedy, from the Greek word mean- 
ing universal, all-embracing. 

Catholicos (ka thol' i k6s). The head of the 
Assyrian Nestorians. Now called the Patri- 
arch of Armenia. 

Catiline’s Conspiracy (k2t' i lln). Lucius Ser- 
gius Catilina, 64 b.c., conspired with a large 
number of dissolute young nobles to plunder 
the Roman treasury, extirpate the senate, and 
fire the capitol. Cicero, who was consul, got 
full information of the plot, and delivered his 
first Oration against Catiline November 8th, 
63, whereupon Catiline quitted Rome. Next 


day Cicero delivered his second Oration, and 
several of the conspirators were arrested. On 
December 4th Cicero made his third Oration, 
respecting what punishment should be accorded 
to the conspirators. And on December 5th, 
after his fourth Oration, sentence of death 
was passed. Catiline tried to escape into 
Gaul, but, being intercepted, he was slain 
fighting, 62 b.c. 

Cato (ka' to). He is a Cato. A man of 
simple life, severe morals, self-denying habits, 
strict justice, brusque manners, blunt of speech, 
and of undoubted patriotism, like the Roman 
censor of that name (234-149 b.c.). 

Cato Street Conspiracy. A scheme enter- 
tained by Arthur Thistlewood (1770-1820) and 
other conspirators to overthrow the Govern- 
ment by assassinating the Cabinet Ministers 
(February 1820). So called from Cato Street 
(now Horace Street), Edgware Road, where 
their meetings were held. 

Catsup. See Ketchup. 

Caucasian (kaw ka' sh£n). This is the term 
employed to designate the white or European 
race of mankind. It originated with Blumen- 
feld (1752-1840) who, in 1775, selected a 
Georgian skull as the perfect type — a view that 
has since proved wrong. The term is, how- 
ever, still retained in modern ethnology, 
though with certain reservations. 

Caucus (kaw' kus). An American word, first 
recorded as having been used in Boston about 
1750, introduced into English political slang 
and popularized by Joseph Chamberlain about 
1 878. In America it means a meeting of some 
division, large or small, of a political or 
legislative body, for the purpose of agreeing 
upon a united course of action in the main 
assembly. In England it is applied oppro- 
briously to an inner committee or organization 
which seeks to manage affairs behind the backs 
of its party. The origin of the word is un- 
known, but it may be connected with the 
Algonquin word cau-cau-as-u , one who 
advises. 

In all these places is a sevcrall commander, which 
they call Werowance* except the Chickahamanians , 
who are governed by the priests and their Assistants, 
or their Elders called caw-cawwassoughes. — Capt. 
John Smith’s “ Travels in Virginia 6th Voyage 
( 1606 ). 

Caudillo (kaw dir yd). The title adopted by 
Gen. Franco, head of the Falangist govern- 
ment in Spain. It was taken in imitation of 
Mussolini’s “Duce” and Hitler’s “Fiihrer,” 
like them meaning “Leader.” 

Caudine Forks (kaw' din). A narrow pass in 
the mountains near Capua, now called the 
Valley of Arpaia. It was here that the Roman 
army, under the consuls T. Veturius Calvinus 
and Sp. Postumius, fell into the hands of the 
Samnites (321 b.c.), and were made to pass 
under the yoke. 

Caudle. Any sloppy mess, especially that 
sweet mixture of gruel and wine or spirits 
given by nurses to recently confined women 
and then: “gossips” who called to see the baby 
during the first month. The word simply 
means something warm (Lat. catidus). 


Caudle lecture. A curtain lecture. The 
term is derived from a series of papers by 
Douglas Jerrold, Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lec- 
tures, which were published in Punch (1846). 
These papers represent Job Caudle as a 
patient sufferer ot the lectures of his nagging 
wife after they had gone to bed and the curtains 
were drawn. 

Caught Napping. See under Catch. 

Caul. In the Middle Ages and down to the 
17th century this word was used for a net 
confining a woman’s hair, now called a 
snood : — 

Her head with ringlets of her hair is crowned, 

And in a golden caul the curls are bound. 

Drydfn: Aeneict , VII. 

It was also used to describe any membrane 
enclosing the viscera, e.g. The caul that is 
above the liver, Ex. xxxix, 13. 

The membrane on the head of some new- 
born infants is called the caul and is supposed 
to be a charm against death by drowning. 

To be born with a caul was with the Romans 
tantamount to our phrase, “To be born with 
a silver spoon in one^s mouth,” meaning “born 
to good luck.” 

You were born with a caul on your head. 

Ben Jonson: Alchemist , 1, i. 
Cauid-Iad, The, of Hilton Hall. A house- 
spirit, who moved about the furniture during 
the night. Being resolved to banish him, 
the inmates left for him a green cloak and 
hood, before the kitchcn-fire, which so 
delighted him that he never troubled the house 
any more; but sometimes he might be heard 
singing: — 

Here’s a cloak, and here’s a hood, 

The cauld-Iad of Hilton will do no more good. 

Caurus (kaw' rus). The Latin name for the 
west-north-west wind, Anglicized by Chaucer 
as Chorus. 

. . . the sonne is hid whan the sterres ben clustred 
by a swifte winde hightc Chorus. — Boethius: Bk. 1, 
Mett. iii. 

The ground by piercing Caurus seared. 

Thomson: Castle of Indolence , ii, 78. 
Causa causans (kaw'za kaw' zanz). The 
initiating cause; the primary cause. 

Causa causata. The cause which owes its 
existence to the causa causans ; the secondary 
cause. 

Causa vera. (a) The immediate predecessor 
of an effect; (b) a cause verifiable by indepen- 
dent evidence. (Mill.) 

In theology God is the causa causans , and creation 
the causa causata. The presence of the sun above the 
horizon is the causa vera of daylight, and his with- 
drawal below the horizon is the causa vera of night. 
Cause. Aristotelian causes are these four: 

(1) The Efficient Cause. That which im- 
mediately produces the effect. 

(2) The Material Cause. The matter on 
which (1) works. 

(3) The Formal Cause. The Essence of 
“Form” (= group of attributes) introduced 
into the matter by the efficient cause. 

(4) The Final or Ultimate Cause. The 
purpose or end for which the thing exists or 
the causal change takes place. But God is 
called the ultimate Final Cause, since, accord- 
ing to Aristotle, all things tend, so far as they 
can, to realize some Divine attribute. 




Cause 


187 


Cecilia, St. 


God is also called The First Cause, or the 
Cause Causeless, beyond which even imagina- 
tion cannot go. 

Cause, The. A mission; the object or 
project. 

To make common cause. To work for the 
same object. Here “cause” is the legal 
term, meaning pro or con , as it may be, the 
cause or side of the question advocated. 

Cause cetebre (Fr.). Any famous law case 
or trial. 

Causerie (ko' z£r i). Gossip, small-talk; in 
journalism a chatty essay or article, a set of 
gossipy paragraphs. (Fr. causer , to chat.) 

Caution. So-and-so’s a caution, meaning that 
he is odd in his ways, likely to do something 
unexpected, often with a quaint twist to it. 
The phrase is originally American, and had a 
somewhat wider application: — 

The way the icy blast would come down the bleak 
shore was a caution. 

C. F. Hoffman: Winter West (1835). 

His wife was w hat the Yankees call a Caution. 

Mortimer Collins: Vivien (1870). 

Caution money. A sum deposited before 
entering college, or an Inn of Court, etc., by 
way of security for good behaviour. 

Cavalier. A horseman; whence a knight, a 
gentleman (Span, caballcro, b and v being 
pronounced alike in that language.) 

Personages styled The Cavalier. 

Fon dc Beaumont (1728-1810), French 
diplomat and secret agent; Chevalier d' Eon. 

Charles Breydel (1677-1744), Flemish land- 
scape painter. 

Francesco Cairo (Cavaliere del Cairo) (1598- 
1674), Italian historical and portrait painter. 

Jean le Clerc, Ic chevalier (1587-1633), 
French painter. 

Ciiov. Battista Marini (1569-1625), Italian 
poet; l i cavalier. 

Andrew Michael Ramsay (1686-1734), 
Scottish-French writer. 

Cavalier or Chevalier of St. George. James 
Francis Edward Stuart, called “the Pretender,” 
or “the Old Pretender” (1688-1765). 

The Young Cavalier or the Bonnie Chevalier. 
Charles Edward, the “Young Pretender” (1720- 
85). 

The Laughing Cavalier. Name given to the 
famous portrait of an unknown gallant, by the 
Dutch painter Franz Hals, now in the Wallace 
Collection, London. 

Cavaliers. Adherents of Charles I. Those 
of the opposing Parliament party were called 
Roundheads. 

Cavaliere servente (kav a Iyer' i ser ven' te) 
(Ital.). A cavalier in attendance; especially a 
man who devotes himself to running about 
after a married woman; much the same as a 
cicisbeo (q.v.). 

Cave of Adullam. See Adullamites. 

Caveat (ka' ve &t). Lat. “let him beware”; 
a notice directing the recipient to refrain from 
some act pending the decision of the Court. 

B.D. — 7 


Hence, to enter a caveat. To give legal notice 
that the opponent is not to proceed with the 
suit in hand until the party giving the notice has 
been heard; to give a warning or admonition. 

Caveat emptor. Lat. “let the purchaser 
beware”; i.e. the buyer must keep his eyes 
open, for the bargain he agrees to is binding. 
The full legal maxim is: — 

Caveat emptor, quia ignorare non debuit quod ius 
alienum emit. — Let a purchaser beware, for he ought 
not to be ignorant of the nature of the property which 
he is buying from another party. 

Cavel. A parcel or allotment of land; 
originally, a lot (that is cast). From Dut. 
kavel , a lot, whence kaveln , to assign by lot. 
Cavendish (kav' en dish). It is not now known 
who was the Cavendish who gave his name 
to this tobacco, which is sometimes called 
Negro-head. Sweetened with syrup or mo- 
lasses, it is a softened tobacco pressed into 
quadrangular cakes. It is used for smoking 
or chewing. 

Caviare (kav i ar). The roe of the sturgeon, 
pickled, salted, and prepared for use as a relish. 
Caviare is an acquired taste and, as a rule, it is 
not appreciated by people until they have got 
used to it; hence Shakespeare’s caviare to the 
general ( Hamlet , II, ii), above the taste or 
comprehension of ordinary people. 

He [Cobbett] must, I think, be caviare to the Whigs. 

Hazlitt: Table-talk. 

Cavo-rilievo (ka' vo ril ya' vo). “Relief,” cut 
below the original surface, the highest parts 
of the figure being on a level with the surface. 
Caxon. A worn-out wig; also a big cauli- 
flower wig, worn out or not. It has been 
suggested that the word is from the personal 
name Caxon. 

People scarce could decide on its phiz, 

Which looked wisest — the caxon or jowl. 

Peter Pindar: The Portfolio . 
Caxton, William. Father of English printing, 
hence his name is widely applied to branded 
articles in the printing and paper trades. 
Born in the Weald of Kent, he learnt his 
printing in Cologne and Bruges. He set up 
shop at the Sign of the Red Pale in the shadow 
of Westminster Abbey about 1476 and died 
in 1491, by which time he had printed 
about a hundred books. 

Cayuse. An Indian pony. The Cay uses were 
a Red Indian tribe. Since about 1880 the 
word has meant “a horse of little value.” 

Cean (se' an). The Cean poet. Simonides, of 
Ceos. 

The Cean and the Teian muse. 

Byron; Don Juan (Song: The Isles of Greece). 
Cecilia, St. (se sir i a). A Roman who under- 
went martyrdom in the 3rd century. She is 
the patron saint of the blind, being herself 
blind; she is also patroness of musicians, and 
“inventor of the organ.” 

At length divine Cecilia came, 

Inventress of the vocal frame. 

Dryden: Alexander's Feast . 

According to tradition an angel fell in love 
with her for her musical skill. Her husband 
saw the heavenly visitant, who gave to both a 
crown of martyrdom which he brought from 
Paradise. 



Cecil’s Fast 


188 


Centurion 


St. Cecilia’s Day is November 22nd, on 
which the Worshipful Company of Musicians, 
a Livery Company of London, meet and 
go in procession for divine service in St. 
Paul’s Cathedral. 

Cecil’s Fast. A dinner off fish. William 
Cecil, Lord Burghley, chief minister to Queen 
Elizabeth for nearly forty years, introduced a 
Bill to enjoin the eating of fish on certain days 
in order to restore the fish trade. 

Ceelict, St. An English name of St. Calixtus, 
who is commemorated on October 14th, the 
day of the Battle of Hastings. 

Brown Willis tells us there was a tablet once 
in Battle parish church with these words:— 
This place of war is Battle called, because in battle 
here 

Quite conquered and o’erthrown the English nation 
were. 

This slaughter happened to them upon St. Ceelict’s 
day, etc. 

Ceiling. The term is figuratively applied to 
the maximum height to which an aeroplane 
can climb. It has also been extended to 
mean the highest prices that can be reached 
for any article. Also used in aeronautical 
circles to denote the height of the cloud 
base above ground level. Ceiling zero 
means that the clouds or mist are down to 
the ground itself, or so near it as to make the 
taking-off or landing of aircraft impracticable 
except by instruments. 

Celarent. See Syllogism. 

Celestial City. Heaven is so called by John 
Bunyan in his Pilgrim's Progress. 

Celestial Empire, China; a translation of 
the Chinese Tien C/tao , literally “heavenly 
dynasty,” alluding to the belief that the old 
Emperors were in direct descent from the gods. 
Hence the Chinese themselves arc sometimes 
spoken of as Celestials. 

Celestines. An order of reformed Benedictine 
monks, founded about 1254 by Pietro di 
Murrone who, in 1294, became Pope as 
Celestine V. 

Celt (selt, kelt). A piece of stone, ground arti- 
ficially into a wedge-like shape, with a cutting 
edge. Used before the employment of bronze 
and iron, for knives, hatchets, and chisels. 

Celtic (sel' tik, kef tik). Applied to the 
peoples and languages of the great branch of 
the Aryans which includes the Irish, Manx, 
Welsh, ancient Cornish, Breton, and Scottish 
Gaels. Anciently the term was applied by the 
Greeks and Romans to the peoples of Western 
Europe generally, but when Caesar wrote of the 
Celtae he referred to the people of middle 
Gaul only. The word Celt probably means a 
warrior; fable accounts for it by the story of 
Celtina, daughter of Britannus, who had a son 
by Hercules, named Celtus, who became the 
progenitor of the Celts. 

Cemetery properly means a sleeping-place (Gr. 
koimeterion , a dormitory). The Persians call 
their cemeteries “The Cities of the Silent.” 
Cenci. See Beautiful Parricide. 

Cenomanni (sen 6 ma' ni). The name given to 
the inhabitants of Norfolk, Suffolk, and 
Cambridge by Caesar in his Commentaries. 


Cenotaph (sen' 6 taf) (Gr. kenos , empty; 
taphos , tomb). A sepulchral monument raised 
to the memory of a person buried elsewhere. 
By far the most noteworthy to all of British 
race is that in Whitehall, designed by Sir E. 
Lutyens, which was dedicated on November 
11th, 1920, to those who fell in World War I. 
It has since been adapted to commemorate 
those who fell in World War, II. 

Among the noted cenotaphs of the ancients 
are those of : — 

>Eneas to Deiphobus ( JEneid , I, 6; V, 505). 
Andromache to Hector {ALneid, I, 3: V, 302). 
Aristotle to Hermias and Eubulus ( Diogenes 
Laertius ). 

The Athenians to the poet Euripides. 

Callimachus to Sopolis, son of Dioclides ( Epigram of 
Callimachus , 22). 

Catullus to his brother ( Epigram of Catullus , 103). 
Dido to Sichtcus ( Justin , xviii, 6). 

The Romans to Drusus in Germany, and to Alexander 
Severus, the emperor, in Gaul ( Suetonius : Life of 
Claudius ; and the Anlho/ogia). 

Statius to his father {The Sylvce of Statius, v, Epiccd- 
ium 3). 

Xenocrates to Lysidices ( Anthologia ). 

Centaur. Mythological beast, half horse and 
half man. Centaurs are said to have dwelt 
in ancient Thessaly; a myth the origin of which 
is probably to be found in the expert horseman- 
ship of the original inhabitants. See Ixion. 
The Thessalian centaurs were invited to a 
marriage feast, and, being intoxicated, behaved 
with great rudeness to the women. The 
Lapithx took the women's part, fell on the 
centaurs, and drove them out of the country. 

Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles (son noo vel' 
noo vel'). This collection of “a hundred new 
tales” first appeared in a MS dated 1456. It 
is on much the same lines as the Decameron 
and tells in French some of the stories already 
made familiar by the Italian novelists. Saints- 
bury calls it the best of all the late mediaeval 
prose works. 

Cento (Lat. a patchwork). Poetry made up 
of lines borrowed from established authors. 
It was an art freely practised in the decadent 
period of Greece and Rome, and Ausonius, 
who has a nuptial idyll composed from verses 
selected from Virgil, composed rules governing 
their manufacture. Among well-known ex- 
amples are the Homerocentones , the Cento 
Virgilianus by Proba Falconia (4th cent.), and 
the hymns made by Metellus out of the Odes 
of Horace. 

Centre Party. In politics, the party occupying 
a place between two extremes: the left centre 
is the more radical wing, and the right centre 
the more conservative. In the French 
Revolution the Centre of the Legislative 
Assembly included the friends of order. 

In the Fenian rebellion, 1866, the chief 
movers were called Head Centres , and their 
subordinates Centres. 

Centurion (sen tu' ri on) (Lat. centum , a hun- 
dred). A Roman officer who had the com- 
mand of 100 men. There were sixty centurions, 
of varying ranks, to a legion, the chief being 
the first centurion of the first maniple of the 
first cohort; his title was Primus pilus prior, or 
Primipilus. The centurion’s emblem of office 
was a vine-staff. 



Cephalus 


189 


Chaff 


Cephalus and Procris (seP a liis, prok' ris). 
Cephalus was husband of Procris, who, out 
of jealousy, deserted him. He went in search 
of her, and rested awhile under a tree. Procris, 
knowing of his whereabouts, crept through 
some bushes to ascertain if a rival was with 
him; and he, hearing the noise and thinking it 
to be made by some wild beast, hurled his 
javelin into the bushes and slew her. When 
the unhappy man discovered what he had done, 
he slew himself in anguish of spirit with the 
same javelin. 

Py ramus : Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true. 

Thisbe : As Shafalus to Procrus, I to you. 

v Shakespeare: Midsummer Night’s Dream , V, i. 

Cepheus (sc' fus). A northern constellation; 
named from Cepheus, King of Ethiopia, hus- 
band of Cassiopeia and father of Andromeda. 
Cepola (sep' 6 la). Devices of Cepola. Quips 
of law are so called from Bartholomew Cepola 
whose law-quirks, teaching how to elude the 
most express law, and to perpetuate lawsuits ad 
infinitum , have been frequently reprinted — once 
in 8vo, in black letter, by John Petit, in 1503. 
Cerberus (ser' be rus). A grim, watchful 
keeper, house-porter, guardian, etc. Cerberus, 
according to Roman mythology, is the three- 
headed dog that keeps the entrance of the 
infernal regions. Hercules dragged the mon- 
ster to earth, and then let him go again. 
Orpheus lulled Cerberus to sleep with his lyre; 
and the Sibyl who conducted vEneas through 
the Inferno, also threw the dog into a profound 
sleep with a cake seasoned with poppies and 
honey. See under Sop. 

The origin of the fable of Cerberus may be 
found in the custom of the ancient Egyptians 
of guarding graves with dogs. 

Ceremonious, The. Pedro IV of Aragon 
(1336-87) was so surnamed. 

Ceremony (Lat. ccerimonia). By way of 
accounting for this word, which is probably 
connected with Sanskrit karman , a religious 
action, a rite, Livy tells that when the Romans 
fled before Brennus, one Albinus, who was 
carrying his wife and children in a cart to a 
place of safety, overtook at Janiculum the 
Vestal virgins bending under their load, took 
them up and conveyed them to Caere, in 
Etruria. Here they remained, and continued 
to perform their sacred rites, which were 
consequently called “Caere-monia.” 

Master of the Ceremonies. A Court 
official, first appointed by James I, to superin- 
tend the reception of ambassadors and 
strangers of rank, and to prescribe the 
formalities to be observed in levees and other 
grand public functions. The title is now given 
to one whose duty it is to see that all goes 
smoothly at balls and suchlike social gather- 
ings: frequently abbreviated to “M.C.” 

Don’t stand on ceremony. Feel at home, be 
natural, don’t be formal. 

Ceres (se' rez). The Roman name of Mother 
Earth , the protectress of agriculture and of all 
the fruits of the earth; later identified with the 
Greek Demeter. 

Cess. A tax, contracted from assessment 
(“sess”); as a “church-cess.” In Ireland the 


word is used sometimes as a contraction of 
success, meaning luck, as “bad cess to you!” 

Out of all cess. Beyond all estimation or 

valuation. 

The poor jade is wrung in the withers out of all cess. 
—Shakespeare: Henry IV , Pt. /, II, i. 

C’est magnifique. C'est magnifique , mais ce 
n'est pas la guerre . “It is magnificent, but it 
is not war.” The criticism on the charge of 
the Light Brigade at Balaclava (Oct. 25th, 
1854), made on the field at the time, by the 
French General Bosquet to A. H. Layard. 

Cestui que vie. This and the two following 
are old Anglo-French legal terms ( cestui = he, 
or him). The person for whose life any lands 
or hereditaments may be held. 

Cestui que use, the person to whose use 
anyone is mfeoffed of lands or tenements. 

Cestui que trust, the person for whose benefit 
a trust has been created. 

Cestus (ses' tus). The girdle of Venus, made 
by her husband Vulcan; but when she 
wantoned with Mars it fell off, and was left on 
the “Acidalian Mount.” It was of magical 
power to move to ardent love. By a poetical 
fiction all women of irresistible attraction are 
supposed to be wearers of Aphrodite’s girdle, 
or the cestus. 

The word was also applied to the Roman 
boxing-glove, composed of leather bands 
wound round the hand and wrist, and often 
loaded with iron. 

Chacun a son gofit (shak'un a son goo). 
“Everyone has («) his taste”; or, “Everyone 
to {d) his taste.” The former is French, the 
latter is English-French for a chacun son gout 
or chacun (d) son gout. The phrase is much 
more common with us than it is in France, 
where we meet with the phrases — Chacun a sa 
chacunerie (everyone has his idiosyncrasy), 
and chacun a sa marotte (everyone has his 
hobby). In Latin sua cuique voluptas , every 
man has his own pleasures. 

Chad. A small gnome whose bald head and 
large nose were depicted in public places as 
appearing over a wall and inquiring, “Wot, 
no [word filled in to suit the circumstance]?”, 
as a sarcastic protest against an inexplicable 
shortage or shortcoming. Its origin (about 
1945) is unknown. 

Chadband (chad' band). This synonym for a 
religious hypocrite is taken from the character 
in Dickens’s Bleak House — a gluttonous, 
unctuous, illiterate rogue, minister of some 
indeterminate sect. 

Chadpennies. Lichfield cathedral is dedicated 
to St. Mary and St. Chad; the Whitsuntide 
offerings used to be devoted to the upkeep of 
the building and were called Chadpennies. 

Chaff. An old bird is not to be caught with 
chaff. An experienced man, or one with his 
wits about him, is not to be deluded by 
humbug. The reference is to throwing chaff 
instead of bird-seed to allure birds. Hence, 
perhaps — 

You are chaffing me. Making fun of me. 
A singular custom used to exist in Notts and 



Chair 


190 


Chameleon 


Leicestershire. When a husband illtreated his 
wife, the villagers emptied a sack of chaff at his 
door, to intimate that “thrashing was done 
within.” 

Chair, The. The office of chief magistrate in a 
corporate town; the office of a proressor, etc., 
as “The chair of poetry, in Oxford, is now 
vacant.” The word is furthermore applied to 
the president of a committee or public meeting. 
Hence the chairman himself. When debaters 
call out “Chair,” they mean that the chairman 
is not properly supported, and his words not 
obeyed as they ought to be. Another form 
of the same expression is, “Pray support the 
Chair.” 

Below the chair. Said of one who has not 
yet reached the presidential position, as of an 
alderman who has not yet served the mayoralty. 

Passed the chair. One who has served the 
chief office. 

To take the chair. To become the chairman 
or president of a public meeting. The 
chairman is placed in some conspicuous place, 
like the Speaker of the House of Commons, 
and his decision is absolutely final in all points 
of doubt. Usually the persons present 
nominate and elect their own chairman; but 
in some cases there is an ex officio chairman. 

As a slang expression, to be in the chair may 
mean to be host or to be called on to pay for a 
round of drinks. 

Chair of St. Peter. The office of the Pope 
of Rome, founded by St. Peter, the apostle; 
but St. Peter's Chair means the Catholic 
festival held in commemoration of the two 
episcopates founded by the apostle, one at 
Rome, and the other at Antioch (January 18th 
and February 22nd). 

Chalk. Chalk it up. Put it to his credit. 

I’ll chalk out your path for you — i.e. lay 
it down or plan it out as a carpenter or ship- 
builder plans out his work with a piece of 
chalk. 

I can walk a chalk as well as you. I am no 
more drunk than you are. The allusion is to 
one of the tests given to men suspected of 
drunkenness. They are required to walk 
along a line chalked on the floor, without 
deviating to the right or left. 

I cannot make chalk of one and cheese of the 
other. I must treat both alike; 1 must show 
no favouritism. 

I know the difference between chalk and 
cheese. Between what is worthless and what is 
valuable, between a counterfeit and a real 
article. Of course, the resemblance of chalk 
to cheese has something to do with the saying, 
and the alliteration helps to popularize it. 

The tapster is undone by chalk, i.e. credit. 
The allusion is to the old tavern-keeper’s 
custom of scoring on a door or board the 
amounts owed him by his customers. This 
was common enough early in the 19th century, 
when milk scores, bread scores, as well as beer 
scores, were general. 

I beat him by a long chalk. Thoroughly. 
In allusion to the ancient custom of making 


merit marks with chalk, before lead pencils 
were so common. 

Walk your chalk. Get you gone. Lodgings 
wanted for the royal retinue used to be taken 
arbitrarily by the marshal and sergeant- 
chamberlain, the inhabitants were sent to the 
right about, and the houses selected were 
notified by a chalk mark. When Marie de* 
Medici, in 1638, came to England, Sieur de 
Labat was employed to mark “all sorts of 
houses commodious for her retinue in Col- 
chester.” The phrase is “Walk, you’re 
chalked,” corrupted into Walk your chalk. 

At one time it was customary for a land- 
lord to give the tenant notice to quit by chalk- 
ing the door. 

The prisoner has cut his stick, and walked his chalk, 
and is off to London. — C. Kingsley: Two Years Ago, i. 

Challenge. This meant originally an accusa- 
tion or charge, and secondarily a claim, a 
defiance. It comes through French from the 
Lat. calumnia , a false accusation, and is thus 
etymologically the same word as “calumny.” 

Challenging a jury. This may be to object 
to all the jurors from some informality in the 
way they have been “arrayed” or empanelled, 
or to one or more of the jurors, from some real 
or supposed disqualification or bias of judg- 
ment. In the first case it is a challenge to the 
array, and this must be based on some default 
of the sheriff, or his officer who arrayed the 
panel. 

If any member of the jury is thought not 
qualified to serve, or if he is supposed to be 
biased, he may be challenged. In capital 
cases a prisoner may challenge persons without 
assigning any reason, and in cases of treason 
as many as thirty-five. 

Cham (kam). The sovereign prince of Tartary, 
now written “khan.” 

Fetch you a hair off the great Cham’s beard. — 
Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing, II, i. 

The great Cham of Literature. An epithet 
applied to Dr. Johnson (1709-84) by Tobias 
Smollett. 

Chambr6 (shorn' bra). From Fr. chambre , a 
room. Used of wine which has been warmed 
to raise it from cellar temperature to the 
temperature of the room in which it is to be 
served, which for red wine is ideal. 

Chambre Ardente (shombr ar dont') (Fr.). 
In French history, the name given to certain 
Courts of Justice held under the ancien regime , 
for trying exceptional cases, such as charges of 
heresy, poisoning, etc. They were usually 
held at night, and both then and when held in 
the daytime were lighted by torches. These 
courts were devised by Cardinal Lorraine. 
The first was held in the reign of Francois 
I, for trying heretics. Brinvilliers and her 
associates were tried in a darkened court in 
1680. 

The same name is given to the room or hall 
in which a lying-in-state takes place, because 
it is usually furnished with lighted candles. 

Chameleon. You are a chameleon, i.e. very 
changeable — shifting according to the opinions 



Champ de Mars 


191 


Chant du depart 


of others, as the chameleon, to a very limited 
extent, can change its hue to that of contiguous 
objects. 

As the chameleon, who is known 
To have no colours of its own. 

But borrows from his neighbour’s hue, 

His white or black, his green or blue. 

Prior. 

Champ de Mars (shon de mars). Clovis and 
the early Frank kings held meetings in March 
when feudal gifts and fees were paid and 
homage received. It was this ancient custom 
that was seized upon in the French Revolution 
when, in the summer of 1790, an enormous 
amphitheatre was dug by the Paris citizens, and 
the Federation of Freedom sworn at the altar 
of the Fatherland. 

Napoleon I gave the name of Champ de Mai 
to the assembly he called together on May 1st, 
1815, when he proclaimed the result of the 
plebiscite ratifying the liberal Acte additionnel 
on his return from Elba. 

Champak (cham' pak). An Indian magnolia 
( Michelia champoca). The wood is sacred to 
Buddha, and the strongly scented golden 
flowers are worn in the black hair of Indian 
women. 

The Champak odours fail. 

Shelley: Lines to an Indian Air. 

Champerty (cham' per ti) (Lat. campi partitio , 
division of the land). A bargain with some 
person who undertakes at his own cost to 
recover a property on condition of receiving 
a share thereof if he succeeds. 

Champerty is treated as a worse offence; for by this 
a stranger supplies money to carry on a suit, on 
condition of sharing in the land or other property. — 
Parsons: Contracts (vol. II, pt. II, ch. iii, p. 264). 

Champion of England, or King’s Champion. 

A person whose office it is to ride up West- 
minster Hall on a Coronation Day, and 
challenge anyone who disputes the right of 
succession. The office was established by 
William the Conqueror, and was given to 
Marmion and his male descendants, with the 
manor of “broad Scrivelsby”. De Ludlow 
received the office and manor through the 
female line; and at the Coronation of Richard 
11 Sir John Dymoke succeeded through the 
female line also. Since then the office has 
continued in the Dymoke family, but the actual 
riding and challenge have been discontinued 
since the coronation of George IV. Instead, 
the Champion bears the sovereign’s standard 
at the coronation. 

Chance. See Main Chance. 

To chance your arm, or your luck. To run 
a risk in the hope of “bringing it off’’ and 
obtaining a profit or advantage of some sort. 

Chancel means a lattice screen. In the 
Roman law courts the lawvers were cut off 
from the public by such a screen (Lat. 
cancellus ). 

Chancel of a church. That part of a church 
which contains the altar, and the seats set 
apart for the choir. It is generally raised a 
step or more above the floor of the nave. 

Chancellery. “The chancelleries of Europe” 
is a favourite journalistic phrase. The word 
chancellery is applied to the office attached 


to an embassy or consulate, where dispatches 
are drafted and written, incoming dispatches 
decoded and considered, and all the embassy 
clerical work carried through. 

Chancellor. A petty officer ( cancelarius ) in the 
Roman law courts stationed at the chancel 
iq.v.) as usher of the court. In the Eastern 
Empire he was a secretary or notary, subse- 
quently invested with judicial functions. The 
office was introduced into England by Edward 
the Confessor, and under the Norman kings 
the chancellor was made official secretary of all 
important legal documents. In France the 
chancellor was the royal notary, president of 
the councils, and keeper of the Great Seal. 

Chancellor, Dancing. See Dancing. 

The Lord Chancellor, or the Lord High 
Chancellor. The highest judicial functionary 
of Britain, who ranks above all peers, except 
princes of the blood and the Archbishop 
of Canterbury. He is “ Keeper of the Great 
Seal,” is called “ Keeper of His (or Her) 
Majesty’s Conscience,” and presides on the 
Woolsack in the House of Lords, and in the 
Chancery Division of the Supreme Court. 

Chancellor of the Exchequer. The minister 
of finance in the British Cabinet; the highest 
financial official of State in the kingdom. 

Chancery. One of the three divisions of the 
High Court of Justice. It is concerned with 
Equity and is presided over by the Lord 
Chancellor. All its work is done in London. 
The word is shortened from Chancellery. 

To get a man’s head into chancery is to get 
it under your arm, where you can pummel 
it as long as you like, and he cannot get it free 
without great difficulty. The allusion is to the 
long and exhausting nature once characteristic 
of Chancery suits. If a man once got his 
head there, the lawyers could punish him to 
their hearts’ content 

When I can perform my mile in eight minutes, or a 
little less, 1 feel as if I had old Time’s head in chancery. 
— Holmes: Autocrat, ch. vii. 

A Ward in Chancery is the term applied to 
a minor whose guardianship is vested in the 
Court of Chancery for any one of various legal 
reasons. It is contempt of court to marry a 
ward of Chancery without the court’s consent. 

Change. Ringing the changes. Repeating 
the same thing in different ways. The 
allusion is to bell-ringing. For the sharper’s 
meaning of the term, see Ringing. 

To know how many changes can be rung 
on a peal, multiply the number of bells in the 
peal by the number of changes that can be rung 
on a peal consisting of one bell less, thus; 1 
bell no change; 2 bells, 1 by 2 = 2 changes; 
3 bells, 2 by 3 =» 6 changes; 4 bells, 6 by 4 — 24 
changes ; 5 bells, 24 by 5 — 120 changes ; 6 bells, 
720 changes, etc. 

Changeling. A peevish, sickly child. The 
notion used to be that the fairies took a healthy 
child, and left in its place one of their starveling 
elves which never thrived. 

Chant du depart (shon do da par). After the 
Marseillaise t this was the most celebrated song 
of the French Revolution. It was written by 




Chantage 


192 


Char 


M. J. Chenier, for a public festival, 1794, to 
commemorate the taking of the Bastille. The 
music is by Mehul. A mother, an old man, 
a child, a wife, a girl, and three warriors sing 
a verse in turn, and the sentiment of each is, 
“We give up our claims on the men of France 
for the good of the Republic.’* Cp. Car- 
magnole. 

La republique nous appelle, 

Sachons vaincre ou sachons p6rir; 

Un Frangais doit vivre pour elle, 

Pour elle un Frangais doit mourir. 

Chantage. Blackmail; money accepted by 
low-class journals to prevent the publication 
of scandals, etc. Chantage is the common 
name in France for this form of subsidy; and 
the word has been used in the same way in 
England. 

Chanticleer. The cock, in the tale of Reynard 
the Fox % and in Chaucer’s Nonne Prestes Tale ; 
also in Rostand’s well-known play Chantccler , 
produced in Paris in 1910. (Fr. chanter clair , 
to sing clairement , i.e. distinctly.) 

Chantrey Bequest. When Sir Francis Leggatt 
Chantrey (1781-1841), the sculptor, died he 
left a sum yielding about £3,000 a year to the 
Royal Academy, of which the President was to 
receive £300, the secretary £50, and the re- 
mainder was to be devoted to the purchase for 
the nation of works of art executed in Great 
Britain. 

Chaonian Bird (ka o' ni An). This is the poetic 
name for a dove, and takes its origin from the 
legend that the dove bore the oracles of 
Chaonia. 

Chaonian food. Acorns. So called from 
the oak trees of Chaonia or Dodona. Some 
think beech-mast is meant, and tell us that the 
bells of the oracle were hung on beech-trees, 
not on oaks. 

Chap. A man, properly a merchant. A 
chap-man (O.E. ceap-mann ) is a merchantman 
or tradesman. “If you want to buy, I’m your 
chap.” A good chap-man or chap became in 
time a good fellow. Hence, A good sort oj 
chap , a clever chap , etc. 

An awkward customer is an analogous 
phrase. 

Chap-book. A cheap little book containing 
tales, ballads, lives, etc., sold by chapmen. 

Chaps are wide leather overalls worn by 
American cowboys over their trousers to 
protect their legs from injury, colloquially 
abbreviated from the Sp. chaparejos , leather 
breeches. 

Chapeau bras (shap 6 bra). A soft three- 
cornered flat silk hat which could be folded 
and carried under the arm (Fr. chapeau , hat; 
bras , arm). It was used in France with the 
court dress of the 18th century. 

Chapeau de Paille (Fr. straw hat). This is 
the name given to Rubens’s portrait of Susanna 
Fourment, the sister of his second wife. It is 
in the National Gallery, London, and was one 
of the chief paintings round which the pro- and 
anti-cleaning controversy raged in London in 
1947. The title is of obscure origin since in 
the painting the girl is not wearing a straw hat. 


Chapel. Originally, a chest containing relics, 
or the shrine thereof, so called from the capella 
(little cloak or cope) of St. Martin, which was 
preserved by the Frankish kings as a sacred 
relic. The place in which it was kept when 
not in the field was called the chapelle , and the 
keeper thereof the cluipelain. Hence, the 
name came to be attached to a sanctuary, or a 
private place of worship other than a parish or 
cathedral church; and is also used for a place 
of worship belonging to the Free Churches, as 
a Methodist Chapel, a Baptist Chapel, etc. 

In printing-house parlance a chapel is an 
association of journeymen (compositors, 
machine-men, etc.), who meet periodically to 
discuss matters of common interest connected 
with their work, to decide upon the course of 
action to be taken in cases of disputes or 
differences between themselves and their 
employers, etc. The chairman is known as the 
“father of the chapel.’’ The origin of the 
term is obscure; an accepted but far from 
certain derivation traces it back to the early 
days of printing, when presses were set up in 
the chapels attached to abbeys, as those of 
Caxton in Westminster Abbey. Cp. Monk; 
Friar. 

Chapel of ease. A place of worship for 
the use of parishioners residing at a distance 
from the parish church. 

Chaperon (shap' c ron). A married or elderly 
woman who attends a young unmarried girl in 
public places and acts as her guide, adviser, 
and, when necessary, protector. So called 
from the Spanish hood worn by duennas in 
former times. 

To chaperon. To accompany a young 
unmarried woman in loco parentis , when she 
appears in public or in society. 

Chapter. From Lat. caput , a head. The 
chapter of a cathedral, composed of the canons 
(see Canon) and presided over by the dean, 
is so called from the ancient practice of the 
canons and monks reading at their meetings a 
capitulum (cp. Capitulary) or chapter of their 
Rule or of Scripture. Ire ad capitulum meant 
“to go to the (reading of the) chapter,’’ hence, 
to the meeting, hence to the body which 
composed the meeting. 

Chapter of accidents. Series of unforeseen 
events. To trust to a chapter of accidents is to 
trust that something unforeseen may turn up in 
your favour. 

Chapter of possibilities. A may-be in the 
course of events. 

To the end of the chapter. To the end of a 
proceeding. The allusion is obvious. 

To give chapter and verse. To give the exact 
authority of a statement, as the name of the 
author, the title of the book, the date, the 
chapter referred to, and any other particular 
which might render the reference easily 
discoverable. 

Char (char). This is a common abbreviation 
for “charwoman”, a woman who chars or 
chares, i.e. works by the hour or day at house- 
cleaning. The word comes from O.E. cerr, 
cerran t meaning to turn. It has come back 
to England from U.S.A. in the form of 



Character 


193 


Charlatan 


“chore,** a monotonous but necessary task, 
household or otherwise. 

The Army slang word “char,** meaning tea 
appears to come from the Hind, cha , with 
various Indian and Chinese words of similar 
sound, all meaning tea. 

Character. An oddity. One who has a 
distinctive peculiarity of manner: Sam Weller 
is a character, so is Pickwick. 

In character. In harmony with personality 
or habitual behaviour. 

Out of character. Not in harmony with a 
person’s actions, writings, profession, age, or 
status in society. 

Chare Thursday. Another form of Shear or 
Shere Thursday ; the same as Maundy Thursday 

Charge, To. To make an attack or onset in 
battle. 

Curate in charge. A curate placed by a 
bishop in charge of a parish where there is no 
incumbent, or where the incumbent is sus- 
pended. 

To charge oneself with. To take upon one- 
self the onus of a given task. 

To charge a person. To accuse him formally 
of a crime or misdemeanour. It must be 
answered before the appropriate court or 
authority. 

To give charge over. To set one in authority 
over. 

I gave my brother Hanani .... charge over Jeru- 
salem.— AW/. vii, 2. 

To give in charge. To hand over a person 
to the charge of a policeman. 

To have in charge. To have the care of 
something. 

To return to the charge. To renew the 
attack. 

To take in charge. To “take up” a person 
given in charge; to take upon oneself the 
responsibility of something; to make an 
arrest. 

Charge-sheet. The form setting out in 
correct language and according to Law the 
specific charges which an accused person has 
to answer. Evidence cannot be admitted in 
court w’hich is not relevant to the charge on 
the charge-sheet; if it becomes apparent that 
the accused has been guilty of a further — but 
different — crime than that for which he is on 
trial, such crime must be made the subject of a 
fresh charge at another time. But a man 
found guilty may ask for other crimes of a 
similar nature to that on the charge-sheet to 
be taken into consideration in assessing his 
sentence; in this way he can admit to crimes 
which he is suspected of having committed 
but for which he cannot be brought to book 
for want of evidence, thus enabling him when 
he comes out of prison to make a fresh start in 
life without fear of his undiscovered crimes 
being suddenly pinned on him. 

Charge d*Affaires. The proxy of an 
ambassador, or the diplomatic agent where 
none higher has been appointed. 


Charing Cross. The original “Charing Cross’* 
was erected in the centre of the ancient village 
of Charing, which stood midway between the 
cities of London and Westminster, by Edward 
I to commemorate his Queen, Eleanor, be- 
cause it was there that her coffin was halted for 
the last time on its progress from Harby, Notts, 
where the Queen died, to Westminster, where 
she was buried. 

The present cross is a copy (made to scale) 
by E. M. Barry, R.A., of the original one that 
was demolished by the Puritans in 1647, and 
that stood on the south side of Trafalgar Square 
on the site now occupied by the equestrian 
statue of Charles I. It was erected in 1865 in 
the courtyard of Charing Cross Station. 

Chariot. According to Greek mythology, 
the chariot was invented by Erichthonius to 
conceal his feet, which were those of a dragon. 

Chariot of the gods. So the Greeks called 
Sierra Leone, in Africa, a ridge of mountains 
of great height. A sierra means a saw, and is 
applied to a ridge of peaked mountains. 

Her palmy forests, mingling with the skies, 

Leona’s rugged steep behind us flies. 

Camoens: Lusiud , Bk. V. 

Chariots or cars. That of 
Admetus was drawn by lions and wild boars. 
Bacchus by panthers. 

Ceres by winged dragons. 

Cybf.le by lions. 

Diana by stags. 

Juno by peacocks. 

Neptune by sea-horses. 

Pi.uto by black horses. 

The Sun by seven horses (the seven days of the week). 
Venus by doves. 

Charity. Charity begins at home. “Let 
them learn first to show piety at home” (I Tim. 
v, 4). 

Cold as charity. An ironic allusion to 
unsympathetic benevolence. 

Charivari (sha ri va' ri). A French term for 
an uproar caused by banging pans and kettles 
and accompanied by hissing, shouting, etc., 
to express disapproval. As a verb ( chart - 
variser ) it means to subject someone to disap- 
proval. It was originally a common wedding 
ceremony in mediaeval France, but later used 
only at unpopular weddings, especially of 
people who remarried too soon after the deaths 
of their spouses. These ceremonies were apt 
to be coarse and violent, were condemned by 
the Church, and the Council of Tours forbade 
them in the 17th century, but they have sur- 
vived in some districts. There are similar 
ceremonies to be found in Bavaria, Spain, and 
among Eskimos. The name Charivari was 
adopted for a satirical paper in Paris in 1832, 
and used in the sub-title for Punch. See also 
Shivaree. 

Charlatan (shar' 1& t&n). This word comes 
originally from the Italian ciarlare , to prate, 
to chatter, to babble. It is usually applied to 
one who sells quack remedies and covers his 
ignorance in a torrent of high-sounding and 
often meaningless words. 

Saltimbancoes, Quacksalvers, and Charlatans 
deceive the people in lower degrees. — S ir T. Browne, 
Vulgar Errors, 1646. 


Charlemagne 


194 


Charley More 


Charlatans and impostors have always 
thriven on the ignorance and credulity of man- 
kind, and it is to draw a fine distinction in 
roguery to differentiate between them. A 
charlatan, however, is one who, such as a 
quack or astrologer, claims to possess special 
knowledge of medicine or more abstruse 
matters; the imposter pretends to be some- 
thing or someone he really is not. 

It is difficult to make choice among the 
charlatans of history. Nostradamus (1503- 
66) was an astrologer and physician who, in 
1555, brought out a book oi prophecies so 
vague in their terms that whether they were 
fulfilled or not is mere matter of conjecture. 
John Partridge (1644-1715) was a good ex- 
ample of the English breed, rendered forever a 
laughing-stock by Swift’s skit on his astro- 
logical achievements. Cagliostro (Joseph Bal- 
samo, 1743-95) was rather an impostor than a 
charlatan, though he shone in either category. 
Perhaps the most striking example of modern 
charlatanry was Sequoa, a white man posing 
as Red Indian, who toured Britain about 
1890, in a coach with attendant Redskins and 
a brass band, drawing teeth “painlessly ” (all 
squeals drowned by the band) and supplying 
an “Indian oil” to cure all manner of aches 
and pains. 

Charlemagne (sharl'man) (742-814). Charles 
the Great became king of the Franks in 771, 
and in 800 founded the Holy Roman Empire. 
He ruled over nearly all western Europe and 
was noted for his work as a law-giver, admini- 
strator, protector of the Church and promoter 
of education. 

Charlemagne and his Paladins are the centre 
of a great series of chivalric romances. ( See 
Paladin.) We are told that the great 
emperor was eight feet in height, and of 
correspondingly enormous strength, so that 
with his hands alone he could bend three 
horseshoes at once. He was buried at Aix la 
Chapelle (Aachen), but according to legend 
he waits, crowned and armed, in Oldenburg, 
Hesse, for the day when Antichrist shall 
appear; he will then go forth to battle and 
rescue Christendom. Another legend says 
that in years of plenty he crosses the Rhine on 
a golden bridge, to bless the cornfields and 
vineyards. 

Charles. Many bearing this name have been 
afflicted with misfortune: 

England: Charles I was beheaded by his 
suyects. (See also below.) 

Charles II lived long in exile. ( See also 
below.) 

Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, died 
in poverty in Rome. 

France: Charles II, the Fat, reigned wretch- 
edly, was deposed, and died a beggarly 
dependant on the stinting bounty of the 
Archbishop of Metz. 

Charles III, the Simple, died a prisoner in 
the castle of P6ronne. 

Charles IV, the Fair, reigned six years, 
married thrice, but buried all his children 
except one daughter, who was forbidden by 
the Salic law to succeed to the crown. 

Charles VI lived and died a madman. 


Charles VII starved, himself to death, 
partly through fear of being poisoned and 
partly because of a painful and incurable 
abscess in his mouth. 

Charles VIII accidentally smashed his head 
against the lintel of a doorway in the Chateau 
d’Amboise, and died in agony, leaving no issue. 

Charles IX died at the age of twenty-four, 
harrowed in conscience for the part he had 
taken in the “ Massacre of St. Bartholomew.” 

Charles X spent a quarter of a century in 
exile, and less than six years after he succeeded 
to the throne, fled for his life and died in exile. 

Charles le Temeraire, of Burgundy, lost his 
life at Nancy, where he was utterly defeated 
by the Swiss. 

Naples: Charles I saw the French massacred 
in the “Sicilian Vespers,” and experienced 
only disasters. 

Charles 11. the Lame, was in captivity at his 
father’s death. 

Charles III, his grandson, was assassinated. 

Charles I of England. When Bernini’s bust 
of Charles I was brought home, the King was 
sitting in the garden of Chelsea Palace. He 
ordered the bust to be uncovered, and at that 
moment a hawk with a bird in its beak flew 
by, and a drop of blood fell on the throat of 
the bust. The bust was ultimately destroyed 
when the palace was burnt down. 

The bronze statue of Charles I looking down 
Whitehall has an interesting history. It was 
modelled by Lc Sueur and cast in 1639. After 
the execution of the King his statue was taken 
down by order of Parliament and sold to a 
brazier named Rivers, on the express condition 
that it should be melted down. But Rivers 
buried the statue, though he turned a pretty 
penny by selling bronze knives, forks, etc., 
which were alleged to be made from the 
“martyred” king’s statue. On the Restora- 
tion he dug up the figure, and in 1674 it was 
placed on a new pedestal on its present site. 

Charles and the Oak. When Charles II fled 
from the Parliamentary army after the battle 
of Worcester, he took refuge in Boscobel 
House; but it being unsafe to remain there, he 
concealed himself in an oak (September 3rd, 
1651). Dr. Stukeley says that this tree 
“stood just by a horse-track passing through 
the wood, and the king, with Colonel Carlos, 
climbed into it by means of the hen-roost 
ladder. The family reached them victuals 
with a nut-hook.” ( Itinerarium Curiosum , 
ii, p. 57, 1724.) 

Charles’s Wain. An old popular name for 
the Great Bear (see Bfar). The constellation 
forms the rough outline of a wheelbarrow or 
rustic wagon, and the “Charles” stands for 
“Charlemagne,” possibly owing to the simi- 
larity of the names Arcturus (see Arctic) and 
Arturus (Lat. for Arthur ), and the confusion in 
the popular mind between the legendary cycles 
of romance connected with King Arthur and 
Charlemagne respectively. 

Charlie Dunn. To give a Charlie Dunn 
(Austr.). To expel for cheating. The origin 
of this phrase is obscure. 

Charley More. A British naval term for 
anything honest or reasonable. It originated 




195 


Chatelaine 


Charleys, or Charlies 

jl— 

in the tavern sign of a publican in Malta, in 
1 840, which read “ Charley More — the Fair 
Thing.” 

Charleys, or Charlies. The old night watch, 
before the police force was organized in 1829; 
perhaps from Charles I, under whom the police 
system in London was reorganized in 1640. 

Charleston. A fox-trot popular c. 1925-27. 
It originated among the American Negroes. 
It is also the name of a cotton-trading seaport 
in South Carolina the population of which is 
half Negro. 

Charm. Deriving from the Latin carmen , a 
song, a charm is an incantation that is alleged 
to work magic, though the word is usually 
applied to some object that averts ill luck or 
brings good. Volumes have been written 
about charms, for since the earliest dawn of 
intelligence mankind has sought to propitiate 
the beneficent powers or placate the malevolent 
ones. There are still all kinds of charms in 
use, often half-ashamcdiy — touching wood to 
avert bad luck, avoiding the number 13, first- 
footing at the New Year, and so forth; these 
are but a few relics of more credulous days. 
A good selection of charms is to be found 
described in Brand’s Antiquities. 

Charon’s Toll. A coin, about equal to a penny, 
placed in the mouth or hand of the dead by the 
ancient Greeks to pay Charon (see Styx) for 
ferrying the spirit across the river Styx to the 
Elysian fields. 

Chartism. The political system of the Chart- 
ists, a body consisting principally of working 
men who, in 1838, demanded the People’s 
Charter, which included universal suffrage, 
annual parliaments, stipendiary members, 
vote by ballot, equal representation, and the 
abolition of the property qualification for 
members of Parliament. The Chartists dis- 
appeared as a party about 1849. 

Chartreuse. A greenish or yellowish liqueur, 
made of brandy, and various aromatic herbs. 

When the monks returned to La Chartreuse 
after their expulsion during the French 
Revolution they found the place in ruins and 
all their property alienated. To supply the 
wants of the community they concocted and 
sold the liqueur and before long were making a 
large revenue. This has always been spent on 
the maintenance of Carthusian houses, 
though the greater proportion of it has been 
devoted to charity. The recipe has now been 
sold and the production of the liqueur com- 
mercialized. See Carthusians. 

Charybdis (ka rib' dis). A whirlpool on the 
coast of Sicily. Scylla and Charybdis are 
employed to signify two equal dangers. Thus 
Horace says an author trying 'to avoid Scylla, 
drifts into Charybdis, i.e. seeking to avoid one 
fault, falls into another. 

The Homeric account says that Charybdis 
dwelt under an immense fig-tree on the rock, 
and that thrice every day he swallowed the 
waters of the sea and thrice threw them up 
again; but later legends have it that he stole 
the oxen of Hercules, was killed by lightning, 
and changed into the gulf. 

7 * 


Chase. A small, unenclosed deer-forest held, 
for the most part, by a private individual, and 
protected only by common law. Forests are 
royal prerogatives, protected by the “Forest 
Laws.” 

An iron frame used by printers for holding 
sufficient type for one side of a sheet, where it is 
held tight by quoins, or small wedges of wood, 
is also called a chase. Here the word is the 
French chasse, from Lat capsa , a case : 
the other chase given above is O.Fr. charier, 
from Lat. captiare, to chase, itself from capere, 
to take. 

Chasidim (chas' i dim). After the Babylonish 
captivity the Jews were divided into two 
groups — those who accepted and those who 
rejected the Persian innovation. The former 
were called chasidim (pietists), and the latter 
zadikim (the upright ones). 

Chastity Girdle. A padded, metal appliance 
in the shape of a belt that a man could fasten 
around his wife in such a way as to preclude 
possibility of unfaithfulness during his pro- 
longed absence. It is said to have come into 
vogue in the times of the Crusades when men 
set forth on protracted journeys and cam- 
paigns. One or two examples only are to be 
found in museums. 

Chasuble (chaz' Q bel). This is one of the 
most richly ornamented ecclesiastical garments, 
some of the older examples being embroidered 
with exquisite workmanship. The chasuble is 
the principal vestment worn by the priest 
when saying Mass. It is supposed to represent 
the seamless coat of Christ, and is a rect- 
angular, sleeveless garment, with a hole for 
the head in the middle, thus hanging down 
both back and front to’ between the hips and 
knees. 

And ye, louely ladyes, with youre longe fyngres, 

That ye han silke and sendal to sowe, what tyme is, 

Chesibles for chapelleynes cherches to honoure. 

Piers Plowman. 

Chateau (sha to). French for castle, mansion, 
country seat, and hence, an estate in the 
country. 

The wines of the Bordeaux district of France 
are all named after the chateau of the estate 
on which they are grown. A Chateau- 
bottled wine is one bottled on the estate by 
the proprietor, which he only does in years 
when he is satisfied with the quality. 

Chateau en Espagne. A castle in the air (q.v.). 

Chatelaine (sh&t' e lan). Originally the mis- 
tress of a chateau, a chatelaine now usually 
signifies a brooch or clasp from which a 
variety of objects hang on short chains. They 
are the things which the mistress of the castle 
was likely to use — keys, a watch, scissors, 
knives and trinkets. Chatelaines have beeti 
made in gold, silver, enamel, and cut steel, 
and in imitations of these materials. Since/ 
1900 they have been little used, and their use 
during the century before was a fashionable 
affectation. In 1947 a fashion for so-called 
chatelaines arose in the U.S.A. These were 
ornaments formed of two or more brooches, 
preferably old and valuable, pinned across the 
corsage and joined by chains. 




Chatelaine’s 


196 


Cheese 


Chatelaine’s (shat' e lanz). This was a famous 
ordinary in Covent Garden, established soon 
after the Restoration and a favourite resort of 
wits and men of fashion. Mention of the 
place occurs in many plays, etc., of the period. 
Met their servant coming to bring me to Chatelin’s 
. . . and there with music and good company . . . 
mighty merry till ten at night. 

Pepys's Diary , 22/4/1668. 
Sparkish: Come, but where do we dine? 

Horner: Even where you will. 

Sparkish: At Chatelaine’s. 

Wycherley: The Country Wife . 
Chatterbox. A talkative person. Shake- 
speare speaks of the clack-dish. “His use 
was to put a ducat in her clack-dish” ( Measure 
for Measure , III, ii) — i.e. the box or dish used 
by beggars for collecting alms, which the holder 
clatters to attract attention. We find also 
chatter-basket in old writers, referring to the 
child’s rattle. 

Chatterpie. A familiar name for the magpie; 
also used figuratively for a chatterbox (q.v.). 

Chautauqua (sha tawk' wa). This is the name 
given in U.S.A. to an assembly for educational 

f nirposes, held largely out of doors, with 
ectures, entertainments, etc., and modelled on 
the Chautauqua Assembly. This was started 
in 1874, at the village and summer resort on 
Lake Chautauqua, New York State. In 1878 
the Assembly developed into the Chautauqua 
Literary and Scientific Circle, for the pro- 
motion of home reading and study. 

Chauvinism (sho' vin izm). Blind and pug- 
nacious patriotism of an exaggerated kind; 
unreasoning jingoism. Nicolas Chauvin, a 
soldier of the French Republic and Empire, 
was madly devoted to Napoleon and his cause. 
He was introduced as a type of exaggerated 
bellicose patriotism into quite a number of 
plays (Scribe’s Le Soldat laboureur y Cogniard’s 
La Cocarde tricolore , 1831, Bayard and 

Dumanoir’s Les Aides de camp , Charet’s 
Consent Chauvin , are some of them), and his 
name was quickly adopted on both sides of the 
Channel. 

Chawbacon. A contemptuous name for an 
uncouth rustic, supposed to eat no meat but 
bacon. 

Che sari, sari (cha sa ra\ sa raO* What shall 
be, will be. The motto of the Russclls (Bed- 
ford). 

Cheap as a Sardinian. A Roman phrase 
referring to the great crowds of Sardinian 
prisoners brought to Rome by Tiberius 
Gracchus, and offered for sale at almost any 
price. 

Cheap jack. A travelling vendor of small 
wares, who is usually ready to “cheapen” his 
goods, i.e. take less for them than the price he 
first named. 

Cheapside bargain. A weak pun, meaning 
that the article was bought cheap or under 
its market value. Cheapside, is on the south 
side of the Cheap (or Chepe ), one of the 
principal market-places of Old London, so 
called from O.E. ceaptan , to buy; cypan , to 
sell; ceap , a price or sale. 


Cheater. Originally an Escheator or officer 
of the king’s exchequer appointed to receive 
dues and taxes. The present use of the word 
shows how these officers were wont to fleece 
the people. Cp. Catchpole; also the New 
Testament word “publicans”, or collectors of 
the Roman tax in Judaea, etc. 

Checkmate. A term in chess meaning to 
place your adversary’s king in such a position 
that, had it been any other piece, it could not 
escape capture. Figuratively, “ to checkmate” 
means to foil or outwit another; “check- 
mated,” outmanoeuvred. The term is from 
the Arabic shah mat , the king is dead, the 
phrase having been introduced into Old 
Spanish and Portuguese as xaque mate. 

Checks. To hand in one’s checks. See Hand. 

Cheek. Cheek by jowl. Side by side, close 
together. Cheek is the O.E. ceace, and jowl 
is from O.E. ceafl y jaw, which became in M.E. 
chowl, and was confused with M.E. cholle , 
from O.E. ceolur , throat. 

I’ll go with thee, cheek by jowl. — S hakespeare: 
Midsummer Night's Dream , 111, ii. 

To cheek, or to give cheek. To be insolent, 
to be saucy. 

None of your cheek. None of your in- 
solence. We say a man is very cheeky, 
meaning that he is saucy and presumptuous. 

To have the cheek. To have the face or 
assurance. “He hadn’t the cheek to ask for 
more.” 

Cheese. Tusser in his Five Hundred Points 
of Good Husbandry (1573) says that a cheese, 
to be perfect, should not be like (1) Gchazi, 
i.e. dead white, like a leper; (2) not like Lot’s 
wife, all salt; (3) not like Argus, full of eyes; 
(4) not like Tom Piper, “hoven and puffed,” 
like the cheeks of a piper; (5) not like Crispin, 
leathery; (6) not like Lazarus, poor; (7) not 
like Esau, hairy; (8) not like Mary Magdalene, 
full of whey or maudlin; (9) not like the 
Gentiles, full of maggots or gentils; and (10) 
not like a bishop, made of burnt milk; this 
last is a reference to the old phrase, the bishop 
hath put his foot in it. See Bishop. 

A green cheese. An unripe cheese; also a 
cheese that is eaten fresh (like a cream cheese) 
and is not kept to mature. 

Big cheese. (Slang). The boss, or person 
of importance. 

Bread and cheese. Food generally, but of a 
frugal nature. “Come and take your bread 
and cheese with me this evening” — that is, 
come and have a light supper, anything that’s 
going. 

Cheese it! Stop it! stow it! Also (in 
thieves’ slang) clear olf, make yourself scarce. 

Cheesed off. Army slang for disgusted, 
disgruntled. 

Hard cheese. Hard lines; rotten luck. 

He is quite the cheese or just the cheese — i.e. 
quite the thing. Here “cheese” is the Persian 
and Urdu chiz (or cheez ), meaning “thing.” 
The phrase is of Anglo-Indian origin; but it 
has been popularly treated as being connected 




Cheese 


197 


Chess 


with the Eng. cheese , and thus we get the slang 
varieties, That's prime Stilton , or double 
Gloster — i.e. slap up. Hence such phrases 
as: — 

It is not the cheese. Not the right thing; 
said of something of rather dubious propriety 
or morals. 

Who ever heard of a young lady being married 
without something to be married m? 

Well, I’ve heard Nudity is not the cheese on public 
occasions! 

Chas. Reade: Hard Cash, ii, 186. 

The moon made of green cheese. See Moon. 

’Tis an old rat that won’t eat cheese. It 
must be a wondrously toothless man that is 
inaccessible to flattery; he must be very old 
indeed who can abandon his favourite 
indulgence; only a very cunning rat knows that 
cheese is a mere bait. 

Cheesemongers. An old popular name (be- 
fore the Peninsular War) for the 1st Life- 
guards; either because up to that time they 
had never served overseas, or (traditionally) 
because when the regiment was remodelled in 
1788 certain commissions were refused on the 
ground that the ranks were composed of 
tradesmen instead of, as formerly, gentle- 
men. It is said that at Waterloo the com- 
manding officer, when leading the regiment to 
a charge, cried, “Come on, you damned 
cheesemongers!” since when the name was 
accepted as a compliment rather than a 
reproach. 

Cheeseparer. A skinflint; one who would 
pare or shave ofT very thinly the rind of his 
cheese so as to waste the smallest possible 
quantity. The tale is told of a man who chose 
his wife out of three sisters by the way they 
ate their cheese. One pared it— she (he said) 
was mean; one cut it off extravagantly thick — 
she was wasteful; the third sliced it off - in a 
medium way, and there his choice fell. 

Cheese-toaster. A sword; also called a 
“toasting-fork,” etc. 

The sight of the blade, which glistened by moonlight 
in his face, checked, in some sort, the ardour of his 
assailant, who desired he would lay aside his toaster, 
and take a bout with him at equal arms. — Smollett: 
Peregrine Pickle, ch. xxiv. 

Cheesewring, The Devil’s. A mass of eight 
stones, towering to the height of thirty-two 
feet, in the Valley of Rocks, Lynmouth, Devon, 
so called because it looks like a gigantic 
cheesepress. The Kilmarth Rocks, and part 
of Hugh Lloyd’s Pulpit present somewhat 
similar piles of stone. 

Chef d’ceuvre (Fr. literally, a chief work). A 
masterpiece. 

Chemosh (ke' mosh). The national god of the 
Moabites; very little is known of his cult, 
but human beings were sacrificed to him in 
times of crisis. 

Next.Chemos, the obscene dread ofMoab’ssons, 
From Aroer to Nebo, and the wild 
Of southmost Abarim. 

Milton: Paradise Lost , I, 406-8. 

Chequers (chek'drz). A public-house sign. 
The arms of Fitzwarren, the head of which 
house, in the days of the Henrys, was invested 
with the power of licensing vintners and 


publicans, may have helped to popularize this 
sign, which indicated that the house was duly 
licensed; but it has been found on houses in 
Pompeii, and probably referred to some game, 
like draughts, which might be indulged in on 
the premises. Gayton, in his Notes on Don 
Quixote (p. 340), in speaking of our public- 
house signs, refers to our notices of “billiards, 
kettle-noddy-boards, tables, truncks, shovel- 
boards, fox-and-geese, and the like.” Also, 
payment of doles, etc., used to be made at 
certain public-houses, and a chequer-board 
was provided for the purpose. In such cases 
the sign indicated the house where the parish 
authorities met for that and other purposes. 

Chequers , the country seat of the Prime 
Minister of Britain for the time being, was 
presented to the nation for this purpose by Sir 
Arthur and Lady Lee (Lord and Lady Lee of 
Fareham) in 1917, and was first officially 
occupied by the then Prime Minister (Lloyd 
George) in January, 1921. It is a Tudor 
mansion, standing in a large and well-wooded 
estate in the Chilterns, about three miles from 
Princes Risborough. 

Cheronean (ke ro ne' an). The Cheronean 
Sage. Plutarch, who was born at Chaeronea, 
in Bceotia (a.d. 46-120). 

Cherry. Cherry-breeches or cherry-pickers. 
Familiar names for the 11th Hussars. See 
Cherubims. 

Cherry fairs. Cherry-orchards where sales 
of fruit were held, such gatherings frequently 
developing into boisterous scenes. From 
their temporary character they came to be 
used as typifications of the evanescence of life; 
thus Gower says of this, world, “Alle is but a 
cherye-fayre,” a phrase frequently met with. 

This life, my son, is but a chery-fayre. — MS. Bodl . 
221 (quoted by Halliwell). 

Cherry trees and the cuckoo. The cherry 
tree is strangely mixed up with the cuckoo in 
many cuckoo stories, because of the tradition 
that the cuckoo must cat three good meals of 
cherries before he is allowed to cease singing. 
Cuckoo, cuckoo, cherry-tree, 

Good bird, prithee, tell to me 
How many years I am to see. 

The answer is gathered from the number of 
times the cuckoo repeats its cry. 

The whole tree or not a cherry on it. “ Aut 
Ccesar aut nullus." All in all or none at all. 

To make two bites of a cherry. To divide 
something too small to be worth dividing; 
to take two spells over a piece of work that 
should be done in one. 

Cherubims. The name once given popularly 
to the 11th Hussars. It seems inevitable that 
“Cherry bums” should be applied to men with 
cherry-pink uniform breeches. 

Cheshire Cat. To grin like a Cheshire cat. 

See Cat. 

Chess. “The game of the kings”; the word 
chess being the modern English representative 
of Persian shah ( see Checkmate), a king. 
This word in Arabic was pronounced shag , 
which gave rise to the late Lat. scaccus , whence 
the O.Fr. eschec , Mod.Fr. ichecs y and E. chess. 



Chestnut 


198 


Chicken 


Derivatives in other languages are scacco 
Ital.), jaque (Span.), xaque (Port.), Schach 
Ger.). 

Chestnut. A stale ioke. The term is said 
to have been popularized in America by a 
Boston actor named Warren, who, on a 
certain apposite occasion, quoted from The 
Broken Sword , a forgotten melodrama by 
William Dimond, first produced in 1816 at 
Covent Garden. 

Chestnut Sunday. A Sunday in spring, 
generally that immediately before or after 
Ascension Day, is so called in the London 
district, because about that time the chestnut 
avenue at Hampton Court bursts into bloom. 

Cheval (sh6 viil) (Fr. a horse). 

Cheval de bataille (Fr. literally “horse of 
battle”). One’s strong argument; one’s 
favourite subject. 

Cheval de frise. An apparatus consisting of 
a bar carrying rows of pointed stakes, set up 
so that the bar can revolve. It was used in 
warfare as a defence against enemy cavalry, 
and is so called because first employed by the 
Frisians — who had few or no horses — in the 
siege of Groningen, Friesland, in 1594. A 
somewhat similar engine had been used before, 
but was not called by the same name. In 
German it is “a Spanish horseman” (ein 
spanischer Reiter). 

Cheval glass. A large, swinging mirror, 
long enough to reflect the whole of the figure; 
so called from the “horse,” or framework, 
which supports it. 

Chevalier de St. Georges. See Cavalier. 

Chevalier d’industrie. A man who lives by 
his wits and calls himself a gentleman; an 
adventurer, swindler. 

Be cautiously upon your guard against the infinite 
number of fine-dressed and fine-spoken chevaliers 
d’industrie and avanturiers, which swarm at Paris. — 
Chesterfield: Letters to his Son , cxc (April 26th, 
1750). 

Cheveril (chev'6r il). He has a cheveril con- 
science. An accommodating one; one that 
will easily stretch like cheveril or kid leather. 

Oh, here’s a wit of cheveril, that stretches from an 
inch narrow to an ell broad! — Shakespeare: Romeo 
and Juliet , II, iii. 

Your soft cheveril conscience would receive, 

If you might please to stretch it. 

Shakespeare: Henry VIII, II, iii. 

Chevy Chase. There had long been a rivalry 
between the families of Percy and Douglas, 
which showed itself by incessant raids into each 
other’s territory. Percy of Northumberland 
one day vowed he would hunt for three days in 
the Scottish border, without condescending to 
ask leave of Earl Douglas. The Scots warden 
said in his anger, “Tell this vaunter he shall 
find one day more than sufficient.” The 
ballad called Chevy Chase mixes up this hunt 
with the battle of Otterburn, which, Dr. Percy 
justly observes, was “a very different event. 

Chian Painter, The. See Apelles. 

Chiaroscuro (kyar os koo' rd). A style of paint- 
ing to represent only two colours, now called 
“black and white”; also the production of 


the effects of light and shade in drawings, 
paintings, etc. 

Chiar-oscuro .... is the art of representing light 
in shadow and shadow in light, so that the parts repre- 
sented in shadow shall still have the clearness and 
warmth of those in light; and those in light, the depth 
and softness of those in shadow. — Chambers's Encyclo- 
paedia , II, p. 171. 

Chic (shSk). A French word of uncertain 
origin meaning the knack of being able to do 
anything well. In English the word is applied 
more especially to good taste in dressing, to 
smartness and style, to being “just right” in 
appearance. 

The word may be connected with German 
Schick , skill, tact, but this is by no means 
certain. 

Chicane (shi kan). A term used in bridge for 
a hand containing no trumps. Its general 
meaning is the use of mean, petty subterfuge, 
especially legal dodges and quibbles. It is a 
French word which, before being used for 
sharp practice in lawsuits, meant a dispute in 
games, particularly mall, and originally the 
game of mall itself. It seems to be ultimately 
from Persian chaugan , the crooked stick used 
in polo. 

Chichcvache (chich' e vash). A fabulous ani* 
mal that lived only on good women, and was 
hence all skin and bone, because its food was 
so extremely scarce; the antitype to Bicorn 
(q.v.). Chaucer introduced the word into 
English from French; but in doing so he 
changed chichifache (thin or ugly face) into 
chichevache (lean or meagre-looking cow), and 
hence the animal was pictured as a kind of 
bovine monstrosity. 

O noble wyves, ful of heigh prudence, 

Let noon humilitie your tonges nayle: 

Ne lat no clerk have cause or diligence 
To write of you a story of such mervayle 
As of Griseldes, pacient and kynde, 

Lest Chichevache you swolwe in hir entraile. 

Chaucer: Envoy to the Clerk's Tale. 

Lydgate wrote a poem entitled Bycorne and 
Chichevache. 

Chicken. Children and chicken must always 
be pickin’. Are always hungry and ready to 
eat food. 

Curses like chickens come home to roost. 

See Curses. 

Don’t count your chickens before they are 
hatched. Make sure that a thing is actually 
yours before you speak of or act as if it were 
already yours. The saying, in a slightly 
different form, is found for the first time in the 
writings of Erasmus. “Don’t crow till you 
are out of the wood” has a similar meaning. 
Cp. Alnaschar’s Dream. 

Mother Carey’s chickens. See Mother 
Carey. 

She’s no chicken. She’s not so young as she 
used to be. 

Where the chicken got the axe. See To get 
it in the neck , under Neck. 

Chicken of St. Nicholas. So the Pied- 
montese call our “ladybird,” the little red 
beetle with spots of black. The Russians 
know it as f ‘God’s little cow,” and the 
Germans, who say it is sent as a messenger of 
love, “God’s little horse.” 



Chicken-hearted 


199 


Chimseitt 


Chicken-hearted or chicken-livered. Cow- 
ardly. Young fowls are remarkably timid, 
and run to the wing of the hen upon the 
slightest cause of alarm. 

Child. At one time this was a provincial term 
for a female infant, and was the correlative of 
boy. 

Mercy on *s! A barne, a very pretty barne. A boy 
or a child, I wonder? — Shakespeare: Winter’s Tale , 
III, iii. 

Child of God. In the Anglican and 
Roman Catholic Churches, one who has been 
baptized; others consider the phrase to mean 
one converted by special grace and adopted 
into the holy family of God’s Church. 

In my baptism, wherein I was made a member of 
Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the King- 
dom of Heaven. — Church Catechism. 

Childe. In Childe Harold , Childe Roland \ 
Childe Tristam , etc., “Childe” is a title of 
honour, like the Spanish “infante” and 
“infanta.” In the time of chivalry, noble 
youths who were candidates for knighthood 
were, during their time of probation, called 
infans , valets , damoysels , bacheliers, and childe. 

Childe Harold. Byron’s poem depicts a 
man sated of the world, who roams from place 
to place to flee from himself. The “Childe” 
is, in fact, Lord Byron himself, who was only 
twenty-one when he began, and twenty-eight 
when he finished the poem. In canto i (1809), 
he visited Portugal and Spain; in canto ii 
(1810), Turkey in Europe; in canto iii (1816), 
Belgium and Switzerland; and in canto iv 
(1817), Venice, Rome, and Florence. 

Childermass. The Old English name for 
the festival, or mass, of the Holy Innocents 
(December 28th). 

Children. Three hundred and sixty-five at 
a birth. It is said that a Countess of 
Hcnnebcrg accused a beggar of adultery 
because she carried twins, whereupon the 
beggar prayed that the countess might carry as 
many children as there are days in the year. 
According to the legend, this happened on 
Good Friday, 1276. All the males were 
named John, and all the females Elizabeth. 
The countess was forty-two at the time. 

The children or babes in the wood. The 
foundation of this ballad, which is told in 
Percy’s Reliques , appears again in a crude 
melodrama of 1599 by Robert Farrington, 
entitled Two Lamentable Tragedies: the one o, 
the Murder of Maister Beech , a chandler in 
Thames Strecte y the other of a young child 
murthered in a wood by two ruffins with the 
consent of his unkle. It is not known which is 
the earlier, the play or the ballad. The story is, 
shortly, as follows: — The master of Wayland 
Hall, Norfolk, left a little son and daughter to 
the care of his wife’s brother; both were to 
have money, but if the children died first the 
uncle was to inherit. After twelve months the 
uncle hired two ruffians to murder the babes; 
one of the ruffians relented and killed his 
fellow, leaving the children in a wood; they 
died during the night, and “Robin Redbreast” 
covered them over with leaves. All things 
went ill with the wicked uncle; his sons died, 
his barns were fired, his cattle died, and he 


himself perished in gaol. After seven years 
the ruffian was taken up for highway robbery, 
and confessed the whole affair. 

Chiliasts (kF li asts) (Gr. chilias , a thousand). 
Those who believe that Christ will return to 
this earth and reign a thousand years in the 
midst of His saints. Originally a Judaistic 
theory, it became a heresy in the early Christian 
Church, and though it was condemned by St, 
Damasus, who was Pope from 366 to 384, it 
was not extirpated. Article xli of the English 
Church, as published in 1553, further con- 
demned Chiliasm; this Article was omitted in 
1562. Millenarians is another name for the 
Chiliasts. 


Chillingham Cattle. A breed of cattle pre- 
served in the Northumberland park of the 
Earl of Tankcrville, supposed to be the last 
remnant of the wild oxen of Britain. 


Chillon (she' yong). Prisoner of Chillon. 
Francois de Bonnivard (d. c. 1570), a Genevan 
prelate and politician. Byron makes him 
one of six brothers, all of whom suffered 
for their opinions. The father and two sons 
died on the battlefield; one was burnt at the 
stake; three were incarcerated in the dungeon 
of Chillon, on the edge of the Lake of Geneva 
— of these, two died, and Francois, who had 
been imprisoned for “republican principles” 
by the Duke-Bishop of Savoy, was set at 
liberty by “the Bearnais” after four years* 
imprisonment. 

Chilminar and Baalbec (kil min ar', bal' bek). 
Two cities built, according to Eastern legend, 
by the Genii, acting under the orders of Jan 
ben Jan, who governed the world long before 
the time of Adam. Chilminar, or the “Forty 
Pillars,” is Persepolis. They w r ere intended as 
lurking places for the Genii to hide in. 

Chilo. One of the “Seven Sages of Greece”. 
See Wise Men. 


Chiltern Hundreds. There are three, viz. 
Stoke, Desborough, and Burnham, Bucks. At 
one time the Chilterns, between Bedford and 
Hertford, etc., were much frequented by 
robbers, so a steward was appointed by the 
Crown to put them down. The necessity has 
long since ceased, but the office remains; and, 
since 1740, when a Member of Parliament 
wishes to vacate his scat, one way of doing so 
is by applying for the stewardship of the 
Chiltern Hundreds; for no member of 
Parliament may resign his seat, but if he 
accepts an office of profit under the Crown he 
is disqualified from membership of Parlia- 
ment. The Stewardship of the Manor of 
Northstead (Yorks) is used in the same way. 
The gift of both is in the hands of the Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer; it was refused to a 
member of Reading in 1842. 

The Stewardships of Old Sarum (Wilts), 
East Hendred (Berks), Poynings (Sussex), 
Hempholwic (Yorks), were formerly used for 
the same purpose, as were (till 1838) the 
Escheatorships of Munster and Ulster. 


Chim&ra (ki m£' ra) (Gr. chimaira , a she-goat). 
A fabulous monster of Greek mythology, 
described by Homer as a monster with a goat s 
body, a lion’s head, and a dragon’s tail. It 


Chimney Money 


200 


Chivalry 


was born in Lycla, and was slain by Bellero- 
phon. Hence the term is used in English for 
an illusory fancy, a wild, incongruous scheme. 

Chimney Money or Hearth Money. A yearly 
tax of two shillings on every fireplace in 
England and Wales: first levied in 1663 and 
abolished in 1689. 

Chimneypot hat. The cylindrical black silk 
hat, usually known as the top-hat or silk hat. 

China Clay. A mineral, obtained largely from 
Cornwall, used in the manufacture of porce- 
lain, and by papermakers to obtain finish and 
consistency, also for coating art and chromo 
papers. 

Chinaman. A left-hander’s googly, a cricket- 
ing term (see Googly). 

Chinatown. A part of any city where the 
population is Chinese, the most famous being 
in the United States. 

Chindit (chin' dit). Stylized lions character- 
istic of Burmese and Malayan sculpture and 
religious architecture. Adopted as the in- 
signia of the troops operating in the Malay 
jungle behind the Japanese lines under 
General Wingate in the 1939-45 war, who 
hence were familiarly known as Chindits. 

Chinese Cordon. General Gordon (killed at 
Khartoum in 1885), who in 1863 was placed in 
command of the Ever-Victorious Army (q.v.) 
and in the following year succeeded, after 
thirty-three engagements, in putting down the 
Taeping rebellion, which broke out in 1851. 

When the Mahdi's rebellion broke out in 
the Sudan, Gordon was sent to assist the 
Egyptian army, and defended Khartoum for 
nearly a year. Wolseley was sent to relieve 
him but arrived two days too late, Gordon 
having been killed on Jan. 26th, 1885. 

Chingachgook. The Indian chief in Fenimore 
Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans , Pathfinder , 
Deer slayer, and Pioneer. Called in French Le 
Gros Serpent. 

Chink. Money; so called because it chinks, 
or jingles in the purse. It was formerly in 
good repute as a synonym of coin. 

Have chinks in thy purse. — Tusser: Five Hundred 
Points ( 1573 ). 

I tell you, he that can lay hold of her 
Shall have the chinks. 

Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, I, v. 

Chintz. A plural word that has erroneously 
become singular. The Hindi chint (from 
Sanskrit chitra , variegated) was the name given 
in the 17th century to the painted and stained 
calico imported from the East; but as the 
plural (chints) was more common in com- 
mercial use than the singular it came to be 
taken for a singular, and was written chince or 
chinse and finally chintz . 

Chios (kr os). The man of Chios. See Scio’s 
Blind Old Bard. 

Chip. A carpenter is known by his chips. A 
man is known to be a carpenter by the chips 
in his workshop, so the profession or taste of 
other men may be known by their manners or 
mode of speech. 


A chip of the old block. A son or child of 
the same stuff as his father. The chip is the 
same wood as the block. Burke applied the 
words to William Pitt. 

Brother Chip. Properly a brother carpen- 
ter, but in its extended meaning applied to 
anyone of the same vocation as oneself. 

The ship’s carpenter is, at sea, commonly 
addressed as “Chips.” 

Saratoga chips. Potatoes sliced thin while 
raw, and fried crisp. Sometimes called 
chipped potatoes, but more generally “chips.” 

Such carpenters, such chips. As the work- 
man, so his work will be. 

The chips are down. The situation is urgent, 
or the situation is desperate. Probably the 
same derivation as “Chip in” (see below). 

To have a chip on one’s shoulder. To be 
quarrelsome; to have a grievance. It derives 
from American usage of about 1840, and the 
origin is unknown. 

Chip In. It has two meanings: to make a 
contribution, and to interrupt. The former 
derives from the game of poker, in which the 
chips, representing money, are placed by the 
players in the “pot”. The latter is obscure, 
but possibly from the same source. 

Chippie. A knee-length frock worn in the 
red-light district of New Orleans; hence the 
U.S. phrase for a prostitute; can be used as a 
phrase of back-handed affection, as with the 
Blues singer Bertha “Chippie” Hill. 

Chiron (kl'ron). The centaur who taught 
Achilles and many other heroes music, 
medicine, and hunting. Jupiter placed him in 
heaven among the stars as Sagittarius (the 
Archer). 

In the Inferno Dante gives the name to the 
keeper of the lake of boiling blood, in the 
seventh circle of hell. 

Chirping Cup. A merry-making glass or cup 
of liquor. Wine that maketh glad the heart of 
man, or makes him sing for joy. 

A chirping cup is my matin song, 

And my vesper bell is my bowl; Ding dong! 

A Friar of Orders Grey. 

The chirping and moderate bottle. 

Ben Jonson. 

Chisel. I chiselled him means, I cheated him, 
or cut him out of something. 

Chivalry (shiv' al ri). This is a general term 
for all things pertaining to the romance of 
the old days oi knighthood. The word is of 
similar origin to cavalry, coming from Fr. 
cheval , a horse, and chevalier , a horseman. 
Chivalry embodied the Middle Age concep- 
tion of the ideal life, where valour, courtesy, 
generosity and dexterity in arms were the 
summit of any man’s attainment. 

For him behoveth to be of soch chiualrie and so a- 
venturouse that he com by hymselfe and enquere after 
the scint Graal that my feire doughter kepeth. 

Merlin (E.E.T.S., iii). 

A great literature arose out of chivalry — 
the Roland epics, those of Charlemagne, and 




Chivalry 


201 


Chop 


Arthur. It was, perhaps, prophetic of the fate 
of chivalry itself that in every case these great 
epics end in tragedy: 

The paladins of Charlemagne were all 
scattered by the battle of Roncesvalles. 

The champions of Dietrich were all assas- 
sinated at the instigation of Chriemhild, the 
bride of Etzel, King of the Huns. 

The Knights of the Round Table were all 
extirpated in the fatal battle of Camlan. 

The flower of chivalry. See Flower. 

Chivy. To chase or urge someone on; also a 
chase in the game of “Prisoners’ Base.” One 
boy “sets a chivy” by leaving his base, when 
one of the opposite side chases him, and if he 
succeeds in touching him before he reaches 
“home,” the boy touched ^becomes a prisoner. 
The word is a variant spelling of chevy , from 
Chevy Chase (< q.v .). 

Chivy or chivvy. Slang for the face. An 
example of rhyming slang {q.v.). Here the full 
term to rhyme with face is Chevy Chase. 

Chloe (klo' 6). The shepherdess beloved by 
Daphnis in the pastoral romance of Longus, 
entitled Daphnis and Chloe , and hence a 
generic name among romance writers and 
pastoral poets for a rustic maiden — not always 
of the artless variety. 

In Pope’s Moral Essays (ii) Chloe is intended 
for Lady Suffolk, mistress of George II, 
“Content to dwell in decencies for ever”; 
and Prior uses the name for Mrs. Centlivre. 

Chock-full. Chock-a-block. Absolutely full; 
no room for any more. It is a very old ex- 
pression in English, dating back at least to 
Chaucer’s time, though, apparently, not used 
by him. It does not seem to have any 
etymological connexion with choke (as though 
meaning “full enough to choke one”); but 
this spelling — as well as chuck — has been in 
common use. 

Chocolate. The produce of the cocoa-berry 
was introduced into England from Central 
America in the early 16th century as a drink; 
it was sold in the London coffee-houses from 
the middle of the 17th century. The Cocoa 
Tree was one of the most famous coffee-houses 
of the early 18th century. 

Chocos (Austr.). A diminutive of chocolate 
soldiers , applied to militiamen and conscripts in 
World War II. 

Choice. Choice spirit. A specially select or 
excellent person, a leader in some particular 
capacity. From Antony's speaking of Qesar 
and Brutus as — 

The choice and master spirit of this age. 

Shakespeare: Julius Ccrsar , III, i. 

Choice spirit of the age. Figuratively used 
for a gallant of the day; one who delights to 
exaggerate the whims of fashion. 

Hobson’s choice. See Hobson’s Choice. 

Of two evils choose the less. The proverb 
is given in John Hey wood’s collection (1546), 
but it is a good deal earlier, and occurs in 
Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde (ii, 470) as — 

Of harmes two, the lesse is for to chese. 


Thomas k Kempis {Imit. Christi, III, xii) 
has — 

De duobus malis minus est semper eligendum (Of 
two evils the less is always to be chosen), 
which is an echo of Cicero’s 

Ex malis eligere minima oportere (Of evil one should 
select the least).— De Officiis, III, i. 

Choke. May this piece of bread choke me, if 
what I say is not true. In ancient times a 
person accused of robbery had a piece of 
barley bread, over which Mass had been said, 
given him. He put it in his mouth uttering 
these words, and if he could swallow it without 
being choked he was pronounced innocent. 
Tradition ascribes the death of Earl Godwin 
to choking with a piece of bread after this 
solemn appeal. See Corsned. 

The narrowing of a shot-gun barrel to effect 
greater range and concentration of shot is 
called the choke. The barrel habitually used 
second is often choked, as by then a bird 
missed with the first barrel is farther away. 

Choke-pear. A kind of pear with a rough, 
astringent taste. From this the term was 
applied to anything that stopped speaking, 
such as an unanswerable argument or a biting 
sarcasm. 

He gaue him a choake-peare to stoppe his breath. 

Lyly: Euphues. 

Pardon me for going so low as to talk of giving 
choke-pears. Richardson: Clarissa . 

Choker. Formerly a broad neck-cloth, 
worn in full dress, and by waiters and clergy- 
men; now a high, stiff collar or a necklace 
worn tight round the neck. 

Chop. The various modern uses of chop 
represent two or three different words. To 
chop , meaning to cut a piece off with a sudden 
blow, is a variant spelling of chap y a cleft in the 
skin, and to chap , to open in long slits or 
cracks. From this we get: — 

Chops of the Channel. The short broken 
motion of the waves, experienced in crossing 
the English Channel; also the place where such 
motion occurs. In this use, however, the 
word may be chops , the jaw ( see below), be- 
cause the Chops of the Channel is an old and 
well-understood term for the entrance to the 
Channel from the Atlantic. 

Chop house. An eating-house where chops 
and steaks are served. 

I dine at the Chop-House three days a week, where 
the good company wonders they never see you of 
late. — Steele: Spectator , No. 308 (22 Feb., 1712). 

In the three following phrases chop comes 
from the same root as chap in chapman {q.v.) t 
and signifies to barter, exchange, or sell. 

To chop and change. To barter by rule of 
thumb; to fluctuate, to vary continuously. 

To chop an article also means to dispose of 
it arbitrarily, even at a loss. 

To chop logic. To bandy words; to alter- 
cate. Bacon says, “Let not the counsel chop 
with the judge.” 

How now, how now, chop logic! What is this? 
“Proud,” and “I thank you,” and “I thank you not,” 
And yet “not proud.” 

Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet , III, v. 



202 


Christian 


Chop 


The wind chops about. Shifts from point to 
point suddenly. Hence, choppy , said of a 
variable wind, and of the rough sea produced 
by such ; and to chop round — 

How the House of Lords and House of Commons 
chopped round. — Thackeray: The Four Georges 
(George I). 

Chop, the face, and chops, the jaws or mouth, 
is a variant spelling of chap (as in Bath chap , 
the lower part of a pig’s face, cured). From 
this come 

Chop-fallen, or chap-fallen. Crestfallen; 
down m the mouth. 

Down in the chops. Down in the mouth; in 
a melancholy state; with the mouth drawn 
down. 

To lick one’s chops. To relish in anticipa- 
tion. 

Finally, in the slang phrase first chop, 
meaning excellent, the word is the Hindi 
chhap , a print or stamp, formerly used in India 
and China by English residents for an official 
seal, also for a passport or permit; and a 
Chinese custom-house is known as a chop- 
house. 

Chopsticks. The two thin sticks of wood 
or ivory that the Chinese use to eat with. 
They attain marvellous dexterity in the use 
of these implements, and the word is a 
rendering of Chin, k'wai-tsze , meaning “ the 
quick ones.’” In Pidgin-English (q.v.) chop 
means “quick.” 

Choragus (kor a' gus). The leader of the 
chorus in the ancient Athenian drama. 

At Oxford the title is given to the assistant 
of the Professor of Music, but formerly to the 
officer who superintended the practice of 
music. See Coryph,eus. 

Choriambic Metre. Horace gives us a great 
variety, but the main feature in all is the 
prevalence of the choriambus (~ w w — ). 
Specimen translations in two of these metres 
are subjoined: 


(1) Horace, I Odes, viii. 



Lydia, why on Stanley, 


By the great gods, tell me, I pray, ruinous love you 
centre? 

Once he was strong and manly. 

Never seen now, patient of toil Mars’ sunny camp to 
enter. E. C. B. 

(2) The other specimen is I Odes , xii. 



When you, with an approving smile, 

Praise those delicate arms, Lydy, of Telephus, 

Ah me! how you stir up my bile! 

Heart-sick that for a boy you should forsake me thus. 

E. C. B. 

Chouans (shoo' ong). French insurgents of 
the Royalist party during the Revolution. 
Jean Cottereau was their leader, nicknamed 
Chouan (a corruption of Fr. chat-huant, a 
screech-owl), because he was accustomed to 
warn his companions of danger by imitating 
the screech of an owl. Cottereau (killed 1794) 
was followed by Georges Cadoucal (executed 
1804). See also Companions of Jehu; 
Vendee. 

Choughs Protected. See Birds. 


Chouse (chouz). This is a rather odd word , 
meaning to cheat or swindle. It has an 
interesting origin, coming from the Turkish 
cha'ush, an interpreter, messenger, etc. The 
interpreter of the Turkish embassy in England 
in 1609 defrauded his government of £4,000, 
and the notoriety of the swindle caused the 
word chiaus or chouse to be adopted. 

Dapper. What do you think of me. 

That I am a Chiause? 

Face. What’s that? 

Dapper. The Turk was here — 

As one would say, do you think 
I am a Turk. 

Ben Jonson: Alchemist , I. ii. 
You shall chouse him out of horses, clothes, and 
money, and I’ll wink at it. — Dryden: Wild Gallant , 
II, i. 

Chriem-hild. See Kriemhild. 

Chrisom or Chrism signifies properly “the 
white cloth set by the minister at baptism on 
the head of the newly anointed with chrism” 
— a composition of oil and balm (Gr. chrisma , 
anointing, unction). In the Form of Private 
Baptism is this direction: “Then the minister 
shall put the white vesture, commonly called 
the chrisome, upon the child.” The child thus 
baptized is called a chrisom or chrisom child. 
If it dies within the month, it is shrouded in 
the vesture; and hence, in the bills of mortality, 
even to 1726, infants that died within the 
month were termed chrisoms. 

A’ made a finer end and went away an it had been 
any chrisom child. — Shakespeare: Henry V, II, iii. 

Chriss-cross, or Christ-cross, Row. The 
alphabet in a hornbook, which had a cross 
like the Maltese cross (►p) at the beginning 
and end. 

Sir Ralph. I wonder, wench, how 1 thy name might 
know. 

Mall. Why, you may find it, sir, in th’ Christcross row. 
Sir Ralph. Be my schoolmistress, teach me how to 
spell it. 

Mall. No, faith, I care not greatly, if I tell it; 

My name is Mary Barnes. 

Porter: Two Angry Women of Abington, V, i (1599). 

The word appears as Christ-cross, criss-cross , 
etc., and Shakespeare shortened it to cross- 
row : — 

He hearkens after prophecies and dreams; 

And from the cross-row plucks the letter G, 

And says a wizard told him that by G 
His issue disinherited should be. 

Richard HI , I, i. 

As the Maltese cross was also sometimes 
used in place of XII to mark that hour on 
clocks the word has occasionally been used for 
noon: — 

The feskewe of the Diall is upon the Chriss-crosse of 
Noone. — The Puritan Widow, IV, ii (Anon, 1607). 

Christendom. All Christian countries gener- 
ally; formerly it also meant the state or con- 
dition of being a Christian. Thus, in Shake- 
speare’s King John , the young prince says: — 

By my Christendom! 

So I were out of prison and kept sheep, 

I should be merry as the day is long. 

Act IV, sc. i. 

Christian. A follower of Christ. So called 
first at Antioch ( Acts xi, 26). Also, the hero 
of Bunyan’s allegory, Pilgrim*s Progress. 
He flees from the City of Destruction, and 
journeys to the Celestial City. He starts with 



Christian Brothers 


203 


Chrysippus 


a heavy burden on his back , but it falls off 
when he stands at the foot of the cross. 

Christian Brothers. A secret society formed 
in London in the early 16th century to distri- 
bute the New Testament in English. The 
name is now better known as that of the 
teaching congregation of laymen, founded in 
1684 by St. John Baptist de la Salle. 

Most Christian Doctor. John Chari ier de 
Gerson (1363-1429). 

Most Christian King. The style of the King 
of France since 1469, when it was conferred on 
Louis XI by Pope Paul 11. Previously to that 
the title had been given in the 8th century to 
Pepin le Bref by Pope Stephen III (714-68), 
and again in the 9th century to Charles le 
Chauve. 

Cp. Religious. 

Christiana (kris ti an' a). The wife of Chris- 
tian in Pt. II of Bunyan’s Pilgrim's Progress , 
who journeyed with her children and Mercy 
from the City of Destruction some time after 
her husband. 

Chrlstinos. Supporters of the Queen-Regent 
Christina during the Carlist wars in Spain, 
1833-40. 

Christmas. December 25th is Christmas Day. 
In England, from the 7th to as late as the 13th 
century, the year was reckoned from Christmas 
Day; but in the 12th century the Anglican 
Church began the year on March 25th, a 
practice which was adopted by civilians at the 
beginning of the 14th century, and which 
remained in force till the reformation of the 
calendar in 1752. Thus, the civil, ecclesi- 
astical, and legal year, which was used in all 
public documents, began on Christmas Day 
till the end of the 13th century, but the 
historical year had, for a very long time 
before then, begun on January 1st. 

Christmas box. A small gratuity given on 
Boxing Day (the day after Christmas Day). 
Boxes placed in churches for casual offerings 
used to be opened on Christmas Day, and the 
contents, called the “dole of the Christmas 
box,” or the “box money,” were distributed 
next day by the priests. Apprentices used, 
also, to carry a box round to their masters* 
customers for small gratuities. 

Christmas cards. These are of compara- 
tively recent origin, the earliest having, it is said, 
been designed in 1844 by W. C. T. Dobson, 
R.A., a painter of pretty works of that nature. 

Christmas decorations. The great feast of 
Saturn was held in December, when the 
people decorated the temples with such green 
things as they could find. The Christian 
custom is the same transferred to Him who was 
born in Bethlehem on Christmas Day. The 
holly or holy-tree is called Christ’s-thorn in 
Germany and Scandinavia, from its use in 
church decorations and its putting forth its 
berries about Christmas time. The early 
Christians gave an emblematic turn to the 
custom, referring to the “righteous branch,” 
and justifying the custom from Isaiah lx, 13 — 
“The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee; 
the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, 
to beautify the place of my sanctuary.” 


The custom of having a Christmas tree 
decorated with candles and hung with presents 
came to England with the craze for German 
things that followed Queen Victoria’s marriage 
to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 
1840. Santa Claus (whose name has not even 
et become anglicized) with his reindeer had 
een unknown until then. 

Christopher, St. Legend relates that St. 
Christopher was a giant who one day carried 
a child over a brook, and said, “Chylde, thou 
hast put me in grete peryll. 1 might bere no 
greater burden.’* To which the child an- 
swered, “Marvel thou* nothing, for thou hast 
borne all the world upon thee, and its sins 
likewise.” This is an allegory: Christopher 
means Christ-bearer ; the child was Christ, and 
the river was the river of death. 

Christy Minstrels. For many years the mid- 
Victorian publics of London and New York 
were entertained and delighted by the troupe 
of black-faced minstrels organized by an 
American, Edwin Christy (1815-62). To the 
accompaniment of various stage-negro antics 
they sang plantation songs and cracked 
innocent jokes with Bones, Sambo, and the rest. 
They were succeeded by the Moore and 
Burgess, and other troupes of the same genre. 
Chronicle of Worcester. Early in the 12th 
century a monk of Worcester, named Florence, 
wrote a chronicle from the creation to the year 
1118, when he died. The work was carried on 
until 1141, and it was printed in London in 
1592. With all its inevitable defects and 
errors it serves as a key to the Saxon chronicle. 

Chronicle small beer. To. To note down 
events of no importance whatsoever. Small 
beer was the term for beer of low alcoholic 
content. 

She was a wight, if ever such wight were . . . 

To suckle fools and chronicle small beer. 

Shakespeare: Othello , II, i. 
Chronogram. A sentence or inscription in 
which certain letters stand for a date or epoch. 
In this double Chronogram upon the year 
1642, (one part in Latin and the other in the 
English of that Latin) the capitals in each 
produce the total of 1642. 

JV DeVs laM propltlVs sis regl regnoqVe 
hVIC VnlVerso. 

O goD noVV sheVV faVoVr to the king 
anD this VVhoLe LanD. 
VDVIMIIVIIVVICV1V 1642. 

DVVVVVVIDIVVLLD 1642. 

Chronon-hoton-thologos (kro' non ho' tonthol' 
6 gos). A burlesque pomposo, King of 
Queerummania, in Henry Carey’s farce of the 
same name — “the most tragical tragedy ever 
tragedized” — (1734). The name is used for 
any bombastic person who delivers an inflated 
address. 

Chrysippus. Nisi Chrysippus fuisset, Porticus 
non esset. Chrysippus of Sofi was a disciple 
of Zeno the Stoic and Cleanthes, his successor. 
He did for the Stoics what St. Paul did for 
Christianity— that is, he explained the system, 
showed by plausible reasoning its truth, and 
how it was based on a solid foundation. 
Stoicism was founded by Zeno; but if Chrysip- 
pus had not advocated it, it would never have 
taken root. 



Chum 


204 


Cicerone 


Chum. A crony, a familiar companion, 
properly a bedfellow. The word first appeared 
m the 17th century; its origin has not been 
ascertained. 

To chum in with. To be on very intimate 
and friendly terms with. 

Church. This is the O.E. circe, or cirice, which 
comes through W.Gcr. Kirika , from Gr. 
kuriakon , a church, the neuter of the adjective 
kuriakos, meaning of, or belonging to, the 
Lord. 

The Anglican Church. Since the Reforma- 
tion the English branch of the Protestant 
Church which, since 1532, has been known as 
the “Established Church of England”, because 
established by Act of Parliament. It disavows 
the authority of the Pope, and rejects certain 
dogmas and rules of the Roman Church. 

The Catholic Church. The Western Church 
called itself so when it separated from the 
Eastern Church. It is also called the Roman 
Catholic Church, to distinguish it from the 
Anglican Church or Anglican Catholic Church, 
a branch of the Western Church. 

The Established Church. The State Church, 
the Church officially recognized and adopted 
by any country. In England it is Episcopalian 
( see Anglican Church, above), in Scotland 
Presbyterian, but in Wales, since the dis- 
establishment of the Church of England in 
Wales by Act of Parliament in 1920, there is no 
Established Church. 

Church of North America (Episcopalian) 
established November 1784, when Bishop 
Seabury, chosen by the Churches of Con- 
necticut, was consecrated in Scotland. The 
first convention was held at Philadelphia in 
1787. 

Church of Scotland (See Presbyterian), 
which became the established religion of 
Scotland on the abolition of Episcopacv in 
1638. The head of the Church is the Mod- 
erator, and it is regulated by four Courts: the 
General Assembly, Synod, Presbytery, and 
Kirk Sessions. 

Church-ale. The word “ale” is used in 
such composite words as bride-ale , clerk-ale , 
church-ale , lamb-ale , Midsummer-ale , Scut-ale , 
Whitsun-ale , etc., for revel or feast, ale being 
the chief liquor given. 

The multitude call Church-ale Sunday their 
revelyng day, which day is spent in bulbeatings, bear- 
beating, . . . dicying, . . . and drunkenness. — W. Kethe 
(1570). 

The Church Invisible. Those who are known 
to God alone as His sons and daughters by 
adoption and grace. See Church Visible. 

There is ... a Church visible and a Church in- 
visible: the latter consists of those spiritual persons 
who fulfil the notion of the Ideal Church — the former 
is the Church as it exists in any particular age, 
embracing within it all who profess Christianity. — 
F. W. Robertson: Sermons (series IV, ii). 

The Church Militant. The Church as 
consisting of the whole body of believers, who 
are said to be “waging the war of faith” 
against “the world, the flesh, and the devil.” 
it is therefore militant, or in warfare. 


Church scot. A tribute paid on St. Martin’s 
Day (November 11th) in support of the clergy 
in Anglo-Saxon times and is so named from 
the Early Saxon silver coin, a sceat. It was 
originally paid in corn, but later other goods 
in kind, or money, were taken. 

The Church Triumphant. Those who are 
dead and gone to their rest. Having fought 
the fight and triumphed, they belong to the 
Church triumphant in heaven. 

The Church Visible. All ostensible Chris- 
tians; all who profess to be Christians: all who 
have been baptized and admitted into the 
communion of the Church. Cp. Church 
Invisible. 

The Seven Churches of Asia. See Seven. 

To church a woman. To read the appointed 
service when a woman comes to church after a 
confinement to return thanks to God for her 
“safe deliverance” and restored health. 

To go into the Church. To take holy orders. 

Uniat Churches (q.v.) 

Churchwarden. A long clay pipe, such as 
churchwardens used to smoke a century or so 
ago when they met together in the parish 
tavern, after they had made up their accounts 
in the vestry, or been elected to office at the 
Easter meeting. 

Churchyard cough. A deep, chesty cough 
which sounds like a presage of death. 

Churrigueresquc (chu rig cr esk'). Over- 
ornate, as applied to architecture. The word, 
frequently used by Richard Ford (1796-1858) 
in his writings on Spain, derives from Jose 
Churriguera (1650-1723), a Spanish architect 
of the baroque school. 

Ci-devant (sc de vong) (Fr.). Former, of 
times gone by. As Ci-devant governor — i.e. 
once a governor, but no longer so. Ci-devant 
philosophers means philosophers of former 
days. In the time of the first French Republic 
the word was used as a noun, and meant a 
nobleman of the ancien regime. 

Cicero (sis' cr o). The great Roman orator, 
philosopher, and statesman (106-43 B.c.), 
Marcus Tullius, said by Plutarch to have been 
called Cicero from Lat. cicer (a wart or vetch), 
because he had “a flat excrescence on the tip 
of his nose.” 

La Bouche de Cic6ron. Philippe Pot, prime 
minister of Louis XI (1428-94). 

The Cicero of France. Jean Baptiste 
Massillon (1663-1742), a noted pulpit orator. 

The Cicero of Germany. Johann III, 
elector of Brandenburg (1455-99J. 

The Cicero of the British Senate. George 
Canning (1770-1827). 

The British Cicero. William Pitt, Earl of 
Chatham (1708-78). 

The Christian Cicero. Lucius Coelius Lac- 
tantius, a Christian father, who died about 330. 

The German Cicero. Johann Sturm, printer 
and scholar (1507-89). 

Cicerone. A guide to point out objects 
of interest to strangers. So called from the 
great orator Cicero, in the same way as Paul 



Cicisbeo 


205 


Cipher 


was called by the men of Lystra “Mercurius, 
because he was the chief speaker.” 

Cicisbeo (chich is ba' 6). A dangler about 
women; the professed gallant of a married 
woman. Cp. Cavaliere servente. Also the 
knot of silk or ribbon which is attached to 
fans, walking-sticks, umbrellas, etc. Cicisbe- 
ism y the practice of dangling about women. 

Cid (sid). A corruption of seyyid , Arabic 
for lord. The title given to Roderigo or Ruy 
Diaz de Bivar (b. c. 1040, d. 1099), also 
called El Campeador, the national hero of 
Spain and champion of Christianity against 
the Moors. His exploits, real and legendary, 
form the basis of many Spanish romances and 
chronicles, as well as Corneille’s tragedy, Le 
Cid (1636). 

Cid Hamet Bcnengeli. The supposititious 
author upon whom Cervantes fathered The 
Adventures of Don Quixote. 

Of the two bad cassocks I am worth ... I would 
have given the latter of them as freely as even Cid 
Hamet offered his ... to have stood by. — Sterne. 

Cigars and Cigarettes. The word cigar comes 
from cicada , the Spanish cigar-shaped beetle. 
The natives of Cuba were already smoking 
tobacco in this form when the white men first 
invaded their country. Cigars as we know 
them were introduced into U.S.A. by General 
Putnam, in 1 762, on his return from the capture 
of Havana by the Earl of Albemarle, and this 
fashion of smoking soon spread to Europe. 
Cheroots (from the Tamil shuruttu , a roll) are 
made from tobacco grown in S. India, Burma 
or the Philippines, and are merely rolled, with 
the ends cut square. 

Cigarettes originated in Spain (Borrow 
called them paper cigars, and the Spanish call 
them cigarrillos, little cigars), and at first were 
rolled by the smoker as he needed them. 
It was not until the late 19th century that they 
were sold rolled and in packets. Even ready- 
made cigarettes in Spain to-day arc designed 
to be untwisted at the ends and rc-rolled before 
smoking. 

Cimmerian Darkness (si mer' i an). Homer 
(possibly from some story as to the Arctic 
night) supposes the Cimmerians to dwell in a 
land “beyond the ocean stream,” where the 
sun never shone. (Odys., XI, 14.) Spenser 
refers to “Cymerion shades” in Virgil's Gnat 
and Milton to “dark Cimmcran desert” in 
L' Allegro. 

The Cimmerians were known in post- 
Homcric times as an historical people on the 
shores of the Black Sea, whence the name 
Crimea. 

Cinch (sinch). This word, which comes from 
the Latin cingula (girdle) through the Spanish 
cincha , is the term used in western U.S.A. 
for the strong leather or canvas girth of a 
saddle or pack. From that it came to mean a 
tight grip; and by an easy transition a sure 
thing, a safe proposition. 

Cinchona (sin cho' na) or Quinine. So named 
from the wife of the Conte del Chinchon, 
viceroy of Peru, who was cured of a tertian 
fever by its use, and who brought it to Europe 
in 1640. Linnaeus erroneously named it 


Cinchona for Ch inchona. See Peruvian 
Bark. 

Cincinnatus (sin si na 'tus). A legendary 
Roman hero of about 500 to 430 B.c., who, 
after having been consul years before, was 
taken from his plough to be Dictator. After 
he had conquered the AEquians and delivered 
his country from danger, he laid down his 
office and returned to his plough. 

The Cincinnatus of the Americans. George 
Washington (1732-99). 

The Cincinnati were members of a society of 
officers of the American Army after the peace 
of 1783 “to perpetuate friendship, and to raise 
a fund for relieving the widows and orphans 
of those who have fallen during the war. On 
their badge was a figure of Cincinnatus. The 
society dissolved itself, as it was regarded with 
suspicion by the populace. 

The Ohio city of this name, originally 
called Losantiville, was rechristened in 1790 
in honour of Gen. St. Clair, governor of the 
North West Territory, who was president of 
the society of Cincinnati. 

Cinderella (sin der rel' a). Heroine of a fairy 
talc of very ancient, probably Eastern, origin, 
that was mentioned in German literature in 
the 16th century and was popularized by 
Perrault’s Contes de ma mere I'oye (1697). 
Cinderella is drudge of the house, dirty with 
housework, while her elder sisters go to fine 
balls. At length a fairy enables her to go to 
the prince’s ball; the prince falls in love with 
her, and she is discovered by means of a glass 
slipper which she drops, and which will fit 
no foot but her own. 

The glass slipper is a mistranslation of 
pantoujle en vair (a fur, or sable, slipper), not 
en verre. Sable was worn only by kings and 
princes, so the fairy gave royal slippers to her 
favourite. 

Cinquecento (ching' kwe chen' to). The Ital- 
ian name for the sixteenth century (1501-1600), 
applied as an epithet to art and literature with 
much the same significance as Renaissance or 
Elizabethan. It was the revival of the classical 
or antique, but is generally understood as a 
derogatory term, implying debased or inferior 
art. 

Cinque Ports, The. Originally the five sea- 
ports, Hastings, Sandwich, Dover, Romney, 
and Hythe, which were granted special 
privileges from the 13th to the 17th centuries, 
and even later, in consideration of their 
providing ships and men for the defence of the 
Channel. Subsequently Winchelsea and Rye 
were added. 

Cinter (sin' ter). This is frequently confused 
with the word “centre,” though it comes from 
the same original as the French ceinture y a 
girdle. A cinter, or cintre, is the wooden 
shape on which an arch is built. 

Cipher. This word comes from the Arabic 
cifr, meaning zero, naught. Through various 
ways it has come to be used for a message so 
set forth on paper as to be comprehensible 
only to one acquainted with that particular 
and secret system of writing. The simplest 
cipher is that once employed by Julius Caesar, 



Circe 


206 


City of Palaces 


who used certain letters in place of the right 
ones, e.g ., d for a , e for b , and so on through the 
alphabet. Later ciphers used numbers or 
invented characters to replace letters. In 
more recent years the most complicated 
systems of ciphering have come into use by 
spies, diplomatic observers, etc,, but experts 
claim that no cipher has yet been invented that 
cannot be “broken down" by dose study 
and the application of certain recognized 
methods. 

Circe (ser' si). A sorceress in Greek myth- 
ology, who lived in the island of ^Eaea. When 
Ulysses landed there, Circe turned his com- 
panions into swine, but Ulysses resisted this 
metamorphosis by virtue of a herb called rnoly 
fa.v.), given him by Mercury. 

Circle. Great circle. Navigation, whether 
on the sea or in the air, is principally done with 
the aid of a great circle. This is a line on the 
earth’s surface which lies in a plane through 
the centre of the earth, or any circle on the 
earth’s surface which divides the world into 
two equal parts. The shortest line between 
any two points on the earth’s surface is on a 
great circle, hence the ascertaining of great 
circles is of the utmost importance in nautical 
or aerial navigation. 

Circle of Ulloa. A white rainbow or 
luminous ring sometimes seen in Alpine 
regions opposite the sun in foggy weather. 
Named from Antonio de Ulloa (1716-95), a 
Spanish naval officer who founded the observa- 
tory at Cadiz and initiated many scientific 
enterprises. 

Circuit. The journey made through the 
counties of Great Britain by the judges twice 
a year. There are six circuits in England, two 
in Wales, and three in Scotland. Those in 
England are called the South-Eastern, Mid- 
land, Northern, North-Eastern, Oxford, and 
Western Circuit; those of Wales, the North 
Wales and Chester, and the South Wales 
Division; and those of Scotland, the Southern, 
Western, and Northern. 

Circumlocution Office. A term applied in 
ridicule by Dickens in Little Dorrit to our 
public offices, because each person tries to 
shuffle off every act to someone else; and 
before anything is done it has to pass through 
so many departments and so much time 
elapses that it is hardly worth having bothered 
about it. 

Whatever was required to be done, the Circum- 
locution Office was beforehand with all the public 
departments in the art of perceiving — How not to do 
it. — Dickens: Little Dorrit , ch. x. 

Cist (kist) (Gr. kiste , Lat. cista). A chest or 
box. Generally used as a coffer for the 
remains of the dead. The Greek and Roman 
cist was a deep cylindrical basket made of 
wickerwork. The basket into which voters 
cast their tablets was called a “cist"; but the 
mystic cist used in the rites of Ceres was 
latterly made of bronze. Cp. Kist of 
Whistles. 

Cistercians. A monastic order, founded at 
Cistercium or Citeaux by Robert, abbot of 
MolSme, in Burgundy, in 1098, as a branch of 


the Benedictines; the monks are known also 
as Bernar dines , owing to the patronage of St. 
Bernard of Clairvaux about 1200. In 1664 
the order was reformed on an excessively strict 
basis by Jean le Boutillier de Ranee. 

Citadel (Ital. citadella , a little city). In 
fortification, a small strong fort, constructed 
either within the place fortified, or at its most 
inaccessible spot, to give refuge for the garrison, 
that it may prolong the defence after the place 
has fallen, or hold out for the best terms of 
capitulation. Citadels generally command the 
interior of the place, and are useful, therefore, 
for overawing a population which might 
otherwise strive to shorten a siege. 

Citizen King, The. Louis Philippe of France. 
So called because he was elected King of the 
French (not king of France) by the citizens of 
Paris. (B. 1773, reigned 1830-48, d. 1850.) 

City. Strictly speaking, a town with a cor- 
poration or a cathedral; but any large town 
is so called in ordinary speech. In the Bible 
it means a town having walls and gates. 

The eldest son of the first man [Cain] builded a city 
(Gen. iv, 17) — not, of course, a Nineveh or a Babylon, 
but still a city. — Rawunson: Origin of Nations , pt. I, 
ch. i. 

The City College. An old irony. Newgate. 

The City of a Hundred Towers. Pavia, in 
Italy; famous for its towers and steeples. 

The City of Bells. Strasbourg. 

The City of Brotherly Love. A somewhat 
ironical, but quite etymological, nickname of 
Philadelphia (Gr. Philadelphia means “broth- 
erly love"). 

The City of David. Jerusalem. So called 
in compliment to King David (II Sant, v, 7, 9). 

The City of Destruction. In Bunyan’s 
Pilgrim's Progress , the world of the uncon- 
verted. 

City of dreaming spires. A name for Oxford 
derived from Matthew Arnold’s Thyrsis: 
“that sweet City with her dreaming spires." 

The City of God. The Church, or whole 
body of believers; the kingdom of Christ, in 
contradistinction to the City of Destruction 
(<?.v.). The phrase is that of St. Augustine, 
one of his chief works bearing the title, De 
Civ it ate Dei. 

The City of Lanterns. A supposititious city 
in Lucian’s Vera Historic r, situate somewhere 
beyond the zodiac. Cp. Lantern-Land. 

The City of Legions. Cacrlcon-on-Usk, 
where King Arthur held his court. 

The City of Lilies. Florence. 

The City of Magnificent Distances. Wash- 
ington, D.C., famous for its wide avenues and 
splendid vistas. 

The City of Palaces. Agrippa, in the reign 
of Augustus, converted Rome from “a city 
of brick huts to one of marble palaces." 

Marmoream se relinquere quatn latericiam accep- 
isset. — Suetonius: Aug. xxix. 

Calcutta is called the “City of Palaces." 


Cities of Refuge 


207 


Clapper Napper’s Hole 


Cities of Refuge. Six walled cities, three 
on each side of the Jordan, set aside under 
Mosaic law as a refuge for those who com- 
mitted accidental homicide. Such refuges 
were necessitated by the primitive law which 
exacted blood vengeance by next of kin. All 
seeking asylum were tried, and if found guilty 
of murder right of asylum was withdrawn. 
The cities were Ramoth, Kedesh, Bezer, 
Schechem, Hebron, and Golam. In Numbers 
xxxv and other references the choice of cities is 
attributed to Moses, but in Joshua xx to Joshua. 

By Mohammedans, Medina, in Arabia, 
where Mohammed took refuge when driven 
by conspirators from Mecca, is known as “the 
City of Refuge.” He entered it, not as a 
fugitive, but in triumph 622 a.d. Also called 
the City of the Prophet. 

The City of St. Michael. Dumfries, of 
which city St. Michael is the patron saint. 

The City of Saints. Montreal, in Canada, 
is so named because all the streets are named 
after saints. Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A., 
also is known as the “City of the Saints,” 
from the Mormons who inhabit it. 

The Cities of the Plain. Sodom and 
Gomorrah. 

Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot 
dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent 
toward Sodom. — Gen. xiii, 12. 

The City of the Golden Gate. San Francisco. 
See Golden Gate. 

The City of the Prophet. Medina. See 
Cities of Refuge. 

The City of the Seven Hills. Rome, built on 
seven hills (Urbs septacoliis). The hills are 
the Aventine, Caelian, Capitoline, Esquiline, 
Palatine, Quirinal, and Viminal. 

The Aventine Hill was given to the people. It was 
deemed unlucky, because here Remus was slain. It 
was also called “Collis Diaruc,” from the Temple of 
Diana which stood there. 

The Ollian Hill was given to Caslius Vibcnna, the 
Tuscan, who came to the help of the Romans in the 
Sabine war. 

The Capitoline Hill or “Mons Tarpeius,” also 
called “Mons Saturni,” on which stood the great 
castle or capitol of Rome. It contained the Temple of 
Jupiter Capitolinus. 

The Esquiline Hn l was given by Augustus to 
Mecsenas, who built thereon a magnificent mansion. 

The Palatine Hill was the largest of the seven. 
Here Romulus held his court, whence the word 
“palace” ( palatium ). 

The Quirinal Hill was where the Quires orCurgs 
settled. It was also called “Cabalinus,” from two 
marble statues of a horse, one of which was the work 
of Phidias, the other of Praxiteles. 

The Viminal Hill was so called from the number of 
osiers ( vimines ) which grew there. It contained the 
Temple of Jupiter Viminalis. 

The City of the Sun. Baalbec, Rhodes, and 
Heliopolis, which had the sun for tutelary 
deity, were so called. It is also the name of a 
treatise on the Ideal Republic by the Dominican 
friar Campanella (1568-1639), similar to the 
Republic of Plato, Utopia of Sir Thomas More, 
and Atlantis of Bacon. 

The City of the Three Kings. Cologne; the 
reputed burial-place of the Magi (q.v.). 

The City of the Tribes. Galway; because it 
was anciently the home of the thirteen “tribes” 
or chief families, who settled there in 1232 with 
Richard de Burgh. 


The City of the Violated Treaty. Limerick; 
because of the way in which the Pacification of 
Limerick (1691) was broken by England. ' 

The City of the Violet Crown. Athens is 
so called by Aristophanes ( loark<f>avo {) — 
Equites , 1323 and 1329; and Acharnians , 637. 
Macaulay refers to Athens as the “violet- 
crowned city.” Ion ( a violet) was a represen- 
tative king of Athens, whose four sons gave 
names to the four Athenian classes; and 
Greece, in Asia Minor, was called Ionia. 
Athens was the city of “Ion crowned its king” 
or “of the Violet crowned.” 

Civic Crown. See Crown. 

Civil List. The grant voted annually by 
Parliament for the sovereign’s household and 
the maintenance of the dignity of the Crown. 
Until the reign of William III the entire ex- 
penses of government, except the army and 
navy, were paid out of Crown possessions; 
and part of them until the accession of Wil- 
liam IV. The Civil List for the present reign 
has been fixed at £475,000, less some deduc- 
tion in respect of the balance of revenues from 
the Duchy of Cornwall, which are at the 
Queen’s disposal during the minority of the 
Prince of Wales, who is Duke of Cornwall. 
See also Royal Bounty. 

Civil Service Estimates. The annual Parlia- 
mentary grant to cover the expenses of the 
diplomatic services, the post office and tele- 
graphs, education, the collection of the 
revenue, and other expenses neither pertaining 
to the Sovereign nor the armed services. 

Civil war. War between citizens ( chiles ). 
In English history the term is applied to the 
war between Charles I and his Parliament; 
but the War of the Roses was a civil war also. 
In America, the War of Secession (1861-65). 

Civis Romanus sum (siv' is r6 ma' nus sOm). 
“I am a Roman citizen,” a plea which sufficed 
to arrest arbitrary condemnation, bonds, and 
scourging. Hence, when the centurion com- 
manded Paul “to be examined by scourging,” 
he asked, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a 
Roman citizen, and uncondemnedV * (1) No 
Roman citizen could be condemned unneard; 
(2) by the Valerian Law he could not be 
bound; (3) by the Sempronian Law it was 
forbidden to scourge him, or to beat him with 
rods. See also Acts xvi, 37, etc. 

The phrase later gained an English fame 
from the peroration of Palmerston’s greatest 
speech, in 1850; “As the Roman, in days of 
old, held himself free from indignity when he 
could say Civis Romanus sum , so also a British 
subject, in whatever land he may be, shall feel 
confident that the watchful eye and the strong 
arm of England will protect him against 
injustice and wrong.” 

Civvie Street (siv' i). In the 1939-45 Wat this 
was the term by which men in the Services 
referred to civilian life. 

Clabber Napper’s Hole. Near Gravesend; 
said to be named after a freebooter; but more 
likely the Celtic Caerber Varher (water-town 
lower camp). 


Clack Dish 


208 


Classics 


Clack Dish. A dish or basin with a movable 
lid. Some two or three centuries ago beggars 
used to proclaim their want by clacking the lid 
of a wooden dish. 

Can you think, I get my living by a bell and clack- 
dish? .... How’s that? 

Why, begging, sir. 

Middleton: Family of Love (1608). 
Clam. A bivalve mollusc like an oyster, 
which burrows in sand or mud. In America 
especially clams are esteemed as a delicacy. 
They are gathered only when the tide is out, 
hence the saying, “Happy as a clam at high 
tide.” The word is also used as slang for the 
mouth, and for a close-mouthed person. 

Close as a clam. Mean, close-fisted; from 
the difficulty with which a clam is made to 
open its shell and give up all it has worth having. 
Clan. The system whereby the head of the 
family, or clan, had entire jurisdiction over its 
members is said to have arisen in Scotland in 
the early 11th century. The legal power and 
hereditary jurisdiction of the head of a clan 
was abolished in 1747, following the ’45 
rebellion. Nevertheless the heads of certain 
clans, notably MacLeod, still exercise consider- 
able authority over their members and hold 
punctiliously attended gatherings. The phrase 
a gathering of the clans has been taken into 
slang use to imply any coming together of like- 
minded persons, usually for convivial purposes. 

Clan-na-Gael, The (klan na gal 7 ). An Irish 
Fenian organization founded in Philadelphia 
in 1881, and known in secret as the “United 
Brotherhood”; its avowed object being to 
secure “the complete and absolute independ- 
ence of Ireland from Great Britain, and the 
complete severance of all political connexion 
between the two countries, to be effected by 
unceasing preparation for armed insurrection 
in Ireland/’ 

Clapboard. From Ger. Klappholz ( Holz , 
wood), meaning small pieces of split oak used 
by coopers for cask staves. In the U.S.A. a 
roofing board, made thin at one edge and over- 
lapping the next one, a weatherboard. 

Jn England the word was formerly used by 
coopers m the same way as in Germany, and 
also for wainscoting. 

Clapjperclaw. To jangle, to claw or scratch; 
to abuse, revile; originally meaning to claw 
with a clapper of some sort. 

Now they are clapper-clawing one another; I’ll go 
look on. — Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida, V. iv. 

Clapper-dudgeons. Abram-men (<?.v.), beg- 
gars from birth. The clapper is the tongue of 
a bell, and in cant language the human 
tongue. Dudgeon is the hilt of a dagger; and 
perhaps the original meaning is one who 
knocks his clap dish (or clack dish, q.v.) with 
a dudgeon. 

Clap-trap. Something introduced to win 
applause; something really worthless, but sure 
to take with the groundlings. A trap to catch 
applause. 

Claque (klSk). A body of hired applauders 
at a theatre, etc.; said to have been originated 
or first systematized by a M. Sauton, who, in 
1820, established in Paris an office to ensure 
the success of dramatic pieces. The manager 


ordered the required number of claqueurs , who 
were divided into commissaires , those who 
commit the pieces to memory and are noisy 
in pointing out its merits; rieurs t who laugh at 
the puns and jokes; pleureurs , chiefly women, 
who are to hold their pocket-handkerchiefs to 
their eyes at the moving parts; chatouilleurs , 
who are to keep the audience in good humour; 
and bisseurs , who are to cry “ bis ” (encore). 

Claque is also the French for an opera-hat, 
and Thackeray uses it with this sense: — 

A gentleman in black with ringlets and a tuft stood 
gazing fiercely about him, with one hand in the arm- 
hole of his waistcoat and the other holding his claque. 
— Pendennis , ch. xxv. 

Clare, Order of St. A religious order of 
women, the second that St. Francis instituted. 
It was founded in 1212, and took its name from 
its first abbess, Clara of Assisi. The nuns are 
called Minoresses and Poor Clares, or Nuns of 
the order of St. Francis. See Franciscans. 

Clarenceux King-of-Arms (klar' en sQ). The 
second in rank of the three English Kings-of- 
Arms (q.v.) attached to the Heralds’ College 
(q.v.). His jurisdiction extends over the 
counties east, west, and south of the Trent. 
The name was taken in honour of the Duke 
of Clarence, third son of Edward III. 

Clarendon. The Constitutions of Clarendon. 

Laws made by a general council of nobles and 
prelates, held at Clarendon, in Wiltshire, in 
1164, to check the power of the Church, and 
restrain the prerogatives of ecclesiastics. 
These famous ordinances, sixteen in number, 
define the limits of the patronage and juris- 
diction of the Pope in these realms. 

Clarendon type. A bold-faced, condensed 
type, such as that used for the “catch-words” 
which head these articles. 

Claret. The English name for the red wines 
of Bordeaux, originally the yellowish or light 
red wines as distinguished from the white 
wines. The name — which is not used in 
France — is the O.Fr. clairet , diminutive of 
clair , from Lat. clarus\ clear. The colour 
receives its name from the wine , not vice versa. 

Claret cup. A drink made of claret, 
brandy, lemon, borage, sugar, ice, and 
carbonated water. 

To broach one’s claret, or to tap one’s claret 
jug. To give one a bloody nose. 

Clarke. Nobby Clarke is the British Army 
name for every man of the name of Clarke. 
It originated in the dressy — or “nobby” — 
turn-out affected by clerks and other black- 
coat workers in the early 19th century. 
Classics. The best authors. The Romans 
were divided by Servius into five classes. Any 
citizen who belonged to the highest class was 
called classicus y all the rest were said to be 
infra classem (unclassed). From this the best 
authors were termed classici auctores (classic 
authors), i.e. authors of the best or first class. 
The high esteem in which Greek and Latin 
were held at the revival of letters obtained for 
these authors the name of classic, emphatically; 
and when other first-rate works arc intended 
some distinctive name is added, as the English, 
French, Spanish, etc., classics. 




Classic Races 


209 


Clear 


Classic Races. The five chief horse-races in 
England, all for three-year-olds, are: The One 
Thousand Guineas, for fillies only, and the 
Two Thousand Guineas, for fillies and colts, 
both run at Newmarket; the Oaks, for fillies 
only, and the Derby, for fillies and colts, both 
run at Epsom and the St. Leger, for fillies and 
colts, run at Doncaster. 

Claude Lorraine ( i.e . of Lorraine). This in- 
correct form is generally used in English for 
the name of Claude Gclee (1600-82), the French 
landscape painter, born at Chamagne, in 
Lorraine. 

Clause Rolls. See Close Rolls. 

Clavie. Burning of the Clavie on New Year’s 
Eve (old style) in the village of Burghead, on 
the southern shore of the Moray Firth. The 
clavie is a sort of bonfire made of casks split 
up. One of the casks is split into two parts of 
different sizes, and an important item of the 
ceremony is to join these parts together with a 
huge nail made for the purpose. Whence the 
name, from clavus (Lat.), a nail. Chambers, 
who in his Book of Days (vol. II, p. 789) 
minutely describes the ceremony, suggests that 
it is a relic of Druid worship. The two un- 
equal divisions of the cask probably symbolize 
the unequal parts of the old and new year. 

Claw. The sharp, hooked nail of bird or 
beast, or the foot of an animal armed with 
claws. To claw is to lay one's hands upon 
things; to clutch, to tear or scratch as with 
claws; formerly it also meant to stroke, to 
tickle; hence to please, flatter, or praise. 
Thus Claw me 1 will claw thee , means, “praise 
me, and I will praise you,’’ or, “scratch my back, 
and I’ll scratch yours.” 

Laugh when l am merry, and claw no man in his 
humour. — S hakespeare : Much Ado , I, iii. 

Claw-hacks. Flatterers. Bishop Jewel 
speaks of “the Pope’s claw-backs”. 

Clay, Feet of. An unexpected flaw in the 
character of an admired person. The phrase 
arises from the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s 
dream, ( Daniel ii, 31, 32) of which the head 
was of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the 
belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and 
the feet of iron and clay. 

Claymore. The two-edged sword anciently 
used by Scottish Highlanders; from Gaelic 
claidheamh (a sword), and mor (great). 

Pve told thee how the Southrons fell 
Beneath the broad claymore. 

Aytoun: Execution of Montrose. 

Clean. Free from blame or fault. 

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a 
right spirit within me. — Psalm li, 10. 

Used adverbially, it means entirely, wholly; 
as, “you have grown clean out of knowledge,” 
i.e. wholly beyond recognition. 

Contricioun hadde clene forgeten to crye and to wepe. 

Piers Plowman, xx. 

The people . . . passed clean over Jordan. 

Joshua iii, 17. 

A clean tongue. Not abusive, not profane, 
not foul. 

To clean down. To sweep down, to swill 
down. 


To clean out. To purify, to make tidy. 
Also, to win another’s money till his pocket is 
quite empty; to impoverish him of everything. 
Dc Quincey says that Richard Bentley, after 
his lawsuit with Dr. Colbatch, “must have been 
pretty well cleaned out.” 

To clean up. To wash up, to put in order; 
to wash oneself. 

To have clean hands. To be quite clear of 
some stated evil. Hence to keep the hands 
clean , not to be involved in wrong-doing; and 
“clean-handed” ; — 

He that hath clean hands and a pure heart. 

Psalm xxiv, 4. 

To live a clean life. To live blameless and 
undefiled. 

To make a clean breast of it. To make a full 
and unreserved confession. 

To show a clean bill of health. See Bill. 

To show a clean pair of heels. To make one’s 
escape by superior speed, to run away. Here 
“ clean ” means free from obstruction. 

Clean and unclean animals. Among the 
ancient Jews (see Lev. xi) those animals which 
chew the cud and part the hoof were clean, 
and might be eaten. Hares and rabbits could 
not be eaten because (although they chew the 
cud) they do not part the hoof. Pigs and 
camels were unclean, because (although they 
part the hoof) they do not chew the cud. 
Birds of prey were accounted unclean. Fish 
with fins and scales were accounted fit food 
for man. 

According to Pythagoras, who taught the 
doctrine of the transmigration of the soul, it 
was lawful for man to eat only those animals 
into which the human soul never entered, and 
those into which the human soul did enter 
were unclean or not fit for human food. 
This notion existed long before the time of 
Pythagoras, who learnt it in Egypt. 

Cleanliness is next to godliness. An old 
saying, quoted by John Wesley ( Sermon xcii, 
On Dress), Matthew Henry, and others. The 
origin is said to be found in the writings of 
Phinehas ben Yair, an ancient Hebrew rabbi. 

Clear (verb). To be quite cleared out. To 
have spent all one’s money; to have not a 
farthing left. Cleared out means, my purse or 
pocket is cleared out of money. 

To clear an examination paper. To floor it, 
or answer every question set. 

To clear away. To remove, to melt away, 
to disappear. 

To clear for action. The same as “to clear 
the decks.” See below. 

To clear off. To make oneself scarce, to 
remove oneself or something else. 

To clear out. To eject; to empty out, to 
make tidy. 

To clear out for Guam. A now forgotten 
shipping phrase; used when a ship is bound for 
no specific place. In the height of the gold 
fever, ships carried passengers to Australia 
without making arrangements for return 
cargoes. They were, therefore, obliged to 


dear 


210 


Cleopatra’s Needle 


leave Melbourne in ballast, and to sail in search 
of homeward freights. The Custom House 
regulations required, however, that, on 
clearing outwards, some port should be named; 
and it became the habit of captains to name 
“Guam” (a small island of the Ladrone 
group) as the hypothetical destination. Hence, 
the phrase meant to clear out for just anywhere. 

To clear the air. To remove the clouds, 
mists, and impurities; figuratively, to remove 
the misunderstandings or ambiguities of a 
situation, argument, etc. 

To clear the court. To remove all strangers, 
or persons not officially concerned in the suit. 

To clear the decks. To prepare for action 
by removing everything not required; play- 
fully used of eating everything eatable on the 
dinner-table, etc. 

To clear the dishes. To empty them of their 
contents. 

To clear the land. A nautical phrase mean- 
ing to have good sea room. 

To clear the room. To remove from it every 
thing or person not required. 

To clear the table. To remove what has 
been placed on it. 

To clear up. To become fine after rain or 
cloudiness; to make manifest; to elucidate 
what was obscure; to tidy up. 

Clear (adjective). Used adverbially, clear 
has much the same force as the adverb clean 
(q.v.) — wholly, entirely; as, “He is gone clear 
away,” “Clear out of sight.” 

A clear day. An entire, complete day. 
“The bonds must be left three clear days for 
examination,” means that they must be left for 
three days not counting the first or the last. 

A clear head. A mind that is capable of 
understanding things dearly. 

A clear statement. A straightforward and 
intelligible statement. 

A clear style (of writing). A lucid method 
of expressing one's thoughts. 

A clear voice. A voice of pure intonation, 
neither husky, mouthy, nor throaty. 

Clear grit. The right spirit, real pluck ; also 
the genuine article, the real thing. Originally 
a piece of American slang. 

In Canadian politics the name Clear-grits 
was given in the early 80s of last century to 
the Radicals. 

Clearing house. The office or house where 
bankers do their “clearing,” that is, the 
exchanging of bills and cheques and the pay- 
ment of balances, etc. Also, the house where 
the business of dividing among the different 
railway companies the proceeds of traffic 
passing over several lines for one covering 
payment was carried through. In London, the 
bankers’ clearing house has been in Lombard 
Street since 1775. Each bank sends to it 
daily all the bills and cheques not drawn on its 
own firm; these are sorted and distributed to 
their respective houses, and the balance is 
settled by transfer tickets. 

A “clearing banker” is a banker who has 
the entrie of the clearing house. 


Cleave. Two quite distinct words, the one 
meaning to stick to , and the other to part from 
or to part asunder, A man “shall cleave to 
his wife” (Matt, xix, 5). As one that 
“cleaveth wood” ( Ps . cxli, 7). The former is 
the O.E. clifian , to stick to, and the latter is 
cleofan , to split. 

Clement, St. Patron saint of tanners, being 
himself a tanner. His day is November 23rd, 
and his symbol is an anchor, because he is said 
to have been martyred by being thrown into 
the sea tied to an anchor. 

Clench and Clinch. The latter is a variant of 
the former, which is the M.E. clenchen , from 
O.E. 0 be-)clencan , to hold fast. In many uses 
the two words are practically synonymous, 
meaning to grasp firmly, to fasten firmly to- 
gether, to make firm; but clench is used in such 
phrases as “he clenched his fists,” “he 
clenched his nerves bravely to endure the pain,” 
“to clench one’s teeth”; while clinch is used 
in the more material senses, such as to turn 
the point of a nail in order to make it fast, and 
also in the phrase “to clinch an argument.” 
In business, “ to clinch a deal ” is to ratify it, to 
make it certain. 

That was a clincher. That argument was 
not to be gainsaid; that remark drove the 
matter home, and fixed it. 

Cleopatra (klc 6 p&t' ra). (69-30 b.c.). She 
was Queen of Egypt, being joint ruler with and 
wife of her brother Ptolemy Dionysius. In 
48 b.c. she was ousted from the throne but in 
47 was reinstated by Julius Ca:sar, who was 
captivated by her charms. In 41 Mark 
Antony fell under her spell and repudiated his 
wife Octavia for her sake. Fighting with 
Octavian, Mark Antony was defeated at 
Actium and committed suicide. Cleopatra 
also killed herself by means of the bite of an 
asp. 

Cleopatra and her pearl. It is said that 
Cleopatra made a banquet for Antony, the 
costliness of which excited his astonishment; 
and, when Antony expressed his surprise, Cleo- 
patra took a pearl ear-drop, which she 
dissolved in a strong acid, and drank to the 
health of the Roman triumvir, saying, “My 
draught to Antony shall far exceed it.” 
There are two difficulties in this anecdote — the 
first is, that vinegar would not dissolve a pearl; 
and the next is, that any stronger acid would 
be wholly unfit to drink. 

A similar story has been told of Sir Thomas 
Gresham. It is said that when Oueen 
Elizabeth I visited the Royal Exchange he 
pledged her health in a cup of wine in which a 
precious stone worth £15,000 had been 
crushed to atoms. Heywood refers to this in 
his play If you know not me you know nobody 
(1604): — 

Here fifteen thousand pounds at one clap goes 

Instead of sugar; Gresham drinks the pearl 

Unto his queen and mistress. 

Cleopatra’s Needle. The obelisk so called, 
now in London on the Thames Embankment, 
was brought there in 1878 from Alexandria, 
whither it and its fellow (now in Central Park, 
New York) had been moved from Heliopolis 




Cleopatra’s nose 


211 


Clipper 


by Augustus about 12 b.c. It has no connex- 
ion with Cleopatra, but derives its name from 
the popular misconception that since it had 
been in Cleopatra’s capital, Alexandria, it 
was connected with her. It has carved on it 
hieroglyphics that tell of its erection by 
Thothmes III, a Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty 
who lived many centuries before her time. 

Cleopatra’s nose. It was Blaise Pascal 
(1623-62) who said, “If the nose of Cleopatra 
had been shorter, the whole face of the earth 
would have been changed’’ ( Pensees viii, 29); 
the allusion, of course, being to the tremendous 
results brought about by her enslavement 
through her charm and beauty, first of Julius 
Csesar and then of Mark Antony. 

Clergy. Ultimately from Gr. kleros , a lot or 
inheritance, with reference to Deut. xviii, 2, 
and Acts i, 17; thus, the men of God’s lot or 
inheritance. In St. Peter’s first epistle (ch. v, 
3) the Church is called “God’s heritage’* or 
lot. In the Old Testament the tribe of Levi 
is called the “lot or heritage of the Lord.’’ 

Benefit of Clergy. See Benefit. 

Clerical Titles. Clerk . As in ancient times 
the clergyman was about the only person who 
could write and read, the word clerical , as 
used in “clerical error,’’ came to signify an 
orthographical error. As the respondent in 
church was able to read, he received the name 
of clerk , and the assistants in writing, etc., are 
so termed in business. (Lat. clericus , a 
clergyman.) 

Curate. One who has the cure of souls. 
As the cure of the parish used to be virtually 
entrusted to the clerical stipendiary, the word 
curate was appropriated to this assistant. 

Parson. The same word as person. As 
Blackstone says, a parson is “ persona ecclesice , 
one that hath full rights of the parochial 
church.” 

Though we write “parson” differently, yet ’tis but 
“person”; that is the individual person set apart for 
the service of such a church, and ’tis in Latin persona , 
and personatus is a parsonage. Indeed with the canon 
lawyers, personatus is any dignity or preferment in the 
church. — S elden: Table-talk. 

Rector. One who has the parsonage and 
great tithes. The man who rules or guides the 
parish. (Lat. a ruler.) 

Vicar. One who does the “duty” of a 
parish for the person who receives the tithes. 
(Lat. vicarius , a deputy.) Incumbents and 
Perpetual Curates are now termed Vicars. 

The French curt equals our vicar, and their vicaire 
our curate. 

Clerical vestments. White. Emblem of 
purity, worn on all feasts, saints’ days, and 
sacramental occasions. 

Red. The colour of blood and of fire, worn 
on the days of martyrs, and on Whit Sunday, 
when the Holy Ghost came down like tongues 
of fire. 

Green . Worn only on days which are 
neither feasts nor fasts. 

Purple. The colour of mourning, worn on 
Advent Sundays, in Lent, and on Ember days. 

Black. Worn on Good Friday, and when 
masses are said for the dead. 

Clerihew (kler' i hd). The name given to a 
particular kind of humorous verse invented by 


E. Clerihew Bentley. It is usually satirical 
and often biographical, consisting of four 
rhymed lines of uneven length. For inclusion 
in this Dictionary Mr. Bentley suggested the 
following: — 

It was a weakness of Voltaire’s 
To forget to say his prayers, 

And one which, to his shame. 

He never overcame. 

He also wrote: — 

Sir Christopher Wren 

Said, “I’m going to dine with some men. 

If anyone calls. 

Say I’m designing St. Paul’s.” 

Clerkenwell (klark' 6n wel). At the holy well 
in this district the parish clerks of London used 
to assemble yearly to play some sacred piece. 
Clicquot (kle' ko). A nickname of Frederick 
William IV of Prussia (1795- 1 86 1), so called 
from his fondness for champagne. 
Client. In ancient Rome a client was a 
plebian under the patronage of a patrician, 
who was therefore his patron. The client 
performed certain services, and the patron 
was obliged to protect his life and interests. 
The word in English means a person who 
employs the services of a legal adviser to 
protect his interests. 

Climacteric (kli mak' tdr ik). It was once 
believed by astrologers that the 7th and 9th 
years, with their multiples, especially the odd 
multiples (21, 27, 35, 45, 49, 63, and 81), were 
critical points in life; these were called the 
Climacteric Years and were presided over by 
Saturn, the malevolent planet. 63, which is 
produced by multiplying 7 and 9 together, was 
termed the Grand Climacteric , which few 
persons succeeded in out-living. 

There are two years, the seventh and the ninth, that 
commonly bring great changes in a man’s life, and 
great dangers; wherefore 63, that contains both these 
numbers multiplied together, comes not without 
heaps of dangers . — Levinus Lemnius. 

Climax means a ladder (Gr.), and is the 
rhetorical figure in which the sense rises 
gradually in a series of images, each exceeding 
its predecessor in force or dignity. Popularly, 
but erroneously, the word is used to denote the 
last step in the gradation, the point of highest 
development. 

Clinch, Clincher. See Clench. 

Clink. Slang term for prison, derived from 
the famous goal, the Clink in Southwark, 
destroyed in the Gordon Riots in 1780. 

Clinker-built. Said of a ship whose planks over- 
lap each other, and arc riveted together. The 
opposite to clinker-built is carvel-built (q.v.). 

Clio (kli' 6) was one of the nine Muses, the 
inventress of historical and heroic poetry. 

Addison adopted the name as a pseudonym, 
and many of his papers in the Spectator are 
signed by one of the four letters in this word, 
probably the initial letters where they were 
written — of Chelsea, London, Islington, Office. 
Cp. Notarucon. 

Clipper. A fast sailing-ship; in Smyth’s 
Sailor's Word Book (1867) said to be “formerly 
applied to the sharp-built raking schooners of 
America, and latterly to Australian passenger- 
ships.” 


Clipper 


212 


Cloud 


The name has been applied in modern times 
to a transatlantic flying-boat. 

She’s a clipper. Said of a stylish or beautiful 
woman. 

Clippie (klip' i). The name given familiarly to 
women bus-conductors during and since 
World War 11. 

Cloacina (klo a si' n&). (Lat. cloaca , a sewer) 
Goddess of sewers. 

Then Cloacina, goddess of the tide. 

Whose sable streams beneath the city glide. 
Indulged the modish flame: the town she roved, 
A mortal scavenger she saw, she loved. 

Gay: Trivia , IT. 

Cloak and Sword Plays. Swashbuckling plays, 
full of fighting and adventure. The name 
comes from the Spanish comedies of the 16th- 
century dramatists, Lope de Vega and Calderon 
— the Comedia de capa y espada; but whereas 
with them it signified merely a drama of 
domestic intrigue and was named from the 
rank of the chief characters, in France — and, 
through French influence, in England — it was 
applied as above. 

Knight of the Cloak. Sir Walter Raleigh. 
So called from his throwing his cloak into a 
puddle for Queen Elizabeth I to step on as she 
was about to enter her barge. 

Clock. So church bells were once called. 
(Ger. Glocke; Fr. cloche ; Mediteval Lat. cloca .) 

Clock. The tale about St. Paul’s clock 
striking thirteen is given in Walcott’s Memor- 
ials of Westminster, and refers to John Hatfield, 
who died 1770, aged 102. He was a soldier in 
the reign of William III, and was accused 
before a court-martial of falling asleep on 
duty upon Windsor Terrace. In proof of his 
innocence he asserted that he heard St. Paul’s 
clock strike thirteen, which statement was 
confirmed by several witnesses. 

A strange incident is related concerning the 
striking of Big Ben. On the morning of 
Thursday, March ,14th, 1861, “the inhabitants 
of Westminster were roused by repeated 
strokes of the new great bell, and most persons 
supposed it was for the death of a member ot 
the royal family. It proved, however, to be 
due to some derangement of the clock, for at 
four and five o’clock ten and twelve strokes 
were struck instead of the proper number.” 
It was within twenty-four hours of this that 
the Duchess of Kent (Queen Victoria’s 
mother) was declared by her physicians to be 
dying, and early on the 16th she was dead. 

Clodhopper. A rustic, a farmer’s labourer, 
who hops or walks amongst the clods. 
Infantry are called “clodhoppers” or “foot- 
sloggers,” because they have to walk. 

Clog Almanac. A primitive almanac or 
calendar, originally made of a four-square 
“clog,” or log of wood; the sharp edges were 
divided by notches into three months each, 
every week being marked by a bigger notch. 
The faces contained the saints’ days, the 
festivals, the phases of the moon, and so on, 
sometimes in Runic characters, whence the 
“clog” was also called a “Runic staff.” They 
are not uncommon, and specimens may be 
seen in the British Museum, the Bodleian, the 


Ashmolean, and other places at home and 
abroad. 

Clogs are also wooden shoes. 

“Clogs to clogs is only three generations” 
is an old Lancashire saying, implying that 
however a man may prosper and raise himself 
from poverty, his grandson will be wearing 
clogs, and back where the family started from. 
Cloister. He retired into a cloister, a mon- 
astery. Almost all monasteries have a cloister 
or covered walk, which generally occupies 
three sides of a quadrangle. Hence cloistered , 
confined, withdrawn from the world in the 
manner of a recluse: — 

I cannot praise a fugitive, and cloistered virtue, un- 
excrciscd and unbreathed, that never sallies out and 
sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race where 
that immortal garland is to be run for, not without 
dust and heat. — Milton: Areopagitica. 

Clootie. Auld Clootie. Old Nick. The 
Scotch call a cloven hoof a cloot , so that Auld 
Clootie is Old Cloven-foot. 

And maybe, Tam, for a’ mv cants, 

My wicked rhymes an’ drucken rants 
1*11 gie auld Cloven Clootie’s haunts 
An unco slip yet, 

An’ snugly sit, amang the saunts 
At Davie’s hip yet! 

Burns: Reply to a Trimming Epistle. 
Close Rolls. Mandates, letters, and writs of 
a private nature, addressed, in the Sovereign’s 
name, to individuals, and folded or closed and 
sealed on the outside with the Great Seal. 

Close Rolls contain all such matters of record as 
were committed to close writs. These Rolls are pre- 
served in the Tower. — Jacob: Law Dictionary. 

Patent Rolls {q.v.) are left open, with the seal 
hanging from the bottom. 

Close-time for Game. See Sporting Sea- 
sons. 

Closed shop. See Shop. 

Cloth, The. This word was formerly applied 
to the customary garb of any trade, and is akin 
in usage to the word livery. About the 17th 
century it became restricted to the clergy; 
the clerical office; thus we say “ having respect 
for the cloth.” 

Cloth-yard. A measure for cloth, differing 
slightly from the yard of to-day. 

Cloth-yard shaft. An arrow a cloth-yard 
in length. 

Clotho. One of the Three Fates in classic 
mythology. She presided over birth, and 
drew from her distaff the thread of life; 
Atropos presided over death and cut the 
thread of life; and Lachesis spun the fate of 
life between birth and death. (Gr. klotho , 
to draw thread from a distaff.) 

Cloud. A dark spot on the forehead of a horse 
between the eyes. A white spot is called a star, 
and an elongated star is a blaze. See Blaze. 
Agrippa : He [Antony] has a cloud on his face. 
Enobarbus: He were the worse for that were he a horse. 

Shakespeare: Antony and Cleopatra , III, ii. 

A clouded cane. A malacca cane clouded or 
mottled from age and use. These canes were 
very fashionable in the first quarter of last 
century and earlier. 

Sir Plume of amber snuff-box justly vain, 

And the nice conduct of a clouded cane. 

Pope: Rape of the Lock , iv, 123. 



Cloud 


213 


Clytie 


Every cloud has a silver lining. There is 
some redeeming brightness in the darkest 
prospect; “while there is life there is hope.” 

He is in the clouds. In dreamland; enter- 
taining visionary notions and so having no 
distinct idea about the matter in question. 

He is under a cloud. Under suspicion, in 
disrepute. 

The Battle above the Clouds. A name given 
to the battle of Lookout Mountain, part of the 
Battle of Chattanooga fought during the 
American War of Secession on November 
24th, 1863. The Fedcrals under Grant 

defeated the Confederates, and part of the 
fight took place in a heavy mist on the 
mountains: hence the name. 

To blow a cloud. See Blow. 

Cloven Foot. To show the cloven foot, i.e. to 
show a knavish intention; a base motive. 
The allusion is to Satan, represented with the 
legs and feet of a goat; and, however he might 
disguise himself, he could never conceal his 
cloven feet. See Bag o’ Nails; Clootie. 

Clover. He’s in clover. In luck, in prosper- 
ous circumstances, in a good situation. The 
allusion is to cattle feeding in clover fields. 

Clown. It is probable that the circus clown, 
in his baggy costume and whitened face with 
grotesque red lips and odd little tuft of black 
hair, is a relic of the devil as he appeared in the 
medieval miracle plays. He has come to us, 
with his drolleries and antics, through a 
succession of fools and jesters. Of the many 
famous clowns that have amused generations 
of children and grown-ups, two figures are 
outstanding — Joseph Grimaldi (1779-1837) 
and, in recent times, the Swiss Grock (Charles 
Adrien Wettach). See Harlequin. 

Club. In England the club has played an 
important part in social life, especially during 
the 18th century. John Aubrey (1626-97) 
says “we now use the word clubbe for a 
sodality in a taverne.” Clubs came into vogue 
in the reign of Queen Anne, as we see from 
the Tatler and Spectator . Some of them were 
political, such as the “October,” the “Satur- 
day,” and the “Green Ribbon,” at which 
adherents or opponents of the ministry of the 
day forgathered. But the social clubs where 
cultured men could meet and exchange 
conversation had their parent in Dr. Johnson 
whose Ivy Lane Club (founded in 1749) and 
Literary Club (1763) gathered many of the 
leading men of the day and set a standard for 
the times. For many years clubs met in 
taverns and coffee-houses, and it was not until 
the Regency that they began to occupy their 
own premises. In the first quarter of the 19th 
century a great number came into existence, 
some, such as Wader’s, being solely gambling 
centres. The first ladies’ club was the 
Alexandra (1883) to which no man — not even 
the Prince of Wales — was allowed admittance. 
Among the principal London clubs arc the 
following, with their dates of foundation: — 
Army and Navy, 1838. Brooks’s, 1764. 
Athenaeum, 1824. Carlton, 1832. 

Bath, 1894. Cavalry, 1890. 

Beefsteak, 1876 Conservative, 1840. 

Boodle’s, 1763. Constitutional, 1883. 


Devonshire, 1875. 
Garrick, 1831. 

Guards, 1813. [1911. 

Junior Army & Navy, 
Junior Carlton, 1864. 
Lansdowne, 1935. 
Lyceum, 1904. 

M.C.C., 1787. 
Marlborough, 1868. 
National Liberal, 1882 


Reform, 1832. 

Royal Aero, 1901. 

Royal Automobile, 1897. 
Savage, 1857. 

Savile, 1868. 

Thatched House, 1869. 
Travellers, 1819. 

Turf, 1868. 

United Services, 1815. 
White’s, 1693. 


In France clubs assumed great political 
importance at the time of the Revolution. 
They dated from about 1782. The Club des 
Cordeliers numbered Danton and Desmoulins 
among its members. The most famous was 
the Club des Jacobins. From these two the 
Mountain party emerged. They disappeared 
with the coming of the Directory in 1799. 


Club-bearer, The. In Greek mythology, 
Periphetes, the robber of Argolis, is so called 
because he murdered his victims with an iron 
club. 


Club-land. The West End of London 
round St. James’s, where the principal clubs 
are situated; the members of such clubs. 


Club-law. The law of might or compulsion 
through fear of chastisement; “might is right”; 
“do it or get a hiding.” 

Club Parliament. The Parliament held at 
Nottingham in 1426, during the quarrel be- 
tween the Duke of Gloucester and Cardinal 
Beaufort, so called because the members, 
being forbidden to wear swords, came armed 
with cudgels, or “bats”. Also called the 
Bats Parliament. 


Clue. I have not yet got the clue ; to give a clue, 
i.e . a hint. A clue is a ball of thread (O.E. 
clcowen). The only mode of finding the way 
out of the Cretan labyrinth was by a skein of 
thread, which, being followed, led the right 
way. 

Clumsy. A Scandinavian word, meaning 
originally “numbed with cold,” and so 
“awkward,” “unhandy”. Piers Plowman 
has “thou elomsest for cold”, and Wyclif has 
“with clomsid handis ” ( Jer . xlvii, 3). 
Cluricaunc. An elf in Irish folklore. He is of 
evil disposition and usually appears as a 
wrinkled old man. He has knowledge of 
hidden treasure and is the fairies’ shoemaker. 
Another name for him is Leprechaun or 
Leprachaun (r/.v.). 

Clydesdale Horses. See Shire Horses. 
Clym of the Clough. A noted archer and 
outlaw, supposed to have lived shortly before 
Robin Hood, who, with Adam Bell and 
William of Cloudesly, forms the subject of one 
of the ballads in Percy’s Reliques , the three 
becoming as famous in the north of England 
as Robin Hood and Little John in the midland 
counties. Their place of resort was in Engle- 
wood Forest, near Carlisle. Clym of the 
Clough means Clement of the Cliff. He is 
mentioned in Ben Jonson’s Alchemist (I, ii, 46). 
Clytie. In classical mythology, an ocean 
nymph, in love with Apollo. Meeting with 
no return, she was changed into the heliotrope, 
or sunflower, which, traditionally, still turns 
to the sun, following him through his daily 
course. 


Cnidian Venus 


214 


Coat of Anns 


Cnidian Venus, The . The exquisite statue of 
Venus by Praxiteles , formerly in her temple 
at Cnidus. It is known through the antique 
reproduction now in the Vatican. 

Coach. When railways replaced the old 
forms of road travel in the 30s and 40s of the 
last century, they took over the old coaching 
terms familiar to all who travelled about the 
country. Carriage, coach, driver, guard, 
“Right, away!” are all words reminiscent of 
old coaching days. 

It is from this association that a private 
tutor, or the trainer of an athletic team is a 
coach, for it is his task to get his pupil or team 
trained as fast as possible. 

A slow coach. A dullard, an unprogressive 
person. 

To dine in the coach. In the captain’s 
private room. The coach or couch of one of 
the old, large-sized men-of-war was a small 
apartment near the stern, the floor being 
formed of the aftmost part of the quarter- 
deck, and the roof by the poop. 

To drive a coach and four through an Act of 
Parliament. To find a way of infringing it or 
escaping its provisions without rendering 
oneself liable at law. It is said that a clever 
lawyer can always find for his clients some 
loophole of escape. 

It is easy to drive a coach-and-four through wills, 
and settlements, and legal things. — H. R. Haggard. 
Coal. To blow the coals. To fan dissensions, 
to excite smouldering animosity into open 
hostility, as dull coals are blown into a blaze 
with a pair of bellows. 

To call, or haul, over the coals. To bring to 
task for shortcomings; to scold. At one time 
the Jews were “bled” whenever the kings 
or barons wanted money; and one very 
common torture, if they resisted, was to haul 
them over the coals of a slow fire, to give them 
a “roasting.” In Scott’s Ivanhoe , Front-dc- 
Boeuf threatens to haul Isaac over the coals. 

To carry coals. To be put upon. “Greg- 
ory, o’ my word, we’ll not carry coals” — i.e. 
submit to be “put upon” ( Romeo and Juliet , 

I, i). So in Every Man out of his Humour , 
“Here comes one that will carry coals, ergo , 
will hold my dog.” The allusion is to the 
dirty, laborious occupation of charcoal 
carriers. 

To carry coals to Newcastle. To do what 
is superfluous; to take something where it is 
already plentiful. The French say, “ Porter de 
Veau d la rivitre ” (to carry water to the river). 

To heap coals of fire on one’s head. To melt 
down one’s animosity by deeds of kindness; to 
repay bad treatment with good. 

If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat ; and 
if he be thirsty, give him water to drink ; for thou shalt 
heap coals of fire upon his head. — Prov. xxv, 21, 22. 

To post the coal, or cole. See Cole. 

Coal brandy. Burnt brandy. The ancient 
way to set brandy on fire was to drop in it a 
live or red-hot piece of charcoal, 

Coaling, in theatrical slang, means telling 
phrases and speeches, as, “My part is full of 
‘coaling lines’.” Possibly from cole ( q.v.) t 
money, such a part being a profitable one. 


Coalition Government A government formed 
by various parties by mutual consent to waive 
differences of policy and opinion in face of 
more serious considerations. Examples are 
those under Fox and North in 1783, of Whigs 
and Peelites in 1852, of Conservatives and 
Liberal-Unionists in 1895. In 1915 H. H. 
Asquith formed a coalition of Unionists and 
Liberals to carry through the World War I, 
and this was re-formed by Lloyd George in 
1916, lasting until 1922. In 1931 Ramsay 
MacDonald formed a National Government 
to deal with the crisis of the Gold Standard. 
In 1940 Winston Churchill formed a Coalition 
Government to carry on the World War II, 
and this lasted until 1945 when, at the General 
Election, Labour was returned to power with 
an overwhelming majority. 

Coast, To. To free-wheel down a hill on a 
bicycle, etc.; to come down the hill without 
working the pedals, or — of motor-cycles and 
cars — with the engine cut off. The term was 
originally American or Canadian, an ice- 
covercd slope down which one slides on a 
sledge being called a coast , and hence the 
action of sliding being termed coasting. 

Coasting lead. A sounding lead used in 
shallow water. 

Coasting trade. Trade between ports of the 
same country carried on by coasting vessels. 

Coasting waiter. An officer of Customs in 
the Port of London, whose duty it was to visit 
and make a return of coasting vessels which 
(from the nature of their cargo) were not re- 
quired to report or make entry at the Custom 
House, but which were liable to the payment 
of certain small dues. The coasting waiter 
collected these, and searched the cargo for 
contraband goods. Like tide waiters, coast- 
ing waiters were abolished in the latter half 
of last century, and their duties have since 
been performed by the examining officer. 

The coast is clear. There is no likelihood 
of interference. It was originally a smuggling 
term, implying that no coastguards were about. 

Coat. Cut your coat according to your cloth. 
Curtail your expenses to the amount of your 
income; live within your means. Si non possis 
quod veils , velis id quod possis. 

To baste someone’s coat. To dust his jacket; 
to beat him. 

To wear the king’s coat. To be a soldier. 

Turning one’s coat for luck. It was an 
ancient superstition that this was a charm 
against evu spirits. See Turncoat. 

William found 

A means for our deliverance: “Turn your cloaks,’* 
Quoth hee, “for Pucke is busy in these oakes.’* 
Richard Corbett (1582-1635): Iter BorealV. 

Coat of Arms. Originally, a surcoat worn by 
knights over their armour, decorated with 
devices by which the wearer could be described 
and recognized; hence the heraldic device of a 
family. The practice of bearing on the armour 
or its covering some distinguishing mark is 
of very ancient date. It was introduced into 
England by the Crusaders who in the Holy 
Land were forced to cover their armour with 



Cob 


215 


Cock 


doth to ward off the fierce sun; at that time its 
rules and customs were codified , and “heral- 
dry” was brought almost to a science. 

Cob. A short-legged, stout variety of horse, 
rather larger than a pony, from thirteen to 
nearly fifteen hands high. The word means 
big, stout. It also meant a tuft or head (from 
cop), hence eminent, large, powerful. The 
“cob of the county" is the great boss thereof. 
A rich cob is a plutocrat. Hence also a male, 
as a cob-swan. 

Riding horses run between fifteen and 
sixteen hands in height, and carriage horses, 
between sixteen and seventeen hands. 

Cobalt. From the Ger. Kobold , a gnome, the 
demon of mines. This metal, from which a 
deep blue pigment is made, was so called by 
miners partly because it was thought to be 
useless and partly because the arsenic and 
sulphur with which it was found in combina- 
tion had bad effects both on their health and 
on the silver ores. Its presence was conse- 
quently attributed to the ill offices of the mine 
demon. 

Cobber (Austr.). A friend or companion; 
possibly from the old Suffolk to cob , to form a 
friendship. 

Cobber Kain — Flying Officer E. J. Kain, 
D.F.C., was the first New Zealand air ace; 
he was killed on active service in June 1940. 

Cobbler. A drink made of wine (sherry), 
sugar, lemon, and ice. It is sipped up through 
a straw. See Cobbler’s Punch. 

This wonderful invention, sir, ... is called cobbler 
— Sherry cobbler, when you name it long; cobbler 
when you name it short. — Dickens: Martin Chuzzle - 
wit , xvii. 

A cobbler should stick to his last. Let no 
one presume to interfere in matters of which 
he is ignorant. 

Ne supra crepidam sutor judicaret. 

Pliny, xxv, x, 85. 

There is the story of a cobbler who detected 
a fault in the shoe-latchet of one of Apelles’s 
paintings, and the artist rectified the fault. 
The cobbler next ventured to criticize the legs; 
but Apelles answered, “Keep to your trade” 
— you understand about shoes, but not about 
anatomy. 

The Cobbler Poet. Hans Sachs of Nurem- 
berg, prince of the master-singers of Germany 
(1494-1576). 

Cobbler’s punch. Gin and water, with a 
little treacle and vinegar. 

Cobbler’s toast. Schoolboys’ bread and 
butter, toasted on the dry side and eaten 
hot. 

Coburg. A corded or ribbed cotton cloth 
made in Coburg (Saxony), or an imitation 
thereof. Chiefly used for ladies’ dresses. 

Cobweb. The net spun by a spider to catch 
its prey. Cob , or cop, is an old word for a 
spider, so called from its round, stubby body; 
it is found in the O.E. attorcoppa , poisonous 
spider. 

Cochineal (koch' i nel). A red dye used for 
colouring materials and also food. It is 
made from the insect of the same name, which 


acquires its colour, from feeding on the cactus. 
Cochineal was brought to Europe by the 
Spaniards, soon after the conquest of Mexico, 
in 1518. 

Cock (n<pun). In classical mythology the cock 
was dedicated to Apollo, the sun-god, because 
it gives notice of the rising of the sun. It was 
dedicated to Mercury, because it summons 
men to business by its crowing. And to 
AEsculapius, because “early to bed and early 
to rise, makes a man healthy.” 

According to Mohammedan legend the 
Prophet found in the first heaven a cock of 
such enormous size that its crest touched the 
second heaven. The crowing of this celestial 
bird arouses every living creature from sleep 
except man. The Moslem doctors say that 
Allan lends a willing ear to him who reads the 
Koran, to him who prays for pardon, and to 
the cock whose chant is divine melody. When 
this cock ceases to crow, the day of judgment 
will be at hand. 

Peter Le Neve affirms that a cock was the 
warlike ensign of the Goths, and therefore 
used in Gothic churches for ornament. 

The weathercock is a very old symbol of 
vigilance. From its position at the top of 
steeple or tower it can be seen far and wide. 
As the cock heralds the coming day, so does 
the weathercock tell the wise man what the 
weather will likely be. 

A cock and bull story. A long, rambling, 
idle, or incredible yarn; a canard. There are 
various so-called explanations of the origin 
of the term, but the most likely is that it is 
connected with the old fables in which cocks, 
bulls, and other animals discoursed in human 
language on things in general. In Bentley’s 
Boyle Lecture (1692) occurs the passage: — 
That cocks and bulls might discourse, and hinds 
and panthers hold conferences about religion. 

The “hind and panther” allusion is an obvious 
reference to Dryden’s poem (published five 
years before), and it is possible that the 
“cocks and bulls” would have had some 
meaning that was as well known to contempor- 
aries but has been long since forgotten. See 
also the closing chapter of Sterne’s Tristram 
Shandy; the last words in the book are: — 

L — d! said my mother, what is all this story about? 
— A cock and a bull, said Yorick — And one of the 
best of its kind, I ever heard. 

The French equivalents are faire un coq d 
Vane and un conte de ma mete Vole (a mother 
goose tale), and it is worth noting that in 
Scotland a satire or lampoon and also a 
rambling, disconnected story used to be called 
a cockalane , direct from the Fr. coq a Vdne. 

A cock of hay or haycock. A small heap of 
hay thrown up temporarily. (Ger. Kocke , a 
heap of hay; Norw. kok , a heap.) 

By cock and pie. We meet with cock’s 
bones , cock’s wounds , cock’s mother , cock’s 
body , cock’s passion , etc., where we can have 
no doubt that the word is a minced oath, and 
stands for God. The pie is the table or rule in 
the old Catholic office, showing how to find 
out the service for each day (from Med* Lat. 
pica). 

By cock and pie, sir, you shall not away to-night. — 
Shakespeare: Henry IV, Pt. II, V, i. 



Cock and Pie 


216 


Cock Lane Ghost 


Cock and Pie (as a public-house sign) is 
probably “The Cock and Magpie.** 

Cock and Bottle. A public-house sign, 
probably meaning that draught and bottled 
ale may be had on the premises. If so, the 
word “cock*’ would mean the tap. 

Cock of the North. George, fifth Duke of 
Gordon (1770-1836), who raised the Gordon 
Highlanders in 1795, is so called on a monu- 
ment erected to his honour at Fochabers, in 
Morayshire. 

The brambling, or mountain finch, is also 
known by this name. 

Cock of the walk. The dominant bully or 
master spirit. The place where barndoor 
fowls are fed is the walk , and if there is more 
than one cock, they will fight for the supremacy 
of this domain. 

Every cock crows on Its own dunghill, or 
Ilka cock crows on its ain midden. It is easy 
to brag of your deeds in your own castle when 
safe from danger and not likely to be put to 
the proof. 

Nourish a cock, but offer it not in sacrifice. 
This is the eighteenth Symbolic Saying in the 
Protreptics of Iamblichus. The cock was 
sacred to Minerva, and also to the sun and 
moon, and it would be impious to offer a 
sacrilegious offering to the gods. What is 
already consecrated to God cannot be em- 
ployed in sacrifice. 

That cock won’t fight. See Cock-Fighting. 

The red cock will crow in his house. His 
house will be set on fire. 

“We’ll see if the red cock craw not in his bonnie 
barnyard ae morning.” “What does she mean?” 
said Mannering. . . . “Fire-raising,” answered the . . . 
dominie. — Scott: Guy Mannering, ch. iii. 

To cry cock. To claim the victory; to assert 
oneself to be the superior. As a “cock of the 
walk” (q.v.) is the chief or ruler of the whole 
walk, so to cry cock is to claim this cockship. 

Cock-boat. A small ship’s boat; a very 
light or frail craft. 

That now no more we can the maine-land see. 
Have care, I pray, to guide the cock-bote well. 

Spenser: Faerie Queene, III, v iii, 24. 
This “cock-bote” had previously (111, vii, 27) 
been called a “little bote” and a “shallop.” 
Cokke or cocke , is an obsolete word for a 
small boat, and is probably connected with 
cog , an early kind of ship, from Scan, kog , 
kog%e , a small vessel without a keel. Originally 
a wicker frame covered with leather or oil- 
cloth. The Welsh fishers used to carry them 
on their backs. Cock is here the M.E. cog 
or cogge , and O.Fr. coque or cogue , a kind of 
boat. Cog was once used in English for a 
small boat, as by Chaucer: — 

This messagere adoun him gan to hye, 

And fond Jasoun, and Ercules also, 

That in a cogge to londe were y-go, 

Hem to refresshen and to take the eyr. 

Legend of Good Women , 1. 1479. 

Cock-crow. The Hebrews divided the night 
into four watches: (1) The “beginning of the 
watches’* or “even** (Lam. ii, 19); (2) “The 
middle watch” or “midnight” (Judges vii, 
19); (3) “The cock-crowing”; (4) “The 


morning watch” or “dawning” ( Exod . xiv, 
24). 

Yc know not when the master of the house cometh, 
at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in 
the morning . — Mark xiii, 35. 

The Romans divided the day into sixteen 
parts, each one hour and a half, beginning at 
midnight. The third of these divisions (3 
a.m.) they called gallicinium , the time when 
cocks begin to crow; the next was conticinium t 
when they ceased to crow; and fifth was 
diluculum , dawn. 

If the Romans sounded the hour on a 
trumpet three times it would explain the 
diversity of the Gospels: “Before the cock 
crow” (John xiii, 38, Luke xxii, 34, and Matt. 
xxvi, 34); but “Before the cock crow twice ” 
(Mark xiv, 30) — that is, before the trumpet has 
finished sounding. 

Apparitions vanish at cock crow. This is a 
Christian superstition, the cock being the 
watch-bird placed on church spires, and 
therefore sacred. 

The morning cock crew loud. 

And at the sound it [the Ghost] shrunk in haste away, 
And vanished from our sight. 

Shakespeare: Hamlet , I, ii. 

Cock-eye. A squint. Cock-eyed, having 
a squint; cross-eyed. There seems to be no 
connexion between this and the Irish and 
Gaelic caog , a squint; it may mean that such 
an eye has to be cocked, as the trigger of a gun 
is cocked, before it can do its work effectively; 
or it may be from the verb to cock in the 
sense of “turning up” — as in to cock the nose. 

Cock-eyed is also slang for nonsensical. 

Cock-fighting was introduced into Britain by 
the Romans. It was a favourite sport both 
with the Greeks and with the Romans. 

In the 12th century it was the sport of 
schoolboys on Shrove Tuesday. The cockpit 
at Whitehall was added by Henry VIII, and 
the “royal diversion,” as it was called, was 
very popular with James I and Charles II. 
Cock-fighting was made illegal in Britain in 
1849; it continued in New York until the 
1870s. 

That beats cock-fighting. That is most 
improbable and extraordinary. The allusion 
is to the extravagant tales told of fighting- 
cocks. 

That cock won’t fight. That dodge won’t 
answer; that tale won’t wash. The allusion is 
to a bet being made on a favourite cock, which, 
when pitted, refuses to fight. 

To live like fighting-cocks. To live in 
luxury. Fighting-cocks used to be high fed in 
order to aggravate their pugnacity and increase 
their powers of endurance. 

Cock-horse. To ride a cock-horse. A cock- 
horse is really a hobby-horse, but the phrase 
means to sit astride a person’s foot or knee 
while he jogs it up and down. 

Cock Lane Ghost. A tale of terror without 
truth; an imaginary talc of horrors. In Cock 
Lane, Smithheld (1762), certain knockings 
were heard, which Mr. Parsons, the owner, 
declared proceeded from the ghost of Fanny 
Kent, who died suddenly, and Parsons wished 



Cock LorelPs Bote 


217 


Cockade 


eople to suppose that she had been murdered 

y her husband. All London was agog with 
this story. Royalty and the nobility made up 
parties to go to Cock Lane to hear the ghost; 
Dr. Johnson and other men of learning and 
repute investigated the alleged phenomena; 
but in the end it was found that the knockings 
were produced by Parsons’s daughter (a girl 
twelve years of age) rapping on a board which 
she took into her bed. Parsons was con- 
demned to stand in the pillory. Cp. Stockwell 
Ghost. 

Cock Lorell’s Bote. A pamphlet published 
by Wynkyn de Worde about 1510, satirizing 
contemporary lower-middle-class life and 
introducing all sorts of rogues and vagabonds 
in the guise of a crew which takes ship and 
sails through England. 

Cock-pit. The arena in which game-cocks 
were set to fight; also the name of a 17th- 
century theatre built about 1618 on the site of 
a cock-pit in Drury Lane; and of that of the 
after part of the orlop deck of an old man-of- 
war, formerly used as quarters for the junior 
officers and as a sick-bay in time of war. 

Captain Hardy, some fifty minutes after he had left 
the cock-pit, returned; and, again taking the hand of 
his dying friend and commander, congratulated him 
on having gained a complete victory. — Southey: Life 
of Nelson , ch. ix. 

In aeroplanes the space where the pilot sits 
is called the cockpit. 

The judicial committee of the Privy Council 
was also so called, because the council-room 
is built on the old cock-pit of Whitehall 
palace. 

Great consultations at the cockpit about battles, 
duels, victories, and what not. — Poor Robin's Alman- 
ack, 1730. 

Cock-pit of Europe. Belgium is so called 
because it has been the site of more European 
battles than any other country; among them, 
Ramillies (1706); Oudenarde (1708); Fontenoy 
(1745); Fleurus (1794); Jemmapes (1792); 
Ligny, Quatre Bras and Waterloo (1815); 
Mons, Ypres and the continuous battles of the 
World War I; the invasion of the country by 
the Germans, 1940-45. 

Cockshut, or Cockshut time. Twilight; the 
time when the cockshut , i.e. a large net em- 
ployed to catch woodcocks, used to be spread. 
The net was so called from being used in a 
glade through which the woodcocks might 
shoot or dart. 

Let me never draw a sword again, 

Nor prosper in the twilight, cockshut light 
When I would fleece the wealthy passenger . . , 

If I, the next time that I meet the slave. 

Cut not the nose from off the coward’s face. 

Arden of Feversharn , III, ii (1592). 
See also Shakespeare’s Richard 111 , V, iii. 

Cockshy. A free fling or ‘‘shy” at some- 
thing. The allusion is to the once popular 
Shrove-Tuesday sport of shying or casting 
stones or sticks at cocks. 

, The phrase became popular in military 
circles during the World War II to imply an ill- 
considered, ill-prepared attempt at some tiling. 

. C< ock sure. As sure as a cock : meaning 
either “with all the assurance (brazen-faced 
impudence) of a game-cock,” or “as sure as the 


cock is to crow in the morning,” or even “with 
the security and certainty of the action of a 
cock, or tap, in preventing the waste of 
liquor.” 

Shakespeare employs the phrase in the 
sense of “sure as the cock of a firelock.” 

We steal as in a castle, cock-sure. Henry IV, Pt. /, 
II. i. 

And the phrase “Sure as a gun” seems to 
favour the latter explanation. 

Cock (verb). In the following phrases, all of 
which connote assertiveness, obtrusiveness, or 
aggressiveness in some degree, the allusion is 
to game-cocks, whose strutting about, swag- 
gering, and ostentatious pugnacity is pro- 
verbial. 

To cock the ears. To prick up the ears, or 
turn them as a horse does when he listens to a 
strange sound. 

To cock the nose or cock up the nose. To 
turn up the nose in contempt. See Cock 
your Eye. 

To cock up your head, foot, etc. Lift up, 
turn up your head or foot. 

To cock your eye. To shut one eye and look 
with the other in a somewhat impertinent 
manner; to glance at questioningly. Cp . 
Cock-eye. 

To cock your hat. To set your hat more on 
one side of the head than on the other; to look 
knowing and pert. 

To cock a snook. To make a long nose; to 
put the thumb to the nose and spread wide 
the fingers. This is a very ancient gesture of 
disrespect, contempt, or defiance. 

Cock-a-hoop. Jubilant; exultant; as a cock 
crowing boastfully. Early references to the 
saying do not suggest a derivation from the 
animal; the saying may come from the fact 
that when the spigot (otherwise known as the 
cock) is taken out of the beer barrel, and laid 
on the hoop of the barrel, it freed the beer for 
jollity and high spirits. 

Cocked hat. A hat with the brim turned, 
like that of a bishop, dean, etc. It is also 
applied to the chapeau bras ( q.v .) and the 
military full-dress hat, pointed before and 
behind, and rising to a point at the crown, the 
chapeau a conies. “Cock” in this phrase 
means to turn; cocked ', turned up. 

Knocked into a cocked hat. In the game of 
ninepins, three pins were set up in the form of 
a triangle, and when all the pins except these 
three were knocked down, the set was tech- 
nically said to be “knocked into a cocked 
hat.” In modern colloquial usage, to knock 
someone into a cocked hat is to beat him in a 
contest of skill, etc. 

Cockade. A badge worn on the head-dress 
of menservants of Royalty and of those 
holding Her Majesty’s commission, such as 
naval and military officers, diplomatists, 
lord-lieutenants, high sheriffs, etc. The Eng- 
lish cockade is black and circular in shape with 
a projecting fan at the top, except for naval 
officers, for whom the shape is oval without 



Cockade 


218 


Cocktail 


the fan. This form of cockade was introduced 
from Hanover by George I; under Charles I 
the cockade had been scarlet, but Charles II 
changed it to white, and thus the white cockade 
became the badge of the Pretenders, William 
III adopting an orange cockade (as Prince of 
Orange). From Fr. cocarde, a plume, 
rosette, or bunch of ribbons, originally worn 
by Croatian soldiers serving in the French 
army, and used to fix the flaps of the hat in a 
cocked position. 

To mount the cockade. To become a 
soldier. 

Cockaigne, Land of (kok an'). An imaginary 
land of idleness and luxury, famous in 
mediaeval story, and the subject of more than 
one poem, one of which, an early translation 
of a 13th-century French work, is given in 
Ellis’s Specimens of Early English Poets. In 
this “the houses were made of barley sugar 
and cakes, the streets were paved with pastry, 
and the shops supplied goods for nothing.” 

London has been so called (see Cockney), 
but Boileau applies the name to Paris. 

Allied to the Ger. Kitchen , a cake. Scotland 
is called the “land of cakes.” 

Cockatoo. Old Australian slang for a convict 
serving his sentence on Cockatoo Island, 
Sydney, which began to be used for that 
purpose in 1839. Also used of small farmers 
in Australia who were described as “just 
picking up the grains of a livelihood like 
cockatoos do maize.” 

Cockatrice. A fabulous and heraldic monster 
with the wings of a fowl, tail of a dragon, and 
head of a cock. So called because it was said 
to be produced from a cock’s egg hatched by 
a serpent. According to legend, the very look 
of this monster would cause instant death. 
In consequence of the crest with which the head 
is crowned, the creature is called a basilisk 
( q.v .). Isaiah says, “The weaned child shall 
put his hand on the cockatrice’ den” (xi, 8), 
to signify that the most obnoxious animal 
should not hurt the most feeble of God’s 
creatures. 

Figuratively, it means an insidious, treach- 
erous person bent on mischief. 

They will kill one another by the look, like cocka- 
trices. — S hakespeare: Twelfth Night, JII, iv. 

Cocker. According to Cocker. All right, 
according to Cocker. According to established 
rules, according to what is correct. Edward 
Cocker (1631-75) published an arithmetic 
which ran through sixty editions. The phrase, 
“According to Cocker,” was popularized by 
Murphy in his farce, The Apprentice (1756). 
Cp. Gunter. 

Cockle. A bivalve mollusc, the shell of which 
was worn by pilgrims in their hats (see 
Cockle hat). The polished side of the shell 
was scratched with some crude drawing of the 
Virgin, the Crucifixion, or some other subject 
connected with the pilgrimage. Being blessed 
by the priest, the shells were considered amulets 
against spiritual foes, and might be used as 
drinking vessels. 

Cockle-boat. See Cock-boat. 

Cockle hat. A pilgrim’s hat, especially 
the hat of a pilgrim to the shrine of St. James 


of Compostela, in Spain; his symbol was 
really a scallop-shell, but the word cockle was 
more usually applied to it. 

And how shall I your true love know 
From many another one? 

Oh, by his cockle hat and staff, 

And by his sandal shoon. 

Old Ballad: The Friar of Orders Grey. 

Hot cockles. See Hot. 

The Order of the Cockle. An order of 
knighthood created by St. Louis in 1269, in 
memory of a disastrous expedition made by 
sea for the succour of Christians. Perrot says 
it scarcely survived its foundation. 

To cry cockles. To be hanged; from the 
gurgling noise made in strangulation. 

To warm the cockles of one’s heart. Said of 
anything that pleases one immensely and gives 
one a gratifying sensation, such as does a glass 
of really good port. (Lat. cochleae cordis , 
the ventricles of the heart.) 

Cockney. This is the M.E. cokeney , meaning 
“a cock's egg ” (-ey — O.E. teg, an egg), i.e. a 
small egg with no yolk that is occasionally laid 
by hens; hence applied originally to a foolish, 
spoilt, cockered child: — 

I made thee a wanton and thou hast made me a fool, 
I brought thee up like a cockney and thou hast handled 
me like a cock’s-comb, I made more of thee than 
became a father and thou less of me than beseemed a 
child. 

Lyly: Euphues (1578). 

From this the word came to signify a foolish 
or effeminate person; hence, by the country- 
dwellers — the majority of the population — 
it was applied to townsmen generally, and 
finally became restricted to its present meaning, 
one born within sound of Bow Bells, London; 
one possessing London peculiarities of speech, 
etc.; one who, hence, is — or is supposed to be 
— wholly ignorant of country sports, country 
life, farm animals, plants, and so on. 

As Frenchmen love to be bold, Flemings to be 
drunk, Welchmen to be called Britons, and Irishmen 
to be costermongers; so cockneys, especially she 
cockneys, love not aqua-vitae when *tis good for them. 
— Dekker andiWEBSTER: Westward Hoe , II, ii, (1607). 

Shakespeare uses the word for a squeamish 
woman : — 

Cry to it, nuncle, as the cockney did to the cels, 
when she put them into the paste alive. — King Lear t 
II, iv. 

The Cockney School. A nickname given by 
Lockhart (see quotation below) to a group of 
writers including Leigh Hunt, Hazlitt, Shelley, 
and Keats. It was a term of opprobrium, on 
account of the kind of rhymes they used in 
their verse, which smacked loo much of every- 
day life instead of the classic purity preferred 
by the critics. 

If I may be permitted to have the honour of 
christening it, it may be henceforth referred to by the 
designation of the “Cockney School.” — Lockhart: 
Blackwood's Magazine , Oct., 1817. 

The king of cockneys. A master of the 
revels chosen by students of Lincoln’s Inn on 
Childermas Day (December 28th). 

Cocktail. An aperitif, or short drink taken 
before a meal, concocted of spirits (usually 
gin), bitters, flavouring, etc. There are many 
varieties of cocktail, most of them of U.S.A. 
origin. Champagne cocktail is champagne 




Cocky 


219 


Coin 


flavoured with Angostura bitters and brandy; 
soda cocktail is soda-water, sugar, and bitters. 

Did ye iver try a brandy cocktail. Cornel?— 
Thackeray: The Newcomes , xiii. 

Cocky. Bumptious, overbearing, conceited, 
and dogmatic; like a little bantam cock. 

Coconut. Milk in the coconut. See Milk. 

Cocqcigrues. At the coming of the Cocqcigrues. 
More correctly Coquecigrues (kok' se groo). 
These are fabulous animals of French legend, 
and they have now become labels for an idle 
story. In French the above phrase — a la 
venue des coquecigrues is equivalent to saying 
Never. 

"That is one of the seven things," said the fairy 
Bedonebyasyoudid, "I am forbidden to tell till the 
coming of the Cocqcigrues." — C. Kingsley: The 
Water Babies , ch. vi. 

Cocytus (ko si' tus). One of the five rivers 
of hell. The word means the “river of 
lamentation.” The unburied were doomed to 
wander about its banks for 100 years. It flows 
into the river Acheron. 

Cod. You can’t cod me. You can’t deceive 
me, or take a rise out of me. 

Codger. A familiar and somewhat dis- 
respectful term applied to an elderly man, 
generally one with some minor eccentricities. 
Originally a mean, stingy old chap: probably a 
variant of cadger ( q.v .). 

Codille (k6 dil'). Triumph. A term in the 
game of ombre. When one of the two 
opponents of ombre has more tricks than 
ombre, he is said to have won codille, and 
takes all the stake that ombre played for. 
Thus Belinda is said, in the Rape of the Lock , 
to have been “between the jaws of ruin and 
Codille.” She wins with the “king of hearts”, 
and she wins codille. 

Coehorn (ko' horn). Small howitzer of about 
4*- inches calibre; so called from Baron van 
Coehorn, of Holland. These guns were in 
use in the early 18th century. 

Ccelacanth (see' lekanth). See Four legs, Old. 

Ccmobites or Cenobites (sen' d bit). Monks 
who live in common, in contradistinction to 
hermits or anchorites. (Gr. koinosbios.) 

Ccur de Lion (ker dc le' on). Richard I of 
England; called the lion-hearted from the 
prodigies of personal valour performed by him 
in the Holy Land. (1157, 1189-99.) 

The traditional stage pronunciation of this 
is kor de li' on. 

Coffee. The Turkish word is qahwah , which 
is pronounced kahveh and is applied to the 
infusion only, not to the plant or its berries. 

Coffee was introduced into England in 1641 ; 
the first coffee-house in this country was 
opened at Oxford in 1650, and the first in 
London dates from the following year. 

It was an old custom in the Ardennes to 
take ten cups of coffee after dinner, and each 
cup had its special name. (1) Caf<6, (2) Gloria, 
(3) Pousse Cafe, (4) Goutte, (5) Regoutte, 
(6) Surgouttc, (7) Rincette, (8) Re-rincette, 
(9) Sur-rincette, and (10) Coup ae l*6trier. 
Gloria is coffee with a small glass of brandy 
B.D. — 8 


m lieu of milk; those following it have an 
ever-increasing quantity of alcohol; and the 
last is the “stirrup cup.” 

Pousse cafe is now a common term for a 
liqueur after coffee. 

Coffin. A raised crust, like the lid of a basket. 
Hence Shakespeare speaks of a “custard 
coffin” {Taming of the Shrew , IV, iii). (Gr. 
kophinos , a basket.) 

Of the paste a coffin will I rear. 

Shakespeare: Titus Andronicus , V, ii. 

To drive a nail into one’s coffin. To do any- 
thing that would tend to cut short one’s life; 
to put a spoke in one’s wheel. 

Care to our coffin adds a nail, no doubt; 

But every grin so merry draws one out. 

Peter Pindar: Expostulatory Odes , xv. 

Cog. A boat. See Cock-boat. 

Coggeshall (kog' shal). A Coggeshall job. 
The saving is, that the Coggeshall (Essex) folk 
wanted to divert the current of a stream, and 
fixed hurdles in the bed of it for the purpose. 
Another tale is that a mad dog bit a wheel- 
barrow, and the people, fearing its madness, 
chained it up in a shed. Cp. Gotham. 

Cogito, ergo sum. The axiom formulated by 
Descartes (1596-1650) as the starting-place of 
his system of philosophy: it means “I think, 
therefore 1 am.” Descartes, at the beginning, 
provisionally doubted everything, but he could 
not doubt the existence of the ego , for the 
mere fact that / doubt presupposes the 
existence of the /; in other words, the doubt 
could not exist without the / to doubt. 

He [Descartes] stopped at the famous formula, “I 
think, therefore I am." Yet a little consideration will 
show this formula to be full of snares and verbal 
entanglements. In the first place, the "therefore" has 
no business there. The "I am" is assumed in the "I 
think," which is simply another way of saying “I am 
thinking.” And, in the second place, "I think” is not 
one simple proposition, but three distinct assertions 
rolled into one. The first of these is "something called 
I exists”; the second is, "something called thought 
exists"; and the third is, "the thought is the result of 
the action of the I." 

Now, it will be obvious to you, that the only one of 
these three propositions which can stand the Cartesian 
test of certainty is the second. — H uxley: Descartes' 
Discourse on Method . 

Cohort (ko' hort). The sixth part of a legion 
in the Roman army, numbering 420 infantry 
and 300 cavalry; the word is used, however, 
to describe any large armed force. 

The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold 

And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold. 

Byron : Destruction of Sennacherib. 

Coif. Originally, a close-fitting mail cap worn 
under his helmet by a knight; afterwards, the 
special head-dress of serjeants-at-law — hence 
sometimes called Serjeants of the Coif. It 
seems to have been a white hood, and its final 
representative was the white border to the 
wigs worn by serjeants, the patch of black 
silk in the centre of the crown representing the 
cornered cap that was worn above it. 

It was also, in the 13th century, a cap worn 
to hide the tonsure, by any renegade priest who 
chose to remain illegally as an advocate in the 
secular courts. 

Coin. Paid in his own coin. Tit for tat. 



Coin 


220 


Collar 


To coin money. To make money with 
rapidity and ease. 

See Angel, Bawbee, Carolus, Cross and 
Pile, Crown, Dollar, Farthing, Florin, 
Groat, Guinea, Mancus, Penny, Pieces of 
Eight, Shilling, Sovereign, etc. 

Coke. Coke upon Littleton. Eighteenth-cen- 
tury slang for a mixture of tent and brandy. 
Tent was a deep-red Spanish wine. Coke upon 
Littleton is the lawyers’ name for the reprint 
and translation of Littleton’s Tenures (about 
1465), published in 1628 with a commentary 
by Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634). 

To cry coke. To cry peccavi; to ask for 
mercy. 

Colbronde or Colbrand. The Danish giant 
slain by Guy of Warwick. By his death the 
land was delivered from Danish tribute. 

I am not Samson, nor Sir Guy, nor Colbrand, 
To mow ’em down before me. 

Shakespeare: Henry VIII t V, iv. 

Colcannon (kolkan'on). Potatoes and cab- 
bage pounded together and then fried in 
butter (Irish). “Col” is cole or calc, i.e. 
cabbage. 

About 1774 Isaac Sparks, the Irish comedian, 
founded in Long Acre a Colcannon Club . — The 
Athenttum, January 20th 1875. 

Cold. Done in cold blood. (Fr. sang fro id.) 
Not in the heat of temper; deliberately, and 
with premeditation. The allusion is to the 
ancient notion that the blood grew hot and 
cold, and this difference of temperature ruled 
the temper. 

Cold-blooded animals. As a rule, all 
invertebrate animals, and all fishes and reptiles, 
are cold-blooded, the temperature of their 
blood being about equal to the medium in 
which they live. 

Cold chisel. A steel chisel made in one 
piece and so tempered that it will cut cold 
metal when struck with a hammer. 

To have cold feet is to be timorous or 
cowardly. An expression originating in the 
U.S.A. in the 1890s. 

To show or give one the cold shoulder is to 
assume a distant manner towards a person, 
to indicate that you wish to cut him. 

The persuasion of cold steel is persuasion 
enforced at the point of the sword or bayonet. 

Cold war. The term applied to the state 
of tension between two countries when all the 
elements of war are present without a recourse 
to actual fighting. 

Cold-water ordeal. An ancient method of 
testing guilt or innocence. The accused, 
being tied under the arms, was thrown into a 
river. If he sank to the bottom he was held 
to be guiltless, and drawn up by the cord; 
but if he floated the water rejected him, be- 
cause of his guilt. 

Cold without. An elliptical expression, 
meaning spirits mixed with cold water 
without sugar. 

Cold-Bath Fields. A district of Clerkenwell. 
London, so called from the baths established 


there, in 1697, for the cure of rheumatism, 
convulsions, and other nervous disorders. 

The Fields were famous for the prison which 
was established there in the time of James I 
and not finally closed till 1886. 

Cold brand. See Colbronde. 

Coldstream Guards. One of the five regiments 
of Foot Guards. It was raised by General 
Monk in 1659-60 and in January, 1660, 
marched under him from Coldstream in 
Berwickshire with the object of bringing back 
Charles II to the throne. In 1661 the regiment 
was constituted as the 2nd Regiment of Foot- 
guards. The name Coldstream has no plural. 

Cole. An old canting term for money. Cp. 
Coaling. 

My lusty rustic, learn and be instructed. Cole is, in 
the language of the witty, money; the ready , the rhino. 
— Shadwell: Squire of Alsatia, IV, xvi (1688). 

To post or tip the cole. To pay or put down 
the cash. 

If he don’t tip the cole without more ado, give him a 
taste of the pump, that’s all. — H arrison Ainsworth: 
Jack Sheppard. 

Cole, King. A legendary British king, 
described in the nursery rhyme as “a merry old 
soul” fond of his pipe, fond of his glass, and 
fond of his “fiddlers three.” Robert of 
Gloucester says he was father of St. Helena 
(and consequently grandfather of the Emperor 
Constantine); and Colchester has been said 
to have been named after him, but in fact 
the name means the Roman encampment on 
the River Colne. 

Colcttines. See Franciscans. 

Colin Clout. A name which Spenser assumes 
in The Shepherd's Calendar , and in the pastoral 
entitled Colin Clout's Come Home Again , which 
represents his return from a visit to Sir Walter 
Raleigh, “the Shepherd of the Ocean.” 
Skelton had previously (about 1520) used the 
name as the title of a satire directed against the 
abuses of the Church. 

Colin Tampon. The old nickname of a 
Swiss, as John Bull is of an Englishman, 
Brother Jonathan of a North American, and 
Monsieur Crapaud of a Frenchman. 

Coliseum. See Colosseum. 

Collar. Against the collar. Somewhat fatigu- 
ing. When a horse travels uphill the collar 
distresses his neck, so foot travellers often find 
the last mile or so “against the collar,” or 
distressing. 

In collar. In harness. The allusion is to 
a horse’s collar, which is put on when about 
to go to work. 

Out of collar. Out of work, out of a place. 

To collar. To seize (a person) by the collar; 
to steal; to appropriate without leave; to 
acquire (of possessions). 

To collar the bowling. In cricket, to hit the 
bowlers all over the field so that they become 
more easy to score off through losing their 
length. 

To collar the cole. To steal the money. 
See Cole. 



Collar 


221 


Colosseum 


To slip the collar. To escape from restraint; 
to draw back from a task begun. 

To work up to the collar. To work tooth 
and nail; not to shirk the work in hand. A 
horse that lets his collar lie loose on his neck 
without bearing on it docs not draw the vehicle 
at all, but leaves another to do the real work. 

Collar-day. A day on which the knights of 
the different orders when present at levees or 
other Court functions wear all their insignia 
and decorations, including the collar. There 
are about thirty-five collar-days in the year. 

Collar of S’s. A decoration restricted to 
the Lord Chief Justice, the Lord Mayor of 
London, the Kings-of-Arms, the Heralds, the 
Serjeants-at-Arms, and the Serjeant Trum- 
peter. It is composed of a series of golden S’s 
joined together, and was originally the badge 
of the adherents of the House of Lancaster. 

Collectivism. The opposite of Individualism. 
A system in which the government would 
be the sole employer, the sole landlord, 
and the sole paymaster. Private property 
would be abolished, and the land and all 
industries nationalized; everyone would be 
obliged to work for his living, and the State 
obliged to find the work. 

College. The Lat. collegium , meaning col- 
leagueship or partnership, hence a body of 
colleagues, a fraternity. In English the word 
has a very wide range, as. College of the 
Apostles, College of Physicians, College of 
Surgeons, Heralds’ College, College of Justice, 
etc.; and on the Continent we have College of 
Foreign Affairs, College of War, College of 
Cardinals, etc. 

In old slang a prison was known as a 
college , and the prisoners as collegiates. New- 
gate was ‘‘New College,” and to take one's 
final at New College was to be hanged. The 
King’s Bench Prison was “King’s College,” 
and so on. 

College port. The vintage port laid down 
in university college cellars for the special 
use of the senior Common Room. The 
excellence of this is often a source of college 
pride. 

Colliberts. A sort of gipsy race, similar to 
the Cagots of Gascony and the Caqueux of 
Brittany, who lived on boats on the rivers, 
chiefly in Poitou, now nearly extinct. In 
feudal times a collibcrt was a serf partly free, 
but bound to certain services. (Lat. col- 
libertus, a fellow freedman.) 

Collins (koP inz). A word sometimes applied 
to the “bread-and-butter letter” one writes 
after staying at another person’s house. In 
Pride and Prejudice Mr. Collins appears as a 
bore and snob of the first water; after a 
protracted and unwanted visit at the Bennets’ 
his parting words arc: “Depend upon it, 
you will speedily receive from me a letter of 
thanks for this as well as for every other mark 
of your regard during my stay in Hertford- 
shire.” 

Tom Collins. See Tom. 

Colly, my Cow. Colly is an old term of 


endearment for a cow, and properly refers 
only to a polled cow, one deprived of its horns. 
It is from Scan, holla, a beast without horns 
(Icel. kollr , a shaven crown). 

Collywobbles. The gripes, or stomach-ache, 
usually accompanied with sundry rumblings in 
the stomach. 

Cologne (ko Ion'). The three kings of Cologne. 
The three Wise Men of the East, the Magi 
(q.v.), Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, 
whose bones, according to mediaeval legend, 
were deposited in Cologne Cathedral. 

Eau de Cologne. See Eau de Cologne. 

Colombier. A standard size of drawing and 
plate papers measuring 23£ by 34£ inches. 
The name is derived from an ancient water- 
mark of a dove (Fr. colombe), the emblem of 
the Holy Ghost. 

Colonel. When an officer in the British Army 
is promoted to the rank of colonel he loses his 
regimental identity and becomes a member of 
the Staff Corps. A colonel is usually the head 
of a branch at the War Office or at a Command 
or District Headquarters. In the Army the 
title “ colonel ” is given to the titular head of 
a regiment, who is usually a distinguished 
serving or retired officer of General rank. 
In the Territorial Army the titular head of a 
regiment is called the “Honorary Colonel’*. 

Colonnade, The. See Cynic Tub. 

Colophon. The statement containing infor- 
mation about the date, place, printer, and 
edition which, in the early days of printing, 
was given at the end of the book but which 
now appears on the title page. From Gr. 
kolophon , the top or summit, a word which, 
according to Strabo, is from Colophon, a city 
of Ionia, the inhabitants of which were such 
excellent horsemen that they would turn the 
scale of battle to the side on which they fought; 
hence to add a colophon means “to supply the 
finishing stroke.” 

The term is now loosely applied to a printer’s 
or publisher’s house device, such as the Belle 
Sauvage appearing on the title-page of this 
volume. 

Coloquintida, St. (col 6 kwin' ti d&). Charles I 
was so called by the Levellers (q.v.) y to whom 
he was as bitter as gall, or coloquintida 
(colocynth), the bitter-apple. 

Colorado (U.S.A.). The river (and hence the 
State) was so named by the Spanish explorers 
from its coloured (i.e. reddish) appearance. 

Colorado beetle. This beetle, which is the 
terror of the potato-grower, for it will devas- 
tate.whole fields, was first observed in the Rocky 
Mountain regions in 1 859. It has since spread 
over large areas of America and has made its 
way at times into Europe, despite the stringent 
precautions taken by governments. 

Colosseum (kol o se' urn). The great Flavian 
amphitheatre of ancient Rome, said to be so 
named from the colossal statue of Nero that 
stood close by in the Via Sacra. It was 
begun by Vespasian in a.d. 72, and for 400 



Colossus 


222 


Colour 


years was the scene of the gladiatorial contests. 
The ruins remaining are still colossal and 
extensive, but quite two-thirds of the original 
building have been taken away at different 
times and used for building material. 

The name has since been applied to other 
amphitheatres and places of amusement. Cp. 
Palladium. 

Colossus or Colossos (ko los' Cis) (Lat, and Gr. 
for a gigantic statue). The Colossus of 
Rhodes, completed probably about 280 b.c., 
was a representation of the sun-god, Helios, 
and commemorated the successful defence of 
Rhodes against Demetrius Poliorcetes in 304 
B.c. It was one of the Seven Wonders of the 
World; it stood 105 ft. high, and is said to have 
been made by the Rhodian sculptor Chares, 
a pupil of Lysippus, from the warlike engines 
abandoned by Demetrius. The story that it 
was built striding across the harbour and that 
ships could pass full sail, between its legs, rose 
in the 16th century, and has nothing to support 
it; neither .Strabo nor Pliny makes mention of 
it, though both describe the statue minutely. 
He doth bestride the narrow world 
Like a Colossus. 

Shakespeare: Julius Casar , I, ii. 
Colour. Phrases. 

A man of colour. An old-fashioned term 
for a Negro, or, more strictly speaking, one 
with Negro blood. 

His coward lips did from their colour fly. 
(Shakespeare: Julius Casar, I, ii). He was 
unable to speak. As cowards run away from 
their regimental colour, so Caesar’s lips, when 
he was ill, ran away from their colour and 
turned pale. 

I should like to see the colour of your money. 
I should like to have some proof that you have 
any; I should like to receive payment. 

Off colour. Not up to the mark ; run down ; 
seedy; tainted. 

To change colour. To blush; especially to 
look awkward and perplexed when found out 
in some deceit or meanness. 

To colour up. To turn red in the face; to 
blush. 

To come off with flying colours. To be 
completely triumphant, to win “hands 
down.” The allusion is to a victorious fleet 
sailing into port with all the flags flying at the 
mastheads. 

To come out in one’s true colours. To re- 
veal one’s proper character, divested of all 
that is meretricious. 

To describe (a matter) in very black colours. 
To see it with a jaundiced eye, and describe 
it accordingly; to describe it under the bias of 
strong prejudice. 

To desert one’s colours. To become a 
turncoat; to turn tail. The allusion is to the 
military flag. 

To get one’s colours. To be rewarded for 
athletic achievement by the privilege of wearing 
some, special garment, (as cap and blazer in 
cricket) decorated with or composed of one’s 
school or college colours. See To be Capped, 
under Cap; Flannels. 


To give colour or some plausible colour to 
the matter. To render it more plausible; to 
give it a more specious appearance. 

To paint in bright or lively colours. To see 
or describe things in couleur de rose . 

To put a false colour on a matter. To mis* 
interpret it, or put a false construction on it. 

To sail under false colours. To act hypo- 
critically; to try to attain your object by 
appearing to be other than you are. The term 
is a nautical one, and refers to the practice of 
pirates approaching their unsuspecting prey 
with false colours at the mast. 

To see things in their true colours. To see 
them as they really are. 

Under colour of. Under pretence of; under 
the alleged authority of. 

Wearing his colours. Taking his part; 
being strongly attached to him. The idea is 
from livery. 

With colours nailed to the mast. Holding 
out to the bitter end. If the colours are 
nailed to the mast they cannot be lowered in 
sign of defeat or submission. 

With the colours. Said of a soldier who is 
on the active strength of a regiment, as 
opposed to one in the reserve. 

Colours. Technical Terms. 

Accidental colours. Those colours seen on 
a white ground after looking for some time at 
a bright object, such as the sun. The acciden- 
tal colour of red is bluish green, of orange dark 
blue, of violet yellow, and the converse. 

Complementary colours. Colours which, in 
combination, produce white light. The colour 
transmitted is always complementary to the 
one reflected. 

Fast colours. Colours which do not wash 
out in water. 

Fundamental colours. The seven colours of 
the spectrum: violet, indigo, blue, green, 
yellow, orange, and red. 

Primary, or simple colours. Colours which 
cannot be produced by mixing other colours. 
Those generally accepted as primary are red, 
yellow, and blue, but violet is sometimes 
substituted for the last named. 

Secondary colours. Those which result 
from the mixture of two or more primary 
colours, such as orange, green, and purple. 

Colours of universities, Cambridge, light 
blue; Oxford, dark blue. Used in dress and 
equipment for all sport. 

National colours. See Flags. 

Regimental colours. The flags peculiar to 
Regiments, once carried into battle, on which 
they are entitled to embroider their battle- 
honours — the names of actions in which they 
distinguished themselves, and associated with 
the unit by permission of the King. These 
flags are now laid up on the outbreak of war in 
the Cathedral or great church of the territory 
from which the Regiment is raised. The 
Royal Regiment of Artillery has no colours, 




Colours 


223 


Colt 


regarding its guns with special veneration 
instead (to allow one’s guns to be captured by 
the enemy being the same disgrace as having 
one’s colours captured). The Regimental 
colours of Napoleon’s Army were the famous 
eagle standards, copied from the eagles of the 
Roman legions; the capture of a Napoleonic 
eagle was such an unusual feat that Regiments 
which did so (such as the Scots Greys) usually 
incorporated the eagle into their Regimental 
device. 

Colours. In Symbolism, Ecclesiastical 
Use, etc. 

Black: 

In blazonry , sable, signifying prudence, wisdom, and 
constancy; it is engraved by perpendicular and 
horizontal lines crossing each other at right 
angles. 

In art , signifying evil, falsehood, and error. 

In Church decoration it is used for Good Friday. 

As a mortuary colour , signifying grief, despair, death. 
(In the Catholic Church violet may be substituted 
for black). 

In metals it is represented by lead. 

In precious stones it is represented by the diamond. 

In planets it stands for Saturn. 

Blue: 

Hope, love of divine works; (in dresses) divine con- 
templation, piety, sincerity. 

In blazonry, azure, signifying chastity, loyalty, fidelity; 

it is engraved by horizontal lines. 

In art (as an angel’s robe) it signifies fidelity and faith ; 
(as the robe of the Virgin Mary) modesty and 
(in the Catholic Church) humility and expiation. 
In Church decoration, blue and green were used in- 
differently for ordinary Sundays in the pre- 
Reformation Church. 

As a mortuary colour it signifies eternity (applied to 
Deity), immortality (applied to man). 

In metals it is represented by tin. 

In precious stones it is represented by sapphire. 

In planets it stands for Jupiter. 

Pale Blue: 

Peace, Christian prudence, love of good works, a 
serene conscience. 

Green: 

Faith, gladness, immortality, the resurrection of the 
just; (in dresses) the gladness of the faithful. 

In blazonry, vert, signifying love, joy, abundance; 

it is engraved from left to right. 

In art, signifying hope, joy, youth, spring (among the 
Greeks and Moors it signifies victory). 

In Church decoration it signifies God’s bounty, mirth, 
gladness, the resurrection; used for weekdays 
and Sundays after Trinity. 

In metals it is represented by copper. 

In precious stones it is represented by the emerald. 

In planets it stands for Venus. 

Pale Green: 

Baptism. 

Purple: 

Justice, royalty. 

In blazonry, purpure, signifying temperance; it is en- 
graved by lines slanting from right to left. 

In art , signifying royalty. 

In Church decoration it is used for Ash Wednesday 
and Holy Saturday. 

In metals it is represented by quicksilver. 

In precious stones it is represented by amethyst. 

In planets it stands for Mercury. 

Red: 

Martyrdom for faith, charity; (in dresses) divine love. 
Innocent III says of martyrs and apostles, “/// et 
tlli sunt flores rosarum et lilia convallium." (De 
Sacr, alto Myst., i, 64.) 


In blazonry , gules; blood-red is called sanguine. The 
former signifies magnanimity, and the latter, 
fortitude; it is engraved by perpendicular lines. 

In Church decoration it is used for martyrs and 
for Whit Sunday. 

In metals it is represented by iron (the metal of war). 
In precious stones it is represented by the ruby. 

In planets it stands for Mars. 

White: 

In blazonry , argent ; signifying purity, truth, innocence; 

in engravings argent is left blank. 

In art, priests, Magi, and Druids are arrayed in white. 
Jesus after the resurrection should be draped in 
white. 

In Church decoration it is used for festivals of Our 
Lord, for Maundy Thursday, and for all Saints 
except Martyrs. 

As a mortuary colour it indicates hope. 

In metals it is represented by silver. 

In precious stones it is represented by the pearl. 

In planets it stands for Diana or the Moon. 

Yellow: 

In blazonry , or; signifying faith, constancy, wisdom, 
glory; in engravings it is shown by dots. 

In modern art, signifying jealousy, inconstancy, incon- 
tinence. In France the doors of traitors used to be 
daubed with yellow, and in some countries Jews 
were obliged to dress in yellow. In Spain the 
executioner is dressed in red and yellow. 

In Christian art Judas is arrayed in yellow; but St. 

Peter is also arrayed in golden yellow. 

In metals it is represented by gold. 

In precious stones it is represented by the topaz. 

In planets it stands for Apollo or the Sun. 

Violet, Brown, or Grey 
arc used in Church decoration for Advent and Lent; 
and in other symbolism violet usually stands for 
penitence, and grey for tribulation. 

Colour-blindness. Incapacity of discerning 
one colour from another. The term was 
introduced by Sir David Brewster; formerly 
it was known as Daltonism , because it was first 
described by John Dalton (1766-1844), the 
scientist (who himself suffered from it), in 
1794. It is of three sorts: (1) inability to 
discern any colours, so that everything is 
either black or white, shade or light; (2) in- 
ability to distinguish between primary colours, 
as red, blue, and yellow; or secondary colours, 
as green, purple, and orange; and (3) inability 
to distinguish between such composite colours 
as browns, greys, and neutral tints. Except 
in this one respect, the colour-blind may have 
excellent vision. 

Colour sergeant. Originally the senior 
non-commissioned officer of a military unit, 
who had charge of the regimental colours in 
the field. It is now a staff-sergeants’ appoint- 
ment in the Infantry. The badge that goes 
with the appointment bears sergeant’s chev- 
rons surmounted by a crown. The equivalent 
in other arms, which do not bear colours, is 
the rank of staff-sergeant 

Colporteur. A hawker or pedlar; so called 
because he carries his basket or pack round his 
neck ( Fr. col , neck ; porter , to carry). The term 
is more especially applied to hawkers of 
religious books. 

Colt. A person new to office; an awkward 
young fellow who needs “breaking in”; 
specifically, in legal use, a barrister who 
attended a sergeant-at-law at his induction. 

I accompanied the newly made Chief Baron as his 
colt.— P ollock. 



Colt 


224 


Comb 


In cricket a Colt team is made up of a club’s 
most promising young players. 

The word is used as an abbreviation for 
“Colt’s Revolver’’, patented by Col. Sam Colt 
(U.S.A.) in 1835 ; and it is also an old nautical 
term for a piece of knotted rope 18 inches long 
for the special benefit of ship boys; a cat-o’- 
nine-tails. 

To colt. Obsolete slang for to befool, gull, 
cheat. 

Harebrain : We are fools, tame fools! 

Bellamore : Come, let’s go seek him. 

He shall be hanged before he colt us so basely. 
Beaumont and Fletcher: Wit Without Money ,111, ii. 

The verb is still used in provincial dialects 
for making a newcomer pay his footing. 

Colt-pixy. A pixy, puck, or mischievous 
fairy. To colt-pixy is to take what belongs to 
the pixies, and is specially applied to the 
gleaning of apples after the crop has been 
gathered in. 

Colt’s-tooth. The love of youthful pleasure. 
Chaucer uses the word “coltish’’ for skittish, 
and his Wife of Bath says: — 

He was, I trowe, a twenty winter old. 

And I was fourty, if l shal seye sooth; 

But yet I hadde alwey a coltes tooth. 

Prologue: 602. 

Horses have colt’s teeth at three years old, 
a period of their life when their passions are 
strongest. 

Well said. Lord Sands; 

Your colt’s-tooth is not cast yet. 

Shakespeare: Henry VIII, I, iii. 
Her merry dancing-days are done; 

She has a colt’s-tooth still, I warrant. 

King : Orpheus and Eurydice. 

Columbine. A stock character in old Italian 
comedy, where she first appeared about 1560, 
and thence transplanted to English pantomime. 
She was the daughter of Pantaloon (< 7 .v.), and 
the sweetheart of Harlequin (<y.v.), and, like 
him, was supposed to be invisible to mortal 
eyes. Colombina in Italian is a pet name for a 
lady-love, and means dove-like. 

Columbus of the Skies, The. Sir William 
Herschel (1738-1822), discoverer of Uranus, 
was so called. The name has also been 
applied to Galileo (1564-1642), Tycho Brahe 
( 1 546 - 1 60 1 ), and Sir Isaac Newton ( 1 642- 1 727) . 

Column. The Column of Marcus Aurelius. 
Erected at Rome in memory of the Em- 
peror Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Like that 
of Trajan (tf.v.), this column is covered 
externally with spiral bas-reliefs representing 
the wars carried on by the emperor. It is a 
Roman Doric column of marble on a square 
pedestal, and (omitting the statue) is 95 ft. 
in height. 

Sixtus V caused the original statue of this 
column to be replaced in 1589 by a figure of 
St. Paul. 

The Column at Boulogne, or The Column of 
the Grand Army; a marble Doric column, 
176 ft. high, surmounted by a bronze statue of 
Napoleon I, to commemorate the camp of 
Boulogne, formed 1804-5 with the intention of 
invading England. 

The Duke of York’s Column, in London, at 
the top of the Waterloo Steps leading from 
Waterloo Place into the Mall. Erected in 


1 830-3 in memory of Frederick, Duke of York, 
second son of George III, who died in 1827. 
It is of the Tuscan order, was designed by R. 
Wyatt, and is made of Aberdeen granite. It is 
124 ft. in height; it contains a winding staircase 
to the platform, and on the summit is a statue 
of the duke by Sir R. Westmacott. 

Columns, or Pillars, of Hercules. See 
Pillar. 

The Column of July. Erected in Paris in 
1840, on the spot where the Bastille stood, to 
commemorate the revolution of July, 1830, 
when Charles X abdicated. It is a bronze 
Corinthian column, 13 ft. in diameter, and 
154 ft. in height, and is surmounted by a gilded 
statue of Liberty. 

London’s Column. See Monument. 

The Nelson Column. In Trafalgar Square, 
London; was completed in 1843. The four 
lions, by Landseer, were added in 1867. It is a 
Corinthian column of Devonshire granite on a 
square base, copied from a column in the 
temple of Mars Ultor (the avenging god of 
war) at Rome; it stands 145 ft. high, the statue 
surmounting it (by E. H. Baily, R.A.) being 
17 ft. high. The following reliefs in bronze 
are on the sides of the pedestal: — (North) the 
battle of the Nile, where Nelson was wounded; 
(south) Nelson’s death at the battle of Trafal- 
gar; (east) the bombardment of Copenhagen; 
and (west) the battle of St. Vincent. 

Column of the Place Vendome. Paris, 
1806-10; made of marble encased with bronze, 
and erected in honour of Napoleon 1. The 
spiral outside represents in bas-relief the 
battles of Napoleon I, ending with Austerlitz in 
1805. It is 142 ft. in height and is an imitation 
of Trajan’s Column. In 1871 the statue of 
Napoleon, which surmounted it, was hurled 
to the ground by the Communards, but in 
1874 a statue of Liberty was substituted. 

Trajan’s Column. At Rome; made of 
marble a.d. 1 14, by Apollodorus. It is a 
Roman Doric column of marble, 1271 ft. in 
height, on a square pedestal, and has inside a 
spiral staircase of 185 steps lighted by 40 
windows. It was surmounted by a statue of 
the Emperor Trajan, but Sixtus V supplanted 
the original statue by that of St. Peter. The 
spiral outside represents in bas-relief the 
battles of the emperor. 

Coma Berenices. See Berenice. 

Comazant (konT a zant). Another name for 
Corposant (</.r.). 

Comb. A crabtree comb. Slang for a 
cudgel. To smooth your hair with a crabtree 
comb, is to give the head a knock with a stick. 

Reynard’s wonderful comb. This comb 
existed only in the brain of Master Fox. He 
said it was made of the Panthcra’s bone, the 
perfume of which was so fragrant that no one 
could resist following it; and the wearer of the 
comb was always cheerful and merry. — Rey- 
nard the Fox. 

To comb out. To disentangle the hair, or 
remove foreign bodies from it, with a comb. 
During World War 1 the term was given a 
slang use in connexion with the English 



Comb 


225 


Comedy 


recruiting campaigns under the Military 
Service Acts. A comb-out was a thorough 
clearing out or clean sweep of men of military 
age in offices, works, etc., and getting them 
into the Army. 

To comb the cat. An old military and naval 
phrase for untangling the cords of a cat-o*- 
nine-tails by drawing it through the fingers. 

To comb your noddle with a three-legged stool 

{Taming of the Shrew , I, i) is to beat you 
about the head with a stool. Many stools, 
such as those used by milkmaids, are still made 
with three legs; and these handy weapons seem 
to have been used at one time pretty freely, 
especially by angry women. 

To cut someone’s comb. To take down a 
person’s conceit. In allusion to the practice 
of cutting the combs of capons. 

To set up one’s comb. To be cockish and 
vainglorious. 

Come. A come down. Loss of prestige or 
position. 

Can you come that? Can you equal it? 
Here, “come” means to arrive at, to accom- 
plish. 

Come February, Michaelmas, etc. A collo- 
quialism for “next February”, etc. 

Come Lammas-evc at nijjht shall she be fourteen. 

Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, I, iii. 

Come home. Return to your house; to 
touch one’s feelings or interest. 

I doe now publish my Essayes: which, of all my 
other workes, have been most currant: for that, as it 
seems, they come home to men’s busincsse and 
bosomes. — Bacon: Epistle Dedicatory to the Essays , 
1625. 

Come inside. A humorously scornful re- 
mark at one time made to one who was talking 
nonsense or behaving in a foolish manner. 
The allusion is to a picture in Punch showing a 
lunatic looking over the wall of an asylum at 
an angler fishing; and, when he hears that the 
latter has been there all day without getting a 
bite and proposes still to remain, the lunatic 
feelingly invites him to “come inside” to the 
asylum. 

Come out. Said of a young woman after 
she had been presented at Court, until the 
recent abolition of the custom or, more 
generally, when she enters into society as a 
“grown up” person. She “comes out into 
society.” 

Don’t try to come it over me. Don’t try to 
boss me or order me about; don’t set yourself 
in a position above me. 

Has he come it? Has he lent the money? 
Has he hearkened to your request? Has he 
come over to your side? 

If the worst comes to the worst. See 

Worst. 

Marry come up. See Marry. 

To come a cropper. See Cropper. 

To come down handsome. To pay a good 
price, reward, subscription, etc. 

To come down upon one. To reproach, to 


punish severely, to make a peremptory de- 
mand. 

To come it strong. To lay it on thick; to 
exaggerate or overdo. See Draw it mild. 

To come off. To occur, to take place, as 
“my holiday didn’t come off after all.” 

To come off with honours. To proceed to the 
end successfully. 

To come over one. To wheedle one to do 
or give something; to cheat or overreach one; 
to conquer or get one’s own way. 

To come round. See Coming. 

To come short. Not to be sufficient. “To 
come short of” means to miss or fail of 
attaining. 

To come the old soldier over one. To 
attempt to intimidate or bully one by an 
assumption of authority. 

To come to. To amount to, to obtain pos- 
session. “It will not come to much.” To 
regain consciousness after a fainting-fit, etc. 

To come to blows. To start fighting. 

To come to grief, to hand. See Grief; 

Hand. 

To come to pass. To happen, to befall, to 
come about. 

It came to pass in those days that there went out a 
decree . — Luke ii, 1. 

To come to stay. An expression used of 
something which possesses permanent quali- 
ties. 

To come to the hammer, the point, the 
scratch. See Hammer; Point; Scratch. 

To come under. To fall under; to be classed 
under. 

To come up smiling. To laugh at dis- 
comfiture or punishment; to emerge from 
disaster unruffled. 

To come up to. To equal, to obtain the 
same number of marks, to amount to the same 
quantity. 

To come upon the parish. To live in the 
workhouse; to be supported by the parish. 

What’s to come of it? What’s to come of 
him? A contracted form of become . 

To come of a good stock is to be descended 
from a good family. 

He is coming round. Recovering from sick- 
ness; recovering from a fit of the sulks; 
returning to friendship; he is coming round to 
my way of thinking, he is beginning to think as 
I do. 

Comedy meant originally a village song (Gr. 
kome-ode ), referring to the village merry-mak- 
ings, in which songs still take a conspicuous 
place. The Greeks had certain festal proces- 
sions of great licentiousness, held in honour of 
Dionysus, in the suburbs of their cities, and 
termed komoi or village revels. On these 
occasions an ode was generally sung, and this 
ode was the foundation of Greek comedy. Cp . 
Tragedy. 



Comet Wine 


226 


Common 


The Father of Comedy. Aristophanes (c. 
450-380 b.c.), the Athenian dramatist. 

Comet Wine. A term denoting wine of 
superior quality. A notion prevailed that the 
grapes of “comet years,” i.e. years !in which 
remarkable comets appear, are better in 
flavour than those of other years. 

The old gentleman yet nurses some few bottles of 
the famous comet year (i.e, 1811), emphatically 
called comet wine . — The Times . 

Command Night. In theatrical parlance, a 
night on which a certain play is performed by 
Royal command and usually in the presence of 
royalty. 

Commandment. The ten commandments. A 
common piece of slang in Elizabethan days 
for the ten fingers or nails. 

Could I come near your beauty with my nails 

I’d set my ten commandments in your face. 

Shakespeare: Henry VI, Pt. II, I, iii. 

The eleventh commandment. An ironical 
expression, signifying “Thou shalt not be 
found out.” 

Commando (k6 man' do). This word was 
originally used in the South African War, 
being the term used by the Boers to designate 
a mobile body of armed men. In World 
War II it was used as the name of the 
volunteer body of special troops trained for 
hazardous assault tasks. The word has since 
been again extended to mean a member of 
such a body, one of a commando. 

Comme il faut (kom el fo) (Fr.). As it should 
be; quite proper; quite according to etiquette 
or rule. 

Commemoration. See Encaenia. 

Commendam (kom en' dam). A living in 
commendam is a living temporarily held by 
someone until an incumbent is appointed. 
The term was specially applied to a bishop 
who, when accepting the bishopric, had to 
give up all his preferments, but to whom such 
preferments were commended by the Crown 
till they could be properly transferred. This 
practice was abolished by Act of Parliament in 
1836. 

Commendation Ninepence. This was a bent 
silver ninepenny piece, commonly used in the 
17th century as a love-token, giver and receiver 
saying, “To my love, from my love.” Some- 
times the coin was broken, each keeping a 
part. 

Like commendation ninepence, crooked, 

With “To and from my love” it looked. 

Hudibras. 

Commissar (kom' i sar). An official in the 
U.S.S.R. who has charge of a separate branch 
of government administration. The Council 
of People’s Commissars is composed of the 
chairman, his deputy, and people’s commissars 
for Foreign Affairs, Armed Forces, Foreign 
Trade, Posts, Finance, etc. They are respon- 
sible to the Supreme Council of the U.S.S.R. 

Committee. A committee of the whole house, 
in Parliamentary language, is when the 
Speaker leaves the chair and all the members 
form a committee, where anyone may speak 
once or more than once. In such cases the 
chair is occupied by the Chairman of Com- 
mittees, elected with each new Parliament. 


A joint committee is a committee nominated 
partly by the House of Lords and partly 
by the House of Commons. 

A standing committee is a committee which 
continues to the end of the current session. 
To this committee are referred all questions 
which fall within the scope of its appoint- 
ment. 

Commodore. A corruption of “commander” 
(Fr. commandeur ; Dut. kommandeur). A 
naval officer ranking above a captain and below 
a rear-admiral, ranking with brigadier in the 
army. By courtesy the title is given to the 
senior captain when two or more ships are in 
company; also to the president of a yacht club. 

In the United States Navy the office has 
been abolished since 1899, but the title was 
retained as a retiring rank for captains. 
Common. Short for common land, which is 
public property. A common cannot be 
enclosed and denied to the use of the public 
without an Act of Parliament. Until the late 
18th and early 19th centuries every village in 
England had its common lands, divided into 
strips of which each villager had the use of one 
or more to cultivate for his own use. When 
the crops had been taken in from these, the 
whole area was thrown open for the common 
grazing of cattle, etc. By various Acts of 
Parliament these common lands were taken 
from the villagers and enclosed by larger 
farmers, etc., only the less fertile portions 
being left uncultivated and given over to the 
common grazing purposes of the community. 
In Scotland an Act of 1695 gave power to 
divide the common land among the persons 
who had rights thereon. 

Common Pleas. Civil actions at law 
brought by one subject against another — not 
by the Crown against a subject. The Court of 
Common Pleas was for the trial of civil (not 
capital) offences; in 1875 it was abolished, and 
in 1880 it was represented by the Common 
Picas Division and merged in the King’s Bench 
Division. 

Common Prayer. The Book of Common 
Prayer. The book used by the Established 
Church of England in “divine service.” 
Common, in this case, means united ', or 
general. 

The first complete English Book of Common 
Prayer (known as the First Prayer-book of 
Edward VI) appeared in 1549; this was 
revised in 1552 and 1559; slight alterations 
were made at the Hampton Court Conference 
(1604), and it received its final form, except 
for some very minor changes after the Savoy 
Conference of 1662. 

In 1927 a revised Prayer Book was accepted 
by the Houses of Convocation and the Church 
Assembly. It was, however, rejected by the 
House of Commons on the grounds that the 
proposed changes weakened the Protestant 
character of the book. 

Common sense. Natural intelligence; good, 
sound, practical sense; general sagacity. 
Formerly the expression denoted a supposed 
internal sense held to be common to all five 
senses, or one that acted as a bond or con- 
necting medium for them. 




Commoner 


227 


Conchy 


Commoner. The Great Commoner. The elder 
William Pitt (1708-78), afterwards Earl of 
Chatham. 

Commons. To put someone on short commons. 
To stint him, to give him scanty meals. In the 
University of Cambridge the food provided for 
each student at breakfast was called his 
commons ; hence food in general or meals. 

To come into commons. To enter a society 
in which the members have a common or 
general dinner table. To be removed from the 
society is to be discommonsed : — 

He IDryden] was in trouble [at Cambridge} on July 
19th, 1652, when he was discommonsed and gated for 
a fortnight for disobedience and contumacy. — 
Saintsbury: Dry den, ch. i. 

Commonwealth Institute. See Imperial In- 
stitute. 

Commonwealths, Ideal. The most famous 
ideal, or imaginary, Commonwealths are those 
sketched by Plato in the Republic (from which 
all the others derive), by Cicero in his De 
Republica , by St. Augustine in his De Civitate 
Dei ( The City of God), by Dante in his De 
Monarchia , by Sir Thomas More in Utopia 
(1516), by Bacon in the New Atlantis (a 
fragment, 1616), by Campanella, a Dominican 
friar (about 1630), and by Samuel Butler in 
Erewhon (1872). 

To these some would add Johnson’s Rasselas 
(1759), Lytton’s Coming Race{ 1871), Bellamy’s 
Looking Backward (1888), Wm. Morris’s News 
from Nowhere (1891), H. G. Wells’s In the 
Days of the Comet (1906) and The World Set 
Free (1914). 

Communist. An adherent of communism. 

Communism means a self-supporting society dis- 
tinguished by common labour, common property, and 
common means of intelligence and recreation. — 
G. J. Holyoake: in “77?e Labour World, *' No. 11, 
1890. 

In this sense communism has been practised 
in many societies from early times, but in its 
present sense it derives from the theories of 
Karl Marx. 

Companion Ladder. The ladder leading from 
the poop to the main deck, also the staircase 
from the deck to a cabin. 


Companions of Jehu. The Chouans ( q.v .) 
were so called, from a fanciful analogy between 
their self-imposed task and that appointed to 
Jehu, on being set over the kingdom of Israel. 
Jehu was to cut off Ahab and Jezebel, with all 
their house, and all the priests of Baal. The 
Chouans were to cut off all who assassinated 
Louis XVI, and see that his brother {Jehu) was 
placed on the throne. 


Comparisons are Odorous. So says Dogberry. 
{Much Ado About Nothing , III, v.) 

We ovyn your verse*? arc melodious, 

But then comparisons are odious. 

Swift: Answer to Sheridan's “ Simile ,** 

Compass, Mariner’s. See Mariner’s Com- 
pass. 


Complementary Colours. See Colours. 
Complex. A combination of memories and 
wishes which exercise an influence on the 
personality. 


Inferiority complex. A term applied to 
su PP°sed feeling of inferiority in persons wl 


appear over-conscious of their own short- 
comings. 

To have a complex about something. To 
have a strong feeling either for or against 
something; to be over-concerned about it. 

Compline (kom' plin). The last of the seven 
R.C. canonical hours, said about 8 or 9 p.m., 
and so called because it completes the series 
of the daily prayers or hours. From M-E. 
and O.Fr. complie , Lat. completa (hora). 

In ecclesiastical Lat. vesperinus , from vesper, 
means evening service, and completing seems 
to be formed on the same model. 

Complutensian Polyglot. See Bible, specially 

NAMED. 

Compos mentis. See Non compos mentis. 

Compostela (kom pos tel' a). The city in 
Spain where are preserved the relics of St. 
James the Great; a corruption of Giacomo - 
pos tolo (James the Apostle). Its full name is 
Santiago (i.e. St. James) de Compostela. See 
James, St. 

Compostela, Sacred chickens of. See 

Adept. 

Comrades. Literally, those who sleep in the 
same chamber (camera). It is a Spanish 
military term derived from the custom of 
dividing soldiers into chambers, and the early 
form of the word in English is camerade , 

Comus (ko' mus). In Milton’s masque of this 
name, the god of sensual pleasure, son of 
Bacchus and Circe. The name is from the Gr. 
komos, carousal. 

In the masque the elder brother is meant for 
Viscount Brackley, the younger brother is 
Thomas Egerton, and the lady is Lady Alice 
Egcrton, children of the Earl of Bridgewater, 
at whose castle in Ludlow it was first presented 
in 1634. 

Con amore (kon a mor' i) (Ital.). With heart 
and soul; as, “He did it con amore”-~i.e. 
lovingly, with delight, and therefore in good 
earnest. 

Con spirito (Ital.). With quickness and 
vivacity. A musical term. 

Conan (ko' nan). The Thersites of Fingal (in 
Macpherson’s Ossian ); brave even to rashness. 

Blow foe blow or daw for claw, as Conan 
said. Conan made a vow never to take a blow 
without returning it; when he descended into 
the infernal regions, the arch fiend gave him a 
cuff, which Conan instantly returned, saying 
“Claw for claw.” 

Conceptionists. See Franciscans. 

Concert Pitch. The degree of sharpness or 
flatness adopted by musicians acting in concert, 
that all the instruments may be in accord. In 
England “concert pitch” is usually slightly 
higher than the pitch at which instruments are 
generally tuned. 

Hence the figurative use of the term: to 
screw oneself up to concert pitch is to make 
oneself absolutely ready, prepared for any 
emergency or anything one may have to do. 

Conchy. See Conscientious objector. 


Concierge 


228 


Congreves 


Concierge (kon' se arj) (Fr.). The door- 
porter of a public building, an hotel, or a house 
divided into flats, etc. 

Conciergerie (Fr.). The office or room of a 
concierge, a porter’s lodge; a state prison. 
During the Revolution it was the prison where 
the chief victims were confined prior to 
execution. 

Conclamatio. Amongst the ancient Romans, 
the loud cry raised by those standing round a 
death-bed at the moment of death. It 
robably had its origin in the idea of calling 
ack the departed spirit, and was similar to 
the Irish howl over the dead. “One not 
howled over ” ( corpus nondum cone la mat urn) 
meant one at the point of death; and “one 
howled for” was one given up for dead or 
really deceased. Hence the phrase conclama- 
tum est y he is dead past all hope, he has been 
called and gives no sign. Virgil makes the 
alace ring with howls when Dido burnt 
erself to death. 

Lamentis, gemituque, ct foemineo ululato, 
Texta fremunt. ALticid , IV, 667. 

Conclave. Literally, a set of rooms, all of 
which can be opened by one key (Lat. con 
clavis). The word is applied to the little cells 
erected for the cardinals who meet to choose a 
new Pope; hence, the assembly of cardinals for 
this purpose; hence, any private assembly for 
discussion. The conclave of cardinals dates 
back to 1271. Some days after the death of a 
Pope the cardinals assembled in Rome enter 
the conclave apartments of the Vatican and 
are there locked in in such stringent seclusion 
that no contact whatsoever occurs between 
them and the outside world. Votes are taken 
morning and evening until one candidate has 
secured a two-thirds majority of the votes. 
He is then acclaimed Pope. 

Shakespeare used the word for the body of 
cardinals itself: — 

And once more in my arms I bid him fCardinal 
Campeius] welcome. 

And thank the holy conclave for their loves. 

henry VIII , II, ii. 

To meet in solemn conclave is a phrase used 
to describe any gathering to decide matters 
of importance. 

Concordat (kon kor' dat). An agreement 
made between a ruler and the Pope; as the 
Concordat of 1801 between Napoleon and 
Pius VII; the Concordat of 1516 between 
Francois I and Leo X to abolish the “prag- 
matic sanction”; and the Germanic Con- 
cordat of 1448 between Frederick III and 
Nicholas V. In 1929 a concordat between the 
Papacy and the Italian government established 
the Vatican State. 

Concrete Numbers. See Abstract. 
Condominium (con do min' i urn). This is a 
political phrase to describe the joint govern- 
ment or sovereignty of two or more powers 
over a region or country. An example of this 
is the condominium of the New Hebrides 
shared by Britain and France. 

Condottieri. Leaders of mercenaries and 
military adventurers, particularly from about 
the 14th to 16th centuries. The most noted 
of these brigand chiefs in Italy were Guarnieri, 


Lando, Francesco of Carmagnola, and 
Francesco Sforza. The singular is Con- 
dottiere. 

Confederate States. The eleven States which 
seceded from the Union in the American Civil 
War (1861-65) — viz . Georgia, North and South 
Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, 
Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida, 
Texas. They were all readmitted into the 
Union between 1866 and 1870. 

Confederation of the Rhine. Sixteen German 
provinces in 1806 dissolved their connexion 
with Germany, and allied themselves with 
France. It was dissolved in 1813. 

Confession, Seal of. Confession is a collective 
term for the whole administration of the R.C. 
sacrament of penance. The priest who bears 
the penitent’s confession is bound under the 
most binding vows not to divulge anything he 
hears in the confessional, nor can he be forced 
to reveal in the witness-box of a court of law 
any information he may have thus obtained. 

Confusion Worse Confounded. Disorder made 
worse than before. 

Conge (kon ja') (Fr. leave). “To give a per- 
son his conge” is to dismiss him from your 
service. “To take one’s cong6” is to give 
notice to friends of your departure. This is 
done by leaving a card at the friend’s house 
with the letters P.P.C, {pour prendre conge , to 
take leave) inscribed on the left-hand corner. 

Conge d’elire (Fr. leave to elect). A royal 
warrant given to the dean ar.d chapter of a 
diocese to elect the person nominated by the 
Crown to their vacant sec. 

Congleton Bears. Men of Congleton. The 
tradition is that a Congleton parish clerk sold 
the church Bible to buy a bear, so that the 
townsmen could have some fun at bear- 
baiting. 

Congregationalists. Those Protestant Dissen- 
ters who maintain that each congregation is an 
independent community, and has a right to 
make its own laws and choose its own minister. 
They derive from the Puritans and Independ- 
ents of the time of Queen Elizabeth I. 

Congress (kon' gres). In its particular sense 
this word is applied to the supreme legislative 
body of the U.S.A., composed of the Senate 
and the House of Representatives (100 senators 
and 437 representatives). Senators are elected 
for 6 years, representatives for 2 years. The 
President can veto any legislation passed by 
Congress, but if it be passed again by a two- 
thirds majority it becomes law. 

The Indian National Congress was founded in 
1885, but after various vicissitudes was re- 
formed by Gandhi in 1920 for the purpose 
of winning the independence of India. This 
was gained in 1947 with the formation of the 
Republic of India, and Dominion of Pakistan. 

Congreve Rockets. A special kind of rocket 
invented in 1808 for use in war by Sir William 
Congreve (1772-1828). He was Controller of 
the Royal Laboratory at Woolwich. 

Congreves. Predecessors of Lucifer 
matches, also invented by Sir Wm. Congreve. 



Conjuring Cap 


229 


Consentes Dii 


The splints were first dipped in sulphur, and 
then tipped with chlorate of potash paste, in 
which gum was substituted for sugar, and there 
was added a small quantity of sulphide of 
antimony. The match was ignited by being 
drawn through a fold of sandpaper with 
pressure. Cp. Promethean ; Lucifer-Match. 

Conjuring Cap. I must put on my conjuring 

C ap — i.e. your question requires deliberate 
thought, and I must reflect on it. Tradition 
says that Eric XIV, King of Sweden (1560-77), 
was a great believer in magic, and had an 
“enchanted cap” by means of which he 
pretended to exercise power over the elements. 
When a storm arose, his subjects used to say 
“The king has got on his conjuring cap.” 

Conker (cong' ker). This is a children’s name 
for a horse-chestnut, and is possibly derived 
from the French conque , a shell. Schoolboys 
thread the chestnuts on a string and then play 
conkers by each taking his turn at striking his 
opponent’s conker with his own until one or 
other is destroyed. 

Another curious slang use of this word is 
conk , meaning a nose, hence conky y a big- or 
beak-nosed person. 

The phrase to conk out, meaning to break 
down, to cease to fire (of a motor) is probably 
onomatopoeic. 

Connecticut (ko net' i kut), is the Mohegan 
dialect word Quonaughicut , meaning “long 
tidal river.” 

Conqueror. The title was applied to the 
following: — 

Alexander the Great. The conqueror of the 
world. (356-323 b.c.). 

Alfonso 1, of Portugal, (c. 1109-1185.) 

Aurungzebe the Great. The most powerful 
of the Moguls. (1619, 1659-1707.) 

James 1 of Aragon. (1206, 1213-76.) 

Mohammed II, Sultan of Turkey. (1430-81.) 

Othman or Osman I. Founder of the 
Turkish power. (1259, 1299-1326.) 

Francisco Pizarro. Conquistador. So 
called because he conquered Peru. (1475- 
1541.) 

William, Duke of Normandy. So called 
because he obtained England by conquest. 
(1027, 1066-87.) 

Conqueror’s nose. A prominent straight 
nose, rising at the bridge. Charlemagne had 
such a nose, so had Flenry the Fowler (Hein- 
rich 1 of Germany); Rudolf I of Germany; 
Friedrich I of Hohenzollern, famous for 
reducing to order his unruly barons by 
blowing up their castles (1382-1440); our own 
“Iron Duke”; Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor 
of Prussia, etc. 

Conquest, The. The accession of William I 
to the crown of England (1066). 

Conscience. Conscience clause. A clause in 
an Act of Parliament to relieve persons with 
conscientious scruples from certain require- 
ments in it. It generally has reference to 
religious matters, but it came into wider 
prominence in connexion with the Compulsory 
Vaccination Act of 1898. 

Conscience money. Money paid anony- 
mously to Government by persons who have 


defrauded the revenue, or who have under- 
stated their income to the income-tax assessors. 
The sum is advertised in the Gazette. 

Court of Conscience. Established for the 
recovery of small debts in London and other 
trading places in the reign of Henry VIII. 
They were also called Courts of Requests, and 
are now superseded by county courts. 

Why should not Conscience have vacation, 

As well as other courts o’ the nation? 

Butler: Hudibras , II, ii. 

Have you the conscience to [demand such 
a price]? Can your conscience allow you to 
[demand such a price]? 

In all conscience. As, “And enough too, 
in all conscience.” Meaning that the demand 
made is as much as conscience would tolerate 
without accusing the person of actual dis- 
honesty; to the verge of that fine line which 
separates honesty from dishonesty. 

My conscience! An oath. I swear by my 
conscience. 

To make a matter of conscience of it. To 
treat it according to the dictates of conscience, 
to deal with it conscientiously. 

To speak one’s conscience. To speak one’s 
own mind, give one’s own private thoughts or 
opinions. 

By my troth, I will speak my conscience of the king. 
— Shakespeare : Henry V, I, iv. 

Conscientious objector. One who takes 
advantage of a conscience clause (q.v.), and so 
does not have to comply with some particular 
requirement of the law in question. The name 
used to be applied specially to those who 
would swear legally that they had a conscien- 
tious objection to vaccination. 

In the two World Wars the term was applied 
to those who obtained exemption from military 
service on grounds of conscience. These were 
also known as Conchies and C.O.s. 

Conscript Fathers. In Lat. Pat res Conscripti. 
The Roman senate. Romulus instituted a 
senate consisting of a hundred elders, called 
Patres (Fathers). After the Sabines joined 
the State, another hundred were added. 
Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king, added a 
third hundred, called Patres Minor um Gentium . 
When Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and 
last king of Rome, was banished, several of the 
senate followed him, and the vacancies were 
filled up by Junius Brutus, the first consul. 
The new members were enrolled in the sena- 
torial register, and called Conscripti ; the entire 
body was then addressed as Patres let] 
Conscripti or Patres , Conscripti. 

Consentes Dii. The twelve chief Roman 
deities — 

Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, Neptune, Mercury, 
and Vulcan. 

Juno, Vesta, Minerva, Ceres, Diana, and 
Venus. 

Ennius puts them into two hexameter 
verses: — 

Juno, Vesta, Minerva, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mars, 

Mercurius, Jovi’, Neptunus, Vulcanus, Apollo. 

Called “ consentes ,” says Varro, 

Quia in consilium Jovis adhibebantur , — De Lingua 
Latina , vii, 28. 



Consenting Stfirs 


230 


Contemplate 


Consenting Stars. Stars forming configura- 
tions for good or evil. In Judges v, 20, we 
read that “the stars in their courses fought 
against Sisera,” i.e. formed unlucky or 
malignant configurations. 

.... Scourge the bad revolting stars 

That have consented unto Henry’s death. 

Shakespeare: Henry VI , Pt. /, I, i. 

Conservative. One who wishes to preserve 
the union of Church and State, and not 
radically to alter the constitution. The word 
was first used in this sense in January, 1830, by 
J. Wilson Croker in the Quarterly Review — 
“We have always been conscientiously 
attached to what is called the Tory, and which 
might with more propriety be called the 
Conservative, party’* (p. 276). 

Canning, ten years previously, had used the 
word in much the same way in a speech 
delivered at Liverpool in March, 1820. 

Conservators of the Public Liberties. Officers 
chosen in England to inspect the treasury and 
correct abuses in administration, under an 
enactment of 1244. Conservators were also 
appointed in ports to take action in the event 
of breaches of the peace at sea. The word is 
found to-day only in such phrases as The 
Thames Conservancy Board which is concerned 
with the maintenance of amenities on that 
river. 

Consistory. An ecclesiastical court. In the 
Church of Rome it is the assembly in council 
of the Pope and cardinals; in England it is a 
diocesan court, presided over by the chancellor 
of the diocese. 

Consolidated Fund. In 1 75 1 an Act was passed 
for consolidating the nine loans bearing 
different interests, into one common loan bear- 
ing an interest of three per cent, in 1889 this 
interest was reduced to two and three-quarter 
per cent.; and in 1903 to two and a half per 
cent. The fund is pledged for the payment of 
the interest of the national debt, the civil list, 
the salaries of the judges, ambassadors, and 
other high officials, etc. 

Consols. A contraction of Consolidated 
Fund. See above . 

Constable (Lat. comes-stabuli ) means “Master 
of the Horse” (with which office, however, it 
now has no connexion in Britain). Cp. 
Marshal. The Constable of France was the 
title of the principal officer of the household 
of the early Frankish kings, and from being 
the head groom of the stable he ultimately 
became commander-in-chief of the army, 
supreme judge of all military matters and 
matters pertaining to chivalry, etc. The office 
was abolished in 1627. 

Constable is also a term for the governor of a 
fortress, as the Constable of the Tower of 
London. 

The Constable of England, or Lord High 
Constable, was a similar official in existence 
before 1066, but since 1521 the title has been 
granted only temporarily, for the purposes of 
Coronations. 

The Lord High Constable of Scotland was 
an office instituted about 1147 by David I. 


Conferred by Robert Bruce in 1321 on Sir 
Gilbert Hay, created Earl of Erroll, heritably, 
in which family the office still remains. 

Drink the constable. See Morocco. 

To overrun or outrun the constable. To get 
into debt; to spend more than one’s income; 
to talk about what you do not understand. 
Quoth Hudibras, Friend Ralph, thou hast 
Outrun the constable at last; 

For thou hast fallen on a new 
Dispute, as senseless as untrue. 

Butler: Hudibras , I, iii. 

Who’s to pay the constable? Who is to pay 
the score ? 

Constantine, Donation of. See Decretals. 

Constantine’s Cross. See Cross. 

Constituent Assembly. The first of the national 
assemblies of the French Revolution; so called 
because its chief work was the drawing up of a 
new constitution for France. It sat from 1788 
to 1791. 

After the chaos resultant on the World 
War II a National Constituent Assembly of 522 
deputies was elected in France, according to 
the constitution promulgated in October, 1945. 

Constitution. The fundamental laws of a 
state; the way in which a state is organized or 
constituted — despotic, aristocratic, democratic, 
monarchic, oligarchic, etc. 

To give a nation a constitution. To give 
it fixed laws, and to limit the powers of the 
nominal ruler or head of the state, so that the 
people are not subject to arbitrary government 
or caprice. A despotism or autocracy is 
solely under the unrestricted will of the despot 
or autocrat. 

Constitutions of Clarendon. See Claren- 
don. 

Apostolic Constitutions. A doctrinal code 
relating to the Church, the duties of Christians, 
etc., contained in eight books of doubtful 
date, possibly as early as the 3rd century, but 
certainly later than the time of the Apostles, 
te whom at one time they were attributed. 

Consummatum est (kon sum' a turn est) (Lat.). 
It is finished: the last words of our Lord on 
the cross ( John xix, 30). 

Meph.: O, what will I not do to obtain his soul? 

Faust.: Consummatum est; this bill is ended. 

And Faustus hath bequeathed his soul to Lucifer. 

Marlowe: Doctor Faustus . V, 74. 

Contango (kon t&ng' go). In Stock Exchange 
parlance, the sum paid by the purchaser of 
stock to the seller for the privilege of deferring 
the completion of the bargain till the next, or 
some future, settling day. Cp. Backwarda- 
tion. 

Contemplate. To meditate or reflect upon; to 
consider attentively. The word takes us back 
to the ancient Roman augurs, for the 
templum (whence our temple ) was that part of 
the heavens which he wished to consult. 
Having mentally divided it into two parts from 
top to bottom, he watched to see what would 
occur; and this watching of the templum was 
called contemplating . 




Contempt of Court 


231 


Convention 


Contempt of Court. Refusing to conform to 
the rules of the law courts. Consequential 
contempt is that which tends to obstruct the 
business or lower the dignity of the court by 
indirection. Direct contempt is an open 
insult or resistance to the judge or others 
officially employed in the court. 

Contemptibles, The Old. The original Expedi- 
tionary Force of 160,000 men that left England 
in August, 1914, to join the French and 
Belgians against Germany. The soldiers gave 
themselves this name as a compliment, from 
an army order that was said to have been given 
at Aix on August 19th by the Kaiser to his 
generals. 

It is my royal and imperial command that you 
exterminate the treacherous English, and walk over 
General French’s contemptible little army. 

It is only fair to add that this “order’* is 
almost certainly apocryphal. 

Contenement (kon ten' e ment). A word used 
in Magna Carta, the exact meaning of which 
is not ascertainable, but which probably 
denotes the lands and chattels connected with 
a tenement; whatever befits the social position 
of a person, as the arms of a gentleman, the 
merchandise of a trader, the ploughs and 
wagons of a peasant, etc. 

In every case the contenement (a word expressive of 
chattels necessary to each man’s station) was ex- 
empted from seizure. — Hallam: Middle Ages, Pt. II, 
ch. viii. 

Contests of Wartburg. Sometimes called The 
Battles of the Minstrels, these were annual 
contests held at the Wartburg, a castle in Saxe- 
Weimar, for a prize given for the best poem. 
Some 150 of these poems are still extant, the 
best being by Walter von der Vogelweid 
(1168-1230). The most famous representation 
of these contests is in Wagner’s opera Tann- 
hduser. It was in this same castle that Luther 
translated the Bible into German. 

Continence of a Scipio. It is said that a 
beautiful princess fell into the hands of Scipio 
Africanus, and he refused to see her, “lest he 
should be tempted to forget his principles.” 
Similar stories, whether fable or not, are told 
of many historical characters, including Cyrus 
and Alexander. 

Continental. Not worth a Continental. Worth- 
less. No more valuable than the bank-notes 
issued by the American Continental Con- 
gress during the War of Independence and 
until the adoption of the Constitution, which 
were backed by no reserves whatever. 

Continental System. A name given to 
Napoleon’s plan for shutting out Great 
Britain from all commerce with the continent 
of Europe. He forbade under pain of war 
any nation of Europe to receive British exports, 
or to send imports to any of the British domin- 
ions. It began November 21st, 1806. 

Contingent. The quota of troops furnished 
by each of several contracting powers, accord- 
in 8 to agreement. The word properly means 
something happening by chance; hence we 
call a fortuitous event a contingency. 

Continuity Man, Girl. The technique of cine- 
matography allows of a play, etc., being photo- 


graphed in scenes and incidents not necessarily 
m seaucnce. Each scene, etc., is, moreover* 
“shot ’ many times. It is therefore essential 
that the greatest care be taken to see that every 
detail of costume, scenery, etc., is correct when 
one scene or incident is “shot” several times. 
With poor continuity an actress may be 
wearing a ring when she sits down to dinner, 
and later in the same meal be found without 
one. It is the task of the continuity man or 
girl to see that such a mistake is averted. 

Contra (Lat.). Against; generally in the 
phrase pro and contra or pro and con (<y.v.). 
In bookkeeping a contra is an entry on the 
right-hand, or credit side, of the ledger. See 
Per Contra. 

A contra-account is one kept by a firm which 
both buys from and sells to the same client, so 
that the transactions cancel out as paper 
entries. 

Contra bonos mores (Lat.). Not in accord- 
ance with good manners; not comme il faut 
(q.v.). 

Contra jus gentium (Lat.). Against the law 
of nations; specially applied to usages in war 
which are contrary to the laws or customs of 
civilized peoples. 

Contra mundum (Lat.). Against the world 
at large. Used of an innovator or reformer 
who sets his opinion against that of everyone 
else, and specially connected with Athanasius 
in his vehement opposition to the Arians. 

Contretemps (Fr.). A mischance, something 
inopportune. Literally, “out of time.” 

Conventicle. The word was applied originally 
by the early Christians to their meeting-places, 
but it was soon used contemptuously by their 
opponents, and it thus acquired a bad or 
derisive sense, such as a clandestine meeting 
with a sinister intention; a private meeting of 
monks to protest against the election of a 
proposed abbot, for instance, was called a 
conventicle. It now means a religious meeting, 
or meeting-place, of Dissenters, a chapel (tf.v.). 

Conventicle Act. An Act passed in 1664 
declaring that a meeting of more than five 
persons held for religious worship and not in 
accordance with the Book of Common Prayer 
was a seditious assembly. It was repealed by 
the Toleration Act (1689). 

Convention, The. Two Parliaments were so 
called : one in 1660, because it was not held by 
the order of the king, but was convened by 
General Monk; and that convened on January 
22nd, 1689, to confer the crown on William 
and Mary. 

In the U.S. A. a convention is a meeting of a 
number of persons, as delegates, for any 
common purpose. The meeting held by a 
political party for the purpose of selecting a 
candidate for the presidential election is called 
a National Convention. 

In the French Revolution the National 
Convention was the sovereign assembly con- 
vened by the Constituent Assembly. It 
governed France from Sept., 1792, to Oct., 
1795. 



Convey 


232 


Cop 


Convey. A polite term for steal. Thieves 
are, by a similar euphemism, called conveyers. 
(Lat. con-veho, to carry away.) 

Convey, the wise it call. Steal! foh! a fico for the 
phrase. — S hakespeare: Merry Wives of Windsor, I, iii. 
Bolingbroke : Go, some of you, convey him to the 
Tower. 

Rich. II: O, good! “Convey.” Conveyers are ye all, 
That rise thus nimbly by a true kind’s fall. 

Richard II, IV, iv. 

Cooing and Billing, like Philip and Mary on a 
shilling. The reference is to coins struck in 
1555, in which Mary and her consort are 
placed face to face, and not cheek by jowl, the 
usual way. 

Still amorous, and fond, and billing, 

Like Philip and Mary on a shilling. 

Hudibras , Pt. Ill, i. 

Cook, Cooking. Terms belonging to cuisine 
applied to man under different circumstances: 

Sometimes he is well basted ; he boils with 
rage, is baked with heat, and burns with love or 
jealousy. Sometimes he is buttered and well 
buttered; he is often cut up , devoured with a 
flame, and done brown. We dress his jacket 
for him; sometimes he is eaten up with care; 
sometimes he is fried . We cook his goose for 
him, and sometimes he makes a goose of 
himself. We make a hash of him, and at times 
he makes a hash of something else. He gets 
into hot water , and sometimes into a mess. 
Is made into mincemeat , makes mincemeat of 
his money, and is often in a pickle. We are 
often asked to toast him, sometimes he gets well 
roasted , is sometimes set on fire, put into a 
stew , or is in a stew no one knows why. 

A “soft” is half-baked , one severely 
handled is well peppered , to falsify accounts is 
to cook or salt them, wit is Attic salt , and an 
exaggerated statement must be taken cum 
grano saiis. 

A pert young person is a sauce box , a shy 
lover is a spoon , a rich father has to fork out, 
and is sometimes dished of his money. 

A conceited man does not think small beer 
(or small potatoes ) of himself, and one’s 
mouth is called a potato-trap. A simpleton is 
a cake , a gudgeon , and a pigeon. Some are 
cool as a cucumber , others hot as a quail . A 
chubby child is a little dumpling. A woman 
may be a duck ; a courtesan was called a 
mutton or laced mutton , and a large, coarse 
hand is a mutton fist. A greedy person is a 
pig , a fat one is a sausage , and a shy one, if not 
a sheep, is certainly sheepish ; while a Lubin 
casts sheep's eyes at his lady-love. A coward 
is c/i/c/ce/i-heartcd, a fat person is crummy , and 
a cross one is crusty , while an aristocrat belongs 
to the upper crust of society. A Yeoman of 
the Guard is a beef-eater , a soldier a red herring , 
or a lobster , and a stingy, ill-tempered old man 
is a crab. A walking advertiser between two 
boards is a sandwichman. An alderman in his 
chain is a turkey hung with sausages. Two 
persons resembling each other are like as two 
peas. A chit is a mere sprat, a delicate maiden 
a tit-bit , and a colourless countenance is 
is called a whey-face. Anything unexpectedly 
easy is a piece of cake. 

What’s cooking? What is in hand ? What’s 
doing? 

Cook your goose. See Goose. 


Cooked. The books have been cooked. The 
ledger and other trade books have been 
tampered with, in order to show a false balance. 

Cookie-pusher (U.S.A.). A young and junior 
diplomat whose most onerous duties appear to 
consist in handing round plates at official 
receptions. 

Cool. Cool card; cooling card. See Card. 

Cool hundred, thousand (or any other sum). 
The whole of the sum named. Cool, in this 
case, is merely an emphatic; it may have 
originally had reference to the calmness and 
deliberation with which the sum was counted 
out and the total made up. 

He had lost a cool hundred, and would no longer 
play. — F ielding: Tom Jones , VIII, xii. 

Cool tankard or cool cup. A drink made 
of wine and water, with lemon, sugar, and 
borage; sometimes also slices of cucumber. 

Coon, A. Short for raccoon, a small North 
American animal, about the size of a fox, 
valued for its fur. The animal was adopted as 
a badge by the old Whig party in the United 
States about 1840. In the 19th century the 
word was slang for a Negro. 

A coon’s age. Quite a long time; a “month 
of Sundays” (U.S. slang). 

A gone coon. A person in a terrible fix; 
one on the verge of ruin. The coon being 
hunted for its fur is a “gone coon” when it is 
treed and so has no escape from its pursuers. 

To go the whole coon. An American 
equivalent of the English “to go the whole 
hog.” See Hog. 

Coop. U.S. slang for prison. 

To fly the coop is to escape from prison. 

Cooper. Half stout and half porter. The 
term arose from the old practice at breweries of 
allowing the coopers a daily portion of stout 
and porter. As they did not like to drink 
porter after stout, they mixed the two together. 

Coot. A silly coot. Stupid as a coot. The 
coot is a small waterfowl. 

Bald as a coot. The coot has a strong, 
straight, and somewhat conical bill, the base 
of which tends to push up the forehead, and 
there dilates, so as to form a remarkable bare 
patch. 

Cop. To catch, lay hold of, capture. To “get 
copped” is to get caught by the police, whence 
cop and copper (q.v.), a policeman. Perhaps 
connected with Lat. capere , to take, etc. 

A fair cop is applied to the case of a criminal 
caught in flagrante delicto. 

The word is used for catching almost any- 
thing, as punishment at school, or even an 
illness, fever, or cold: — 

They thought I was sleepin’, ye know. 

And they sed as I’d copped it o’ Jim; 

Well, it come like a bit of a blow, 

For I watched by the deathbed of him. 

Sims: Dagonet Ballads ( The Last Letter). 

The East Anglian word to cop , meaning to 
throw or toss (whence cop-halfpenny , a name 
for chuck-farthing) is not connected with this. 



Copenhagen 


233 


Copyright 


Copenhagen (ko p£n ha' g6n). This was the 
name of the horse ridden by the Duke of 
Wellington at Waterloo “from four in the 
morning till twelve at night.” He was a rich 
chestnut, 15 hands high. Pensioned off in the 

f >addocks of Stratfieldsaye, Copenhagen 
ived to the age of twenty-seven; his skeleton 
was in the United Services Museum, Whitehall. 

Copernicanism. The doctrine that the earth 
moves round the sun, in opposition to the 
doctrine that the sun moves round the earth; 
so called after Nicolas Copernicus (1473- 
1543). Cp. Ptolemaic system. 

Cophetua (ko fet' u a). An imaginary king of 
Africa, of great wealth, who “disdained all 
womankind,” and concerning whom a ballad 
is given in Percy’s Reliques. One day he saw 
a beggar-girl from his window, and fell in love 
with her. He asked her name; it was Pcnelo- 
phon, called bv Shakespeare Zenelophon 
(Love's Labour's Lost , IV, i). They lived 
together long and happily, and at death were 
universally lamented. 

Copper. Among the old alchemists copper 
was the symbol of Venus. 

The name is given to the large vessel used 
for laundry purposes, cooking, etc., which was 
formerly made of copper but is now more 
usually of iron; also to pence, halfpence, 
cents, etc., although nowadays they are made 
of bronze; true copper coinage has not been 
minted in England since 1860. 

In slang a copper is a policeman, i.e. one 
who “cops,” or catches, offenders. 

Copper captain. A “Brummagem,” or 
sham, captain; a man who “swanks about” 
with the title but has no right to it. Michael 
Perez is so called in Rule a Wife and have a 
Wife , by Beaumont and Fletcher. 

To this copper-captain was confided the command 
of the troops. — \V. Irving: Knickerbocker. 

Copper Nose. Oliver Cromwell; also called 
“Ruby Nose,” “Nosey,” and “Nose Al- 
mighty,” no doubt from some scorbutic 
tendency which showed itself in a big red nose. 

Copper-nose Harry. Henry VIII. When 
Henry VIII had spent all the money left him 
by his miserly father, he minted an inferior 
silver coin, in which the copper alloy soon 
showed itself on the more prominent parts, 
especially the nose of the face; and hence the 
people soon called the king “Old Copper- 
nose.” 

Copperheads. Secret foes. Copperheads arc 
poisonous snakes of North America ( Trigono - 
cephalus eontortrix ), which, unlike the rattle- 
snakes, give no warning of their attack. The 
name was applied by the early colonists to 
the Indians, then to the Dutch (see Washington 
Irving’s History of New York), and, finally, in 
the Civil War to the pro-Southerners among the 
Northerners, the covert friends of the Con- 
federates. 

Copts. The Jacobite Christians of Egypt, who 
have been since the Council of Chalcedon in 
451 in possession of the patriarchal chair of 
Alexandria. The word is probably derived 
from Coptos ? the metropolis of the Thebaid. 
These Christians conduct their worship in a 


dead language called “Coptic” which is de- 
scended from ancient Egyptian. 

The Copts [or Egyptians] circumcise, confess to 
their priests, and abstain from swine’s flesh. They 
are Jacobites in their creed. — S. Olin: Travels in 
Egypt, vol. I, ch. viii. 

Copus (ko' pus). University slang for a drink 
made of beer, wine, and spice heated together, 
and served in a “loving-cup.” Variously 
accounted for as being dog-Latin for cupellon 
Hippocratis (a cup of hippocras), or short for 
episcopus , in which case it would be the same 
as the drink “bishop” (q.v.). 

Copy. A printer’s term for original MS., 
typescript, or printed matter that is to be set 
up in type. 

That’s a mere copy of your countenance. 
Not your real wish or meaning, but merely one 
you choose to present to me. 

Copyhold estate. Land held by a tenant by 
virtue of a copy of the roll made by the 
steward of the manor from the court-roll 
kept in the manor-house. It was ended by 
legislation in 1925. 

Copyright. The exclusive right to reproduce 
any original literary, dramatic, musical, or 
artistic work in any material form, to publish 
the work, to perform it in public, broadcast it 
direct or by redilTusion, and to adapt, drama- 
tize or translate. Although there was some 
form of copyright protection in England from 
the late Elizabethan period onwards, the first 
English Copyright Act was passed in 1709, 
but the position of authors was not satisfactory 
until the Act of 1842. By this latter Act the 
period of copyright was 42 years from the date 
of publication, or for the duration of the 
author’s life and seven years, whichever was 
the longer. A new Act in 1911 (operative in 
1912) extended the period of copyright to the 
author’s life and 50 years after his death. 
The Act of 1956 took account of all develop- 
ments in the dissemination of original work, 
and although adhering to the posthumous 50- 
year period made it operative from the first 
day of the year following the author’s death. 

By the Act of 1911, and followed by that of 
1956, a copy of every copyright book pub- 
lished in the U.K. must be sent to the British 
Museum, and (on request) to the Bodleian 
Library, Oxford, the University Library Cam- 
bridge, the National Library of Scotland 
Edinburgh, Trinity College, Dublin, and (with 
certain provisos) to the National Library of 
Wales. 

In the U.S.A. the duration of copyright is 
initially 28 years from first publication, and on 
application it can be renewed for a further 28 
years. Until 1949 British Authors were unable 
to secure copyright in the U.S.A. unless their 
books were manufactured there, and even then 
copyright was forfeited if after securing ad 
interim copyright for 5 years, their books were 
not manufactured there within that period. 
Since the British Copyright Act of 1956 a 
British Author can secure automatic copy- 
right protection by the insertion of a simple 
copyright notice in his book. 

By the Berne Convention of 1886 each 
signatory to the Convention granted the same 



Co4 & I’fine 


234 


Corduroy 


copyright protection to non-nationals as to 
nationals. Since then modifications and clari- 
fications have been made to the Convention, 
and further signatories secured, including the 
U.S.A., which until 1956 remained outside 
international conventions. The U.S.S.R. and 
China remain outside the international code, 

Coq k Pane. See Cock, A cock and bull 
story. 

Corah (kor' a), in Dryden’s Absalom and 
Achitophel (q.v.) t is meant for Titus Oates. 
See Numb. xvi. 

Sunk were his eyes, his voice was harsh and loud; 

Sure signs he neither choleric was, nor proud ; 

His long chin proved his wit; his saint-like grace 

A church vermilion, and a Moses* face. 

His memory, miraculously great, 

Could plots, exceeding man’s belief, repeat. 

Dryden: Absalom and Achitophel , I, 646. 

Coral. The Romans used to hang beads of 
red coral on the cradles and round the necks of 
infants, to “preserve and fasten their teeth,” 
and save them from “the falling sickness.” It 
was considered by soothsayers as a charm 
against lightning, whirlwind, shipwreck, and 
fire. Paracelsus says it should be worn round 
the neck of children as a preservative “against 
fits, sorcery, charms, ana poison,” and Norse 
legend says that it is fashioned beneath the 
waves by Marmendill. The bells on an 
infant’s coral are a Roman Catholic addition, 
the object being to frighten away evil spirits by 
their jingle. 

Coral is good to be hanged about the neck of 
children ... to preserve them from the falling sickness. 
It has also some special sympathy with nature, for 
the best coral . . . will turn pale and wan if the party 
that wears it be sick, and it comes to its former colour 
again as they recover. — Sir Hugh Platt: Jewel - 
House of Art and Nature ( 1 594). 

Coram judice (kor' am joo' di si) (Lat.). Under 
consideration; still before the judge. 

Cordelia (kor de' li k). The youngest of Lear’s 
three daughters, and the only one that loved 
him. She appears in Holinshcd’s Chronicle 
(whence Shakespeare drew most of his facts) 
as “Cordeilla,” as “Cordell” in the Mirour 
for Magistrates (1555) and as “Cordelia” in 
the older play of Leir (1594). The form 
“Cordelia” seems to appear for the first time 
in Spenser’s Faerie Queette (II, x). See 
Lear, King. 

Cordelia’s gift. A “voice ever soft, gentle, 
and low; an excellent thing in woman.” 
Shakespeare; King Lear , V, ii. 

Cordelier (kor de' ly&, kor de ler'), i.e. “cord- 
wearer.” A Franciscan friar of the strict rule, 
an Observantin. See Franciscans. In the 
Middle Ages they distinguished themselves in 
philosophy and theology. Duns Scotus was 
one of their most distinguished members. 
The tale is that in the reign of St. Louis these 
Minorites repulsed an army of infidels, and 
the king asked who those gens de cordelids 
(corded people) were. From this they 
received their appellation. 

In the French Revolution the name Club des 
Cordeliers was given to a political club, 
because it held its meetings in an old convent 
of Cordeliers. The Cordeliers were the rivals 
of the Jacobins, and numbered among their 


members Par£ (the president), Danton, Marat, 
Camille Desmoulins, Hubert, Chaumette, 
Dufoumoy de Villiers, Fabre d’Eglantine, and 
others. They were far in advance of the 
Jacobins, and were the first to demand the 
abolition of the monarchy and the establish- 
ment of a commonwealth. The leaders were 
put to death between March 24th and April 
5th, 1794. 

This club was nicknamed “The Pandemonium,” 
and Danton was called the “Archfiend.” When Bailly, 
the mayor, locked them out of their hall in 1791, they 
met in the Tennis Court (Paris), and changed their 
name into the “Society of the Rights of Man”; but 
they are best known by their original appellation. 

II He faut pas parler la tin devant les Cordel- 
iers. Don’t talk Latin before the Cordeliers* 
i.e. the Franciscans. A common French 
proverb, meaning that one should be careful 
what one says on a subject before those who 
are masters of it. 

Cordon (Fr.). A ribbon or cord: especially 
the ribbon of an order of chivalry; also, a line 
of sentries or military posts enclosing some 
position; hence, an encircling line. 

Cordon bleu. A knight of the ancient order 
of the St. Esprit (Holy Ghost); so called 
because the decoration is suspended on a blue 
ribbon. It was at one time the highest order 
in the kingdom of France. 

The title is also given, as a compliment, to a 
good cook. 

Cordon noir. A knight of the Order of St. 
Michael, distinguished by a black ribbon. 

Cordon rouge. A chevalier of the Order of 
St. Louis , the decoration being suspended on a 
red ribbon. 

Cordon sanitaire. A line of watchers posted 
round an infectious district to keep it isolated 
and prevent the spread of the disease; a 
sanitary cordon. 

Un grand cordon. A member of the French 
Legion d'Honneur. The cross is attached to a 
grand (broad) ribbon. 

Un repas de cordon bleu. A well-cooked and 
well-appointed dinner. The commandeur 
de Souve, Comte d’Olonne, and some others, 
who were cordons bleus (i.e. knights of St. 
Esprit), met together as a sort of club, and 
were noted for their excellent dinners. Hence, 
when anyone has dined well he says, “ Bien , 
e'est un vrai repas de cordon bleu.” 

Corduroy. A corded fabric, originally made 
of silk, and worn by the kings of France in the 
chase (Fr. corde du roy). It is also a coarse, 
thick, ribbed cotton stuff, capable of standing 
hard wear. 

Corduroys. Trousers made of corduroy. 
Brown corduroy trousers were worn by officers 
of the British 8th Army in the Western Desert, 
1940-2, not, as many have thought, as an 
afTectation, but because this material stood up 
to wear in the sand better than battle-dress 
serge, and was less chafing in the heat. 

Corduroy road, A term applied to roads 
formed of tree trunks sawn in two longitudin- 
ally, and laid transversely. Such a road 
presents 4 ribbed appearance, like corduroy. 



Gordwainer 


235 


Comet* 


Cordwainer. Not a twister of cord, but a 
worker in leather. Our word is the Fr. 
cordouannier (a maker or worker of cordouari ); 
the former a corruption of cordovanier (a 
worker in Cordovan leather). 

The Cordwainefs are one of the smaller 
though wealthier Livery Companies of the 
City of London. 

Corineus. A mythical hero in the suite of 
Brute, who conquered the giant Goemagot 
(Gogmagog), for which achievement the whole 
western horn of England was allotted nim. 
He called it Corinea, and the people Corineans, 
from his own name. See Bellerus. 

In meed of these great conquests by them got, 
Corineus had that province utmost west 

To him assyned for his worthy lot, 

Which of his name and memorable gest. 

He called Cornwall. 

Spenser: Faerie Queehe, II, x. 

Corinth. Non cuivis homini contingit adire 
Corinthum. A tag from Horace (Ep. I, xvii), 
quoted of some difficult attainment that can 
be achieved only by good fortune or great 
wealth. Professor Conington translates it: — 

You know the proverb, “Corinth town is fair. 

But ’tis not every man that can get there.” 

Gellius, in his Noctes Attica , I, viii, says that 
Horace refers to Lais {q.w), who sold her 
favours at so high a price that not everyone 
could afford to purchase them; but Horace 
says, “To please princes is no little praise, for 
it falls not to every man's lot to go to Corinth.'* 
That is, it is as hard to please princes as it is to 
get to Corinth, perhaps because of the expense, 
and perhaps because it is situated between two 
seas, and hence called Bim&ris Corinthus. 

Corinthian. A licentious libertine. The 
loose-living of Corinth was proverbial both in 
Greece and in Rome. 

In the Regency the term was applied to a 
hard-living group of sportsmen whose time 
was largely spent in practising pugilism and 
horse-racing. The sporting rake in Pierce 
Egan’s Life in London (1821) was known as 
“Corinthian Tom”; in Shakespeare’s day a 
“Corinthian” was the “fast man” of the 
period. Cp. Ephesian. 

I am no proud Jack, like Falstaff; but a Corinthian, 
a lad of mettle, a good boy , — Henry IV , Pt. /, II, iv. 

The only survival of the term to-day is in 
the Corinthian amateur football club. 

Corinthian brass. An alloy made of a 
variety of metals (said to be gold, silver, and 
copper) melted at the conflagration of Corinth 
in 146 b.c», when the city was burnt to the 
ground by the consul Mummius. Vases and 
other ornaments, made by the Romans of 
this metal, were of greater value than if they 
had been silver or gold. 

Corinthian Order. The most richly decor- 
ated of the five orders of Greek architecture. 
The shaft is fluted, and the capital is bell- 
shaped and adorned with acanthus leaves. 
See Acanthus. 

Corked. Properly used of a bottle of wine 
which has hot been opened; generally used in 
place of “corky” — i.e. the wine itself has 
become tainted through the cork being a 
pad pne. 


Corker. That’s a corkef. That’s a tremen- 
dous example of whatever is in question — a 
story, a ball in cricket, or anything you wish. 

Corking-pins. Pins of the largest size, at one 
time used by ladies to keep curls on the fore- 
head fixed and in trim. They used to be 
called catkin (pronounced cawkin) pins, but it 
is not known why. 

Cormantynes. The name given by West 
Indian planters to the first Negro slaves, from 
the fact that they were shipped from Kor* 
mantin, on the Gold Coast. 

Cormoran. The Cornish giant, who in the 
nursery tale, fell into a pit dug by Jack the 
Giant-killer. For this doughty achievement 
Jack received a belt from King Arthur, with 
this inscription — 

This is the valiant Cornish man 
That slew the giant Cormoran. 

Jack the Giant-killer. 

Corn. There’s corn in Egypt. There is 
abundance; there is a plentiful supply. The 
reference is to the Bible story of Joseph in 
Egypt (E*. xlii, 2). 

To tread on his corns. To irritate his 
prejudices; to annoy another by disregard to 
his pet opinions or habits. 

Up corn, down horn. An old saying suggest* 
ing that when corn is high or dear, beef is 
down or cheap, because people have less 
money to spend on meat. 

Corn Laws. In 1815 a law was passed 
forbidding the importation of foreign corn 
when the price of native corn was under 80s. a 
quarter, in 1828 a sliding scale Was intro- 
duced whereby the duty was increased as the 
price fell until corn at 64s. a quarter meant a 
duty of 23s. These high prices raised the cost 
of living to such an extent that the poor were 
faced with Starvation. Ih 1838 ah Anti-Corn 
Law League was founded, and in 1846 Sit* 
Robert Peel passed a law repealing the duties. 

The Corn-Law Rhymer, Ebenezef Elliott 
(1781-1849) denounced the Corn Laws in 
scathing verse that appealed to the public for 
which he wrote. The Corn-Law Rhymes 
appeared in 1831. 

Cornage. A rent in feudal times fixed With 
relation to the number of horned cattle in the 
tenant’s possession. In Littleton's Tenures 
(1574) it was mistakenly said to be “a kind of 
tenure in grand serjeanty,” the service being 
to blow' a norn when an invasion of the Scots 
was imminent. Until the true meaning of the 
term was given in the Oxford Dictionary this 
was the explanation always given. 

Corner. The condition of the market with 
respect to a commodity which has been largely 
bought up, in order to create a virtual mono- 
poly and enhance its market price; as a corner 
in pork, etc. The idea is that the goods ate 
piled and hidden in a corner out of Sight. 

The price of bread rose like a rocket, and Specula- 
tors wished to comer what little wheat there was. — 
New York Weekly Times (June 13, 1894). 

To make a corner. To combine in Order to 
control the price of a given article, and thus 
secure enormous profits. 



Corner-stone 


236 


Corpus 


Corner-stone. A large stone laid at the 
base of a building to strengthen the two walls 
forming a right angle; in ancient buildings they 
were sometimes as much as 20 feet long and 
8 feet thick. In figurative use, Christ is 
called (Eph. ii, 20) the chief corner-stone 
because He united the Jews and Gentiles into 
one family; and daughters are called corner- 
stones ( Ps . cxliv, 12) because, as wives and 
mothers, they unite together two families. 

Cornet. The terrible cornet of horse. A 
nickname of the elder Pitt (1708-78). He ob- 
tained a cornetcy in Cobham’s Horse in 1731. 

Cornish. Cornish hug. A hug to overthrow 
you. The Cornish men were famous wrestlers, 
and tried to throttle their antagonist with a par- 
ticular grip or embrace called the Cornish hug. 

The Cornish are Masters of the Art of Wrestling. 
. . . Their Hugg is a cunning close with their fellow- 
combatant; the fruits whereof is his fair fall, or foil at 
the least. It is figuratively appliable to the deceitful 
dealing of such who secretly design their overthrow, 
whom they openly embrace. — Fuller: Worthies 
( 1661 ). 

Cornish language. This member of the 
Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages 
became virtually extinct nearly 200 years ago. 
It is supposed that Dolly Pcntreath (Dorothy 
Jeffery, 1685-1777) was the last to speak 
Cornish as a native language. It is still spoken 
as an acquired language by a few cultured 
Cornishmen and there is a certain literature 
available. 

Cornish names. 

By Tre, Pol. and Pen 

You shall know the Cornishmen. 

Thus, Tre (a town) gives Trefry, Tregengon, 
Tregony, Tregothnan, Trelawy, Tremayne, 
Trevannion, Trcvcddoe, Trewithen, etc. 

Pol (a head) gives Polkerris Point, Polperro, 
Polwheel, etc. 

Pen (a top) gives Penkevil, Penrice, Penrose, 
Pentire, etc. 

The Cornish Wonder. John Opie (1761- 
1807), of Cornwall, the painter. It was 
“Peter Pindar” (John Wolcot) who gave him 
this name. 

Cornstalks. In Australia, especially in New 
South Wales, youths of colonial birth are so 
called; perhaps because they are often taller 
and more slender than their parents. 

Cornubian Shore. Cornwall, famous for its 
tin mines. 

. . . from the bleak Cornubian shore 
Dispense the mineral treasure, which of old 
Sidonian pilots sought. 

Akenside : Hymn to the Naiads. 
Cornucopia. See Amalth/ea’s Horn. 
Cornwall. The county is probably named 
from Celtic corn , cornu , a horn, with reference 
to the configuration of the promontory. For 
the legendary explanation of the name, see 
Corineus. 

Corny. American and now also British 
colloquialism for anything, such as music, 
which is affectedly and spuriously sweet. It 
is also used of anything of poor quality or 
hackneyed. 

Coronach (kor' 6 nach). Lamentation for the 
dead, as anciently practised in Ireland and 


Celtic Scotland. (Gael, comh ranach y crying 
together.) Pennant says it was called by the 
Irish hululoo. 

Coronation Chair. See Scone. 

Coroner. Properly, the crown officer (Lat. 
corona , crown). In Saxon times it was his duty 
to collect the Crown revenues; next, to take 
charge of Crown pleas; but at present his 
duties are almost entirely confined to searching 
into cases of sudden or suspicious death. The 
coroner also holds inquiries, or inquests, on 
treasure trove. Crowner was formerly a 
correct way of pronouncing the word, hence 
Shakespeare’s — 

But is this law? 

Ay, marry, is’t; crowner’s quest law. 

Hamlet , V, i. 

Coronet. A crown inferior to the royal 
crown. A duke's coronet is adorned with 
strawberry leaves above the band; that of a 
marquis with strawberry leaves alternating with 
pearls; that of an earl has pearls elevated on 
stalks, alternating with leaves above the band; 
that of a viscount has a string of pearls above 
the band, but no leaves; that of a baron has 
only six pearls. 

Coronis (kor o' nis). Daughter of a King of 
Phocis, changed by Athene into a crow to 
enable her to escape from Neptune. There 
was another Coronis, mother of Aesculapius 
by Apollo, who slew her for infidelity. 

Corporal Violet. See Violet. 

Corporation. A corporation is a body of 
men elected for the local government of a 
city or town, consisting of the mayor, aider- 
men, and councillors. The word is facetiously 
applied to a large paunch, from the tendency 
of civic magnates to indulge in well-provided 
feasts and thus acquire generous figures. 

Corposant. The ball of fire which is sometimes 
seen playing round the masts of ships in a 
storm. So called from Ital. corpo santo , holy 
body. To the Romans the phenomenon was 
known as Castor and Pollux (q.r.), and it is 
also known as St. Helen’s Fire, St. lilmo’s Fire, 
and comazant. 

Corps Diplomatique (Fr.). A diplomatic body; 
the foreign representatives accredited to a 
Government collectively. 

Corps legislatif (kor' lej is la tef'). At various 
periods of modern French history this phrase 
has been used for the lower house of the 
legislature. In 1799 Napoleon substituted a 
Corps legislatif and a tribunal for the two 
councils of the Directory. In 1807 there was 
a c.l. and a conseil d'etat; in 1849 a c.l. was 
formed with 750 deputies; and under Napoleon 
III the legislative power was vested in the 
Emperor, the Senate and the Corps legislatif. 

Corpse Candle. The ignis fatuus is so called 
by the Welsh because it was supposed to 
forebode death, and to show the road that the 
corpse would take. The large candle used at 
lich wakes — i.e. at the watching of a corpse 
before interment — had the same name. 

Corpus (kor' pus) (Lat. a body). The whole 
body or substance; especially the complete 




Corpus Christi 


237 


Cosset 


collection of writings on one subject or by one 
person, as the Corpus poctarum Latinorum , 
the Corpus historicum mcciii cevi, etc. 

Also, short for Corpus Christi College. 
Corpus Christi. A festival of the Church, 
kept on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, in 
honour of the Blessed Sacrament. It was 
instituted by Urban IV in 1264, and was the 
regular time for the performance of religious 
dramas by the trade guilds. In England many 
of the Corpus Christi plays of York, Coventry, 
and Chester are extant. 

Corpus Christi College at Cambridge was 
founded in 1352, and the College of the same 
name at Oxford in 1516. 

Corpus delicti (Lat.). The material thing 
in respect to which a crime has been committed; 
thus a murdered body or a portion of the 
stolen property would be a “corpus delicti.” 

Corpuscular Philosophy. The theory pro- 
mulgated by Robert Boyle which sought to 
account for all natural phenomena by the 
position and motion of corpuscles. Cp. 
Atomic Philosophy. 

Corrector. See Alexander the Corrector. 

Corroboree. The name of a dance indulged in 
by Australian aborigines on festal or warlike 
occasions; hence any hilarious or slightly 
riotous assembly. The word belongs to the 
language of the natives of Port Jackson, 
(Sydney), New South Wales. 

Corruption of Blood. Loss of title and 
entailed estates in consequence of treason, by 
which a man’s blood is attainted and his issue 
suffers. 

Corsair (kor' sar) means properly “one who 
gives chase.” Applied to the pirates of the 
northern coast of Africa. (Ital. torso, a chase; 
Fr. corsaire; Lat. curstts.) 

Byron’s poem in heroic couplets, The 
Corsair , was written in 1813. 

Corsican (kor' si kein). For many years this was 
the derogatory epithet applied to Napoleon, 
as Consul and Emperor, in allusion to his 
place of birth. It was often expanded to 
“the Corsican upstart” by the Colonel 
Blimps of the day. 

Corsned (kors' ned). The piece of bread 
“consecrated for exorcism,” formerly given 
(in one form of the Old English “ordeal”) to 
a person to swallow as a test of his guilt (O.E. 
cor, choice, trial; sneed, piece). The words of 
“consecration” were: “May this morsel 
cause convulsions and find no passage if the 
accused is guilty, but turn to wholesome 
nourishment if he is innocent.” See Choke. 

Cortes (kor' tez). The Spanish or Portuguese 
parliament. The word means “court officers.” 

Cortina (kor' tl n&) (Lat. cauldron). The 
tripod of Apollo, which was in the form of a 
cauldron; hence, any tripod used for religious 
purposes in the worship of the ancient 
Romans. 

Corvinus (kdr vi' nus). Matthias I, King of 
Hungary, 1458-90, younger son of Janos 
Hunyady, was so called from the raven (Lat. 
corvus) on his shield. He was one of the 


greatest of all book collectors, and for his 
superb library some of the earliest gilt-tooled 
bindings were executed. They may be re- 
cognized by the raven introduced into the 
design, and are among the highest prizes of 
bibliophily. 

Marcus Valerius is also said to have been so 
called because, in a single combat with a 
gigantic Gaul during the Gallic war, a raven 
flew into the Gaul’s face and so harassed him 
that he could neither defend himself nor 
attack his adversary. 

Corybantes (kor i ban' tez). The Phrygian 
priests of Cybele, whose worship was celebrated 
with orgiastic dances and loud, wild music. 
Hence, a wild, unrestrained dancer is some- 
times called a corybant ; and Prof. Huxley 
(1890) even referred to the members of the 
Salvation Army as being “militant mission- 
aries of a somewhat corybantic Christianity.” 

Corycian Cave (kor is' i an). A cave on 
Mount Parnassus; so called from the nymph 
Corycia. The Muses arc sometimes in poetry 
called Corycides or the Corycian Nymphs. 

The immortal Muse 
To your calm habitations, to the cave 
Corycian . . . will guide his footsteps. 

Akcnside: Hymn to the Naiads. 

Corydon (kor' i don). A conventional name 
for a rustic, a shepherd; a brainless, love-sick 
fellow; from the shepherd in Virgil’s Eclogue 
VII, and in Theocritus. 

Coryphaeus (kor i fe' us). The leader and 
speaker of the chorus in Greek dramas; 
hence, figuratively, the leader generally, the 
most active member of a board, company, 
expedition, etc. At Oxford University the 
assistant of the Choragus (q.v.) is called the 
Coryphaeus. 

In the year 1626, Dr. William Heather, desirous to 
ensure the study and practice of music at Oxford in 
future ages, established the offices of Professor, 
Choragus, and Coryphaeus, and endowed them with 
modest stipends. — Grove's Dictionary of Music. 

The Coryphaeus of German literature. 
Goethe, “prince of German poets” (1749- 
1832). 

The Coryphaeus of Grammarians. Aris- 
tarchus of Samothrace (2nd century B.c.), a 
prince of grammarians and critics. 

The Coryphaeus of Learning. Richard 
Porson (1759-1808), the great English classical 
scholar. 

Coryphee. A ballet-dancer; strictly speak- 
ing, the leader of the ballet. 

Cosmopolite (kos mop' o lit) (Gr. cosmos - 
olites). A citizen of the world. One who 
as no partiality to any one country as his 
abiding place; one who looks on the whole 
world with “an equal eye.” 

Coss, Rule of. An old name for algebra (also 
called the Cossic Art); from Ital. regola di cosa, 
cosa being an unknown quantity, or a “thing. 
See Whetstone of Witte. 

Cosset. A pet; especially a pet lamb brought 
up in the house. Hence, to cosset, to make a 
pet of, to fondle, caress. Probably from O.E, 
cot-sceta , a dweller in a cottage. 



Costa Brava 


238 


Count 


Costa Brava (kos' ta bra' va). The precipitous 
coast of Spain lying on the Mediterranean 
between Port Bou ana San Feliu de Guixols. 
Costard. A large, ribbed apple, and, meta- 
phorically, a man’s head. Cp. Coster- 
monger. 

Take him over the costard with the hilts of thy 
sword.— Shakespeare: Richard III, I, iv. 

Shakespeare gives the name to a clown in 
Love's Labour's Lost , who apes the court wit of 
the period, but misapplies and miscalls like 
Mrs. Malaprop or Dogberry. 

Costermonger. A seller of eatables about the 
streets, properly an apple-seller: from costard 
(< q.v .), and monger , a trader; O.E. mangian , to 
trade; a word still retained in iron-monger, 
cheese-monger, fish-monger, etc. It is usually 
abbreviated to coster and is often applied 
generically to a Cockney of the East End. 

Cdte (kot) (Fr. coast). 

C6te d’Azur. The Mediterranean coast of 
France between Menton and Cannes, so 
named in 1887 by the poet Stephen Li6geard. 

Cdte d’Or. The department of France of 
which Dijon is the chief town. It is famous 
for its vineyards, for within its boundaries the 
whole of the best Burgundy is produced. The 
area extends south from Dijon, embracing 
Gevrey, Chamboile, Vougeot, Vosne, Nuits, 
Aloxe-Corton, Beaune, Pommard, Volnay, 
Meursault, Santenay, and ends at Chasne. 

Cdtes-du-Rli6ne. The name given collec- 
tively to the wines grown in the Rhone valley, 
below Lyons, of which the most famous are 
Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and Hermitage. 

Cote-hardl (kot ar de). A tight-fitting tunic 
buttoned down the front. 

He was clothed in a cote-hardi upon the gyse of 
Almayne [i.e. in the German fashion]. — Geojfroi de la 
Tour Landry. 

Coterie (kot' e re). A French word originally 
signifying something like our “guild,” a 
society where each paid his quota , but now 
applied to an exclusive set or clique, especially 
one composed of persons of similar tastes, 
aims, prejudices, etc. 

Cotillion (ko til' yon). Originally a brisk dance 
by four or eight persons, in which the ladies 
held up their gowns and showed their under- 
petticoats (Fr. cotillon , a petticoat). Later the 
dance became a very elaborate one with many 
added figures; but it is very rarely seen in 
modern ball-rooms. 

Cotset (kot' set). This is a word that is met 
with frequently in Domesday Book, where it 
describes one of the lowest types of feudal 
bondsmen, a cottage-dweller (O.E. cot-sceta ) 
who was bound to work most of his time for 
the lord. 

Cotswold. You are as long a-coming as Cots- 
wold barley. The Cotswold Hills, in Glou- 
cestershire, are very cold and bleak, exposed 
to the winds, and very backward in vegetation, 
but they yield a good late supply of barley. 

Cotswold lion. An ironical name for a 
sheep, for which Cotswold hills are famous. 

Then will he look as fierce as a Cotssold lion. 

Udall: Roister Doister, IV, vi (c. 1566). 


Cottage. This word, now applied to any small 
dwelling in the country, is found in law in the 
13th century as signifying a small house with- 
out land. 

Cottage Countess, The. Sarah Hoggins, of 
Shropshire, daughter of a small farmer, who, 
in 1791, married Henry Cecil, nephew and heir 
presumptive of the 9th Earl of Exeter. At the 
time he had no courtesy title and was a plain 
“Mr.” He was living under the name of John 
Jones, and was separated from his wife, from 
whom he subsequently obtained a divorce and 
an Act of Parliament to legitimize the children 
of his second wife. Sarah Hoggins was 
seventeen at the time of her marriage, and 
“John Jones” was thirty. They were married 
by licence in the parish church of Bolas Magna, 
Salop and lived there for two years until his 
succession to the peerage made her a Countess. 
She died in 1797, four years before her hus- 
band’s elevation to the Marquessate. Tenny- 
son’s poem, The Lord of Burleigh , is founded 
on this episode. 

Cottage loaf. A loaf of bread in two round 
lumps, a smaller on top of a larger, and baked 
with a good crust. 

Cottage piano. A small upright pianoforte. 

Cotton. A cotton king. A rich Manchester 
cotton manufacturer, a king in wealth, style 
of living, equipage, number of employees, etc. 
Many county families had this origin. 

To cotton on. To catch on, to grasp a line 
of thought. 

To cotton to a person. To cling to or 
take a fancy to a person. To stick to a 
person as cotton sticks to our clothes. 

Cottonopolis. Manchester, the great centre 
of cotton manufactures in Great Britain during 
the 19th century. 

Cottonian Library* The remarkable library 
founded by the noted antiquary Sir Robert 
Bruce Cotton (1571-1631), It was augmented 
by his son and grandson, and having been 
secured for the nation by statute in 1700, was 
eventually deposited in the British Museum on 
the foundation of that institution in 1753. It 
is particularly rich in early MSS. 

Cottys (kot' is). One of the three hundred- 
handed giants, son of Uranus (Heaven) and 
Gaea (Earth). His two brothers were Briareus 
and Gyges. See Hundred-Handed. 

Cotytto (ko ti' t6). The Thracian goddess of 
immodesty, worshipped at Athens with 
licentious rites. See Baptes. 

Hail! goddess of nocturnal sport. 

Dark-veiled Cotytto. 

Milton: Com us 129,130. 

Couleur de rose (koo ler de rdz) (Fr. rose- 
coloured). Highly coloured; too favourably 
considered; overdrawn with romantic em- 
bellishments, like objects viewed through glass 
tinted with rose pink. 

Council, Privy, (Ecumenical, etc. See these 
words. 

Count. A title of honour, used on the 
Continent and equivalent to English earl (O.E. 
eorl t a warrior), of which countess is still the 



Count 


239 


Coup 


feminine and the title of the wife or widow of 
an earl. Count is from Lat. comitem , accusa- 
tive of comes , a companion, which was a 
military title, as Comes Lit tor is Saxonici , 
Count of the Saxon Shore, the Roman general 
responsible for the south-eastern coasts of 
Britain. 

Count, To. From O, Fr. confer ; Lat ; computare 
( putare , to think), to compute, to reckon. 

To count kin with someone. A Scots 
expression meaning to compare one’s pedigree 
with that of another. 

To count out the House. To declare the 
House of Commons adjourned because there 
are not forty members present. The Speaker 
has his attention called to the fact, and if he 
finds that this is so, he declares the sitting over. 

To be counted out is said of a boxer who, 
after being knocked down, fails to regain his 
feet during the ten seconds counted out loud 
by the referee. Count me out. Do not 
reckon me in on this. 

To count upon. To rely with confidence on 
someone or something; to reckon on. 

To count without one’s host. See Host. 

Countenance, To. To sanction; to support. 
Approval or disapproval is shown by the 
countenance. The Scripture speaks of “the 
light of God’s countenance,” i.e. the smile of 
approbation; and to “hide His face” (or 
countenance) is to manifest displeasure. 

To keep in countenance. To encourage, or 
prevent someone losing his countenance or 
feeling dismayed. 

To keep one’s countenance. To refrain from 
smiling or expressing one's thoughts by the 
face. 

Out of countenance. Ashamed, confounded. 
With the countenance fallen or cast down. 

To put one out of countenance is to make one 
ashamed or disconcerted. To “discounten- 
ance” is to set your face against something 
done or propounded. 

Counter. Under the counter is a phrase that 
came into use during World War II in con- 
nection with dishonest tradesmen who, when 
commodities were in short supply, kept out 
of sight under the counter sufficient quantities 
to sell to favoured customers, often at en- 
hanced prices. 

Counter-caster. One who keeps accounts, 
or casts up accounts by counters. Thus, at 
the opening of Othello , Iago in contempt calls 
Cassio “a great arithmetician,” and “this 
counter-caster”; and in The Winter's Tale , 
the Clown says: “Fifteen hundred shorn; 
what comes the wool to? I cannot do ’t 
without counters” (IV, iii). 

Countercheck Quarrelsome. Sir, how dare 
you utter such a falsehood? Sir, you know 
that it is not true. This, in Touchstone’s 
classification (Shakespeare’s As You Like It , 
V, iv),isthe third remove from the lie direct; 
or rather, the lie direct in the third degree. 

The Reproof Valiant, the Countercheck 
Quarrelsome, the Lie Circumstantial, and the 


Lie Direct, are not clearly defined by Touch- 
stone. That is not true; how dare you utter 
such a falsehood; if you say so, you are f,}iar; 
you lie, or are a liar, seem to fit the four 
degrees. 

Counter-jumper. A contemptuous epithet 
applied by the ignorant to a shop assistant, 
who may be supposed to have to jump over 
the counter to go from one part of the snop to 
another. 

Counterpane, A corruption of counter- 
point , from the Lat. culcita puncta , a stitched 
quilt. This, in French, became courte-pointe , 
corrupted into contre-pointe , counterpoint 
where point is pronounced “poyn,” corrupted 
into “pane.” 

Countess. See Count; Cottage Countess. 
Country. Black Country. See Black. 

Country dance. A corruption of the Fr, 
contre danse ; i.e. a dance where the partners 
face each other, as in Sir Roger de Coverley. 

Father of his country. See Father. 

To appeal, or go, to the country. To 
dissolve Parliament in order to ascertain the 
wish of the country by a new election of 
representatives. 

County. A shire; originally the district ruled 
by a count. The name is also officially applied 
to county boroughs , i.e. large towns which, 
since the Local Government Act of 1888, rank 
as administrative counties. For various 
names of divisions of counties, see Hundred. 

County family. A family belonging to the 
nobility or gentry with an ancestral seat in the 
county. 

County palatine. Properly, the dominion of 
an earl palatine {see Palatinate), a county 
over which the count had royal privileges, 
Cheshire and Lancashire arc the only Counties 
Palatine in England now; but formerly 
Durham, Pembroke, Hexhamshire, and the 
Isle of Ely had this rank. 

Coup (koo) (Fr.). Properly a blow or stroke, 
but used both in French and English in a large 
number of ways, as for a clap of thunder, a 
draught of liquid, a piece of play in a game 
(a move in chess, etc.), a stroke of policy or 
of luck, a trick, etc. 

A good coup. A good hit or haul. 

Coup d’essai. A trial-piece ; a piece of work 
serving for practice. 

Coup d’etat. A state stroke, and the term 
is applied to one of those bold measures taken 
by Government to prevent a supposed or actual 
danger; as when a large body of men are 
arrested suddenly for fear they should overturn 
the Government. 

The famous coup d'etat, by which Louis 
Napoleon became possessed of absolute power, 
took place on December 2nd, 1851. 

Coup de grSce. The finishing stroke; the 
stroke of mercy. When a criminal was 
tortured by the wheel or otherwise, the 
executioner gave him a coup de grdce t or blow 
on the head or breast, to put him out of his 
misery. 



Coup 


240 


Court 


Coup de main. A sudden stroke, a strata- 
gem whereby something is effected suddenly; 
a coup. 

It4ppears more like a line of march than a body 
intended for a coup de main , as there are with it 
bullocks and baggage of different kinds. — Welling- 
ton: Dispatches, voi. I, p. 25. 

Coup d’ceil. A view, glance, prospect; the 
effect of things at the first glance; literally “a 
stroke of the eye.” 

Coup de pied de Pane. Literally, a kick from 
the ass’s hoof; figuratively, a blow given to a 
vanquished or fallen man; a cowardly blow; 
an insult offered to one who has not the power 
of returning or avenging it. The allusion is 
to the fable of the sick lion kicked by the ass. 

Coup de soleil. A sunstroke, any malady 
produced by exposure to the sun. 

Coup de theatre. An unforeseen or un- 
expected turn in a drama producing a sensa- 
tional effect; a piece of clap-trap, something 
planned for effect. Burke throwing down the 
dagger in the House of Commons (see Dagger 
scene) intended a coup de theatre. 

Coup manque. A false stroke, a miss, a 
failure. 

Shoot dead, or don’t aim at all; but never make a 
coup manque . — Ouida : Under Two Flags, ch. xx. 

Coupon. In commercial phraseology, a cou- 
pon is a certificate of interest which is to be cut 
off (Fr. couper) from a bond and presented for 
payment. It bears on its face the date and 
amount of interest to be paid. 

In times when rationing has been necessary 
the word has been employed for the detachable 
portions of a ration-book required to buy 
clothing, etc. 

In political phraseology the coupon was the 
official recognition given by Lloyd George and 
Bonar Law to parliamentary candidates who 
proclaimed their allegiance to the coalition 

rogramme at the General Election of Decem- 

er, 1918. Hence, couponeer , a politician who 
accepted the “coupon.” 

Course. Another course would have done it. 
A little more would have effected our purpose. 
It is said that the peasants of a Yorkshire 
village tried to wall in a cuckoo in order to 
enjoy an eternal spring. They built a wall 
round the bird, and the cuckoo just skimmed 
over it. “Ah!” said one of the peasants, 
“another carse would ’a’ done it.” 

In course ; in the course of nature. In the due 
and proper time or order, etc.; in the ordinary 
procedure of nature. 

Of course. Naturally ; as would be expected . 
A matter of course is something that belongs 
to ordinary procedure, or that is customary. 

To hold, or keep on the course. To go 
straight; to do one’s duty in that course [path] 
of life in which we are placed. The allusion 
is to navigation. 

Court. From Lat. cohors , cohortem , originally 
a coop or sheepfold. It was on the Latium 
hills that the ancient Latins raised their cors 
or cohors , small enclosures with hurdles for 
sheep, etc. Subsequently, as many men as 
could be cooped or folded together were called 
a cohort . Tne cattle-yard, being the nucleus 


of the farm, became the centre of a lot of farm 
cottages, then of a hamlet, town, fortified 
place, and lastly of a royal residence. 

Court cards. A corruption of coat card, so 
called because these cards bear the representa- 
tion of a clothed or coated figure, and not 
because the king, queen, and knave may be 
considered to belong to a Court. 

The king of clubs may originally have 
represented the arms of the Pope; of spades, 
the king of France; of diamonds, the King of 
Spain; and of hearts, the King of England. 
The French kings in cards are called David 
(spades), Alexander (clubs), Caesar (diamonds), 
and Charles (hearts) — representing the Jewish, 
Greek, Roman, and Frankish empires. The 
queens or dames are Argine — i.e. Juno (hearts), 
Judith (clubs), Rachel (diamonds), and Pallas 
(spades) — representing royalty, fortitude, piety, 
and wisdom. They were likenesses of Marie 
d’Anjou, the queen of Charles VII; Isabeau, 
the queen-mother; Agnes Sorel, the king’s 
mistress; and Jeanne d’Arc, the dame of spades, 
or war. 

Court Circular. Daily information con- 
cerning the official engagements of Royalty 
for publication in the newspapers. George 
111, in 1803, introduced the custom to prevent 
misstatements on these subjects. 

Court cupboard. A movable buffet to hold 
flagons, cans, cups, and beakers. 

Court fools. See Fools. 

Court holy water. An obsolete Elizabethan 
term for fair speeches, which look like 
promises of favour, but end in nothing. 

O nuncle, court holy-water in a dry house is better 
than this rain-water out o’ door. — Shakespeare: 
King Lear , III, ii. 

In Florio’s Italian Dictionary (1598) 
Mantellizzare is translated by “to flatter or 
fawne upon, to court one with faire words or 
give court holywatcr.” 

Court-leet. See Leet. 

Court martial. A court convened as 
circumstances may require to try a person 
subject to military law. In Great Britain such 
courts were instituted in consequence of the 
Mutiny Act of 1690. 

Court plaster. The plaster of which the 
court ladies made their patches. These 
patches, worn on the face, were cut into all 
sorts of fanciful shapes, some even patching 
their faces with a coach and four, a ship in 
full sail, a chateau, etc. This ridiculous 
fashion was in vogue in the reign of Charles I; 
and in Queen Anne’s time was employed as a 
political badge. 

Your black patches you wear variously, 

Some cut like stars, some in half-moons, some 
lozenges. 

Beaumont and Fletcher: Elder Brother , III, ii. 

Court of Arches. See Arches. 

Court of love. A judicial court for deciding 
affairs of the heart, established in Provence 
during the days of the Troubadours. The 
following is a case submitted to their judgment: 
A lady listened to one admirer, squeezed the 
hand of another, and touched with her toe the 


Court 


241 


Covent Garden 


foot of a third. Query: Which of these three 
was the favoured suitor? 

Court of Piepowder. See Piepowder. 

Court of Session. The supreme civil tri- 
bunal in Scotland. It dates from 1532, and 
represents the united powers of the Session of 
James l of Scotland, the Daily Council of 
James IV, and the Lords Auditors of Parlia- 
ment. Since 1830 it has consisted of an Inner 
and an Outer House; the total number of 
judges is thirteen, including the Lord President 
(or Lord Justice General) and the Lord Justice 
Clerk. 

They are but in the Court of the Gentiles. 

They are not wholly God’s people; they are 
not the elect, but have only a smattering of the 
truth. The “Court of the Israelites” in the 
Jewish temple was for Jewish men; the “Court 
of the Women” was for Jewish women; the 
“Court of the Gentiles” was for those who 
were not Jews. 

Out of court. Not admissible evidence 
within the terms of reference of the trial being 
conducted by the Court in question. 

To settle out of court. A case, almost in- 
variably involving damages, which is settled 
by the respective litigants’ solicitors, before it is 
called to court, agreeing on a sum to be paid 
by the litigant who admits himself to be in the 
wrong. 

Courtepy. See Pea-jacket. 

Courtesy (ker' te si) Civility, politeness. It 
was at the courts of princes and great feuda- 
tories that all in attendance practised the 
refinements of the age in which they lived. 
The word originally meant the manners of the 
court. 

Courtesy titles. Titles assumed or granted 
by social custom, without legal status. The 
courtesy title of the eldest son of a duke is 
marquis ; of a marquis is earl ; of an earl is 
viscount . Younger sons of dukes and 

marquesses are styled “Lord ” (Christian 

name and surname); all daughters of dukes, 
marquesses, and earls are styled “Lady,” fol- 
lowed by Christian names and surnames. 
Sons and daughters of viscounts and barons 
and younger sons of carls are styled “the 
Honourable.” These titles do not give the 
holders the right to sit in the House of Lords. 
Cousin. Blackstone says that Henry IV, 
being related or allied to every earl in the 
kingdom, artfully and constantly acknowledged 
the connexion in all public acts. The usage 
has descended to his successors, and in 
British royal writs and commissions an earl 
is still styled “Our right trusty and well- 
beloved cousin,” a marquis “Our right trusty 
and entirely-bcloved cousin,” and a duke 
“Our right trusty and right-entirely-beloved 
cousin.” 

The word is also used by sovereigns in 
addressing one another formally; and in Italy 
U was a very high honour to be nominated by 
the king a “Cousin of the King.” 

Cousin Betsy, or Betty. A half-witted 
person, a “Bess of Bedlam” (<y. v.). 

[None] can say Foster’s wronged him of a penny, or 
gave short measure to a child or a cousin Betsy. — 
Mrs Gaskell. 


Cousin-german. The children of brothers 
and sisters, first cousins; kinsfolk. (Lat. 
germanus , a brother, one of the same stock.) 

There is three cozen-germans that has cozened all 
the hosts of Reading, of Maidenhead, of Colebrook, 
of horses and money — Shakespeare: Merry Wives of 
Windsor , IV, v. 

Cousin Jack. So Cornishmen are called in 
the western counties, and in places where they 
are working as miners. 

Cousin Michael. The Germans are so 
called. Michel , in Old German, means 
“gross”; Cousin Michael is meant to indicate 
a slow, heavy, unrefined, coarse-feeding 
people. 

To call cousins. This formerly meant to 
claim relationship — 

He is half-brother to this Witwoud by a former wife, 
who was sister to my Lady Wishfort, my wife’s 
mother; if you marry Millamant you must call 
cousins too. — Congreve: Way of the World , I, v. 

I wouldn’t call the king my cousin. I am 

perfectly satisfied with things as they are; they 
couldn’t be bettered even if I were cousin to the 
king. 

Couvade. The name given by anthropologists 
to the custom prevalent among some primitive 
races by which the father of a newly born 
infant makes a pretence of going through the 
same experiences as the mother, lies up for a 
time, abstains from certain foods, etc., as 
though he, too, were physically affected by the 
birth (from Fr. couver , to hatch). The custom 
has been observed by travellers in Guiana 
and other parts of South America, among 
some African tribes, in parts of China, Borneo, 
etc., and it was noted by the ancients as 
occurring in Corsica and among the Celt- 
iberians. 

Cove. An individual; as a flash cove (a swell), 
a rum cove (a man whose position and charac- 
ter are not quite obvious), a gentry cove (a 
gentleman), a downy cove (a very knowing 
individual), etc. The word is old thieves’ cant; 
it appears (as cofe ) in Harman’s Caveat (1567). 

A ben cove, a brave cove, a gentry coffin. 

Middleton and Dekker: The Roaring Girl , V, i. 

Covenanters. A term applied, during the civil 
wars, to the Scottish Presbyterians, who, in 
1643, united by “solemn league and covenant” 
(see under Solemn) to resist the encroachments 
of Charles I on religious liberty. On the 
Restoration (1660) all toleration of Presby- 
terians ceased and for twenty-five years the 
Covenanters were harried and proscribed, 
their sad history being lightened by many acts 
of devotion and heroism. 

Covent Garden. A corruption of Convent 
Garden; the garden and burial ground attached 
to the convent of Westminster, and turned into 
a fruit and flower market in the reign of Charles 
II. At the dissolution of the monasteries the 
site was granted to the Duke of Somerset; 
on his attainder in 1552 it passed to the Earl pf 
Bedford, to whose descendants it belonged till 
1914, when it was sold by the 11th Duke. 

Covent Garden has various claims to fame. 
During the 17th and 18th centuries it was the 
centre of the rowdier element of London’s 
social life, the stamping-ground of the 
Mohocks and other semi-fashionable ruffians. 



Coventry 


242 


Cozen 


Its coffee-houses and taverns were favourite 
resorts of such men of parts as Dryden, Otway, 
Steele, Fielding, Foote, Garrick, etc. The 
vegetable market was opened in the early 
17th ceptury, but was not properly organized 
until 1828. 

Covent Garden Theatre was opened by 
Rich, the harlequin, in 1732 with Congreve’s 
Way of the World \ After Rich’s death it was 
sold to George Cplman the elder, who, in 1777, 
brought out She Stoops to Conquer. The 
house has been twice burned down (1808 and 
1856); in 1847 it started a famous career as 
The Royal Italian Opera House, and in the 
years that have followed it has become one of 
the greatest opera-houses in Europe. 

Coventry, Coventry Mysteries. Miracle plays 
supposed to have been acted at Corpus 
Christi (q. v.) at Coventry till 1591. They were 
published in 1841 for the Shakespeare Society; 
but, though called Ludus Covent rite by Sir 
Robert Bruce Cotton’s librarian in the time 
of James I, it is doubtful whether they had any 
special connexion with the town. 

To send one to Coventry. To take no notice 
of him; to make him feel that he is in disgrace 
by having no dealings with him. Cp. Boy- 
cott. It is said that the citizens of Coventry 
had at one time so great a dislike to soldiers 
that a woman seen speaking to one was in- 
stantly tabooed; hence, when a soldier was sent 
to Coventry he was cut off from all social 
intercourse. 

Hutton, in his History of Birmingham , gives 
a different version. He says that Coventry 
was a stronghold of the Parliamentary party 
in the Civil Wars, and that troublesome and 
refractory Royalist prisoners were sent there 
for safe custody. 

Cover. To break cover. To start from the 
covert or temporary lair. The usual earth- 
holes of a fox being blocked the night before a 
hunt, the creature makes some gorse-bush or 
other cover its temporary resting-place, and as 
soon as it quits it the hunt begins. 

Coyerley. Sir Roger de Coverley. A member 
of an hypothetical club in the Spectator , “who 
lived in Soho Square when he was in town.” 
Sir Roger is the type of an English squire in 
the reign of Queen Anne. 

The well-known country dance was known 
by this name (or, rather, as Roger of Cover ly) 
many years before Addison’s time. 

Cow* The cow that nourished Ymir with four 
streams of milk was called Audhumla- 

Always behind, like a cow’s tail. A pro- 
verbial saying of ancient date. Cp. Tanquam 
coda vituli (Petronius). 

Curst cows have curt horns. Angry men 
cannot do all the mischief they wish. Curst 
means “angry” or “ fierce,” and curt is 
^sbort,” as eurt-mantle, curt-hose. The 
Latin proverb is, Dqt Deus immiti cornua 
curt a bovi. 

The cow knows not the worth of her tail till 
she loses it, and is troubled with flics, which her 
tail brushed off. 

The tune the old cow died of. See Tune. 

The whiter the cow, the surer is k to go to the 


altar. The richer the prey, the more likely is 
it to be seized. 

Cowboy. Today the term universally used 
for the cattleman of the American West. Its 
earliest known use is quite different: it was a 
name adopted by a group of guerillas operating 
in New York State during the Revolutionary 
War. Its next use was bv a gang of wild riders 
under the leadership of one Ewen Cameron 
who specializes! in beating up Mexicans soon 
after Texas became an independent State, in 
1835, 

Cow-lick. A tuft of hair on the forehead 
that cannot be made to lie in the same direction 
as the rest of the hair. 

This term must have been adopted from a compari- 
son with that part of a . . . cow’s hide where the hairs, 
having different directions, meet and form a pro- 
jecting ridge, supposed to be occasioned by the 
animals licking themselves.— Brochett : Glossary of 
North Country Words . 

Cowpuncher. A recent synonym for cowboy, 
derived from the metal-tipped pole with which 
cattle are driven when being loaded on rail. 
Coward. Ultimately from Lat. cauda, a tail, 
the allusion seems to be either from an 
animal “turning tail” when frightened, or 
from its cowering with its tail between its legs. 
In the French version of Reynard the Fox the 
Hare is called Coart y which may refer either to 
his timidity or to the conspicuousness of his 
tail (O.Fr. coe) as he runs away. 

A beast cowarded , in heraldry , is one drawn 
with its tail between its legs. 

Cowper Justice, Cupar Justice (q.v.). 
Cowper-Temple Clause. Clause 14 of the 
Education Act of 1870 (so called from its 
author, W. Cowper-Temple (1811-88), which 
regulated religious teaching in public elemen- 
tary schools. It enacted that “in any school 
provided by a School Board, no religious 
catechism or religious formulary which is 
distinctive of any particular denomination, 
shall be taught.” 

Coxcomb. An empty-headed, vain person. 
The ancient licensed jesters were so called 
because they wore a cock’s comb in their caps. 

Coxswain (cok' son). The helmsman; origin- 
ally the swain or servant of a cock ( see Cock- 
boat). The old spelling of the word was 
Cockswain . 

Coyne and Livery. An old Irish term for food 
and entertainment for soldiers, and forage 
for their horses, formerly exacted from private 
persons by Irish chiefs when on the march. 
Coyne is Irish coinnemlu billeting, or one 
billeted. 

Coystril. A term of reproach, meaning a low 
fellow, a knave, a varlet. 

He’s a coward and a coystril that will not drink to 
my niece. — Shakespeare: Twelfth Night , I, iii. 

It is a variant of obsolete custrel , an atten- 
dant on a knight, which seems to be connected 
with O.Fr. coustillier , a soldier armed with a 
coustille , i.e. a two-edged dagger. Every 
soldier in the life-guards of Henry VIII was 
attended by a man called a coystrel or coystril. 
Cozen. To cheat. This is the same word as 
cousin; the Fr, cous'mr means “to sponge on” 
as well as “ to call cousin ”; and in England 



Crab 


243 


Cratmock 


a person who cozened another was one who 
went and stayed at his house and lived on him 
just because they were “cousins.” See 
Shakespeare’s Merry Wives , IV, ji, and V, v. 
Crab. A walking-stick made of crab-apple 
wood; a crabstick. 

Out bolts her husband upon me with a fine taper 
crab in his hand. — Garrick: Lying Valet , I, ii. 

To catch a crab. See Catch. 

Crack. First-rate, excellent, quite at the top 
of its class; something that is “cracked up r ’ 
(see below >), as a crack regiment, a crack hand 
of cards, a crack shot, etc. Formerly the 
word was used substantively for a lively young 
fellow, a wag: — ■ 

Indeed, la! ’tis a noble child; a crack, madam. 

Shakespeare: Coriolanus, I, iii. 

Nowadays a crack or a wisecrack is a sharp, 
witty or humorous saying, or just “a dig” at 
someone. 

A gude crack. In Scottish dialect, a good 
chat or conversation, also a good talker. 

Wi’ merry sangs, an’ friendly cracks, 

I wat they did na weary; 

And unco tales, an’ funnie jokes — 

Their sports were cheap an’ cheery. 

Burns: Halloween. 

To be a gude crack . . . was essential to the trade 
of a “puir body” of the more esteemed class. — S cott: 
Antiquary (Introduction). 

Crack-brained. Eccentric; slightly mad. 

Cracked pipkins are discovered by their 
sound. Ignorance is betrayed by speech. 

They bid you talk — my honest song 
Bids you for ever hold your tongue; 

Silence with some is wisdom most profound — 
Cracked pipkins are discovered by the sound. 

Peter Pindar: Lord B. and his Motions . 

In a crack. Instantly. In a snap of the 
fingers, in the time taken by a crack or shot. 

Do pray undo the bolt a little faster — 

They’re on the stair just now, and in a crack 

Will all be here. 

Byron: Don Juan, I, cxxxvii. 

To crack a bottle. In this phrase the word 
means to open and drink: — 

They werit to a tavern and there they dined, 

And bottles cracked most merrilie. 

Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood. 

You’ll crack a quart together. Ha, will you not, 
Master Bardolph. — Henry IV, Pt. II, V. iii. 

Dear Tom, this brown jug that now foams with mild 
ale, 

From which I now drink to sweet Nan of the Vale, 
Was once Toby Filpot’s, a thirsty old soul 
As e’er cracked a bottle, or fathomed a bowl. 

O’Keefe: Poor Soldier. 

To crack a crib. To break into a house 
as a thief. See Crib. Hence, cracksman , a 
burglar. 

To crack up. To praise highly, to eulogize. 

We find them cracking up the country they belong 
to, no matter how absurd may be the boast. — Jas. 
Payn: By Proxy, cli. i. 

It also means to break down in health or 
mind; or to crash an aeroplane or motor car. 
Cracker. A word used in several senses: 

A small firework (U.S.A., fire cracker). 

A bon-bon containing sweets or toys with an 
appropriate motto, in use at Christmas. 

A flaky, unsweetened water biscuit; in the 
U.S.A. tne word is applied to any kind of 
biscuit. 

Poor white folk in the Southern U.S.A., and 


back-country folk generally. This is an early 
19th-century term, arising from the long whips 
they cracked at their horse teams. 

Crackers. 20th-century slang phrase for 
mentally unbalanced. 

Cracksman. A burglar. See To crack a 
crib, above. 

Cradle-holding. A name given to land held by 
Borough English ( q.v .). 

Craft. Skill, ability, trade (O.E. creeft\ A 
craftsman is a mechanic. A handicraft is 
manual skill, i.e. mechanical skill; leeehcraft is 
skill in medicine (O.E. Iccce , a physician); and 
before crafty adopted its bad sense it meant 
merely skilful, ingenious. 

Small craft. Such vessels as schooners, 
sloops, cutters, and so on. 

The Craft is the word usually employed by 
Freemasons to describe their fraternity. 

Cram. To tell what is not true. A crammer, 
an untruth. The allusion is to stuffing a 
person with useless rubbish. It is, perhaps, in 
this connexion that working at high pressure 
for an examination is termed to cram. 

Crambo. A game which consists in someone 
setting a line which another is to rhyme to, 
but no one word of the first line must occur in 
the second. The word is of uncertain origin, 
but possibly it comes from the billiards term 
carambole. 

Get the maids to crambo of an evening and learn 
the knack of rhyming. — Congreve : Love for Love , I, i. 

Dumb crambo is a somewhat similar game, 
but there the words are expressed in panto- 
mime or dumb show. 

Cramp-ring. A ring that was consecrated by 
the king on Good Friday and was supposed to 
protect the wearer against cramp, “falling 
sickness,” etc. 

Because Coshawk goes in a shag-ruff band, with a 
face sticking up in’t which shows like an agate set in 
a cramp-ring, he thinks I’m in love with him. — 
Middleton: The Roaring Girl, IV, ii (1611). 

The superstitious use of cramp-rings, as a preserva- 
tive against fits, is not entirely abandoned; Instances 
occur where nine young men of a parish each sub- 
scribe a crooked sixpence, to be moulded into a ring 
for a young woman afflicted with this malady. — 
Rokewode: The Hundred ofThingoe (Suffolk), Introd. 
(1838). 

To scour the cramp-ring. To be put into 
fetters: to be imprisoned. The allusion is 
obvious. 

There’s no muckle hazard o’ scouring the cramp- 
ring. — S cott: Guy Mannering , ch. xxiii. 

Crank. In Elizabethan thieves’ slang, an 
Abram-man (q.v.); so called from Ger. krank 
(sickly). It was formerly used of a leaky ship, 
and is still employed in the U.S.A. in the sense 
of weak or sickly. Nowadays a crank is a 
person with a mental twist, an eccentric person, 
and the name is obviously an extension of the 
mechanical crank, which is a bent axle or 
handle designed to convert lineal into rotary 
motion, or to impart motion to a wheel. 
Cranky. Australian colloquialism for awk- 
ward, difficult, cantankerous. 

Cranmer’s Bible. See Bible, the English. 
Crannock. An Irish measure which, in the 


Crapaud 


244 


Cremorne Gardens 


days of Edward II, contained either eight or 
sixteen pecks. Curnock is another form of the 
word: this was a dry measure of varying 
capacity, but usually 3 bushels for wheat, 
4 bushels for corn, and from 10 to 1 5 bushels for 
coal, lime, etc. 

Crapaud or Johnny Crapaud. A Frenchman; 
according to Guillim’s Display of Heraldry 
(1611), so called from a device of the ancient 
kings of France, “three toads (Fr. crapauds ) 
erect, saltant.” See Fleur-de-lis. 

Les anciens crapauds prendront Sara. One 
of the cryptic “prophecies” of Nostradamus 
(1503-66). Sara is Aras reversed, and when 
the French under Louis XIV took Arras from 
the Spaniards, this verse was remembered. 

Crape. A saint in crape is twice a saint in 

lawn. (Pope: Ep. to Cobham , 136.) Crape 
(a sort of bombazine, or alpaca) is the stuff of 
which cheap clerical gowns used to be made, 
“lawn” refers to the lawn sleeves of a bishop. 
Crape was also the material used for mourning 
dresses, etc. It is said to have been first made 
by St. Badorn, Queen of France, c. 680. 

Craps. The American term for dice, a most 
popular form of gambling in U.S.A. When 
New Orleans was a French city, about 1800, 
Bernard Marigny introduced dice-playing 
from France. He was a Creole and as such 
was known as a “Johnny Crapaud.” Dice- 
throwing was associated with him and thus 
became “Johnny Crapaud’s game” shortened 
into “craps.” Marigny named a street in the 
Vieux Carre of New Orleans “Craps Street,” 
but in 1850 it was rechristened “Burgundy 
Street.” 

Cravat (kra vat')* This neckcloth was intro- 
duced into France in the 17th century by 
Croatian soldiers, or, as they called themselves, 
Cravates (O.Slav. khruvat). The Croats 
guarded the Turkish frontiers of Austria, and 
when France organized a regiment on the 
model of the Croats, their linen neckcloths 
were imitated, and the regiment was called 
“The Royal Cravat.” 

To wear a hempen cravat. To be hanged. 

Craven. In M.E. crauant, the word is the 
O.Fr. cravanty pres. part, of craver or crever , 
to burst or break, hence to be overcome. 
The “-en” is a mistake for “-ant”; it makes 
the word look like a past participle instead of 
what it really is, a present. 

When controversies were decided by an 
appeal to battle, the combatants fought with 
batons, and if the accused could either kill his 
adversary or maintain the fight till sundown he 
was acquitted. If he wished to call olT, he 
cried out “Craven!” and was held infamous. 

Crawler (Austr.). A convict who escaped with 
the connivance of the overseer, allowing him- 
self to be re-captured in order that the overseer 
might collect the reward. In this sense it is 
found in The Adventures of Philip Rashleigh 
(1825) and it thus considerably antedates the 
modern use as a sycophant. 

Crawley. Crooked as Crawley or Crawley 
brook, a river in Bedfordshire. That part 
called the brook, which runs into the Ouse, is 
so crooked that a boat would have to go eighty 


miles in order to make a direct progress of 
eighteen. (Fuller: Worthies.) 

Creaking Doors Hang the Longest. Delicate 
persons often outlive the more robust. 

Creature. Wine, whisky or other spirits. 
The use of the word is a facetious adaptation of 
the passage “Every creature of God is good”, 
I Tim. iv, 4, used in the defence of wine as a 
legitimate drink. 

I find my master took too much of the creature 
last night, and now is angling for a quarrel. — 
Dryden: Amphitryon , II f, i. 

Creature-comforts. Food and other things 
necessary for the comfort of the body. Man 
being supposed to consist of body and soul, 
the body is the creature, but the soul is the 
“vital spark of heavenly flame.” 

Credence Table (kre' d£ns). The table near 
the altar on which the bread and wine are 
deposited before they are consecrated. In 
former times food was placed on a credence- 
table to be tasted previously to its being set 
before the guests. This was done to assure the 
guests that the meat was not poisoned. (Ital. 
credenzci , a shelf or buffet.) 

Credit Fonder (kra' de fong' si a). Loans to 
landowners, first introduced by Frederick the 
Great in 1763 to alleviate distress caused by the 
prolonged wars. 

Credit Mobilier (kra' de mo bil' ya). A joint- 
stock company, founded Paris 1852, licensed 
to indulge in any form of trading for profits. 

Credo (kre' do). A statement of belief. 
Credo quia impossible (Lat.), I believe it 
because it is impossible. A paradox ascribed 
to St. Augustine, but founded on a passage in 
Tertullian’s De Came Christi , IV: — 

Credibile est, quia ineptum est . . . . certum est 
quia impossibile. 

Creme de la Creme (kram de la kram) (Fr.). 
Literally, “cream of the cream”; used 
figuratively for the very choicest part of some- 
thing which itself is very choice. 

Cremona (kre mo' na). A town in Lombardy 
famous for a school of violin-makers, 1550- 
1750. The most famous makers were Nicolo 
Amati (1596-1684), teacher of Andrea Guarneri 
(fi. 1650-95) and Antonio Stradivari (1649/50- 
1737). The term is loosely applied to any 
good instrument. 

The organ-stop known as the cremona has 
no connexion with the above but the term 
is a corruption of the German Krummhorn , 
crooked horn. It is a reed stop of 8-foot tone. 

Cremorne Gardens (kre morn'). These pleas- 
ure gardens were in Chelsea, on the site now 
largely occupied by the Lots Road Power 
Station. The Gardens were opened in 1845 
and for some years furnished the gayer side 
of London with much the same fare that 
Vauxhall had previously supplied. Spectacu- 
lar balloon ascents were made from there; a 
mediaeval tournament was got up; and every 
night there was dancing to be had, with all 
the other attractions of shady paths, flickering 
lamps, and attractive girls. Eventually the 
Gardens became such a centre of rowdiness 
that the neighbourhood revolted, and they 



Creole 


245 


Cricket 


were closed for good in 1877. Their memory 
is preserved in some of Whistler’s Nocturnes. 

Creole (kre' 61). A person of European 
parentage born in the West Indies or central 
America — a term of 16th-century Spanish 
origin (from criollo , W. Indian corruption of 
Sp. Criadillo ; from criado = bred, brought up). 
Used by the French of white residents (whether 
Fr. or Sp.) in Louisiana. The Empress 
Josephine was a Creole from Martinique. 

The liberated slaves settled in Liberia called 
themselves Creoles to distinguish themselves 
from indigenous Africans. 

Crepe Rubber (krap) is a term employed to 
describe raw, unvuicanized sheet rubber that 
has not been chemically treated in any way. 
It is crinkly (hence its name, crepe, Fr. wavy) 
and is largely used for shoe soles, etc. 

Crescelle (kre sel'). A wooden rattle used in 
R.C. churches in Holy Week in place of the 
bell rung at the elevation, etc., during mass. 

Crescent. Tradition says that “Philip, the 
father of Alexander, meeting with great 
difficulties in the siege of Byzantium, set the 
workmen to undermine the walls, but a 
crescent moon discovered the design, which 
miscarried; consequently the Byzantines 
erected a statue to Diana, and the crescent 
became the symbol of the state.” 

Another legend is that Othman, the Sultan, 
saw in a vision a crescent moon, which kept 
increasing till its horns extended from east to 
west, and he adopted the crescent of his dream 
for his standard, adding the motto, “ Donee 
re pleat orbem .” 

Crescent City. The descriptive name in the 
U.S.A. for New Orleans. 

Cresset. A beacon light. The original cres- 
set was an open metal cup at the top of a pole, 
the cup being filled with burning grease or oil. 
Hence the name; from O.Fr. craisse (Mod. Fr. 
graisse ), grease. 

Cressida (kres' i da), Cressid. Daughter of 
Calchas, a priest, beloved by Troilus (q.v.). 
They vowed eternal fidelity to each other, and 
as pledges of their vow Troilus gave the 
maiden a sleeve, and Cressid gave the Trojan 
prince a glove. Scarce had the vow been made 
when an exchange of prisoners was agreed to. 
Diomed gave up three Trojan princes, and was 
to receive Cressid in lieu thereof. Cressid 
vowed to remain constant, and Troilus swore 
to rescue her. She was led off to the Grecian’s 
tent, and .soon gave all her affections to Diomed 
— nay, even bade him wear the sleeve that 
Troilus had given her in token of his love. 

As false 

As air, as water, wind, or sandy earth. 

As fox to Iamb, as wolf to heifer’s calf, 

Pard to the hind, or step-dame to her son; 

“Yea,” let them say, to stick the heart of falsehood, 
“As false as Cressid.” 

Troilus and Cressida , III, ii. 

Cresswell, Madam. A notorious bawd who 
kept a house of ill-fame in London between 
1670 and 1684. In her old age she became a 
religious devotee and bequeathed £10 for a 
funeral sermon, in which nothing ill should be 
said of her. The Earl of Rochester is said to 


have written the sermon, which was as follows: 
“All 1 shall say of her is this — she was born 
well, she married well, lived well, and died well; 
for she was born at Shad-well, married to 
Cress-well, lived at Clcrken-well, and died in 
Bride-well.” 

Crestfallen. Dispirited. The allusion is to 
fighting cocks, whose crest falls in defeat and 
rises rigid and of a deep-red colour in victory. 

Shall I seem crest-fallen in my father’s sight? 

Shakespeare: Richard II, I, i. 
Crete (kret). Hound of Crete. A blood- 
hound. 

Coupe le gorge, that’s the word. I thee defy again, 

O hound of Crete. Shakespeare: Henry V , II, i. 

The Infamy of Crete. The Minotaur (q.v.). 

There lay stretched 
The infamy of Crete, detested brood 
Of the feigned heifer. 

Dante: Hell, xii (Cary’s translation). 
Cretinism (kret' in izm). Mental imbecility, 
accompanied by goitre. So called from the 
Cretins of the Alps. The word is a corruption 
of Christian (Chretien), because, being bap- 
tized, and only idiots, they were “washed from 
original sin,” and incapable of actual sin. 
Similarly, idiots are called innocents . (Fr. 
cretin.) 

Crewel Garters. Garters made of worsted or 
yarn. 

Ha! ha! look, he wears cruel garters. 

Shakespeare: King Lear, II, iv. 

The resemblance in sound between crewel 
(the derivation of which is unknown) and cruel 
formerly gave rise to many puns, e.g . — 

Wearing of silk, why art thou so cruel? 

Woman's a Weathercock (1612). 
Crib. Thieves’ slang for a house or dwelling, 
as “Stocking Crib” (a hosier’s shop), 
“Thimble Crib” (a silversmith’s); also slang 
for a petty theft, and for a translation from 
Latin. Greek, etc., surreptitiously used by 
schoolboys and undergraduates in their studies. 
To crib is to pilfer or purloin, and to copy 
someone else’s work without acknowledging 
it, to plagiarize. 

The word originally denoted a manger with 
bars; hence its application to a child’s cot. 

To crack a crib. See Crack. 

Cricket. The earliest mention of the game 
appears to be the reference in the Guild 
Merchant Book of Guildford, dated 1598, 
when John Denwick of Guldeford, being then 
about fifty-nine years of age, deposed that he 
had known a certain parcel of land “for the 
space of Fyfty years and more,” and that 
“hce and several of his fellowes did runne and 
play there at Creckett and other plaies” when 
he was a scholar at the Guildford Free School. 
This would take the game back to the end of 
Henry Vlll’s reign, and it was certainly a 
Wykehamist game in the days of Elizabeth I. 

In 1700 two stumps were used 24 inches 
apart and 12 inches high, with long bails 
atop. A middle stump was added by the 
Hambledon Club in 1775. The height of the 
stumps was raised to 28 inches in 1929. The 
length of run is 22 yards. 

The first cricket club was the Hambledon, 
which practically came to an end in 1791, but 
existed in name till 1825. 



Cricket 


246 


Croakumshife 


The Marylebone Cricket Club (M.C.C.), 
which is regarded as the governing body of the 
game, was founded in 1787. Its ground was 
originally on the site now occupied by Dorset 
Square; in 1811 the groundsman, Thomas 
Lord, moved it to Regent’s Park, and in 1814 
to its present position in St. John’s Wood, 
known after him as Lord’s Cricket Ground. 

The word cricket is probably from O.E. cric , 
cryec , a staff, and is thus connected with 
crutch. 

It’s not cricket. It’s not done in a fair and 
sportsmanlike way. 

Merry as a cricket. See Grig. 

Crikey (krl' ki). An exclamation ; a mild oath ; 
originally a euphemistic modification of 
Christ . 

Crillon (kre' yon). Where wert thou, Crillon? 
Crillon, surnamed the Brave , in his old age 
went to church, and listened intently to the 
story of the Crucifixion. In the middle of the 
narrative he grew excited, and, unable to 
contain himself, cried out, “ Ou etais-tu , 
Crillon?" One of the finest hotels in Paris, 
in the Place de la Concorde, is named from 
this hero; it was the German Headquarters 
during the occupation, 1940-44. 

Crillon (1541-1615) was one of the greatest 
captains of the 16th century. He fought at 
the battle of Ivry (1590), and was entitled by 
Henri IV "le brave des braves" 

Henri IV. after the battle of Arques (1589) wrote 
to Crillon: “ Pends-toi , brave Crillon , nous avons com - 
battu a Arques , et tu n'y etais pas." This letter has 
become proverbial. 

Crimen Jaes« majestatis (kri' men le' ze 
maj es ta' tis) (Lat.), High treason. See L£se 
Majeste. 

Crimp. A decoy; especially one of those 
riverside pests who purport to supply ships 
with sailors, but who are in league with 
public-houses and low-class lodging-houses, 
into which they decoy the sailors and relieve 
them of their money under one pretence or 
another. 

Crinoline (krin' 6 len). The word comes from 
Latin crinis , hair, and limtm , linen, and 
originally meant the stiff horsehair and linen 
material used to swell out the skirts of women’s 
dresses. When enormous skirts became 
fashionable, about 1856, cages of steel or 
whalebone were worn to keep them spread to 
their full extent, and these also were called 
crinolines. The crinoline reached its largest 
spread about 1866, and then quickly subsided, 
to be replaced by the bustle. 

Cripplegate. The origin of this name for a 
district in the City of London is disputed. 
The most likely explanation is that it is derived 
either from O.E. crepel (a burrow) or crypele 
(a den). 

Crishna. See Krishna. 

Crisis properly means the “ability to judge.” 
Hippocrates said that all diseases had their 
periods, when the humours of the body 
ebbed and flowed like the tide of the sea. 
These tidal days'he called critical days , and 
the tide itself a crisis , because it was on these 
days the physician could determine whether 


the disorder was taking a good or a bad turn. 
The seventh and all its multiples were critical 
days of a favourable character. (Gr. krinein t 
to decide or determine.) 

Crispin. A shoemaker. St. Crispin was a 
shoemaker, and was therefore chosen for the 
atron saint of the craft. It is said that two 
rothers, Crispin and Crispian, born in Rome, 
went to Soissons, in France (a.d. 303), to 
propagate the Christian religion, and main- 
tained themselves wholly by making and 
mending shoes. Probably the tale is fabulous, 
for crepis is Greek for a shoe, Latin crepid-a , 
and St. Crepis or Crepid became Crepin and 
Crespin. 

St. Crispin’s Day. October 25th, the day of 
the battle of Agincourt. Shakespeare makes 
Crispin Crispian one person, and not two 
brothers. Hence Henry V says to his 
soldiers — 

And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by . . . 

But we in it shall be remembered. 

Henry V, IV, iii. 

St. Crispin’s holiday. Every Monday, with 
those who begin the working week on Tuesday; 
a no-work day with shoemakers. 

St. Crispin’s lance. A shoemaker’s awl. 
Criss-cross Row. See Chriss-cross. 

Critic. A judge; an arbiter. (Gr. krinein , to 
judge, to determine.) 

A captious, malignant critic is called a 
Zoilus (< 7 .v.). 

Prince of critics. Aristarchus, of Byzantium, 
who compiled the rhapsodies of Homer. 
(2nd cent, b.c.) 

Stop-watch critics. 

“And how did Garrick speak the soliloquy last 
night?” “Oh, against all rule, my lord, most ungram- 
matically. Betwixt the substantive and the adjective, 
which should agree together in number, case, and 
gender, he made a breach, thus — stopping as if the 
point wanted settling; and betwixt the nominative 
case, which, your lordship knows, should govern the 
verb, he suspended his voice in the epilogue a dozen 
times, three seconds and three-fifths by a stop-watch, 
my lord, each time.” “Admirable grammarian! But 
in suspending his voice was the sense suspended like- 
wise? Did no expression of attitude or countenance 
fill up the chasm? Was the eye silent? Did you narrow- 
ly look?” “I looked only at the stop-watch, my lord.” 
“ Excellent observer!” — Sterne: Tristram Shandy t 
vol. Ill, ch. xii. 

Croak, To. Jn slang this means to die, the 
term probably coming from the hoarse death 
rattle or croak of the expiring breath. A 
hedge doctor, or wandering quack is known as 
a Crocus , or one who makes His patients 
croak. 

Croaker. A raven, so called from its croak ; 
one who takes a desponding view of things. 
Goldsmith, in his Good-natured Matt , has a 
character so named. 

Croakumshire. Derogatory name given to 
the county of Northumberland because the 
natives were supposed to speak with a peculiar 
croak. It was alleged to be especially observ- 
able in Newcastle and Morpeth, where the 



Crocodile 


247 


Croquet 


people are said to be bom with a burr in their 
throats, which prevents their giving effect to 
the letter r. 

Crocodile. A symbol of deity among the 
Egyptians, because, says Plutarch, it is the only 
aquatic animal which has its eyes covered with 
a thin transparent membrane, by reason of 
which it sees and is not seen, as God sees all, 
Himself not being seen. To this he subse- 
quently adds another reason, saying, “The 
Egyptians worship God symbolically in the 
crocodile, that being the only animal without a 
tongue, like the Divine Logos, which standeth 
not in need of speech,” (De hide et Osiride, 
vol. II, p. 381.) 

Achilles Tatius says, “The number of its 
teeth equals the number of days in a year.” 
Another tradition is that, during the seven 
days held sacred to Apis, the crocodile will 
harm no one. 

Crocodile tears. Hypocritical tears. The 
tale is, that crocodiles moan and sigh like a 
person in deep distress, to allure travellers to 
the spot, and even shed tears over their prey 
while in the act of devouring it. 

As the mournful crocodile 

With sorrow snares relenting passengers. 

Shakespeare: Henry VI, Pt. II, III, 1. 

Crcesus (kre' sus). Rfch as Croesus. Croesus, 
King of Lydia (560-546 B.c.), was so rich and 
powerful that all the wise men of Greece were 
drawn to his court, and his name became 
proverbial for wealth. 

Crofters. Small holders in the Highlands of 
Scotland; also Cottars (cp. Burns: Cottar's 
Saturday Night). 

Cromlech (kronT lek). A megalithic monu- 
ment of prehistoric times, consisting of a large 
flat stone resting on two or more others, like 
a table (Welsh crom, bent; l lech, a flat stone). 
They are probably the uncovered remains of 
sepulchral chambers or cairns. 

Weyland Smith’s cave (Berkshire), Trevethy 
Stone (Cornwall), Kit’s Coty House (Kent), 
are examples, and there are others at Plas 
Newydd (Anglesey) and in Cornwall; not a 
few are found in Ireland, as the “killing-stone” 
in Louth. In Brittany, where they are known 
as dolmens (q.v.), Denmark, Germany, and 
some other parts of Europe, cromlechs are to 
be found. 

Cromwell’s Bible. See Bible, the English. 

Crone. From Old North Fr. carone , a worn- 
out horse, which gives in Mod. Fr. carogne , a 
contemptuous word for an old woman. It is 
from Lat. caro , flesh, and is so connected with 
carrion. Crone was also applied to an old 
ewe, and in this case is direct from Mid. 
Dutch, kronie, karonie , an old sheep, which has 
the same origin as carone. 

Take up the bastard; take *t up, I *ay; give ’t to 
thy crone. — Shakespeare: Winter's Tale, II, iii. 

Cronian Sea. The north polar sea: so called 
from Cronos. Pliny says Thule uni us diei 
navigatione mare concretum , a nonnullis 
cronium appellatur." (Nat. Hist., iv, 16.) 

Cronos or Cronus (krd' nos). See Kronos. 
Crony. A familiar friend. An old crony is an 


intimate of times gone by. The word was 
originally (17th cent.) University slang, and 
seems to have no connexion with crone ( q.v .); 
it may be from Gr. kronios , long-lasting 
0 kronos , time), meaning a long-lasting friend. 

Crook. By hook or crook. See Hook. 

There is a crook in the lot of every one. 
There is vexation bound up in every person’s 
life. When lots were drawn by bits of stick, 
it was desirable to get sticks which were smooth 
and straight; but one without a crook, knot, 
or some other defect is rare. Thomas Boston 
(1677-1732) published a sermon entitled The 
Crook in the Lot. 

The term Crook as applied to a criminal or 
sharper came into use in the second half of 
the 19th century. 

To crook the elbow, or finger. The Ameri- 
can equivalent to the English elbow-lifting, 
i.e. having a drink, especially drinking as a 
habit. 

Crooked as Crawley. See Crawley. 

Crooning. A competent musical critic de- 
scribes crooning thus: “A reprehensible form 
of singing that established itself in light 
entertainment music about the 1930s , , . 
The principle of crooning is to use as little 
voice as possible and instead to make a 
sentimental appeal by prolonged moaning 
somewhere near the written notes, but prefer- 
ably never actually on those notes. The 
smallest vocal equipment is sufficient for the 
purpose of crooning, one of its admirers* 
delusions being that it does not become wholly 
satisfactory until it is amplified by a micro- 
phone.” (Eric Blom). 

Crop Up or Out. To rise out of, to appear 
at the surface. A mining term. Strata which 
rise to the surface are said to crop out. We 
also say, such and such a subject crops up from 
time to time — i.e. rises to the surface; such and 
such a thing crops out of what you were saying 
— i.e. is apropos thereof. 

Share-cropper (U.S.A.). Under-privileged 
classes in the Southern States who work on 
the cotton plantations and take a share of the 
crops in lieu of wages. 

He came a cropper. He fell head over heels. 

To come a cropper. To get a bad fall. “Neck 
and crop” means altogether, and to “come a 
cropper* is to come to the ground neck and 
crop. 

Croquemitaine, A hobgoblin, an evil sprite 
or ugly monster, used by French nurses to 
frighten their charges into good behaviour. 
In 1863 M. L’Epine published a romance with 
this title, telling the story of a god-daughter of 
Charlemagne whom he called “Mitaine.” It 
was translated by Tom Hood (the Younger). 

Croquet (krd' ki). This once popular garden 
game takes its name from the French croc , a 
hook, as the early croquet mallets were shaped 
like hockey-sticks. It is probably descended 
from the game of pell mell or pall mall (see 
Pall Mall). In its present form it was 
robably first played in Ireland in 1852, and 
ecame popular in England before 1860. 



Crore 


248 


Cross 


Crore. In India, a hundred lacs of rupees. 

Crosier (from Late Lai. crocia : connected with 
our crook ; confused with Fr. croisier from 
crois, Lat. crux , crucis , a cross). The pastoral 
staff of an abbot or bishop, and sometimes 
(but incorrectly) applied to an archbishop’s 
staff, which terminates in a floriated cross, 
while a bishop’s crosier has a curved, bracken- 
like head. 

A bishop turns his staff outwards , to denote 
his wider authority; an abbot (whose staff is 
the same as a bishop’s) carries it turned in- 
wards to show that his jurisdiction is limited 
to his own inmates. When walking with a 
bishop an abbot covers his stalf with a veil 
hanging from the knob, to show that his 
authority is veiled in the presence of his 
superior. 

Cross. The cross is not solely a Christian 
symbol, originating with the crucifixion of the 
Redeemer. In Carthage it was used for 
ornamental purposes; runic crosses were set up 
by the Scandinavians as boundary marks, and 
were erected over the graves of kings and 
heroes; Cicero tells us ( De Divinatione , ii, 27, 
and 80, 81) that the augur’s staff with which 
they marked out the heaven was a cross; the 
Egyptians employed the same as a sacred 
symbol, and two buns marked with the cross 
were discovered at Herculaneum. It was a 
sacred symbol among the Aztecs long before 
the landing of Cortes; in Cozumel it was an 
object of worship; in Tabasco it symbolized 
the god of rain; and in Palinque it is sculptured 
on the walls with a child held up adoring it. 
It was one of the emblems of Quctzalcoatl, as 
lord of the four cardinal points, and the four 
winds that blow therefrom. 

The cross of the crucifixion is legendarily 
said to have been made of four sorts of wood 
(palm, cedar, olive, and cypress), to signify 
the four quarters of the globe. 

Ligna crucis palma, cedrus, cupressus, oliva. 

In his Monasteries of the Levant (1848) 
Curzon gives the legend that Solomon cut 
down a cedar and buried it on the spot where 
the pool of Bethesda stood later. A few days 
before the crucifixion, this cedar floated to the 
surface of the pool, and was employed as the 
upright of the Saviour’s cross. 

It is said that Constantine, on his march to 
Rome, saw a luminous cross in the sky, in the 
shape and with the motto Jn hoc vinces , by this 
[sign] conquer. In the night before the battle 
of Saxa Rubra (312) a vision appeared to the 
Emperor in his sleep, commanding him to 
inscribe the cross and the motto on the shields 
of his soldiers. He obeyed the voice of the 
vision, and prevailed. The monogram is 
XPioro? (Christ). See Gibbon’s Decline and 
Fall , ch. xx. 

This may be called a standing legend; for, 
besides St. Andrew’s cross, and the Danne- 
brog ( q.v .), there is the story concerning Don 
Alonzo before the battle of Ourique in 1139, 
when the figure of a cross appeared in the 
eastern sky; Christ, suspended on it, promised 
the Christian king a complete victory, and the 
Moors were totally routed. This legend is 
commemorated by Alonzo’s device, in a field 
argent five escutcheons azure, in the form of a 


cross, each escutcheon being charged with 
five bezants, in memory of the five wounds of 
Christ. See Labarum. 

In heraldry, as many as 285 varieties of cross 
have been recognized, but the twelve in 
ordinary use, ana from which the others are 
derived, are:— (1) The ordinary cross; (2) the 
cross humette, or couped; (3) the cross urd6, 
or pointed; (4) the cross potent; (5) the cross 
crosslet; (6) the cross botonne, or trefle; 
(7) the cross moline; (8) the cross potence; 
(9) the cross fleury; (10) the cross patte; (11) 
the Maltese cross (or eight-pointed cross); 
(12) the cross cleche and fitch£. 

As a mystic symbol the number of crosses 
may be reduced to four: 

The Greek cross found on Assyrian tablets, 
Egyptian and Persian monuments, and on 
Etruscan pottery. 

The crux decussata generally called St. 
Andrew’s cross. Quite common in ancient 
sculpture. 

The Latin cross or crux immissa. This 
symbol is found on coins, monuments, and 
medals long before the Christian era. 

The tau cross or crux commissa. Very 
ancient indeed, and supposed to be a phallic 
emblem. 

The tau cross with a handle, or crux 
ansata , is common to several Egyptian deities, 
as Isis, Osiris, etc.; and is the emblem of 
immortality and life generally. The circle 
signifies the eternal preserver of the world, 
and the T is the monogram of Thoth, the 
Egyptian Mercury, meaning wisdom. See 
Cross. 

The Invention of the Cross. A church 
festival held on May 3rd, in commemoration of 
the discovery (Lat. invenire , to discover) of the 
Cross (326) by St. Helena {q.v.). At her 
direction, after a long and difficult search in 
the neighbourhood of the Holy Sepulchre 
(which had been over-built with heathen 
temples), the remains of the three buried 
crosses were found. These were applied to a 
sick woman, and that which effected her cure 
was declared to be the True Cross. The Em- 
ress had this enclosed in a silver shrine (after 
aving carried a large piece to Rome), and 
deposited in a church that was built on the spot 
for the purpose. 

The Cross of Lorraine, with two bars, was 
adopted as the emblem of the Free French 
during World War II. 

The Red Cross on a white ground, sometimes 
called the Cross of Geneva, is the Swiss flag 
reversed, and indicates the neutrality of 
hospitals and ambulances. 

Everyone must bear his own cross. His own 
burden or troubles. The allusion is to the law 
that the person condemned to be crucified 
was to carry his cross to the place of execution. 

Hot cross buns. See Bun. 

On the cross. Not “on the square,’’ not 
straightforward. To get anything “on the 
cross’’ is to get it unfairly or dishonestly. 


Cross 


249 


Cross 



Crosses. — 1. Latin. 2. Calvary. 3. Patriarchal, Archiepiscopal, Lorraine. 4. Papal. 5. Greek. 6. Russian. 
7. Celtic. 8. Maltese. 9. St. Andrew’s. 10. Tau. 11. Pomm6. 12. Botonne. 13. Fleury. 14. Moline. 
15. Patte. 16. Crosslet. 17. Quadrate. 18. Potent. 19. Voided and coupcd. 20. Patt6 fiche. 
21. Fylfot, Swastika. 



Cross 


250 


Crotona’s Sage 


The Judgment of the cross. An ordeal 
instituted in the reign of Charlemagne. The 
plaintiff and defendant were required to cross 
their arms upon their breast, and he who could 
hold out the longest gained the suit. 

To cross it off or out. To cancel it by run- 
ning your pen across it. 

To cross swords. To fight a duel; meta- 
phorically, to meet someone in argument or 
debate. 

To cross the hand. Gypsy fortune-tellers 
always bid their dupe to “cross their hand with 
a bit of silver.” This, they say, is for luck. 
The silver remained with the owner of the 
crossed hand. The sign of the cross warded 
off witches and all other evil spirits, and, as 
fortune-telling belongs to the black arts, the 
palm is signed with a cross to keep off the 
wiles of the devil. “You need fear no evil, 
though I am a fortune-teller, if by the sign of 
the cross you exorcise the evil spirit.” 

To cross the line — i.e. the equator. To pass 
to the other side of the equator. It is still the 
custom on board ship to indulge in horseplay 
when crossing the line, and those who are doing 
so for the first time are usually subjected to 
humorous indignities. 

Cross and Ball. The orb of royalty is a 
sphere or ball surmounted by a cross, an 
emblem of empire introduced in representa- 
tions of our Saviour. The cross stands above 
the ball, to signify that the spiritual power is 
above the temporal. 

Cross and Pile. The obverse and reverse 
sides of a coin, head and tail; hence, money 
generally, pitch and toss, etc. Pile is French 
for the reverse of a coin, and the other side 
for centuries was marked with a cross. 

A'man may now justifiably throw up cross and pile 
for his opinions. — Locke: Human Understanding. 

Marriage is worse than cross I win, pile you lose. 

Suadwell: Epsom Wells. 

I have neither cross nor pile. Not a penny 
in the world. The French phrase is, “ N'avoir 
rti croix ni pile." 

Cross-belts. See Regimental Nicknames. 

Cross-bench. Seats set at right angles to 
the rest of the seats in the House of Commons 
and the House of Lords, and intended for those 
members who are independent of any recog- 
nized party. Hence, cross-bencher , an in- 
dependent, and the cross-bench mind , an 
unbiased or neutral mind. 

Crossbill. The red plumage and the curious 
bill (the horny sheaths of which cross each 
other obliquely) of this bird are accounted for 
by a mediaeval fable which says that these 
distinctive marks were bestowed on the bird by 
the Saviour at the Crucifixion, as a reward for 
its having attempted to pull the nails from the 
Cross with its beak. Schwcnckfeld in 1603 
( Theriotropheum Silesice ) gave the fable in the 
Latin verses of Johannes Major; but it would 
be better known to English readers through 
Longfellow's “Legend of the Crossbill” 
from the German of Julius Mosen. 

Cross-biting. Cheating; properly, cheating 
one who has been trying to cheat you — biting 


in return. Hence, cross-biter , a swindler. 
Laurence Crossbiter is the name given to one 
of the rogues in Cock LorelPs Bote (q.v.). 

Cross-bones. See Skull and Cross-bones. 

Cross-legged Knights. Crusaders were gen- 
erally represented on their tombs with crossed 
legs. It must not, however, be taken that all 
monuments in which the men are cross-legged 
are those of Crusaders. 

To dine with cross-legged knights. See 
Dine. 

Cross questions and crooked answers. A 
parlour game which consists in giving ludicrous 
or irrelevant answers to simple questions. 
Hence, the phrase is used of one who is 
“hedging,” or trying by his answers to conceal 
the truth when he is being questioned. 

Cross-roads. All (except suicides) who were 
excluded from holy rites were piously buried 
at the foot of the cross erected on the public 
road, as the place next in sanctity to conse- 
crated ground. Suicides were ignominiously 
buried on the highway, generally at a crossing, 
with a stake driven through their body. 

Dirty work at the cross-roads. Foul play; 
nefarious activity. The phrase may have 
arisen through the association of cross-roads 
with the burial of suicides ( see previous entry), 
but more likely from the fact that foul play 
used often to take place at cross-roads. 

Cross-row. Short for chriss-cross row 
(q.v.). 

Crossword puzzle. A puzzle in which 
words must be discovered to fill in, letter by 
letter, the squares into which a rectangular 
diagram is divided. Clues are furnished and 
most of the letters form parts of two words, 
one reading across and the other down the 
rectangle. There have long been simple 
puzzles of this nature, but the more ingenious 
crossword was invented in U.S.A., about 1923, 
and immediately welcomed in Britain. 

Cross, meaning irritable, bad tempered. 

As cross as a bear with a sore head, as the 
tongs, as two sticks. Common phrases used 
of one who is very vexed, peevish, or cross. 
The allusions are obvious. 

Cross-grained. Patchy, ill-tempered, self- 
willed. Wood must be worked with the grain; 
when the grain crosses we get a knot or curling, 
which is hard to work uniform. 

Cross-patch. A disagreeable, ill-tempered 
person, male or female. Patch (q.v.) is an 
old name for a fool, and with the meaning 
“fellow” it is common enough in Shakespeare, 
as a “scurvy patch,” a “soldier’s patch,” 
“What patch is made our porter?” “a crew 
of patches,” etc. 

Cross-patch, draw the latch. 

Sit by the fire and spin; 

Take a cup, and drink it up, 

Then call your neighbours in. 

Old Nursery Rhyme. 

Crotona’s Sage (kro to' na). Pythagoras. So 
called because at Crotona he established his 
chief school of philosophy (c. 530 b.c.). 




Crouchmas 


251 


Crown Office 


Such success followed his teaching that the 
whole aspect of the town became more moral 
and decorous in a marvellously short time. 

Crouchmas. An old name for the festival 
of the Invention of the Cross ( q.v .) (May 3rd), 
also for Rogation Sunday and Rogation week. 
“Crouch” is an old word for cross, especially 
in its religious signification; from Lat. crux. 
From bull-cow fast, 

Till Crouchmas be past. 

Tusser : May Remembrances, 

Croud. See Crowd. 

Crow. A crow symbolizes contention, discord, 
strife. 

As the crow flies. The shortest route be- 
tween two given places. The crow flies 
straight to its destination. Cp. Bee-line. 

Jim Crow. See Jim. 

I must pluck a crow with you ; I have a crow 
to pick with you. I am displeased with you, 
and must call you to account. I have a small 
complaint to make against you. In Howell’s 
proverbs (1659) we find the following, “I have a 
goose to pluck with you,” used in the same sense. 

If a crow help us in, sirrah, we’ll pluck a crow to- 
gether. — Shakespeare: Comedy of Errors, III, i. 

To crow over one. To exult over a van- 
quished or abased person. The allusion is to 
cocks, who always crow when they have 
gained a victory. 

To eat crow. To be forced to do something 
extremely disagreeable. The expression arose 
from an incident during an armistice in the war 
between Britain and the U.S.A. in 1812. A 
New Englander, having crossed the British 
lines by mistake, while out hunting, 
brought down a crow. A British officer, who 
heard the shot, determined to punish him. 
He was himself unarmed, but gained possession 
of the American’s gun by praising his marks- 
manship and asking to sec his weapon. 
Covering the huntsman with his own gun, the 
soldier declared that he was guilty of trespass 
and ordered him to take a bite out of the crow. 
The American was forced to obey. However, 
when the soldier returned the gun and told 
him to go, the American in his turn covered 
the soldier and compelled him to eat the 
remainder of the crow. 

Crow-eaters. Nickname for the inhabitants 
of South Australia. 

Crow’s Nest. The “look out” — originally 
a barrel fixed to the masthead of an old- 
fashioned whaling-ship. 

Crowd, Croud, or Crouth. An ancient Celtic 
species of fiddle with from three to six strings 
(Welsh erwth). Hence crowder , a player on a 
crowd. The last noted player on this instru- 
ment was John Morgan, who died in 1720. 

Harkc how the minstrels gin to shrill aloud 
Their merry musick that resounds from far 

The pipe, the tabor, and the trembling croud, 

That well agree withouten breach or jar. 

Spenser : Epithalamion. 

I never heard the olde song of Percy and Dallas, 
that I found not my heart mooved more then with a 
trumpet: and yet is it sung but by some blinde 
Crouder, with no rougher voyce, then rude stile. — 
Sidney: Apologie for Poetrie. 

B.D. — 9 


Crown. In heraldry, nine crowns are recog- 
nized: Th£ oriental, the triumphal or imperial, 
the diadem, the obsidional crown, the civic, 
the crown vallery, the mural crown, the naval, 
and the crown celestial. 

Among the Romans of the Republic and 
Empire crowns of various patterns formed 
marks of distinction for different services; the 
principal ones were: — 

The blockade crown ( corona obsidional is), presented 
to the general who liberated a beleaguered army. This 
was made of grass and wild flowers gathered from the 
spot. 

A camp crown ( corona castrenses ) was given to him 
who first forced his way into the enemy’s camp. It was 
made of gold, and decorated with palisades. 

A civic crown to one who saved a civis or Roman 
citizen in battle. It was of oak leaves, and bore the 
inscription, H.O.C.S, — i.e. hostem occidlt , civem serva- 
vit ( a foe he slew, a citizen saved). 

A mural crown was given to that man who first 
scaled the wall of a besieged town. It was made of 
gold and decorated with battlements. 

A naval crown , of gold, decorated with the beaks of 
ships, was given to him who won a naval victory. 

An olive crown was given to those who distinguished 
themselves in battle in some way not specially men- 
tioned. 

An ovation crown ( corona ovatio) was by the 
Romans given to a general in the case of a lesser 
victory. It was made of myrtle. 

A triumphal crown was by the Romans given to the 
general who obtained a triumph. It was made of 
laurel or bay leaves. Sometimes a massive gold crown 
was given to a victorious general. See Laurel. 

The iron crown of Lombardy is the crown of 
the ancient Longobardic kings. It was used 
at the coronation of Agilulph, King of 
Lombardy, in 591, and among others that have 
since been crowned with it are Charlemagne, 
as King of Italy (774). Henry of Luxembourg 
(the Emperor Henry VII), as King of Lom- 
bardy (1311), Frederick IV (1452), Charles V 
( 1 530), and in 1 805 Napoleon put it on his head 
with his own hands. 

In 1866, at the conclusion of peace, it was 
restored by Austria to Italy and was replaced 
in the cathedral at Monza, where Charlemagne 
had been crowned, and whence it had been 
taken in 1859. The crown is so called from a 
narrow band of iron about three-eighths of an 
inch broad, and one-tenth of an inch in 
thickness, within it, said to be beaten out of one 
of the nails used at the Crucifixion. Accord- 
ing to tradition, the nail was given to Constan- 
tine by his mother, St. Helena, who discovered 
the cross. The outer circlet is of beaten gold, 
and set with precious stones. 

Crow ns of Egypt. See Egypt. 

The crown, in English coinage, was a five- 
shilling piece, and is so named from the F. 
denier a la couronne , a gold coin issued by 
Philip of Valois (1339) bearing a large crown 
on tne obverse. The English crown was a 
gold coin of about 43$ grs. till the end of 
Elizabeth I’s reign, except for a silver crown 
which was issued in the last coinage of Henry 
VIII and one other of Edward VI. 

In the paper trade, crown is a standard 
size of printing paper measuring 15 by 20 
inches; so called from an ancient watermark. 

Crown Office, Tbe. A department of the 
Central Office of the Supreme Court. It 




Crown 


252 


Crush 


consists of the Queen’s Coroner and Attorney, 
who is also Master, two Assistant Masters, a 
Chief Clerk, and some minor officials. 

Crown of the East. Antioch, ancient capital 
of Syria, which consisted of four walled cities, 
encompassed by a common rampart, that 
“enrounded them like a coronet.” 

Crowner. An old pronunciation of “coroner” 
(< 7 .v.), perhaps with the suggestion that he is 
an officer of the Crown. 

The crowner hath sat on her, and finds it Christian 
burial. — Hamlet, V, i. 

Crowquill, Alfred. This was the name used by 
Alfred Henry Forrester (1805-72), the black- 
and-white artist of Punch and the Illustrated 
London News . He was famous in his day as 
the illustrator of Dr. Syntax , the Bon Gaultier 
Ballads , Baron Munchausen and other popular 
works. 

Crozier. See Crosier. 

Crucial (kroo' sh&l). A crucial test. A very 
severe and undeniable one. The allusion is to 
a fancy of Francis Bacon, who said that two 
different diseases or sciences might run parallel 
for a time, but would ultimately cross each 
other: thus, the plague might for a time re- 
semble other diseases, but when the bubo or 
boil appeared, the plague would assume its 
specific character. Hence the phrases instantia 
crucis (a crucial or unmistakable symptom), a 
crucial experiment, example, question, etc. Cp. 
Crux. 

Cruel, The. Pedro, King of Castile (1334, 
1350-69). 

Cruel garters. See Crewel. 

Cruet. In common parlance this word is 
used in the plural to mean the salt, pepper, and 
mustard usually placed on the table for meals. 
A cruet is really a small bottle and is used 
specifically for each of the small bottles in 
which the water and wine for the eucharist 
and the ablutions of the Mass are served upon 
the altar. 

Cruiser. Cruiser weight is the same as light- 
heavy weight. See Boxing. 

Cruller. In the U.S.A. a sweet cake or biscuit 
in the form of strips or twists or rings, which 
has been fried in deep fat. 

Crummy. In obsolete slang, expressive of 
something desirable, as that's crummy , that’s 
good; also meaning plump, well developed, as 
she's a crummy woman , a fine, handsome 
woman. Among soldiers, however, the word 
has always meant lousy, infested with lice, 
and this is now the only meaning attached to 
it. 

Crumpet. See Muffins. 

Crusade (kroo sad). A war undertaken in late 
mediaeval times by Christians against the Turks 
and Saracens for the recovery of the Holy 
Land and, nominally at least, for the honour 
of the Cross. Each nation had its special 
colour, which, says Matthew Paris (1, 446), was 
red for France; white for England; green for 
Flanders; for Italy it was blue or azure ; for 
Spain, gules ; for Scotland, a St. Andrew's cross ; 
for the Knights Templars, red on white . 


There were eight principal crusades: — 

1. A crusade proclaimed by Urban II, in 
1095. Two columns led by Peter the Hermit 
and Walter the Pennyless, set out in 1096 and 
were destroyed. A second expedition under 
Hugh the Great (father of Hugh Capet, later 
king of France), Raymond Count of Toulouse, 
Robert Duke of Normandy, and Godfrey de 
Bouillon, was successful and ended by 
achieving the proclamation of Godfrey as 
King of Jerusalem, 1099. 

2. An unsuccessful expedition, promoted by 
St. Bernard, under the leadership of the 
Emperor Conrad III and Louis VII of France, 
1147-49. 

3. Jerusalem and Ascalon having been lost 
in 1187, a crusade for their recovery was 
preached by Gregory VIII. and Frederick 
Barbarossa set out in 1189; Philip Augustus, 
King of France and Richard I of England 
started the following year. A stalemate was 
reached and the crusade abandoned in 1 192. 

4. A crusade was preached by Fulke of 
Neuilly in 1198. It was led by Baldwin of 
Flanders and the Doge of Venice. Constan- 
tinople was captured and Baldwin was elected 
Emperor in 1202. 

5. In 1217 an unsuccessful expedition set 
out under Andrew, King of Hungary, to 
return in 1221. 

6. The Emperor Frederick II set out in 
1228, and the following year was crowned 
King of Jerusalem. 

7. Following the loss of the Holy Land in 
1244, St. Louis (Louis IX of France) set out 
in 1248. He was captured by the Saracens 
in 1250; a ten years* truce was declared and 
Louis returned to France. 

8. Louis and Prince Edward (afterwards 
Edward I) of England set out in 1270. St. 
Louis died on August 25, and the crusade 
ended with a twenty years’ truce in 1272. 

The Children’s Crusade, consisting of a body 
of 30,000 boys and girls between the ages of 
ten and sixteen, led by a shepherd boy, 
Stephen, set out from Vendomc to capture 
Jerusalem in 3212. The King of France, 
parents and priests had all forbidden their 
departure, but they got to Marseilles where 
they were embarked for Palestine. Some 
perished at sea and the rest were sold through 
the treachery of the ship-owners as slaves to 
Barbary. There were two other contingents, 
from the Germanics, one of which lost half 
its numbers while crossing the Mont Cenis, the 
remainder being kidnapped or dying of want 
and weariness; the other crossed the St. 
Gothard, reached Brindisi, and were sold as 
slaves to the Moors. 

Crush. To crush a bottle — i.c. drink one. 
Milton has crush the sweet poison ( Comus , 47). 
The idea is that of crushing the grapes. 
Shakespeare has also burst a bottle in the same 
sense (Induction of Taming of the Shrew). 
See Crack. 

Come and crush a cup of wine. 

Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, I, ii. 

To crush a fly on a wheel. Another form 
of “to break a butterfly on a wheel.” See 
under Break. 



Crush 


253 


Crystal Gazing 


To have a crush on someone, meaning to have 
a very passing infatuation for someone — a 
schoolgirl's phrase and emotion. 

Crush-room. An old term for a room in a 
theatre or opera house, etc., where the audience 
can collect and talk during intervals, wait for 
their carriages, and so on. 

Crust. The upper crust (of society). The 
aristocracy; the upper ten-thousand. The 
phrase was first used in Sam Slick. The upper 
crust was at one time the part of the loaf 
placed before the most honoured guests. 
Thus, in Wynkyn de Worde’s Boke of Keruinge 
(carving) we have these directions: “Then 
take a lofe in your lyfte hande, and pare ye 
lofe rounde about; then cut the ouer-cruste 
to your souerayne . . 

Crusted port. When port is first bottled its 
fermentation is not complete; in time it 
precipitates argol on the sides of the bottle, 
where it forms a crust. Crusted port, there- 
fore, is port which has completed its fermenta- 
tion. A splash of whitewash is usually 
dabbed on the bottle so that it will be kept 
the right way up, for careless movement 
would cause the crust to slip and spoil the 
wine. 

Crusting. An American hunting term for 
taking big game in winter when the ice of 
ponds, rivers and lakes will bear the weight of 
a man but not that of a moose or deer. 

Crusty. Ill-tempered, apt to take offence; 
cross, peevish. In Shakespeare's play Achilles 
addresses the bitter Thersites with: — 

How now, thou core of envy! 

Thou crusty batch of nature, what’s the news? 

Troilus and Cressida , V, i. 

Crutched Friars (krQched fri' ars) is the Lat. 
cruciati (crossed) — i.e. having a cross em- 
broidered on their dress. They were a minor 
order of friars, the Canons Regular of the 
Holy Cross, founded at Bologna about 1169, 
who first appeared in England in 1244. 

Crux. A knotty point, a difficulty. Instantia 
crucis means a crucial test (< 7 .v.), or the point 
where two similar diseases crossed and showed 
a special feature. It does not refer to the 
cross, an instrument of punishment; but to 
the crossing of two lines, called also a node 
or knot; hence a trouble or difficulty. Qucc tc 
mala crux agitat? (Plautus); What evil cross 
distresses you? — i.e . what difficulty, what 
trouble are you under? 

Crux pectoralis. The cross which bishops 
of the Church of Rome suspend over their 
breast. 

See also Cross. 

Cry. For names of the distinctive cries of 
animals, see Animals. 

A far cry. A long way; a very considerable 
distance; used both of space and of time, as, 
“it is a far cry from David to Disraeli, but 
they both were Jews"; “it's a far cry from 
Clapham to Kamschatka." Sir Walter Scott 
several times uses the phrase, “It's a far cry 


to Lochow (Lochawe)," and he tells us that 
this was a proverbial expression among the 
Campbells, meaning that their ancient 
hereditary dominions lay beyond the reach of 
an invading enemy. — Legend of Montrose: 
ch. xii. 

For crying out loud. A colloquial exclama- 
tion expressing astonishment or annoyance. 
It arose probably as a subconscious euphemism 
for impolite expletives or blasphemous utter- 
ance, and has been current since the 1920s. 

Great cry and little wool. A proverbial 
saying expressive of contempt or derision for 
one who promises great things but never fulfils 
the promises. 

Originally the proverb ran, “Great cry and 
little wool, as the Devil said when he sheared 
the hogs"; and it appears in this form in the 
ancient mystery of David and Abigail , in which 
Nabal is represented as shearing his sheep, and 
the Devil imitates the act by “shearing a nog." 

Thou wilt at best but suck a bull. 

Or shear swine, all cry and no wool. 

Butler: Hudibras, I, i, 851. 

Hue and cry. See Hue. 

In full cry. In full pursuit. A phrase from 
hunting, with allusion to a yelping pack of 
hounds in chase. 

It’s no good crying over spilt milk. It’s 

useless bewailing the past. 

To cry aim. See Aim. 

To cry cave (ka' vi). To give warning (Lat. 
cavc y beware); used by schoolboys when a 
master comes in sight. 

To cry havoc. See Havock. 

To cry off. To get out of a bargain; to 
refuse to carry out one’s promise. 

To cry quits. See Quit. 

To cry stinking fish. To belittle one’s own 
endeavours, offerings, etc. “To cry" here 
is to offer for sale by shouting one’s wares in 
the street. 

To cry up. To praise loudly and publicly. 

To cry wolf. See Wolf. 

Crypto-Catholic. A person who is secretly a 
Roman Catholic but for some ulterior motive 
conceals the fact and poses as a Protestant. 
The term is also applied (Crypto-Communist, 
-Fascist, etc.) to one who secretly works for the 
cause of his party though outwardly appearing 
to have no connection with it. 

Crystal Gazing, or, as it is sometimes termed, 
Scrying, is a very ancient form of divination. 
It is alleged that certain people can, by gazing 
fixedly and deeply into a polished crystal ball, 
see what is about to happen or what is actually 
happening at some distant place. It is said' 
that scenes are enacted and places are recog- 
nizable as clearly as in the view-finder of a 
camera. Crystal gazing has been, and, indeed, 
still is, a practice that lends itself to the skill 
of impostors, and from a psychic standard it 
is not to be encouraged. 




Crystal Palace 254 Cudgel 


Crystal Palace. This was one of the glories 
of the Victorian era. The original Crystal 
Palace, built entirely of glass and iron, was 
erected in Hyde Park to house the 1851 
Great Exhibition. When the exhibition closed 
the building was moved (1854) to Sydenham 
where it was re-erected with some alterations 
and the addition of two towers which for 
many years were visible for many miles around. 
Exhibitions, concerts, and other events took 
place in the Palace, which became national 
property in 1911. The whole building was 
entirely destroyed by fire in November, 1936. 

The crystalline sphere. According to 
Ptolemy, the ninth orb, identified by some with 
“the waters which were above the firmament” 
(Gen. i, 7) ; it was placed between the “primum 
mobile ” and the firmament or sphere of the 
fixed stars and was held to have a shivering 
movement that interfered with the regular 
motion of the stars. 

They pass the planets seven, and pass the fixed 

And that crystalline sphere, whose balance weighs 

The trepidation talked. 

Milton: Paradise Lost, III, 481. 

Cub. An ill-mannered lout. The cub of a 
bear is said to have no shape until its dam 
has licked it into form. (See under Lick). 

Cubbing, or Cub-hunting. This is the term 
employed to describe the preliminary training 
given to young foxhounds before regular 
hunting begins. Fox cubs have not the 
craftiness nor staying power of the older 
beast, and thus furnish better sport for young 
hounds and young riders. 

Cuba. The Roman deity who kept guard over 
infants in their cribs and sent them to sleep. 
(Lat. cubo , I lie down in bed.) 

Cubism (ktl' bizm). The doctrine of an early- 
20th-century school of painters who depict 
surfaces, figures, tints, light and shade, etc., 
on canvas by means of a multiplicity of cubes. 
The name was given to this school, somewhat 
disparagingly, by Henri Matisse, in 1908. It 
was a form oi art wholly devoid of representa- 
tion and divorced from realism, excluding any 
attempt to depict actual appearances and 
spurning all the accepted canons of art. 
Picasso was its great exponent; Braque, Leger, 
and Derain explored its possibilities in many 
of their works. 

Cubit (kQ # bit). An ancient measure of length, 
the word coming from the Latin cubitum , the 
elbow. Approximately it applied to the length 
from the elbow to the tip of the longest 
finger. The Hebrews had two cubits, the 
ordinary cubit as above, measuring about 22 
in. and a longer one used by Ezekiel for 
measuring the Temple. The most ancient 
cubit was the Egyptian, which measured 
20*64 in. and was divided into seven palms. 
It was employed in the design and building of 
the Pyramids, and measuring sticks have been 
found proving the use of this measure for at 
least three centuries before Christ. The 
Roman cubit measured 17*4 in. 

Cucking-stool. A kind of chair formerly used 
for ducking scolds, disorderly women, dis- 
honest apprentices, etc., in a pond. “Cuck- 


ing” is from the old verb cuck , to void 
excrement, and’ the stool used was often a 
close-stool. 

Now, if one cucking-stool was for each scold. 

Some towns, 1 fear, would not their numbers hold. 

Poor Robin (1746). 

Cuckold. The husband of an adulterous wife; 
so called from cuckoo , the chief characteristic 
of this bird being to deposit its eggs in other 
birds' nests. Johnson says “it was usual to 
alarm a husband at the approach of an adul- 
terer by calling out ‘Cuckoo,’ which by 
mistake was applied in time to the person 
warned.” Greene calls the cuckoo “the 
cuckold's quirister” (Quip for an Upstart 
Courtier , 1592), and the Romans used to call 
an adulterer a “cuckoo,” as “7> cuculum uxor 
ex lustris rapit" (Plautus: Asinaria , V, iii). Cp. 
Action; Horn; and see quotation under 
Lady’s Smock. 

Cuckold’s Point. A spot on the riverside 
near Deptford. So called from a tradition 
that King John there made love successfully to 
a labourer’s wife. 

Cuckoo. There are many old folk rhymes 
about this bird; one says: — 

In April the cuckoo shows his bill; 

In May he sings all day; 

In June he alters his tune; 

In July away he’ll fly; 

In August go he must. 

Other sayings are: — 

Turn your money when you hear the cuckoo, and 
you’ll have money in your purse till he come again. 

And— 

The cuckoo sings from St. Tiburtius* Day (April 
14th) to St. John’s Day (June 24th). 

Cuckoo oats and woodcock hay make a 
farmer run away. If the spring is so backward 
that oats cannot be sown till the cuckoo is 
heard (i.e. April), or if the autumn is so wet 
that the aftermath of hay cannot be got in till 
woodcock shooting (middle of November), 
the farmer must be a great sufferer. 

Cuckoo-spit. A frothy exudation deposited 
on plants by certain insects, especially the 
frog-hopper (Aphrophora spunuiris ), for the 
purpose of protecting the larvae. So called 
from an erroneous popular notion that the 
froth was spat out by cuckoos. 

It must be likewise understood with some restric- 
tion what hath been affirmed by Isidore, and yet 
delivered by many, that Cicades are bred out of 
Cuccow spittle or Woodsear; that is, that spumous, 
frothy dew or exudation, or both, found upon Plants, 
especially about the joints of Lavender and Rosemary, 
observable with us about the latter end of May. — Sir 
Thomas Browne: Pseud. Epidemic a, v, 3. 

Don’t be a cuckoo! Don't be a silly ass; 
don’t go and make a fool of yourself. 

To wall In the cuckoo. See Course. 

Cuddy, an abbreviation of Cuthbert, is the 
North Country and Scottish familiar name for 
a donkey, as elsewhere he is called Neddy or 
Jack. 

Cudgel. To cudgel one’s brains. To make a 
painful effort to remember or understand 
something. The idea is from taking a stick 




Cudgel 


to beat a dull boy under the notion that dull- 
ness is the result of temper or Inattention. 

Cudgel thy brains no more about it; for your dull 
ass will not mend his pace with beating. — Shake- 
speare: Hamlet , V, i. 

To take op the cudgels. To maintain an 
argument or position. To fight, as with a 
cudgel, for one’s own way. 

Cue (kG). The tail of a sentence (Fr. queue), 
the catchword which indicates when another 
actor is to speak; a hint. 

When my cue comes, call me, and I will answer. — 
A Midsummer Night's Dream , IV, i. 

To give the cue. To give the hint. 

In another sense cue means a person’s frame 
of mind — in a good or bad skin. 

My uncle was in thoroughly good cue. 

Dickens: Pickwick Papers . 

Cuerp. See Querpo. 

Cuffy. A Negro; both a generic word and 
proper name; possibly from the English slang 
term “cove” {q.v.). 

Sambo and CufTey expand under every sky. — M rs. 
Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom's Cabin . 

Cui bono? (kwi bo' no). Who is benefited 
thereby ? To whom is it a gain ? A common, 
but quite erroneous, meaning attached to the 
words is, What good will it do? For what 
good purpose? It was the question of the 
Roman judge L. Cassius Pedanius. See 
Cicero, Rose. Am., xxx, 84. 

Cato, that great and grave philosopher, did com- 
monly demand, when any new project was pro- 
pounded unto him, cui bono, what good will ensue 
in case the same is effected? — Fuller: Worthies (The 
Design, i.). 

Cul de Sac (kul de sak) (Fr.). A blind alley, 
or road blocked up at one end like a sack. 
Figuratively, an argument, etc., that leads to 
nothing. 

Culdees (kul dez'). An ancient religious order 
in Ireland and Scotland from about the 8th to 
the 13th centuries. So called from the Old 
Irish cele de, servant of God. The culdees 
were originally hermits or anchorites, but were 
later gathered into communities and were, 
finally, little more than secular canons. 

Cullinan Diamond (ku lin' &n). The largest 
diamond ever known. It was discovered in 
1905 at the Premier Mine in South Africa, and 
when found weighed 3,025 $ carats (about 1 lb. 
6 oz.), as against the 186-™ carats of the 
famous Koh-i-Nur (q.v.) in its uncut state. It 
was purchased by the South African Govern- 
ment for £150,000 and presented to Edward 
VII, and now forms part of the Crown Jewels, 
its estimated value being over £1,000,000. It 
was cut into a number of stones, of which the 
two largest weigh over 516 and 309 carats 
respectively. It was named from the manager 
of the mine at the time of its discovery. 

Cully. A fop, a fool, a dupe. Perhaps a 
contracted form of cullion , a despicable 
creature (Ital. coglione). Shakespeare uses the 
word two or three times, as “Away, base 
cullions ! ” ( Henry VI, Pt. //, I, iii), and again in 
Taming of the Shrew , IV, ii — “And makes a 
god of such a cullion.” Cp. Gull. 

You base cullion, you. 

Ben Jonson: Every Man in his Humour , III, ii. 


Cunning 


Culross Girdles. The thin plate of iron in 
Scotland, on which oat cakes, scones, etc. are 
cooked, is called a “girdle,” for which Culross 
was long celebrated. 

Locks and bars, plough-graith and harrow-teeth! 
and why not grates and fireprongs, and Culross 
girdles? — Scott: Fair Maid oj Perth, ch. ii. 

Cultus (kQP tus). In usual parlance this means 
a cult, or system of religious belief, but in the 
Far Western States of the U.S.A. the word, 
taken from the Indian, was used as signifying 
worthless. 

Culver (ktjl'ver). A dove or pigeon; from 
O.E. culfre , which is probably an English word 
and unconnected with Lat. columba . Hence 
culver-house, a dovecote. 

Culverin (kfiT v£r in). A long, slender piece 
of artillery employed in the 16th century. It 
was 5J in. bore and fired a projectile of 18 lb. 
Queen Elizabeth I’s “Pocket Pistol” in Dover 
Castle is a culverin. So called from Lat. 
colubrinus (Fr. couleuvrine ), snake-like. 

Culverkeys (kuP v£r kez). An old popular 
name for various plants, such as the bluebell, 
columbine, squill, etc., the flowers of which 
have some resemblance to a bunch of keys 
(O.E. culfre , a dove). 

Cumberland Poets. See Lake School. 

Cumberland Presbyterians. A sect found in 
Kentucky and Tennessee which was opposed 
to college-trained ministers. 

Cum grano salis (kurn gra' no sa' lis) (Lat.). 
With a grain of salt; there is some truth in 
the statement, but we must use great caution 
in accepting it. 

Cummer. A gudewife, old woman. A variety 
of gammer which is a corruption of grand- 
mother, as gaffer is of grandfather. It occurs 
scores of times in Scott’s novels. 

Cumshaw (kilm' shaw). This is a pidjin 
English word meaning a tip, a douceur, palm- 
oil. It may be a corruption of the English 
word “commission,” or it may derive from 
the Chinese kan f hiseh , grateful thanks. 

Cimctator (kfmgk ta tor) (Lat. the delayer). 
Quintus Fabius Maximus (d. 203 b.c.), the 
Roman general who baffled Hannibal by 
avoiding direct engagements, and wearing him 
out by marches, countermarches, and skirm- 
ishes from a distance. This was the policy 
by which Duguesclin forced the English to 
abandon their French possessions in tne reign 
of Charles V. Cp. Fabian. 

Cuneiform Letters (kQ ne' i form). Letters like 
wedges (Lat. cuneus , a wedge). They form 
the writing of ancient Persia, Babylonia, 
Assyria, etc., and, dating from about 3800 B.c. 
to the early years of the Christian era, are the 
most ancient specimens of writing known to 
us. Cuneiform inscriptions first attracted 
interest in Europe in the early 17th century, 
but no deciphering was successful until 1802 
(by Grotefend, of Hanover). 

Cunning. This is a word to which various 
meanings are attached and on which several 
phrases depend. It originally comes from the 


255 




Cunobelin 


256 


Cupid and Psyche 


same word as does “ken,” to know, and was 
applied to someone who knew things. As 
Wyclif’s Bible translates Genesis ii, 9: 

A tree of kunnynge of good and cuil. 

By an extension of this came the meaning of 
skill : — 

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand 
forget her cunning. — Psalm cxxxvii. 

The word had, however, already begun to 
infer a knowledge of occult and evil matters: — 

We take cunning for a sinister and crooked wisdom. 
— Bacon: Cunning . 

and a Cunning Man, or Woman, was merely 
another name for a wizard, or witch. Hence 
it grew to mean sly and crafty, the sense in 
which it is commonly used now. 

The American usage, in the sense of 
charming, or pretty or engaging, was custom- 
ary there by the mid- 19th century. 

Cunobelin (kfl' no bel' in). Cunobelinus, King 
of the Catuvellauni (a.d. 5-40), and the father 
of Caractacus. His name is preserved, in 
modified form, in Cymbeline, and in “Cuno- 
belin’s gold-mines,” the local name for the 
dene-holcs in the chalk beds of Little Thurrock, 
Essex, which were traditionally used by 
Cunobelin for hiding. 

Cup. A mixture of strong ale with sugar, spice, 
and a lemon, properly served up hot in a silver 
cup. Sometimes a roasted orange takes the 
place of a lemon. If wine is added, the cup is 
called bishop (tf.v.); if brandy is added, the 
beverage is called cardinal. 

Cider cup, claret cup, etc., are drinks made of 
cider, claret, etc., with sugar, fruit, and herbs. 

Cup Final. See Association Football 
Cup. 

He was in his cups. Intoxicated. Inter 
pocula , inter vina . (Horace: III Odes , vi, 20.) 

Let this cup pass from me. Let this trouble 
or affliction be taken away, that I may not be 
compelled to undergo it; this cup is “full of 
the wine of God’s fury,” let me not be com- 
pelled to drink it. The reference is to Christ’s 
agony in the garden {Matt, xxvi, 39). 

My cup runs over. My blessings overflow. 
Here cup signifies portion or blessing. 

My cup runneth over . . . goodness and mercy shall 
follow me all the days of my life. — Ps. xxiii, 5, 6. 

The cup of vows. In Scandinavia it was 
anciently customary at feasts to drink from 
cups of mead, and vow to perform some great 
deed worthy of the song of a skald. There 
were four cups: one to Odin, for victory; one 
to Freyja, for a good year; one to Niord, for 
peace ; and one to Bragi, for celebration of the 
dead in poetry. 

There’s many a slip ’twixt the cup and the lip. 
See Anc^us. 

We must drink the cup. We must bear the 
burden awarded to us, the sorrow which falls 
to our lot. 

Not my cup of tea. A phrase meaning, it 
does not suit me, this is not the sort of thing I 
want. 


Cupper. A comfortable colloquial abbrevia- 
tion of “a cup of tea.” “Come in and have a 
nice cupper.” 

Cups as sports trophies. An engraved 
(usually silver) cup is a common form of 
trophy. One of the oldest is the Waterloo 
Cup for coursing, which originated in 1836 
and owes its name to the fact that its leading 
promoter was landlord of the Waterloo Hotel, 
Liverpool. 

The chief tennis trophies for teams are the 
Davis Cup (q.v.) and the Wightman Cup, given 
by Mrs. George Wightman, in 1923, for com- 
petition between teams of women players from 
U.S.A. and Great Britain. 

The America Cup, for an international yacht 
race, was originally named the Queen’s Cup, 
and was offered by the Royal Yacht Squadron 
in 1851. In 1857 it was won by an American 
yacht and has since been called the America 
Cup. For many years Sir Thomas Lipton 
built yachts in an endeavour to win back the 
Cup but it has remained in American hands. 

The Ryder Cup for international golf 
matches was presented by Samuel Ryder in 
1927, though up to the present only the British 
and American professional teams have com- 
peted for it — no other country being able to 
produce a team of sufficiently high standard. 
The Walker Cup was given in 1922 by an 
American, George H. Walker, for a golf match 
to be played twice a year between teams of 
amateurs of Great Britain and U.S.A. The 
Curtis Cup, given in 1923 by two American 
lady champions, the Misses Margaret and 
Harriot Curtis, is for a golf match between 
teams of ladies of Great Britain and the U.S.A. 
See also Association Football Cup. 

Cupar (koo' par). He that will to Cupar maun 
to Cupar. A Scottish proverbial saying, 
meaning, he that will have his own way, 
must have it even to his injury. The reference 
is to the Cistercian monastery, founded there 
by Malcolm IV. 

Cupar justice. Same as “ Jedburgh 
justice,” hang first and try afterwards. It is 
sometimes called “Cowper law,” and it had 
its rise from a baron-baile in Coupar-Angus, 
before heritable jurisdictions were abolished. 
Abingdon Law is a similar phrase. It is 
said that Major-General Browne, of Abingdon, 
during the Commonwealth first hanged his 
prisoners and then tried them. See Jedwood 
Justice; Lydford Law. 

Cupboard Love. Love from interested mo- 
tives, The allusion is to the love of children 
to some indulgent person who gives them 
something nice from her cupboard. 

Cupid. The god of love in Roman mythology 
(Lat. cupido, desire, passion), identified with 
the Greek Eros; son of Mercury and Venus. 
He is usually represented as a beautiful winged 
boy, blindfolded, and carrying a bow and 
arrows, and one legend says that he whets with 
blood the grindstone on which he sharpens his 
arrows. 

Cupid and Psyche (si' ki). An episode in 
the Golden Ass (q.v.) of Apuleius. It is an 
allegory representing the progress of the soul 




Cupid 


257 


Curse 


to perfection. William Morris retells the story 
in his Earthly Paradise ( May ), as also does 
Walter Pater in Marius the Epicurean. See 
Psyche. 

Cupid’s golden arrow. Virtuous love. 

Cupid’s leaden arrow. Sensual passion. 
Deque sagittifera promisit duo tela pharetra 
Diversorum opcrum; fugat hoc, facil illud amorem. 
Quod facit auratum est et cuspide fuiget acuta. — 
Quod fugat obtusum est, et habet sub arundine 
plumbum. Ovid: Apollo and Daphne. 

I swear to thee by Cupid’s strongest bow; 

By his best arrow with the golden head .... 

By that which knitteth souls and prospers love. 

A Midsummer Night* s Dream. 

Cupidon, Le Jeune (le zhern ku' pe dong). 
Count D’Orsay (1801-52) was so styled by 
Lord Byron. 

Cur. A mongrel or worthless dog; hence, a 
fawning, mean-spirited fellow. The word is 
from Scandinavian hurra, to snarl, to grumble, 
and is lirst used in England with “dog” — 
kur-dogge , a growling or snarling dog. 

Curate. See Clerical Titles. 

Curate’s egg. Among the catch-phrases 
that Punch has introduced into the English 
language, “Good in parts, like the curate’s 
egg” is, perhaps, the most commonly used. 
The illustrated joke showed a nervous young 
curate, at his bishop’s breakfast table. He has 
been asked by his lordship whether his egg is 
to his liking; terrified to say that it is bad, he 
stammers out that “ it’s good in parts.” 

Cure de Mcudon (kiV ra de me dong) — i.e. 
Rabelais (c. 1495-1553), who was first a monk, 
then a leech, then prebend of St. Maur, and 
lastly cure of Meudon. 

Curfew (kcr' fu). The custom of ringing a 
bell every evening as a signal to put out fires 
and go to bed. The word comes from the 
Fr. couvre feu , and shows its Norman origin. 
William the Conqueror instituted the curfew 
in England in 1068, fixing the hour at eight in 
the evening. . The word is now extended to 
mean the period commonly ordered by all 
occupying armies in time of war or civil 
commotion when civilians must stay within 
doors. 

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day. 

Gray’s Elegy. 

Curmudgeon (ker muj' on). A grasping, mis- 
erly churl. Concerning this word Johnson 
says in his dictionary: “It is a vitious manner of 
pronouncing caur mediant , Fr., an unknown 
correspondent,” meaning that this suggestion 
was supplied by some correspondent unknown. 
By a ridiculous blunder, Ash (1775) copied 
it into his dictionary as “from Fr. cceur , un- 
known, mediant , correspondent” ! The actual 
etymology of the word has not been traced. 

Cumock. See Crannock. 

Currant. A corruption of Corinth , whence 
currants were imported probably in the 16th 
century. Originally called “raisins of Cor- 
auntz,” Corauntz being Anglo-French for 
Corinth. 

Currency. A word applied in early Australia 
to the wide variety of coins then in circulation, 
as apart from English gold coins, which were 


called sterling. The word assumed the 
connotation of “Australian,” and in novels 
of the mid-19th century the word “un- 
currency” is found in the sense of “un- 
Austrahan.” 

Current. The drift of the current is the rate 
per hour at which the current runs. 

The setting of the current is that point of the 
compass towards which the waters of the 
current run. 

Curry Favour. A corruption of the M.E. to 
curry favel , to rub down Favel: Pavel (or 
Fauvei) being the name of the horse in the 14th- 
century French satire Roman de Fauvei , which 
was a kind of counterpart to the more famous 
romance, Reynard the Fox. Fauvei, the 
fallow-coloured horse, takes the place of 
Reynard, and symbolizes cunning or duplicity; 
hence, to curry, or stroke down, Favel, was 
to enlist the services of duplicity, and so, to 
seek to obtain by insincere flattery or officious 
courtesy. 

Curse. Curses, like chickens, come home to 
roost. Curses fall on the head of the curser, 
as chickens which stray during the day return 
to their roost at night. 

Cursing by bell, book, and candle. See Bell. 

Not worth a curse. I don’t care a curse (or 

cuss). Here “curse” is the O.E. cresse or 
eerse, i.e. something quite valueless. Simi- 
larly, the Lat. nihil ( nihilitm ) is ne hilum , not 
(worth) the black eye of a bean. Other 
phrases are “not a straw,” “not a pin,” 
“not a rap,” “not a bit,” “not a jot,” “not 
a pin’s point,” “not a button.” 

Wisdom and witt nowe is not worthe a kerse. 

Langland: Piers Plowman . 

The curse of Cain. One who is always on 
the move and has no abiding place is said to be 
“cursed with the curse of Cain.” The 
allusion is to God’s judgment on Cain after he 
had slain his brother Abel: — 

And now art thou cursed from the earth, ... a 
fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. — 
(Jen. iv, 11-12. 

The curse of Scotland. The nine of dia- 
monds. It may refer to the arms of Dalrympie, 
Earl of Stair — viz. or, on a saltire argent, nine 
lozenges of the first. The earl was justly held 
in abhorrence for the massacre of Glencoe, 
and he was also detested in Scotland for his 
share in bringing about the Union with 
England in 1707. The phrase seems to be 
first recorded in the early- 18th century, for in 
Houston’s Memoirs (1715-47) we are told that 
Lord Justice Clerk Ormistone became uni- 
versally hated in Scotland, where they called 
him the Curse of Scotland; and when the 
ladies were at cards playing the Nine of 
Diamonds (commonly called the Curse of 
Scotland) they called it the Justice Clerk. 

Other attempts at accounting for the nick- 
name are: (1) The nine of diamonds in the 
game of Pope Joan is called the Pope, the 
Antichrist of the Scottish reformers. (2) In 
the game of comette , introduced by Queen 
Mary, it is the great winning card, and the 
game was the curse of Scotland because it was 
the ruin of many families. (3) The word 


Cursitor 


258 


Cut 


“curse” is a corruption of cross , and the nine 
of diamonds is so arranged as to form a St. 
Andrew’s Cross; but as there is no evidence 
that the St. Andrew’s Cross was ever looked 
upon in Scotland as a curse, and as also the 
nine of hearts would do as well, this explana- 
tion must be abandoned. (4) Some say it was 
the card on which the “Butcher Duke” 
wrote his cruel order after the Battle of 
Culloden; but this took place in 1746, which 
would seem to make it too late for the reference 
given above. 

Grose says of the nine of diamonds: “Diamonds 
. . . imply royalty . . . and every ninth King of Scot- 
land has been observed for many ages to be a tyrant 
and a curse to the country .” — four Thro ’ Scotland, 
1789. 

Curst cows have curt horns. See Cow. 

Cursitor (kers' i tor). In the procedure of 
the old Courts of Chancery, which was 
revised in the mid- 19th century, the issue of 
writs by the court was done by 24 cursitors, 
who between them covered all the counties in 
England and Wales. The word comes from 
the Latin cursor , a runner, and refers to the 
long journeys they had to perform when 
issuing the writs. Cursitor Street, Chancery 
Lane, takes its name from the office of the 
cursitors, built by Sir Nicholas Bacon (1509- 
79), father of the great chancellor. 

Curtain. Curtain lecture. The nagging of a 
wife after she and her husband are in bed. 
See Caudi.e Lecture. 

Besides what endless brawls by wives are bred. 

The curtain lecture makes a mournful bed. 

DRYDrN. 

Curtain raiser. See Lever de ri df.au . 

To ring down the curtain. To bring a matter 
to an end. A theatrical term. When the play is 
over, the bell rings and the curtain comes down. 

The last words of Rabelais are said to have 
been, “Ring down the curtain, the farce is 
played out.” 

Curtal Friar (k£r' tal). Curtal was originally 
applied to horses — a “curtal horse” was one 
with its tail docked; hence the adjective came 
to be used for things in general that were cut 
down or shortened, and a “curtal friar” was 
one who wore a short cloak. In later use 
(especially by Scott) it acquired a vaguely 
derisory or belittling significance. 

Curtana (ker ta' na). The sword of mercy 
borne before the English kings at their corona- 
tion; it has no point and is hence shortened 
(O.Fr. curt ; Lat. curtus). It is called the sword 
of Edward the Confessor, which, having no 
point, was the emblem of mercy. The royal 
sword of England was so called to the reign of 
Henry III. 

But when Curtana will not do the deed 
You lay the pointless clergy-weapon by. 

And to the laws, your sword of justice, fly. 

Dryden: Hind and Panther, Pt. II, 419, 

Curthose (kert' hdz). Robert II, Duke of Nor- 
mandy (1087-1134); eldest son of William the 
Conqueror. He was also called “Short 
thigh,” as in Drayton’s The Tragical l Legend of 
Robert , Duke of Normandy , surnamed Short- 
thigh (1596). 


Curtmantle (kert' m&n t6l). Henry II. He 
introduced the Anjou mantle, which was 
shorter than the robe worn by his predecessors. 
(1133, 1154-89.) Cp . Caracalla. 

Curule Chair (kQ' rul). The chair of state 
among the ancient Romans; an elaborate kind 
of camp-stool inlaid with ivory, etc. As 
dictators, consuls, praetors, censors, and the 
chief ediles occupied such a chair, they were 
termed curule magistrates or curttles. The 
word is connected either with currus, a chariot 
— perhaps because the chair was originally 
intended for use in a chariot — or with curvus , 
through the shape of its legs. 

Cushcow Lady. A Yorkshire name for the 
ladybird ( q.v .). 

Cushion. Cushion dance. A lively dance in 
which kissing while kneeling on a cushion was 
a prominent feature; popular in early Stuart 
times. 

In our court in Queen Elizabeth’s time, gravity and 
state was kept up; in King James’s time things were 
pretty well; but in King Charles’s time there has been 
nothing but Trench-more and the cushion dance, 
omnium gatherum, tolly polly, hoyte cum toyte.-~ 
SELDEN’s Table Talk {King of England). 

The dance survived in rural districts until 
comparatively recent times, and is probably 
still practised. John Clare (1793-1864), the 
peasant poet of Northamptonshire, mentions 
it in his May- Day Ballad : — 

And then comes the cushion, the girls they all shriek. 
And fly to the door from the old fiddler’s squeak; 

But the doors they are fastened, so all must kneel 
down. 

And take the rude kiss from th’ unmannerly clown. 

To miss the cushion. To make a mistake; 
to miss the mark. 

Cuspidor. Name coined for a spittoon, 
brought into prominence by the habit of 
chewing tobacco; predominantly, but not 
entirely, of American usage. The word is 
found used in print before 1780. 

Cuss. A fellow, usually used with an epithet 
as in the case of “customer” (q.v.). Pre- 
sumably from “curse” which in 19th- 
century U.S. was found used in the same 
way. 

Cussedness. Perversity; malice prepense; 
an evil temper. In this sense the word seems 
to have been originally an Americanism; the 
M.E. word cursydnesse meant sheer wicked- 
ness. 

Custard Coffin. See Coffin. 

Customer. Slang for a man or a fellow in a 
general way; usually with some qualification, 
as, an ugly customer , a rum customer , a person 
better left alone, as he is likely to show fight if 
interfered with. Cp. Card. 

Custos Rotulorum ( keeper of the rolls). The 
chief civil officer or principal justice of the 
peace of a county, to whose custody are 
committed the records or rolls of the sessions. 

Cut. Cut and come again. Take a cut from 
the joint, and come for another if you like; a 
colloquial expression for “there’s plenty of it, 
have as much as you like.” It is used by 
Swift in Polite Conversation , ii. 




Cot and dried 


259 


Cut out 


Cut and dried. Already prepared. “He 
had a speech all cut and dried. The allusion 
is to timber, cut, dried, and fit for use. 

Sets of phrases, cut and dry, 

Evermore thy tongue supply. 

Swift: Betty the Grtzette. 

Cut and run. Be off as quickly as possible. 
A sea phrase, meaning cut your cable and run 
before the wind. 

Cut neither nails nor hair at sea. Petronius 
says : — 

Non licere cuiquam mortalium in nave neque 
unges neque capillos deponere, nisi cum pelago 
ventus irascitur. 

The cuttings of the nails and hair were votive 
offerings to Proserpine, and it would excite the 
jealousy of Neptune to make offerings to 
another in his own special kingdom. 

Cut no ice. Be of no account, make no 
impression, presumably borrowed from figure 
skating. 

To cut a swath. To make an impression. 
An American colloquialism usually used in 
the negative. A swath is the amount of grass 
or crop cut down with one sweep of a scythe. 

Cut out of whole cloth. Entirely false. 
Suggested probably by the mendacious claims 
of tailors* advertisements. 

The cut of his jib. The contour or expression 
of his face. A sailor’s phrase. The cut of a 
jib or foresail of a ship indicates her character, 
hence a sailor says of a suspicious vessel, he 
“does not like the cut of her jib.” 

Cut off with a shilling. Disinherited. 
Blackstone tells us that the Romans set aside 
those testaments which passed by the natural 
heirs unnoticed; but if any legacy was left, no 
matter how small, it proved the testator’s in- 
tention. English law has no such provision, 
but the notion at one time prevailed that the 
name of the heir should appear in the will; 
and if he was begueathed “a shilling,” that the 
testator had not forgotten him, but disinherited 
him intentionally. 

Cut your coat according to your cloth. See 
Coat. 

Cut your wisdom teeth. Sec Wisdom Tooth. 

Diamond cut diamond. See Diamond. 

He has cut his eye teeth. See Tooth. 

He’ll cut up well. He is rich, and his 
property will cut into good slices. 

His life was cut short. He died prematurely. 
The allusion is to Atropos, one of the three 
Parcae, cutting the thread of life spun by her 
sister Clotho. 

I must cut my stick. — i.e. leave. The Irish 
usually cut a shillelah before they start on 
an expedition. Punch gives the following 
derivation: — “Pilgrims on leaving the Holy 
Land used to cut a palm-stick, to prove that 
they had really been to the Holy Sepulchre. 
So brother Francis would say to brother Paul, 
‘Where is brother Benedict?* ‘Oh (says 
Paul), he has cut his stick ! * — i.e. he is on his 
way home.” 

9* 


To cut. To renounce acquaintance. There 
are four sorts of cut — 

(1) The cut direct is to stare an acquaintance 
in the face and pretend not to know him. 

(2) The cut indirect , to look another way, 
and pretend not to see him. 

(3) The cut sublime , to admire the top of 
some tall edifice or the clouds of heaven till the 
person cut has passed by. 

(4) The cut infernal , to stoop and adjust your 
boots till he has gone past. 

To cut a dash. To make a show; to get 
oneself looked at and talked about for a 
showy or striking appearance. “Dashing” 
means striking — i.e. showy, as a “dashing 
fellow,” a “ dashing equipage.” 

To cut blocks with a razor. To do some- 
thing astounding by insignificant means; to 
do something more eccentric than expedient; 
to “make pin-cushions of sunbeams” (Swift). 
The tale is that Accius Nievius, a Roman augur, 
opposed king Tarquin the Elder, who wished 
to double the number of senators. Tarquin 
sneered at his pretensions of augury, and 
asked if he could do what was then in his 
thoughts. “Undoubtedly,” replied Naevius; 
and Tarquin with a laugh said, “Why, [ was 
thinking whether I could cut through this 
whetstone with a razor.” “Cut boldly,” 
cried Nrevius, and the whetstone was cleft in 
two. This story forms the subject of the Bon 
Gaultier Ballads , and Goldsmith refers to it in 
his Retaliation— 

In short, ’twas his [Burke’s] fate, unemployed or in 
place, sir. 

To eat mutton cold, and cut blocks with a razor. 

To cut capers. See Capers. 

To cut one's comb. See Comb. 

To cut short is to shorten. “Cut short all 
intermission” ( Macbeth , IV, iii). 

To cut it short ( cp . Audley) means to bring 
to an end what you are doing or saying. 

To cut the ground from under one, or from 
under his feet. To leave an adversary no 
ground to stand on, by disproving all his 
arguments. 

To cut the knot To break through an 
obstacle. The reference is to the Gordian 
knot (q.v.) shown to Alexander, with the 
assurance that whoever loosed it would be 
made ruler of all Asia; whereupon the 
Macedonian cut it in two with his sword, and 
claimed to have fulfilled the prophecy. 

To cut the painter. See Painter. 

To cut up rough. To be disagreeable or 
quarrelsome about anything. 

Cut-off. The American equivalent of the 
English short cut. 

Cut out. Left in the lurch; superseded. In 
cards, when there are too many for a game 
(say whist), it is customary for the players to 
cut out after a rubber, in order that another 
player may have a turn. This is done by the 
players cutting the cards on the table, when the 
lowest turn-up gives place to the new hand. 


Cut 


260 


Cyclops 


He Is cut out for a sailor. His natural 
propensities are suited for the vocation. The 
allusion is to cutting out cloth* etc., for 
specific purposes. 

Cute. An American colloquialism for smart, 
pretty, attractive. It is a contraction of 

acute,” and is found in Nathan Bailey’s 
dictionary of 1721. 

Cuthbert. A name given during World War I 
to fit and healthy men of military age who, 
particularly in Government offices, were not 
’‘combed out” to go into the Army; also, of 
course, to one who actually avoided military 
service. It was coined by “ Poy,” the 
cartoonist of the Evening News , who rep- 
resented these civilians as frightened-looking 
rabbits. 

St. Cuthbert’s beads. See Bead. 

St. Cuthbert’s duck. The eider duck; so 
called because it breeds in the Fame Islands, 
St. Cuthbert’s headquarters, and figures in the 
legends of the saint. 

St. Cuthbert’s Stone, and Well. A granite 
rock in Cumberland, and a spring of water 
close by. 

Cuthbert Bede was the pen-name of the Rev. 
Edward Bradley (1827-89), author of Verdant 
Green (q.v.) and other pieces of Victorian 
humour. 

Cutler’s Poetry. Mere jingles or rhymes. 
Knives had, at one time, a distich inscribed 
on the blade by means of aqua fortis. 

Whose posy was 

For all the world like cutler’s poetry 
Upon a knife. 

Shakespeare: Merchant of Venice , V, i. 

Cutpurse. Now called “pickpocket.” The 
two words are of historical value. When 
purses were worn suspended from a girdle, 
thieves cut the string by which the purse was 
attached; but when pockets were adopted, 
and purses were no longer hung on the girdle, 
the thief was no longer a cutpurse, but became 
a pickpocket. 

To have an open ear, a quick eye, and a nimble 
hand, is necessary for a cutpurse.—- Shakespeare: 
Winter's Tale , IV, iii. 

Moll Cutpurse. The familiar name of Mary 
Frith (c. 1585-1660), a woman of masculine 
vigour, who often dressed as a man. She was 
a notorious thief and once attacked General 
Fairfax on Hounslow Heath, for which she 
was sent to Newgate. She escaped by bribery, 
and died at last of dropsy. Middleton and 
Dekker’s play, The Roaring Girl (1611) is 
founded on her doings. 

Cutteau, Cuttoe, Culto. A knife, from the Fr. 
couteau. It was in use in England and 
America from the 17th century until about 
1850. 

Cutter. A single-masted, deep-keeled and 
fore-and-aft rigged sailing vessel. The term is 
also applied to a light-armed naval vessel — a 
revenue cutter — used to prevent smuggling, 
etc. 

Cutter’s law. Not to see a fellow want 
while we have cash in our purse. Cutter’s law 


means the law of purse-cutters, robbers, 
brigands, and highwaymen. 

I must put you in cash with some of your old 
uncle’s broad-pieces. This is cutter’s law; we must 
not see a pretty fellow want, if we have cash ourselves. 
— Scott: Old Mortality , ch. ix. 

Cuttle. Captain Cuttle. An eccentric, kind- 
hearted sailor in Dickens’s Dombey and Son ; 
simple as a child, credulous of every tale, and 
generous as the sun. He is immortalized by 
his saying, “When found make a note of.” 
This phrase was adopted by Notes and Queries. 

Cutty. Scots for short, as cutty pipe , a 
short clay pipe, cutty spoons , cutty sark , a 
short-tailed shirt, a cutty , a stumpy girl or 
woman, cutty gun , a popgun. 

Cutty stool. A small stool on which 
offenders were placed in the Scottish church 
when they were about to receive a public 
rebuke. Cp. Stool of Repentance. 

Cwt. is C. centum , wt. weight , meaning hundred- 
weight. Cp. Dwt. 

Cyanean Rocks, The (si an' i £n). The Sym- 
plcgades, two movable rocks at the entrance 
of the Euxine, i.e. where the Bosphorus and 
Black Sea meet. They were said to close 
together when a vessel attempted to sail be- 
tween them, and thus crush it to pieces. 
Cyanean means blue-coloured , and Sym- 
plegades means dashers together. 

Cycle. A period or series of events or numbers 
which recur everlastingly in precisely the same 
order. 

Cycle of the moon, called “ Meton’s Cycle,” 
from Meton, who discovered it, is a period of 
nineteen years, at the expiration of which time 
the phases of the moon repeat themselves on 
the same days as they did nineteen years 
previously. See Callippic Period. 

Cycle of the sun. A period of twenty-eight 
years, at the expiration of which time the 
Sunday letters recur and proceed in the same 
order as they did twenty-eight years previously. 
In other words, the days of the month fall 
again on the same days of the week. 

The Platonic cycle or great year. That space 
of time which, according to ancient astron- 
omers, elapses before all the stars and constel- 
lations return to their former positions in 
respect to the equinoxes. Tycho Brahe 
calculated this period at 25,816 years, and 
Riccioli at 25,920. 

Cut out more work than can be done 

In Plato’s year, but finish none. 

Butler: Hudlbras, III, i. 

Cyclic Poets (si' klik). Epic poets who, on 
the death of Homer, caught the contagion of 
his poems, and wrote continuations, illustra- 
tions, or additions thereto. These poets 
wrote between 800 and 550 b.c., and were 
called cyclic because they confined themselves 
to the cycle of the Trojan war. The chief were 
Agias, Arctinos, Eugamon, Lesches, and 
Strasinos. 

Cyclops (si'klops) (Gr. circular-eye). One 
of a group of giants that, according to legend, 
inhabiteef Thrace. They had only one eye 
each, and that in the centre of their forehead. 




Cyclopean Masonry 


261 


D.O.M. 


and their work was to forge iron for Vulcan. 
They were probably Pelasgians, who worked in 
quarries, and attached a lantern to their 
forehead to give them light underground. Cp . 
Arimaspians. 

Cyclopean Masonry (si kid' pi&n). The old 
Pelasgic ruins of Greece, Asia Minor, and 
Italy, such as the Gallery of Tiryns, the Gate 
of Lions at Mycenae, the Treasury of Athens, 
and the Tombs of Phoroneus and Danaos. 
They are composed of huge blocks fitted to- 
gether without mortar, with marvellous 
nicety, and are fabled to be the work of the 
Cyclops (q.v.). The term is also applied to 
similar structures in many parts of the world. 

Cygnus. See Phaeton’s Bird. 

Cyllenius (si le' ni us). Mercury. So called 
from Mount Cyllene, in Peloponnesus, where 
he was born. 

Cymbeline. See Cassibelan, Cunobelin. 
Cymodoce (si mod' 6 si). A sea nymph and 
companion of Venus in Virgil’s Georgies (iv, 
338) and /Eneid (V, 826). In Spenser’s Faerie 
Queene (III, iv and IV, xii), she is a daughter of 
Nereus and mother of Marinell by Dumarin. 
She frees Florimel from the power of Proteus. 
The word means “wave-receiving.” 

The Garden of Cymodoce. Sark, one of the 
Channel Islands. It is the title of a poem 
by Swinburne in his Songs of the Springtides. 

Cynic (sin' ik). The ancient school of Greek 
philosophers known as the Cynics was founded 
by Antisthenes, a pupil of Socrates, and made 
famous by his pupil, Diogenes. They were 
ostentatiously contemptuous of ease, luxury, 
or wealth, and were given their name because 
Antisthenes held his school in the Gymnasium, 
Cynosarges (white dog), so called because a 
white dog once carried away part of a victim 
which was there being olTered to Hercules. 
The effigy over Diogenes’s pillar was a dog, 
with this inscription: — 

“Say, dog, I pray, what guard you in that tomb?” 
“A dog.” — “His name?” — "Diogenes.” — “From 
far?” 

“Sinope.” — “What! who made a tub his home?” 

“ The same; now dead, amongst the stars a star.” 

Cynic Tub, The. The tub from which 
Diogenes lectured. Similarly we speak of the 
“Porch” (tf.v.), meaning Stoic philosophy; 
the “Garden” (q.v.), Epicurean philosophy; the 
“Academy” (q. v.). Platonic philosophy ; and the 
“Colonnade,” meaning Aristotelian philo- 
sophy. 

[They] fetch their doctrines from the Cynic tub. 

Milton: Comus, line 708. 

Cynosure (sin' 6 shur). The Pole star; hence, 
the observed of all observers. Greek for 
dog's tail , and applied to the constellation 
called Ursa Minor. As seamen guide their 
ships by the north star, and observe it well, the 
word “cynosure” is used for whatever 
attracts attention, as “The cynosure of 
neighbouring eyes” (Milton), especially for 
guidance in some doubtful matter. 

Cynthia (sin' thi &). The moon; a surname of 
Artemis or Diana. The Roman Diana, who 
represented the moon, was called Cynthia from 
Mount Cynthus in Delos, where she was born. 


By Elizabethan poets — Spenser, Phineas 
Fletcher, Raleigh, Ben Jonson, and others — 
the name was one of the many applied to Queen 
Elizabeth I. 

Cypress. A funeral tree; dedicated by the 
Romans to Pluto, because when once cut it 
never grows again. It is said that its wood 
was formerly employed for making coffins; 
hence Shakespeare’s f Tn sad cypress let me be 
laid” (Twelfth Night , II, iv). 

Cypresse garlands are of great account at funeralls 
amongst the gentiler sort, but rosemary and bayes are 
used by the commons both at funeralls and weddings. 
They are plants which fade not a good while after they 
are gathered . . . and intimate that the remembrance 
of the present solemnity might not dye presently. — 
Coles: Introduction to the Knowledge of Plants. 

Cyprian (sip' ri &n). Cyprus was formerly 
famous for the worship of Venus; hence the 
adjective has been applied to lewd or profligate 
persons and prostitutes, 

A Night Charge at Bow Street Office; with other 
matters worth knowing, respecting the unfortunate 
Cyprian, the feeling Coachman, and the generous 
Magistrate. — Pierce Egan; Life In London, Bk. II, 
cb. ii. 

Cyprian brass, or ces Cyprium , copper. 
Pliny (Bk. XXXIV, c, ii) says, “in Cypro enim 
prima ceris inventio fuit.” 

Cyrano de Bergerac (se ra' no de bdr zh6r ak). 
Cyrano is mostly known as the eponymous hero 
of Rostand’s play, which appeared in 1897 
with Coquelin in the title-role. The real 
Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-55) was a novelist 
and dramatist, as well as a soldier and duellist — 
the latter largely on account of his great nose. 
His best-known book was Comic Histories of 
the States and Empires of the Moon , 1656. 
Czechoslovakia (che' kd sld v3k' y&). The 
name of the republic formed after World 
War I by the union of Bohemia, Moravia, 
Silesia, Slovakia and part of Ruthenia, under 
the presidency of Thomas Masaryk (1850- 
1937). The capital city is Prague. After 
appealing in vam to the Western powers for 
help, it was overrun by Nazi Germany in 
1938, regained its freedom in 1945, but fell into 
Communist hands in 1948. 


D 

D. This letter is the outline of a rude archway 
or door. It is called in Phoenician and 
Hebrew daleth (a door) and in Gr. delta (q.v.). 
In Egyptian hieroglyphics it is a man’s hand. 

D. or d. indicating a penny or pence, is the 
initial of the Lat. denarius (q.v.). 

As a Roman numeral D stands for 500, and 
represents the second half of CIO, the ancient 
Tuscan sjgn for one thousand. D with a dash 
over it (D) is 5,000. 

D.O. (Letter). Demi-official. A British War 
Office term for a letter on official business but 
addressed personally from one officer to 
another. 

D.O.M. An abbreviation of the Lat. Deo 
Optimo Maximo (to God the best, the greatest), 
or Datur omnibus mori (it is allotted to ail to 
die). 



D.T.S. 


262 


Dagger 


D.T.s. A contraction of delirium tremens. - 
Da Capo (D.C.). (Ital.) A musical tefm 
meaning, from the beginning — that is, finish 
with a repetition of the first strain. 

Dab. Clever, skilled; as “a dab-hand at it*’ 
The origin is unknown, but it has been sug- 
gested that it is a contraction of the Lat. 
adeptusy an adept. “Dabster” is another 
form. 

An Eton stripling, training for the law. 

A dunce at learning, but a dab at taw [marbles). 

Anon. : Logic; or t The Biter Bit. 

Dab, Din, etc. 

Hab Dab and David Din 
Ding the deil o’er Dabson's Linn. 

“Hab Dab” (Halbert Dobson) and “David 
Din” (David Dun) were Cameronians who 
lived in a cave near “Dabson’s Linn,” a 
waterfall near the head of Moffat Water. 

Here, legend relates, they encountered the devil in 
the form of a pack of dried hides, and after fighting 
him for some time, they “dinged” him into the 
waterfall. 

Dabbat ( Dabbatu 7-drz). In Mohammedan 
mythology the monster (literally “reptile of 
the earth”) that shall arise at the last day and 
cry that mankind has not believed in the 
Divine revelations. 

By some it is identified with the Beast of the 
Apocalypse. (Rev. xix, 19; xx, 10.) 

Dacia (da' si a). A Roman province in part 
of what is now Hungary. 

Dacoit (da koiff). This is an Urdu word 
meaning a robber. It is applied to the bands 
of robbers and pirates who infest the forests 
and rivers of Burma, and to organized bands 
of robbers in India. In Indian law dacoity 
means robbery with violence by not less than 
five men. 

Dactyls. Mythical beings connected with the 
worship of Cybele, in Crete, to whom is 
ascribed the discovery of iron. Their number 
was originally three — the Smelter, the Ham- 
mer, and the Anvil; but was afterwards in- 
creased to five males and five females, whence 
their name Dactyls or Fingers. 

In prosody a dactyl is a foot of three 
syllables, the first long and the others short 
(”’' v ) — again from the similarity to the joints 
of a finger. 

Dad or Daddy. A child’s word (common to 
many languages) for “father”; for example; 
Gaelic, daidein; Welsh, tad ; Cornish, tat ; 
Latin, tata, tatula (papa); Greek, tata y tetta % 
used by youths to an elder; Sanskrit, tata ; 
Lap. dadda . 

Dad and Dave. Two figures rapidly be- 
coming traditional in Australian humour. 
They first appeared in A. H. Davis’s On Our 
Selection , 1 899 ; but they have since been used 
extensively in radio serials. 

Daddy Long-legs. A crane-fly, applied also 
to the long-legged spiders called “harvest- 
men.” 

Dadaism (da' da izm). A school of art ? paint- 
ing, and writing that had its beginning in New 
York and Zurich in 1916, arising from indigna- 
tion and despair at the catastrophe of World 
War I and increasing with the ensuing peace. 
The artists endeavoured to free themselves 


from all previous artistic conventions in an 
iconoclastic attack on what they considered 
cultural shams. The movement died about 
1922 and was succeeded by Surrealism (q.v.). 
The name Dadaism was derived from the 
French phrase aller d dada y ride a cock-horse, 
and was chosen at random from a dictionary. 
Its principal exponents were Tristan Tzara, 
Max Ernst, Picabia. 

Daedalus (de' dk lus). A Greek who formed 
the Cretan labyrinth, and made for himself 
wings, by means of which he flew from Crete 
across the Archipelago. He is said to have 
invented the saw, the axe, the gimlet, etc., and 
his name is perpetuated in our dtedal , skilful, 
fertile of invention, dcedalian , labyrinthine or 
ingenious, etc. Cp. Icarus. 

Daedalus, Stephen (de' dk lus). The young 
man whose literary and moral development is 
described in James Joyce’s Portrait of the 
Artist as a Young Man. He also appears as a 
character in Ulysses. 

Daffodil. Legend says that the daffodil, or 
“Lent Lily,” was once white; but Persephone, 
who had wreathed her head with them and 
fallen asleep, was captured by Pluto, at whose 
touch the white flowers turned to a golden 
yellow. Ever since the flower has been planted 
on graves. Theophilus and Pliny tell us that 
they grow on the banks of Acheron and that 
the spirits of the dead delight in the flower, 
called by them the Asphodel. In England it 
used to be called the Affodil. (Fr. asphodile ; 
Lat. asphodelus : Gr. asphodelos.) 

An attempt was made in the 20th century in 
Britain to introduce it as the national emblem 
of Wales because the leek was considered 
vulgar. 

Flour of daffodil is a cure for madness. — Med. MS. 
Lincoln Cathedral , f. 282. 

Dagger or Long Cross (t). used for reference 
to a note after the asterisk (*), is a Roman 
Catholic character, originally employed in 
church books, prayers of exorcism, at bene- 
dictions, and so on, to remind the priest where 
to make the sign of the cross. It is some- 
times called an obelisk. (Gr. obclos t a spit.) 

In the arms of the City of London, the 
dagger commemorates Sir William Walworth’s 
dagger, with which he slew Wat Tyler in 1381. 
Before this time the cognizance of the City was 
the sword of St. Paul. 

Dagger ale. The ale of the Dagger t a low- 
class gambling-house in Holborn, famous in 
Elizabethan times for its strong drink, furmety, 
and meat-pies. There was another tavern of 
the same name in Cheapside. The exact site 
of neither is known. 

My lawyer’s clerk I lighted on last night 

In Holborn at the Dagger. 

Ben Jonson: The Alchemist , I, i. 

Dagger-scene in the House of Commons. 
Edmund Burke, during the French Revolution, 
threw down a dagger on the floor of the House, 
exclaiming as he did so: “There’s French 
fraternity for you! Such is the weapon which 
French Jacobins would plunge into the heart 
of our beloved king.” Sheridan spoilt the 
dramatic effect, and set the House in a roar 
by his remark: “The gentleman, I see, has 



Daggte-tail 


263 


Damask 


brought his knife with him, but where is his 
fork? ” Cp . Coup de Theatre. 

Daggle-tail or Draggle-tail, A slovenly 
woman, the bottom of whose dress trails in the 
dirt. Dag (of uncertain origin) means loose 
ends, mire or dirt; whence dag-locks , the soiled 
locks of a sheep’s fleece, and dag- wool, refuse 
wool. 

Dago (d5 go). An epithet, applied, generally 
disparagingly, to Italians mostly, but also to 
Spaniards and Portuguese. It originated in 
the U.S.A. from the prevalence at one time 
of the Christian name Diego. 

Dagobert (dag' 6 bert). King Dagobert and St. 
Eloi. There is a popular French song with this 
title. St. Eloi tells the king his coat has a hole 
in it, and the king replies, “C'est vrai , le tien 
est bon; prete-le moi .” After many such 
complaints and answers St. Eloi says, “My 
lord, death is at hand!” “Why can't you 
die instead of me? ” says the king. From the 
Revolution onwards many adaptations of this 
song have been made suited to the political 
events of the times. In 1814 it became very 
popular on account of verses against Napoleon 
and the Russian campaign and was forbidden 
by the police. The return of the Bourbons 
produced other topical verses. 

Dagon. A god of the Philistines, supposed — 
from very uncertain etymological and mytho- 
logical indications — to have been symbolized 
as half woman and half fish. 

Dagon his name; sca-monster, upward man 
And downward fish; yet had his temple high 
Rear’d in Azotus, dreaded through the coast 
Of Palestine, in Gath and Ascalon, 

And Accaron and Gaza’s frontier bounds. 

Milton: Paradise Lost , 1, 462. 

Dagonct, Sir. The fool of King Arthur in 
the Arthurian legends; he was knighted by the 
king himself. 

“Dagonet” was the name under which 
G. R. Sims' (1847-1922) wrote weekly articles 
in the Referee which were very popular in their 
day. 

Daguerreotype (da gar' 6 tipL A photographic 
process invented by L. J. M. Daguerre (1789- 
1851) and J. N. Niepce (d. 1833). The process, 
which was introduced in 1839, consisted in 
exposing in a camera a plate of silvered copper 
on which a film of silvered iodide had been 
formed by iodine vapour. It was the first 
photographic process to yield a technically 
good result. 

Dahlia (da' ly&). This plant, bearing strik- 
ingly beautiful flowers, was discovered in 
Mexico by Humboldt in 1789; he sent speci- 
mens to Europe, and in 1791 it was named in 
honour of Andrew Dahl, the Swedish botanist 
and pupil of Linnaeus. It was cultivated in 
France in 1802, and two years later in England. 

Daibutsu (dl but' soo). The great bronze 
Buddha at Kamakura, formerly the capital of 
Nippon (Japan). It is in a sitting posture, 
and is 50 ft. high and 97 ft. in circumference; 
the face is 8 ft. long and the thumbs a yard 
round. 


Above the old songs turned to ashes and pain, 

Un^er which Death enshrouds the idols and trees with 
mist of sigh, 

(Where are Kamakura's rising days and life of old?) 
With heart heightened to hush, the Daibutsu for ever 
sits.> ‘ Y^one Noguchi. 

Daikoku (da e' kfl ku). Oho of tie seven 
gods of^Good Fortune in the Japanese pan- 
theon; he is invoked specially by artisans. 

Dais. The raised floor at the head of a 
dining-room, designed for the high, or 
principal, tabic, but originally the high table 
itself ; from Late Lat. discus , a table. The word 
was also used (as it still is in French) for a 
canopy, especially the canopy over the high 
table. Hence, Sous le dais , in the midst of 
grandeur. 

Daisy. Ophelia gives the queen a daisy to 
signify “that her light and fickle love ought 
not to expect constancy in her husband.” So 
the daisy is explained by Greene to mean a 
Quip for an upstart courtier. 

The word is Day's eye (O.E. deeges eage) % and 
the flower is so called because it closes its 
pinky lashes and goes to sleep when the sun 
sets, but in the morning expands its petals to 
the light. Cp. Violet. 

That well by reason men calle it maie, 

The daisie, or else the eie of daie. 

Chaucer; Legend of Good Women ( Prol .). 
Daisy-roots. Legend says that these, like 
dwarf-elder berries, stunt the growth, a super- 
stition which probably arose from the notion 
that everything had the property of bestowing 
its own speciality on others. Cp. Fern Seed. 
She robbed dwarf-elders of their fragrant fruit 
And fed him early with the daisy root. 

Whence through his veins the powerful juices ran. 
And formed the beauteous miniature of man. 

Tickell: Kensington Gardens. 
Dak-bungalow. See Bungalow. 

Dalai-Lama. See Lama. 

Dalkey, King of. A burlesque officer, like 
the Mayor of Garratt (?.v.). Dalkey is a small 
island in St. George’s Channel, near Dun 
Laoghaire, to the south of Dublin Bay. 

Dalmatica or Dalmatic (dal mat' i ka). A 
vestment open in front, reaching to the knees, 
worn by Roman Catholic bishops and deacons 
over the alb or stole. It is imitation of the regal 
vest of Dalmatia, and was imported into Rome 
by the Emperor Commodus. 

A similar robe is worn by kings at corona- 
tions and other great solemnities. 

Daltonism. See Colour-blindness. 

Dam. The female parent of animals such as 
the horse, sheep, etc.; the counterpart of 
“sire”; when used of human beings the word 
has always a very opprobious significance. It 
is another form o i dame. See the Devil and 
his Dam. 

Damascening (d&m a sen' ing). Producing 
upon steel a blue tinge and ornamental figures, 
sometimes inlaid with gold and silver, as in 
Damascus blades; so called from Damascus, 
which was celebrated in the Middle Ages for 
this class of ornamental art. 

Damask. Linens and silks first made at 
Damascus, imitated by the French and 




Damiens' Bed of Steel 


264 


Dance 


Flemish. Introduced into England by refugee 
Flemish weavers about 1570. The damask 
rose was brought to England from Southern 
Europe by Dr. Linacre, physican to Henry 
VIII, about 15f0. “ 

Damiens’* Bed Of Steel (dim 7 i enz). Robert 
Francis Damiens, in 1757, attempted the life 
of Louis XV. As a punishment, and to strike 
terror into the hearts of all regicides, he was 
chained to an iron bed that was heated, his 
right hand was burned in a slow fire, his flesh 
was torn with pincers and the wounds dressed 
with molten lead, boiling wax, oil, and resin, 
and he was ultimately torn to pieces by wild 
horses. 

Damn. Not worth a damn. Worthless; not 
even worth cursing. The derivation of the 
phrase from the Indian coin, a dam (96 to the 
penny) has no foundation in fact. Goldsmith, 
in his Citizen of the World , uses the expression, 
*Not that I care three damns.” Another 
vague imprecation, said to have been com- 
monly used by the great Duke of Wellington, 
is Not a twopenny damn. 

To damn with faint praise. To praise in such 
measured terms as to deprive the praise of 
any real value. 

Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, 

And, without sneering, teach the rest to sneer. 

Pope: Epistle to Arbutfmot. 

Damocles’s Sword. Impending evil or danger. 
Damocles, a sycophant of Dionysius the Elder, 
of Syracuse, was invited by the tyrant to try 
the felicity he so much envied. Accepting, he 
was set down to a sumptuous banquet, but 
overhead was a sword suspended by a hair. 
Damocles was afraid to stir, and the banquet 
was a tantalizing torment to him. 

Damon (da' mon). The name of a goatherd 
in Virgil's Eclogues , and hence used by pastoral 
poets for rustic swains. 

Damon and Pythias. A type of inseparable 
friends. They were Syracusans of the first 
half of the 4th century b.c.: Pythias being 
condemned to death by Dionysius the tyrant, 
obtained leave to go home to arrange his 
affairs after Damon had agreed to take his 
place and be executed should Pythias not 
return. Pythias being delayed, Damon was 
led to execution, but his friend arrived just in 
time to save him. Dionysius was so struck 
with this honourable friendship that he 
pardoned both of them. 

Damper. An Australian term for bread baked 
in the ashes of a fire. It was in use in the 
1820s. Small dampers are called “beggars-on- 
the-coals”; of a somewhat similar nature are 
the Australian “johnny-cakes”. 

Damsel. Its usual meaning is a virgin, a 
maiden, often a waiting-maid. From the old 
French damoisele , the feminine form of 
damoiseU a squire; this is from Med. Lat. 
domicellus , a contracted form of dominicellus , 
the diminutive of do minus, lord. ( Cp . 
Donzel.) In mediaeval France the domicellus 
or damoiseau was the son of a king, prince, 
knight, or lord before he entered the order of 


knighthood; the king's bodyguards were 
called his damoiseaux or damsels. Froissart 
styles Richard II le jeune damolsel Richart , 
and Louis VII (Le Jeune) was called the royal 
damsel. 

Damson. Originally called the Damascene 
plum , from Damascus , it having been imported 
from Syria. 

Dan. A title of honour meaning Sir or 
Master (Lat. do minus, cp. Span. Don), common 
with the old poets, as Dan Phoebus, Dan Cupid, 
Dan Neptune, Dan Chaucer, etc. (Cp. Dom.) 
Dan Chaucer, well of English undefiled. 

On Fame’s eternal beadroll worthy to be filed. 

Spenser: Faerie Queene , IV, ii 32. 
From Dan to Beersheba. From one end of 
the kingdom to the other; all over the world; 
everywhere. The phrase is Scriptural, Dan 
being the most northern and Beersheba the 
most southern cities of the Holy Land. We 
have a similar expression, “From Land's End 
to John o' Groats.” 

Danace (dan' as). An ancient Persian coin, 
worth rather more than the Greek obolus (q.v.), 
and sometimes, among the Greeks, placed in 
the mouth of the dead to pay their passage 
across the ferry of the Lower World. 

Danae (dan 7 a e). An Argive princess, daugh- 
ter of Acrisius, King of Argos. He, told that 
his daughter's son would put him to death, 
resolved that Danae should never marry, and 
accordingly locked her up in an inaccessible 
tower. Zeus foiled the king by changing 
himself into a shower of gold, under which 
guise he readily found access to the fair 
prisoner, and she thus became the mother of 
Perseus. 

Danaides (dan i dez). The fifty daughters of 
Danaus, King of Argos. They married the 
fifty sons of ^Egyptus, and all but Hyperm- 
nestra, wife of Lynceus, at the command of 
their father murdered their husbands on their 
wedding night. They were punished in Hades 
by having to draw water everlastingly in sieves 
from a deep well. 

Dance. I’ll lead you a pretty dance. I'll 
bother or put you to trouble. The French say, 
Donner le bal d quelqttun. The reference is to 
the complicated dances of former times, when 
all followed the leader. 

St. Vitus’s dance. See Vitus. 

To dance and pay the piper. To work hard 
to amuse and to have to bear all the expense 
and take all the trouble oneself as well. The 
allusion is to Matt . xi, 17: — “We have piped 
unto you, and ye have not danced.” 

To dance attendance. To wait obsequiously, 
to be at the beck and call of another. It was an 
ancient custom at weddings for the bride, no 
matter how tired she was, to dance with 
every guest. 

Then must the poore bryde kepe foote with a 
dauncer, and refuse none, how scabbed, foule, 
droncken, rude, and shameless soever he be.--~CHRis- 
TEN: State of Matrimony , 1543. 

I had thought 

They had parted so much honesty among them 
(At least, good manners) as not thus to suffer 
A man of his place, and so near our favour. 

To dance attendance on their lordships’ pleasures. 

Shakespeare: Henry VI f I, V, ii. 




Dance 


265 


Dando 


To dance upon nothing. To be hanged. 

Dance of Death. An allegorical representa- 
tion of Death leading all sorts and conditions 
of men in a dance to the grave, originating in 
Germany in the 14th century as a kind of 
morality play, quickly becoming popular in 
France and England, and surviving later 
principally by means of pictorial art. There is 
a series of woodcuts, said to be by Hans 
Holbein (1538), representing Death dancing 
after all sorts of persons, beginning with Adam 
and Eve. He is beside the judge on his 
bench, the priest in the pulpit, the nun in her 
cell, the doctor in his study, the bride, and the 
beggar, the king and the infant; but he is 
“swallowed up at last.” 

On the north side of Old St. Paul’s was a cloister, on 
the walls of which was painted, at the cost of John 
Carpenter, town clerk of London (15th century), a 
“Dance of Death,” or “Death leading all the estate, 
with speeches of Death, and answers,” by John 
Lydgate. The Death-Dance in the Dominican Con- 
vent of Basle was retouched by Holbein. 

Dances, National. When Handel was asked 
to point out the peculiar taste of the different 
nations of Europe in dancing, he ascribed the 
minuet to the French, the saraband to the 
Spaniard, the arietta to the Italian, and the 
hornpipe and the morris-donee to the English. 
To these might be added the reel to the Scots, 
and the jig to the Irish. 

Astronomical dances , invented by the Egyptians, de- 
signed to represent the movements of the heavenly 
bodies. 

The Bacchic dances were of three sorts: grave (like our 
minuet), gay (like our gavotte), and mixed (like our 
minuet and gavotte combined). 

The danse champetre , invented by Pan, quick and 
lively. The dancers ( in the open air) wore wreaths of 
oak and garlands of flowers. 

Children's dances , in Lacedtcmonia, in honour of 
Diana. The children were nude; and their move- 
ments were grave, modest, and graceful. 
Corybantic dances , in honour of Bacchus, accom- 
panied with timbrels, fifes, flutes, and a tumultuous 
noise produced by the clashing of swords and 
spears against brazen bucklers. 

Funereal dances , in Athens, slow, solemn dances in 
which the priests took part. The performers wore 
long white robes, and carried cypress slips in their 
hands. 

Hymeneal dances were lively and joyous. The dancers 
were crowned with flowers. 

Jewish donees. David danced in certain religious 
processions (II Sam. vi, 14). The people sang and 
danced before the golden calf ( Exoct . xxxij. 19). 
And in the book of Psalms (cl, 4) we read. “Praise 
Him v.ith the timbrel and dance.” Miriam, the 
sister of Moses, after the passage of the Red Sea, 
was followed by all the women with timbrels and 
dances ( Exod . xv, 20). 

Of the Lapithce , invented by Pirithous. These were ex- 
hibited after some famous victory, and were de- 
signed to imitate the combats of the Centaurs and 
Lapiih®. These dances were both difficult and 
dangerous. 

May-day dances at Rome. At daybreak lads and lasses 
went out to gather “May” and other flowers for 
themselves and their elders; and the day was spent 
in dances and festivities. 

Military dances. The oldest of all dances executed with 
swords, javelins, and bucklers. Said to be invented 
by Minerva to celebrate the victory of the gods over 
the Titans. 

Nuptial dances. A Roman pantomimic performance 
resembling the dances of our Harlequin and 
Columbine. 

Pyrrhic dance. See Pyrrhic. 


Salic dances , instituted by Numa Pompilius in honour 
of Mars. They were executed by twelve priests 
selected from the highest of the nobility, an£ the 
dances were performed in the temple while sacrifices 
were being made and hytqns sung to the god. 

The Dancing Dervishes pefebr^te their 
religious rites with dances, which consist 
chiefly of spinning round and round a little 
allotted space, not in couples, but each one 
alone. 

In ancient times the Gauls, the Germans, the 
Spaniards, and the English had their sacred 
dances. In fact, in all religious ceremonies the 
dance was, and in many religions still is, an 
essential part of divine worship. 

Dancing Chancellor, The, Sir Christopher 
Hatton (1540-91) was so called, because he 
first attracted Queen Elizabeth Vs notice by his 
graceful dancing in a masque at Court. He 
was Lord High Chancellor from 1587 till his 
death. 

His bushy beard, and shoestrings green. 

His high-crowned hat and satin doublet, 

Moved the stout heart of England’s queen. 

Though Pope and Spaniard could not trouble it. 

Gray: A Long Story. 

Dancing-water. A magic elixir, common to 
many fairy-tales, which beautifies ladies, 
makes them young again, and enriches them. 
In the Countess d’Aulnoy’s Contes des Fees it 
fell in a cascade in the Burning Forest, and 
could only be reached by an underground 
passage. Prince Chery fetched a bottle of it 
for his beloved Fair-star, but was aided by a 
dove. 

Dandelion (dan' de li on). The leaves of the 
plant have jagged, tooth-like edges; hence its 
name, which is a form of the M.E. dent de 
lyoun , from Fr. dent de lion , lion tooth. Its 
Lat. name is Taraxacum dens leonis. 

Dander. Is your dander up or riz? Is your 
anger excited? Arc you in a rage? This is 
generally considered to be an Americanism, 
but it is of uncertain origin, and as a synonym 
for anger has been a common dialect word in 
several English counties. In the present 
sense it is more likely that it is one of the words 
(like waffle, and hook for a point of land) 
imported into America by the early Dutch 
colonists, from dander , thunder; the Dutch 
op donderen is to burst into a sudden rage. 

He was as spunky as thunder, and when a Quaker 
gets his dander up, it's like a Northwester. 

Sebar Smith: Letters of Major Jack Downing (1830). 

Dandie Dinmont. Aiovial, true-hearted store- 
farmer, in Scott’s Guy Mannering . Also a 
hardy, hairy short-legged terrier. 

From this dog descended Davidson of Hyndlee’s 
breed, the original Dandic-Dinmont. — T. Brown: 
Our Dogs. 

Dandiprat (d3n' di prat). A small coin issued 
in the reign of Henry VII, value three half- 
pence. The term was also applied to a dwarf 
and to a page — perhaps much as we now speak 
of a “little twopenny-na’penny fellow”; and in 
his translation of Virgil’s /Eneid \ Bk. I (1582) 
Stanyhurst calls Cupid a “dandiprat.” 

Dando (d£n' do). One who frequents hotels, 
restaurants, and such places, satisfies his 
appetite, and decamps without payment. 



Dandy 


266 


Darius 


From Dando. hero of many popular songs in 
the early 19tn century, who was famous for 
this. 

Dandy. A coxcomb ; a fop. The term seems 
to have pririnated in Scotland in the late 18th 
century, knd mat be merely the name Andrew , 
or a corruption of dandiprat ( q.v .) or of the 
earlier Jack-a-dandy. 

In paper-making the dandy y or dandy-ro\ler % 
is the cylinder of wire gauze which comes into 
contact with paper while on the machine in a 
wet and elementary stage. It impresses the 
watermark, and also the ribs in “laid” papers. 

Dane-geld. A tribute paid by the English to 
stop the ravages of the Danes in the late 10th 
and early 11th centuries. 

Dannebrog or Danebrog (dSn' e brog). The 
national flag of Denmark (brog is Old Danish 
for cloth). The tradition is that Waldemar II 
of Denmark saw in the heavens a fiery cross 
which betokened his victory over the Esto- 
nians (1219). This story is very similar to that 
of Constantine (see under Cross) and of St. 
Andrew’s Cross. 

The order of Danebrog. The second of the 
Danish orders of knighthood; instituted in 
1219 by Waldemar II, restored by Christian V 
in 1671, and several times modified since. 

Dannocks. Hedging-gloves. The word is said 
to be a corruption of Doornick , the Flemish 
name of Tournay, where they may have been 
originally manufactured. Cp. Dornick. 

Dansker (d&n' sker). A Dane. Denmark 
used to be called Danske. Hence Polonius 
says to Reynaldo, “Inquire me first what 
Danskers are in Paris.” ( Hamlet , II, i.) 

Dante and Beatrice (d&n' te, be' a tris, ba a 
tre' chi). Beatrice Portinari, was only eight 
years old when the poet first saw her. His 
abiding love for her was pure as it was tender. 
Beatrice married a nobleman, named Simone 
de Bardi, and died young, in 1290. Dante 
married Gemma, of the powerful house of 
Donati. In the Divina Commedia the poet is 
conducted first by Virgil (who represents 
human reason) through hell and purgatory; 
then by the spirit of Beatrice (who represents 
the wisdom of faith); and finally by St. 
Bernard (who represents the wisdom from on 
high). 

Dantesque (dan' tesk). Dante-like — that is, 
a minute lifelike representation of horrors, 
whether by words, as in the poet, or in visible 
form, as in Dora’s illustrations of the Inferno. 

Daphne (d&f' ni). Daughter of a river-god, 
loved by Apollo. She fled from the amorous 
god, and escaped by being changed into a 
laurel, thenceforth the favourite tree of the 
sun-god. 

Daphnis (daf' nis). In Greek mythology, a 
Sicilian shepherd who invented pastoral poetry. 
He was a son of Mercury and a Sicilian nymph, 
was protected by Diana, and was taught by 
Pan and the Muses. 

The lover of Chloe (q.v.) in the Greek 
pastoral romance of Longus, in the 4th century. 


Daphnis was the model of Allan Ramsay’s 
Gentle Shepherd \ and the tale is the basis of 
St. Pierre’s Paul and Virginia . 

Dapple. The name given in Smollett’s 
translation of Don Quixote to Sancho Panza’s 
donkey (in the original it has no name). The 
word is probably connected with Icel. depilf 
a spot, and means blotched, speckled in 
patches. A dapple-grey horse is one of a light 
grey shaded with a deeper hue; a dapple-bay 
is a light bay spotted with bay of a deeper 
colour. 

Darbies. Handcuffs. Probably so-called from 
a personal name; the phrase “father Derbies 
bands ” for handcuffs is found in George 
Gascoigne’s Steele Glas y 1576. 

Hark ye! Jem Clink will fetch you the darbies. — 
Scott: Pevcril of the Peak. 

Johnny Darbies, policemen, is a perversion 
of the Fr. gendarmes , in conjunction with 
the above. 

Darby and Joan. The type of loving, old- 
fashioned, virtuous couples. The names 
belong to a ballad written by Henry Woodfall, 
and the characters are said to be John Darby, 
of Bartholomew Close, who died 1730, and his 
wife, “As chaste as a picture cut in alabaster. 
You might sooner move a Scythian rock than 
shoot lire into her bosom.” Woodfall 
served his apprenticeship to John Darby; but 
another account localizes the couple in the 
West Riding of Yorkshire. 

The French equivalent is C'est St. Roch et 
son duett. 

Darbyites (dar' bi itz). A name sometimes 
given to the Plymouth Brethren (r/.v.), from 
John Nelson Darby (1800-82), the founder. 

Dardanelles (dar da nelz'). The entrance to 
the Straits of Gallipoli, commanded by the 
two forts of Sestos and Abydos, built by the 
Sultan Mahomet IV in 1659, and taking their 
name from the adjacent town of Dardanus. 
The British fleet passed through the Straits in 
1807 and 1853; but the campaign to force the 
Straits in 1915 was unsuccessful. 

Daric. An ancient Persian gold coin, probably 
so called from dara y a king (see Darius), much 
in the same way as our sovereign , but perhaps 
from Assyrian dariku , weight. Its value is 
put at about 23s. There was also a silver 
daric, worth one twentieth of the gold. 

Darien, Isthmus of (dar' i 6n). Central Ameri- 
ca, discovered by Columbus, 1494. Balboa 
crossed the isthmus and first saw the Pacific, 
1513. “Silent, upon a peak in Darien” — 
Keats, On First looking into Chapman s Homer 
(where the poet erroneously refers to Cortez). 

Darius (da ri' us). A Greek form of Persian 
dara, a king, or of Sanskrit darj y the maintainer. 
Gushtasp, or Kishtasp assumed the title on 
ascending the throne in 521 B.c., and is 
generally known as Darius the Great. 

Legend relates that seven Persian princes 
agreed that ho should be king whose horse 
neighed first; and the horse of Darius was the 
first to neigh. 



Dark 


267 


Daughter 


It is said that Darius III (Codomanus), the 
last king of Persia, who was conquered by 
Alexander the Great (331 B.c.), when Alex- 
ander succeeded to the throne, sent to him for 
the tribute of golden eggs, but the Macedonian 
answered, “The bird which laid them is flown 
to the other world, where Darius must seek 
them.** The Persian king then sent him a bat 
and ball, in ridicule of his youth; but Alexan- 
der told the messengers, with the bat he would 
beat the ball of power from their master's 
hand. Lastly, Darius sent him a bitter melon 
as emblem of the grief in store for him; but 
the Macedonian declared that he would make 
the Shah eat his own fruit. 

Dark. A dark horse. A racing term for a 
horse of good pretensions, but of which 
nothing is positively known by the general 
public. The epithet is applied to a person 
whose abilities are untried or whose probable 
course of action is unknown. 

A leap in the dark. A step the consequences 
of which cannot be foreseen. Thomas Hobbes 
is reported to have said on his death-bed, 
“Now am I about to take my last voyage — a 
great lean in the dark." 

In 1868 Lord Derby applied the words to 
the Reform Bill. 

The Dark Ages. The earlier centuries of 
the Middle Ages (u.v.); so called because of 
the intellectual darkness thought to be 
characteristic of the period. Hallam con- 
sidered this term to apply to the period lasting 
from a.d. 475 to about the middle of the 12th 
century. 

Dark and bloody ground. Kentucky. So 
called by the Indians because of the fierce wars 
waged in the forests, and later so known by the 
whites for the same reason in their struggle 
against the red man. 

Dark Lady of the Sonnets. See under Lady, 

The dark Continent. Africa; concerning 
which the world was so long “in the dark,” 
and which, also, is the land of dark races. 

The darkest hour is that before the dawn. 
When things have come to their worst, they 
must mend. In Lat., Post nubila P fur bus. 

To keep dark. To lie perdu; to lurk in 
concealment. 

To keep it dark. To keep it a dead secret; 
to refuse to enlighten anyone about the matter. 

To darken one’s door. To cross one’s 
threshold: almost entirely used only in a 
threatening way, as “Don’t you dare to 
darken my door again!” 

Darkie. A former colloquial name for an 
American Negro, found as early as 1775. 

Darley Arabian. In 1704 Thomas Darley sent 
from Aleppo to his father Richard Darley, of 
Aldby Park, Yorks, an Arab horse of the best 
Maneghi breed. From this thoroughbred 
stallion came a famous breed of race-horses, 
including Eclipse (q.v.) who was Darley 
Arabians great-grandson. 

It is interesting to note that the entire 
thoroughbred race throughout the world is 


descended from three Arabs, of which Darley 
Arabian was one. The others were Byerley 
Turk, the charger of Capt. Byerley at the 
Battle of the Boyne, and Godolphin Arabian, 
brought to England in 1730 by Edward Coke, 
from whose hands he passed into the possession 
of the Earl of Godolphin. 

Darn and dern are minced forms of damn and 
date from the late 18th and early 19th cen- 
turies. 

Darnex. See Dornick. 

Dart. See Abaris. 

D’Artagnan fdar ta ny6n). The hero of 
Dumas’s novels The Three Musketeers , 
Twenty Years After , etc., was a real man— 
Charles de Baatz, Seigneur d’Artagnan, a 
Gascon gentleman who was born at Lupiac 
in 161 1. He rose to be captain in Louis XIV’s 
Mousquetaires and eventually became general 
of brigade. He was killed at the siege of 
Maestricht, in 1673. Dumas and his col- 
laborator Maquet worked up the story from 
the Mi moires de M. D' Artagnan , written by 
Courtilz de Sandras and published in Cologne, 
1701-02. 

Darwinian Theory. Charles Darwin (1809-82) 
published in 1859 Origin of Species r to prove 
that the numerous species now existing on the 
earth sprang originally from one or at most a 
few primal forms; and that the present 
diversity is due to special development and 
natural selection. In recent times the 
Darwinian theory has undergone very con- 
siderable modification but it is still the basis 
of scientific research. 

Dash. One dash under a word in MS. means 
that the part so marked must be printed in 
italics; two dashes means small capitals; three 
dashes, large capitals. 

Cut a dash. See Cut. 

Dash my wig, buttons, etc. Dash is a 
euphemism for “damn,” and the words wig , 
buttons , etc., are relics of a fashion at one time 
adopted in comedies and by “mashers” of 
swearing without using profane language. 

Date. Not up to date. Not in the latest 
fashion, behind the times. 

To have a date. To have an appointment, 
more particularly with someone of the 
opposite sex. 

Datum Line (da' turn). A term used in survey- 
ing and engineering to describe a line from 
which all heights and depths are measured. 
The datum line upon which the Ordnance 
Survey maps of Great Britain arc based was, 
until 1921, the mean sea-level at Liverpool; 
since that date it has been the mean sea-level 
at Newlyn, Cornwall. 

Daughter. The daughter of Peneus. The 
bay-tree was so called because it grew in 
greatest perfection on the banks of the River 
Peneus. 

The daughter of the horseleech. One very 
exigent; one for ever sponging on another, 
Prov. xxx, 15. 

The horseleech hath two daughters crying. 

Give, Give. 


Dauphin 


268 


Day 


The scavenger’s daughter. See Scavenger. 

Dauphin (daw' fin). The heir of the French 
crown under the Valois and Bourbon dynas- 
ties. Guy VIII. Count of Vienne, was the 
first so styled, because he wore a dolphin as 
his cognizance. The title descended in the 
family till 1349, when Humbert III ceded his 
scigneurie, the Dauphine, to Philippe VI (de 
Valois), one condition being that the heir of 
France assumed the title of le dauphin. The 
first French prince so called was Jean, who 
succeeded Philippe; and the last was the Due 
d’Angouleme, son of Charles X, who re- 
nounced the title in 1830. 

Grand Dauphin. Louis, Due de Bourgogne 
(1661-1711), eldest son of Louis XIV, for 
whose use were published the Dclphin Classics 
(tf.v.). 

Second or Little Dauphin. Louis, son of the 
Grand Dauphin (1682-1712). 

Davenport (dav' 6n port). This word, which 
owes its origin to the name of some now- 
forgotten craftsman, is applied to two different 
articles of furniture; one kind of davenport is 
a small desk with drawers on each side; the 
other is a large upholstered sofa or settee that 
can also be made up into a bed. 

Davenport Brothers, The. Two impostors 
from America whose alleged spiritualistic 
manifestations caused a great sensation in the 
early 1 860s. The imposture was exposed in 1 865. 

David. In Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel 
( q.v .), represents Charles II. 

Once more the godlike David was restored 
And willing nations knew their lawful lord. 

St. David. The patron saint of Wales (d. 
544): legend relates that he was son of Xantus, 
Prince of Cereticu, now called Cardiganshire; 
he was brought up a priest, became an ascetic 
in the Isle of Wight, preached to the Britons, 
confuted Pelagius, and was preferred to the see 
of Caerleon or Menevia. Here the saint had 
received his early education, and when Dyvrig, 
the archbishop, resigned his see to him, St. 
David removed the archiepiscopal residence to 
Menevia, which was henceforth called St. 
David’s. Cp. Taffy. 

David and Jonathan. A type of inseparable 
friends. Similar examples of friendship were 
Pylades and Orestes (q.v.); Damon and Pythias 
(q.v.); etc. 

I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan. Very 
pleasant hast thou been to me. Thy love to me was 
wonderful, passing the love of women. — II Sam. i, 26. 

Davidians, Davists. See Fami lists. 

Davis Cup. A silver trophy for an inter- 
national Lawn Tennis team championship, 
presented by the American politician, Dwight 
F. Davis (1875-1945) in 1900. Its holders 
have been 

1903-06 Great Britain 

1907-11 Australasia 

1912 Great Britain 

1913 U.S.A. 

1914-19 Australasia 

1920-26 U.S.A. 

1927-32 France 

1933-36 Great Britain 


1937-38 U.S.A. 

1939-45 Australia 
1946-49 U.S.A. 

1950 Australia 
1952-53 Australia 
1954 U.S.A. 

1955-57 Australia 
1958 U.S.A. 

1959-62 Australia 

Davy Jones. A sailors’ term for the evil spirit 
of the sea, which came into use in the 18th 
century. 

Of many conjectures about the derivation 
the most plausible is that Davy is a corrupt- 
ion of the West Indian word diippy (devil) and 
that Jones is a corruption of Jonah. 

Davy Jones’s locker. The sea, especially 
in the sense of its being the grave of drowned 
sailors. 

Davy Lamp. A miner's safety-lamp invented 
by Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) and 
brought into use in the mines in 1816. 

Dawson, Bully. A noted London sharper, 
who swaggered and led a most abandoned life 
about Blackfriars, in the reign of Charles II. 

Bully Dawson kicked by half the town, and half the 
town kicked by Bully Dawson.— Charles Lamb. 

Jemmy Dawson. The hero of a pathetic 
ballad by Shenstone, given in Percy’s Reliques. 
Captain James Dawson (c. 1717-46) joined the 
“Young Chevalier,” and was one of the 
Manchester rebels who were hanged, drawn, 
and quartered on Kcnnington Common in 
1746. A lady of gentle blocd was in love 
with the gallant young rebel, and died of a 
broken heart after witnessing his execution. 

Young Dawson was a gallant youth, 

A brighter never trod the plain; 

And well he lov’d one charming maid, 

And dearly was he lov’d again. 

Day. When it begins. (1) With sunset: The 
Jews in their “sacred year,” and the Church — 
hence the eve of feast-days; the ancient Britons 
“ non dicrum mimenim , ut nos, sed noctium 
computant says Tacitus— hence “se’n-night” 
and “fort’night”; the Athenians, Chinese, 
Mohammedans, etc., (2) With sunrise : The 
Babylonians, Syrians, Persians, and modern 
Greeks. (3) With noon: The ancient Egyptians 
and modern astronomers. (4) With midnight: 
The English, French, Dutch, Germans, Span- 
ish, Portuguese, Americans, etc. 

A day after the fair. Too late; the fair you 
came to see is over. 

Day in, day out. All day long and every day. 

Every dog has its day. See Dog. 

I have had my day. My prime of life is over. 

Old Joe, sir . . . was a bit of a favourite . . . once; 
but he has had his day. — Dickens: Dombey and Son. 

I have lost a day. The exclamation ( Pcrdidi 
diem) of Titus, the Roman emperor, when on 
one occasion he could call to mind nothing 
done during the past day for the benefit of his 
subjects. 

To-day a man, to-morrow a mouse. In Fr., 
“ Auiourd'hui roi , demain rien .” Fortune is so 
fickle that one day we may be at the top of the 
wheel, and the next day at the bottom. 




Day 


269 


Dead-eye 


To lose the day. To lose the battle; to be 
defeated. To win (or gain) the day is to be 
victorious. 

Day of the Barricades, Dupes. See these 
words. 

Daylight. Toast-masters used to cry out, 
“Gentlemen, no daylights nor heeltaps.” 
This meant that the wineglass was to be full to 
the brim so that light could not be seen be- 
tween the edge of the glass and the top of the 
wine; and that every drop of it must be drunk. 
See Heeltap. 

Daylight Saving. It was first thought of by 
Benjamin Franklin, but the advocacy of Wil- 
liam Willett (1856-1915), a London builder, 
led to its adoption in 1916 as a wartime 
measure, first in Germany and soon followed 
in England. By an Act of 1925 summer 
time, as it has come to be called, became 
a permanent measure in Britain. Until 1939, 
and again in 1946, 1948-59, summer time 
began 2 a.m. on the day following the third 
Saturday in April (unless that was Easter 
Day, in which case it was the day following the 
second Saturday of April), and terminated at 
3 a.m. on the day following the first Saturday 
in October. In 1960 summer time was 
extended by a further six weeks, beginning in 
March and ending in November, and similar 
extensions were made in 1961 and 1962. 
During World War II British summer time 
extended from February 25 in 1940 and 
January 1 during 1941-44, until December 31. 
In 1945 it ended in October. Double sum- 
mer time (/.e. two hours in advance instead of 
one hour) was in force during the summer 
months during 1941-45 and 1947. 

In European countries summer time was 
introduced, abandoned, and re-introduced. 
In the U.S.A. it has been introduced in some 
states, but not in others owing to opposition 
mainly from agriculturists. 

Daylights. Pugilists* slang for the eyes. 

To heat the living daylights out of him, to 
chastise heavily. To let daylight into him, to 
pierce a man with sword or bullet. 

Daysman. An umpire, judge, or intercessor. 
The obsolete verb to day meant to appoint a 
day for the hearing of a suit, hence to judge 
between; and the man who dayed was the 
daysman. The word is used in Job ix, 33 ; also 
by Spenser and others. 

If neighbours were at variance, they ran not straight to 
law; 

Daysmen took up the matter, and cost them not a 
straw. 

Anon.: New Cm torn, /, ii (Morality Play: temp. 

Edw. VI.) 

Dayspring. The dawn. 

The duyspring from on high hath visited us. — 
Luke i, 78. 

Daystar. The morning star. Hence the 
emblem of hope or better prospects. 

Again o’er the vine-covered regions of France, 

See the day-star of Liberty rise. — Wilson: Noetes. 

De die in diem (de di' e in di' em) (Lat.). From 
day to day continuously, till the business is 
completed. 

The Ministry have elected to go on de die In diem . — 
Newspaper paragraph. 


De facto (Lat.). Actually, in reality; in 
opposition to de jure, lawfully or rightfully. 
Thus John was de facto king, but Arthur was 
so de jure . A legal axiom says: “ De jure 
Ju dices, de facto Jura tores, respondent ”; 
Judges look to the law, juries to the facts. 

De jure. See De facto, above. 

De mortuis nil nisi bonum (de mor' to is nil 
ni' si bo' num) (Lat.). Of the dead speak 
kindly or not at all. “Speak not evil of* the 
dead” was one of the maxims of Chilo (<?.v.). 

De novo (de no' vo) (Lat.). Afresh; over 
again from the beginning. 

De profundis (de pro fun' dis) (Lat.). Out 
of the deep ; hence, a bitter cry of wretchedness. 
Ps. exxx is so called from the first two words in 
the Latin version. It forms part of the Roman 
Catholic burial service. 

These words were chosen as the title of 
Oscar Wilde’s apologia, published post- 
humously in 1905. 

De rigueur (de rig^r') (Fr.). According to 
strict etiquette; quite comme il faut , in the 
height of fashion. 

De trop (de tro) (Fr.). One too many; 
when a person’s presence is not wished for 
that person is de trop. 

Deacon. To deacon apples, etc., is an Ameri- 
can phrase arising out of the thrifty habits 
ascribed to the rural New England deacons 
who are said to have put the best or largest 
specimens of fruit, etc., on the top of the 
baskets in which they were being sold, the 
inferior goods being concealed beneath them. 

Dead. Dead as a door-nail. The door-nail is 
either one of the heavy-headed nails with 
which large outer doors used to be studded, 
or the knob on which the knocker strikes. As 
this is frequently knocked on the head, it 
cannot be supposed to have much life left in it. 
The expression is found in Piers Plowman. 

Come thou and thy five men, and if I do not leave 
you all as dead as a door-nail, I pray God I may never 
eat grass more. — Shakespeare: Henry VI. Pt. //, IV, x. 

Other well-known similes are “Dead as a 
shotten herring,” “as the nail in a coffin,” “as 
mutton,” and Chaucer’s “as stoon [stone].” 

Let the dead bury their dead {Matt, viii, 22). 
Let bygones be bygones. Don’t rake up old 
and dead grievances. 

Let me entreat you to let the dead bury the dead, to 
cast behind you every recollection of bygone evils, and 
to cherish, to love, to sustain one another through all 
the vicissitudes of human affairs in the times that are 
to come. — Gladstone: Home Rule Bill (February 
13th, 1893). 

Dead beat. Exhausted. In the U.S.A. the 
word is used as a noun, a worthless fellow. 

Dead drunk. So intoxicated as to be wholly 
powerless. 

Dead-eye. A block of wood with three 
holes through it, for the lanyards of rigging to 
reeve through, without sheaves, and with a 
groove round it for an iron strap. An old 
name for them is “dead men’s eyes/* 




Dead hand 


270 


Deaf 


Dead hand. One who is a “ dead hand ” at 
anything can do it every time without fail. 

First-rate work it was, too; he was aJways a dead 
hand at splitting. — B oldrewood: Robbery Under 
Arms , xv. 

Dead-heads. Those admitted to theatres, 
etc., without payment; they are “dead” so 
far as the box-office receipts are concerned. 

In nautical language, an obstruction floating 
so low in the water Jhat only a small part of it 
is visible. 

Dead heat. A race in which two (or more) 
leading competitors reach the goal at the same 
time, thus making it necessary to run the race 
over again. See Heat. 

To work a dead horse. To perform work 
already paid for; to pay off a debt. 

Dead languages. Languages no longer 
spoken; such as Latin and Sanskrit. 

Dead letter. A law no longer acted upon. 
Also a letter which cannot be delivered by the 
postal authorities because the address is in- 
correct, or the person addressed cannot be 
found. 

Dead-letter Office. See Blind Depart- 
ment, and Dead Letter above. 

I am at a dead lift. In a strait or difficulty 
where I greatly need help; a hopeless exigency. 
A dead lift is the lifting of a dead or inactive 
body, which must be done by sheer force. 

Dead lights. Strong wooden shutters to 
close the cabin windows of a ship. 

To ship the dead lights. To fasten the 
shutter over the cabin window to keep out the 
sea when a gale is expected. 

Deadline. A final demarcation of time, i.e. 
the last hour or minute when a newspaper can 
go to press. 

Dead lock. A lock which has no spring 
catch. Metaphorically, a state of things so 
entangled that there seems to be no practical 
solution. 

Dead Man’s Hand. In electric railways the 
accelerator lever contains a spring so con- 
trived that if the motor-man for any reason 
takes his hand off it the power is automatically 
cut off. 

In the western States of U.S.A. a Dead 
Man’s Hand is a combination of aces and 
eights in the game of Poker, and it is so called 
because when the famous sheriff Wild Bill 
Hicock was shot at Deadwood, S. Dakota, he 
held such cards in his hand. 

Dead men. Empty bottles. 

Down among the dead men let me lie. Let 
me get so intoxicated as to slip from my chair, 
and lie under the table with the empty bottles. 

Dead men’s shoes. See Shoe. 

Dead reckoning. A calculation of the 
ship’s place without any observation of the 
heavenly bodies. An approximation made by 
consulting the log, compass, chronometer, the 
direction, wind, and so on. 

Dead right. Entirely right. 

Dead ropes. Those which are fixed or do 
not run on blocks. 


Dead Scafe The salt lake in Palestine, in the 
ancient Vale of Siddim; so called by the 
Romans ( Mare Mortuurri ), also Lacus Asphal- 
tites. The water is limpid, and of a bluish- 
green colour; it supports no life other than 
microbes and a few very low organisms. It is 
about 46 miles long by 10 miles broad; its 
surface is about 1,300 ft. below sea-level, and 
it attains a depth of nearly 1,300 ft. The 
percentage of salt in the ocean generally is 
about three or four, but of the Dead Sea it is 
twenty-six or more. 

Dead Sea fruit. See Apples of Sodom. 

Dead Sea Scolls. In the early summer of 
1947 an Arab shepherd stumbled upon a cave 
at Quinran, at the N.W. end of the Dead Sea. 
It contained some ancient Jewish scrolls that 
proved to be part of the library of a Jewish 
monastic community living there before and 
after the time of Christ. Among the scrolls 
was a nearly complete text of the Book of 
Isaiah. Later discoveries produced the re- 
mains of hundreds more scrolls from the same 
source, including more portions of the Hebrew 
Scriptures. Whatever the precise date of the 
scriptural scrolls, it is clear that they are by far 
the earliest text so far discovered, and of para- 
mount importance in establishing the text of 
the Old Testament. 

To be at a dead set. To be set fast, so as not 
to be able to move. The allusion is to 
machinery. 

To make a dead set upon someone. To make 
a steady and unwavering concentration of 
activity upon someone's attention or notice; 
to concentrate one's endeavours on gaining a 
person’s affection. The allusion being to 
dogs, bulls, etc., set on each other to fight. 

Dead water, the eddy-water which closes in 
with a ship's stern as she passes through the 
water. 

Dead weight. The weight of something 
without life; a burden that docs nothing to- 
wards easing its own weight; a person who 
encumbers us and renders no assistance. Cp. 
Dead Lift. 

Deaf. Deaf as an adder. “They arc like the 
deaf adder that stoppeth her car; which will 
not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming 
never so wisely.” (Ps. lviii, 4, 5). In the East, 
if a viper entered the house, the charmer was 
sent for who enticed the serpent and put it 
into a bag. According to tradition, the viper 
tried to stop its ears when the charmer uttered 
his incantation, by applying one car to the 
ground and twisting its tail into the other. 

In the United States deaf adder is one of 
the names of the copperhead (<?.v.). 

Deaf as a beetle. It is not the insect that is 
here alluded to, but the heavy wooden mallet 
used to level paving-stones or drive in stakes. 

Deaf as a post. Quite deaf ; or so inattentive 
as not to hear what is said. One might as 
well speak to a gatepost or log of wood. 

Deaf as a white cat. It is said that white 
cats are deaf and stupid. 




271 


Death 


Deaf 


None so deaf as those who \von*| hear. The 
French have the same locution: 

11 n'y a de pire sourd que celul qui ne veut pas 
entendre . 

Deal. This is a word to which several mean- 
ings are attached. It can mean a business 
transaction; the distribution of a pack of 
cards; pinewood or fir wood; a plank ot this 
wood measuring not less than 6 ft. long, 7 in. 
across, and 3 in. thick; a lot, a quantity; a 
share. 

To deal In is to trade in. 

To deal out is to hand out in shares, esp. 
cards in a game. 

To deal with is to be concerned with, or to 
handle, or to do business with. 

Dean. (Lat. decanus , one set over ten.) The 
ecclesiastical dignitary who presides over the 
chapter (< 7 .v.) of a cathedral or collegiate 
church, this having formerly consisted of ten 
canons O/.v.). In ecclesiastical use there are 
also deans not having chapters (such as the 
Deans of Westminster and Windsor, and the 
Bishop of London is ex officio Dean of the 
Province of Canterbury. Rural deans are 
subsidiary officers of archdeacons. 

The title “Dean** is also borne by certain 
resident Fellows at English Universities who 
have special functions; by the head of Christ 
Church, Oxford; and, in Scotland, by the 
President of the Faculty of Advocates 
( Dean of Faculty ), and certain magistrates 
{Dean of Guild). In the U.S.A., a dean is an 
administrative officer of a college or university, 
who supervises a school, a faculty, or a body 
of Students, e.g. Dean of Women, Dean of the 
Graduate School, 

The chief or senior of any group of men may 
be called a dean, as dean of the diplomatic 
corps. 

Dean of the Arches. The judge presiding 
over the Court of Arches. See Arches. 

Dear. Dear bought and far brought, or felt. 

A gentle reproof for some extravagant 
purchase of luxury. 

My dearest foe. As “my dearest friend** 
is one with whom I am on the greatest terms 
of friendship, so “my dearest foe** is one with 
whom I am on the greatest terms of enmity. 
Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven, 

Or ever I had seen that day. Horatio. 

Shakespeare: Hamlet, I, ii. 

Oh, dear me ! A very common exclamation ; 
there is no foundation for the suggestion that 
it is a corruption of the Ital. O Dio miol (Oh, 
my God!); it is more likely to have originated 
as a euphemism for the English “0/;, damn 
me! ** 

Death. Milton makes Death keeper, with 
Sin, of Hell-gate. 

The other shape 

(If shape it might be called that shape had none 
Distinguishable in member, joint or limb; 

Or substance might be called that shadow seemed;)... 
The likeness of a kingly crown had on. 

Milton: Paradise Lost , II, 666*673 

Angel of Death. See Azrael. 


At death’s door. On the point of death; 
very dangerously ill. 

Black death. See Black. 

In at the death. Present when the fox was 
caught and killed, hence, present at the 
climax, or the final act, of an exciting event. 

Till death us do part. See Depart. 

Death or Glory Boys, the 17th/21st Lancers 
(Duke of Cambridge’s Own) whose regimental 
badge is a Death’s Head, with the words “Or 
Glory.*’ 

Death from Strange Causes. 

AEschylus was killed by the fall of a tortoise 
on his bald head from the claws of an eagle 
in the air. Valerius Maximus, IX, xii, and 
Pliny, History , VII, vii. 

Agathocles , tyrant of Sicily, was killed by a 
toothpick at the age of ninety-five. 

Anacreon was choked by a grape-stone. 
Pliny, History , VII, vii. 

Bacon died of a cold contracted when stuffing 
a fowl with snow as an experiment in refri- 
geration. 

Robert Burton (of the Anatomy of Melon - 
choly ) died on the very day that he himself had 
astrologically predicted. 

Chalchas , the soothsayer, died of laughter 
at the thought of having outlived the predicted 
hour of his death. 

Charles VIII, of France, conducting his 
queen into a tennis-court, struck his head 
against the lintel, and it caused his death. 

Fabius , the Roman praetor, was choked by a 
single goat-hair in the milk which he was 
drinking. Pliny, History , VII, vii. 

Frederick Lewis , Prince of Wales, son of 
George II, died from the blow of a cricket-ball. 

Gahrielle {La belle), the mistress of Henri IV, 
died from eating an orange. 

Lepidus ( Quintus AEmilius ), going out of his 
house, struck his great toe against the threshold 
and expired. 

Louis VI met with his death from a pig 
running under his horse and causing it to 
stumble. 

Otway , the poet, in a starving condition, had 
a guinea given him, with which he bought a 
loaf of bread, and died while swallowing the 
first mouthful. 

Philomenes died of laughter at seeing an ass 
eating the figs provided for his own dessert. 
Valerius Maximus. 

George , Duke of Clarence , brother of Ed- 
ward IV, was drowned in a butt of malmsey. 
See Malmsey. 

Saufeius ( Appius ) was choked to death 
supping up the white of an under-boiled egg. 
Pliny, History , VII, xxxiii. 

Death in the pot. During a dearth in Gilgal, 
there was made for the sons of the prophets a 
pottage of wild herbs, some of which were 
poisonous. When the sons of the prophets 
tasted the pottage, they cried out. There is 
death in the pot.” Then Elisha put into it 
some meal, and its poisonous qualities were 
counteracted (II Kings iv, 40). 

Death under shield. Death in battle. 

Her imagination had been familiarised with wild 
and bloody events . . . and had been trained up to 


Mb 


272 


Decretals 


consider an honourable “death under shield” (as that 
in a field of battle was termed) a desirable termination 
to the life of a warrior. — Scott: The Betrothed , ch. vi. 

Death-bell. A tinkling in the ears , supposed 
by the Scottish peasantry to announce the 
death of a friend . 

O lay , 'ds dark, an’ I heard the death-bell. 

An’ I darena gae yonder for gowd nor fee. 

James Hogg : Mountain Bard . 

Death-watch. Any species of Anobium , a 
genus of wood-boring beetles, that make a 
clicking sound, once supposed to presage 
death. 

Death’s head. Bawds and procuresses used 
to wear a ring bearing the impression of a 
death’s head in the time of Queen Elizabeth I. 
Allusions are not uncommon in plays of the 
period. 

Sell some of the cloaths to buy thee a death’s head, 
and put upon thy middle finger: your least considering 
bawd does so much. — Massinger: The Old Law, IV, i. 

Death’s-head Moth. Acherontia atropos , is 
so called from the markings on the back of the 
thorax, which closely resemble a skull. It is 
also called the Hawk Moth. 

Death ’s-man. An executioner; a person 
who kills another brutally but lawfully. 

He’s dead. I’m only sorry 
He had no other death ’s-man. 

King Lear, IV, vL 

Debatable Land. A tract of land between the 
Esk and Sark, claimed by both England and 
Scotland, and for a long time the subject of 
dispute. It was the haunt of thieves and 
vagabonds. 

Debon. See Devonshire. 

Debonair (de bon &r0 (Le Ddbonnaire). Louis I 
of France (778, 814-40), also called The 
Pious , son and successor of Charlemagne; a 
man of courteous manners, cheerful temper, 
but effeminate and deficient in moral energy. 

Debt of Nature. To pay the debt of Nature. 
To die. Life is a loan, not a gift, and the debt 
is paid off by death. 

The slender debt to Nature’s quickly paid. 

Quarles: Emblems. 

Decameron (de kam'd ron). The collection 
of 100 tales by Boccaccio (1353) represented 
as having been told in ten days (Gr. deka. ten; 
hemera, day) during the plague at Florence in 
1348. The storytellers were also ten (seven 
ladies and three gentlemen), and they each 
told a tale on each day. 

Decathlon. An athletic contest in the modern 
Olympic games, consisting of ten events: 
100 metres race, long jump, putting the shot, 
high jump, 400 metres race, 1 10 metres hurdles, 
discus, pole vault, throwing the javelin, and 
1,500 metres race. 

December (Lat. the tenth month). So it was 
when the year began in March with the vernal 
equinox; but since January and February have 
been inserted before it, the term is etymologi- 
cally incorrect. 

The old Dutch name was Winter-maand (winter- 
month); the old Saxon, Mid-winter-monath (mid- 
winter-month); whereas June was Mid-sumor-monath. 
Christian Saxons called December Se ura gedla (the 


ante-yule). In the French Republican calendar it was 
called frimatre (hoar-frost month, from November 
22nd to December 20th). 

Die Man of December. Napoleon III 
(1808-73). He was made President of the 
French Republic December llth f 1848; made 
his coup d'dtat December 2nd , 1851 ; and be- 
came Emperor December 2nd, 1852. 

Decimo-sexto. An obsolete expression for a 
little, insignificant person. The term comes 
from the book-trade: sexto-decimo (16 mo.) is 
a book in which each sheet is folded to a six- 
teenth of its size, giving 32 pages; hence it is a 
small book. Cp. Duodecimo. 

How now! my dancing braggart in decimo-sexto! 
Charm your skipping tongue. 

Ben Jonson: Cynthia’s Revels , I, i. 

Deck. A pack of cards, or that part of the 
pack which is left after the hands have been 
dealt. The term was used in England until 
the 19th century; it is now in use in the U.S.A. 
But whilst he thought to steal the single ten. 

The king was slyly fingered from the deck. 

Henry VI, Pt. Ill , V, i. 

Clear the decks. Get everything out of the 
way that is not essential; get ready to set to 
work. A sea term. Decks are cleared before 
action. 

To sweep the deck. To clear off all the 
stakes. See above. 

To deck is to decorate or adorn. (Dut. 
dekken , to cover; perhaps connected with 
O.E. theccan, to thatch.) 

I thought thy bride-bed to have decked, sweet maid, 
And not have strewed thy grave. 

Shakespeare: Hamlet , V, i. 

Deckle Edge. The feathery edge occurring 
round the borders of a sheet of handmade or 
mould-made paper, due to the deckle or frame 
of the mould. It can be imitated in machine- 
made papers. 

Decollete (da kol' e ta). The French for a 
“dress cut low about the bosom.” 

Decoration Day or Memorial Day. May 30th ; 
set apart in the United States for decorating 
the graves of those who fell in the Civil War 
(1861-5). 

Decoy Duck. A bait or lure; a duck taught 
to allure others into a net, and employed for 
this purpose. 

Decree nisi. See Nisi. 

Decretals. The name given by ecclesiastical 
historians to the second part of the canon law, 
which contains the decrees and decisions of the 
early popes on disputed points. 

The False or Forged Decretals were designed 
to support the claim of the popes to temporal 
as well as spiritual authority, and purport to 
be the decisions of some thirty popes of the 
first three centuries. They comprise nearly a 
hundred letters written in the names of the 
early popes, as Clement and Anaclctus, as well 
as letters from their supposed correspondents 
and acts of fictitious councils. 

The 9th-century forgery known as the 
Donation of Constantine is also among the 
False Decretals. This purports to relate how 
Constantine the Great, when he retired to the 



Decretals 


273 


Deidamia 


Bosporus in 330, conferred all his rights, hon- 
ours, and property as Emperor of the West 
on the Pope of Rome and his successors. It is 
said, also, to have been confirmed by Charle- 
magne. 

The Isidorian Decretals were compiled in the 
9th century, but assigned to Isidore of Seville, 
who died in 636. Laurentius Valla exposed 
the fraud in the 15th century. 

Decuman Gate. A Roman military term. 
The principal entrance to a camp, situated on 
the side farthest from the enemy, and so 
called because it was guarded by the 10th 
cohort of each legion ( decimus , tenth). 

Dedaliab. See D^dalus. 

Dee, Dr. John Dee (1527-1608) was a famous 
astrologer; he was patronized by Queen 
Elizabeth 1, and was a man of vast knowledge, 
whose library, museum, and mathematical 
instruments were valued at £2,000. On one 
occasion the populace broke into his house and 
destroyed the greater part of his valuable 
collection, under the notion that Dee held 
intercourse with the devil. He ultimately died 
a pauper at the advanced age of eighty-one, 
and was buried at Mortlake. He professed 
to be able to raise the dead, and had a magic 
mirror, a piece of solid pink-tinted glass about 
the size of an orange, in which persons were 
told they could see their friends in distant 
lands and how they were occupied. It was 
afterwards in Horace Walpole’s collection at 
Sirawberry Hill, and is now in the British 
Museum. 

He wrote a good number of learned works, 
including De Trigono (1565), Navigations ad 
Cathayam . . . delineatio Hydrographica (1580) 
and a Treatise on the Rosie Crucian Secrets. 

Deed Poll (ded pol). A deed drawn by one 
party, and so called because such deeds were 
formerly written on parchment with a polled 
or straight edge, in distinction to the in- 
dentures, which had an indented or wavy edge. 
It is by deed poll that one changes one's name 
or executes any deed that does not concern 
another party. 

Deer. Supposed by poets to shed tears. 
The drops, however, which fall from their 
eyes are not tears, but an oily secretion from 
the so-called tear-pits. 

A poor sequestered stag . . . 

Did come to languish . . . and the big round tears 

Coursed one another down his innocent nose 

In piteous chase. As You Like It, II, ii. 

Small deer. Any small animal; and used 
metaphorically for any collection of trifles or 
trifling matters. 

But mice and rats, and such small deer. 

Have been Tom’s food for seven long year. 

King Lcar> III, vi. 

Deerslayer. The first of the Leather- 
stocking Novels (?.v.) by Fenimorc Cooper, 
and one of the names given to the hero, Natty 
Bumpo. 

Default. Judgment by default is when the 
defendant does not appear in court on the 
day appointed. The judge gives sentence in 
favour of the plaintiff, not because the plaintiff 
is right, but from the default of the defendant. 


Defeat. “ 
is not lost. 
105-6.) 


What though the field be lost? all 
(Milton; Paradise Lost> I, lines 


“All is lost but honour” {Tout est perdu fors 
Vhonneur). A sayi&g founded on a letter 
written by Francois I to his mother after the 
Battle of Pavia in 1525. 


Defender of the Faith. A title (Lat. fidei 
defensor) given by Pope Leo X to Henry VIII 
of England, in 1521, fora Latin treatise On the 
Seven Sacraments. Many previous kings, and 
even subjects, had been termed “defenders 
of the Catholic faith,” “defenders of the 
Church,” and so on, but no one had borne it 
as a title. 

God bless the king! I mean the “faith’s defender!” 

God bless — no harm in blessing — the Pretender. 

But who Pretender is, or who is king — 

God bless us all! that’s quite another thing. 

John Byrom (1692-1763). 

Richard II, in a writ to the sheriffs, uses 
these words: “ Ecclesia cujus nos defensor 
siimus ,” and Henry VII, in the Black Book, 
was styled “ Defender of the Faith.” 


Defenestration of Prague. A phrase used to 
describe an incident during the religious 
struggles which rent Central Europe in the 
1 7th centurv. In March. 1618. the two leading 
Roman Catholic members of the Bohemian 
National Council were thrown out of a window 
of the castle of Prague by the Protestant mem- 
bers. They landed in the moat and sustained 
only minor injuries. 

Deficient. A deficient number is one of which 
the sum of all its divisors is less than itself, as 
10, the divisors of which are 1, 2, 5 = 8, which 
is less than 10. 


Deficit, Madame. Marie Antoinette; so 
called because she was always demanding 
money of her ministers, and never had any. 
According to the Revolutionary song: — 

La Boulang^re a des ecus, 

Qui ne lui comptent gudre. 

See Baker. 


Degrees, Songs of. Another name for the 
Gradual Psalms (< 7 .v.). 

Dei Gratia (de i gra' sh<i) (Lat.). By the grace 
of God. Introduced into English charters in 
1106. It still appears on British coins. Cp . 
Graceless Florin. 

From the time of Offa, King of Mercia 
(a.d. 780), we find occasionally the same or 
some similar assumption as, Dei dono t 
Christo donante , etc. 

From about 676 to 1170 the Archbishop of 
Canterbury and some other ecclesiastical 
dignitaries used the same style; the Archbishop 
is now divina providentia. 

Dei Judicium (de I joo dish' i urn) (Lat.). 
The judgment of God; so the judgment by 
ordeals was called, because it was taken as 
certain that God would deal rightly with the 
appellants. 

Deidamia (de I dh' mia). When Achilles O7.V.) 
was concealed in the island of Scyrus dressed 
as a woman he met this daughter of Lycomedes, 
and she became by him the mother of Pyrrhus 
or Neoptolemus. 


Deist 


274 


Delta 


Deist. See Theist. 

Deities. The more important deities of 
classical, Teutonic, and Scandinavian mytho- 
logy are given as entries in this work; the 
present list is only intended to include collec- 
tive names and the gods of a few special 
localities, functions, etc. 

Air: Ariel; Elves. See Elf. 

Caves or Caverns: Hill-people, Pixies. 

Corn: Ceres (Gr., Demeter). 

Domestic Life: Vesta. 

Eloquence: Mercury (Gr., Hermes). 

Evening: Vesper. 

Fairies: (q.v.). 

Fates , The: Three in number (Gr., Parcae, Moine, 
Keres; Scand., Norns). 

Fire: Vulcan (Gr., Hephaistds), Vesta, Mulciber. 
Furies, The: Three in number (Gr., Eumenides, 
Erinnyes). 

Gardens: Priapus; Vcrtumnus with his wife Pomona. 
Graces , The: Three in number (Gr., Charites). 
Hades: Pluto, with his wife Proserpine (Gr., Aides and 
Persephftne). 

Hills: Pixies; Trolls. There are also Wood Trolls and 
Water Trolls. 

Home Spirits ( q.v Penates, Lares. 

Hunting: Diana (Gr., Artemis). 

Justice: Themis, Astraca, Nemesis. 

Love: Cupid (Gr., Eros). 

Marriage: Hymen. 

Medicine: /Esculdpius. 

Morning: Aurora (Gr., Eds), 

Mountains: Oreads, from the Gr., opos , a mountain; 
Trolls. 

Ocean: Oceanides. See St\, below. 

Poetry and Music: Apollo, the nine Muses (q.v.). 
Rainbow: Iris. 

Riches: Plutus. 

Rivers and Streams: Fluviales (Gr., Potameides; 
Naiads; Nymphs.) 

Sea, The: Neptune (Gr., Poseidon), his son Triton, 
Nixies, Mermaids, Nereids. 

Shepherds and their Flocks: Pan, the Satyrs. 

Springs, Lakes , Brooks , etc.: Nereides or Naiads. 

See Rivbrs, above . 

Tune: Saturn (Gr., Chronos). 

Trees: See Woods, below. 

War: Mars (Gr., Ares), Bell&na, Thor. 
Water-nymphs: Naiads, Undine. 

Winds: /Eolus. 

Wine : Bacchus (Gr., Dionysus). 

Wisdom: Minerva (Gr., Palias, Athene, or Pallas- 
AthCne). 

Woods: Dryads (A Hamadryad presides over some 
particular tree), Wood-Trolls. 

Youth: Heb& 

Dejeuner h la Fourchette (Fr.). A fork lunch; 
a cold collation with meat and wine. 

Dekko, To take a. To glance at, to give a 
quick glance at. This is one of the many 
phrases brought back from India by the British 
Army. In Hindustani Dekho means “ Look!’* 

Delaware (del' a war). The name of a Stale, 
river, and bay in the United States; so called 
from Thomas West, Baron De la Warr (1577- 
1618), first Governor of Virginia, in 1611. 


Rome. They are now proverbial, and mean* 
‘That which stands in the way of our greatness 
must be removed at all hazards.*’ 


Delft, or more correctly Delf. A common 
sort of pottery made at Delft in Holland, a 
town noted from the 16th to the 18th centuries 
for its very excellent pottery. 

Delight. The delight of mankind. So Titus, 
the Roman emperor, was entitled (40, 79-81) 
on account of his benevolence and munificence. 


Delirium. From the Lat. lira (the ridge left 
by the plough), hence the verb de-lirare , to 
make an irregular ridge in ploughing. Dellrus 
was one who couldn’t plough a straight furrow, 
hence a crazy, doting person, one whose mind 
wandered from the subject in hand; and 
delirium is the state of such a person. Cp . 
Prevarication. 


Della Cruscans (del' a krQs' kanz) or Della 
Cruscan School. A school of poetry started 
by some young Englishmen at Florence in the 
latter part of the 18th century. Their silly, 
sentimental affectations, which appeared in 
the World and the Oracle, created for a time 
quite a furore, but were mercilessly gibbeted 
in the Baviad and Mctviad of Gifford (1794 and 
1795). The clique took its name from the 
famous Accademia della Crusca (literally. 
Academy of Chaff) which was founded in 
Florence in 1582 with the object of purifying 
the Italian language — sifting away its “chaff’* 
— and which in 1611 published an important 
dictionary. 

Delos. The smallest island of the Cyclades, 
which comes from the Greek word for a ring, 
as the rest of the islands encircle Delos. In 
Greek legend it was called out of the deep by 
Poseidon, and remained a floating island until 
Zeus chained it to the bottom of the sea. The 
legendary birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, 
Delos became sacred to the former. It was 
long subject to Athens, but after the loss of 
Athenian seapower achieved independence 
until it became a Roman naval centre. 

Delphi or Delphos. A town of Phocis, at the 
foot of Mount Parnassus (the modern Kastri), 
famous for a temple of Apollo and for an 
oracle which was silenced only in the 4th 
century a.d. by Theodosius, and was celebrated 
in every age and country. 

Delphi was looked upon by the ancients as 
the “navel of the earth,” and in the temple 
was kept a white stone bound with a red 
ribbon, to represent the navel and umbilical 
cord. 

In the Winter's Tale (the same play in 
which he gives Bohemia a scacoast) Shake- 
speare makes Delphos an island. 


Delectable Mountains. In Bunyan’s Pilgrim's 
Progress , a range of mountains from which 
the “Celestial City” may be seen. They are 
in Immanuel’s land, and are covered with 
sheep, for which Immanuel had died. 

Delenda est Carthago (de len' da est kar tha' 
gd) (Lat. “Carthage must be destroyed.”) 
The words with which Cato the Elder con- 
cluded every speech in the Senate when 
Carthage was such a menace to the power of 


Delphin Classics. A set of Latin classics 
edited in France by thirty-nine scholars, under 
the superintendence of Montausier, Bossuet* 
and Huet. for the use of the Dauphin (Lat. in 
usum Delphini ), i.e. the son of Louis XIV, 
called the Grand Dauphin, They were first 
published in 1674, and their chief value consists 
in their verbal indexes or concordances. 

Delta. A tract of alluvial land enclosed by 
the mouth of a river. The name, from the 



Deluge 


275 


Demon 


Greek letter A. delta, was originally given to 
the area of the mouths of the Nile, which was 
of triangular shape: it has since been applied 
to similir formations, such as the deltas of the 
Danube, Rhine, Ganges, Indus, Mississippi, 
etc. 

Deluge. The Bible story of Noah’s Flood has 
its counterpart in several mythologies and folk 
lores. In Babylonia it appears in the 11th 
tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic but on a higher 
level of civilization, for Utnapishtim (Noah) 
takes into the ark with him craftsmen and 
treasure. 

Apollodorus tells the story of Deucalion and 
Pyrrha (q.v.). Of this story there are several 
versions, in one of which Deucalion is re- 
placed by Ogyges. 

One of the Indian deluge stories tells how 
Manu was warned by a fish, which towed the 
boat he made and brought it to safety. 

In all these stories it is observable that, as in 
the case of Noah, the survivors’ first act was 
to render thanks to the god who had preserved 
their lives. 

Somewhat similar deluge stories are found 
in China, Burma, New Guinea, Polynesia and 
both the American continents. See also After 
ME THE DfLUGE. 

Demerit (de trier' it) has reversed its original 
meaning (Lat. demerere , to merit, to deserve). 
The de- was originally intensive, as in ‘’de- 
mand,” “de-scribe,” “de-claim,” etc., but in 
mediaeval Latin it came to be regarded as 
privative, and in English the word hence had 
both a good and a bad sense, of which the 
latter is now the only one remaining. 

My demerits [deserts] 

May speak un bonne ted. 

Othello, I, ii. 

Demesne. See Manor. 

Demeter (dc me 'ter). One of the great 
Olympian deities of ancient Greece, identified 
with the Roman Ceres (q.v.). She was the 
goddess of fruits, crops, and vegetation 
generally, and the protectress of marriage. 
Persephone (Proserpine) was her daughter. 

Demijohn (dem' i jon). A glass vessel with a 
large body and small ncek, enclosed in wicker- 
work like a Florence flask, and containing 
more than a bottle. The w'ord is from the Fr. 
dame-jeanne, “Madame Jane,” which has been 
thought to be a corruption of Damughan , a 
town in Persia. There is, however, no 
support for this; it is more likely that the word 
is simply a popular name — “Dame Jane” — 
like “ Bellarmine ” (q.v.), but it is possible that 
it is from the Lat. de mediana , of middle size, 
or even dimidium , half. 

Demi-monde (dem' i mond). Female society 
only half acknowledged, as le beau monde is 
Society. The term was first used by Dumas fils, 
and has been sometimes incorrectly applied to 
fashionable courtesans. 

[Dumas'] demi-monde is the link between good and 
bad society ... the world of compromised women, a 
social limbo, the inmates of which . . . are perpetually 
struggling to emerge into the paradise of honourable 
and respectable ladies. — Fraser's Magazine, 1885. 

Demi-rep (dem' i rep). A woman whose 
character nas been blown upon, one “whom 


everybody knows to be what nobody calls her” 
(Fielding). A contraction of demi-reputation. 

Demi-urge (dem'i erj). In the language of the 
Platonists, that mysterious agent which made 
the world and all that it contains. The Logos 
or Word spoken of by St. John, in the first 
chapter of his gospel, is the Demiurgus of 
Platonizing Christians. In the Gnostic systems, 
Jehovah (as an eon or emanation of the Su- 
preme Being) is the Dcmi-urge. See Maucion- 
ITES. 

In some of the ancient Greek states the 
chief magistrate was called the demiurgus. 

Democracy. A form of Government in which 
the sovereign power is in the hands of the 
people, and exercised by them directly or in- 
directly: also, a State so governed, and the 
body of the people, especially the non-privi- 
leged classes. (Gr. demos-kratia , the rule of the 
people.) 

Democrats. Advocates of government by the 
people. A term adopted by the French revolu- 
tionists to distinguish themselves from the 
aristocrats. Adopted by the pro-slavery South- 
ern States in the U.S.A., now a political party 
more of the left than the Republicans. 

Democritus (de mok' ri tus). The laughing 
philosopher of Abdera (lived c. 460-357 
b.c.). He should rather be termed the deriding 
philosopher, because he derided or laughed at 
people’s folly or vanity. It is said that he put 
out his eyes that he might think more deeply. 

Democritus, dear droll, revisit earth. 

And with our follies glut thy heightened mirth. 

Prior. 

Democritus Junior. Robert Burton (1577- 

1640), author of The Anatomy of Melancholy. 

Demogorgon fdem 6 gor' gon). A terrible deity, 
whose very name was capable of producing 
the most horrible effects. He is first mentioned 
by the 4th-century Christian writer, Lactantius, 
who, in so doing is believed to have broken the 
spell of a mystery, for Demogorgon is supposed 
to be identical with the infernal Power of the 
ancients, the very mention of whose name 
brought death and disaster, to whopj reference 
is made by Lucan and others: — 

Must I call your master to my aid. 

At whose dread name the trembling furies quake. 

Hell stands abashed, and earth’s foundations shake? 

Rowr. : Lucan's Pharsalia, vi. 
Hence Milton speaks of “the dreaded name of 
Demogorgon” (Paradise Lost, II, 956). Accord- 
ing to Ariosto Demogorgon was a king of the 
elves and fays who lived on the Himalayas, 
and once in five years summoned all his sub- 
jects before him to give an account of their 
stewardship. Spenser (Faerie Queene , IV. ii, 47) 
says that he dwells in the deep abyss with the 
three fatal sisters. In Shelley’s Prometheus 
Unbound Demogorgon is the eternal principle 
that ousts false gods. 

Demon (Austr.). A convict serving his sentence 
of transportation in Van Diemen’s Land 
(Tasmania). 

Demons, Prince of. Asmodeus (q.v.), also 
called “The Demon of Matrimonial Un- 
happiness.” 



Demos, King 


276 


Derby 


Demos, King (de' mos). A facetious term for 
the electorate, the proletariat. Those who 
choose and elect our senatofs, and arc there- 
fore the virtual rulers of the nation. 

Demurrage (de mOr' ij). An allowance made to 
the master or owners of a ship by the freighters 
for detaining her in port longer than the time 
agreed upon. (Lat. demorari , to delay.) 

The extra days beyond the lay days ... are called 
days of demurrage. — Kfnt: Commentaries , vol. Ill, 
pt. V, lecture xlvii, p. 159. 

Demy (de mF). A size of paper between royal 
and crown, measuring 17 V by 22jr in. in 
printing papers, and 15i by 20 in. in writing 
papers. It is from Fr. demi (half), probably 
meaning “half imperial.” 

A Demy of Magdalen College, Oxford, is a 
foundation scholar, whose allowance or 
“commons” was originally half that of a 
Fellow. 

Den. God ye good den! An abbreviated form 
of the old salutation “God give you good 
evening)." 

Nurse: God ye good morrow, gentlemen. 

Mer: .God ye good den, fair gentlewoman. 

Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, II, iv. 
Denarius (den ar' i us). A Roman silver coin 
equal to ten ases ( deni-ases ). The word was 
used in France and England for the inferior 
coins, whether silver or copper, and for ready 
money generally. The initial “d.” for penny 
(£ s. d.) is from denarius. 

The denarius . . . shown to our Lord . . . was 
the tribute-money payable by the Jews to the Roman 
emperor, and must not be confounded with the tribute 
paid to the Temple. — Madden : Jewish Coinage , ch. xi. 

Denarius Dei (Lat. God’s penny). An earnest 
of a bargain, which was given to the church 
or poor. 

Denarii St. Petri. Peter’s pence (q.v.). 
Denizen. A person who lives in a country as 
opposed to foreigners who live outside (Lat. 
de-intus, from within, through O.Fr. deinzein). 
In English law the word means a made citizen 
— i.e. an alien who has been naturalized by 
letters patent. 

A denizen is a kind of middle state, between an alien 
and a natural-born subject, and partakes of both. — * 
Blackstone: Commentaries , Bk. I, ch. x. 

Denmark. According to the Roman de la Rose , 
Denmark means the country of Danaos, who 
settled here with a colony after the siege of 
'froy, as Brutus is said by the same sort of 
name-legend to have settled in Britain. Saxo- 
Germanicus, with equal absurdity, makes Dan, 
the son of Humble, the first king, to account 
for the name of the country. 

The true origin of the word is from the 
march, or boundary of the Danes. 

Denys, St. (de neT The apostle to the Gauls 
and patron saint of France. He is said to have 
been beheaded at Paris in 272, and, according 
to tradition, carried his head, after martyrdom, 
for six miles in his hands and laid it on the spot 
where stands the cathedral bearing his name. 
The tale may have taken its rise from an 
ancient painting of the incident, in which the 
artist placed the head between the martyr’s 
hands so that the trunk might be recognized. 

Montjoie Saint Denys! See Montjoie. 


Deo gratias (de' 5 gra shas) (Lat.). Thanks to 
God. Cp. Dei gratia. 

Deo juvante (de' 6 joo van' te) (Lat.). With 
God’s help; God willing. 

Deo volente (de' 6 vo len' te) (Lat.). God 
being willing; by God’s will; usually contracted 
into D.V. 

Deoch-an-doruis. See Doch-an-dorocii. 

Deodand (de' 6 d&nd). Literally, something 
“given to God” (Lat. deo-dandum). In English 
law, a personal chattel which had been the 
cause of the death of a person which (till the 
custom was abolished in 1846) was forfeited 
and sold for sonic pious use. For instance, 
when a man met with his death through 
injuries inflicted by the fall of a ladder, the toss 
of a bull, or the kick of a horse, the cause of 
death was sold, and the proceeds given to the 
Church. The custom originated in the idea 
that as the person was sent to his account 
without the sacrament of extreme unction, the 
money could serve to pay for masses for his 
repose. 

Depart. Literally, to part thoroughly; to 
separate effectually. The marriage service in the 
old prayer-books had “till death us depart,” 
which has been corrupted into “till death us do 
part.” 

“Depart” is sound English for “part asunder,” 
which was altered to “do part” in 1661, at the pressing 
request of the Puritans, who knew as little of the 
history of their national language as they did of that 
of their national Church. — J. H. Blunt: Annotated 
Book of Common Prayer. 

Department. France is divided into depart- 
ments, as Great Britain and Ireland are divided 
into counties or shires. From 1768 it was 
divided into governments , of which thirty-two 
were grand and eight petit. In 1790, by a decree 
of the Constituent Assembly, it was mapped 
out de novo into eighty-three departments. In 
1804 the number of departments was increased 
to 107, and in 1812 to 130. In 1815 the territory 
was reduced to eighty-six departments, and 
continued so till 1860, when Savoy and Nice 
were added. The present number is ninety, 
including Corsica and the provinces of Alsace 
and Lorraine. 

Depot. The American term for a railway 
station, in use since the first introduction of 
railways into that country. 

Derby (der' bi). The American term for the 
hat known as the Bowler (q.v.) in England. 
The Brown Derby is a well-known restaurant 
in Hollywood, shaped like a hat, frequented by 
the film colony. 

Derby Day is the day when the Derby stakes 
are run for, during the great Epsom Summer 
Meeting; it is usually during the week before 
or after Whit Sunday. The Derby, known as 
the “Blue Ribbon of the Turf,” is for colts and 
fillies of three years old only; consequently, no 
horse can win it twice. See Classic Races. 

Derby Scheme (dar' bi). As a compromise 
with conscription the Government introduced a 
scheme in 1915 (when the Earl of Derby was 
at the War Office) of voluntary enlistment for 
men between 18 and 41, who would be called 
to the colours in age groups. It did not succeed, 



Derby Stakes 


277 


Devfl 


and conscription was introduced in January, 
1916. 

Derby Stakes (dar' bi). Started by Edward 
Stanley, the twelfth Earl of Derby, in 1780, the 
year after his establishment of the Oaks stakes 

Derrick. A temporary crane to remove goods 
from the hold of a vessel, etc.; so called from 
Derrick, the Tyburn hangman early in the 17th 
century. The name was first given to the gibbet; 
hence, from the similarity in shape, to the crane. 

He rides circuit with the devil, and Derrick must be 
his host, and Tyborne the inn at which he will light. — 
Dekker: Bellman of London (1608). 

Derwentwater. Lord Derwentwater ’s lights. A 

local name for the Aurora Borealis; James, 
Earl of Derwentwater, was beheaded for re- 
bellion February 24th, 1716, and it is said that 
the northern lights were unusually brilliant that 
night. 

Desert Fathers. See under Father. 

Desert Rats. Sobriquet of the 7th Armoured 
Division which, already in the Western 
Desert before the outbreak of war in 1939, 
served in the Eighth Army throughout the 
North African campaigns. Afterwards served 
in N.W. Europe. Its divisional sign was a red 
desert rat on a black ground. The 4th Arm- 
oured Brigade, also of long standing in the 
desert, used a black rat on a white ground. 
The name was given contemptuously by 
Mussolini but adopted with pride and 
pleasure. 

Desmas. See Dysmas. 

Despair. Giant Despair, in Bunyan’s Pilgrim's 
Progress , lived in “Doubting Castle.” He 
caught unwary pilgrims and shut them up in 
his grim castle, from which Christian and 
Hopeful escaped by using the key called 
Promise. 

Dessert means simply the cloth removed (Fr. 
desservir , to clear the tabic); and dessert is 
that which comes after the cloth is removed. 

Destruction. Prince of Destruction. Tamerlane 
or Timour the Tartar (1333-1405), the terror 
of the East. He was conqueror of Persia and a 
great part of India, and was threatening China 
when he died. 

Desultory. Those who rode two or more horses 
in the circus of Rome, and used to leap from 
one to the other, were called desultores (de % 
and salire, to leap); hence desuitor came in 
Latin to mean one inconstant, or who went 
from one thing to another; and desultory 
means the manner of a dcsultor. 

Deucalion’s Flood. The Deluge, of Greek 
legend. Deucalion was son of Prometheus and 
Clymene, and was king of Phthia, in Thessaly. 
When Zeus sent the deluge Deucalion built a 
ship, and he and his wife, Pyrrha, were the 
only mortals saved. The ship at last rested on 
Mount Parnassus, and Deucalion was told by 
the oracle at Themis that to restore the human 
race he must cast the bones of his mother 
behind him. His interpretation of this was the 
stones of his mother Earth, so the two cast 
these as directed and those thrown by Deu- 
calion became men, and those thrown by his 
wife became women. 


Deuce. The two, in gahnes with cards, dice, etc. 
(Fr. deux). The three is called “Tray” (Fr. 
trois; Lat. tres). 

Deuce-ace. A throw of two dice, one showing 
one spot and the other showing two; hence, 
exceptionally bad luck. 

There are various origins ascribed to the 
word deuce used as a euphemism for devil. It 
may derive in reverse meaning from the Latin 
expletive Deusl My God ! Or it may come from 
the Celtic dus, teuz , a phantom, spectre. Or, 
again, there is the Old German Durse, Turse t 
meaning a giant. Finally, there is a suggestion 
that it comes from the two at dice being an 
unlucky throw. 

Deuce take you. Get away! you annoy me. 

It played the deuce with me. It made me very 
ill; it disagreed with me; it almost ruined me. 

The deuce is in you. You are a very demon. 

What the deuce is the matter ? What in the 

world is amiss? 

Deus. Deus ex machina. The intervention of 
some unlikely event, in order to extricate one 
from difficulties. Literally, it means “a god 
(let down upon the stage) from the machine,” 
the “machine” being part of the furniture of 
the stage in an ancient Greek theatre. 

Deva. The Celtic name for the River Dee, 
and for Chester, which is on the river. 

Nor yet where Deva spreads her wizard stream. 

Milton: Lycidas. 

Devil. Represented with a cloven foot, because 
by the Rabbinical writers he is called seirizzim 
(a goat). As the goat is a type of uncleanness, 
the prince of unclean spirits is aptly represented 
under this emblem. 

In his Divina Commedia Dante gives the 
following names to the various devils — 
Alirhino , the allurer; Barbariecia, the malicious; 
Calcobrina , the gracc-scorner; Caynazzo, the snarler; 
Ciriato Sannuto , the tusked boar; Dragnignazzo, the 
fell dragon \Farfarcllo, the scandalmonger; Grafficane , 
the doggish; Libicocco , the ill-tempered; Rubicanle, 
the red with rage; Scarmiglione, the baneful. 

In legal parlance a devil is a leader's assistant 
(also a barrister) who gets up the facts of a 
brief, with the laws bearing on it, and sum- 
marizes the case for the pleader. 

The Attorney-General’s devils are the Coun- 
sel of the Treasury, who not unfrequently get 
promoted to the bench. 

A printer’s devil. A printer’s message boy; 
formerly, the boy who took the printed sheets 
from the tympan of the press. Moxon says 
(1683): “They do commonly so black and be- 
daub themselves that the workmen do jocosely 
call them devils.” 

As the devil loves holy water. That is, not at 
all, holy water drives away the devil. The Latin 
proverb is, “ Sicut sus amaricinum a mat" (as 
swine love marjoram). Lucretius, VI, 974, says, 
“ amaricinum fug i rat sus." 

Beating the devil’s tattoo. Tapping on the 
table with one’s finger a wearisome number 
of times, or on the floor with one’s foot, 
repeating any rhythmical mechanical sound 
with annoying pertinacity. 


Devil 


278 


Devil 


Between the devil andthe deep sea. Between 
Scylla and Cfcarybdis; between two evils, each 
equally hazardous. The allusion seems to be 
to the herd of swine and .the devils called 
Legion. ( Luke , viii, 26 fT.) 

Cheating the devil Mincing an oath; doing 
evil for gain , and giving part of the profits to 
the Church , etc. In a literal sense, cheating the 
devil is by no means unusual in monkish 
traditions. Thus the “Devils’ Bridge,” over the 
Fall of the Reuss, in the canton of the Uri, 
Switzerland, is a single arch over a cataract. 
It is said that Satan knocked down several 
bridges, but promised the abbot, Giraldus of 
Einsiedeln , to let this one stand , provided he 
would give him the first living thing that 
crossed it. The abbot agreed, and threw across 
it a loaf of bread, which a hungry dog ran after, 
And the rocks re-echoed with peals of laughter 
To see the Devil thus defeated! 

Longfellow: Golden Legend, v. 
Rabejpis says that a fafmer once bargained 
with the devil for each to have on alternate 
years what grew under and over the soil. The 
canny farmer sowed carrots and turnips when 
it was his turn to have the under-soil share, 
and wheat and barley the year following. 

( Pantagruel , Bk. IV, ch. xlvi.) 

Give the devil his due. Give even a bad man 
or one hated like the devil the credit he de- 
serves. 

Poins: Jack, how agrees the devil and thee about thy 
soul, that thou soldest him on Good Friday last, for a 
cup of Madeira, and a cold capon’s leg? 

Prince : Sir John stands to his word, the devil shall 
have his bargain; for he was never yet a breaker of 
proverbs, he will give the devil his due. 

Henry IV, Pt. /, I, ii. 

Go to the devil. The obvious meaning of this 
phrase is, to go to ruin. In the 17th century, 
however, wits used to make a play on the 
applicability of the phrase to the Devil Tavern, 
Temple Bar, one of the most famous taverns 
in the City, and a haunt of lawyers from the 
neighbouring Temple. The sign of the tavern 
was the Devil pulling St. Dunstan’s nose. 
The Devil was a favourite resort of Ben Jonson, 
and numerous references to it appear in 
Elizabethan and Stuart literature. 

Bloodhound: As you come by Temple Bar make a 
step to th 1 Devil. 

Tim : To the Devil, father? 

Sim: My master means the sign of the Devil; and he 
cannot hurt you, fool; there’s a saint holds him by 
the nose. 

W. Rowley: A Match at Midnight , 1633. 

He needs a long spoon who sups with the 
devil. See Spoon. 

Here’s the very devil to pay. Here’s a pretty 
kettle of fish. I’m in a pretty mess; this is 
confusion worse confounded. Cp. The Devil 
to pay, below. 

Needs must when the devil drives. If I must, 

I must. The French say: “// faut marcher a uand 
le diable est aux trousses ”; and the Italians: 

“ Bisogna andare , quando il diavolo e nella 
coda 

He must needs go that the Devil drives. 

Shakespeare: All's Well that Ends Well , I, iii. 

Pull devil, puli baker. Lie, cheat, and wrangle 
away, for one is as bad as the other. Sometimes 


“parson” is substituted for “baker,” but the 
origin of neither is known. 

Like Punch and the Deevil rugging about the Baker 
at the fair. — Scott: Old Mortality , ch. xxxviii. 

Talk of the devil and he’s sure to appear. 

Said of a person who has been the subject 
of conversation, and who unexpectedly makes 
his appearance. An older proverb still is: 
“Talk of the Dule and he’ll put out his horns”; 
but the modern euphemism is: “Talk of an 
angel and you’ll hear the fluttering of its 
wings.” 

Forthwith the devil did appear, 

For mme him, and he's always near. 

Prior : Hans Carvel. 

Tell the truth and shame the devil. A very old 

saying, of obvious meaning. 

The devil among the tailors. Said when a 
good slanging match is in progress; it is also 
the name ot a game in which a top (the 
“devil”) is spun among a number of wooden 
men (“tailors”) and knocks down as many as 
possible. 

The first-mentioned use of the phrase is said 
to have originated through a row at a benefit 
performance about 1830 for the well-known 
actor William Dowton (1764-1851). The piece 
was a burlesque called The Tailors: a Tragedy 
for Warm Weather , and a large number of 
tailors caused a riot outside the theatre (the 
Haymarket) as they considered it insulting to 
the trade. 

The devil and all. Everything, especially 
everything bad. 

The devil and his dam. The devil and some- 
thing even worse. Dam (q.v.) here may mean 
either mother (the usual meaning), or wife. 
Quotations may be adduced in support of 
cither of these interpretations, and it is to be 
noted that frequently (cp. Paradise Lost , II) 
there is no differentiation. Also, Rabbinical 
tradition relates that Lilith was the wife of 
Adam, but was such a vixen that Adam could 
not live with her, and she became the devil’s 
dam. We also read that Belphegor “came to 
earth to seek him out a dam.” 

In many mythologies the devil is typified by 
an animal; the Irish and others call him a 
black cat ; the Jews speak of him as a dragon 
(which idea is carried out in our George and 
the Dragon); the Japanese call him a species of 
fox; others say he is a goat, a camel , etc., and 
Dante associates him with dragons , swine y and 
dogs. In all which cases dam for mother is not 
inappropriate. 

The devil catch the hindmost. A phrase from 
late mediaeval magic; it was said that the devil 
had a school at Toledo, or at Salamanca, 
where the students, when they had made a 
certain progress in their studies, were obliged 
to run through a subterranean hall, and the 
last man was seized by the devil and became 
his imp. 

The devil in Dublin City. The Scandinavian 
form of Dublin was Divelin[a], and the Latin 
Dublinia. “Dublin” is the Gael, dhu linn t the 
black pool. Devlin, in Co. Mayo, is the same 
word and preserves the Scandinavian form. 

Is just as true’s the deil’s in hell 
Or Dublin city. 

Burns: Death and Dr. Hornbrook. 



Devil 


279 


Devil 


The devil is not so black as he is painted. 
Said in extenuation or mitigation, especially 
when it seems that exaggerated censure has 
been given. 

The devil looking over Lincoln. Said of a 
vitriolic critic or a backbiter. Fuller, in his 
Worthies (under Oxford ), says the phrase may 
allude either to the “stone picture of the Devil 
which doth [1661] or lately did overlook Lin- 
coln Collcdge,” or to a grotesque sculpture at 
Lincoln Cathedral. The phrase occurs as early 
as 1562 (John Heywood s Proverbs). 

Than wolde ye looke ouer me with stomoke swolne 
Tike as the divell lookt ouer Lincolne. 

The devil rides on a fiddlestick . Much ado 
about nothing. Beaumont and Fletcher ; 
Shakespeare, and others, use the phrase. 
“Fiddlesticks!** as an exclamation, meaning 
rubbish! nonsense! When the prince and his 
merry companions are at the Boar's Head , 
first Bardolph rushes in to warn them that the 
sheriff’s officers are at hand, and anon enters 
the hostess to put her guests on their guard. 
But the prince says: — 

Heigh, heigh! the devil rides upon a fiddlestick; 
what's the matter ? — Henry IV, Pt. I, II, iv. 

The following is perhaps a reminiscence of 
the old phrase : — 

The Devil, that old stager . . . who leads 
Downward, perhaps, but fiddles all the way. 
Browning: Red Cotton Night-cap Country, ii. 

The devil's advocate. See Advocate. 

The devil’s daughter’s portion.The saying i s - 
Deal, Dover, and Harwich, 

The devil gave with his daughter In marriage, 

because of the scandalous impositions prac- 
tised in these seaports on sailors and occasional 
visitors. 

The devil’s door. A small door in the north 
wall of some old churches, which used to be 
opened at baptisms and communions to “let 
the devil out.’* The north used to be known as 
“the devil’s side.” where Satan and his legion 
lurked to catch the unwary. 

The devil sick would be a monk. 

When the Devil was sick, the devil a monk would be; 
When the Devil got well, the devil a monk was he. 

Said of those persons who in times of sick- 
ness or danger make pious resolutions, but 
forget them when danger is past and health 
recovered. The lines are found as an inter- 
polation in Urauhart and Motteux’s transla- 
tion of Rabelais (Bk. IV, ch. xxiv). A correct 
translation of what Rabelais actually wrote 
is: — 

“There's a rare rogue for you," said Eusthenes, 
“there’s a rogue, a rogue and a half. This makes good 
the Lombard's proverb, ‘Passato el Pericolo, gabbato 
el Santo* ** [when the danger is passed, the Saint is 
mockedl. 

The devil to pay and no pitch hot. The “devil” 
is a seam between the garboard-strake and the 
keel, and to “pay” is to cover with pitch 
(O.Fr. payer , to pitch, whence Fr. poix ; see 
Pay). In former times, when vessels were often 
careened for repairs, it was difficult to calk 
and pay this seam before the tide turned. 
Hence the locution, the ship is careened, the 
devil is exposed, but there is no hot pitch 
ready, and the tide will turn before the work 
can be done. 


To hold a candle to tiffc devil. S^e Candle. 

To kindle a fire for the devil. To offer 
sacrifice, to do what is ically sinful, under the 
delusion that you're doing God’s service. 

To lead one the devil’s own dance. To give 
him endless trouble; to lead him right astray. 

To play the very devil with something. To 
muddle and mar it in such a way as to spoil it 
utterly. 

To pull the devil by the tail. To struggle 
constantly against adversity. 

To say the devil’s paternoster. To grumble; 
to rail at providence. 

To whip the devil round the stump. An 

American phrase meaning to enjoy the fruits 
of evil-doing without having to suffer the 
penalty; to dodge a difficulty dishonestly but 
successfully. 

When the devil is blind. Never. 4 

Why should the devij have all the good tunes? 

A saying originating with Charles Wesley 
about 1740, when he utilized the music of the 
popular songs of the day to get his hymns 
sung and known. 

Devil. In Topographical Nomenclature. 

Devil’s Arrows. Three remarkable “Druid” 
stones near Boroughbridge, Yorks, like 
Harold's Stones. 

Devil’s Bridge. There is a village in Cardigan- 
shire of this name, so called because of its 
double bridge across a gorge of the river 
Mynach. The lower bridge dates from the 12th 
century, and is locally known as the Monks’ 
Bridge, because it was built by, and for the 
use of, the monasteries in the neighbourhood; 
the upper bridge dates from 1735. A famous 
bridge in Switzerland, over the Reuss in the 
canton of Uri, is also so called (Ger. Tettfels- 
briicke). See also above , Cheating the Devil. 

The Devil’s Cheesewring. See Cheese wring. 

Devil’s Colts. See Hackell’s Coit. 

The Devil’s Current. Part of the current of 
the Bosporus is so called, from its great 
rapidity. 

Devil’s Den. A cromlech in a valley, near 
Marlborough. It now consists of two large 
uprights and an impost. The third upright has 
fallen. 

The Devil’s Dyke. A ravine in the South 
Downs, Brighton. The legend is, that St. 
Cuthman, walking on the downs, prided him- 
self on having Christianized the surrounding 
country, and having built a nunnery where the 
dyke-house now stands. Presently the devil 
appeared and told him all his labour was vain, 
for he would swamp the whole country before 
morning. St. Cuthman went to the nunnep' 
and told the abbess to keep the sistere in 
prayer till after midnight, and then illuminate 
the windows. The devil came at sunset with 
mattock and spade, and began cutting a dyke 
into the sea, but was seized with rheumatic 
pains all over his body. He flung down his 
mattock and spade, and the cocks, mistaking 
the illuminated windows for sunrise, began to 



Devil 


280 


Devonshire 


crow; whereupon th$ devil fled in alarm, 
leaving his Work not half done. 

The same name is given to a prehistoric 
earthwork in Cambridgeshire, stretching across 
Newmarket Heath from Rech to Cowledge. 
See also Grim’s Dyke, etc. 

The Devil’s Frying-pan. A Cornish tin-mine 
worked by the Romans. 

The Devil’s Hole. A name of the Peak 
Cavern, in Derbyshire. 

The Devil’s Nostrils. Two vast caverns 
separated by a huge pillar of natural rock in 
the mainland of the Zetland Islands. 

The Devil’s Punch Bowl. A deep combe on 
the S.W. side of Hindhcad Hill, two miles N. 
of Haslemere, in Surrey. A similar dell in 
Mangerton Mountain, near Killarncy, has the 
same name. 

The Devil’s Throat. Cromer Bay. So called 
from its danger to navigation. 

The Devil’s Tower. ,A great rectangular 
granite obelisk, over 600 feet in height, in the 
Black Hills, Dakota, U.S.A. 

IN PERSONAL NOMENCLATURE. 

Devil Dick. A nickname of Richard Porson 
(1759-1808), the great English Greek scholar. 

Robert the Devil. See Robert Le Diable. 

The French Devil. Jean Bart (1651-1702), an 
intrepid French sailor, born at Dunkirk. 

The Devil’s missionary. A nickname given 
to Voltaire (1694-1778), and very likely to 
others. 

Son of the Devil. Ezzelino (1194-1259), the 
noted Ghibelline leader and Governor of 
Vicenza; so called for his infamous cruelties. 

The White Devil was the name given to 
Vittoria Corombona, an Italian murderess 
whose story was dramatized by John Webster 
under that name, 1608. 

The White Devil of Wallachia. Scanderbeg, 
or George Castriota (1403-68), was so called 
by the Turks. 

IN COMMON TERMS AND NAMES. 

Devil and bag o’ nails. See Bag o’ Nails. 

Devil dodger. A sly hypocrite; a ranting 
preacher. 

Devil may care. Wildly reckless; also a 
reckless fellow. 

Devil on two sticks. The English name of Le 
Sage’s novel Le diable boiteux (1707), in which 
Asmodeus (q.v.) plays an important part. It 
was dramatized by Foote in 1768. See also 
Diabolo. 

Devil’s apple. The mandrake; also the thorn 
apple. 

Devil’s bedpost. In card games, the four of 
clubs. Cp . Devil’s Four-poster, below . 

Devil’s Bible. See Devil’s books, below. 

Devil’s bird. A Scots name for the yellow 
bunting; from its note, deil. 

Devil’s bones. Dice, which are made of 
bones and lead to ruin. 


Devil’s books, or Devil’s picture-book. 
Playing cards. A Presbyterian phrase, used in 
reproof of the term King’s Books, applied to 
a pack of cards, from the Fr. livre des quatre 
rois (the book of the four kings). Also called 
the Devil's Bible. 

Devil’s candle. So the Arabs call the man- 
drake, from its shining appearance at night. 

Devil’s candlestick. The common stinkhorn 
fungus. Phallus impudicus ; also called the 
devil's horn and the devil's stinkpot. 

Devil’s coach-horse. A large rove-beetle, 
Goerius ole ns. 

Devil’s coach-wheel. The com crowfoot. 

Devil’s daughter. A shrew. Cp. Devil’s 
Daughter’s Portion in Phrases above. 

Devil’s dozen. Thirteen; twelve, and one 
over for the devil. Cp. Baker’s dozen. 

Devil’s dust. The flock made from old rags 
torn up by a machine called the “devil”; 
also the shoddy made from this. 

Does it beseem thee to weave cloth of devil’s dust 
instead of pure wool? — Carlyle (1840). 

Devil’s fingers. The starfish; also belemnites. 

Devil’s four-poster. A hand at whist with 
four clubs. It is said that such a hand is never 
a winning one. Cp. Devil’s bedpost, above. 

Devil’s horn. See Devil’s candlestick, 
above. 

Devil’s livery. Black and yellow. Black for 
death, yellow for quarantine. 

Devil’s luck. Astounding good luck. 
Persons always lucky were thought at one 
time to have compounded with the devil. 

Devil’s mass. Swearing at everybody and 
everything. 

The Devil’s Own. See Regimental Nick- 
names. 

The Devil’s Parliament. The parliament 
which met at Coventry in 1459 and impeached 
the Yorkist leaders. 

The Devil’s Paternoster. See in Phrases 
above. 

Devil’s snuff-box. A puff-ball; a fungus full 
of dust; one of the genus Lyeoperdon. 

De Vinne, Theodore Low (1828-1914). A 
famous American printer who brought about 
great improvements in American typography. 
His principal work was The Practice of Typo- 
graphy , 1900-4. 

Devonshire. The name is derived from the 
tribe, the Defnas, who were here before the 
Celts (called Dumnonii). Defnas came to be 
applied to the territory. According to English 
legend it is from Debon, one of the heroes who 
came with Brutus from Troy. When Brutus 
allotted out the island, this portion became 
Debon' s share. 

In mede of these great conquests by them got 
Corineus had that province utmost west . . . 

And Debon’s share was that is Devonshire. 

Spenslr: Faerie Queene, II, x, 12. 

The Devonshire Poet. O. Jones, a journey- 
man wool-comber, who lived at the close of 
the 18th century. Other Devonshire poets are 




Dew Ponds 


281 


Diamond Pitt 


John Gay (1685-1732) of Barnstaple and 
Edward Capern (1819-94), called “The rural 
Postman of Bideford.” 

Dew Ponds. On the heights of the chalk downs 
and in other places where there is no visible 
means of replenishment there are ponds which 
remain full in the heat of summer when ponds 
at lower levels dry up. These dew ponds are 
often of prehistoric origin, dating back to the 
Stone Age and beyond. They are cunningly 
made, with a lower layer of straw or reeds, 
and an upper layer of clay, and are kept filled 
mostly by mist and dew. The presence of a 
dew pond is a sure sign that ancient man 
dwelt in the neighbourhood. 

Dexter (deks' ter). A Lat. word meaning “to 
the right, on the right-hand side”; hence 
dextrous originally signified “right-handed.” 
In Heraldry the term dexter is applied to that 
side of the shield which is to the right of the 
person bearing it upon the arm, hence it 
indicates the left side of the shield as seen by 
the spectator, either when viewed as an actual 
shield or when seen depicted. 

Dey. The title of the Mohammedan governors 
of Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis; originally 
applied to the commander of Janissaries at 
Algiers who (1710) became ruler. From Turk. 
dai % maternal uncle. 

Diable, Lc. Olivier Lc Dain, the tool of Louis 
XI, and once the king’s barber. So called 
because he was as much feared as the devil 
himself and even more disliked. He was 
hanged in 1484, after the death of the king. 

Diabolo. An old game that was revived about 
1907, in which the players have each two sticks 
connected with a cord on which they spin, and 
pass from one to the other, a reel-shaped top. 
It used to be called the “devil on two sticks,” 
the top being the “devil.” 

Diadem (di' a dem). In ancient times the head- 
band or fillet worn by kings as a badge of 
royalty was called a diadem; it was made of 
silk or linen and was tied at the back, with the 
ends falling on the neck. The diadem of 
Bacchus was a broad band which might be un- 
folded to make a veil. The Emperor Constan- 
tine was the first to wear a diadem of jewels, 
and from his time rows of pearls and precious 
stones have made up the royal and imperial 
diadems. Often figuratively used, as when 
Byron refers to Mont Blanc’s “diadem of 
snow” ( Manfred , I, i). 

Dialectics. Logic in general; the art of dis- 
putation; the investigation of truth by analysis; 
that strictly logical discussion which leads to 
reliable results. (Gr. dialegein , to speak 
thoroughly.) 

Kant used the word to signify the critical 
analysis of knowledge based on science, and 
Hegel for the philosophic process of reconciling 
the contradictions of experience in a higher 
synthesis. 

The following questions from John of 
Salisbury are fair specimens of the dialectics 
of the Schoolmen fa.v.): — 

When a person buys a whole cloak, does the cowl 
belong to his purchase? 

When a hog is driven to market with a rope round 
its neck, does the man or the rope take him? 


Diamond. A corruption of adamant fa.v.). So 
called because the diamond, which cuts other 
substances, can be cut or polished with no 
substance but itself (Gr. a damao % what 
cannot be subdued). 

In Spenser’s Faerie Queene (Bk. IV), Diamond 
is one of the three sons of Agape. He was slain 
by Cambalo. 

Diamond is the playing area in the game of 
Baseball. 

A diamond of the first water. A specially fine 
diamond, one of the greatest value for its size. 
The colour or lustre of a diamond is called its 
“water.” 

A rough diamond. An uncultivated genius; a 
person of excellent parts, but without society 
manners. 

As for Warrington, that rough diamond had not 
had the polish of a dancing-master, and he did not 
know how to waltz. — Thackeray. 

Black diamonds. See Black. 

Diamond cut diamond. Cunning outwitting 
cunning; a hard bargain over-reached. A 
diamond is so hard that it can only be ground 
by diamond dust, or by rubbing one against 
another. 

Diamond hammer. A pick for “whetting” 
millstones. It is provided with several sharp- 
pointed teeth to give a uniform roughness to 
the surface of the stone. Also a steel pick with 
diamond-shaped point at each extremity to 
recut grooves in stone. 

Diamond Jim. Jim Brady, an American 
railway magnate who liked to cover his person 
with diamonds of great size in the form of 
rings, buttons, tie pins, etc. 

The diamond jousts. Jousts instituted by 
King Arthur, “who by that name had named 
them, since a diamond was the prize.” The 
story, as embroidered by Tennyson in his 
Lancelot and Elaine from Malory (Bk. XVIII, 
ch. ix-xx) is that Arthur found nine diamonds 
from the crown of a slain knight and ottered 
them as the prize of nine jousts in successive 
years. 

The Diamond Necklace. The famous 
“Diamond Necklace Affair” of French 
history (1783-5) centres round Marie Antoin- 
ette, Cardinal de Rohan, a profligate and 
ambitious churchman, and an adventuress, the 
Countess de Lamotte. Partly by means of the 
queen’s signatures, which were almost certainly 
forged, Rohan was induced to purchase for 
the queen, for about £85,000, a diamond 
necklace originally made for Mme Dubarry. 
He handed the necklace to the countess who 
was to pass it on to the queen, but she sold 
it to an English jeweller and kept the money. 
When the time of payment arrived Boehmer, 
the jeweller, sent his bill in to the queen, who 
denied all knowledge of the matter. A nine 
months’ trial ensued which created immense 
scandal. The necklace is still in existence. 

Diamond Pitt. Thomas Pitt (1653-1726), 
owner of the famous Pitt Diamond (< 7 .v.), and 
grandfather of the Earl of Chatham, was so 
known. 



Diamond Sculls 


282 


Dicky 


The Diamond Sculls. An annual race for 
amateur single-scullers taking place at the 
Henley Royal Regatta, and first rowed in 1844. 
The prize is a pair of crossed silver sculls not 
quite a foot in length, surmounted by an imi- 
tation wreath of laurel, and having a pendant 
of diamonds. It passes from winner to winner; 
but each winner receives a silver cup as a 
souvenir. 

Diana (di &n' a). An ancient Italian and Roman 
divinity, later identified with the Olympian 
goddess Artemis, who was daughter of Zeus 
and Leto, and twin-sister of Apollo. She was 
the goddess of the moon and of hunting, 
protectress of women, and — in earlier times 
at least — the great mother goddess or Nature 
goddess. Cp. Selenf. The temple of Diana at 
Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the 
World (?.v.), built by Dinochares, was set on 
fire by Herostratos, for the sake of perpetu- 
ating his name. The lonians decreed that any- 
one who mentioned his name should be put to 
death, but this very decree gave it immortality. 
The temple was discovered in 1872. 

Diana of Ephesus. This statue, a cone sur- 
mounted by a bust covered with breasts, wc 
are told, fell from heaven. If so, it was an 
aerolite; but Minucius (2nd cent. a.d>), who 
says ne saw it, describes it as a wooden statue, 
and Pliny, a contemporary, tells us it was made 
of ebony. Probably the real “image” was a 
meteorite, and in the course of time a wooden 
one was substituted. 

The palladium of Troy, the most ancient 
image of Athena at Athens, the statues of 
Artemis at Tauris and Cybele at Pessinus, the 
sacred shield of the Romans, and the shrine of 
our Lady of Loreto, are examoles of objects 
of religious veneration which were said to 
have been sent from heaven. 

Great Is Diana of the Ephesians. A phrase 
sometimes used to signify that self-interest 
blinds the eyes, from the story in Acts xix, 
24-8 of Demetrius, the Ephesian silversmith 
who made shrines for the temple of Diana. 

The Tree of Diana. See Philosopher's 
Tree. 

Diana’s Worshippers. Midnight revellers. 
So called because they return home by moon- 
light, and so, figuratively, put themselves under 
the protection of Diana (q.v.). 

Diapason (di a pa' zon). The word is Greek 
(short for dia pason chordon , through all the 
chords) and means an harmonious combina- 
tion of notes; hence harmony itself. Dryden 
says: — 

From harmony, from heavenly harmony 
The universal frame began ; 

From harmony to harmony 

Thro* all the compass of the notes it ran. 

The diapason closing full in man. 

Song for St. Cecilia's Day. 

According to the Pythagorean system, the 
world is a piece of harmony and man the full 
chord. Cp. Microcosm. 

Diaper (dT k p&r). A sort of variegated white 
cloth, so called from Gr. dia . through, as pros, 
white, white in places. The name is not 
connected with Ypres, nor with Jasper. 

It is usually a repeated pattern of squares or 


lozenges, and in this sense is used in heraldry 
for a pattern on Jdie field or an ordinary of 
other than heraldic bearings. A more homely 
(American) usage of the word applies to a 
baby’s “nappy.” 

Diavolo, Fra. Michele Pozza, an insurgent of 
Calabria (1760-1806), round whom Scribe 
wrote a libretto for Auber’s comic opera 
(1830). 

Dibs. Money. Cp , Tips. 

The knuckle-bones of sheep used for 
gambling purposes are called dibbs; and 
Locke speaks of stones used for the same game, 
which he calls dibs tones. 

Dicers* Oaths. False as dicers* oaths. Worthless 
or untrustworthy, as when a gambler swears 
never to touch dice again. ( Hamlet , III, iv.) 
Dichotomy (dik ot' 6 mi). This comes from a 
Greek word meaning a cutting in two, and it 
is applied in biology and logic to a continuous 
division into pairs usually of opposite charac- 
teristics. A good example of dichotomy in all 
its senses is the mistletoe, the main stem of 
which divides into two, each part of which 
divides again into two, and so on to the tittle 
berries which appear in twos. 

Dick. Richard; from Ric , short for the Anglo- 
Norman Ricard ; the diminutive “Dicky” is 
also common. 

Jockey of Norfolk [Lord Howard], be not too bold, 
For Dickon [or Dicky], thy master, is bought and sold. 

Richard Ilf, V, iji. 

That happened in the reign of Queen Dick — 
i.e. never; there never was a Queen Richard. 

Richard Cromwell (1626-1712). son of the 
Protector whom, for a few months, he suc- 
ceeded, was sometimes scornfully referred to 
as “King Dick”, and there were many popular 
sayings introducing the Crown as “Dick's 
hatband”. Among them are: — 

Dick's hatband was made of sand. His regal honours 
were “a rope of sand.” 

As queer as Dick's hatband. Few things have been 
more ridiculous than the exaltation and abdication of 
the Protector’s son. 

As tight as Dick's hatband. The crown was too tight 
for him to wear with safety. 

Dickens. Dickens , in What the dickens, is 
probably a euphemism for the devil, or Old 
Nicky and is nothing to do with Charles 
Dickens. In Low German we find its equiva- 
lent, De duks! Mrs. Page says; — 

I cannot tell what the dickens his name is. — Merry 
Wives of Windsor , HI, ii. 

Dickey. In George Ill’s time, a flannel 
petticoat. 

A hundred instances I soon could pick ye — 
Without a cap we view the fair, 

The bosom heaving alto hare. 

The hips ashamed, forsooth, to wear a dicky. 

Peter Pindar: Lord Auckland's Triumph. 

It was afterwards applied to what were 
called false shirts — i.e. a starched shirt front 
worn over a flannel shirt; also to any other 
article of dress pretending to be what it isn’t; 
and to leather aprons, children’s bibs, the rum- 
ble behind a carriage, etc. 

Dicky. A donkey; especially in East Anglia, 
where it was anciently called a Dick-ass or 
Dicky-ass. It is a term of endearment, as we 
call a pet bird a dicky-bird. The ass is called 



Dicky Sam 


283 


Difference 


Dicky (little Richard), Cuddy (little Cuthbert), 
Neddy (little Edward), .feck-ass, Moke or 
Mike, etc. 

Dicky Sam. A native-born inhabitant of 
Liverpool, as Tim Bobbin is a native of 
Lancashire. 

Dictys Cretensis. Reputed author of an eye- 
witness account in Latin of the siege of Troy. 
It was well known in the Middle Ages and 
formed the basis of many stories. 

Didactic Poetry. Poetry with a moral or 
educational purpose as Pope’s Essay on Man , 
of the principle of some art of science, as 
Virgil’s GeorgicSy Garth’s Dispensary , or 
Darwin’s Botanic Garden. (Gr. didasko , l 
teach.) 

Diddle. To cheat in a small way, as “I diddled 
him out of . . .” Edgar Allan Poe wrote an 
essay on “Diddling Considered as one of the 
Exact Sciences.” 

A certain portion of the human race 
Has certainly a taste for being diddled. 

Hood: A Black Job. 

Jeremy Diddler. An adept at raising money 
on false pretences. From Kenny’s farce called 
Raising the Wind. 

Didcrick. See Dietrich. 

Dido. The name given by Virgil to Elissa, 
founder and queen of Carthage. She fell in 
love with yEneas, driven by a storm to her 
shores, who, after abiding awhile at Carthage, 
was compelled by Mercury to leave the 
hospitable queen. Elissa, in grief, burnt herself 
to death on a funeral pile. (/ Eneidy l, 494- 
III, 650.) Dido is really the Phoenician name of 
Astarte (Artemis), goddess of the moon and 
protectress of the citadel of Carthage. 

It was Porson who said he could rhyme on 
any subject; and being asked to rhyme upon 
the three Latin gerunds, which, in the old 
Eton Latin grammar, are called -di, -do, - dam , 
gave this couplet: — 

When Dido found /Eneas would not come, 

She mourned in silence, and was Di-do dum(b). 

Dido, Cutting a. The American equivalent of 
the British “cutting a caper” (see Caper). 
In some parts of the U.S.A. “dancing a dido” 
is used instead of “cutting a dido.” The phrase 
is found as early as 1 807 in the autobiographical 
work A Narrative of the Lire and Travels of 
John Robert ShaWy the Well-Digger. Its origin 
is unknown, though a fanciful attempt has 
been made to connect it with a legend that 
Dido, queen of Carthage, by a smart piece 
of work, managed to secure more land than 
she had agreed to buy, and on which she built 
the city of Carthage. 

Didymus (did' i mus). This being the Greek 
word for a twin, it was applied to St. Thomas 
fe.v.), as the name Thomas means, in Aramaic, 
a twin. 

Die. The die is cast. The step is taken, and I 
cannot draw back. So said Julius Caesar when 
he crossed the Rubicon—- jacta alea est l the 
die is cast! 

1 have set my life upon the cast, 

And 1 will stand the hazard of the die. 

Richard III , V, iv. 

Never say die. Never despair; never give up. 

B.D. — 10 


Whom the gods love die young. This is from 
Menander — Hon hoi theoi philousin apothneskei 
neos. Demosthenes has a similar apophthegm. 
Plautus has the line, Quem di diligunt 
adolescens moritur ( Bacch . IV, vii, 18). 

Die-hards. In political phraseology Die- 
hards are the crusted members of any party 
who stick to their long-held theories through 
thick and thin, regardless of the changes that 
time or a newly awakened conscience may 
bring; those who would rather “die in the last 
ditch” than admit the possibility of their 
having been short-sighted. 

Die Hards, The. See Regimental Nick- 
names. 

Dieeo, San (s2n di e' go, de a' go). A modifica- 
tion of Santiago (St. James), the patron saint 
of Spain. 

Dies (di' ez). Dies Alliensis. See Alliensis. 

Dies Irse (Lat. Day of Wrath). A famous 
mediaeval hymn on the last judgment, probably 
the composition of Thomas of Cclano, a 
native of Abruzzi, who died in 1255. It is de- 
rived from the Vulgate version of Joel ii, 31, 
and is used by Roman Catholics in the Mass 
for the Dead and on All Souls’ Day. Scott has 
introduced the opening into his Lay of the Last 
Minstrel. 

Dies irse, dies ilia 
Solvet Stcclum in fa villa, 

Teste David cum Sibylla. 

On that day, that wrathful day, 

David and the Sibyl say, 

Heaven and earth shall melt away. 

Dies non (Lat. a “not” day). A non- 
business day. A law phrase, meaning a day 
when the courts do not sit and legal business 
is not transacted, as Sundays; the Purification, 
in Hilary term; the Ascension, in Easter term; 
St. John the Baptist, in Trinity term; and All 
Saints’, with All Souls’, in Michaelmas term. 
A contracted form of “Dies non juridicus'\ 
a non-judicial day. 

Dietrich of Bern (de' trik). The name given 
by the German minnesingers to Theodoric the 
Great (454-526), king of the Ostrogoths 
( Bern = Verona). He appears in many Middle 
High German poems, especially the Nibel - 
ungen lied, where he is one of the liegemen of 
King Etzel. 

Dieu (dye). Dieu et mon droit (God and my 
right). The parole of Richard I at the battle of 
Gisors (1198), meaning that he was no vassal 
of France, but owed his royalty to God alone. 
The French were signally beaten, but the 
battle-word does not seem to have been adop- 
ted as the royal motto of England till the time 
of Henry VI. 

Dieu-donn6. Name given to Louis XIV in 
his infancy. 

Difference. When Ophelia is distributing 
flowers {Hamlet. IV, v) and says: “You must 
wear your rue with a difference,” she is using 
the word in the heraldic sense and means “you 
must wear it as though it were marked in such 




Difference 


284 


Ding-dong 


a way as will slightly change the usual meaning 
of the plant/’ which was a symbol of repen- 
tance (“herb of grace”); or, on the assumption 
that she was offering the flower to the queen, 
Ophelia may have implied that they were both 
to wear rue: the one as the affianced of Hamlet, 
eldest son of the late king; the other as the wife 
of Claudius his brother, and the cadet branch. 

In heraldry. Differences or marks of cadency 
indicate the various branches of a family. 

The eldest son, during the lifetime of his 
father, bears a label, i.e. a bar or fillet, having 
three pendants broader at the bottom than 
at the top. The second son bears a crescent. 
The third, a mullet (i.e. a star with five points). 
The fourth, a martlet. The fifth, an annulet. 
The sixth, a fleur-de-lis. The seventh, a rose. 
The eighth, a cross-moline. The ninth, a double 
quatre foil. 

To difference is to make different by the 
superimposition of a further symbol. 

Digest (dl'jest). A compendium or summary 
arranged under convenient headings and titles, 
especially (and originally) the extracts from 
the body of Roman law compiled by Tribonian 
and sixteen assistants by order of Justinian, and 
arranged in 50 books (a.d. 533). Cp. Pandects. 

Digger. An Australian. The phrase was 
in use in that country before 1850, having come 
into prominence when gold was discovered. 
In World War I the name was applied to 
Anzac troops fighting in Flanders and was 
revived in World War II. Digger was the name 
given to the 17th-century Levellers (1649) who 
followed Winstanley and Everard in applying 
communistic principles to land ownership. 

Diggings. Lodgings, rooms, apartments. A 
word imported from California and its gold 
diggings. 

My friend here wants to take diggings; and as you 
were complaining that you would get someone to go 
halves with you, I thought I had better bring you to- 
gether. — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: A Study in 
Scarlet, ch. 1. 

Digits. The first nine numerals; so called from 
the habit of counting as far as ten on the 
fingers. (Lat. digitus , a finger.) 

In astronomy, the word signifies the twelfth 
part of the diameter of the sun or moon; it is 
used principally in expressing the magnitude 
of an eclipse. 

Dii Penates (di' i pe na' tez) (Lat.). Household 
gods; now used colloquially for articles about 
the house that are specially prized. Cp. Lares. 

Dilemma. The horns of a dilemma. A difficulty 
of such a nature that whatever way you attack 
it you encounter an equal amount of dis- 
agreeables. Macbeth, after the murder of 
Duncan, was “on the horns of a dilemma.” 
If he allowed Banquo to live, he had reason to 
believe that Banquo would supplant him; if, 
on the other hand, he resolved to keep the 
crown for which he had defiled his hands, he 
must continue on the path of murder and cut 
Banquo off. 

“Lemma” means an assumption, a thing 
taken for granted (Gr. lambanein, to take). 
“Dilemma” is a double lemma, a two-edged 
sword, or a bull which will toss you whichever 


horn you lay hold of, called by the Schoolmen 
argumentum cornutum . 

A young rhetorician said to an old sophist, “Teach 
me to plead, and I will pay you when I gain a cause.” 
He never had a cause till his old tutor master sued for 
payment: arid he argued, “If I gain the cause I shall 
not pay you, because the judge will say 1 am not to 
pay; and if I lose my cause I shall not be required to 
pay, according to the terms of our agreement.” To 
this the master replied, “Not so; if you gain your 
cause you must pay me according to the terms of our 
agreement; and if you lose your cause the judge will 
condemn you to pay me.” 

Diligence. A four-wheeled stage-coach, drawn 
by four or more horses, common in France 
before the introduction of railroads. The word 
is the same as the noun from diligent , which 
formerly meant speed, dispatch, as in Shake- 
speare’s “If your diligence be not speedy I 
shall be there before you” ( King Lear , I, v). 

Dill. Australian slang equivalent of the British 
and American slang “dope,” in the sense of 
simpleton, fool. 

Dilly. A stage-coach, as in the Derby Dilly. 
The word is, of course, an abbreviation of 
diligence (q.v.). 

Dime (U.S.A.) A ten-cent piece. From French 
dime (tithe). 

Dime novel (U.S.A.). Cheap publication of a 
lurid nature, originally costing a dime. 

Dimensions. See Fourth Dimension. 

Dimetse (dim' e te). The ancient inhabitants 
of Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, and 
Cardiganshire. 

Dimissory (dim' i sor i). A letter dimissory is a 
letter from the bishop of one diocese to some 
other bishop, giving leave for the bearer to 
be ordained by him. (Lat. di-mittere , to send 
away.) 

Dimity (dim' i ti). Stout cotton cloth woven 
with raised patterns. It has been said to be 
so called from Damictta, in Egypt, but is 
really from the Gr. di-mitos (double-thread). 
Cp. Samiie. 

Dine. To dine with Democritus. To be cheated 
out of one’s dinner. Democritus was the 
dcrider, or philosopher, who laughed at men’s 
folly. 

To dine with Duke Humphrey; to dine with 
Sir Thomas Gresham. To go dinnerless. See 
Humphrey. 

To dine with Mohammed. To die, and dine in 
paradise. 

To dine with the cross-legged knights. That 
is, to have no dinner at all. Cp. to dine with 
duke Humphrey. The knights referred to are 
the stone effigies of the Temple Church, where, 
at one time, lawyers met their clients. 

Dingbats. An Australian colloquial term for 
delirium tremens. 

Ding-dong. A ding-dong battle. A fight in good 
earnest. Ding-dong is an onomatopoeic word, 
reproducing the sound of a bell; and here the 
suggestion is that the blows fell regularly and 
unfalteringly, like the hammer-strokes of a 
bell. 




Dink urn 


285 


Diptych 


Dinkum (ding' kCim) (Austr.). Generally some- 
thing genuine or honest. Hard dinkum, 
meaning hard work, was first used in Australia 
by Rolf Boldrewood in Robbery Under Arms , 
1881. In World War I the Australian troops 
were called Dinks or Dinkums. The adjective 
dinky, with the sense of pretty or nice, is 
probably from the Scottish to dink, or dress up. 

Dinmont. See Sheep. 

Dandic Dinmont. See Dandie. 

Dinnyhayser (Austr.). A knock-out blow, as 
delivered by the fighter Dinny Hayes. 

Dinos. See Horse. 

Dint. By dint of war ; by dint of argument ; by 
dint of hard work. Dint means a blow or 
striking (O.E. dynt); whence perseverance, 
power exerted, force; it also means the 
indentation made by a blow. 

Diogenes (di oj' e nez). A noted Greek cynic 
philosopher (c. 412-323 b.c.), who, 

according to Seneca, lived in a tub. Alexander 
the Great so admired him that he said, “If I 
were not Alexander I would wish to be 
Diogenes.’' 

The whole world was not half so wide 
To Alexander, when he cried 
Because he had but one to subdue, 

As was a paltry narrow tub to 
Diogenes. Butler: Hudibras, I, iii. 

Diogenes was also the surname of Romanus 
IV, Emperor of the East, 1067-71. 

Diomedcs (di 6 me' dez) or Diomed. In Greek 
legend, a hero of the siege of Troy, among the 
Greeks second only to Achilles in bravery. 
With Odysseus he removed the Palladium from 
the citadel of Troy. He appears as the lover 
of Cressida in Boccaccio’s Filostrato and in 
later works. 

Diomedean exchange, in which all the 
benefit is on one side. The expression is 
founded on an incident related by Homer in 
the Iliad. Glaucus recognizes Diomed on the 
battlefield, and the friends change armour: — 
For Diomed’s brass arms, of mean device. 

For which nine oxen paid (a vulgar price). 

He gave his own, of gold divinely wrought, 

An hundred beeves the shining purchase boueht. 

Pope: Iliad, VI. 

Dione (di 6' ni). A Titaness; daughter of 
Oceanus and Tethys, and mother by Jupiter 
of Venus. The name has been applied to 
Venus herself, and Julius Ciesar, who claimed 
descent from her, was hence sometimes called 
Dio turns Ctesar. 

So young Dione, nursed beneath the waves, 

And rocked by Nereids in their coral caves . . . 
Lisped her sweet tones, and tried her tender smiles. 

Darwin : Economy of Vegetation, ii. 

Dionne Quintuplets. See Quins. 

Dionysia. See Bacchanalia. 

Dionysus (di 6 ni' sus). The Greek name of 
Bacchus (q.v.). 

Diophantine Analysis (di 6 fan' tin). Finding 
commensurate values of squares, cubes, 
triangles, etc.; or the sum of a given number of 
squares which is itself a square; or a certain 
number of squares, etc., which are in arith- 
metical progression; so named from Dio- 


phantus, a celebrated Alexandrian mathema- 
tician of the 4th century a.d. 

The following examples will give some idea of the 
theory :— 

1. To find two whole numbers, the sum of whose 
squares is a square; 

2. To find three square numbers which are in arith- 
metical progression; 

3. To find a number from which two given squares 
being severally subtracted, each of the remainders is a. 
square. 

Dioscuri. Castor and Pollux (q.v.). (Gr. Dios 
kouros , sons of Zeus.) 

The horses of the Dioscuri. Cy Haros and 
Harpagus. See Horse. 

Dip. The dip of the horizon is the apparent 
slope of the horizon as seen by an observer 
standing above sea level. This slope is due to 
the convexity of the earth. 

Dip of the needle is the inclination of a 
compass needle vertically. At the magnetic 
poles this is 90° and at the magnetic equator 0°. 

To dip the flag is to lower it for a moment 
and then hoist again, as a form of salute. 

To dip the headlights of a car is to lower them 
and turn them on again. 

To go for a dip. To go bathing. This is a very 
old English phrase. 

Dip. A cheap and common kind of candle, 
made by dipping into melted tallow the cotton 
which forms the wick. 

A farthing dip, like a rush , is a synonym for 
something that is almost valueless. 

Dipping (U.S.A.). The name given in 
Virginia and N. Carolina to the habit, there 
once prevalent, of chewing snuff. 

Diphthera (dif' the ra) (Gr.). A piece of pre- 
pared hide or leather; specifically, the skin 
of the goat Amalthea, on which Jove wrote 
the destiny of man. Diphtheria is an infectious 
disease of the throat; so called from its 
tendency to form a false membrane. 

Diploma (dip 16' m^) (Gr.). Literally, some- 
thing folded. Diplomas used to be written on 
parchment, folded, and sealed. The word is 
applied to licences given to graduates to 
assume a degree, to clergymen, to physicians, 
etc. ; and also to the credentials of an ambassa- 
dor, etc., authorizing him to represent his 
Government; whence diplomacy , tne negotia- 
tions, privileges, tact, etc., of a diplomatist . 

Diplomatics. The name formerly (and some- 
times still) given to the science of palaeography 
— that is, deciphering and investigating old 
charters, diplomas, titles, etc. Papebrocn, the 
Bollandist, originated the study m 1675; but 
Mabillon, another Bollandist, reduced it to a 
science in his De re Diplomatica , 1681. 
Toustain and Tassin further developed it in 
their treatise entitled Nouveau Traiti de 
Diplomatique , 1750-60. 

Diptych (Gr. diptuchos , folded in two). A 
register folded into two leaves, opening like 
a book. The Romans kept in a book of this 
sort the names of their magistrates, and 
Roman Catholics employed the word for the 
registers in which were written the names of 
those who were to be specially commemorated 



Dlrcsean Swan 


286 


Disney Professor 


when oblations were made for the dead. The 
name is also given to altar pieces and other 
paintings that fold together in the middle on a 
hinge. 

Dirc&an Swan. Pindar; so called from Dircc, 
£ fountain in the neighbourhood of Thebes, tfye 
poet’s birthplace (518-442 B.c.). The fountain 
is named from Dirce, who was put to death 
by the sons of Antiope for her brutal treatment 
of their mother, and was changed into a 
spring by Bacchus. 

Direct Action. A method of attaining, or 
attempting to attain, political ends by non- 
political means (such as striking or with- 
drawing labour). 

Direct tax. One collected directly from the 
owner of property subject to the tax, as the 
income-tax. Indirect taxes are taxes upon 
marketable commodities, such as tea and 
sugar, the tax on which is added to the article, 
and is thus paid by the purchaser indirectly. 

Direction of Labour is a phrase that came 
into being in World War II to describe 
the administrative action taken by the British 
Government to ensure a supply of labour for 
essential munition and other works. All 
persons between certain ages, if not in the 
Forces, were obliged to register; they were 
then allocated to essential work in the neigh- 
bourhood of their homes, and were unable to 
change this except through a Labour Exchange. 
This was revoked in 1945, but in 1947 a similar 
order was issued by the Minister of Labour, 
though only controlling the re-employment of 
men and women, without compulsory registra- 
tion. 

Directory, The. In French history, the con- 
stitution of 1795, when the executive was 
vested in five “Directors,” one of whom 
retired every year. After a sickly existence of 
four years, it came to an end at Napoleon’s 
coup d'etat of 18 Brumaire (November 9th), 
1799. 

Dirleton. Doubting with Dirleton, and resolving 
those doubts with Stewart. Doubting and 
answering those doubts, but doubting still. 
It i9 a Scottish phrase; and the allusion is to 
the Doubts and Questions in the Law (1698), by 
Sir John Nisbet of Dirleton, the Lord President, 
and Sir James Stewart’s Dirleton's Doubts and 
Questions . . . Resolved and Answered (1715). 
Of the former work Lord Chancellor Hard- 
wicke remarked, “His Doubts are better than 
most people’s certainties." 

Dirt. The origin of this word is Teutonic and 
we find its equivalent in the Icelandic drit , 
meaning excrement. In modern usage the 
sense has been extended to include loose or 
packed soil, alluvial earth, gravel, etc., and, 
figuratively, obscenity of any kind, especially 
in language. 

Pay dirt. Soil containing gold or diamonds, 
whichever is being sought. 

Dirt cheap. Very low-priced. 

Throw plenty of dirt and some will be sure 
to stick. Scandal always leaves a trail behind; 
find plenty of fault, and some of it will be 
believed. In Lat., For titer calumniari, aliquia 
adheerebit. 


To eat dirt. To put up with insults and 
mortification. 

Dirt-track racing is a form of motor-cycle 
racing on a track of cinders or similar sub- 
stance. Features of the sport are the shortness 
of the laps (about 440 yards) and the sharpness 
of the turns. It was introduced into England 
from Australia in 1928. 

Dirty Half-Hundred, The. See Rfgimental 
Nicknames. 

Dirty Shirts, The. See Regimental Nick- 
names. 

Dirty work at the cross-roads. See Cross. 

Dis. The Roman name of the Greek Pluto 

0?.v.). 

Proserpine gathering flowers, 

Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy Dis 
Was gathered. 

Mii.ton: Paradise Lost , IV, 270. 
Disastrous Peace, The (La Paix Malheureuse). 
A name given to the Treaty of Cateau-Cam- 
bresis (1559), which followed the battle of 
Gravelines. It was signed by France, Spain, 
and England, and by it France ceded the Low 
Countries to Spain, and Savoy, Corsica, and 
200 forts to Italy. But she retained Calais. 
Discalced. See Bareeootld. 

Discharge Bible, The. See Bible, Specially 

NAMED. 

Disciples of Christ. See Campbellites. 

Discipline, A. A scourge used for penitential 
purposes. 

Before the cross and altar a lamp was still burning. 

. . . and on the floor lay a small discipline or penitential 
scourge of small cord and wire, the lashes of which 
were stained with recent blood. — SCOTT: The 'Talis- 
man, ch. iv. 

This is a transferred sense of one of the 
ecclesiastical uses of the word — the morti- 
fication of the flesh by penance. 

Discord. Literally, severance of hearts (Lat. 
discorda). It is the opposite of concord, the 
coming together of hearts. In music, it means 
disagreement of sounds, as when a note is 
followed by or played with another which is 
disagreeable to a musical ear. 

The apple of discord. See Apple. 

Discount. At a discount. Not in demand; little 
valued; less esteemed than formerly; below 
par. (Lat. dis-computare . to depreciate.) 

Disestablishment. The governmental act of 
withdrawing a Church from its position or 
privileges in relation to the State. The Irish 
Church was disestablished by an Act of Parlia- 
ment in 1869; that of Wales in 1920. 

Dished. I was dished out of it. Cheated out of it; 
or rather, someone else contrived to obtain it. 
When one is dished he is completely done for, 
and the allusion is to food which, when it is 
quite done , is dished . Hence, “dishing the 
Whigs.” 

Where’s Brummel? Dished! 

Byron : Don Juan . 

Dismal Science, The. See Science. 

Dismas, St. See Dysmas. 

Disney Professor. The Professor of Archaeology 
at Cambridge. This chair was founded in 1851 



Dispensation 


287 


Divination 


by John Disney (1779-1857), who also be- 
queathed his collection of marbles to the 
University. 

Dispensation (Lat. dispensation from dis- and 
pender e , to weigh). The system which God 
chooses to dispense or establish between Him- 
self and man. The dispensation of Adam was 
that between Adam and God; the dispensation 
of Abraham , and that of Moses , were those 
imparted to these holy men; the Gospel 
dispensation is that explained in the Gospels. 

A dispensation from the Pope. Permission 
to dispense with something enjoined; a licence 
to do what is forbidden, or to omit what is 
commanded by the law of the Church, as 
distinct from the moral law. 

Displaced Persons, a phrase that arose in 
World War II when it was applied to the 
millions of homeless and uprooted people in 
Germany, who had either been imported there 
by the German government as slaves when their 
homes were overrun and destroyed or who had 
lost their homes in the ravages caused by the 
Russian invasion. Colloquially known as 
“Displaced persons'* since their rehabilitation 
presented such appalling problems to the 
soldiers first charged with the task. 

Distaff. The staff from which the flax was 
drawn in spinning; hence, figuratively, 
woman’s work, and a woman herself, the 
allusion being to the old custom of women, 
who spun from morning to night. Cp. Spinster. 

1 blush that we should owe our lives to such 

A king of distaffs! Byron: V drdanapalus , If, i. 

St. Distaff’s Day. January 7th. So called 
because the Christmas festival terminated on 
Twelfth Day, and on the day following the 
women returned to their distaffs or daily 
occupations. It is also called Rock Day* 
‘“rock” being an old name for the distaff. 

Give St. Distaff all the right. 

Then give Christmas sport good night. 

And next morrow every one 

To his own vocation. (1657.) 

What! shalj a woman with a rock drive thee away? 

Fye on thee, traitor! Dig by Mysteries. 

The distaff side. The female side of a family; 
a branch descended from the female side. See 
also Spindle-side. 

To have tow on the distaff. To have work in 
hand. 

He haddc more tow on his distaf 
Than Gerveys knew. 

Chaucer: Miller's Tale , 588. 

Distemper. An undue mixture (Lat. dis - 
temperate , to mix amiss). In medicine a 
distemper arises from the redundancy of 
certain secretions or morbid humours. The 
distemper in dogs is manifested by a running 
from the eyes and nose. 

Distemper, the paint, is so called because, 
instead of being mixed with oil, it is mixed 
with a vehicle (as size or glue) that is soluble 
in water. 

Ditch. To ditch an aeroplane is to make a 
forced landing on the sea; to throw away. 

Dithyrambic (dith i r&m' bik) (Gr. dithyrarnbo , 
a choric hymn). Dithyrambic poetry was 
originally a wild, impetuous kind of Dorian 


lyric in honour of Bacchus, traditionally 
ascribed to the invention of Arion of Lesbos 
(r. 620 b.c.), who has hence been called 
the father of dithyrambic poetry. 

Dittany (diC k ni). This plant {Origanum 
dictamnus ), so named from Dicte in Crete, 
where it grew in profusion, was anciently 
credited with many medicinal virtues, especially 
in enabling arrows to be drawn from wounds 
and curing such wounds. In Tasso’s Jerusalem 
Delivered (Bk. IX) Godfrey is healed in this way. 

Stags and hinds, when deeply wounded with darts, 
arrows, and bolts, if they do but meet the herb called 
dittany, which is common in Candia, and cat a little of 
it, presently the shafts come out, and all is well again; 
even as kind Venus cured her beloved by-blow >Eneas. 
— Rabelais ( Vrquhart and Mottcux): Bk. IV, ch. lxii. 

Ditto (dit' 6) (Hal. detto, said; from Lat. 
dictum). That which has been said before; 
the same or a similar thing. The word is often, 
in writing, contracted to do. 

A suit of dittoes. Coat, waistcoat, and 
trousers all alike, or all ditto (the same). 

To say ditto. To endorse somebody else’s 
expressed opinion. 

Divan (Tur. and Pers.). Primarily, a collection 
of sheets; hence, a collection of poems, a 
register (and the registrar) of accounts, the 
office where accounts are kept, a council or 
tribunal, a long seat or bench covered with 
cushions, a court of justice, and a custom 
house (whence douanc). The word, in its 
ramifications and extensions, is somewhat like 
our board ( q.v.)\ in England its chief meanings 
are (1) a comfortable sofa, (2) a bed without 
head-board or foot-board, and formerly (3) $ 
public smoking-saloon. 

Dive. A low resort. The phrase, of U.S.A. 
origin in about 1880, spread to common use in 
England in the 20th century. 

Dives (df vcz). The name popularly given to 
the rich man (Lat. dives) in the parable of the 
Rich Man and Lazarus {Luke xvi, 19); it is 
taken direct from the Vulgate. 

Lazar and Dives liveden diversely. 

And diverse guerdon hadden they ther-by. 

Chaucer: Somnour's Tale, 169. 

Divide. When the members in the House of 
Commons interrupt a speaker by crying out 
divide , they mean, bring the debate to an end 
and put the motion to the vote — i.e. let the 
ayes divide from the noes, one going into one 
lobby, and the others into the other. 

Divide and govern (Lat. divide et impera). 
A maxim of Machiavelli (1469-1527) meaning 
that if you divide a nation into parties, or set 
your enemies at loggerheads, you can have 
your own way. Coke, in his Institutes (pt. IV, 
cap. i) speaks of the maxim as “that exploded 
adage.” 

Every city or house divided against itself shall not 
stand. — Matt, xii, 25. 

Divination (div i na' shun). There are numer- 
ous species of divination referred to in the 
Bible. The following arc the most notable, and 
to most of these there are many other allusions 
in the Bible beside those indicated. 

Judicial Astrology (Dan. ii, 2). 

Witchcraft (l Sam . xxviii). 

Enchantment (II Kings xxi, 6). 



Divine 


288 


Do 


Casting Lots {Josh, xviii, 6). 

By Necromancy (I Sam. xxviii, 12). 

By Rhabdomancy or rods ( Hos . iv, 12). 

By Teraphim or household idols (Gen. xxxi; I Sam. 
xv, 23, R.V.). 

By Hepatoscopy or inspecting the liver of animals 
( Ezek . xxi, 21, 26). 

By Dreams and their interpretations (Gen. xxxvii, 
10 ). 

Divination by fire, air, and water; thunder, light- 
ning, and meteors; etc. 

The Urimand Thummin was a prophetic breastplate 
worn by the High Priest. 

(Consult: Gen. xxxvii, 5-11; xl, xli; I Sant, xxviii, 
12; J J Chron. xxxiii, 6; Prov. xvi, 33; Ezek. xxi, 21; 
//os. iii, 4, 5, etc.) 

Divine, The. Theophrastus, the name of the 
Greek philosopher (390-287 b.c.), means “the 
Divine Speaker/* an epithet bestowed on him 
by Aristotle, on account of which he changed 
his name from Tyrtamus. 

Hypatia (c. 370-415), who presided over the 
Neoplatonic School at Alexandria, was knov/n 
as “the Divine Pagan.” 

Jean de Ruysbroek (see Ecstatic Doctor) 
was also called “the Divine Doctor.’* 

A name given to Michael Angelo (1475- 
1564) was “the Divine Madman.” 

Ariosto (1474-1533), Italian poet, Raphael 
(1483-1520), the painter, Luis de Morales 
(1509-86), a Spanish religious painter, and 
Ferdinand de Herrera (1534-67), the Spanish 
lyric poet, were all known as “the Divine.” 

The Divine Plant. Vervain. See Hcrba 
Sacra. 

The divine right of kings. The notion that 
kings reign by direct ordinance of God, quite 
apart from the will of the people. This phrase 
was much used in the 17th century on account 
of the pretensions of the Stuart kings; and 
the idea arose from the Old Testament, where 
kings are called “God’s anointed,” because 
they were God’s vicars on earth, when the 
Jews changed their theocracy for a monarchy. 

The right divine of kings to govern wrong. 

Pope: Dunciad , IV, 188. 

Divining rod. A forked branch of hazel, 
one prong of which is held in either hand. The 
inclination of the rod, when controlled by a 
qualified person, called a diviner , is said to 
indicate by its movements the presence of 
water-springs, precious metal, oil, etc. 

Divining, or dowsing (see Dowse), as it is also called, 
has been the subject of numerous scientific investiga- 
tions, and while these have shown that the claims of 
diviners can in many cases be substantiated, there is 
still no satisfactory scientific explanation of the 
phenomenon. This method of discovering hidden 
treasure naturally lends itself to the exploitation of 
the fraudulent and the “gulling” of the credulous. 

Division. The sign for division was brought 
into use by John Pell (1611-85), the noted 
Cambridge mathematician who became Pro- 
fessor of Mathematics at Amsterdam in 1643. 

In its military sense a division is the largest 
formation in an army which has a constant 
establishment, so designed as to be self- 
contained with its own services. Invented by 
Napoleon. In the British army it totals 15,000 
men. 

Divisionist technique. See Pointilljsme. 
Divorcement. A bill of divorcement is a phrase 
going back to the days of the old divorce 


procedure. Before the Divorce Act of 1857 
divorce could be granted only by the ecclesi- 
astical courts of the various dioceses. Even 
then remarriage by cither of the parties was 
prohibited, except when a special Bill was taken 
to Parliament and passed after debate— a pro- 
cedure so expensive that few could afford it. 

Divus (di' vfts) (Lat. a god; godlike). After 
the Augustan period this was conferred as an 
epithet on deceased Roman emperors, more 
with the idea of canonizing them, of proclaim- 
ing them to be “of blessed memory,” iha/i 
with that of enrolling them among the 
divinities. Thus, Dims Augustus means 
“Augustus of blessed memory,” not “Divine 
Augustus.” 

The new cult of the “divi imperafores” spread 
throughout the Empire, and became a force which 
helped to weld together the populations and to secure 
their loyalty to the ruling power. The cult gave a new 
semblance of dignity to the Senate. At the end of every 
reign it sat in judgment and decided whether the dead 
emperor was to be enrolled among the “divi” or 
whether his memory was to be reckoned accursed 
(“damnatio memorke”). — J. S. Reid (in A Companion 
to Latin Studies , 1910, ch. vi). 

Dix. American slang for a tcn-dollar bill, 
derived apparently from the fact that a New 
Orleans bank used to issue bills with “Dix” 
printed prominently on both sides. 

Dixieland. The word has two meanings: (1) as 
a synonym for the southern United States; (2) 
the kind of jazz music played in New Orleans 
about 1910. The derivation is disputed, but 
probably comes from Dix (see above), from 
which comes Dixie , which (with Dixie land) 
once meant the New Orleans area. Various 
suggestions have been made as to how Dixie- 
land came to mean the South, but none is 
convincing. 

Dixie, the soldier’s name for a large cooking 
kettle, is the Hindi degs/ii, a pot, vessel. 

Dizzy. A nickname of Benjamin Disraeli 
(Lord Bcaconslield) (1804-81). 

Djinn. See Jinn. 

Djinnestan. The realm of the jinns or genii of 
Oriental mythology. 

Do (in Music). See Doh. 

Do. A contraction of ditto ( q.v .). 

Do. A verb, and auxiliary, that forms part of 
countless phrases and lends itself to almost 
countless uses. Its chief modern significations 
are : — 

(Transitive) To put, as in To do to death ; to 
bestow, cause to befall, etc., as It did him no 
harm , To do a good turn ; to perform, perpetrate, 
execute, etc., as To do one's work. Thou shalt 
do no murder , All is done and finished. 

(Intransitive) To exert actively, to act in 
some way, as Let us do or die , / have done 
with you , How do you do? Dm doing very well , 
thank you , That will do. 

(Causal and Auxiliary) Used instead of a 
verb just used, as He plays as well as you do. 
Periphrastically as an auxiliary of the Pres, and 
Past Indicative and the Imperative, used for 
the sake of emphasis, euphony, or clarity, 
also in negative and interrogative sentences: 



Do 


289 


Doctor 


/ do wish you would let me alone , Not a word 
did he say , Billiards and drinking do make the 
money fly , Do you like jazz ? 1 do not care for 
it, Do tell me where you've been l Don't stop! 

A do. A regular swindle, a fraud; a party. 

Do as you would be done by. Behave to 
others as you would have them behave to you. 

To do away with. To abolish, put an end to, 
destroy entirely. 

To do for. To act for or manage for. A man 
ought to do well for his children ; a landlady 
does for her lodgers. Also, to ruin, destroy, 
wear out. I'll do for him , I’ll ruin him utterly, or 
even, I’ll kill him; taken in and done for , 
cheated and fleeced; this watch is about done 
for , it’s nearly worn out. 

To do it on one’s head. Said of doing some- 
thin j with consummate ease; a rather scornful 
expression. “1 bet you couldn't walk a mile in 
seven minutes”; “Pooh! I could do it on my 
head!” 

To do on. See Don. 

To do one, to do one down, or brown, to do 
one out of something. To cheat one, or trick 
one out of something; to get the better of one. 

To do one proud. To flatter one: to treat one 
in an exceptionally lavish and hospitable w'ay. 

To do oneself proud, or well. To give oneself 
a treat. 

To do the grand, amiable, etc. To act (usually 
with some ostentation) in the manner indicated 
by the adjective. 

To do up. To repair, put in order. “This 
chair wants doing up,” i.e. renovating. Also, 
to make tidy, to put up or fasten a parcel, and 
to wear out, tire. ”l’m quite done up,” I’m 
worn out, exhausted. Cp. Dup. 

To do up brown (U.S.A.). To do thoroughly, 
in a good sense, or bad — as beating someone 
up badly . 

To do without so-and-so. To deny onself 
something, to manage without it. 

To have to do with. To have dealings or 
intercourse with, to have relation to. “That has 
nothing to do with the case.” 

Well to do. In good circumstances, well otf, 
well provided for. 

Dobbin. A steady old horse, a child's horse. 
Dobby, a silly old man, also a house-elf similar 
to a brownie. All these are one and the same 
word, an adaptation of Robin , diminutive of 
Robert . 

Sober Dobbin lifts his clumsy heel. 

Bloomfield: Farmer's Boy (Winter). 

The dobbie elves lived in the house, were 
very thin and shaggy, very kind to servants 
and children, and did many a little service 
when people had their hands full. 

The Dobby’s walk was within the inhabited domains 
of the Hall. — Scott: Peveril of the Peak, ch. x. 

Docetes. An early Gnostic heretical sect, which 
maintained that Jesus Christ was divine only, 
and that His visible form, the crucifixion, the 
resurrection, etc., were merely illusions. (The 
word is Greek, and means phantomists.) 


Doch-an-doris (Gaelic). A Scottish term, made 
familiar by one of Sir Harry Lauder’s songs, 
for a stirrup-cup; a final drink before saying 
‘‘Good-night” and going home. Variants are 
doch-an-doroch , deoch~an~doruis t etc. 

Dock Brief. In English law anyone accused of 
an offence and brought to trial is entitled to 
defend himself or be defended by counsel. 
When a prisoner in the dock pleads inability 
to employ counsel, the presiding judge can 
instruct a barrister present in court to under- 
take the defence, a small fee for this being 
paid by the court. 

Doctor. A name given to various adulterated 
or falsified articles because they are “doctored,” 
i.e. treated in some way that strengthens them 
or otherwise makes them capable of being 
passed off as something better than they 
actually are. Thus a mixture of milk, water, 
nutmeg, and rum is called Doctor ; the two 
former ingredients being “doctored” by the 
two latter. 

Brown sherry is so called by licensed victu- 
allers because it is concocted from a thin wine 
with the addition of unfermented juice and 
some spirituous liquor. 

In nautical slang the ship's cook is known as 
“the doctor,” because he is supposed to 
“doctor” the food; and a seventh son used to 
be so dubbed from the popular superstition 
that he was endowed with power to cure agues, 
the king’s evil, and other diseases. 

Doctored dice. Loaded dice; dice which are 
so “doctored” as to make them turn up 
winning numbers; also called simply doctors . 

“The whole antechamber is full, my lord — knights 
and squires, doctors and dicers.” 

“ I he dicers with their doctors in their pockets, I 
presume.” — Scon : Peveril of the Peak, ch. xxviii. 

Doctor Fell. 

I do not like thee. Dr. Fell, 

The reason why 1 cannot tell; 

But this J know, I know full well, 

1 do not like thee. Dr. Fell. 

These well-known lines are by the “facetious” 
Tom Brown (1663-1704), and the person re- 
ferred to was Dr. John Fell, Dean of Christ 
Church (1625-86), who expelled him, but said 
he would remit the sentence if Brown translated 
the thirty-third Epigram of Martial: 

Non amo te, Zabidi, nec possum dicere quare; 

Hoc tantum possum dicere non amo te. 

The above is the translation, which is said 
to have been given impromptu. 

It was this Dr. Fell who in 1667 presented 
to the University of Oxford a complete type- 
foundry containing punches and matrices of a 
large number of founts — Arabic, Syriac, 
Coptic and other learned alphabets, as well as 
the celebrated “Fell” Roman. 

The three best doctors are Dr. Quiet, Dr. 
Diet, and Dr. Merryman. 

Si tibi deficiant medici, medici tibi fiant 
H;ec tria; Mens-Ueta, Requies, Moderata-Dketa. 

To doctor the accounts. To falsify them. The 
allusion is to drugging wine, beer, etc., and to 
adulteration generally. 

To doctor the wine. To drug it, or strengthen 
it with brandy; to make weak wine stronger, 
and “sick” wine more palatable. The fermenta- 



Doctor 


290 


Dog 


tion of cheap wines is increased by fermentable 
sugar. As such wines fail in aroma, connois- 
seurs smell at their wine. 

To have a cat doctored. A colloquialism 
for having a young tom-cat “cut," or cas- 
trated. 

To put the doctor on a man. To cheat him. 
The allusion to “doctored dice" is obvious. 

Who shall decide when doctors disagree? 
When authorities differ, the question sub judice 
must be left undecided. (Pope: Moral Essays , 
ep. iii, line 1.) 

Doctors of the Church. Certain early 
Christian Fathers, especially four in the 
Greek (or Eastern) Church and four in the 
Latin (or Western) Church. 

(a) Eastern Church. St. Athanasius of 
Alexandria (331), who defended the divinity 
of Christ against the Arians; St. Basil the 
Great of Caesarea (379) and his co-worker St. 
Gregory of Nazianzus (376); and the eloquent 
St. John Chrysostom (398), Archbishop of 
Constantinople. 

(b) Western Church . St. Jerome (420), 
translator of the Vulgate; St. Ambrose (397), 
Bishop of Milan; St. Augustine (430), Bishop 
of Hippo; and St. Gregory the Great (604), 
the pope who sent Augustine, the missionary, 
to England. 

Dr. Faustus. See Faust. 

Dr. Fell. See above. 

Doctor Mirabilis. Roger Bacon (1214-92). 
Dr. Sangrado. v 

Dr. Slop. V See under their names. 

Dr. Syntax. J 

Doctors of Learning, Piety, etc. 

Admirable Doctor: Roger Bacon (1214-92). 
Angelic Doctor: St. Thomas Aquinas (1224- 
74). 

Divine Doctor: Jeande Ruysbroek (1294-1 381). 
Invincible Doctor : William Occam (1276-1 347 ). 
irrefragable Doctor: Alexander of Hales (d. 
1245). 

Mellifluous Doctor: St. Bernard of Clairvaux 
(1091-1153). 

Seraphic Doctor: St. Bonaventura ( 1221-74). 
Subtle Doctor: Duns Scotus (1265-1308). 
Wonderful Doctor: Roger Bacon (1214-92). 

Doctors’ Commons. A locality near St. 
Paul’s, where the ecclesiastical courts were 
formerly held, wills preserved, and marriage 
licences granted, and where was held the com- 
mon table of the Association of Doctors of 
Civil Law in London (dissolved 1858). To 
“common" (q.v.) means to dine together; and 
the doctors had to dine there four days in each 
term. The actual building was demolished in 
1867. 

Documentary film. A film devised and produced 
for the sole purpose of giving a realistic and 
accurate picture of some aspect of everyday 
life or work. 

Doddypoll. A blockhead, a silly ass. Pol ! , 
of course, is the head; and doddy is the modern 
dotty \ silly, from the verb to dote , to be foolish 
or silly. There is an Elizabethan romantic 


comedy (about 1595) called The Wisdom of 
Doctor Doddypoll^ thought by some to be by 
George Peele. 

As wise as Dr. Doddypoll. Not wise at all; 
a dunce. 

Dodger. A “knowing fellow". One who knows 
all the tricks and ways of London life, and 
profits by such knowledge. 

(U.S.A.) A hard cake, or biscuit. 

The Artful Dodger. The sobriquet of John 
Dawkins, a young thief in Dickens’s Oliver 
Twist. 

Dodman. A snail; the word is still in use in 
Norfolk. Fairfax, in his Bulk and Selvedge 
(1674), speaks of “a snayl or dodman." 
Doddiman, doddimun, put out your horn, 

Here comes a thief to steal your com. 

Norjolk rhyme. 

Hodmandod is another variation of the same 
word. 

Dodona (do do' na). A famous oracle in the 
village of Dodona in Epiros, and the most 
ancient of Greece. It was dedicated to Zeus, 
and the oracles were delivered from the tops 
of oak and other trees, the rustling of the wind 
in the branches being interpreted by the priests. 
Also, brazen vessels and plates were suspended 
from the branches, and these, being struck 
together when the wind blew, gave various 
sounds from which responses were concocted. 
Hence the Greek phrase Kalkos Dodones 
(brass of Dodona), meaning a babbler, or one 
w ho talks an infinite deal of nothing. 

The black pigeons of Dodona. See under 

Pigeon. 

Dodson and Fogg. The lawyers, employed by 
the plaintiff in the famous case of "Bardell v. 
Pickwick" ( Pickwick Papers ), typical of the 
unscrupulous solicitors who battened on the 
public before the law reforms of the mid-19th 
century. 

Doe. John Doe and Richard Roe. Any plaintiff 
and defendant in an action of ejectment. They 
were sham names used at one time to save 
certain “niceties of law"; but the clumsy de- 
vice was abolished in 1852. Any mere imagin- 
ary persons, or men of straw. The names "John 
o’ Noakcs" and "Tom Styles" are similarly 
used. 

Doeg (do' eg). In Dryden’s Absalom and 
Achitophel ( q.v .), is meant for Elkanah Settle, 
a poet who wrote satires upon Dryden, but 
was no match for his great rival. 

Doff is do-off, as "Doff your hat." So Don 
is do-on, as "Don your clothes." Dup is do-up, 
as “Dup the door" (q.v.). 

Doff thy harness, youth . . . 

And tempt not yet the brushes of the war. 

Troilus and Cressida , V, iii. 

Dog. This article is subdivided into five parts: 

1. Dogs in Phrases and Colloquialisms. 

2. Dogs of note in the Classics and in legend. 

3. Dogs famous in History, Literature, Fiction, etc. 

4. Dogs in Symbolism and Metaphor. 

5. Dog — or dog’s — in combination. 

(1) In phrases and colloquialisms. 

A black dog has walked over him. Said of a 
sullen person. Horace tells us that the sight 



Dog 


291 


Dog 


of a black dog with its pups was an unlucky 
omen, and the devil has been frequently 
symbolized by a black dog. 

A cat and dog life. See Cat (To live a, etc.). 

A dead dog. Something utterly worthless. 
A Biblical phrase ( see I Sam. xxiv, 14, “After 
whom is the king of Israel come out? After a 
dead dog?”) Cp. also Is thy servant, etc., 
below. 

* 

A dirty dog. One morally filthy; one who 
talks and acts nastily. In the East the dog is 
still held in abhorrence, as the scavenger of 
the streets. “Him that dieth in the city shall 
the dogs eat” (I Kings xiv, 1 1). 

A dog in a doublet. A bold, resolute fellow. 
In Germany and Flanders the strong dogs 
employed for hunting the wild boar were 
dressed in a kind of buff doublet buttoned to 
their bodies. Rubens and Sneyders have 
represented several in their pictures. A false 
friend is called a dog in one's doublet. 

A dog in the manger. A churlish fellow, who 
will not use what is wanted by another, nor 
yet let the other have it to use. The allusion is 
to the well-known fable of a dog that fixed 
his place in a manger, would not allow an 
ox to come near the hay and would not eat 
it himself. 

A dog’s age. A very long time. 

A living dog is better than a dead lion. The 

meanest thing with life in it is better than the 
noblest without. The saying is from Eccles. ix, 
4. The Italians say “A live ass is worth more 
than a dead doctor.” 

A surly dog. A human being of a surly 
temper. Dog is often used for “chap” or 
“fellow”: thus we have a gay dog , a man who 
is always out and about on pleasure, and a 
sad dog , which means much the same, but 
carries with it a touch of reproof. 

A well-bred dog hunts by nature. Breeding 
“tells”. The French proverb is “Bon chien 
chasse de race." 

Barking dogs seldom bite. See Bark. 

Brag’s a good dog, etc. See Brag. 

Dog don’t eat dog. A similar phrase to 
“There’s honour among thieves.” 

Dogs howl at death. A widespread super- 
stition. 

In the rabbinical book it saith 
The dogs howl when, with icy breath, 

Great Sammael, the angel of death, 

Takes thro’ the town his flight. 

Longjellow: Golden Legend \ iii. 

Every dog has his day. You may crow over 
me to-day, but my turn will come by and by. 
In Latin Hodie mild, eras tibi , “To-day to me, 
tomorrow to thee.” “ Nunc mild , nunc tibi , 
benigna ” ( fortuna ), fortune visits every man 
once; she favours me now, but she will favour 
you in your turn. 

Thus every dog at last will have his day — 

He who this morning smiled, at night may sorrow; 

The grub to-day’s a butterfly to-morrow. 

Peter Pindar : Odes of Condolence. 


Give a dog a bad name and hang him. If you 
want to do anyone a wrong, throw dirt on him 
or rail against him. When once a person’s 
reputation has been besmirched he might as 
well be hanged as try to rehabilitate himself. 

He who has a mind to beat his dog will easily 
find a stick. If you want to abuse a person, 
you will easily find something to blame. Dean 
Swift says, “If you want to throw a stone, 
every lane will furnish one.” 

Hungry dogs will eat dirty pudding. Those 
really hungry are not particular about what 
they eat, and arc by no means dainty. The 
Proverb is given by Heywood (1546). “To the 
hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet” (Prov. 
xxvii, 7). “When bread is wanting oaten cakes 
are excellent.” 

When Darius in his flight from Greece drank 
from a ditch defiled with dead carcasses, he 
declared he had never drunk so pleasantly 
before. 

I am his Highness’ dog at Kew; Pray tell me, 
sir, whose dog arc you? Frederick Prince of 
Wales had a dog given him by Alexander Pope, 
and these words are said to have been en- 
graved on his collar. They are still sometimes 
quoted with reference to an overbearing, 
bumptious person. 

Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this 
thing? Said in contempt when one is asked to 
do something derogatory or beneath him. 
The phrase is (slightly altered) from II Kings 
viii, 13. 

Sydney Smith, when asked if it was true that he was 
about to sit to Landseer, the animal painter, for his 
portrait, replied, “What! is thy servant a dog that he 
should do this thing?” 

It was the story of the dog and the shadow. 

A case of one who gives up the substance for 
its shadow. The allusion is to the well-known 
fable of the dog who dropped his bone into 
the stream because he opened his mouth to 
seize the reflection of it. 

Lazy as Lawrence’s, or Ludlam’s dog. See 

Lazy. 

Let sleeping dogs lie; don’t wake a sleeping 
dog. Let well alone; if some contemplated 
course of action is likely to cause trouble 
or land you in difficulties you had better 
avoid it. 

It is nought good a sleping hound to wake, 

Nor yeve a wight a cause to devyne. 

Chaucer: Troilus and Criseyde, iii, 764. 

Love me love my dog. If you love me you 
must put up with my defects. 

Not to have a word to throw at a dog. Said 
of one who is sullen or sulky. 

Cel. : Why, cousin! why, Rosalind! Cupid have 
mercy! Not a word? 

Ros.: Not one to throw at a dog. 

As You Like ft, I, iii. 

Old dogs will not learn new tricks. People 
in old age do not readily conform to new 
ways. 

St. Roch and his dog. Emblematic of in- 
separable companions; like “a man and his 
shadow.” One is never seen without the other. 
See Roch, St. 


10 * 



Dog 


292 


Dog 


Sick as a dog. Very sick. We also say “Sick 
as a cat.*’ See Cat. The Bible speaks of dogs 
returning to their vomit (Prov. xxvi, 11; II 
Pet . ii, 22). 

The dogs of war. The horrors of war, 
especially famine, sword, and fire. 

Cry “Havoc,” and let slip the dogs of war. 

Julius Ctrsar, III, i. 

The hair of the dog that bit you. It used to 
be considered that the best cure for a “thick 
head” was another drink; it is, perhaps, a 
matter for trial and error. The allusion is to 
an ancient notion that the burnt hair of a dog 
is an antidote to its bite. Similia similibus 
curantur . 

The more I see of men the more I love dogs. 
A misanthropic saying, the meaning of which 
is obvious. It is probably French in origin — 
Plus je vois les hommes , plus j' admire les chiens. 

There are more ways of killing a dog than by 
hanging. There is more than one way of 
achieving your object. The proverb is found 
in Ray’s Collection (1742). 

Throw it to the dogs. Throw it away, it is 
useless and worthless. 

Throw physic to the dogs! I’ll none of it. 

Macbeth , V, iii. 

To blush like a dog, or like a blue or black 
dog. Not to blush at all. 

To call off the dogs. To desist from some 
pursuit or inquiry; to break up a disagreeable 
conversation. In the chase, if the dogs are on 
the wrong track, the huntsman calls them off. 

To die like a dog. To have a shameful, or a 
miserable, end. 

To go to the dogs. To go to utter ruin, 
morally or materially; to become impover- 
ished. 

To help a lame dog over a stile. To give 
assistance to one in distress; to hold out a 
helping hand; to encourage. 

Do the work that's nearest, 

Though it’s dull at whiles. 

Helping, when we meet them, 

Lame dogs over stiles. 

Charles Kingsley: The Invitation. 

To lead a dog’s life. To be bothered and 
harried from pillar to post, never to be left in 
peace. 

To put on the dog. To behave in a conceited 
or bumptious manner. 

To rain cats and dogs. See Cat (It is raining , 
etc.). 

To wake a sleeping dog. See Let sleeping 
dogs lie, above. 

Try it on the dog! A jocular phrase used of 
medicine that is expected to be unpalatable, 
or of food that is suspected of being not quite 
fit for human consumption. 

What! keep a dog and bark myself! Must 
I keep servants and myself do their work ? 

You can never scare a dog away from a 

g reasy hide. It is difficult to free oneself from 
ad habits. The line is from Horace’s Satires 
(II, v, 83) : Canis a corlo nunquam absterrebitur 
uncto . 


(2) Dogs of note in the classics and in 

LEGEND. 

Aubry’s dog, or the dog of Montargis. 
Aubry of Montdidier was murdered, in 1371, 
in the forest of Bondy. His dog, Dragon, 
excited suspicion of Richard of Macaire, by 
always snarling and flying at his throat 
whenever he appeared. Richard was con- 
demned to a judicial combat with the dog, 
was killed, and, in his dying moments, con- 
fessed the crime. 

Cuchullain’s hound. Luath (q.v.). 

Fingal’s dog. Bran (q.v.). 

Geryon’s dogs. Gargittios and Orthos. The 
latter was the brother of Cerberus, but had 
one head less. Hercules killed both these 
monsters. 

Icarius’s dog, M<era (the glistener). See 
Icarius. 

King Arthur’s favourite hound. Cavall. 

Llewelyn’s greyhound. Beth Gelert (q.v.). 

Mauthe dog. ( See Mauthe.) 

Montargis, Dog of. Aubry’s dog. (See above.) 

Orion’s dogs. Arctophonos ( bear-killer ), and 
Ptoophagos (the glutton of Ptoon f in Boeotia). 

Procris’s dog. Laelaps. See Procris. 

Roderick the Goth’s dog. Theron. 

Seven Sleepers, Dog of the. Kalmir who, 
according to Mohammedan tradition, was 
admitted to heaven. He accompanied the 
seven noble youths who fell asleep for 309 
years to the cavern in which they were walled 
up, and remained standing for the whole time, 
neither moving, eating, drinking, nor sleeping. 

Tristran’s dog. Hodain, or Leon. 

Ulysses’s dog. Argos; he recognized his 
master after his return from Troy, and died of 
joy. 

(3) Dogs famous in history, literature, 
fiction, etc. 

Boatswain . Byron’s favourite dog; the poet 
wrote an epitaph on him and he was buried 
in the garden of Ncwstead Abbey. 

Bounce. Alexander Pope’s dog. 

Boy. Prince Rupert’s dog; he was killed at 
the battle of Marston Moor. 

Brutus. Landseer’s greyhound; jocularly 
called “The Invader of the Larder.” 

Dash. Charles Lamb’s dog. 

Diamond. The little dog belonging to Sir 
Isaac Newton. One winter’s morning he upset 
a candle on his master’s desk, by which papers 
containing minutes of many years’ experiments 
were destroyed. On perceiving this terrible 
catastrophe Newton exclaimed: “Oh, Dia- 
mond, Diamond, thou little knowest the 
mischief thou hast done!” and at once set to 
work to repair the loss. 

Flush. Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s dog. 

Geist. One of Matthew Arnold’s dachs- 
hunds. He wrote the poem Geist' s Grave in 
memory of him. 

Giallo. Walter Savage Landor’s dog. 

Hamlet. A black greyhound belonging to 
Sir Walter Scott. 



Dog 


293 


Dog 


Kaiser . Another of Matthew Arnold’s 
dachshunds. ( See Geist, above). In his poem, 
Kaiser Dead , the poet mentions also Toss, 
Rover, and Max. 

Lufra. The hound of Douglas, in Scott’s 
Lady of the Lake. 

Maida. Sir Walter Scott’s favourite deer- 
hound. 

Mathe. Richard IPs greyhound. It deserted 
the king and attached itself to Bolingbroke. 

Toby. Punch’s famous dog; named after the 
dog that followed Tobit in his journeys, a 
favourite in mediaeval Biblical stories and plays. 

(4) In symbolism and metaphor. 

Dogs, in mediaeval art, symbolize fidelity. 
A dog is represented as lying at the feet of 
St. Bernard, St. Bcnignus, and St. Wendelin; 
as licking the wounds of St. Roch; as carrying 
a lighted torch in representations of St. 
Dominic. 

Dogs in effigy. In funeral monuments a dog 
is often sculptured at the foot of the central 
effigy; this has no symbolical significance, it 
is usually a memento of the dead person’s pet. 

Lovell the Dog. See Rat. 

The dog. Diogenes (412-323 b.c.). When 
Alexander went to see him the young King 
of Macedonia introduced himself with these 
words: “I am Alexander, surnamed the Great,” 
to which the philosopher replied: ‘‘And 1 am 
Diogenes, surnamed the Dog.” The Athenians 
raised to his memory a pillar of Parian marble, 
surmounted by a dog. ( See Cynic.) 

The Dog of God. So the Laplanders call the 
bear which ‘‘has the strength of ten men and 
the wit of twelve.” 

The Thracian dog. Zoilus (4th cent, b.c.), 
the carping critic of ancient Greece. 

Like curs, our critics haunt the poet’s least. 

And feed on scraps refused by every guest; 

From the old Thracian dog they learned the way 

To snarl in want, and grumble o’er their prey. 

Pitt: To Mr. Spence. 

(5) In combination. 

Dog-, or dog’s-, in combinations is used 
(besides in its literal sense as in dog-biscuit, 
dog-collar) for 

(a) denoting the male of certain animals, as 
dog-ape, dog-fox, dog-otter. 

(b) denoting inferior plants, or those which 
are worthless as food for man, as dog-brier, 
dog-cabbage, dog-leek, dog-lichen, dog’s-mcr- 
cury, dog-parsley, dog-violets (which have no 
perfume), dog-wheat. Cp. Dog-grass, Dog- 
rose, below. 

(c) expressing spuriousness or some mongrel 
quality, as dogVlogic, dog-Latin ( q.v .). 

Dog-cheap. Extremely cheap; “dirt-cheap.” 

Dog-days. Days of great heat. The term 
comes from the Romans, who called the six 
or eight hottest weeks of the summer canicu - 
lares dies. According to their theory, the dog- 
star Sirius, rising with the sun, added to its 
heat, and the dog-days (about July 3rd to 
August 11th) bore the combined heat of the 
dog-star and the sun. See Dog-star. 

Dog-ears. The corners of pages crumpled 
and folded down. 


Dog-eared. Pages so crumpled and turned 
down. The ears of many dogs turn down and 
seem quite limp. 

Dog-fall. A fall in wrestling, when the two 
combatants touch the ground together. 

Dog fight, a skirmish between fighter planes. 

Dog-grass. Couch grass ( Triticum repens ), 
which is eaten by dogs when they have lost 
their appetite; it acts as an emetic and purga- 
tive. 

Dog-head. The part of a gun which bites or 
holds the flint. 

Dog house. In the dog house. In disgrace, as 
a dog confined to his kennel. Usually applied 
to a husband who has been misbehaving and 
whose wife treats him with disdain. 

Dog-Latin. Pretended or mongrel Latin. 
An excellent example is Stevens’s definition of 
a kitchen: 

As the law classically expresses it, a kitchen is 
“camera necessaria pro usus cookare; cum sauce- 
pannis, stewpannis, scullero, dressero, coalholo stovis, 
smoak-jacko; pro roastandum boilandum fryandum 
et plum-pudding-mixandum. . . .” — A law Report 
{Daniel v. Dishclout). 

Dog-rose. The common wild rose (Rosa 
canina , Pliny’s eynorrodon) y so called because 
it was supposed by the ancient Greeks to cure 
the bite of mad dogs. 

Dogs, Isle of. See Isle. 

Dog’s-nose. Gin and beer. 

“Dog’s-nose, which is, I believe, a mixture of gin 
and beer.” 

“So it is,” said an old lady. — Pickwick Papers. 

Dogsbody. An undistinguished and unskilled 
individual, required for menial tasks. 

Dog-sleep. A pretended sleep; also a light, 
easily broken sleep. Dogs seem to sleep with 
“one eye open.” 

Dog-star. Sirius, the brightest star in the 
firmament, whose influence was anciently 
supposed to cause great heat, pestilence, etc. 
See Dog-days. 

Dog Tags. American identity discs (World 
War II). 

Dog-tired. Exhausted, usually after exercise; 
and wanting only to curl up like a dog and go 
to sleep. 

Dog-vane. A nautical term for a small vane 
placed on the weather gunwale to show the 
direction of the wind. Sailors also apply it to a 
cockade. 

Dog-watch. The evening watches (4-6 p.m., 
6-8 p.m.) were originally known as “dodge 
watches”, introduced to prevent sailors, under 
the two-watch system, keeping the same watch 
every day. See Watch. 

Dog-whipper. A beadle who used to keep 
dogs from the precincts of a church. Even so 
late as 1856 Mr. John Pickard was appointed 
“dog-whipper” in Exeter Cathedral. 

Dog-whipping Day. October 18th (St. Luke’s 
Day). It is said that a dog once swallowed the 
consecrated wafer in York Minster on this 
day. 


Doggo 


294 


Dollar 


Doggo. To He doggo. To get into hiding and 
remain there; to keep oneself secluded. 

Dog-goned. An American euphemism for 
the oath “God-damned.” 

But when that choir got up to sing, 

I couldn't catch a word; 

They sung the most doggonedest thing 
A body ever heard! 

Will Carleton: Farm Ballad . 

Dogaressa. The wife of a doge (q.v.). 

Dogberry. An ignorant, self-satisfied, over- 
bearing, but good-natured night-constable in 
Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing; 
hence, an officious and ignorant Jack in office. 

Doge (doj) (Lat. dux , a duke or leader). 
The chief magistrate in Venice while it was a 
Republic. The first doge was Paolo Anafesto 
(Paoluccio), 697, and the last, Luigi Manin 
(1789). See Bride of the Sfa. 

For six hundred years . . . her [Venice’s] govern- 
ment was an elective monarchy, her . . . doge pos- 
sessing, in early times at least, as much independent 
authority as any other European sovereign. — R uskin: 
Stones of Venice , vol. 1, ch. i. 

The chief magistrate of Genoa was called a 
doge from 1339 (Simon Boccanegra) down to 
1797, when the government was abolished by 
the French. 

Doggerel (dog' tr 61). This is an old word, 
with no obvious connexion with dog. It was 
originally applied to a loose, irregular measure 
in burlesque poetry, such as that of Butler’s 
Hudibras , and it is in this sense that Chaucer 
uses the word: — 

“Now such a rym the devel I beteche! 

This may wel be rym dogerel.” quod he. 

Prol. to Tale of Melibeus. 

The word is now applied only to verse of a 
mean and paltry nature, lacking both sense and 
rhythm. 

Dogget. Dogget’s coat and badge. The prize 
given in a rowing match for Thames watermen, 
which takes place, under the auspices of the 
Fishmongers* Company, on or about August 
1st every year. So called from Thomas Dogget 
(d. 1721), an actor of Drury Lane, who signa- 
lized the accession of George I by instituting 
the race. It is from the Swan Steps at London 
Bridge to the Swan at Chelsea. The average 
time taken is 30 mins. The coat is an orange- 
coloured livery jacket. 

Dogie or dogy (dd'gi, not dog'i). In the western 
U.S.A. the term for an undersized calf. At 
round-up time all calves that had lost their 
mothers were called “dough-guts,” and this 
became contracted into “dogie.” 

Dob, or Do (do). The first or tonic note of 
the solfeggio system of music. 

Do, re , mi, fa, sol , la (ital.) ; ut, re, mi, fa, 
sol, la (Fr.). The latter are borrowed from a 
hymn by Paulus Piaconus, addressed to St. 
John, which Guido of Arezzo, in the 11th 
century, used in teaching singing: 

Ut queant laxis, /te-sonare fibris, 

Mi-ra gestorum Fa-muli tuorum, 

Sot-vc pollutis La-biis reatum. 

Sancte Joannes. 


Ut - tered be thy wondrous story, 
Fc-prehensive though I be. 

Me make mindful of thy glory, 

Fa-mous son of Zacharee; 

Sol-dcc to my spirit bring, 

Labouring thy praise to sing. £. C. B . 

See Aretinian Syllables. 

Doily. A small cloth used to cover dessert 
plates, or a mat or napkin on which to stand 
plates, glasses, bottles, etc. In the 17th century 
the word was an adjective denoting a cheap 
woollen material; thus Dryden speaks of 
“doyley petticoats,” and Steele, in No. 102 of 
the Tatler, speaks of his “doiley suit.** The 
Doyleys, from which the stuff was named, were 
linen-drapers in the Strand, from the late 17th 
century to 1850. 

Dolt. An old Dutch coin, worth about half a 
farthing; hence, any coin of very small value. 
In England the doit was prohibited by 3 
Henry V c. 1. 

Dolce far niente (dol' chi far ni en' ti) (Ital.). 
Delightful idleness. Pliny has “ Jueundum 
tamen nihil agere ** (£/?. viii, 9). 

Dolcinists. See Dulcinists. 

Doldrums, The. A condition of depression, 
slackness, or inactivity; hence applied by 
sailors to a region where ships are likely to be 
becalmed, especially that part of the ocean 
near the equator noted for calms, squalls, and 
baffling winds, between the NE. and SE. 
trade winds. 

But from the bluff-head, where I watched to-day, 

1 saw her in the doldrums. 

Byron: The Island , canto ii, stanza xxi. 

In the doldrums. In the dumps. 

Dole (Lat. dolor , grief, sorrow). Lamentation. 
What if . . . 

He now be dealing dole among his foes, 

And over heaps of slaughtered walk his way? 

Milton: Samson Agonistes, 1529. 

To make dole. To lament, to mourn. 

Yonder they lie; the poor old man, their father, 
making such pitiful dole over them that all the be- 
holders take his part with weeping. — As You Like It, 
1, ii. 

Dole (O.E. dal , a portion; deel , deal). A portion 
allotted; a charitable gift, alms. The word was 
later usually applied to the weekly payment, 
made for a limited period to certain classes of 
unemployed from funds contributed by 
workers, employers, and the State. 

Happy man be his dole. May his share or lot 
be that of a happy or fortunate man. 

Your father and my uncle have made motions: if it 
be my luck, so ; if not, happy man be his dole! — Merry 
Wives of Windsor , III, iv. 

Dollar. The sign $ is probably a modification 
of the figure 8 as it appeared on the old 
Spanish “pieces of eight,’* which were of the 
same value as the dollar. 

The word is a variant of thaler (Low Ger. 
Dahler ; Dan. daler), and means “a valley”, 
(our dale), The counts of Schlick, at the close 
of the 15th century, extracted from the mines 
at Joachim's Thai (Joachim’s valley) silver 
which they coined into ounce-pieces. These 
ieces, called Joachim's Thalers, gained such 
igh repute that they became a standard coin. 
Other coins being made like them were called 




Dolly Shop 


295 


Dominions 


thalers only. The American dollar equals 
100 cents, in English money about 7s. 2d. It 
was adopted as the monetary unit of the U.S.A. 
in 1785 but was not coined until 1 792. 

Dolly Shop. A marine store where rags and 
refuse are bought and sold; so called from the 
black doll suspended over it as a sign to denote 
the sale of Indian silks and muslins. 

Dolmen (dol' men). The name given in France 
to cromlechs (< 7 .v.), particularly those of 
Brittany (Breton tol , a table; men , stone). 
They are often called bv the rural population 
devils’ tables, fairies’ tables, and so on. 

The Constantine Dolmen, Cornwall, is 33 ft. 
long, 144 deep, and 18£ across. It is calculated 
to weigh 750 tons, and is poised on the points 
of two natural rocks. 

Dolphin. C/7. Dauphin. The dolphin is noted 
for its changes of colour when taken out of the 
water. 

Parting day 

Dies like the dolphin, whom each pang imbues 

With a new colour as it gasps away. 

The last still loveliest. 

Byron: Childc Harold, iv, 29. 

D.O.M., inscribed on bottles of Benedictine 
liqueur, among other places, stands for Deo 
optimo maxima , To God the best and greatest. 

Dom (Lat. do minus). A title applied in the 
Middle Ages to the Pope, and at a somewhat 
later period to other Church dignitaries. It is 
now restricted to priests and choir monks of 
the Benedictine Order, and to some few other 
monastic orders. The Sp. don. Port, dom , and 
M.E. dan (as in Dan Chaucer) are the same 
word. 

Domdaniel (dom dan' ycl). A fabled abode of 
evil spirits, gnomes, and enchanters, “under 
the roots of the ocean” otf Tunis, or elsewhere. 
It first appears in Chaves and Cazotte’s 
Continuation of the Arabian Nights (1788-93), 
was introduced by Southey into his Thalaba , 
and used by Carlyle as synonymous with a den 
of iniquity. The word is Lat. domus, house or 
home, Danielis , of Daniel, the latter being 
taken as a magician. 

Domesday Book. The book containing a 
record of the census or survey of England, 
giving the ownership, extent, value, etc., of 
all the different holdings, undertaken by order 
of William the Conqueror in 1086. It is in 
Latin, is written on vellum, and consists of 
two volumes, one a large folio of 382 pages, 
and the other a quarto of 450 pages. It was 
formerly kept in the Exchequer, under three 
different locks and keys, but is now in the 
Public Record Office. Northumberland, Cum- 
berland, Westmorland, and Durham are not 
included, though parts of Westmorland and 
Cumberland are taken. 

The value of all estates is given, first, as in 
the time of the Confessor; secondly, when 
bestowed by the Conqueror; and, thirdly, at 
the time of the survey. It is also called The 
King's Book , and The Winchester Roll because 
it was kept there. Printed in facsimile in 1783 
and 1816. 


The book was so called from O.E. dom, 
judgment, because every case of dispute was 
decided by an appeal to these registers. Cp . 
Exon Domesday. 

Domiciliary Visit (dom i siT ya ri). An official 
visit paid by the police or other authorities to 
a private dwelling in order to search for in- 
criminating papers, etc. In Britain a magi- 
strate’s warrant must be obtained before a 
domiciliary visit can be made. 

Dominations. See Dominions. 

Dominic, St. (1170-1221), who preached with 
great vehemence against the Albigenses, was 
called by the Pope ‘‘Inquisitor-General”, and 
was canonized by Gregory IX. He is repre- 
sented with a sparrow at his side, and a dog 
carrying in its mouth a burning torch. The 
devil, it is said, appeared to the saint in the 
form of a sparrow, and the dog refers to the 
story that his mother, during her pregnancy, 
dreamt that she had given birth to a dog, 
spotted with black and white spots, which 
lighted the world with a burning torch. 

Dominical Letters. The letters which denote 
the Sunday or dies dominion. The first seven 
letters of the alphabet are employed; if 
January 1st is a Sunday the dominical letter 
for the year will be A, if the 2nd is a Sunday 
it will be B, if the 3rd, C, and so on. In Leap 
years there are two dominical letters, one for 
the period up to February 29th, and the other 
for the rest of the year. 

Dominicans. An order of preaching friars, 
instituted by St. Dominic in 1215, and intro- 
duced into England (at Oxford) in 1221. They 
were formerly called in England Black Friars , 
from their black dress, and in France Jacobins. 
because their mother-establishment in Paris 
was in the Rue St. Jacques. They have always 
been one of the intellectual pillars of the 
Church. largely on account of their most 
distinguished member, St. Thomas Aquinas. 
They were also called “Hounds of the Lord,” 
Domini canes. 

Dominions. The sixth of the nine orders in the 
mediaeval hierarchy of the angels. See Angel. 
They are symbolized in art by an ensign, and 
are also known as “Dominations.” 

The word has also been applied to the self- 
governing members of the British Common- 
wealth. The word was first given in this sense 
to the Dominion of Canada, which was formed 
by the federation of the Canadian provinces in 
1867. 

The other Dominions were: The Common* 
wealth of Australia, 1900; the Dominion of 
New Zealand, 1907; The Union of South 
Africa, 1909 (seceded in 1961); the Republic of 
India, 1947; the Dominion of Pakistan, 1947; 
the Dominion of Ceylon, 1948. In 1925 a 
Secretaryship of State for Dominion Affairs 
was created, to deal with business connected 
with the Dominions, as well as the affairs of 
Southern Rhodesia and the S. African terri- 
tories of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and 
Swaziland. 

When India and Pakistan became indepen- 
dent in 1947, the India Office became absorbed 


Domino 


296 


Donkey 


into the Dominions Office and the latter was 
renamed the Commonwealth Relations Office. 
Since that time the term “Dominion” has 
fallen out of use, and all territories of inde- 
pendent status, whether recent or longstand- 
ing, who have chosen to remain associated 
with Britain, are now generally spoken of as 
“members of the Commonwealth.” 

Domino (dom' i no) (Ital.). Originally a hooded 
cloak worn by canons; hence a disguise worn 
at masquerades consisting ot a hooded gar- 
ment, then the hood only, and finally the half 
mask covering an inch or two above and below 
the eyes, worn as a disguise. 

The name came to be applied to the game 
probably through a custom of calling faire 
domino when winning with the last piece — 
much as the French still say faire capot ( capot 
also means “hood”); in the Navy and Army 
the last lash of a flogging was known as the 
domino. 

Don is do-on, as “Don your bonnet.” See 
Doff; Dup. 

Then up he rose, and donned his clothes, 

And dupp’d the chamber door. 

Hamlet, IV, v. 

Don. A man of mark, an aristocrat. At the 
universities the masters and fellows are 
termed dons. The word is the Spanish form of 
Lat. dominus. Cp. Dan; Dom. 

Don Juan (don joo' an). Don Juan Tenorio, 
the hero of a large number of plays and 
poems, as well as of Mozart’s opera, Don 
Giovanni , round whom numerous legends have 
collected, was the son of a leading family of 
Seville in the 14th century, and killed the 
commandant of Ulloa after seducing his 
daughter. To put an end to his debaucheries 
the Franciscan monks enticed him to their 
monastery and killed him, telling the people 
that he had been carried off to hell by the 
statue of the commandant, which was in the 
grounds. 

His name has passed into a synonym for a 
rake, roue, or aristocratic libertine, and in 
Mozart’s opera (1787) Don Giovanni’s valet, 
Leporello, says his master had “in Italy 700 
mistresses, in Germany 800, in Turkey and 
France 91, in Spain 1,003”. His dissolute life 
was dramatized by Gabriel Tellez in the 17th 
century, by Moliere, Corneille, Shadwcll, 
Grabbe (German), Dumas, and others, and in 
the 20th century by Bataille and by Rostand. 

In Byron’s well-known poem (1819-24), 
when Juan was sixteen years old he got into 
trouble with Donna Julia, and was sent by his 
mother, then a widow, on his travels. His 
adventures in the Isles of Greece, at the 
Russian Court, in England, etc., form the 
story of the poem, which, though it extends to 
sixteen cantos, is incomplete. Bernard Shaw 
introduced Don Juan into his Man and Super- 
man (1903). 

Don Quixote (don kwik'zot). The hero of 
the great romance of that name by Miguel de 
Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616). It was 
published at Madrid, Part I in 1605, Part II in 
1615. Don Quixote is a gaunt country gentle- 
man of La Mancha, gentle and dignified. 


affectionate and simple-minded, but so crazed 
by reading books of knight-errantry that he 
believes himself called upon to redress the 
wrongs of the whole world, and actually goes 
forth to avenge the oppressed and run atilt 
with their oppressors. Hence, a quixotic man 
is an unpractical idealist. 

Donation of Constantine. See Decretals. 

Donation of Pepin, The. When Pepin con- 
quered Ataulf (755) the exarchate of Ravenna 
fell into his hands. Pepin gave it, with the 
surrounding country and the Republic of 
Rome, to the Pope (Stephen II), and thus 
founded the Papal States and the whole fabric 
of the temporal power of the Popes. 

With the exception of the city of Rome the 
Papal States were incorporated in the kingdom 
of Italy in 1860, and Rome itself became 
Italian in 1870, the Pope declaring himself a 
“prisoner” in the Vatican. In 1929 a concordat 
was settled with the Italian government where- 
by a small area on the right bank of the Tiber 
was declared the Vatican City, together with 
the estate of Castel Gandolfo in the Alban 
mountains. 

Donatists. Followers of Donatus, a Numidian 
bishop of the 4th century who, on puritanical 
grounds, opposed Cecilianus. Their chief 
dogma is that the outward Church is nothing, 
“for the letter killeth, it is the spirit that 
giveth life.” St. Augustine of Hippo vigorously 
combated their heresies. 

Doncaster. The “City on the river Don ” 
(Celt. Don , that which spreads). Sigcbert, monk 
of Gemblours, in 1 100, derived the name from 
Thong-ceaster , the “castle of the thong”, and 
says that Hengist and Horsa purchased of the 
British king as much land as they could en- 
compass with a leather thong, which they 
cut into strips, and so encompassed the land 
occupied by the city. 

Donkey. An ass. The word is of comparatively 
recent origin, being first recorded about 1782 
(Hickey’s Memoirs , II, 276), and seems at 
first to have rhymed with “monkey.” It is a 
diminutive, and may be connected with dun , 
in reference to its tint. “Dun,” in “Dun in the 
mire” was a familiar name for a horse, 
and the “donkey” is a smaller, or more 
diminutive beast of burden. For the tradition 
concerning the “cross” on the donkey’s back, 
see Ass. 

Not for donkey’s years. Not for a long time. 
The allusion is to the old tradition that one 
never sees a dead donkey. 

The donkey means one thing and the driver 
another. Different people see from different 
standpoints, their own interest in every case 
directing their judgment. The allusion is to a 
fable in Phaedrus, where a donkey-driver 
exhorts his donkey to flee, as the enemy is at 
hand. The donkey asks if the enemy will load 
him with double pack-saddles. “No,” says 
the man. “Then”, replies the donkey, “what 
care I whether you are my master or someone 
else?” 



Donkey 


297 


Dorcas Society 


To ride the black donkey. To be pig-headed, 
obstinate like a donkey. Black is added, not so 
much to designate the colour, as to express 
what is bad. 

Two more, and up goes the donkey. An old 
cry at fairs, the showman having promised the 
credulous rustics that as soon as enough 
pennies are collected his donkey will balance 
himself on the top of the pole or ladder, as 
the case may be. Needless to say, it is always 
a matter of “two more pennies,” and the trick 
is never performed. 

Who stole the donkey? An old gibe against 
policemen. When the force was first established 
a donkey was stolen, but the police failed to 
discover the thief, and this gave rise to the 
laugh against them. The correct answer is 
“The man with the white hat,” because white 
hats were made of the skins of donkeys, many 
of which were stolen and sold to hatters. 

Donkey engine, pump, etc. Small auxiliary 
engines or machines for doing subsidiary work. 

Donkey-work. Uninteresting work; less 
responsible work. 

Donnybrook Fair. This fair, held in August 
from the time of King John till 1855, was noted 
for its bacchanalian orgies and light-hearted 
rioting. Hence it is proverbial for a disorderly 
gathering or a regular rumpus. The village was 
a mile and a half south-east of Dublin, and is 
now one of its suburbs. 

Donzel. A squire or young man of good birth 
not yet knighted. This is an anglicized form 
of Ital. done el to, from Late Lat. domicellns. See 
Damsel. 

He is esquire to a knight-errant, donzel to the 
damsels. — Butler : Characters. 

Doodle. To draw designs, patterns, sketches, 
etc., aimlessly and absent-mindedly while 
occupied in conversation, listening, and the 
like. Psychologists profess to find considerable 
significance in the drawings thus made. 

Though the habit has existed for many 
centuries the word was brought into promin- 
ence as a result of the lilm Mr. Deeds goes to 
Town. 1936. 

Doodle-bug. This was a name popularly 
given to the pilotless aeroplane bombs, also 
known as Vi’s and “Flying Bombs”, showered 
on the southern parts of Britain by the 
Germans in 1944. 

Doom (O.E. dom). The original meaning was 
law, or judgment, that which is set up as a 
statute: hence, the crack of doom, the signal 
for the final judgment. The book of judgments 
compiled by King Alfred was known as the 
dom-boc. This word is sometimes used to 
designate the frescoes, etc., found in old 
churches depicting the Day of Judgment, e.g. 
the Wenhaston Doom. 

Doomsday Book. See Domesday. 

Doomsday Sedgwick. William Sedgwick (c. 
1610-69), a fanatical prophet and preacher 
during the Commonwealth. He pretended to 
have it revealed to him in a vision that dooms- 
day was at hand; and, going to the house of 
Sir Francis Russell, in Cambridgeshire, he 
called upon a party of gentlemen playing at 


bowls to leave off and prepare for the approach- 
ing dissolution. 

Door. The O.E. dor (fern, dum ). The word in 
many other languages is similar; thus, Dan. 
dor\ Jcel. dyrr\ Gr. thu/a; Lat .fores; Ger. Tilr . 

Dead as a door-nail. See Dead. 

Door-money. Payment taken at the doors 
for admission to an entertainment, etc. 

He laid the charge at my door. He accused me 
of doing it. 

Indoors. Inside the house; also used attribu- 
tively, as, an indoor servant. 

Next door to it. Within an ace of it ( see 
Ace); very like it; next-door neighbour to it. 

Out of doors. Outside the house; in the open 
air. 

Sin lieth at the door (Gen. iv, 7). The blame 
of sin attaches to the wrongdoer, and he must 
take the consequences. 

The door must be either shut or open. It 

must be one way or the other; there is no 
alternative. From De Brueys and de Palaprat’s 
comedy, Le Grondcur (produced 1691): the 
master scolds his servant for leaving the door 
open. The servant says that he was scolded 
the last time for shutting it, and adds: “Do 
you wish it shut?” — “No.” — “Do you wish it 
open?” — “No.” — “Why,” says the man, “it 
must be either shut or open.” 

To make the door. To make it fast by 
shutting and bolting it. 

Why at this time the doors are made against you. — 
Comedy of Errors , III, i. 

Make the door upon a woman’s wit, and it will out 
at the casement. — As You Like It , IV, i. 

Dope. Originating in the U.S.A. about 1880, 
the original meaning was a liquid lubricant or 
absorbent, from the Dutch doop (a thick liquid 
or sauce, from the root word doopen , to dip). 
Later the word was used of the sluggish liquid 
that opium becomes when heated, to opium 
derivatives, and to the varnish used on aero- 
plane wings. Directly from the opium context 
came the slang usage of the word in applica- 
tion to dupes or simpletons, people who be- 
have as if drugged. Various similar usages 
followed: racehorses were said to be doped 
when drugged; a person was doped when he 
had had drugs or medicine; and the figurative 
sense of a person being doped when he had 
been flattered or given a false sense of security, 
and so on. It is also a slang and colloquial 
synonym for information, gossip, news. 

Dora. The popular name of D.O.R.A., the 
Defence of the Realm Act, 1914-21, under 
which many hundreds of regulations tempor- 
arily curbing the liberty of the subject were 
made. It passed into common speech in 1914 
after having been used in the Law Courts by 
Mr. Justice Scrutton. 

Dorado, El. See El Dorado. 

Dorcas Society. A woman’s circle for making 
clothing for the poor. So called from Dorcas, 
in Acts ix, 39, who made “coats and garments” 
for widows. 



Dorian, Doric 


298 


Double-edged 


Dorian, Doric. Pertaining to Doris, one of the 
divisions of ancient Greece, or to its in- 
habitants, a simple, pastoral people. 

Dorian mode. The scale represented by the 
white keys on a pianoforte, beginning with D. 
A simple, solemn form of music, the first of 
the authentic Church modes. 

Doric dialect. The dialect spoken by the 
natives of Doris, in Greece. It was broad and 
hard. Hence, any broad dialect such as that of 
rustics. Robert Burns’s verses are an example 
of British Doric. 

Doric Order. The oldest, strongest, and 
simplest of the Grecian orders of architecture. 
The Greek Doric is simpler than the Roman 
imitation. The former stands on the pavement 
without fillet or other ornament, and the flutes 
are not scalloped. The Roman column is 
laced on a plinth, has fillets, and the flutings, 
oth top and bottom, are scalloped. 

The Doric Land. Greece, Doris being a part 
of Greece. 

The Doric reed. Pastoral poetry. Everything 
Doric was very plain, but cheerful, chaste, and 
solid. 

The Doric reed once more 
Well pleased, I tune. 

Thomson: Autumn , 3. 

Dorigen (dor' i jen). The heroine of Chaucer's 
Franklin's Tale , which was taken from 
Boccaccio’s Decameron (X, v), the original 
being in the Hindu Vetala Panchavinsati. 

Dorinda, in the verses of the Earl of Dorset, 
is Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester, 
mistress of James 11. 

Doris. See Nereus. 

Dormer Window. The window of an attic 
standing out from the slope of the roof; 
properly, the window of a bedroom. (O.Fr. 
dormeor , a dormitory.) 

Dormy. A golfing term of uncertain origin 
(perhaps connected with Fr. dormir % to sleep), 
which is applied to a player who is as many 
holes ahead of his opponent as there are holes 
left to play in the round. Thus, if when there 
are still three holes left A. is three ahead of B., 
A. is said to be “dormy three”. 

Dormy House. Sleeping quarters at a golf 
club. 

Dornick. Stout figured linen for tablecloths, 
etc.; so called from Doornick, the Flemish 
name of Toumay, where it was originally made. 
Cp. Dannocks. The word is spelt in many 
ways, e.g. Dornock, Darnex. 

1 have got ... a fair Darnex carpet of my own 
Laid cross for the more state. 

Fletcher: The Noble Gentleman , V, i. 

Dorothea, St. (dor 6 the' &). A martyr under 
Diocletian about 303. She is represented with 
a rose-branch in her hand, a wreath of roses 
on her head, and roses with fruit by her side. 
The legend is that Theophilus, the judge’s 
secretary, scoffingly said to her, as she was 
going to execution, “Send me some fruit and 
roses, Dorothea, when you get to Paradise.” 
Immediately after her execution, a young 
angel brought him a basket of apples and 


roses, saying, “From Dorothea in Paradise,” 
and vanished. The story forms the basis of 
Massinger’s tragedy, The Virgin Martyr (1620). 

Dorset, Once the seat of a British tribe, calling 
themselves Dwr-trigs (dwellers by the water). 
The Romans colonized the settlement, and 
Latinized Dwr-trigs into Duro-triges. Lastly 
came the Saxons, who translated the original 
words into their own tongue, dor-scetta , stetra 
being a seat or settlement. 

The Dorsetshire Poet. William Barnes (1800- 
86), who was born and lived in Dorset, and 
wrote much poetry in the local dialect. 

Doss. Slang for a sleep; also for a bed or a 
place where one sleeps — a doss-house , dossing - 
ken. The word dates from the 18th century, 
and is probably connected with the old dorse y 
a back (Lat. dorsum ; Fr. dos). Hence also 
dosser , one who sleeps in a common lodging- 
house. 

Dot. See I. 

Dot and carry one. An infant just beginning 
to toddle; one who limps in walking; a person 
who has one leg longer than the other. 

Dothcboys Hall (doo' the boiz). A school in 
Dickens’s Nicholas Nickieby where boys were 
taken in and done for by Mr. Wackford 
Squeers, a brutish, ignorant, overbearing 
knave, who starved them and taught them 
nothing. The ruthless exposure of this kind of 
“school” led to the closing or reformation of 
many of them. 

Dotterel. A doting old fool; an old man 
easily cajoled. So called from the bird, a 
species of plover, which is easily approached 
and caught. 

To dor the dotterel. Dor is an obsolete word 
meaning to trick or cheat. Whence the phrase 
means to cheat the simpleton. 

Douai Bible. See Bible, the English. The 
English college at Douai was founded by 
William Allen (afterwards cardinal) in 1568. 
The Douai Bible translates such words as 
repentance by the word penance , etc., and the 
whole contains notes by Roman Catholic 
divines. 

Double (Lat. duplus , twofold). One's double is 
one's alter ego (<y.v.). The word is applied to 
such pairs as the Corsican brothers, the 
Dromio brothers, and the brothers Antipholus. 

Double-bank. A phrase used in Britain in 
reference to two or more cars or cyclists 
abreast on a road; in Australia it is applied to 
two people riding one horse. 

Double dealing. Professing one thing and 
doing another inconsistent with that promise. 

Double Dutch. Gibberish, jargon, of a 
foreign tongue not understood by the hearer. 
Dutch is a synonym for foreign; and double 
implies something excessive, in a twofold 
degree. 

Double-edged. Able to cut either way; used 
metaphorically of an argument which makes 



Double entendre 


299 


Dout 


both for and against the person employing it, 
or which has a double meaning. 

“Your Delphic sword,” the panther then replied, 

“Is double-edged and cuts on either side.” 

Drydfn: Hind and Panther , pt. Ill, 191. 

Double entendre. An incorrect English 
version of the French double entente , a word 
which secretly expresses a rude or coarse 
covert meaning, generally of an indelicate 
character. Entendre is the infinitive mood of 
the French verb, and is never used as a noun. 

A double first. In the first class both of the 
classical and mathematical final examinations, 
Oxford; or of the classical and mathematical 
triposes, Cambridge. Now, a first class in any 
two final examinations. 

Double-headed Eagle. See Eagle. 

Double or quits. The winner stakes his stake, 
and the loser promises to pay twice the stake 
if he loses again; but if he wins the second 
throw his loss is cancelled and no money passes. 

Double summer time. See Daylight saving. 

Double take. An acting trick. It consists in 
looking away from the person who has 
addressed a remark to you, and then looking 
back at him quickly when the purport of the 
remark sinks in. 

Double time. A military phrase, applied to 
orderly running on the march, etc. It is quick 
inarch, the rate of progress (officially 165 
steps of 33 in., />. 453| ft., to the minute) 
being double that of the ordinary walking pace. 
See To double up, below. 

Double-tongued. Making contrary declara- 
tions on the same subject at different times; 
deceitful; insincere. 

Be grave, not double-tongued. — l Tim. iii, 8. 

Double X. See X. 

To double a cape. Said of a ship that sails 
round or to the other side of a cape; its course 
is, as it were, bent back on itself. 

What capes he doubled, and what continent. 

The gulfs and straits that strangely he had past. 

Drydfn: Ideas, stanza i. 

To double a part. Said of an actor playing 
two parts in the same piece. 

To double and twist. To prevaricate, act 
evasively, try by tortuous means to extricate 
oneself from a dilemma or difficulty. The 
phrase is taken from coursing — a hare 
“doubles and twists’* in the endeavour to 
escape from the hounds. In weaving, “to 
double and twist’* is to add one thread to 
another and twist them together. 

To double back. To turn back on one’s 
course. 

To double-cross. To betray or cheat an 
associate, more especially an associate in an 
already shady undertaking. 

To double up. To fold together. “To double 
up the fist” is to fold the fingers together so as 
to make the hand into a fist. “To double a 
person up’* is to strike him in the wind, so as 
to make nim double up with pain. 

In military phraseology, “Double up there!’’ 
is an order to hurry, target a move on,’’ run. 
Also to put two people in the space normally 


allocated to one if accommodation is tempor- 
arily short. See Double Time, above . 

To work double tides. To work extra hard, 
with all one’s might. 

Doubting Castle. The castle of the giant 
Despair, in which Christian and Hopeful were 
incarcerated, but from which they escaped by 
means of the key called “Promise.” (Bunyan; 
Pilgrim's Progress.) 

Doubting Thomas. See Thomas, St. 

Douceur (Fr.). A gratuity for service rendered 
or promised; a tip. 

Doughboy. The original meaning was a dough 
cake baked for sailors. From about 1847 
American soldiers were popularly called 
doughboys, until in World War II “G.I.” 
(q.v.) became more generally used. The usual 
explanation of the term is that the large brass 
buttons of the soldier’s uniform resembled the 
dough cake. 

Doughface (U.S.A.). Inhabitant of the 
Northern States who was in favour of main- 
taining slavery in the South. 

Douglas. The Scottish family name is from the 
river Douglas in Lanarkshire, which is the 
Celt, dhu glaise , black stream, a name in 
use also in Ireland, the Isle of Man, etc., and 
in Lancashire corrupted to Diggles. Legend 
explains it by inventing an unknown knight 
who came to the assistance of some Scottish 
king. After the battle the king asked who was 
the “Du-glass” chieftain, his deliverer, and 
received for answer Sholto Du-glass , which is 
said to be good Gaelic for “Behold the dark- 
grey man you inquired for.” 

“I will not yield him an inch of way, had he in his 
body the soul of every Douglas that has lived since 
the time of the Dark Gray Man.” — Scorr: The Abbot, 
ch. xxviii. 

Black Douglas. Sir William Douglas, lord 
of Nithsdale, who died about 1392. It was of 
this Douglas that Scott said: — 

The name of this indefatigable chief has become so 
formidable, that women used, in the northern coun- 
ties, to still their froward children by threatening them 
with the Black Douglas. — History of Scotland , ch. xi. 

The “Black Douglas” introduced by Scott 
in Castle Dangerous is James, eighth Lord 
Douglas, who lived about 100 years earlier, 
and twice took Douglas Castle from the 
English by stratagem. 

The Douglas Tragedy. A ballad in Scott’s 
Border Minstrelsy , telling how Lord William 
steals away Lady Margaret Douglas and is 
pursued by her father and two brothers. A 
fight ensues; the father and his two sons are 
sore wounded; Lord William, also wounded, 
creeps to his mother’s house and there dies; 
and the lady dies next morning. 

Douse the Glim. Put out the candle; also, by 
extension, to blind a man. Among sailors “to 
douse a sail” means to lower it in haste. 

A douse in the chops. A heavy blow in the 
face. 

Dout. A contraction of do-out, as don is of 
do-on, doff of do-off \ and dup of do-up. In 


Dove 


300 


Downing Street 


some southern counties they still say clout the 
candle and dout the fire , and call extinguishers 
douters. 

The dram of eale 

Doth all the noble substance dout. 

Hamlet, I, lv. 

Dove. The name means “the diver-bird’*; 
perhaps from its habit of ducking the head. So 
also Lat. columba is the Gr. kolumbis (a diver). 

In Christian art the dove symbolizes the 
Holy Ghost, and the seven rays proceeding 
from it the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. It 
also symbolizes the soul, and as such is some- 
times represented coming out of the mouth of 
saints at death. 

A dove bearing a ring is an attribute of St. 
Agnes; St. David is shown with a dov6 on his 
shoulder; St. Dunstan and St. Gregory the 
Great with one at the ear; St. Enurchus with 
one on his head; and St. Remigius with the 
dove bringing him holy chrism. 

The clergy of the Church of England are 
allegorized as doves in Dryden’s Hind and 
Panther , part III, 947, 998-1002. 

Dove’s dung. In II Kings vi, 25, we are told 
that during the siege of Samaria “there was a 
great famine . . . and ... an ass’s head was sold 
for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth 
part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of 
silver.” “Ass’s head” and “dove’s dung” are 
both undoubtedly incorrect, the true rendering 
probably being “a homer of lentils” and “pods 
of the carob (or locust) tree,” the Hebrew for 
which expressions could easily be misread for 
the Hebrew of the others. Locust pods are 
still commonly sold in the East for food, and 
it is thought that they are the “husks” referred 
to in the parable of the Prodigal Son. 

Dover. In the professional slang of English 
cooks a resurrection pie or any rechauffe is 
called a dover (do over again). 

A jack of Dover. See Jack. 

When Dover and Calais meet. Never. 

Merry Dun of Dover. See Merry. 

Dovercourt (do' ver cort). A confused gabble; 
a babel. According to legend, Dovercourt 
church, in Essex, once possessed a cross that 
spoke; and Foxc says the crowd in the church 
was so great “that no man could shut the 
door.” But Dovercourt also seems to have been 
noted for its scolds and chattering women. 
And now the rood of Dovercourt did speak. 
Confirming his opinions to be true. 

Grim , the Collier of Croydon (1600). 

When bells ring round and in their order be, 

They do denote how neighbours should agree; 

But when they clam, the harsh sound spoils the sport 

And *tis like women keeping Dovercourt. 

Lines in the Belfry of St. Peter's, Shaftesbury. 

Dovetail. Metaphorically, to fit on or fit in 
nicely; to correspond. In carpentry it means the 
fitting of one board into another by a tenon in 
the shape of a dove’s tail, or wedge reversed. 

Dower. Gifts by a husband to his wife before 
marriage. That portion of a man’s estate which 
the wire enjoys for life after her husband’s 
death. Most large estates have a Dower house 
to which the widow retires, leaving the big 
house to the heir who has inherited the estate. 


Dowlas, Mr. (dou' l&s). A generic name for a 
linendraper, who sells dowlas, a coarse linen 
cloth, so called from Daoulas, in Brittany, 
where it was manufactured. 

Mrs. Quickly: I bought you a dozen of shirts to your 
back. 

Falstaff: Dowlas, filthy dowlas: I have given them 
away to bakers’ wives, and they have made bolsters of 
them. 

Mrs. Quickly: Now, as I am true woman, holland 
of eight shillings an ell. Henry IV, Pt. I, III, iii. 

Down. Down and out. Said of one who has not 
only come right down in the world but has, 
apparently, not the slightest chance of getting 
up again. 

Down at heel. See Heel. 

Down in the dumps. See Dumps. 

Down in the mouth. Out of spirits; dis- 
heartened. When persons are very sad and low- 
spirited, the corners of the mouth are drawn 
down. Down in the jib is a nautical phrase of 
the same meaning. 

Down on his luck. In ill luck; short of cash 
and credit. 

Down with (so-and-so)! Away with! A cry 
of rage and exasperation, like the Fr. a has. 

He is very much run down. Very out of sorts; 
in need of a thorough rest and overhauling, 
like a clock that has run down. 

I was down on him in a minute. I pounced 
on him directly; 1 detected his trick im- 
mediately. The allusion is to birds of prey. 

That suits me down to the ground. See 

Ground. 

The down train. The train away from London 
or the local centre, in contradistinction to the 
up train , which goes to it. We also have the 
down platform, etc. 

To down tools. To lay one’s tools aside and 
come out on strike. 

To have a down on. To have a grudge or 
spite against. 

To run a man down. See Run. 

Ups and downs. The twists and turns of 
fortune; one’s successes and reverses. 

Fraudulent transactions have their downs as well as 
their ups. — Dickens: Martin Chuzzleyvit , ch. xvi. 

Down-easter. An American from New 
England. 

Down-town. Business district of an American 
city, so called from New York where financial 
houses are concentrated in the southern tip of 
Manhattan Island. 

Downing College. A college at Cambridge, 
founded by the will of Sir George Downing 
(c. 1684-1749) (a grandson of the Sir George of 
Downing Street, q.v.). The college was 
chartered in 1800, after much litigation. He 
also founded the chair occupied by the 
Downing Professor , the Professor of the Laws 
of England at Cambridge. 

Downing Street. A synonym for the British 
Government. 

No. 10 was given in 1735 by George II to 
Sir Robert Walpole as th# official residence of 
the Prime Minister, and it is there that the 


Downright 


301 


Dragort 


meetings of the Cabinet are usually held. The 
house retains its old facade but has been 
altered inside from time to time. No. 11 is the 
official residence of the Chancellor of the 
Exchequer; No. 12 is the Government Whips* 
office. The street was named after Sir George 
Downing ( c . 1623-84), a noted Parliamentarian 
and ambassador, who served under both 
Cromwell and Charles II, and owned property 
there. 

Downright. Thoroughly, from top to bottom, 
throughout; “downright honest,’* “downright 
mad’*; outspoken; fixed in opinions; utter, as 
a “downright shame.” 

Downy. An old slang word long since in disuse. 

A downy cove. A knowing fellow, up to , 
or, as formerly, down to every dodge. 

Downy here means wideawake, knowing; 
and in Vaux’s Flash Dictionary (1812) down is 
given as a synonym for “awake”: — 

When the party you are about to rob sees or sus- 
pects your intention, it is then said that the cove is 
down. 

Dowsabell. A common name for a sweetheart, 
especially an unsophisticated country girl, in 
poems of Elizabethan times. It is the Fr. 
douce et belle , sweet and beautiful. 

It were not good ... to cast away as pretty a 
dowsabell as any could chance to see in a summer’s 
day. — The London Prodigal, IV, i (1605). 

Drayton has a poem, The Ballad of Dowsa- 
bell. 

Dowse (see also Douse). To search for water, 
etc., with a divining-rod (c/.v.), which is also 
called a dowsing-rod , and the practitioners of 
the art dowsers. The origin of the term is 
disputed, but as the art was introduced from 
Germany (in the 16th cent.) it may be con- 
nected with Ger. deuten , to declare or interpret. 

Doxology (doksol'dji). This comes from a 
Greek word meaning a hymn of praise to God. 
The Greater Doxology is the hymn Gloria in 
Excelsis Deo at the Eucharist. The Lesser 
Doxology is the Gloria Patri (Glory be to the 
Father, etc.) sung at the end of each psalm in 
the liturgy. The hymn “Praise God from whom 
all blessings flow” is also known as the 
Doxology. 

Doxy. This is an old word, though it has al- 
ways been slang, for a paramour, more 
especially the wench of a tramp or tinker. The 
inoffensive habit of calling a girl “ducky” or 
“ducks” has precisely the same origin. 

Dozen. Twelve: the word is all that is left (in 
English) of the Latin duodecimo twelve, the 
-en representing the Latin suffix - ena . A long 
dozen is thirteen. See Baker’s Dozen. 

To talk nineteen to the dozen. To talk at a 
tremendous rate, or with excessive vehemence. 

Drachenfels (drak' 6n felz). (Ger. Dragon- 
rock). So called from the legend that it was 
the home of the dragon slain by Siegfried, the 
hero of the Nibelungenlied. 

The castled crag of Drachenfels 

Frowns o’er the wide and winding Rhine, 
Whose breast of waters broadly swells 
Between the bank& wfiich bear the vine. 

Byron: Childc Harold , iii, 55. 


Draconian Code fdra kd' ni &n). One very 
severe. Draco was an Athenian law-maker of 
the 7th cent, b.c., and the first to produce a 
written code of laws for Athens. As nearly 
every violation of his laws was a capital offence, 
Demades the orator said that “Draco’s code 
was written in blood.” 

Draft. A draft on Aldgate pump. See Ald- 

GATE. 

(Military.) A body of men of any size sent to 
a unit or formation for service, presumably 
having the same origin as a draft or cheque, 
since it fully or partially fills the requirement 
for which the unit has indented. 

Draggle-tail. See Daggle-tail. 

Dragoman (drag' 6 man) (pi. dragomans). A 
cicerone; a guide or interpreter to foreigners. 
(Arab, targuman , an interpreter; whence 
tar gum.) 

Dragon. The Greek word drakon comes from 
a verb meaning “to see”, to “look at”, and 
more remotely “to watch” and “to flash”. 

A dragon is a fabulous winged crocodile, 
usually represented as of large size, with a 
serpent’s tail; whence the words serpent and 
dragon are sometimes interchangeable. The 
word was used in the Middle Ages as the sym- 
bol of sin in general and paganism in particular, 
the metaphor being derived from Rev. xii, 9, 
where Satan is termed “the great dragon” and 
Ps. xci, 13, where it is said that the saints 
“shall trample the dragon under their feet.” 
Hence, in Christian art the dragon symbolizes 
Satan or sin, as when represented at the feet 
of Christ and the Virgin Mary; and St. John 
the Evangelist is sometimes represented hold- 
ing a chalice, from which a dragon is issuing. 

Among the many saints who are usually 
pictured with dragons may be mentioned St. 
Michael, St. George, St. Margaret, Pope 
Sylvester, St. Samson (Archbishop of Dol), 
St. Donatus, St. Clement of Metz; St. 
Romain of Rouen, who destroyed the huge 
dragon, La Gargouille, which ravaged the 
Seine; St. Philip the Apostle, who killed 
another at Hierapolis, in Phrygia; St. Martha, 
who slew the terrible dragon, Tarasque, at 
Aix-la-Chapelle; St Florent, who killed a 
dragon which haunted the Loire; St. Cado, 
St. Maudet, and St. Pol, who did similar feats 
in Brittany ; and St. Keyne of Cornwall. 

In classical legend the idea of watching is 
retained in the story of the dragon who guards 
the golden apples in the garden of the Hes- 
perides. 

Among the ancient Britons and Welsh the 
dragon was the national symbol on the war 
standard; hence the term, Pendragon (q.v.) for 
the dux bellorum , or leader in war (pen— head 
or chief). 

Dragon’s Blood. A name used formerly in 
pharmacology for the resin from certain plants, 
chiefly an East Indian palm ( Calamus draco) 
which was used as an astringent in medicine, 
and is still employed as a colouring matter for 
varnishes. 


Dragon 


302 


Drapier’s Letters 


In German mythology, when Siegfried was 
told to bathe in the blood of a dragon in order 
to make him immune from injury, a linden leaf 
fell on him as he was doing so and covered a 
small place on his body tnat thus remained 
vulnerable. From this legend the name 
* Dragon’s Blood’ has been applied to a cheap 
red Rhine wine. There is a possible connexion 
between this story and the term “dragon's 
blood’* applied to a powder used in printing 
which, applied to a block for processing, 
prevents tne etching of that portion thus 
covered. 

A flying dragon. A meteor. 

The Chinese dragon. In China, a five-clawed 
dragon is introduced into pictures and 
embroidered on state dresses as an amulet. 

The Dragon of Wantley. See Wantley. 

To sow dragons* teeth. To foment conten- 
tions; to stir up strife or war; especially to do 
something that is intended to put an end to 
strife but which brings it about later. The 
Philistines “sowed dragons* teeth’’ when they 
took Samson, bound him, and put out his eyes; 
the ancient Britons did the same when they 
massacred the Danes on St. Bryce's Day, as 
also did the Germans when they robbed 
France of Alsace Lorraine. 

The reference is to the classical story of 
Cadmus, who slew the dragon that guarded 
the well of Ares and sowed some of its teeth, 
from which sprang up the men called Sparti, 
or the Sown-men, who all killed each other 
except five, who became the ancestors of the 
Thebans. Those teeth which Cadmus did not 
sow came to the possession of /Eetes, King 
of Colchis; one of the tasks he enjoined on 
Jason was to sow them and slay the armed 
warriors that rose therefrom. 

Dragon’s Hill. A site in Berkshire where one 
legend has it that St. George killed the dragon. 
A bare place is shown on the hill, where 
nothing will grow, for there the blood of the 
dragon ran out. 

In Saxon annals we are told that Cerdic, 
founder of the West Saxon kingdom, slew there 
Naud (or Natanleod, the people’s refuge), the 
pen-dragon, with 5,000 men. 

Dragonnades. A scries of religious persecu- 
tions by Louis XIV, prior to the revocation of 
the Edict of Nantes, which drove many 
thousand Protestants out of France. Their 
object was to root out “heresy”; if the heretics 
would not recant, they had dragoons (hence 
the name) billeted on them, who were given 
a free hand to treat them in any way they liked. 
The origin of this name for a type of mounted 
soldier is obscure. In 1554 Marshal Brissac 
armed some of his horsemen with short 
carbines on the muzzles of which were en- 
graved dragons spouting fire, and some ascribe 
the term to these. More likely, however, is the 
theory that the word comes from the dragon , 
or standard, borne by a mounted regiment 
formed in the French army in 1585. 

Drama. Father of Danish drama. Ludwig von 
Holberg (1684-1754). 


Father of French drama. Etienne Jodelle 

(1532-73). 

Father of Greek drama. Thespis (6th cent. 

B.C.). 

Father of Modern German drama. Andreas 
Griphius (1616-64). 

Father of Spanish drama. Lope de Vega 
(1562-1635). 

Dramatic unities. The three dramatic unities, 
viz. the rules governing the so-called “classical” 
dramas, are founded on Renaissance miscon- 
ceptions of passages in Aristotle’s Poetics , 
and are hence sometimes, though very in- 
correctly, styled the Aristotelian Unities. They 
are, that in dramas there should be (1) Unity 
of Action, (2) Unity of Time, and (3) Unity of 
Place. Aristotle lays stress on (l), meaning that 
an organic unity, or a logical connexion be- 
tween the successive incidents, is necessary; 
but (2) was deduced by Castelvetro (1505-71), 
the 16th-century Italian scholar and critic, 
from the passage in the Poetics where Aristotle, 
in comparing Epic Poetry and Tragedy, says 
that the former has no limits in time but tne 
latter 

endeavours, as far as possible, to confine itself to a 
single revolution of the sun, or but slightly to exceed 
this limit 

— a passage which was merely an incidental 
reference to a contemporary custom and was 
never intended as the enunciation of an in- 
violable law of the drama. Having thus arrived 
at the Unity of Time, (3) the Unity of Place 
followed almost perforce, though there is not 
even a hint of it in Aristotle. 

The theory of the Three Unities was formu- 
lated in Italy nearly a century before it was 
taken up in France (Cintio, Robortelli, Maggi, 
and Scaliger being the principal exponents), 
where it became, after much argument, the 
corner-stone of the literary drama. The prih- 
ciple had little success in England — despite the 
later championship of Dryden (see his Essay 
on Dramatic Poesy), Addison (as exemplified 
in his Cato), and others. It was not till 
Corneille’s triumph with Le Cid (1636) that the 
convention of the Three Unities can be said 
to have been finally adopted. It is almost 
unnecessary to add that Shakespeare, and every 
great dramatist not bound by a self-imposed 
tradition, was with Aristotle in holding that so 
long as the Unity of Action is observed the 
others do not matter. Ben Jonson’s The 
Alchemist (1610) is, perhaps, the best example 
of the small class of English plays in which the 
Unities of Place and Time have been purposely 
adhered to. 

Dramatis Persona* (dr&nV a tis p£r so' ne). 
The characters of a drama, novel, or (by 
extension) of an actual transaction. 

Drapier’s Letters (dra' per). A series of letters 
written by Dean Swift to the people of Ireland 
and published in 1724, advising them not to 
take the copper money coined by William 
Wood and called Wood’s Halfpence. The 
patent had been granted to him by George l 
through the influence of the Duchess of Kendal, 
the King’s mistress, and Wood and the Duch- 
ess were to share the< profits (40 per cent.). 




Drat 


303 


Drawlatch 


These letters, which were signed “M.B. 
Drapier”, crushed the infamous job and the 
patent was cancelled in 1725. 

Drat. A variant of Od rot! “Od” being a 
minced form of “God**, and the vowel show- 
ing the same modification as in “Gad!** or 
“Gadzooks!” Od’s. 

Draupnir (drawp' ner). Odin’s magic ring, from 
which every ninth night dropped eight rings 
equal in size and beauty to itself. It was 
fashioned by the dwarfs. 

Draw. A drawn game, battle, etc. One in which 
the result is in doubt, neither side having 
achieved success: perhaps so called from a 
battle in which the troops on both sides are 
drawn off \ neither side claiming the victory. 

A good draw. A first-rate attraction — 
“Performing elephants are always ‘a good 
draw* at circuses.’’ The noun also may mean 
a drawn game, or the result of drawing lots, 
etc. 

Draw it mild! Don’t exaggerate! don’t make 
your remarks (or actions, as the case may be) 
stronger than necessary. The allusion is to the 
drawing of beer. 

Hanged, drawn, and quartered. Strictly 
speaking, the phrase should read Drawn , 
hanged , and quartered’, for the allusion is to the 
sentence formerly passed on those convicted of 
high treason, which was that they should be 
drawn to the place of execution on a hurdle or 
at a horse’s tail instead of being carried or 
allowed to walk, then hanged, and then 
quartered. 

Later, drawing, or disembowelling, the 
criminal was added to the punishment after 
the hanging and before the quartering, and it 
was sometimes supposed that the “drawn*’ in 
the phrase referred to this process instead of to 
the earlier one. Thus the sentence on Sir 
William Wallace was that he should be drawn 
Uietrahatur) from the Palace of Westminster 
to the Tower, then hanged ( suspendatur ), then 
disembowelled or drawn ( devaletur ), then be- 
headed and quartered ( decolletur et decapitetur). 

Lord Ellenborough used to say to those condemned, 
“You are drawn on hurdles to the place of execution, 
where you are to be hanged, but not till you are dead; 
for, while still living, your body is to be taken down, 
your bowels torn out and burnt before your face; 
your head is then cut off. and your body divided into 
four quarters. — Gentleman's Magazine, 1803. 

To draw a badger. See Badger. 

To draw a bead on somebody. To take aim 
at him with a rifle or revolver. The “bead” 
referred to is the foresight. 

To draw a bow at a venture; to draw the long 
bow. See Bow. 

To draw a furrow. To plough or draw a 
plough through a field so as to make a furrow. 

To draw a person out. To entice a person to 
speak on any subject, to obtain information, 
to encourage one too shy to talk. 

To draw amiss. To take the wrong direction. 
A hunting term, to draw meaning to follow 
scent. 

To draw blank. To meet with failure in one’s 
pursuit. The allusion is to sportsmen “draw- 
ing” a covert and finding ,no game. To draw a 


blank refers to having no luck in a lottery, 
sweepstake, etc. To fail in a search. 

To draw the cork. To give one a bloody nose. 
Cp. Claret. 

To draw the King’s (oi Queen’s) picture. To 

coin false money. 

To draw the line. To set a definite limit be- 
yond which one refuses to go; to impose a 
restriction on one’s behaviour from fear of 
going too far. “He was utterly unprincipled, 
but he drew the line at blackmail,” i.e. he 
would stop short of blackmail. 

To draw the nail. To release oneself from a 
vow. It was a custom in Cheshire to register a 
vow by driving a nail into a tree, swearing to 
keep your vow as long as it remained there. 
If you wished to retract, the nail was with- 
drawn and the vow thereby cancelled. 

To draw rations, stores, etc. A military 
phrase, to go to the appointed place of issue 
and receive same. 

To draw rein. To pull up short, to check 
one’s course. 

To draw stumps. To mark the final close of 
a game of cricket the stumps are drawn from 
the ground and taken away. 

Drawback. Something to set against the 
profits or advantages of a concern. In com- 
merce, it is duty charged on goods paid back 
again when the goods are exported. 

It is only on goods into which dutiable commodities 
have entered in large proportion and obvious ways 
that drawbacks are allowed. — H. George: Protection 
or Free Trade? ch. ix. 

In common parlance a drawback is an incon- 
venience in something otherwise desirable. 

Drawcansir. A burlesque tyrant in Bucking- 
ham’s Rehearsal (1671); hence, a blustering 
braggart. The character was a caricature of 
Dryden’s Almanzor ( Conquest of Granada ). 
Drawcansir’s opening speech (he has only 
three) is: — 

He that dares drink, and for that drink dares die. 

And, knowing this, dares yet drink on, am I. 

Rehearsal, IV, i. 

which parodies Almanzor's: — 

He who dares love, and for that love must die. 

And, knowing this, dares yet love on, am L 

Conquest of Granada, IV, iii. 
Cp. Bayes; Bobadil. 

Drawing-room. This was originally the with- 
drawing room to which the women retired after 
dinner, leaving the men to remain at table 
drinking. When this custom fell into desuetude 
the drawing-room became a room for enter- 
tainment and conversation as distinct from the 
dining-room reserved for meals. In the 
Victorian suburban villa the drawing-room 
was a sort of state apartment, rarely entered 
and yet more rarely used. The word is also 
applied to a levee where ladies are presented 
to the sovereign. 

Drawing Room of Europe. So Napoleon 
called St. Mark’s Square in Venice. 

Drawlatch. An old name for a robber, a house- 
breaker; i.e. one who entered by drawing up 
the latch with the string provided for the pur- 
pose and stole all he could carry away with him. 



Dreadnought 


304 


Drive 


Dreadnought. The name given to a large 
battleship (17,900 tons) in the British Navy, 
built in 1906, and hence to the class of which 
it was the earliest. The name was in use in 
Queen Elizabeth I’s time. 

The Seamen’s Hospital at Greenwich 
(founded in 1821) is often spoken of as the 
Dreadnought Hospital, because it was 
originally housed in the Thames on an old 
man-of-war of this name. It was drawn 
ashore in 1870. 

Dreams, The Gates of. There are two, viz. that 
of ivory and that of horn. Dreams which 
delude pass through the Ivory Gate, those 
which come true pass through the Gate of 
Horn. 

That children dream not the first half-year; that 
men dream not in some countries, with many more, 
are unto me sick men’s dreams; dreams out of the 
ivory gate, and visions before midnight. — S ir Thomas 
Browne: On Dreams. 

This fancy depends upon two puns: ivory in 
Greek is elephas , and the verb elephairo means 
“to cheat with empty hopes”; the Greek for 
horn is keras , and the verb karanoo means “to 
accomplish.” 

The Immortal Dreamer. John Bunyan (1628- 
88), whose allegory, The Pilgrim* s Progress , is 
in the form of a dream. 

Dreng. An ancient Northumbrian term (from 
Danish) for a free tenant who held his land by 
a tenure dating from before the Conquest. It 
occurs in Domesday Book. 

Dresser. In theatrical parlance this is the person 
who looks after dresses, and prepares an actor 
or actress for the stage. In furniture a dresser 
is a large stand with shelves for holding 
dishes, plates, etc., and drawers for cutlery and 
silver. 

Dreyfusard, Dreyfusite. An advocate of the 
innocence of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935), 
a French artillery officer of Jewish descent, 
who was convicted in 1894 on a charge of 
having betrayed military secrets, degraded and 
sent to Devil’s Island. In 1899 the first trial 
was annulled. He was brought back to France, 
retried, and again condemned, but shortly 
afterwards pardoned, though it was not until 
1914 that he was finally and completely re- 
habilitated. 

Drink. Drink-money. A “tip”; a small gratuity 
to be spent on drinking the health of the giver; 
a pourboire (Fr. for drink). 

Drinking horns. In the East drinking cups 
made of rhinoceros horn used to be specially 
valued, as they were supposed to sweat if 
they contained any poison. In the North those 
made of narwhal tusk were considered the best, 
for they were held to counteract any poisonous 
effects. 

Drinking of healths. See Gabbara; Health. 

In the drink. In the sea, in the water ; a service 
colloquial term of World War II. 

The big drink. An American expression for 
any large stretch of water, such as the Atlantic 
(c/7. Herring-pond) or Lake Superior. 

In airman’s slang to be ditched in the drink 


is to make a forced landing on water, esp. the 
sea. 

It is meat and drink to me. It is something 
that is almost essential to my well-being or 
happiness; something very much to be 
desired. 

It is meat and drink to me to see a clown. 

As You Like /r, V, i. 

One must drink as one brews. One must take 
the consequences of one’s actions; “as one 
makes his bed so must he lie in it.” 

I am grieved it should be said he is my brother, and 
take these courses : well, as he brews, so shall he drink. 
— JONSON: Every Man in his Humour, II, i. 

Those who drink beer will think beer. A 
saving attributed to Warburton, Bishop of 
Gloucester (1698-1779). Some non-teetotaller 
parodied it with “And those that drink water 
will think water.” Neither suggestion calls for 
explanation. 

To drink at Freeman’s Quay. To get one’s 
drink at someone else’s expense. It is said that 
at one time all porters and carmen calling at 
Freeman’s Quay, near London Bridge, had a 
pot of beer given them gratis, but the explana- 
tion is scarcely necessary and probably untrue. 

To drink deep. To drink Heavily, to excess, or 
habitually. Shakespeare uses the expression 
metaphorically: — 

Cunt.: If it pass against us. 

We lose the better half of our possession; . . . 

And to the coffers of the king beside, 

A thousand pounds by the year. Thus runs the bill. 

Ely: This would drink deep. 

Cant.: ’Twould drink the cup and all. 

Henry V, I, i. 

To drink like a fish. To drink abundantly or 
excessively. Many fish swim with their mouths 
open, thus appearing to be continually drink- 
ing. The expression is found in Beaumont and 
Fletcher. 

To drink the cup of sorrow, etc. See Cup. 

To drink the waters. To take medicinal 
waters, especially at a spa. 

Drive. He is driving pigs, or driving pigs to 
market. Said of one who is snoring, because 
the grunt of a pig resembles the snore of a 
sleeper. 

To drive a good bargain. To exact more than 
is quite equitable. 

Heaven would no bargain for its blessings drive. — 
Dryden: Astreea Redux, i, 137. 

To drive a quill. See Quilldrivers. 

To drive a roaring trade. To do a brisk 
business. 

To drive the swine through the hanks of yarn. 
To spoil what has been painfully done; to 
squander thrift. In Scotland, the yarn wrought 
in the winter (called the gude-mfe's thrift) is 
laid down by the burn-siae to bleach, and is 
thus exposed to damage from passing animals, 
such as a herd of pigs, which may stray over 
it and do a vast amount of harm. 

To let drive. To attack; to fall foul of. 

Thou knowest my old ward; here I IFalstaff] lay, 
and thus I bore my point. Four rogues in buckram let 
drive at me.-— Shakespeare: Henry IV, Pt. /, II, iv. 



Drive 


305 


Druid 


What are you driving at ? What do you want 
to prove? What do you want me to infer? 

Who drives fat oxen should himself be fat. 
Henry Brooke, in his Gustavus Vasa (1739), 
says: “Who rules o’er frec-men should himself 
be free”; Dr. Johnson parodied the line — and 
the sentiment, with which he did not agree. 
(Boswell.) 

Droit d’Aubaine (drwa' do ban). Aubain (Fr.). 
means “alien”, and droit d'aubainc the “right 
over an alien’s property”. In France the king 
was entitled, at the death of foreign residents 
(except Swiss and Scots), to all their movable 
estates, a right that was not finally abolished 
til! 1819. 

Had I died that night of an indigestion, the whole 
world could not have suspended the effects of the 
droit d'aubainc. My shirts and black pair of breeches, 

P ortmanteau and all must have gone to the king of 
ranee. — S terne: Sentimental Journey (Intro.). 

Dromio (dro' mi 6). The brothers Dromio. Two 
brothers exactly alike, who served two 
brothers exactly alike, and the mistakes of 
masters and men form the fun of Shakespeare’s 
Comedy of Errors , based on the Mentvchtni of 
Plautus. 

Drone. The male of the bee, which does no 
work but lives on the labours of the worker- 
bees; hence, a sluggard; an idle person who 
lives on the work or means of another. 

The three lower pipes of a bagpipe are called 
the drones, because they produce an un- 
changing, monotonous bass humming like that 
of a bee. 

Drop. A drop in one’s eye. Not exactly in- 
toxicated, but having had quite enough. 

Wc are na fou, we’re nae that fou. 

But just a drappie in our e’e! 

Burns: Willie Brew'd u Peck o' Maul. 

A drop in the ocean. An infinitesimal quan- 
tity; something that scarcely counts or matters 
in comparison with the whole. 

A drop of the cratur. See Creature. 

A dropping fire. An irregular fusillade from 
small-arms, machine guns, etc. 

Drop serene. An old name for amaurosis, 
a disease of the optic nerve, causing blindness, 
without affecting the appearance of the eye. 
It was at one time thought that it was caused 
by a transparent, watery humour distilling on 
ihe nerve. The name is the English form of the 
Eat. gutta serena. 

So thick a droo serene hath quenched these orbs. 

Milton: Paradise Lost , III, 25. 

Prince Rupert’s drops. See Rupert. 

To drop across. To encounter accidentally or 
casually. 

To drop an acquaintance. To allow acquaint- 
anceship to lapse. 

To drop in. To make a casual call, not 
invited; to pay an informal visit. 

To drop ofT. “Friends drop off,” fall away 
gradually. “To drop off to sleep,” to fall 
asleep (especially in weariness or sickness). 

To get the drop on someone. To have him in 
your power, probably from the early method of 


pistol shooting whereby the weapon was 
raised high and then lowered, or dropped, 
towards its target. 

To take a drop. A euphemism for taking 
what the drinker chooses to call by that term. 
It may be anything from a sip to a Dutchman’s 
draught. 

To take one’s drops. To drink spirits in 
private. 

Drown. Drowning men catch at straws. Persons 
in desperate circumstances cling in hope to 
trifles wholly inadequate to rescue or even help 
them. 

To drown the miller. See Miller. 

Drows. See Trows. 

Drug. See Dope. A drug in the market. Some- 
thing not called for, which no one will buy. 

Druid (droo' id). A member of the ancient 
Gaulish and British order of priests, teachers 
of religion, magicians, or sorcerers. The word 
is the Lat. druidie or druides (always plural), 
which was borrowed from the Old Irish drui 
and Gaelic draoi. The Druidic cult presents 
many difficulties, and practically our only 
literary sources of knowledge of it are Pliny 
and the Commentaries of Csesar, whence we 
learn that the rites of the Druids were con- 
ducted in oak-groves and that they regarded 
the oak and the mistletoe with peculiar venera- 
tion; that they studied the stars and nature 
generally; that they believed in the transmigra- 
tion of souls, and dealt in “magic”. Their 
distinguishing badge was a serpent’s egg {see 
below), to which very powerful properties were 
credited. The order seems to have been highly 
organized, and according to Strabo every chief 
had his Druid, and every chief Druid was 
allowed a guard of thirty men. 

In Butler’s Hudibras (III, i) there is an 
allusion to the 

Money by the Druids borrowed, 

In t’other world to be restored. 

This refers to a legend recorded by one 
Patricius (? St. Patrick) to the effect that the 
Druids were wont to borrow money to be re- 
paid in the life to come. His words are “ Druidce 
pecuniam mutuo accipiebant in posteriore vita 
reddituri." 

On account of the inferred connexion be- 
tween the Druids and the bards the name is 
still kept in use by the Welsh Eisteddfods, and 
it is with this sense that Collins employed it in 
his eulogy on Thomson: — 

In yonder grave a Druid lies. 

United Ancient Order of Druids. A secret 
benefit society founded in London in 1781 and 
introduced to U.S.A. in 1883. It now has 
lodges, or “groves” as they are called, in many 
parts of the world. 

The Druids’ egg. This wonderful egg was 
hatched by the joint labour of several serpents, 
and was buoyed into the air by their hissing. 
The person who caught it had to ride off at 
full speed, to avoid being stung to death; 
but the possessor was sure to prevail in every 
contest, and to be courted by those in power. 
Pliny says he had seen one of them, and that it 
was about as large as a moderate-sized apple. 



Druj 


Druj. See Ahriman. 

Drum. A popular name in the 18th century — 
and later — tor a crowded evening party, so 
called from its resemblance in noise to the 
drumming up of recruits. The more riotous of 
these parties were called drum-majors. 

This is a riotous assembly of fashionable people, of 
both sexes, at a private house, consisting of some hun- 
dreds, not unaptly stiled a drum, from the noise and 
emptiness of the entertainment. — Smollett: Advice, 
a Satire (1746). 

To drum up. To get together unexpectedly 
or in an emergency, as “to drum up a meal.” 

John (or Jack) Drum’s entertainment. 
Turning an unwelcome guest out of doors. 

O! for the love of laughter, let him fetch his drum; 
he says he has a stratagem for ’t. When your lordship 
sees the bottom of his success in ’t, and to what metal 
this counterfeit lump of ore will be melted, if you give 
him not John Drum’s entertainment, your inclining 
cannot be removed. — All's Well, III, vi. 

John Marston wrote a comedy with the title 
Jack Drum's Entertainment (1600), in which 
he is supposed to have satirized Ben Jonson. 

Drum ecclesiastic. The pulpit cushion, often 
vigorously thumped by what are termed 
“rousing preachers’'. 

When Gospel trumpeter, surrounded 
With long-eared rout, to battle sounded; 

And pulpit, drum ecclesiastic. 

Was beat with fist instead of a stick. 

BUTLf r : Hudibras , I, i. 

Drum-head court-martial. One held in haste; 
a court-martial summoned on the held round 
the drum to deal summarily with an offender. 

Drumsticks. Legs, especially very thin ones, 
or the legs of a cooked fowl. 

Drummers. An Americanism for commercial 
travellers, their vocation being to collect 
customers as a recruiting officer “drums up” 
recruits. 

Drummond Light. The limelight. So named 
from the inventor, Thomas Drummond (1797- 
1840), about 1825. 

Drunk. Drunk as a fiddler. The reference is to 
the fiddler at wakes, fairs, and on board ship, 
who used to be paid in liquor for playing to 
the dancers. 

Drunk as a lord. In the late 18th century 
and early 19th the habit of gross drinking was 
at its height and a man of fashion was judged 
— or prided himself— on the number of bottles 
of port he could drink at a sitting. Few dinners 
ended without placing the guests under the 
table in a hopeless state of intoxication; hence 
the expression. 

Drunk as Chloe. Chloe was the cobbler’s 
wife of Linden Grove, to whom Prior, the 
poet, was attached. She was notorious for her 
drinking habits. 

Drunk as David’s sow. See Davy’s Sow. 

Chaucer has drunk as a mouse , Wilson 
(1553) drunk as a rat , Massinger drunk as a 
beggar; other common similes are drunk as a 
tinker , and drunk as a boiled owl , or “as an 
owl”. 

Drunkard’s cloak. A tub with holes for the 
arms to pass through, used in the 17th 


Dry 


century for drunkards and scolds by way of 
punishment. 

Drunken Parliament, The. The Parliament 
assembled at Edinburgh, January 1st, 1661, 
of which Burnet says the members “were 
almost perpetually drunk.” 

Drury Lane. This famous London street (and, 
consequently, the theatre) is named from 
Drui 7 House, built in the time of Henry VIII 
by Sir William Drury. It stood on a site about 
in the middle of the present Aldwych. 

The first Drury Lane Theatre was opened on 
April 8, 1663, and nine years later was burned 
down. Its successor was designed by Wren, 
and this was replaced in 1794 by a third 
theatre, which was destroyed by fire in 1809. 
The present building was designed by Wyatt 
and opened in 1812. It was on its boards that 
Edmund Kean achieved his first great triumph, 
as Shylock, in 1814. 

Druses. A people and sect of Syria, living 
about the mountains of Lebanon and Anti- 
Libanus. Their faith is a mixture of the 
Pentateuch, the Gospel, the Koran, and Sufism. 
They offer up their devotions in both mosques 
and churches, worship the images of saints, 
and yet observe the last of Ramadan. Their 
name is probably from that of their first 
apostle, Ismail Darazi, or Durzi (11th cent. 

A.D.). 

Dry. Thirsty. Hence to drink is to “wet your 
whistle” (i.e. throat); and malt liquor is 
called “heavy wet”. 

Dry bob. A boy at Eton College who plays 
cricket and football instead of going in for 
rowing. 

Dry goods. Merchandise such as cloth, stuffs, 
silks, laces, and drapery in general, as opposed 
to groceries. 

Dry lodgings. An old expression for sleeping 
accommodation without board. Gentlemen 
who took their meals at clubs lived in “dry 
lodgings”. 

Dry rot is a diseased condition of timber due 
to the ravages of certain species of fungi. The 
affected parts crumble away to a brownish 
powder upon exposure to a dry atmosphere. 
Dry rot cannot develop in wood to which air 
currents have free access, hence the necessity 
of having air-bricks in an outside wall beneath 
the floor level. 

Dry shave. A shave without soaping the face; 
to scrape the face with a piece of iron hoop; 
to scratch the face; to box it and bruise it. 

The fellow will get a dry shave. 

Peter Pindar: Great Cry and Little Wool. Ep., I. 

I’ll shave her, like a punished soldier, dry. 

Peter Pindar: The Lousiad canto ii. 

Dry wine. Opposed to sweet or fruity wine. 
In sweet wine some of the sugar is not yet 
decomposed; in dry wine all the sugar has been 
converted into alcohol. In the same way we 
speak of a dry biscuit as opposed to a sweet 
biscuit. 

Not dry behind the ears. As innocent as a 
new-born child. When young animals are born, 
the last place to become dry after birth is the 
small depression behind each ear. 


306 




307 


Dudgeon 


Dryad 


Dryad (drL 3d). In classical mythology, a 
trec-nymph (Gr. dr us, a tree) who was sup- 
posed to live in the trees and die when the 
trees died. Eurydice, the wife of Orpheus the 
poet, was a dryad. Also called hamadryads 
(Gr. hama , with). 

Dryasdust (dri' az dflst). The name given by 
Scott to the fictitious “reverend Doctor”, a 
learned pundit, to whom he addressed the 
prefaces, etc., of many of his novels; hence, a 
heavy, plodding author, very prosy, very dull, 
and very learned; an antiquary without ima- 
gination. 

The Prussian Dryasdust, otherwise an honest fellow, 
and not afraid of labour, excels all other Dryasdusts 
vet known. ... He writes big books wanting in al- 
most every quality ; and does not even give an Index 
to them.-— Carlyle. 

Dualism (da' 4 lizm). A system of philosophy 
which refers all things that exist to two ultimate 
principles, such as Descartes’ Thought {res 
cogitans) and Extension ( res ex tens a), or — in 
the theological sense — good and evil, in mod- 
ern philosophy it is opposed to monism ( q.v .). 
and insists that the creator and creation, mind 
and body, are distinct entities. 

Dub. The original meaning (from O.L. dubban , 
possibly from O.Fr. aduber , to equip with 
arms) was to confer knighthood by a stroke of 
a sword (sec also Accolade); whence it 
acquired figurative meanings, such as to 
nickname some thing or person, e.g. “he was 
dubbed a ladies’ man”. The latest usage is as a 
term applied when the dialogue of foreign 
cinematograph films is replaced by English 
dialogue spoken by other actors, but here it 
must be a contraction of “double”. 

Dub up. Pay down the money; “fork out!” 
Another form of dup (<y.v.), do up. 

Dubglas. According to the Historia Brittonum 
by Nennius (c. a.d. 800), the second, third, 
fourth, and fifth of King Arthur’s twelve great 
battles were fought on this river. Nennius 
places it in Linnuis (i.e. Lindsey, Lincolnshire); 
but, as is the case in all Arthurian topography, 
its probable site is matter for conjecture. 

Ducat (diik' &t). A piece of money first coined 
in 1140 by Roger II of Sicily as Duke of the 
duchy (ducato) of Apulia. This was a silver 
coin. In 1284 the Venetians struck a gold coin 
with the legend Sit tibi , Christe , datus , quern 
tu regis , iste ducatus (may this duchy which you 
rule be devoted to you, O Christ), and through 
this the name, already in use, gained wider 
currency. The ducat mentioned by Shakespeare 
in The Merchant of Venice is the Spanish coin, 
valued at about 6s. 8d. 

Duce (doo' cha). This title, meaning in Italian 
a leader, was adopted by the Fascist dictator 
Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) on his assump- 
tion of power in 1922. “Duce! Duce!” was the 
cry of the crowds stirred almost to frenzy by 
his impassioned oratory. 

Duchess. The wife or widow of a duke; in 
slang use contracted to dutch , and applied to 
the wife of a coster, as in the song “My old 
dutch.” 

Duck. A contraction of duck’s egg (see below). 


A lame duck. A stock-jobber or dealer who 
will not, or cannot, pay his losses. He has to 
“waddle out of the alley like a lame duck”. 

“I don’t like the looks of Mr. Sedley’s affairs . . . 
He’s been dabbling on his own account I fear . . . and 
unless I see Amelia’s ten thousand down you don’t 
marry her. I’ll have no lame duck’s daughter in my 
family.”— Thackeray: Vanity Fair , ch. xiii. 

Duck Lane. Duck Lane (now Duke Street, 
leading from Little Britain to Long Lane, in 
the City of London), in Queen Anne’s time 
was famous for its second-hand bookstalls. 

Scotists and Thomists now in peace remain 

Amidst their kindred cobwebs in Duck Lane. 

Pope: Essay on Criticism. 

Duck’s egg. Now always used in the 
shortened form of “a duck”, meaning in 
cricket no score at all. It arose from the 
resemblance of 0 to a duck’s egg. ( See also 
Spectacles.) In American usage “goose-egg” 
is used for no score at all in a game, to indi- 
cate grading in school, and of money. 

Ducks and drakes. The ricocheting or re- 
bounding of a stone thrown from the hand to 
skim along the surface of a pond or river. To 
play ducks and drakes with one’s money is to 
throw it away carelessly and just on amuse- 
ment, or for the sake of watching it go and 
making a splash. 

What figured slates are best to make 
On watery surface duck and drake. 

Butler: lludibras , II, iii. 

Like a dying duck in a thunderstorm. Quite 
chop-fallen, very woebegone. 

Dud. Something or somebody that is useless 
or a failure. The word became very common 
in World War L when it was applied to shells 
that did not explode, inefficient officers, un- 
workable pieces of mechanism, etc. Its origin 
is not known. Dut. dood means dead, but no 
connexion between this and dud has been 
traced. 

A dudder or dudsman is a scarecrow, or man 
of straw dressed in cast-off garments to frighten 
birds: also a pedlar who deals in articles of 
clothing and materials. See Duds. 

Dude (dud). A masher. One who renders 
himself conspicuous by affectation of dress, 
manners, and speech. The word was invented 
in America about 1883, and soon became 
popular in London. 

I should just as soon expect to see Mercutio smoke 
a cigarette, as to find him ambling about the stage with 
the mincing manners of a dude. — Jefferson: Century 
Magazine , January, 1890. 

Dude Ranch. Ranch in the Western States 
of America especially organized as a holiday 
camp for inexperienced horsemen. 

Dudgeon (duj' on). The handle of a dagger, at 
one time made of boxwood root, called 
“dudgeon-wood”; a dagger with such a handle. 
Shakespeare says, 

I see thee still; 

And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, * 

Which was not so before. 

Shakespeare: Macbeth , II, L 

As indicating resentment or sulkiness, the 
word dudgeon comes from an old Welsh word, 
dygen , meaning malice. 



Dud man 


308 


Dulcinea 


Dudman and Ramhead. When Dudman and 
Ramhead meet. Never. Dudman and Ramhead 
(now spelt Ramehead) are two forelands on the 
Cornish coast, about twenty miles apart. See 
Never. 

Duds. A word in use for five hundred years at 
least, signifying clothes of some sort; formerly 
coarse cloaks, but in modern use slang for any 
clothes, usually with a disparaging implication. 
Its origin is unknown. Cp. Dudder, above. 

Duenna (dQ en '£). The female of the Spanish 
don (q.v.); strictly, the chief lady in waiting on 
the Queen of Spain, but, in common parlance, 
a woman who is half companion and half 
governess, in charge of the younger female 
members of a Spanish or Portuguese family; 
hence, in England, a chaperon — especially one 
who takes her duties very seriously. 

There is no duenna so rigidly prudent and in- 
exorably decorous as a superannuated coquette. — W. 
Irving: Sketch-book ( Spectre Bridegroom). 

Duessa (du es' a) ( Double-mind or Falsehood). 
In Spenser’s Faerie Queene (Bk. I) the “scarlet 
woman”, typifying the Roman Catholic 
Church, and (Bk. V) Mary Queen of Scots. 
She was the daughter of Deceit and Shame, 
and assumed divers disguises to beguile the 
Red Cross Knight. 

Duffer. A stupid, foolish, incompetent person, 
one of slow wit; the origin of the word is not 
clear, but dutf is old thieves' slang for “to 
fake”, and as a counterfeit coin was called a 
duffer the name may have been transferred to 
persons who, similarly, were “no good”. 

Dug-out. (1) a canoe cut out of a solid tree 
trunk. (2) An artificial cave in war or peace. 
(3) A retired officer brought back into service. 

Duke (Lat. dux , leader). The title belonging 
to the highest rank of nobility in England. 
The first English dukedom to be created was 
that bestowed by Edward 111 on his eldest son, 
the Black Prince, in 1338, when he was raised 
from Earl of Cornwall to Duke of Cornwall. 
The title is very rarely conferred; and except 
for royal dukes, since 1874 (Duke of West- 
minster) it has been conferred only on the 
Earl of Fife, who was created Duke of Fife on 
his marriage with Princess Louise (1889). On 
his death in 1912 his daughter. Princess Arthur 
of Connaught, became Duchess of Fife in her 
own right, by special remainder. There are 
four royal and twenty-six noble dukedoms. 

Duke Combe. William Combe (1741-1820), 
author of The Tours of Dr. Syntax, etc., was so 
called, because of the splendour of his dress, 
the profusion of his table, and the magnificence 
of his deportment, in the days of his prosperity. 
Having spent all his money he turned author, 
but passed the last fifteen years of his life in 
the King’s Bench Prison. 

Duke Humphrey. See Humphrey. 

The Duke of Exeter’s (laughter. A rack in 
^tfie Tower of London, so called from a min- 
ister of Henry VI, who sought to introduce its 
US& into England (1447). 

The Great Duke. The Duke of Wellington 
(1769-1852), also called “the Iron Duke*’, a 
name later given to a famous battleship (1913). 


To meet one in the Duke’s Walk. To fight a 
duel. Duke’s Walk, near Holyrood Palace, was 
the favourite promenade of the Duke of York, 
afterwards James 11, during his residence in 
Scotland; and it became the common rendez- 
vous for settling “affairs of honour”, as the 
fields behind the present British Museum were 
in England. 

Dukeries. A district in Nottinghamshire, 
so called from the number of noble residences 
in the vicinity, including Welbeck Abbey 
(Duke of Portland), Clumber (Duke of New- 
castle), Thoresby (Earl Manvers), etc. 

Dulcarnon (dul kar' non). The horns of a 
dilemma (or Sy/logismttni cornutum)\ at my 
w'its’ end; a puzzling question. From an Arabic 
word meaning “the possessor of two horns”. 
The 47th proposition of the First Book of 
Euclid is called the Dulcarnon, as the 5th is 
the Pons Asinorum, because the two squares 
which contain the right angle roughly represent 
horns. Chaucer uses the words in Troilits and 
Criscydc, Bk. Ill, 931, 933. 

To be in Dulcarnon. To be in a quandary, or 
on the horns of a dilemma. 

To send me to Dulcarnon. To daze with 
puzzles. 

Dulce Domum (dul' si do' mum). A school 
holiday song: the words mean -not, as often 
supposed, “sweet home”, but “the sweet 
(sound of the word) home’.” The song 
originated at Winchester, and is said to have 
been written by a boy who was confined for 
misconduct during the Whitsun holidays, “as 
report says, tied to a pillar”. On the evening 
preceding the Whitsun holidays, the master, 
scholars, and choristers still walk in procession 
round the pillar, chanting the six stanzas of 
the song. The music is by John Reading (d. 
1692), organist of Winchester Cathedral, who 
also composed the Adcstc Fideies (q.v.). 

Duicc domum resonenius. 

Let us make the sweet song of home to resound. 

Duicc est desiperc in loco (dul' si cst d<> 
sip' e ri in 10' ko). It is delightful to play the 
fool occasionally; it is nice to throw aside one’s 
dignity and relax at the proper time (Horace: 
IV Odes , xii, 28). 

Duke et decorum est pro patria mori. 

(dul si et de kor' urn est pro pat' ri a mor' if. 
It is sweet and becoming to die on our country’s 
behalf, or to die for one’s country (Horace: 
III Odes , ii, 13). 

Dulcimer (dul' si mcr). In Dan. iii, 5, etc., this 
word is used to translate a Hebrew word 
rendered in Greek by symphottia , which was 
applied to a kind of bagpipe. In modern use a 
dulcimer is a hollow triangular box strung 
w ith wires of varying lengths, which arc struck 
with a little rod held in each hand. 

Dulcinea (dOl sin' e a). A lady-love. Taken from 
the name of the lady to whom Don Quixote 
paid his knightly homage. Her real name was 
Aldonza Lorenzo, but the knight dubbed her 
Dulcinea del Toboso. 

Sancho Panza says she was “a stout-built 
sturdy wench, who could pitch the bar as well 
as any young fellow in the parish”. 




Duldnists 


309 


Dun Cow 


Dulcinists (dill' si nists). Heretics who followed 
the teaching of Dulcin or Dolcinus, who 
taught that God reigned from the beginning 
to the coming of Messiah; and that Christ 
reigned from His ascension to the 14th century, 
when He gave up His dominion to the Holy 
Ghost. Dulcin was burnt by order of Clement 
IV (1307). There is a reference to Dulcin in 
Dante’s Inferno (xxviii, 55). 

Duiia. See Latria. 

Dullness. King of dullness. So Pope calls 
Colley Cibber (1671-1757), appointed poet 
laureate in 1730. 

“God save king Cibber!” mounts in every note . . . 
So mv hen Jove’s block descended from on high 
[_oud thunder to the bottom shook the bog. 

And the hoarse nation croaked, “God save king Log.” 

Pope: Dunciad , Bk. I. 

Dum-dum. A half-covered steel-cased bullet 
which expands on impact and so produces a 
very terrible wound. So called from Dum-dum, 
near Calcutta, the former headquarters of the 
Bengal artillery, and of the ammunition factory 
where they were first made. A similar effect 
is produced by filing flat the steel cap of an 
ordinary bullet. The use of dum-dum bullets 
is prohibited in warfare by practically every 
civilized nation. 

Duni sola (Law Lat.). While single or un- 
married. 

Dum vivimus vivamus (dum vi vi'mus vi va' 
mus) (Lat.). While we live, let us enjoy life. 
From an ancient inscription, and it was the 
motto of the Fpicureans (sec Epicures). 
Catullus has a similar theme: Vivamus , mea 
l esbia , atque amemus (Lcsbia mine, let us live 
and love). The motto adopted by Dr. Dod- 
dridge ( 1 702-5 I ), w ho translated and expanded 
it into the subjoined epigram: — 

“Live, while you live,” the epicure would say. 

“And sei/c the pleasures of the present, day,” 

“Five, while you live,” the sacred preacher cries, 

“And give to God each moment as it flies,” 

Lord, in mv views let each united be; 

1 live in pleasure, when I live to thcc. 

Dumb barge. The name given to a barge 
without sails, generally used as a pier or wharf. 

Dumb-bell. Originally, an apparatus for 
developing the muscles, similar to that which 
sets church bells m motion. It consisted of a 
flywheel with a weight attached, which the 
gymnast had to raise. The present dumb-bell, 
which answers a similar purpose, has been 
given the same name. 

I he dumb-bell Nebula. Nebula in the 
constellation Vulpecula, so called from its 
apparent shape. 

Dumb crambo. See CRAMno. 

Dumb Ox, The. St. Thomas Aquinas ( 1224- 
74) known afterwards as “the Angelic Doctor” 
of “Angel of the Schools”. AIbcrtus Magnus, 
his tutor, said of him: “The dumb ox will one 
day fill the world with his lowing.” 

Dumb waiter. A niece of dining-room 
furniture, fitted with shelves, to hold glasses, 
dishes, and plate. So called because it answers 
all l he purposes of a waiter. 


Dummy. In bridge or in three-handed whist 
the exposed hand is called dummy. Double- 
dummy bridge is bridge played by only two 
players but with the usual four hands. 

Dump. Although this is a fairly modern col- 
loquialism it is really an old word, coming from 
the M.E. c lumpen , to cast down. 

The modern usage of the word is, to unload 
roughly, to toss on to a refuse heap, to throw' 
quantities of goods on a foreign market, 
usually at a loss. 

The noun, a dump , besides meaning a refuse 
heap, is more generally applied to a military 
or other deposit of supplies for storage, or 
waiting for future use. 

The word is also used for various “dumpy” 
objects of little value, such as leaden disks, and 
small coins such as one that was current in 
Australia in the early 19th century and was 
made by cutting a portion out of a Spanish 
dollar. Hence, not worth a dump. The word is 
probably a back formation from dumpy , short 
and thick. 

Death saw two players playing cards, 

But the game was not worth a dump. 

Hood: Death's Ramble , stanza xiv. 

Dumps. To be in or down in the dumps. Out of 

spirits; Gay’s Third Pastoral is Wednesday , or 
the Dumps. 

Why, how now, daughter Katharine? In your 
dumps? — Taming of the Shrew, II, i. 

In Elizabethan times the name was given to 
any plaintive tune, and also to a slow and 
mournful sort of dance. 

They would have handled me a new way; 

The devil's dump had been danced then. 

Beaumont and Fletcher: The Pilgrim , V, iv. 

Dun. One who importunes for payment of a 
bill. The tradition is that it refers to Joe Dun. 
a baililf of Lincoln in the reign of Henry VII. 
The British Apollo (1708) said he was so active 
and dexterous in collecting bad debts that when 
anyone became “slow to pay” the neighbours 
used to say to the creditors, “Dun him” (send 
Dun after him). 

An Univcrsitie dunne ... is an inferior creditor 
of some ten shillings or downewards, contracted for 
horse hire, or pcrchancc drinke, too weake to be put 
in suite. — Earle: Microcosmographia (1628). 

Squire Dun. The hangman between Richard 
Brandin and Jack Ketch. 

And presently a halter got. 

Made of the best strong hempen tecr; 

And. ere a cat could lick his ear. 

Had tied him up with as much art 
As Dunn himself could do for ’s heart. 

Cotton: Virgil Travestied, Bk. IV. 

Dun Cow. The savage beast slain by Guy of 
Warwick (</.v.). A huge tusk, probably that of 
an elephant, is still shown at Harwich Castle 
as one of the horns of the dun cow. 

The fable is that it belonged to a giant, and 
was kept on Mitchell (Middle) Fold, Shrop- 
shire. Its milk was inexhaustible; but one day 
an old woman who had filled her pail wanted 
to fill her sieve also. This so enraged the cow 
that she broke loose from the fold and wan- 
dered to Dunsmorc heath, where she was stain. 

The Book of the Dun Cow. A twelfth-century 
Irish manuscript, Lebor na h-uidre , compiled 
in part by Moclmuire Mac Cclechair, who was 



Dunce 


310 


Dunstable 


slain in 1 106. It derives its name from a legend 
that Ciar&n of Clonmacnoise took down the 
story of the Tain Bo Cualnge on a parchment 
made from the hide of nis favourite cow. 
Ciaran died in 544, but in the 15th century the 
name was given to the 1 2th-century manuscript, 
though the contents were entirely different. 

To draw Dun out of the mire. To lend a 
helping hand to one in distress; to assist when 
things are at a standstill. The allusion is to an 
Old English game, in which a log of wood, 
called Dun (a name formerly given to a cart- 
horse), is supposed to have fallen into the mire, 
and the players are to pull it out. Each does 
all he can to obstruct the others, and as often 
as possible the log is made to fall on someone’s 
toes. Constant allusion is made to this game. 

Sires, what? Dun is in the mire. — C haucer: Pro- 
logue to Maunciples Tale . 

If thou art dun, we’ll draw thee from the mire. 

Romeo and Juliet , I, iv. 

Dunce. A dolt; a stupid person. The word is 
taken from Duns Scotus (c. 1265-1308), so 
called from his birthplace, Dunse, in Scotland, 
the learned schoolman. His followers were 
called Dunsers or Scotists (<y.v.). Tyndal says, 
when they saw' that their hair-splitting divinity 
was giving way to modern theology, “the old 
barking curs raged in every pulpit" against the 
classics and new notions, so that the name in- 
dicated an opponent to progress, to learning, 
and hence a dunce. 

Duns Scotus was buried at Cologne; his 
epitaph reads; — 

Scotia me genuit, Anglia me stibcepit, 

Gallia me docuit, Colonia me tenet. 

The Parliament of Dunces. Convened by 
Henry IV at Coventry, in 1404, and so called 
because all lawyers were excluded from it. 
Also known as the Lawless, and Unlearned, 
Parliament. 

Dunciad. The dunce-epic, a satire by Alexander 
Pope, first published in 1728 with Theobald 
figuring as the Poet Laureate of the realm of 
Dullness, but republished with an added fourth 
part in 1741 with Colley Cibber in that role. 
Pope makes use of his mock epic to pillory 
many of the writers of his time — writers who 
would now be forgotten were it not for his 
scathing gibes and denunciations. 

Dunderhead. A blockhead, or, rather, a 
muddle-headed person. The history of the 
word is obscure: dunder may be connected with 
the Scottish donnered , or merely be modelled 
on blunder. It appears in early 17th-century 
works. 

Dundreary* Lord. The impersonation of a 
good-natured, indolent, blundering, empty- 
headed swell, from the chief character in Tom 
Taylor’s Our American Cousin (1858). E. A. 
Sothern created the character by the genius of 
his acting arid the large additions he made to 
the original text. The theatrical make-up for 
the part included a pair of long, silky w hiskers, 
^hich set a fashion among the young men 
about Town, 

Dunedin. See Edinburgh. 

Dungarees (dflng' gk rez). This comes from a 
Hindustani word, dungri , meaning a kind of 


coarse cotton doth. It is applied to an overall 
suit of coarse (usually blue) cloth. 

Dunghill! Coward! Villain! This is a cockpit 
phrase; all cocks, except gamecocks, being 
called dunghills. 

Out, dunghill! dar’st thou brave a nobleman? 

King John , IV, iii. 

That is. Dare you, a dunghill cock, brave a 
thoroughbred gamecock? 

Every cock crows on its own dunghill. See 
Cock. 

Dunheved Castle. See Castle Terabil. 

Dunk, To. (U.S.A.). To dip bread, toast, or 
doughnuts in one’s coffee. 

Dunkers. See Tunkers. 

Dunmow (dCin' mo). To eat Dunmow bacon. 
To live in conjugal amity, without even wishing 
the marriage knot to be less firmly tied. The 
allusion is to a custom said to have been 
instituted by Juga, a noble lady, in till, and 
restored by Robert de Fitzvvalter in 1244; 
which was, that 

any person from any part of England going to Dun- 
mow. in Essex, and humbly kneeling on two stones at 
the church door, may claim a gammon of bacon, if 
he can swear that for twelve months and a day he has 
never had a household brawl or wished himself un- 
married. 

Between 1244 and 1772 eight claimants were 
admitted to cat the flitch. Their names merit 
immortality : 

1445. Richard Wright, labourer, Bauburgh, near 
Norwich. 

1467. Steven Samuel, of Little Ayston. Essex. 
1510. Thomas Ley, fuller. Coggcshall, Essex. 
1701. William and Jane Parsley, butcher. Much- 
Easton, Essex. Same year, John and Ann Reynolds. 
Hatfield Regis. 

1751. Thomas Shakeshaft, woolcomber, Wcathers- 
fiekl, Essex. 

1763. !\iante\ not recorded. 

1772. John and Susan Gilder, Tarling, Essex. 

Allusions to the custom are very frequent 
in 17th- and 18th-century literature; and in the 
last years of the 19th century it was revived. 

The choice of bacon as the reward may be 
due to the fact that the Romans regarded the 
sow and her litter as symbolic of the goddess 
of fertility. That the pig was venerated long 
ago in England is clear from its appearance on 
early British coins. 

Duascore. The saut lairds o’ Dunscore. Gentle- 
folk who have a name but no money. The talc 
is that the “puir wee lairds of Dunscore” (a 
parish near Dumfries) clubbed together to buy 
a stone of salt, which was doled out to the 
subscribers in small spoonfuls, that no one 
should get more than his due quota. 

Duns Scotus. See Dunce. 

Dunstable (dOn' stAbl). Bailey, as if he actually 
believed it, gives the etymology of this word 
Duns* stable ; adding Duns or “Dunus was a 
robber in the reign of Henry I, who made it 
dangerous for travellers to pass that way.” The 
actual derivation is Dunn's {ox Duma's) stapol 
(O.E. for pillar or post). 

Downright Dunstable. Very blunt, plain 
speaking, straightforward; like the Dunstable 
road (a part of the Roman Wailing Street), 




Duns tan, St. 


311 


Dutch 


which runs very evenly from London and has 
many long, straight stretches. Hence also the 
phrase Plain as the road to Dunstable. As 
Shakespeare says, “Plain as way to parish 
church.’ 1 

Dunstan, St. (d. 988). Archbishop of Canter- 
bury (961), and patron saint of goldsmiths, 
p e ing himself a noted worker in gold. He is 
represented in pontifical robes, and carrying a 
pair of pincers in his right hand, the latter 
referring to the legend that on one occasion at 
Glastonbury (his birthplace) he seized the 
devil by the nose with a pair of red-hot tongs 
and refused to release him till he promised 
never to tempt him again. See also Horse- 
suois. 

The name St. Dunstan’s is now intimately 
associated with work for the blind, on account 
of the institution founded during World 
War 1, and for many years run by Sir Arthur 
Pearson (himself blind), at St. Dunstan’s 
House, Regent’s Park, for the welfare and 
training of blinded soldiers and later of blind 
civilians. 

Dunsterforce. The name given to the men sent 
to Baku in 1918 under the command of Maj.- 
Gen. L. C. Dunstervillc (1865-1946), who had 
been a schoolfellow of Rudyard Kipling and 
the hero of Stalky & Co. The purpose of this 
expedition was to prevent the Turks and 
Germans reaching Baku and its oil wells. 
Dunsterforce held the town successfully and 
prevented the enemy from reaching the Caspian 
Sea, the whole affair making a very gallant 
adventure. 

Duodecimo (dQ 6 des' i m5). A book whose 
sheets are folded into twelve leaves each (Lat. 
duodecimo twelve), often called “twelvemo.” 
from the contraction 12mo. The book is 
naturally a small one, hcncc the expression is 
sometimes applied to other things of small size, 
such as a dwarf. Cp. Decimo-sexto. 

Dup is do up. Thus Ophelia says in one of her 
snatches, he “dupped the chamber door’’, 
i.e. did up or pushed up the latch, in order to 
open the door, that he might “let in the maid” 
( Hamlet , IV, i). 

lebe vseene the porters are drunk. Will they not dup 
the gate to-day. — Edwards: Damon and Pythias 
(1571). 

Dupes, Day of the. In French historv, Novem- 
ber ilth, 1630, when Marie de’ Medici and 
Gaston, Due d’Orleans extorted from Louis 
XIU a promise that he would dismiss his 
Minister, the Cardinal Richelieu. The Cardinal 
went in all speed to Versailles, the King 
repented, and Richelieu became more powerful 
than ever. Marie de* Medici and Gaston, the 
"dupes”, had to pay dearly for their short 
triumph. 

Duration. In World Wars I and II the engage- 
ment of men called to the colours in Britain 
was “for the duration of the emergency”, which 
meant that their services could be retained until 
the King signed an Order declaring the state of 
emergency to be at an end. lienee the phrase 
became synonymous with “a long time”, or 
^ time in the far distant future. 

Durbar (d£r' bar). The word comes from the 
Persian der, a door, and bar, admittance, and 


is properly used in India for the court, council, 
or council-chamber of a native ruler. It is also 
used for an official reception on a large scale, 
or for a state ceremony such as the magnificent 
durbar for the proclamation of George V as 
Emperor of India, in 1911. 

Durden, Dame. A generic term for a good, old- 
fashioned housewife. In the old song she kept 
five serving girls to carry the miLking pails, and 
five serving men to use the spade and flail; 
and of course the five men loved the five maids. 
’Twas Moll and Bet, and Doll and Kate, and Dorothy 
DraggJetail; 

And John and Dick, and Joe and Jack, and Humphrey 
with his flail. Anon. 

Dust. Slang for money; probably in allusion 
to the moralist’s contention that money is 
worthless. 

Down with the dust! Out with the money; 
dub up! The expression is at least three 
hundred years old, and it is said that Sw^ift 
once took for the text of a charity sermon, 
“He who giveth to the poor, lendeth to the 
Lord.” Having thrice repeated his text, he 
added : “Now, brethren, if you like the security, 
down with your dust .” That ended his sermon! 

I’ll dust your jacket for you. Give you a good 
beating; also used with doublet , trousers , etc., in 
place of jacket. 

To bite the dust. See Bite. 

To kiss or lick the dust. See Kiss. 

To raise a dust, to kick up a dust. To make a 
commotion or disturbance. 

To shake the dust from one’s feet. To show 
extreme dislike of a place, and to leave it with 
the firm intention of never returning. The 
allusion is to the Eastern custom. 

And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your 
words, when ye depart out of that nouse or city, 
*hake off the dust of >our feet.— -Matt, x, 14. 

But the Jews . . . raised persecution against Paul 
and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. 
But they shook oft the dust of their feet against them, 
and came unto lconium. — Acts xiii, 50, 5!. 

To throw dust in one’s eyes. To mislead. The 
allusion is to “the swiftest runner in a sandy 
race, who to make his fellow es follow aloofe, 
casteth dust with his hceles into their envious 
eyes” (Co tit rave, 1611). 

The Mohammedans had a practice of 
casting dust into the air for the sake of con- 
founding the enemies of the faith. This was 
done by the Prophet on two or three occasions, 
as in the battle of Honein; and the Koran 
refers to it when it says: “Neither didst thou, 
O Mahomet, cast dust into their eyes; but it 
was God who confounded them.” 

The dustman has arrived, or “The sandman 
is about.” It is bedtime, for the children rub 
their eyes, as if dust or sand was ill them. 

Well, It is none so dusty, or Not so dusty. I 
don’t call it bad; rather smart. Here dusty 
means mean, soiled, worthless. 

Dustyfoot. See Piepowder Court. 

Dutch. The word, properly meaning ”Hol- 
landish”, is the M.Dut. Putsch or Ger. Deutsch , 
and formerly denoted the people of German) 



Dutch auction 


312 


Dwarf 


or Teutons generally. The Pennsylvania Dutch, 
for example, were originally German immi- 
grants. The derogatory senses of the phrases 
below derive from the Apglo-Dutch hostilities 
of the 17th century. A 

Dutch auction. An auction in which the 
auctioneer offers the goods at gradually 
decreasing prices, the first bidder to accept 
being the purchaser; the reverse process to 
that of an ordinary auction. Anyone can sell 
by Dutch auction, whereas an ordinary 
auction can be conducted only by a duly 
licensed auctioneer. 

Dutch comfort. Cold comfort, i.e. things 
might haye been worse. 

Dutch concert. A great noise and uproar, like 
that made by a party of intoxicated Dutchmen, 
some singing, others quarrelling, speechifying, 
wrangling, and so on. 

^Putch courage. The courage excited by 
drink; pot valour. The Dutch were considered 
heavy drinkers. 

Dutch gleek. Tippling. Gleek (q.v.) is a game, 
and the phrase implies that the game loved 
by Dutchmen is drinking. 

Nor could be partaker of any of the good cheer 
except it were the liquid part of it, which they call 
“Dutch Gleek.” — G ayton: Pleasant Notes upon Don 
Quixote (1654). 

Dutch gold. Deutsche or German gold. An 
alloy of copper and zinc, invented by Prince 
Rupert of Bavaria. 

Dutch nightingales. Frogs. Similarly, Cam- 
bridgeshire nightingales; Li&ge nightingales, 
etc. 

Dutch treat. A meal, amusement, etc., at 
which each person pays for himself. 

I will talk to you like a Dutch uncle. I will talk 
severely to you, but with kindly intent. The 
severity of uncles seems proverbial: cp. 
Horace, III Odes, xii, 3, “ Metaentes patrua 
verbera lingua” (dreading the castigations of 
an uncle’s tongue), and II Sat., iii, 88, ”Ne sis 
patruus mihi” (don’t come the uncle over me). 
In modern times, however, uncles have 
generally been considered kindly. 

In Dutch. In prison. 

My old Dutch. Here the word is a contraction 
of duchess ($.v.), and is nothing to do with 
Holland or Germany. 

The Dutch have taken Holland. A quiz when 
anyone tells what is well known as a piece of 
wonderful news. Similar to Queen Bess (or 
Queen Anne) is dead . 

I’m a Dutchman if I do. A strong refusal. 
During thg , Anglo-Dutch rivalry of the 17th 
century, m€ word Dutch was synonymous 
with all that was false and hateful, and when a 
maM$aid, “I would rather be a Dutchman 
thandb what you ask me,” he used the strong- 
*^t terms of refusal that words could express. 

If not, Pm a Dutchman, means, I will do it, 
or I will call myself a Dutchman. 

The Flying Dutchman. See Flying. 


Well, Pm a Dutchman! An exclamation of 
strong incredulity. 

Duty means what is due or owing, a debt which 
should be paid. In this sense it is applied to the 
tax or impost charged by government on 
certain goods when imported from foreign 
countries. Obedience is the debt pf citizens to 
rulers for protection, and service is the debt of 
persons employed for wages received. 

Strictly considered, all duty is owed originally to 
God only; but . . . duties to God may be distributed 
. . . into duties towards self, towards manhood, and 
towards God. — Gregory: Christian Ethics , I, i. 

England expects that every man this day will 
do his duty. Nelson’s signal to his fleet just be- 
fore the battle of Trafalgar (1805). 

Duumvirs (du' um v£rz) (Lat. duumvir , one of 
the two men). Certain Roman officials who 
were appointed in pairs, like our London 
sheriffs; originally, those who had charge of 
the Sibylline books. Later, duumviri were 
appointed as magistrates, as naval directors, 
directors of public works, etc. 

Dwarf. Dwarfs have figured in the legends and 
mythology of nearly every race, and Pliny 
gives particulars of whole races of them, 
possibly following travellers’ reports of African 
pigmies. Among the Teutonic and Scandina- 
vian peoples dwarfs held an important place 
in mythology. They generally dwelt in rocks, 
caves, and recesses of the earth, were the 
guardians of its mineral wealth and precious 
stones, and were very skilful in the working 
of these. They had their own king, as a rule 
were not inimical to man, but could on occa- 
sion be intensely vindictive and mischievous. 

In England diminutive persons — dwarfs — 
were popular down to the 18th century as 
court favourites or household pets; and in 
later times they have frequently been exhibited 
as curiosities at circuses, etc. 

Among those recorded in legend or history 
(with their reputed heights) the following are, 
perhaps, the most famous: — 

Alberich (<7. v.), the dwarf of the Nibelungenlied. 
Andromeda and Conopas, each 2* ft. 4 in. Dwarfs of 
Julia, niece of Augustus. 

Bebe, or Nicholas Ferry, 2 ft. 9 in. A native of France 
(1714-37). He had a brother and sister, both dwarfs. 
Boruwlaski ( Count Joseph), 3 ft. 3 in. at the age of 
thirty (d. 1837). 

Buckinger {Matthew), a German, born 1674. He was 
born without hands, legs, or feet. Facsimiles of his 
writing are amongst the Harleian MSS. 

Che-mah (a Chinaman), 2 ft. 1 in., weight 52 lb. Ex- 
hibited in London in 1880. 

Colobri {Prince) of Sleswig, 2 ft. 1 in., weight 25 lb. 

at the age of 25 (1851). 

Conopas. See Andromeda, above. 

Copperntn, the dwarf of the Princess of Wales, 
mother of George III. The last court dwarf in 
England. 

Crachami {Caroline). Born at Palermo; 1 ft. 8 in. at 
death. (1814-24.) Exhibited in Bond Street, London, 
1824. 

Decker or Ducker {John), 2 ft. 6 in. An Englishman 
(1610). 

Fairy Queen {The), 1 ft. 4 in., weight 4 lb. Exhibited 
in Regent Street, London, 1850. Her feet were less 
than two inches. 



Dwarf 


313 


Dying Sayings 


Gibson (Richard), a good portrait painter (1615-90). 
His wife’s maiden name was Anne Shepherd. Each 
measured 3 ft. 10 in. Waller sang their praises: — 
Design or chance makes others wive, 

But Nature did this match contrive. 

Hudson ( Sir Jeffrey). Born at Oakham, Rutland; 
3 ft. 9 in. at the age of thirty (1619-82); he figures in 
Scott’s Peveril of the Peak. 

Jarvis (John), 2 ft. Page of honour to Queen Mary 
(1508-56). 

Lolkes ( Wybrand ), 2 ft. 3 in., weight 57 lb. Exhibited 
at Astley’s in 1790. 

Lucius, 2 ft., weight 17 lb. The dwarf of the Emperor 
Augustus. 

Magri, (Count Primo ). See Warren, below. 

Marine (Lizzie), 2 ft. 9 in., weight 45 lb. 

Midgets (The). Lucia Zarate, the elder sister, 1ft. 8in., 
weight 4J lb. at the age of eighteen. Her sister was a 
little taller. Exhibited in London, 1881. 

Miller (Miss), of Virginia, 2 ft. 2 in. 

Mite (General), 1 ft. 9 in. (weight 9 lb.) at the age of 
seventeen. Exhibited in London, 1881. 

Nurr, Commodore. See Tom Thumb, below. 

Paap (Simon). A Dutch dwarf, 2 ft. 4 in., weight 27 lb. 
Sawyer (A. L.), 2 ft. 6£ in., weight 39 lb. Editor in 
1883, etc., of the Democrat , a paper of considerable 
repute in Florida. 

Stoberin (C. H.), of Nuremberg, 2 ft. 11 in. at the age 
of twenty. 

Stocker ( Nannctte ), 2 ft. 9 in. Exhibited in London in 
1815. 

Strasse Davit Family. Man 1 ft. 8 in.; woman, 1ft. 
6 in.; child, at age of seventeen, only 6 in. Em- 
balmed in the chemical library of Rastadt. 

Teresia (Madame). A Corsican, 2 ft. 10 in., weight 
27 lb. Exhibited in London 1773. 

Tom Thumb (General), whose name was Charles S. 
Stratton, born at Bridgeport in Connecticut, U.S., 
(1838-83). Exhibited first in London in 1844. In 
1 863 he married Lavinia Warren, and was then 3 1 in. 
in height, she being 32 in., and 21 years old. They 
visited England in the following year with their 
dwarf son. Commodore Nutt. 

Wanmer (Lucy), 2 ft. 6 in., weight 45 lb. Exhibited 
in London, 1801, at the age of forty-five. 

Warren (Lavinia). See Tom Thumb, above . In 1885 
she married another dwarf. Count Primo Magri, 
who was 2 ft. 8 in. 

Wormberg (John), 2 ft. 7 in. at the age of thirty-eight 
(Hanoverian period). 

Xit was the dwarf of Edward VI. 

Zarate. See Midgets, above. 

The Black Dwarf. A gnome of the most 
malignant character, once held by the dales- 
men of the border as the author of all the 
mischief that befell their flocks and herds. 
Scott has a novel so called (1816), in which the 
name is given to Sir Edward Mauley, alias 
Elshander, the recluse, Cannie Elshie, and the 
Wise Wight of Mucklestanc Moor. 

Dwarf Alberich. See Alberich. 

Dwt. D-wt., i.e. denarius-weight (penny- 
weight). Cp . Cwt. 

Dyed in the Wool. Thorough-going, 100 per 
cent. (16th-cent. origin). 

Dying Sayings. (Many of them are either 
apocryphal or have survived in inaccurate 
versions) : 

Adams (President): “Independence for ever.” 

Adams (John Q.): “It is the last of earth. I am con- 
tent.” 

Addison: “See in what peace a Christian can die.” 
Albert (Prince Consort ): “I have such sweet 
thoughts.” or “I have had wealth, rank, and power; 
but, if these were all I had, how wretched I should 
be’” 

Alexander I (of Russia): “Que vous devez Gtre 
fatigu6c” (to his wife Elizabeth). 


Alexander II (of Russia): “I am sweeping through 
the gates, washed in the blood of the Lamb.” 

Alfieri: “Clasp my hand, dear friend, I am dying ” 

Anaxagoras (the philosopher, who kept a school, 
being asked if he wished for anything, replied): 
“Give the boys a hdliday.” 

Antoinette. (See Marie.) 

Antony (of Padua): “I see my God. He calls me to 
Him.” 

Archimedes (being ordered by a Roman soldier to 
follow him, replied): “Wait till I have finished my 
problem.” 

Augustus (to his friends): “Do you think I have 
played my part pretty well through the farce of 
life?” 

Bacon (Francis): “My name and memory I leave to 
men’s charitable speeches, to foreign nations and to 
the next age.” 

Bailly : “Yes ! But it is with cold.” (This he*aid on his 
way to the guillotine, when one said to him, “Why, 
how you tremble.”) 

Beard (Dr. G. M., 1883): “I should like to record the 
thoughts of a dying man for the benefit of science, 
but it is impossible.” 

Beaumont (Cardinal): “What! is there no escaping 
death?” 

Becket (Thomas a): “I confide my soul and theb, pause 
of the Church to God, to the Virgin Mary to the 
patron saints of the Church, and to St. Denis.” 
(As he went to the altar in Canterbury Cathedral, 
where he was assassinated.) 

BEDE(77ie Venerable ): (Having dictated the last sen- 
tence of his translation of St. John’s Gospel, and 
being told by the Scribe that the sentence was now 
written) “It is well; you have said the truth: it is 
indeed.” 

Beecher ( Henry Ward ): “Now comes the mystery.” 

Beethoven (who was deaf): “I shall hear in heaven.” 

Berry (Madame de): “Is not this dying with courage 
and true greatness?” 

Blood (Colonel): “1 do not fear death.” 

Boileau: “It is a great consolation to a poet on the 
point of death that he has never written a line 
injurious to good morals.” 

Boleyn (Anne): “The executioner is, I believe, very 
expert; and my neck is very slender.” 

Broughton (Bishop): “Let the earth be filled with His 
glory.” 

Burke: “God bless you.” 

Burns: “Don’t let the awkward squad fire over my 
grave.” 

Byron: “I must sleep now.” 

Ca-sar: “Et tu. Brute?” (To Brutus, his most 
intimate friend, when he stabbed him.) 

Cameron (Colonel James): “Scots, follow me!” (He 
was killed at Bull Run, July 21st, 1861.) 

Castlereagh: “Bankhead, let me fall into your arms. 
It is all over.” (Said to his doctor.) 

Catesby (one of the conspirators in the Gunpowder 
Plot): “Stand by me, Tom, and we will die to- 
gether.” 

Cato the Younger (on seeing that the sword’s point 
was sharp and before thrusting it into his body); 
“Now I am master of myself.” 

Charlemagne: “Lord, into Thy hands I commend my 
spirit.” Cp. Columbus, Lady Jane Grey, and 
Tasso. 

Charles I (just before he laid his head on the block, to 
Juxon, Archbishop of Canterbury): “Remember.” 

Charles II: “I have been a most unconscionable 
time a-dying; but I hope you will excuse it” (To 
James): “Do not, do not let poor Nelly starve.” 

Charles VIII (of France ): “I hope never again to 
commit a mortal sin, nor even a venial one, if I can 
help it.” 1 ^ 

Charles IX (of France, in whose reign occurred the* 
Massacre of St. Bartholomew): “Nurse, nurse, whdsfc 
murder! what blood! O! I have done wrong; God 
pardon me.” 

Chesterfield (Lord): “Give Dayrolles a chair.” 

Chrysostom: “Glory to God for all things. Amen.” 



Dying Sayings 


314 


Dying Sayings 


Cicero (to his assassins): ‘'Strike!” 

Coke ( Sir Edward ): “Thy kingdom come; Thy will be 

done.” 

Cougny: “Honour these grey hairs, young man.” 
(To the German who assassinated him.) 

Columbus: “Lord, into Thy hands I commend my 
spirit.” Cp. Charlemagne and Tasso. 

Copernicus: “Now, O Lord, set Thy servant free.” 
(See Luke ii, 29.) 

Cranmer: “That unworthy hand! That unworthy 
hand!” (As he held in the flames his right hand 
wh(ch had signed his apostasy.) 

Crome (John): “O Hobbema, my dear Hobbema, 
how 1 have loved you.” 

Cromwell: “My design is to make what haste I can 
to be gone.” 

Cuvier (to the nurse who was applying leeches): 
“Nurse, it was I who discovered that leeches have 
red blosod. ,,f 

Danton (to the executioner): “Be sure you show the 
mob my head. It will be a long time ere they see its 
like.” 

Darwin: “I am not in the least afraid to die.” 

Demonax (the philosopher): “You may go home, the 
show is over” (Lucian). Cp. Rabelais. 

Drrby (Earl of): “Douglas, I would give all my lands 
toUave thee.” 

Diderot: “The first step towards philosophy is in- 
credulity.*' 

Douglas (Earl): “Fight on, my merry men.” 

Edward I: “Carry my bones before you on your 
march, for the rebels will not be able to endure the 
sight of me, alive or dead.” 

Edwards (Jonathan): “Trust in God, and you need 
not fear.” 

Eldon (Lord): “It matters not where I am going 
whether the weather be cold or hot.” 

Elizabeth I (Queen): “All my possessions for a 
moment of time.” 

Elliott (Ebenezer): “A strange sight, sir, an old man 
unwilling to die.” 

Elphege (Archbishop of Canterbury): “You urge me 
in vain. I am not the man to provide Christian flesh 
for Pagan teeth, by robbing my flock to enrich their 
enemy.” 

Enghien(Z)mc</’): “I die for my king and for France.” 
(Shot by order of Napoleon I in 1804). 

Epaminondas (wounded; on being told that the 
Thebans were victorious): “Then I die happy.” Cp. 
Wolfe. 

Etty: “Wonderful! Wonderful this death!” 

Fontenelle: “I suffer nothing, but I feel a sort of 
difficulty in living longer.” 

Fox (C. /.): “It don’t signify, my dearest, dearest 
Liz.” (To his wife). 

Fox ( George , the Quaker): “Never heed! the Lord's 
power is over all weakness and death.” 

Frederick V (of Denmark): “There is not a drop of 
blood on my hands,” Cp. Pericles. 

Gainsborouoh: “We are all going to heaven and Van 
Dyck is of the company.” Cp. Crome. 

Garth (Sir Samuel): “Dear gentlemen, let me die a 
natural death” (to his physicians; Garth was a 
doctor himself!). 

Gaston de Foix: “I am a dead man! Lord, have 
mercy upon me!” 

George IV: “Wally, what is this? It is death, my 
boy. They have deceived me.” (Said to his page, 
Sir Walthen Waller.) 

Goethe: “Light! more light!” 

Grant (General): “I want nobody distressed on my 
account.” 

Gratton: “I am perfectly resigned. I am surrounded 
by my family. I have served my country. I have 
reliance upon God and I am not afraid of the 
Devil.” 

Gree&Y (Horace): "It is done.” 

Gregory VII: "I have loved justice and hated 
Iniquity, therefore I die in exile.” (He had retired 
to Salerno after his disputes with the Emperor, 
Henry IV.) 

Grey (Lady Jane): “Lord, into Thy hands I commend 
my spirit.” Cp. Charlemagne. 


Gustavus Adolphus: “I am sped, brother. Save 
thyself.” 

Hale (Capt. Nathan , hanged by the British Army in 
America for espionage): “I regret that I have but 
one life to give for my country.” 

Hannibal: “Let us now relieve the Romans of their 
fears by the death of a feeble old man.” 

Havelock (Sir Henry): “Come, my son, and see how 
a Christian can die.” 

Haydn died singing “God preserve the emperor!” 

Hazlitt: “Well, I’ve had a good life.” 

Henry II: “Now let the world go as it will; I care for 
nothing more.” (When told that his favourite son 
John was one of those who were conspiring against 
him.) 

Henry VIII: “All is lost! Monks, monks, monks!” 

Herbert (George): “Now, Lord, receive my soul,” 

Hobbes: “I am taking a fearful leap in the dark.” 

Hofer (Andreas): “I will not kneel. Fire!” (Spoken 
to the soldiers commissioned to shoot him.) 

Holland (Lord): “If Mr. Selwyn calls, let him in: if 
I am alive I shall be very glad to see him, and if I am 
dead he will be very glad to see me.” 

Humboldt: “How grand these rays! They seem to 
beckon earth to heaven.” 

Hunter (Dr. William): “If I had strength to hold a 
pen, I would write down how easy and pleasant a 
thing it is to die.” 

Huss (John) (to an old woman thrusting another faggot 
on the pile to bum him): “Sancta simplicitas!” 

Jackson (“Stonewall”): “Let us pass over the river, 
and rest under the shade of the trees.” 

James V (of Scotland): “It [the crown of Scotlandl 
came with a lass and will go with a lass.” (This he 
said when told that the queen had given birth to a 
daughter — the future Mary Queen of Scots.) 

Jefferson (of America): “I resign my spirit to God, 
my daughter to my country.” 

Jerome (of Prague): “Thou knowest, Lord, that I have 
loved the truth.” 

Joan of Arc: “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Blessed be God.” 

Johnson (Dr.): “God bless you, my dear.” (To Miss 
Morris). 

Julian (called the “Apostate ”): “Vicisti, O Galilace” 
(“Thou hast conauered, O Galilean”). 

Keats: “Severn — I — lift me up — I am dying — I shall 
die easy; don’t be frightened — be firm, and thank 
God it has come.” 

Ken (John) (Bishop): “God’s will be done.” 

Knox: (John) “Now it is come.” 

Lamb (Charles): “My bed-fellows are cramp and 
cough — we three all in one bed.” 

Lambert (the Martyr): “None but Christ! None but 
Christ!” (As he was pitched into the flames.) 

Latimer: “Be of good cheer, Master Ridley; we shall 
this day kindle such a candle in England, as, I trust 
in God, shall never be extinguished” (to Ridley, at 
the stake). 

Laud (Archbishop): “No one can be more willing to 
send me out of life than I am desirous to go.” 

Lawrence (Sir Henry): “Let there be no fuss about 
me, let me be buried with the men.” 

Leicester (Earl of): “By the arm of St. James, it is 
time to die.” 

Leopold I (Kaiser): “Let me die to the sound of 
sweet music.” Cp. Mirabeau. 

Locke (John): “Oh! the depth of the riches of the 
goodness and knowledge of God. Cease now.” (To 
Lady Masham, who was reading to him some of the 
Psalms.) 

Louis IX: “I will enter now into the house of the 
Lord.” 

Louis XIV : “Why weep you? Did you think I should 
live for ever? I thought dying had been harder.” 

Louis XVI (on the scaffold): “Frenchmen, I die guilt- 
less of the crimes imputed to me. Pray God my blood 
fall not on France!* 

Macaulay: “I shall retire early; I ain very tired.” 

Machiavelli: “I love my country more than my 
soul.” 

Malesherbes (to the priest): “Hold your tongue? 
your wretched chatter disgusts me,” 




Dying Sayings 


315 


Dying Sayings 


Margaret (of Scotland, wife of Louis XI of France): 
“Fie de la vie, l qu’on ne m’en parle plus.” 

Marie Antoinette: “Farewell, my children, for ever. 
I am going to your father.” 

Martineau (Harriet): “I See no reason why the 
existence ot Harriet Martineau should be perpetu- 
ated.” 

Mary I (Queen of England): “You will find the word 
Calais written on my heart.” 

Mary II (to Archbishop Tillotson, who had paused in 
reading a prayer): “My Lord, why do you not go 
on? I am not afraid to die.” 

Melanchthon (in reply to the question, “Do you 
want anything?”): “Nothing but heaven.” 

Michelangelo; “My soul 1 resign to Ood, my body 
to the earth, my worldly goods to my next of kin/’ 

Mirabeau: “Let me fall asleep to the sound of 
delicious music.” Cp. Leopold. 

Mohammed : “O Allah ! Pardon my sins. Yes, I come.” 

Monica (St.): “In peace I will sleep with Him and 
take my rest.” (St. Augustine: Confessions .) 

Monmouth (Duke of): “There are six guineas for you 
and do not hack me as you did my Lord Russell.” 

Montagu (Lady Mary Worthy): “It has all been very 
interesting.” 

Moody (the evangelist): “I see earth receding : Heaven 
is opening; God is calling me.” 

Moork (Sir John): “I hope my country will do me 
justice.” 

More (Sir Thomas): “See me safe up [i.e. on ascending 
the scaffold); for my coming down, let me shift for 
myself.” 

Mozart: “You spoke of a refreshment, Emile; take 
my last notes, and let me hear once more my solace 
and delight.” 

Murat (King of Naples): “Soldiers, save my face; aim 
at my heart. Farewell.” (Said to the men detailed to 
shoot him.) 

Napoleon I: “Mon Dieu! La Nation Francaise. T6te 
d’armee.” 

Napoleon III: “Were you at Sedan?” (To Dr. 
Conneau.) 

Nelson: “I thank God I have done my duty. Kiss 
me. Hardy.” 

Nero: “Qualis artifex pereo.” (“What an artist the 
world is losing in me!”). 

Newton: “I don’t know what I may seem to the 
world. But as to myself I seem to have been only 
like a boy playing on the seashore and diverting 
myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble 
or prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great 
ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” 

Palmer (John, the actor): “There is another and a 
better world.” (Said on the stage. It is a line in the 
part he was playing — The Stranger.) 

Palmerston: “Die, my dear doctor! that’s the last 
thing I shall do.” 

Pascal: “My God, forsake me not.” 

Pericles: “1 have never caused any citizen to put on 
mourning on my account.” Cp. Frederick. V. 

Peters (Hugh, the regicide): “Friend, you do not well 
to trample on a dying man.” (To his executioner.) 

Pm (William, the Younger): “Alas, my country! How 
I leave my country!” 

Plato: “I thank the guiding providence and fortune 
of my life, first, that I was born a man and a Greek, 
not a barbarian nor a brute; and next, that I 
happened to live in the age of Socrates.” 

Poe (Edgar Allan): “Lord, help my soul!” 

Pompadour (Mme de): “Stay a little longer, M. le 
Cur£. and we will go together.” 

Poniatowski (after the bridge over the Pliesse was 
blown up): “Gentlemen, it behoves us now to die 
with honour.” 

Pope: “Friendship itself is but a part of virtue.” 

Quin (the actor): “I could wish this tragic scene were 
over, but I hope to go through it with becoming 
dignity.” 

Rabelais: “Let down the curtain, the farce is over.” 
Cp. Demonax. Also, “I am going to seek the great 
perhaps.” 

Raleioh: “It matters little how the head lies, so the 
heart be right.” (Said on the scaffold where he was 
beheaded.) 

B.D.— 11 


Renan: “We perish, we disappear, but the march of 
time goes on for ever.” 

Reynolds (Sir Joshua): “I know that all things on 
earth must have an end, and now I am come to 
mine.” 

Rhodes (C. /.): “So little done, so much to do.” 

Richard I: “Youth, I forgive thee!” (Said to Ber- 
trand de Gourdon, who shot him with an arrow at 
Chalus.) Then to his attendants he added, “Take 
off his chains, give him 100 shillings, and let him 
go.” 

Richard III: “Treason! treason!” (At BofcWorth, 
where his best men deserted him and joined Rich- 
mond, afterwards Henry VII.) 

Rochejaquelein (the Vendden hero): “We go to meet 
the foe. If I advance, follow me; if I retreat, slay 
me; if! fail, avenge me.” 

Roland (Madame , on her way to the guillotine): 
“O liberty! What crimes are committed in thy 
name!” 

Roscommon (Earl of): 

“My, God, my Father, and my Friend, 

Do not forsake me at my end.” 

(Quoting from his own translation of the Dies Ira.) 

Russell (Lord; executed 1683): “The bitterness of 
death is now past.” * 

Saladin: “When I am buried, carry my winding-sheet 
on the point of a spear, and say these words: Behold 
the spoils which Saladin carries with him! Of all his 
victories, realms, and riches, nothing remains to 
him but this.” Cp. Severus. 

Scarron : “Ah, my children, you cannot cry for me so 
much as I have made you laugh.” 

Schiller: “Many things are growing plain and clear 
to my understanding.” 

Scott (Sir Walter ): “God bless you all, I feel myself 
again.” (To his family.) 

Servetus (at the stake): “Christ, Son of the eternal 
God, have mercy upon me.” (Calvin insisted on his 
saying, “the eternal Son of God ” but he would not, 
and was burnt to death.) 

Severus: “I have been everything, and everything is 
nothing. A little urn will contain all that remains of 
one for whom the whole world was too little.” Cp. 
Saladin. 

Sheridan: “I am absolutely undone.” 

Sidney (Sir Philip) (To his brother Robert): “Govern 
your will and affections by the will and word of 
your Creator: In me beholding the end of this world 
with all her vanities.” 

Siward (the Dane): “Lift me up that l may die stand- 
ing, not lying down like a cow.” Cp. Vespasian. 

Socrates: “Crito, I owe a cock to Aesculapius.” 

StaEl ( Madame de): “I have loved God, my father, 
and liberty.” 

Stephen (the first Christian martyr): “Lord, lay not 
this sin to their charge.” 

Talma: “The worst is, I cannot see.” (But his last 
word was) “Voltaire.” 

Tasso: “Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.” 
Also recorded of Charlemagne, Lady Jane Grey, 
Columbus, and others. 

Taylor (General Zachary): “I have tried to do my 
duty, and am not afraid to die. I am ready.” 

Taylor (the “Water-Poet”): “How sweet it is to 
rest!” 

Tenterden (Lord Chief Justice ): “Gentlemen of the 
jury, you may retire.” 

Theramenes (the Athenian condemned by Critias to 
drink hemlock, said as he drank the poison): “To 
the health of the fair Critias.” '* 5 

Thistlewood (executed for high treason, 1820): ^1 
shall soon know the grand secret.” 

Thoreau: “I leave this world without a regret,” 

Thurlow (Lord): "I’ll be shot if I don’t believe I’m 
dying.” 

Tyndale: “Lord, open the eyes of the King of Eng- 
land” (i.e. Henry VIII). 

Vane (Sir Harrv ): “It is a bad cause which cannot 
bear the words of a dying man.” 

Vespasian: “A king should die standing” (See 
Siward); but his last words were, “Ut puto, deus 
fio” i.e. “I suppose I am now becoming a god,” re- 
ferring to the apotheosization of Ciesars after death. 




Dymphna 


316 


Eagle 


Victoria (Queen): “Oh, that peace may come’’ (re- 
ferring to the war ih South Africa then in progress). 
Voltaire: “Do let me die in peace.’’ 

Washington: “It is well. I die hard, but am not afraid 
to go.” 

Webster (Daniel): “Life, life! Death, death! How 
curious it is!” 

Wesley (Charles): “I shall be satisfied with Thy like- 
ness — satisfied.” 

Wesley (John): “The best of all is, God is with us.” 
Wilberforce (His father said to him, “So He giveth 
H&beloved sleep”; to which Wilberforce replied): 
“Yes, and sweet indeed is the rest which Christ 
giveth.” (Saying this, he never spoke again.) 
William (of Nassau): “O God, have mercy upon me, 
and upon this poor nation.” (This was just before 
he was shot by Balthasar Gerard.) 

Wilson (the ornithologist): “Bury me where the birds 
will sing over my grave.” 

Wishart: “I fear not this fire” (at the stake). 
Wolcot (“Peter Pindar”): “Give me back my youth!” 
Wolfe (General): “What! do they run already? Then 
1 die happy.” Cp. Epaminondas. 

Wolsey (Cardinal): “Had I but served my God with 
half the zeal that I have served my king, He would 
not have left me in my grey hairs.” 

Wordsworth: “God bless you! Is that you, Dora?” 
Ziska (John): ‘‘Make my skin into drum-heads for the 
Bohemian cause.” 

Dymphna (dimP na). The tutelar saint of the 
insane. She is said to have been the daughter 
of an Irish prince of the 7th century, and was 
murdered at Gheel, in Belgium, by her own 
father, because she resisted his incestuous 
passion. Gheel has long been a centre for the 
treatment of the mentally afflicted. 

Dysmas (diz' mas). The traditional name of the 
Penitent Thief, who suffered with Christ at 
the Crucifixion. His relics are claimed by 
Bologna, and in some calendars he is com- 
memorated on March 25th. In the apocryphal 
Gospel of Nicodemus he is called Dimas (and 
elsewhere Titus), and the Impenitent Thief 
Gestas. 

Dyvour (di'vdr). The old name in Scotland 
for a bankrupt. From the 17th century till 
1836 dyvours were by law compelled to wear an 
upper garment, half yellow and half brown, 
with parti-coloured cap and hose. 

Dyzemas Day (diz' mas). Tithe day. (Por. 
dizimas , tithes; Law Lat. decimce.) 


E 


E. This letter is the representative of the 
hieroglyphic fretwork, □, and of the Phoenician 
and Hebrew sign for a window, called in 
Hebrew he. 

In tEogic, *, E denotes a universal negative 
proposition, and is thus the opposite of a (q.v.). 
¥ ;ThV* following legend is sometimes seen 
engraved under the two tables of the Ten 
Commandments in churches: — 

PRSVR Y PRFCT MN 
VR KP THS PRCPTS TN 
The vowel E 
Supplies the key. 

E.G., e.g. (Lat. exempli gratia). By way of 
example; for instance. 

E pluribus unum (e ploo' ri bus u' num) (Lat.). 
One unity composed of many parts. The 


motto of the United States of America; taken 
from More turn (1. 103), a Latin poem 

attributed to Virgil. 

Eager Beaver. American expression, in World 
War II, for a recruit so over-zealous that he 
would volunteer for jobs on every possible 
occasion. Subsequently passed into civilian use. 

Eagle. Thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s 
(Ps. ciii, 5). This refers to the ancient super- 
stition that every ten years the eagle soars into 
the “fiery region”, and plunges thence into 
the sea, where, moulting its feathers, it ac- 
quires new life. Cp. Phoenix. 

She saw where he upstarted brave 
Out of the well . . . 

As eagle fresh out of the ocean wave. 

Where he hath lefte his plumes all hory gray, 
And decks himself with fethers youthly gay. 

Spenser: Faerie Queene , 1, xi, 34. 

In Christian art the eagle is emblematic of 
St. John the Evangelist, St. Augustine, St. 
Gregory the Great and St. Prisca. Emblemati- 
cally or in heraldry the eagle is a charge of 
great honour. It was called the Bird of Jove 
by the Romans, and borne on their army 
standards. France (under the Empires), 
Austria, Prussia and Russia adopted it as a 
royal or imperial emblem. 

The American Eagle, with outspread wings — 
spread-eagle — is specifically the emblem of the 
U.S.A. It is sometimes erroneously called the 
Bald Eagle, though it is really the white- 
headed eagle of N. America, Haliaetus 
leucocephalus. The U.S. coin called an eagle is 
a gold coin of the value of 10 dollars. An 
earlier coin known as an eagle was found in 
Ireland in the first years of Edward 1, about 
1272 — again because of the bird impressed 
upon it. 

The Golden Eagle and the Spread Eagle are 
commemorative of the Crusades; they were 
the devices of the emperors of the East, and 
formerly figured as the ensigns of the ancient 
kings of Babylon and Persia, of the Ptolemies 
and Seleucides. 

The Romans used to let an eagle fly from the 
funeral pile of a deceased emperor. Dryden 
alludes to this custom in his stanzas on Oliver 
Cromwell after his funeral, when he says, 
“Officious haste did let too soon the sacred 
eagle fly.” 

Grand eagle. Paper, 28 J by 42 in.; so called 
from a watermark first met with in 1314. 

The two-headed eagle. The German eagle 
has its head turned to our left hand, and the 
Roman eagle to our right hand. When 
Charlemagne was made “Kaiser of the Holy 
Roman Empire,” he joined the two heads to- 
gether, one looking cast and the other west; 
consequently, the late Austrian Empire, as the 
direct successor of the Holy Roman Empire, 
included the Double-headed Eagle in its coat 
of arms. 

In Russia it was Ivan Vasilievitch who first 
assumed the two-headed eagle, when, in 1472, 
he married Sophia, daughter of Thomas 
Palaeologus, and niece of Constantine XIV, 
the last Emperor of Byzantium. The two heads 
symbolize the Eastern or Byzantine Empire 
and the Western or Roman Empire. 



Eagle 317 Earing 


The eagle doesn’t hawk at flies. See Aquila. 

The Eagle. Gaudenzio Ferrari (1481-1549), 
the Milanese painter. 

The Eagle of Brittany. Bertrand Duguesclin 
(1320-80), Constable of France. 

The Eagle of Divines. St. Thomas Aquinas 
(1225-74). 

llie Eagle of the doctors of France. Pierre 
d’Ailly (1350-1420), French cardinal and 
astrologer, who calculated the horoscope of 
Our Lord, and maintained that the stars fore- 
told the deluge. 

The Eagle of Meaux. Jacques Benigne 
Bossuet (1627-1704), Bishop of Meaux, the 
grandest and most sublime of the pulpit 
orators of France. 

The Eagle of the North. Count Axel Oxen- 
stierna (1583-1654), the Swedish statesman. 

Eagle-stones. See Aetites. 

Ear (O.E. eare). If your ears burn someone 
is talking about you. This is a very old super- 
stition; Pliny says, “When our ears do glow 
and tingle, some do talk of us in our absence.” 
in Much Ado About Nothing (III, i), Beatrice 
says when Ursula and Hero had been talking 
of her, “What fire is in mine ears?” Sir 
Thomas Browne ascribes the conceit to 
guardian angels, who touch the right ear if 
the talk is favourable and the left if otherwise. 
This is done to cheer or warn. 

One ear tingles; some there be 
That are snarling now at me. 

Herrick: Hesperides. 

About one’s ears. Causing trouble. The 
allusion is to a hornet’s nest buzzing about 
one’s head; thus, to bring the house about one's 
ears is to set the whole family against him. 

Bow down thine ear. Condescend to hear or 
listen ( Ps . xxxi, 2). 

By ear. To sing or play by ear means to sing 
or play without reading the musical notes, 
depending on the ear only. 

Dionysius’s Ear. A bell-shaped chamber 
connected by an underground passage with the 
king’s palace. Its object was to enable the 
tyrant of Syracuse to overhear what was 
passing in the prison. 

A similar remarkable whispering gallery is 
to be found cut from the solid rock beneath 
Hastings Castle, where pre-Roman gaolers 
could listen to prisoners talking — the listening 
post is again shaped like an ear. 

Give ear to. Listen to; give attention to. 

I am all ear. All attention. 

I was all ear. 

And took in strains that might create a soul 
Under the ribs of death. 

Milton: Comus , 574. 

I’ll send you off with a flea in your ear. See 
Flea. 

In at one ear, and out of the other. Forgotten 
as soon as heard. 

the sermon . . . of Dame Resoun . . . 

It toke no sojour in myn hede. 

For alle yede out at oon er 
That in at that other she did lere. 

Romaunt of the Rose , 5148 (c. 1400). 


Lend me your ears. Pay attention to what I 

am about to say. 

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; 

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. 

Julius Ccesar , III, ii. 

Little pitchers have large cars. See Pitcher. 

Mine ears hast thou bored. Thou hast 
accepted me as thy bond-slave for life. If a 
Hebrew servant declined to go free after six 
years’ service, the master was to bore hjs ear 
with an awl, in token of his voluntary Servi- 
tude for life ( Exod . xxi, 6). 

No ear. A bad ear for music; “ear-blind” or 
“sound-blind.” 

Over head and ears. Wholly, desperately; 
said of being in love, debt, trouble, etc. 

To be willing to give one’s ears. To be pre- 
pared to make a considerable sacrifice. The 
allusion is to the old practice of cutting off 
the ears of those who refused to disown 
offensive opinions. 

To come to the ears of. To come to someone’s 
knowledge, especially by hearsay. 

To fall together by the ears. See Fall. 

To get the wrong sow by the ear. See Sow. 

To have itching ears. To enjoy scandal- 
mongering, hearing news or current gossip. 
(II Tim. iv, 3.) 

To prick up one’s ears. To listen attentively 
to something not expected, as horses prick up 
their ears at a sudden sound. 

Like unbacked colts, they pricked their ears. 

Shakespeare: Tempest , IV, i. 

To set people together by the ears. To create 
ill-will among them; to set them auarrelling 
and, metaphorically, pulling each other’s ears, 
as dogs do when fighting. 

When civil dudgeon first grew high. 

And men fell out, they knew not why; 

When hard words, jealousies, and fears 
Set folks together by the ears. 

Butler: Hudibras (opening lines). 

To tickle the ears. To gratify the ear either 
by pleasing sounds or flattering words. 

To turn a deaf ear. To refuse to listen; to 
refuse to accede to a request. 

Walls have ears. See Wall. 

Within earshot. Within hearing. 

You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s 
ear. See Silk. 

Ear-finger. The little finger, which is thrust 
into the ear if anything tickles it. 

Ear-marked. Marked so as to be recognized; 
figuratively, marked or. set aside 4o r some 
special purpose. The >f allusion is To setting 
owner’s marks on the ears of cattle and sheep. 

The late president [Balmaceda] took orf board a 
large quantity of silver, which had been ear-marked 
for a particular purpose. — Newspaper paragraph , 
Sept. 4, 1891. 

Ears to Ear Bible, The. See Bible, specially, 
named. 

Earing. Ploughing. (O.E. erian , to plough; 
cp. Lat. aro.) 

And yet there are five years, in the which there shall 
neither be earing nor harvest. — Gen. xiv. 6. 



Earl 


318 


Easter 


If the first heir of my invention prove deformed, I 
shall be sorry it had^so noble a godfather, and never 
after ear so barren a land, for fear it yield me still so 
bad a harvest. — S hakespeare : Dedication to “ Venus 
and Adonis .” 

Earl (O.E. eorl, a man of position, in opposition 
to ceorl y a churl or freeman of the lowest rank; 
cp. Dan. jarl). The third in dignity in the 
British peerage, ranking next below Marquess 
(y.v.). In Anglo-Saxon times, it was a title of 
the highest dignity and eminence, and was 
even applied to sovereign princes. Earl Godwin 
was a ruler of enormous power, as also were 
the earls created by the Norman kings. Cp. 
Viscount. William the Conqueror tried to 
introduce the word Count, but did not 
succeed, although the wife of an earl is still 
called a countess. 

An earl’s coronet has eight silver balls 
mounted on gold rays which reach to the top 
of the cap, with small strawberry leaves 
alternating between them. 

The sheriff is called in Latin vice-comds, as being 
the deputy of the earl or com^s, to whom the custody 
of the shire is said to have been committed. — B lack- 
stone: Commentaries , I, ix. 

Earl Marshal. A high officer of state who 
presides over the College of Arms, grants 
armorial bearings, and is responsible for the 
arrangement of State ceremonials, processions, 
etc. Since 1483 the office has been hereditary 
in the line of the Dukes of Norfolk. 

Earl of Mar’s Grey Breaks. The 21st Foot 
(the Royal Scots Fusiliers) were so called 
because they wore grey breeches when the Earl 
of Mar was their colonel (1678-86). 

Earthquakes. According to Indian mythology, 
the world rests on the head of a great elephant, 
“Muha-pudma,” and when, for the sake of 
rest, the huge monster refreshes itself by mov- 
ing its head, an earthquake is produced. 

The lamas say that the earth is placed on the 
back of a gigantic frog, and when the frog 
stretches its limbs or moves its head, it shakes 
the earth. Other Eastern mythologists place 
the earth on the back of a tortoise. 

Greek and Roman mythologists ascribe 
earthquakes to the restlessness of the giants 
which Jupiter buried under high mountains. 
Thus Virgil {^Eneidy III, 578) ascribes the 
eruption of Etna to the giant Enceladus. 

Earwig. O.E. ear-wicga, ear-beetle; so called 
from the erroneous notion that these insects 
are apt to get into our ears, and so penetrate 
the brain. 

Metaphorically, one who whispers all the 
news and scandal going, in order to curry 
favour; a flatterer. 

Court earwigs banish from your ears. 

« i -■ * Political Ballads ( 1 688 ). 

Ease. O.Fr. else , Mod.Fr. aise. 

At ease. Without pain or anxiety. 

Chapel of ease. See Chapel. 

\ Ease her! An order given on a small steamer 
to reduce speed. The next order, is generally 
“Back her!” and then “Stop her!” 

HI at ease. Uneasy, not comfortable, 
anxious. 


Stand at ease! An infantry drill command for 
a position less rigid than attention , with the 
feet apart and hands joined behind the back. 
It is intermediate between attention and stand 
easy! in which complete freedom (short of 
moving away) is allowable. 

To ease one of his money or purse. To steal it. 

East. The custom of turning to the east when 
the creed is repeated is to express the belief 
that Christ is the Dayspring and Sun of 
Righteousness. The altar is placed at the east 
end of the church to remind us of Christ, the 
Dayspring and Resurrection; and persons are 
buried with their feet to the East to signify that 
they died in the hope of the Resurrection. 

The ancient Greeks always buried their dead 
with the face upwards , looking towards heaven; 
and the feet turned to the cast or the rising sun, 
to indicate that the deceased was on his way to 
Elysium, and not to the region of night. 
(Diogenes Laertius: Life of Solon , in Greek.) 

East is East and West is West. A phrase from 
Rudyard Kipling emphasizing the divergence 
of views on ethics and life in general between 
the Oriental and Western races — a dichotomy 
that appears to admit of no compromise. 

Oh, East is East, and West is West and never the 
twain shall meet. 

Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great 
Judgment Seat; 

But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed 
nor Birth, 

When two strong men stand face to face, though they 
come from the ends of the Earth. 

The Ballad of East and West. 

Far East, China, Japan, etc. 

Middle East, Iran, Iraq, etc. 

Near East, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Asia 
Minor, etc. 

East-ender. See under End. 

He came safe from the East Indies, and was 
drowned in the Thames. He encountered many 
dangers of great magnitude, but was at last 
killed where he thought himself secure. 

To send to the East Indies for Kentish 
pippins. To go round about to accomplish a 
very simple thing. To crush a fly on a wheel. 

Easterlings. An old name (first used in the 
16th century) for any foreigner coming to 
England from the East; but specially applied 
to the merchants from the Hanse towns of 
northern Germany. 

Eastern Shore, The. Maryland between the 
Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay. 

Easter. The name was adopted for the Christian 
Paschal festival from O.E. eastre , a heathen 
festival held at the vernal equinox in honour 
of the Teutonic goddess of dawn, called by 
Bede Eostre. On the introduction of Christi- 
anity it was natural for the name of the heathen 
festival to be transferred to the Christian, the 
two falling about the same time. 

Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the 
Paschal full moon, i.e. the full moon that 
occurs on the day of the vernal equinox 
(March 21st) or on any of the next 28 days. 
Consequently, Easter Sunday cannot be 




Easter 


319 


Ecce homo 


earlier than March 22nd, or later than April 
25th. This was fixed by the Council of Nicsea, 
a.d. 325. 

It was formerly a common belief that the 
sun danced on Easter Day. 

But oh, she dances such a way, 

No sun upon an Easter day 
Is half so fine a sight. 

Sir John Suckling: Ballad upon a Wedding. 

Sir Thomas Browne combats the supersti- 
tion: — 

We shall not, I hope, disparage the Resurrection of 
our Redeemer, if we say the Sun doth not dance on 
Easter day. And though we would willingly assent 
unto any sympathetical exultation, yet cannot con- 
ceive therein any more than a Tropical expression. — 
Pseudodoxia Epidemica , V, xxii. 

Easter eggs, or Pasch eg[gs, are symbolical 
of creation, or the re-creation of spring. The 
practice of presenting them at Easter came into 
England from Germany in the 19th century. 
It probably derives from the old ecclesiastical 
prohibition of eating eggs during Lent, but 
allowing them again at Easter. In modern 
times the Germans have favoured the rabbit 
as an Easter symbol. 

Bless, Lord, we beseech thee, this Thy creature of 
eggs, that it may become a wholesome sustenance to 
Thy faithful servants, eating it in thankfulness to Thee, 
on account of the resurrection of our Lord. — Pope 
Paul V: Ritual. 

Eat. To eat together was, in the East, a sure 
ledge of protection. A man once prostrated 
imself before a Persian grandee and implored 
protection from the rabble. The nobleman 
gave him the remainder of a peach which he 
was eating, and when the incensed multitude 
arrived, and declared that the man had slain 
the only son of the nobleman, the heart-broken 
father replied, “We have eaten together; go 
in peace, and would not allow the murderer 
to be punished. 

Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. 

Is. xxii, 13. A traditional saying of the Egyp- 
tians who, at their banquets, exhibited a 
skeleton to the guests to remind them of the 
brevity of human life. 

To eat a man’s salt. See Salt. 

To eat coke, humble pie, the leek. See these 
words. 


To eat one’s heart out. To fret or worry un- 
reasonably; to allow grief or vexation to 
predominate over the mind, tincture all one’s 
ideas, and absorb all other emotions. 

To eat one’s terms. To be studying for the 
bar. Students are required to dine in the Hall 
of an Inn of Court at least three times in each 
of the twelve terms before they are “called” 
to the bar. 

To eat one’s words. To retract in a humili- 
ating manner; to unsay what you have said. 

To eat well. To have a good appetite. But 
“It eats well” means that what is eaten is 
agreeable or flavorous. To “eat badly” is to 
eat without appetite or too little. 

Eau de Cologne. A perfumed spirit, originally 
prepared at Cologne. It was invented by an 
Italian chemist, Johann Maria Farina, who 
settled in Cologne in 1709. The usual recipe 
prescribes twelve drops of each of the essential 
oils, Bergamot, citron, neroli, orange, and 
rosemary, with one dram of Malabar cardo- 
moms and a gallon of rectified spirits, which 
are distilled together. 

Eau de vie (o de ve) (Fr. water of life). 
Brandy. A translation of the Latin aqua vita 
( q.v .). This is a curious perversion of the 
Italian acaua di vite (water or juice of the 
vine), rendered by the monks into aqua vita 
instead of aqua vitis, and confounding the juice 
of the grape with the alchemists’ elixir of life. 

Eavesdropper. One who listens stealthily to 
conversation. The eavesdrop or eavesdrip was 
the space of ground liable to receive the water 
dripping from the eaves of a house. An eaves- 
dropper is one who places himself in the 
eaves-drip to overhear what is said in the 
house. 

Under our tents I’ll play the eavesdropper, 

To hear if any mean to shrink from me. 

Richard III, V, iii. 

Ebionites (eb' i on Itz). An heretical sect of the 
1st and 2nd centuries, who denied the Divinity 
of Jesus Christ and His birth of a Virgin, and 
held that He was merely an inspired messenger. 
The name is from Heb. ebyon , poor, probably 
in allusion to some claim that they were “the 
poor in spirit.” 


To eat dog. An Indian custom at councils of 
importance. Later, when white men took 
exception, they were permitted to avoid 
offence by placing a silver dollar on the dish 
and passing it: the next man took the dollar 
and ate the dog. Hence the expression in 
American politics to eat dog for another. 

To eat its head off. Said of an animal 
(usually a horse) that eats more than he is 
worth, or whose work does not pay for the cost 
of keeping. 

To eat one out of house and home. To eat so 
much that one will have to part with house 
and home in order to pay for it. It is the 
complaint of hostess Quickly to the Lord 
Chief Justice when he asks for “what sum” she 
had arrested Sir John Falstaff. She explains the 
phrase by “he hath put all my substance into 
that fat belly of his.” {Henry IV , Pt. II, II, i.) 


Eblis (eb' lis). A jinn of Arabian mythology, 
the ruler of the evil genii, or fallen angels. 
Before his fall he was called Azazel fa.v.). 
When Adam was created, God commanded all 
the angels to worship him; but Eblis replied. 
“Me thou hast created of smokeless fire, ana 
shall I reverence a creature made of dust?” 
God turned the disobedient angel into a 
Sheytan (devil), and he became the father of 
devils. 

When he said unto the angels, “Worship Adam,” 
all worshipped him except Eblis.—/!/ Koran , ii. 


Ebony. God’s image done in ebony. Negroes. 
Thomas Fuller gave birth to this expression. 


Ecce homo (ek' si ho' m6) (Lat. Behold the 
man). The name given to many paintings of 
Our Lord crowned with thorns and bound 
with ropes, as He was shown to the people 
by Pilate, who said to them, “£cce homo/** 


Ecce signum 


320 


Eclogue 


(John xix, 5), notably those by Correggio, 
Titian, Guido Reni, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, 
Poussin, and Albrecht Diirer. In 1865 Sir John 
Seeley published a survey of the life and work 
of Christ with the title “Ecce Homo.” 

Ecce signum (ek' si sig' num). See it, in proof. 
Behold the proof. 

I am eight times thrust through the doublet, four 
through the hose; my buckler cut through and 
through; my sword hacked like a handsaw — ecce 
signum ! — Henry IV, Pt. I, II, iv. 

Eccentric. Deviating from the centre (Lat. ex 
centrum ); hence irregular, not according to 
rule. Originally applied to those planets which 
apparently wander round the earth, like 
comets, the earth not being in the centre of 
their orbit. 

In geometry the term is applied to two circles, 
one within the other, with different centres; 
in mechanics it is a wheel with its axle not 
coaxial with the exact centre of the wheel. 
In general speech eccentric means out of the 
ordinary, odd, unconventional, abnormal, and 
an eccentric is a person with these character- 
istics. 

Ecclesiastes (e kle' si as' tcz). One of the books 
in the Old Testament, arranged next to 
Proverbs, formerly ascribed to Solomon, 
because it says (verse 1), “The words of the 
Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem,” 
but now generally assigned to an unnamed 
author of the 3rd century b.c„ writing after 
Malachi but before the time of the Maccabees. 
The Hebrew name is Kohelet/i , which means 
“the Preacher.” 

Ecclesiastical. The father of ecclesiastical his- 
tory. Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 264-340). 
Ecclesiasticus. One of the books of the Old 
Testament Apocrypha, traditionally (and 
probably correctly) ascribed to a Palestinian 
sage named Ben Sirah, or Jesus, the Son of 
Sirach. In the Talmud it is quoted as Ben Sira , 
and in the Septuagint its name is The Wisdom 
of Jesus , the Son of Sirach. It was probably 
written early in the 2nd century b.c. It was 
given its present name by early Greek Chris- 
tians because, in their opinion, it was the chief 
of the apocryphal books, designated by them 
Ecclesiastici Libri (books to be read in 
churches), to distinguish them from the 
canonical Scriptures. 

Echidna (e kid' na). A monster of classical 
mythology, half woman, half serpent. She was 
mother of the Chimaera, the many-headed dog 
Orthos, the hundred-headed dragon of the 
Hesperides, the Colchian dragon, the Sphinx, 
Cerberus, Scylla, the Gorgons, the Lerna;an 
hydra, the vulture that gnawed away the liver 
of Prometheus, and the Nemean lion. 

" Spenser makes hfer the mother of the 
Blatant, Beast ( q.v .) in the Faerie Queen , VI, vi, 
10 . 

^ fn zoology an echidna is a porcupine ant- 
eater found in Australia and New Guinea, 
allied to the platypus. 

Echo (ek' 6). The Romans say that Echo was a 
nymph in love with Narcissus, but her love 
not being returned, she pined away till only 
her voice remained. 


Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph, that liv’st unseen 
Within thy airy shell, 

By slow Meander’s margent green . . . 

Canst thou not tell me of a gentle pair 

That likest thy Narcissus are? 

Milton: Comus , 230. 

To applaud to the echo. To applaud vigor- 
ously — so loudly as to produce an echo. 

Eckhardt (ek' hart). A faithful Eckhardt, who 
warneth everyone. Eckhardt, in German 
legends, appears on the evening of Maundy 
Thursday to warn all persons to go home, that 
they may not be injured by the headless bodies 
and two-legged horses which traverse the 
streets on that night. 

Eclectics (ek lek' tiks). The name given to 
those who do not attach themselves to any 
special school (especially philosophers and 
painters), but pick and choose from various 
systems, selecting and harmonizing those 
doctrines, methods, etc., which suit them (Gr. 
ek-lcgein, to choose, select). Certain Greek 
philosophers of the 1st and 2nd centuries b.c. 
were styled Eclectics; and there is the Eclectic 
school of painters, i.e. the Italians of the 17th 
century who followed the great masters. 

Eclipse, one of the most famous of English 
race-horses. The great-grandson of Darley 
Arabian (q.v) he was foaled April 1st, 1764, 
ran his first race May 3rd, 1769, and from 
then until October, 1770, ran in eighteen races, 
never being beaten. His skeleton is preserved 
in the Royal Veterinary College, London. 

The Eclipse Stakes is a race for horses of 
three years and upwards, run at Sandown Park. 
It was inaugurated in 1884. 

Eclipses were considered by the ancient 
Greeks and Romans as bad omens. Nicias, 
the Athenian general, was so terrified by an 
eclipse of the moon, that he durst not defend 
himself from the Syracusans; in consequence 
of which his whole army was cut to pieces, and 
he himself was put to death. 

The Romans would never hold a public 
assembly during an eclipse. Some of their 
poets feign that an eclipse of the moon is 
because she is on a visit to Endymion. 

A very general notion was and still is com- 
mon among backward races that the sun or 
moon has been devoured by some monster and 
hence the custom of beating drums and kettles 
to scare away the monster. The Chinese, Lapps, 
Persians, and some others call the evil beast 
a dragon. The East Indians say it is a black 
griffin. 

The notion of the ancient Mexicans was that 
eclipses were caused by sun and moon 
quarrels. 

Ecliptic (e klip' tik). The track in the heavens 
along which the sun appears to perform its 
annual march. It lies in the middle of the 
Zodiac (q.v.) and is, of course, a purely 
imaginary line produced by the earth’s motion 
about the sun. 

Eclogue (Gr. a selection). The word was 
originally used for Virgil’s Bucolics , because 
they were selected poems; as they were all 
pastoral dialogues it came to denote such 
poems, and hence an Eclogue is now a pastoral 
or rustic dialogue in verse. 



Economy 


321 


Edinburgh 


Economy. Literally, “household management” 
(Lat. ceconomici , from Gr. oikos , house; 
nemein , to deal out). 

There are many British proverbs and 
sayings teaching the value of economy: — 

“No alchemy like frugality”; “ever save, 
ever have”; “a pin a day is a groat a year”; 
“take care of the pence, and the pounds will 
take care of themselves”; “many a mickle 
makes a muckle”; “frae saving, comes having”; 
“a penny saved is a penny gained”; “little and 
often fills the purse”; and there is Mr. Micaw- 
ber’s wise saying: — 

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure 
nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income 
twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds 
ought and six, result misery. — Dickens: David Copper- 
field, ch. xii. 

The Christian economy. The religious system 
based on the teachings of Jesus Christ as 
recorded in the New Testament. 

The economy of nature. The laws of nature, 
whereby the greatest amount of good is 
obtained; or the laws by which the affairs of 
nature are regulated and disposed; the system 
and interior management of the animal and 
vegetable kingdoms, etc. 

Animal . . . economy, according to which animal 
affairs are regulated and disposed. — Shaftesbury: 
Characteristics. 

The Mosaic economy. The religious system 
revealed by God to Moses and set forth in the 
Old Testament. 

Political economy. Science of the production, 
distribution, and management of wealth, 
especially as dealing with the principles where- 
by the revenues and resources of a nation are 
made the most of. 

Ecstasy (Gr. ek , out; stasis , a standing). 
Literally, a condition in which one stands out 
of one’s mind, loses one’s wits, or is “beside 
oneself.” St. Paul refers to this when he says he 
was caught up to the third heaven and heard 
unutterable words, “whether in the body, or 
out of the body, I cannot tell” (II Cor. xii, 2-4). 
St. John also says he was “in the spirit” — i.e. 
in an ecstasy — when he saw the apocalyptic 
vision (Rev. i, 10). The belief that the soul left 
the body at times was very general in former 
ages, and there was a class of diviners among 
the ancient Greeks called Ecstatic!, who used 
to lie in trances, and when they came to them- 
selves gave strange accounts of what they had 
seen while they were “out of the body.” 

Ecstatic Doctor, The. Jean de Ruysbroek, 
the mystic (1294-1381). 

Ectoplasm (ek' to plasm) (Gr. ectos, outside; 
plasma , form). In biology this is an external 
modified layer of protoplasm, but it has 
acquired a wider sense in its spiritualistic 
meaning of the tangible emanation from a 
medium employed in materialization. 

Ector, Sir. The foster-father of King Arthur. 

Edda. This name — which may be from Edda , 
the great-grandmother in the Old Norse poem 
Rigs t hid, or from the old Norse odhr, poetry, 
is given to two separate works or collections, 
viz. The Elder or Poetic Edda , and The 
Younger Edda , or Prose Edda of Snorri. The 


first-named was discovered in 1643 by an 
Icelandic bishop, and consists of mythological 
poems dating from the 9th century, and 
supposed to have been collected in the 1 3th 
century. They are of unknown authorship, 
but were erroneously attributed to Saemund 
Sigfusson (d. 1133), and this has hence some- 
times been called Scemund's Edda. The 
Younger Edda is a work in prose and verse by 
Snorri Sturluson (d. 1242), and forms a guide 
to poets and poetry. It consists of the Gylfagin - 
ning (an epitome of Scandinavian mythology), 
the Skaldskaparmal (a glossary of poetical 
expressions, etc.), the Hattatal (a list of metres, 
with examples of all known forms of verse, 
with a preface, history of the origin of poetry, 
lists of poets, etc.). 

Eden. Paradise, the country and garden in 
which Adam and Eve were placed by God 
(Gen. ii, 15) but lost by their disobedience. 
The word means delight , pleasure. 

Eden Hall. The luck of Eden Hall. An enamelled 
drinking-glass, made probably in Venice in 
the 10th century, in the possession of the 
Musgrave family at Eden Hall, Cumberland, 
and traditionally supposed to be endowed with 
fortune-bringing properties. The tale is that 
it was taken from St. Cuthbert’s Well in the 
garden, when the fairies left this glass by the 
well while they danced, The superstition is — 
if that glass shall break or fall. 

Farewell the luck of Eden Hall. 

With the break-up of the estate in 1920 the 
cup was sold, and is now in the Victoria and 
Albert Museum, London. 

Edge (O.E. ecg). It is dangerous to play with 
edged tools. It is dangerous to tamper with 
mischief or anything that may bring you into 
trouble. 

Not to put too fine an edge on it. Not to 
mince the matter; to speak plainly. 

To be on edge. To be very eager or impatient. 

To edge away. To move away very gradually, 
as a ship moves from the edge of the shore. 

To edge on. See Egg on. 

To fall by the edge of the sword. By a cut 
from the sword; to be slain in battle. 

To have the edge on someone. To have an 
advantage. 

To set one’s teeth on edge. To give one the 
horrors; to induce a tingling or grating 
sensation in one’s teeth, as from acids or harsh 
noises. 

In those days they shall say no more, the fathers 
have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are 
set on edge. — Jer. xxxi, 29. 

I had rather hear a brazen canstick turned. 

Or a dry wheel grate oifc.the axle-tree; 

And that would set my teeth nothing on edge , * 
Nothing so much as mincing poetry. 

Henry / V , Pt% /, III, i. 

Edge-bone. See Aitch-bone. 

Ediles. See jEdiles. 

Edinburgh. Edwin’s burgh; the fort built by 
Edwin, king of Northumbria (616-33). 
Dunedin (Gaelic dun, a fortress) and Edina are 
poetical forms. 




Eel 


322 


Egg Feast 


Eel. A salt eel. A rope’s end, used for scourging. 
At one time eelskins were used for whips. 

With my salt eele, went down in the parler, and 
there got my boy and did beat him .—Pepys' Diary . 

Eel*skins. Old-fashioned slang for extra 
tight trousers, or tightly fitting frocks. 

Holding the eel of science by the tail. To 
have a smattering of the subject, the kind 
which slips from the memoiy as an eel would 
wriggle out of one’s fingers if held by the tail. 

To get used to it, as a skinned eel. It may be 
unpleasant at first, but habit will get the better 
of such annoyance; arising from the strange 
old notion that eels feel little more than a 
slight discomfort when skinned alive. 

To skin an eel by the tail. To do things the 
wrong way. 

EfTendi (e fen' di). A Turkish title, equivalent 
to the English “Mr.” or “Esq.” but always 
following the name. It is given to emirs, men 
of learning, the imams of mosques, etc. 

Effigy. To burn or hang one in effigy. To burn 
or hang the representation of a person, 
instead of the person himself, in order to show 
popular hatred, dislike, or contempt. From 
earliest times and in all countries magic has 
been worked by treating an effigy as one would 
fain treat the original. In France the public 
executioner used to hang the effigy of the 
criminal when the criminal himself could not 
be found. 

Egalitl (& gill' ita). Philippe, Due d’Orleans 
(b. 1747, guillotined 1793), father of Louis- 
Philippe, King of the French, assumed the 
name when he renounced his title and voted 
for the death of Louis XVI. The motto of the 
revolutionary party, with which he sided, was 
“Liberty, equality ( egalire ), and fraternity.” 

Egeria (ejer'ia). The nymph who instructed 
Numa in his wise legislation; hence, a counsel- 
lor, adviser. 

It is in these moments that we gaze upon the moon. 
It is in tnese moments that Nature becomes our 
Egeria. — Lord Bfaconsfield: Vivian Grey , ///, vi. 

Egg. See also Shell. 

A bad egg. A bad speculation; a “bad lot”; 
a person or thing that does not come up to 
expectations. 

Curate’s egg. See Curate. 

A duck’s egg. See Duck. 

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Don’t 
venture all you have in one speculation; don’t 
put all your property in one bank. The allusion 
is obvious. 

Easter eggs. See Easter ; Egg Feast. 

Golden eggs. Great profits. See Goose. 

I got eggs for my money. I gave valuable 
money, andVeceived such worthless things as 
eggs. When Wolsey accused the Earl of Kildare 
for not taking Desmond prisoner, the Earl 
replied, “He is no more to blame than his 
brother Ossory, who (notwithstanding his high 
promises) is glad to take eggs for his money,” 
i.e. is willing to be imposed on. (Campion: 
History of Ireland 1633.) 


I have eggs on the spit. I am very busy, and 
cannot attend to anything else. The reference 
is to roasting eggs on a spit. They were first 
boiled, then the yolk was taken out, braided up 
with spices, and put back again; the eggs were 
then drawn on a spit, and roasted. As this 
required both dispatch and constant attention, 
the person in charge could not leave them. 

I forgot to tell you, I write short journals now; l 
have eggs on the spit.— S wift, 

Like as two eggs. Exactly alike. 

They say we are almost as like as eggs. — Winter's 
Tale, I, ii. 

Show him an egg, and instantly the whole 
air is full of feathers. Said of a very sanguine 
man, because he is “counting his chickens 
before they are hatched.” 

Sure as eggs is eggs. Professor de Morgan 
suggested that this is a corruption of the 
logician’s formula, “a is a\” 

Teach your grandmother to suck eggs. 
Attempt to teach your elders. 

The mundane egg. The Phoenicians, Egyp- 
tians, Hindus, Japanese, and many other 
ancient nations maintained that the world was 
egg-shaped, and was hatched from an egg 
made by the Creator; and in some mythologies 
a bird is represented as laying the mundane 
egg on the primordial waters. 

Anciently this idea was attributed to Or- 
pheus, hence the “mundane egg” is also called 
the Orphic egg. 

The opinion of the oval figure of the earth is 
ascrib'd to Orpheus and his disciples; and the doctrine 
of the mundane egg is so peculiarly his, that ’tis called 
by Proclus the Orphick egg. — Burnet: The Sacred 
Theory of the Earth (1684). 

There is reason in roasting eggs. Even the 
most trivial thing has a reason for being done 
in one way rather than in some other. When 
wood fires were usual, it was more common to 
roast eggs than to boil them, and some care 
was required to prevent their being “ill- 
roasted, all on one side,” as Touchstone says 
(As You Like It, III, ii). 

One likes the pheasant’s wing, and one the leg; 

The vulgar boil, the learned roast an egg. 

Pope: Epistles , II. 

To crush in the egg. To nip in the bud; to 
ruin some scheme before it has been fairly 
started. 

To egg on. To incite, to urge on. Here egg 
is simply another form of edge — to edge on, 
i.e. to drive one nearer and nearer to the edge 
until the plunge is taken. 

To tread upon eggs. To walk gingerly, as if 
walking over eggs, which are easily broken. 

Will you take eggs for your money ? “Will 
you allow yourself to be imposed upon? 
Will you take kicks for halfpence?” This 
saying was in vogue when eggs were plentiful 
as blackberries. 

My honest friend, will you take eggs for money? — 
Winter's Tale , I, ii. 

Egg Feast or Egg Saturday. In Oxford the 
Saturday preceding Shrove Tuesday used to 
be so called because, as the eating of eggs 




Egg-head 


323 


£j Dorado 


was forbidden during Lent, the scholars took 
leave of them on that day. They were allowed 
again at Easter, hence the coloured “Easter 
egg.” 

Egg-head. A bald person; an intellectual 
person. The latter derives possibly from the 
former, on the supposition that intellectuals 
are often bald. See also Highbrow; Square. 

Egg-trot, or Egg-wife’s trot. A cautious, 
jog-trot pace, like that of a housewife riding 
to market with eggs in her panniers. 

Egil. Brother of Weland, the Vulcan of 
Northern mythology. Egil was a great archer, 
and in the Saga of Thidrik there is a tale told 
of him, the exact counterpart of the famous 
story about William Tell and the apple. See 
Tell. 

Eglantine. In the romance of Valentine and 
Orson, daughter of King Pepin, and bride of 
her cousin Valentine. She soon died. 

Madame Eglantine. The prioress in Chaucer’s 
Canterbury Tales . Good-natured, wholly 
ignorant of the world, vain of her courtly 
manners, and noted for her partiality to lap- 
dogs, her delicate oath, “by seint Eloy,” her 
“entuning the service swetely in her nose,” and 
her speaking French “after the scole of 
Stratford atte Bowe.” 

Ego (Lat. “I”). In various philosophical 
systems ego is used of the conscious thinking 
subject and non-ego of the object. The term 
ego was introduced into philosophy by 
Descartes, who employed it to denote the 
whole man, body and mind. Fichte later used 
the term the absolute ego , meaning thereby 

the non-individual being, neither subject nor object, 
which posits the world of individual egos and non- 
egos. 

In psycho-analysis the ego is that part of 
the mind that perceives and takes cognisance 
of external reality and adjusts responses to it. 
See Id. 

Egoism. The theory in Ethics which places 
man’s summum bonum in self. The correlative 
of altruism, or the theory which places our 
own greatest happiness in making others 
happy. Egoism is selfishness pure, altruism is 
selfish benevolence. Hence egoist, one who 
upholds and practises this theory. 

To say that each Individual shall reap the benefits 
brought to him by his own powers ... is to enunciate 
egoism as an ultimate principle of conduct. — 
Spencer: Data of Ethics , p. 189. 

Egotism. The too frequent use of the word 
I; tne habit of talking about oneself, or of 
parading one’s own doings. Egotist, one 
addicted to egotism. 

Egypt, in Dryden’s satire of Absalom and 
Achitophel, means France. 

Egypt and Tyrus [Holland] intercept your trade. 

And Jebusites [Papists] your sacred rites invade. 

Pt. I, 705-6. 

Crowns of Egypt. Ancient Egypt was divided 
into two parts, Upper Egypt, or the South 
Land, ana Lower Egypt, or the Northern 
Land, the kings styling themselves suten bat , 
kings of the north and south. As ruler of the 
two countries each king wore the crown made 

11 * 


up of the White Crown of the South and the 
Red Crown of the North, and it is from this 
crown, named Pschent, that they can be distin- 
guished in hieroglyphics or on monuments. 

Egyptian days. Unlucky days, da^s on 
which no business should be undertaken. The 
Egyptian astrologers named two in each 
month, but the last Monday in April, the 
second Monday of August, and the third 
Monday of December seem to have been 
specially baneful. , ‘ 

For there ben xxiiii Egypcyan dayes it folowyth that 
god sente mo wreches upon the Egypcyens than tan. 
— Trevisa: Trans. of“De Proprietatibus Rerum** by 
Bartholomceus Anglicus (1398). 

Eight. Behind the eight ball. In a dangerous 
position, from which it is impossible to escape. 
The phrase comes from the gam© of Kelly 
pool, in one variety of which all the balls must 
be pocketed in a certain order, except the 
black ball, numbered eight. If another ball 
touches the eight ball, the player is penalised. 
Therefore, if the eight ball is in front of the 
one which he intends to pocket, he is in a 
hazardous position. 

One over the eight, a euphemism for slightly 
drunk. 

Eikon Basilike (i' kon baz iT i ki) (Gr. royal 
likeness). EIKQN BAEIAIKH ; the Pour t rale - 
lure of His Sacred Majestie in His Solitudes and 
Sufferings , was published in 1649 and purported 
to set forth the private meditations, prayers, 
and thoughts of Charles I on the political 
situation during and before his imprisonment. 
Its authorship was at first attributed by Royal- 
ists to the king himself, and so late as 1824 
this theory was supported by Christopher 
Wordsworth, Master of Trinity College, 
Cambridge. At the time of the Restoration 
John Gauden (1605-62) claimed authorship of 
it when putting up for the bishopric of Wor- 
cester; but who actually wrote it is still an open 
question. 

Eisell (I' sel). An old name for vinegar (acetic 
acid); through Old Fr. from Late Lat .acetillum, 
diminutive of acetum . Hamlet asks Laertes, 
Wouldst drink up eisell — to show your love to 
the dead Ophelia ? In the Troy Book of Lydgate 
we have the line “Of bitter eysell and of eager 
(sour) wine.” And in Shakespeare’s sonnets: — 
I will drink 

Potions of eysell, ’gainst my strong infection; 

No bitterness that I will bitter think, 

Nor double penance to correct correction. 

Elsenhower Platz. Nickname of Grosvenor 
Square, London, during World War II, when 
all the buildings surrounding the square were 
occupied by American Military Headquarters. 

Eisteddfod (i ste//*' vod). The meetings of the 
Welsh bards and others now held annually 
for the encouragement of Welsh literature and 
music. (Welsh, “a sessions,” from ejfstedd \ to 
sit.) 

El Dorado (elddra'dd) (Sp. the gilded). 
Originally, the name given to the supposed 
king of Manoa, the fabulous city of enormous 
wealth as located by the early explorers on the 
Amazon. He was said to be covered with Oil 
and then powdered with gold-dust, an opera- 
tion performed from time to time so that he 


Elagabalus 


324 


Electra 


was permanently, and literally, gilded. Many 
expeditions, both from Spain and England 
(two of which were led by Sir Walter Raleigh) 
tried to discover this king, and the name was 
later ^transferred to his supposed territory. 
Hence any extraordinarily rich region, or vast 
accumulation of gold, precious stones, or 
similar wealth. 

Elagabalus (el a g£b' a lus). A Syro-Phoenician 
sun-god, worshipped in Rome and represented 
under, the form of a huge conical stone. The 
Roman emperor, originally Varius Avitus 
Bassanius (a.d. 205-22), son of a cousin of 
Caracalla but put forward as a son of Cara- 
calla himself, was so called because in child- 
hood he had been a priest of Elagabalus (or 
Heliogabalus). Of all the Roman emperors 
none exceeded him in debauchery. His cruelties 
were so hideous and his personal habits so 
loathsome that there can be no doubt of his 
insanity. He reigned about four years (a.d. 2 1 8 - 
22), and was put to death by the pnetorians. 

Elaine. The “lily maid of Astolat" (<?.v.), who 
in Tennyson’s Lancelot and Elaine ( Idylls of 
the King), in which he follows Malory (Bk. 
XVIII, ch. ix-xx), loved Sir Lancelot “with that 
love which was her doom.” See Diamond 
jousts. 

Elbow. See Ell. 

A knight of the elbow. A gambler. 

At one’s elbow. Close at hand. 

Elbow grease. Hard manual labour, especi- 
ally rubbing and scrubbing. A humorous 
expression that was in use at least three 
hundred years ago. We say “ Elbow grease is 
the best furniture oil." 

Elbow room. Sufficient space for the work in 
hand. 

More power to your elbow. A jocular toast 
implying that a stronger elbow will lift more 
glasses to the mouth. 

Out at elbow. Shabbily dressed, “down at 
heel." 

To elbow one’s way in. To push one’s way 
through a crowd; to get a place by hook or 
crook. 

To elbow out; to be elbowed out. To super- 
sede; to be ousted by a rival. 

To lift the elbow. To drink; usually said of 
an habitual drinker. 

Up to one’s elbows. Very busy, full of work. 
Work piled up to one’s elbows. 

Elden Hole. Elden Hole needs filling. A reproof 
given to great braggarts. Elden Hole is a deep 
chasm in the Derbyshire Peak, long reputed to 
be bottomless. See Scott’s Peveril of the Peak , 
ch. iii. 

Elder Brethren. See Trinity House. 

Elder-tred.' A tree of evil associations in 
popular legend, and, according to mediaeval 
fable, that on which Judas Iscariot hanged 
himself, the mushroom-like excrescences on 
the bark still being known as Judas's (or 
Jew's) ears. 

Sir John Maundeville, speaking (1364) of 
the Pool of Siloe, says, “Fast by is the elder- 


tree on which Judas hanged himself . . . when 
he sold and betrayed our Lord." Shakespeare, 
in Love's Labour's Lost , V, ii, says, “Judas was 
hanged on an elder." 

Judas he japed 
With Jewen silver. 

And sithen on an eller 
Hanged hymsclve. 

Vision of Piers Plowman: Passus I. 

See also Fig-tree; Judas Tree. 

A pleasant, old-fashioned country wine is 
made from elderberries. 

Eleanor Crosses. The crosses erected by 
Edward I to commemorate his queen, Eleanor, 
whose body was brought from Nottingham- 
shire to Westminster for burial. At each of 
the following places, where the body rested, a 
cross was set up: Lincoln, Grantham, Stam- 
ford, Geddington, Northampton, Stony Strat- 
ford, Waltham, West Cheap (Cheapside). Of 
these only the crosses at Geddington, North- 
ampton and Waltham now exist. See Charing 
Cross. 

Eleatic Philosophy. Founded by Xenophanes 
of Elea (c. 530 b.c.), who, in opposition to 
the current Greek system founded on poly- 
theism and anthropomorphism, taught the 
unity and unchangeableness of the Divine. 
Through Parmenides and Zeno in the 5th 
century the school exercised great influence on 
Plato. 

Elecampane. A composite plant (Inula heleth 
ium), the candied roots of which (like ginger) 
are used as a sweetmeat, and which was 
formerly fabled to have magical properties, 
such as curing wounds, conferring immortality, 
etc. Pliny tells us it sprang from Helen’s tears. 

Here, take this essence of elecampane; 

Rise up, Sir George, and tight again. 

Miracle Play of St. George. 

Elector. A prince who had a vote in the 
election of the Emperor of the Holy Roman 
Empire. As established by the Golden Bull 
of 1356 these were the spiritual rulers of 
Mayence, Treves and Cologne; the temporal 
rulers of the Rhine Palatinate, Saxony, Bran- 
denburg and Bohemia, and from time to time 
other German princes such as the rulers of 
Bavaria (1648), Hanover (1692), etc. In 1806 
Napoleon broke up the old Empire, and the 
College of Electors was dissolved. 

The Great Elector. Frederick William of 
Brandenburg (1620-88). 

Electra. One of the Pleiades (q.v.)> mother of 
Dardanus, the mythical ancestor of the Trojans. 
She is known as “the Lost Pleiad," for it is 
said that she disappeared a little before the 
Trojan war, that she might be saved the 
mortification of seeing the ruin of her beloved 
city. She showed herself occasionally to mortal 
eye, but always in the guise of a comet. See 
Odyssey , V and Iliad , XVII 1. 

Electra, the sister of Orestes, figures in the 
Oresteia of Aeschylus and two other dramas, 
both entitled Electra , by Sophocles and Euri- 
pedes. The daughter of Agamemnon and 
Clytemnestra, she incited Orestes to kill their 
mother in revenge for the latter’s murder of 
Agamemnon on his return from Troy. In 




Electricity 


325 


Elephant and Castle 


modern psychology an Elcctra complex is a 
girl's attraction towards her father accompan- 
ied by hostility towards her mother. 

Electricity (Gr. elektron , amber). Thales (600 
b.c.) observed that amber when rubbed 
attracted light substances, and this observa- 
tion followed out has led to the present science 
of electricity. 

Electronic Brain. An inaccurate term invented 
by newspaper journalists to describe a calcu- 
lating machine in which the ordinary mechani- 
cal processes of reckoning are performed by 
the employment of thermionic valves. 

Electuary (e lek' tu &r i). Coming from a 
Greek word meaning to lick up, this term is 
applied in pharmacy to medicines sweetened 
with honey or syrup, and originally meant to 
be licked ofT the spoon by the patient. 

Elegant Extracts. The 85th Foot, remodelled 
in 1813 after the numerous courts-martial 
which then occurred. The officers of the 
regiment were removed, and officers drafted 
from other regiments were substituted in their 
places. The 85th is now The King’s Shropshire 
Light Infantry. 

At Cambridge, in the good old times, men 
who were too good to be plucked and not 
good enough for the poll, but who were yet 
allowed to pass, were nicknamed the Elegant 
Extracts. There was a similar limbo in the 
honour list, called the Gulf (^.v.), in allusion 
to the “great gulf fixed.” Both nicknames 
come from the late- 18th-century liking for 
anthologies called “Elegant Extracts.” 

Elegiacs. Verse consisting of alternate hexa- 
meters (< 7 .v.) and pentameters (</.v.), so called 
because it was the metre in which the elegies 
of the Greeks and Romans were usually 
written. In Latin it was commonly used by 
Ovid, Catullus, Tibullus, and others; the 
following is a good specimen of English 
elegiacs 

Man with inviolate caverns, impregnable holds in his 
nature, 

Depths no storm can pierce, pierced with a shaft of 
the sun: 

Man that is galled with his confines, and burdened yet 
more with his vastness, 

Born too great for his ends, never at peace with his 
goal. 

Sir Wm. Watson : Hymn to the Sea (1899). 
Element. In modern scientific parlance an 
element is a substance which resists analysis 
or splitting up into different substances. The 
number of elements for long stood at 96, but 
with the great advances of atomic science it is 
possible to create ‘ artificial ’ elements, and the 
number is now over 100. But in ancient and 
mediaeval philosophy an element was one of the 
simple substances of which all things were held 
to be composed. Aristotle, following Empe- 
docles of Sicily (c. 450 b. c.), taught that there 
were four, viz. hre, air, water, and earth; but 
later a fifth, the quinta essentia , or quintessence, 
which was supposed to be common to the four 
and to unify them, was added. 

The word is often applied loosely and figura- 
tively, and is used to describe the resistance 
wire and former of a resistance type of electric 
heater; also to denote one of the electrodes of 
a primary or secondary cell. In military 


parlance it is used to describe detached por- 
tions of a unit or formation. 

In one’s element. In one’s usual surround- 
ings, within one’s ordinary range of activity, 
enjoying oneself thoroughly. The allusion is to 
the natural abode of any animals, as the air 
to birds, water to fish. 

The elements. Atmospheric powers; the 
winds, storms, etc. 

I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness; 

I never gave you kingdom, call’d you children, 

You owe me no subscription: then, let fall 

Your horrible pleasure. 

King Lear , III, ii. 

Elephant. Elephants have been used by oriental 
potentates for state ceremonies or as engines of 
war from time immemorial. When the 
Romans first saw elephants, in the army of 
Pyrrhus, they called them “Leuconian oxen”; 
their horses refused to face the great beasts 
and galloped back, causing panic among the 
infantry. In 250 b.c. Caecilius Metellus 
vanquished Hasdrubal at Panormus and 
captured 120 elephants which were taken in 
strong rafts across the sea to adorn the pro- 
consul’s triumph. 

A white elephant. Some possession the 
expense or responsibility of which is more than 
it is worth. The allusion is to the story of a 
King of Siam who used to make a present of a 
white elephant to courtiers whom he wished 
to ruin. 

The Order of the White Elephant is a Danish 
military order of knighthood, traditionally 
said to have been founded in 1189 in memory 
of a Danish soldier who slew one. Historically 
it dates from 1462; it was reconstituted in 
1693, and is limited to princes of the blood and 
thirty knights. The badge is a white elephant 
carrying a tower and with a Hindu driver 
seated on its neck. 

King of the White Elephant. The proudest 
title borne by the old kings of Ava and Siam. 
In Ava the white elephant bore the title of 
“lord,” and had a minister of high rank to 
superintend his household. 

Only an elephant can bear an elephant's load. 

An Indian proverb: Only a great man can do 
the work of a great man; also, the burden is 
more than I can bear; it is a load fit for an 
elephant. 

Elephant paper. A large-sized drawing- 
paper measuring 23 inches by 28. Double 
Elephant is a standard size of printing paper 
27 by 40 inches. Long Elephant is a term em- 
ployed for paper hangings, 12 yards long, 
usually 22 inches wide. The name is probably 
from an ancient watermark. 

To see the elephant. (U.S.A.). To see all 
there is to see. 

Elephant and Castle. A public-house sign 
at Newington that has given its name to a 
railway station and to a district in South 
London. The sign is the crest of the Cutlers* 
Company, who owned the site and into whose 
trade the use of ivory entered largely. In ancient 
times war elephants bore fortified “castles” 
on their backs from which bowmen and armed 
knights penetrated into the enemy’s ranks. 



Elephanta 


326 


Eliott’s Tailors 


Elephanta (el e f5n' t&). A small island in 
Bombay harbour, 6 miles east of the city. It is 
about 4J miles in circumference, and is 
famous for its rock temples and caves with 
Hindu sculpture. It should not be confused 
with Elephantine Island, in the Nile, off 
Assouan, from which sprang the kings of the 
Vth dynasty. There are royal tombs on the 
island and the famous Nilometer, dating from 
Ptolemajc days. 

Eleusinian Mysteries, The religious rites in 
honour of Demeter or Ceres, performed 
originally at Eleusis, Attica, but later at 
Athens as part of the state religion. There were 
Greater and Lesser Eleusinia, the former being 
celebrated between harvest and seedtime and 
the latter in early spring. Little is known about 
the details, but the rites included sea bathing, 
processions, religious dramas, etc., and the 
initiated Attained thereby a happy life beyond 
the grave. 

Elevation of the Host, This is the term used for 
the raising of the Host and the Chalice after 
consecration in the Mass, for the adoration 
of the faithful. 

Eleven. This is the O.E. endlesfon , from a 
Teutonic ainlif the ain- representing “one,’* 
and the suffix being cognate with the Lithuan- 
ian - lika (and probably with Lat. linquere , to 
leave; liqui, left) in wenolika, eleven, the 
meaning being that there is still one left to 
be counted after counting ten (the fingers ot 
the two hands). 

At the eleventh hour. Just in time; from the 
parable in Matt, xx, 1-16, 

The Eleven Thousand Virgins. See Ursula. 

Elf. Originally a dwarfish being of Teutonic 
mythology, possessed of magical powers which 
it used either for the benefit or to the detriment 
of mankind. Later the name was restricted to 
a malignant kind of imp, and later still to those 
airy creatures that dance on the grass in the 
full moon, have fair golden nair, sweet 
musical voices, magic harps, etc. 

Spenser relates ( Faerie Queene , II, x, 70): — 
How first Prometheus did create 

A man, of many partes from beasts derived . . . 

That man so made he called Elfe, to weet 

Quick, the first authour of all Elfin kind. 

Spenser’s remark that elf means “quick” is, 
of course, an invention; as also is the amusing 
one (mentioned with disapproval by Johnson) 
that Elf and Goblin are derived from “Guelf 
and Ghibelline”; the word is O.E. (elf from 
Joel, dlfr , and Teut. alp, a nightmare. 

Elf-arrows. Arrow-heads of the neolithic 
period so called. At one time they were 
supposed to be shot by elves at people and 
cattle out of malice or revenge. 

Elf-fire. The ignis fatuus (q.v.); also pop- 
ularly called Will o’ the Wisp, Jack o’ lanthorn, 
Peg-a-lantem, or Kit o’ the canstick (candle- 
stick). 

Elf-locks. Tangled hair. It used to be said 
that one of the favourite amusements of 
Queen Mab was to tie people’s hair in knots. 
When Edgar impersonates a madman, “he 
elfs all his hair in knots.” (Lear, II, iii.) 


This Is that very Mab 
That plats the manes of horses in the night, 

Ajid bakes the elf-locks in foul sluttish hairs. 

Romeo and Juliet , I, iv. 

Elf-marked, Those born with a natural 
defect, according to the ancient Scottish 
superstition, are marked by the elves for 
mischief. Queen Margaret called Richard III ; 
Thou elvish-marked, abortive, rooting hog! 

Richard III, I, iii. 

Elf-shot. Afflicted with some unknown 
disease which was supposed to have been 
caused by an elf-arrow. 

Elgin Marbles (el' gin). The 7th Earl of Elgin 
(1766-1841) was envoy to the Sublime Porte 
(Turkey) from 1799 to 1803, and on visits to 
Greece — at that time a Turkish possession — 
he observed that from neglect and depreda- 
tions many Classical sculptures, etc., were in 
danger of destruction. At his own expense he 
made a collection of statuary and sculpture 
(including several works of Pnidias) from the 
Parthenon and the Erechtheion and brought 
them to England. In 1812 he sold them to the 
British Government for £35,000, which was 
half what he had paid for their removal. He 
also brought casts of various objects left in 
situ , and a comparison of these casts with the 
originals as preserved to-day reveals con- 
siderable damage in the interval, and justifies 
Elgin’s removal of what was brought to 
England. They are in the British Museum. 

Elia (e' ly&). A nom de plume adopted by 
Charles Lamb (1775-1834). 

The adoption of this signature was purely acciden- 
tal. Lamb’s first contribution to the London Magazine 
was a description of the old South-Sea House, where 
he had passed a few months’ novitiate as a clerk, . . . 
and remembering the name of a gay light-hearted 
foreigner, who fluttered there at the time, substituted 
his name for his own. — Talfourd. 

Eliab. In Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel 
Eliab is meant for Henry Bennet, Earl of 
Arlington. Eliab was one of the chiefs of the 
Gadites who joined David at Ziklag (I Citron. 
xii). 

Elidure (el' i dGr). A legendary king of Britain, 
who, according to some accounts, was ad- 
vanced to the throne in place of his elder 
brother, Arthgallo (or Artegal), supposed by 
him to be dead. Arthgallo, after a long exile, 
returned to his country, and Elidure resigned 
to him the throne. Wordsworth has a poem on 
the subject {Artegal and Elidure ); and Milton 
{History of Britain , Bk. I) says that Elidure 
had “a mind so noble, and so moderate, as is 
almost incredible to have been ever found.” 

Eligius, St. See Eloi, St. 

Elijah’s Melons. Certain stones on Mount 
Carmel are so called. 

The story is that the owner of the land refused to 
supply the wants of the prophet, and consequently his 
melons were transformed into stones. — Stanley: 
Sinai and Palestine . 

Eliot, George. The pseudonym of Mary Ann 
Evans (1819-80). Her first novel appearing 
under this name was Scenes of Clerical Life, 
1858. 

Eliott’s Tailors. See Regimental Nicknames. 




Elissa 


327 


Embarras de Rfchesse 


Elissa (el is' *). Step-sister of Medina and 
Perissa, and mistress of Hudibras in Spenser’s 
Faerie Queene (II, ii). 

By Virgil, Ovid, etc., Dido, Queen of 
Carthage, was sometimes called “Elissa.” 

Elixir of Life. The supposed potion of the 
alchemists that would prolong life indefinitely. 
It was imagined sometimes as a dry drug, 
sometimes as a fluid. Elixir (Arab, a powder 
for sprinkling on wounds) also meant among 
alchemists the philosopher’s stone, the tincture 
for transmuting metals, etc., and the name is 
now given to any sovereign remedy for disease 
— especially one of a “quack” character. 

Elizabeth. The name is originally Hebrew and 
means “God is swearer” or “God has sworn.” 
Among its large number of variants are: Eliza, 
Elsie, Elsabin (Scandinavian), Elspeth, Lizzy, 
Elisabet, Elisabetta, Elisavetta, Elise, Isabel, 
Jsabeau, Isa, Lescinska (Russian), Betty, 
Betsy, Bettina, Bess, Bessy, Beth, etc. 

St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Patron saint of 
queens, being herself a queen. She died in 1231 
at the age of 24, and her day is November 19th. 
For the story of the conversion of flowers into 
bread, see Melon. 

Ell. An old measure of length which, like footy 
was taken from a part of the body, viz. the 
forearm. The word (O.E. eln) is from a Teutonic 
word a Una, the forearm to the tip of the mid- 
dle finger, which also gives elbow (q.v.) and is 
cognate with Lat. ulna. The ell was of various 
lengths. The English ell was 45 inches, the 
Scots ell only 37 inches, while the Flemish ell 
was three-quarters of a yard, and a French 
ell a yard and a half. 

Give him an inch, and he’ll take an ell. Give 
him a little licence, and he will take great 
liberties, or make great encroachments. 

'Hie King’s Ell-wand. The group of stars 
called “Orion’s Beit.” 

Ellyllon. The name given by the ancient Welsh 
bards to the souls of the Druids, which, being 
too good for hell, and not good enough for 
heaven, wander upon earth till the Judgment 
Day, when they will be admitted to a higher 
state of being. 

Elmo. See Corposant. 

Elohim. The plural form of the Heb. eloah , 
God, sometimes used to denote heathen 
gods collectively (Chemosh, Dagon, Baal, etc.), 
but more frequently used as a singular denqting 
one god, or God Himself. In I Sam. xxviii, 13, 
where the witch of Endor tells Saul “I saw 
gods [Heb. elohim ] ascending out of the 
earth,” this is an exceptional use of the word, 
and would seem to imply spirits of the de- 
parted, rather than gods. See next article. 

Elohistic and Jehovistic Scriptures. Elohim 
and Jehovah ( Jahveh or Yahve) are two of the 
most usual of the many names given by the 
ancient Hebrews to the Deity, and the fact 
that they are both used with interchangeable 
senses in the Pentateuch gave rise to the 
theory, widely held by Hebraists and biblical 
critics, that these books were written at two 
widely different periods; the Elohistic para- 
graphs, being more simple, more primitive, 


more narrative, and more pastoral, being held 
to be the older; while the later Jehovistic 
paragraphs, which indicate a knowledge of 
geography and history, seem to exalt the 
priestly office, and are altogether of a more 
elaborate character, were subsequently en- 
woven with these. See Jehovah. 

Eloi, St., or St. Eligius (el' oi, el ij' 1 us). Patron 
saint of artists and smiths. He was a famous 
worker in gold and silver, and was made 
Bishop of Noyon in the reign of Dagobert (6th 
century). His day is December 1st. 

Eloquent. The old man eloquent. Isocrates 
(436-338 b.c.), the Greek orator. When he 
heard that Grecian liberty was extinguished by 
the battle of Chaeronea, he died of grief. 

That dishonest victory 
At Chaeronea, fatal to liberty. 

Killed with report that old man eloquent. 

Milton: Sonnets (To Lady Margdret Ley). 

The eloquent doctor. Peter Aureolus (14th 
century), Archbishop of Aix, a schoolman. 

Elsinore. The castle at which the action of 
Shakespeare’s Hamlet takes place. It is 
actually Kronborg Castle, situated at Helsingor, 
north of Copenhagen. 

Elysium (e liz' i um). The abode of the blessed 
in Greek mythology; hence the Elysian Fields, 
the Paradise or Happy Land of the Greek 
poets. Elysian means nappy, delightful. 

Elzevir (el' ze ver). An edition of a classic 
author, published and printed by the family 
of Elzevir over the period from 1583 to about 
1710. Louis, founder of the family, settled in 
Leyden about 1580; in 1583 he printed J. 
Drusii Ebraicum quaestionum , ana in 1592 
published at his own risk a Eutropius, by P. 
Merula. Louis and his descendants carried on 
the press at Leyden until 1654, when it was 
moved to Amsterdam. After some years it was 
split up, a few Elzevir volumes being published 
in Utrecht (1667-72), and Abraham, the last of 
the family, being university printer at Leyden, 
1681-1712. Many Elzevir editions bear no 
other typographical mark than the words 
A pud ElzeverioSy or Ex Officina Elzeveriana . 
The total number of works bearing the name 
of Elzevir is 1213, of which 968 are in Latin, 
44 in Greek, 126 in French and 75 in other 
languages. 

Em. The unit of measure in printing. The 
square of the body of any size of type. For 
standard purposes the pica em is taken, 
measuring 12 points or one-sixth of an inch. 
The depth and width of a printed page is 
measured in ems. An en is half an em, and is 
the average width of the letters in a fount; it is 
thus used as a basis for casting-off or esti- 
mating a quantity of typed matter. 

Embargo (em bar' gd). To lay an embargo on. 
To prohibit, to forbid. The word comes from 
the Spanish embargar y to detain, and is 
especially applied to the prohibition of foreign 
ships to enter or leave a port, or undertake any 
commercial transaction, also to the seizure of 
a ship, goods, etc., for the use of the State, 

Embarras de Richesse (om ba ra' de re sties') 
(Fr.). A perplexing amount of wealth, or too 
great an abundance of anything; more matter 


Ember Days 


328 


Emperor 


than can conveniently be employed. The phrase 
was used as the title of a play by the Abbe 
d’Allainval (1753). 

Ember Days. The Wednesday, Friday, and 
Saturday of the four Ember Weeks , which 
were fixed by the Council of Placentia (1095), 
as those containing the first Sunday in Lent, 
Whit Sunday, Holy Cross Day (September 
14th), and St. Lucia’s Day (December 13th). 
The name is the M.E. ymber , from O.L. ymbren 
(i.e. ymb , about; ryne , running), a period or 
revolution. 

Ember goose. The northern diver or loon; 
called in Norway imbre , because it appears on 
the coast about the time of the Enber days in 
Advent. The German name of the bird is 
Adventsvogel. 

Emblem. A symbolical figure; a picture with 
a hidden meaning which is “cast into” (Gr. cm, 
in; ballein, to cast) the visible device. Thus, a 
balance is an emblem of justice, white of purity, 
a sceptre of sovereignty. 

Some of the most common and simple 
emblems of the Christian Church are: — 

A chalice . The eucharist. 

The circle inscribed in an equilateral triangle. 
or the triangle in a circle. To denote the co- 
equality and co-eternity of the Trinity. 

A cross. The Christian’s life and conflict; 
the death of Christ for man’s redemption. 

A crown. The reward of the perseverance of 
the saints. 

A dove. The Holy Ghost. 

A hand from the clouds. To denote God the 
Father. 

A lamb , fish , pelican , etc. The Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

A phoenix. The resurrection. 

Emblematical poems. Poems consisting of 
lines of different lengths so that when printed 
or written the outline of the poem on the page 
can be made to represent the object of the 
verse. Thus, George Herbert in the Temple 
prints a poem on the Altar that is shaped like 
an altar, and one on Easter Wings like wings. 
George Puttenham in his Arte of English 
Poesie (1589) gives a chapter on this form of 
word-torture (which he calls “Proportion in 
Figure”), giving examples of eggs, crosses, 
pillars, pyramids, etc., and it was gibbeted by 
Ben Jonson, Dryden, Addison, and others. 

As for altars and pyramids in poetry, he has out- 
done all men that way; for he has made a gridiron and 
a frying-pan in verse, that besides the likeness in 
shape, the very tone and sound of the words did 
perfectly represent the noise that is made by these 
utensils. — Samuel Butler: Character of a Small Poet. 

Emelye (em 7 e li). The sister-in-law of “Duke 
Theseus,” beloved by the two knights, Pal- 
amon and Arcyte, the former of whom had her 
to wife. 

Emerald. According to Eastern tradition, if a 
serpent fixes its eyes upon an emerald it 
becomes blind (Ahmed ben Abdalaziz: 
Treatise on Jewels). Other properties were also 
given to it, and in The Lover's Complaint 
(usually printed as though by Shakespeare) 
the author speaks of: — 

The deep-green emerald, in whose fresh regard 

Weak sights their sickly radiance do amend. 


The Emerald Isle. Ireland. This term was 
first used by Dr. Drennan (1754-1820), in the 
poem called Erin. Of course, it refers to the 
bright-green verdure of the island. 

Nor one feeling of vengeance presume to defile 

The cause or the men of the Emerald Isle. 

E. J. Drennan: Erin . 

Emeritus (e mer' i tus). Deriving from the 
Latin emereri , to serve but one’s time, the 
word is now used of a professor, minister, etc., 
who is retired from his office by reason of age 
or illness but retained on the rolls with full 
honour. 

Emeute (a milt') (Fr.). A seditious rising or 
small riot. Literally, a moving-out (Lat. 
e-moveo). 

Emilie (enT i le). The “divine Emilie,” to whom 
Voltaire wrote verses, was the Marquise du 
Chatclet, with whom he lived at Cirey for some 
ten years, between 1735 and 1749. 

Empanel and empannel. These similar words 
have very different meanings. To empanel is 
to form a list of jurors, or to enrol them; to 
empannel (a rarely used word, it is true) is to 
saddle a horse or ass, or more particularly to 
put the pack-saddle on a beast of burden. 

Empedocles (em ped' 6 klez). A Greek phil- 
osopher, poet, and statesman (c. 500-430 
b.c.), a disciple of Pythagoras. According to 
Lucian, he cast himself into the crater of Etna, 
that persons might suppose he was returned 
to the gods; but Etna threw out his sandal, and 
destroyed the illusion. (Horace: Ars Poetica y 
404.) 

He who, to be deemed 
A god, leaped fondly into /Etna flames, 
Empedocles. Milton: Paradise Lost. Ill, 471. 

Matthew Arnold published (1853) a classical 
drama with the title Empedocles on Etna. 

Emperor. The term derives from the Latin 
imperator through the O.Fr. emperere. 
Originally used by the Romans for the com- 
mander of an army, later for the governors of 
provinces, and finally for the head of the 
Empire. Julius Ctesar, though not the first 
Roman emperor, was the first ruler of the 
Empire to use the title, and it remained in use 
to the end of the Empire. In modern times it 
has been the highest title of regal dignity. 

In 1804 Napoleon crowned himself Emperor 
of the French; the First Empire fell in 1815, 
and the Second Empire under Napoleon III 
lasted from 1853 until 1870. 

In 1870 William i, King of Prussia, was 
declared Emperor of Germany (Kaiser) and 
that empire lasted until the abdication of 
William II, in 1918. 

Ivan the Terrible was called Tsar, or 
Emperor of Moscow in 1533, but it was Peter 
the Great who established the Tsardom of 
Russia in 1689. The Russian Empire as an 
autocracy lasted until 1917. 

Victor Emanuel III, King of Italy, was de- 
clared Emperor of Abyssinia in 1936; eight 
years later he and his family were deposed and 
exiled from Italy. 

The British sovereigns were Emperors of 
India from 1876 until the partition of the 
continent into the Republic of India and 
Dominion of Pakistan, in 1947. 



Emperor 


329 


Encratites 


Outside Europe: Brazil was an empire 1821- 
89; Mexico, 1822-3 and 1864-7; Haiti, 
1804-6. The term Emperor has also been 
applied loosely to the sovereigns of China, 
Japan, Mongolia, Ethiopia and Manchuria. 

Emperor. A standard size of drawing paper 
measuring 48 by 72 inches. This is the largest 
sheet made by hand. 

Emperor, not for myself, but for my people. 
The maxim of Hadrian, the Roman Emperor 
(117-138). 

The Emperor of Believers. Omar I (581-644), 
father-in-law of Mohammed, and second caliph 
of the Mussulmans. 

Emperor’s Chambermaids, The. Nickname 
of the 14th King’s Hussars (now the 14th/20th 
King’s Hussars), who captured a silver 
chamber-pot belonging to Joseph Buonaparte. 

Empire City, The. New York, the great 
commercial city of the United States. New 
York State, on account of its leading position 
in wealth, population, etc., is called the 
Empire State. Hence the name of the tallest 
skyscraper in the city. 

Empire Style. The style of furniture, costume, 
etc., that came into vogue during the Consulate 
and Empire of Napoleon, lasting approxi- 
mately from 1800 until 1820. The Empire style 
followed on after the pseudo-classical fervour 
of the Revolution, but was itself largely in- 
spired by Napoleon’s wish to embellish his 
court with something of the splendour of 
imperial Rome. The campaign in Egypt added 
certain Egyptian touches, such as the intro- 
duction of the sphinx into its style of ornamen- 
tation. In architecture the Empire style was 
largely an imitation of the Roman; in furniture 
there was a certain massiveness and angularity, 
and a great use of metal (chiefly bronze) 
applique ornament. Though Napoleon him- 
self observed the utmost simplicity the court 
costume was rich and ornate, especially in the 
military and civil uniforms. Women’s fashions 
changed constantly, but the high-waisted 
Grecian style remained a constant motif. 

Empirics. An ancient Greek school of medicine 
founded by Serapion of Alexandria, who 
contended that it is not necessary to obtain a 
knowledge of the nature and functions of the 
body in order to treat diseases, but that ex- 
perience is the surest and best guide (Gr. 
empeiroSy experienced; from peira, trial). They 
were opposed to the Dogmatic School founded 
by Hippocrates, which made certain dogmas 
or theoretical principles the basis of practice. 
Hence any quack or pretender to medical 
skill is called an empiric . 

We must not 

So stain our judgment, or corrupt our hope, 

To prostitute our past-cure malady 
To empirics. 

All's Well That Ends Well, II, i. 

Empyrean (em pi re' &n). According to Ptolemy, 
there are five heavens, the last of which is pure 
elemental fire and the seat of deity; this fifth 
heaven is called the empyrean (Gr. empuros , 
fiery); hence, in Christian angelology, the 
3&Q<ie Qf God and the angels. See Heaven. 


Now had the Almighty Father from above, 

From the pure empyrean where He sits 

High throned above all height, bent down his eye. 

Milton: Paradise Lost , III, 56. 

En bloc (ongblok) (Fr.). The whole lot to- 
gether; en masse. 

En famille (ong fa me) (Fr.). In the privacy 
of one’s own home. 

En gar^on (ong gar' song) (Fr.). As a 
bachelor. “To take me en gargon" without 
ceremony, as a bachelor fares in ordinary life. 

En grande toilette ; en grande tenue (ong gron 
twa let) (Fr.). In full dress; dressed for a great 
occasion. 

En masse (ong mas) (Fr.). The whole lot just 
as it stands; the whole. 

En papillotes (Fr.). In a state of undress; 
literally, in curl-papers. Cutlets with, frills on 
them are en papillote. 

En passant (ong pas' ong) (Fr.). By the way. 
A remark made en passant is one dropped In, 
almost an aside. 

En pension (ong pon' si on) (Fr.). Pension is 
payment for board and lodging; hence, a 
boarding-house. “To live en pension ’* is to live 
at a boarding-house or at an hotel, etc., for a 
charge that includes board and lodging. 

En rapport (ong ra por) (Fr.). In harmony 
with; in sympathetic lines with. 

En route (ong root) (Fr.) On the way; on the 
road or journey. 

Encaenia (en se' ni a). The annual Commemora- 
tion, a festival concluding the academic year at 
Oxford University held in the Sheldonian 
Theatre {q.i\) during June. Benefactors are 
commemorated, honorary degrees conferred, 
prize compositions recited, and Commemora- 
tion Balls held by colleges in groups. The 
word is Latin, from the Greek word meaning 
commemoration. 

Enceladus (en sel' & dus). The most powerful of 
the hundred-armed giants, sons of Uranus 
and Ge, who conspired against Zeus (Jupiter). 
The king of gods and men cast him down at 
Phlegra, in Macedonia, and threw Mount 
Etna over him. The poets say that the flames 
of the volcano arise from the breath of this 
giant. 

Encomium (en ko' mi urn). From a Greek word 
meaning a eulogy or panegyric in honour of a 
victor in the Bacchic games; hence, praise, 
eulogy, especially of a formal nature. The 
encomium was sung in the procession which 
marched from kome to kome, i.e. village to 
village. 

Encore (ong kor). A good example of “English 
French’’ ( q.v .) ; our use of this word is unknown 
to the French, who say bis (twice) if they wish 
a thing to be repeated. Encore une tasse is 
“another cup,’’ encore unefois “once again.’* 

Encratites (en kr5t' i tez). A Gnostic and 
ascetical sect of the 2nd century, which con- 
demned marriage, forbade eating flesh or 
drinking wine, and rejected all the luxuries and 
comforts of life. The name is Greek, and 
Signifies “the self-disciplined** or “continent,” 


Encyclopedia 


330 


End-stopped 


Encyclopedia (cn si kid pe' di £).*: A book 
giving clear information on all branches of 
knowledge or on some particular art or science. 
One of the earliest known is that of Pliny the 
Elder (a.d. 23-79) entitled Naturalis historia in 
37 books, dealing mainly with geography, 
medicine and art. For many generations this 
served as a compendium of all that could be 
or needed to be known. In 1360 Bartholomew 
de Granville wrote De proprietatibus rentm, in 
19 books, starting with an article on God and 
ending with a list of birds* eggs. In 1704 John 
Harris (c. 1667-1719) produced a Lexicon 
technicum or an Universal Dictionary of Arts 
and Sciences, but this was soon overshadowed 
by the work of Ephraim Chambers (d. 1740) 
who, in 1728, brought out his Cyclopedia . . . 
a Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, in 
two volumes. With additions and supplements 
this was preprinted throughout the 18th century. 
The latest edition of Chambers's Encyclopedia 
was issued in 1961. The Encyclopedia Britan - 
mica was first published in Edinburgh, in three 
volumes, 1768-71, and went through many 
editions, each much larger than its predecessor, 
until the 11th (1908) which was issued, but not 
owned, by Cambridge University. In 1920 the 
Britannica passed into American hands, and 
subsequent editions have been issued by them, 
but latterly it has been a joint Anglo-American 
production. 

The French Encyclopedic ou Dictionnaire 
raisonne des sciences , etc., appeared in 28 
folio volumes (11 of which were of plates) 
between 1751 and 1765, with supplements, and 
an index which was published in 1780. It 
was edited by Diderot, assisted by d’Alembert, 
and many of the leading men of letters (hence 
called Encyclopedists) contributed to it. Its 
frank and objective attitude towards the 
problems of the times, towards science and 
religion, made it a potent weapon in the service 
of the philosophic doctrines that were in- 
fluential causes of the Revolution. 

End. A rope’s end. A short length of rope bound 
at the end with thread, and used for punishing 
the refractory. 

A shoemaker’s end. A length of thread 
pointed with a bristle, and used by shoemakers. 

At a loose end. See Loose. 

At my wits’ end. At a standstill how to 
proceed farther; nonplussed. 

East End. See West End, below. 

End it or mend it. Said when an impasse or a 
qrjsis is reached, when things are unbearable 
and something simply must be done. 

He is no end of a fellow. A capital chap; a 
most agreeable companion. 

Odds and ends. Fragments, remnants, odd 
ends of miscellaneous articles; bits and pieces 
of trifling value. 

On end. Erect; also, in succession, without a 
break, as “he’ll go on talking for days on end.” 

One’s latter end. The close of one’s life. 

So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than 
his beginning . — Job xlii, 12. 

The end justifies the means. A false doctrine, 
frequently condemned by various popes, which 


teaches that evil means may be employed to 
produce a good effect. The true doctrine is that 
an act is vitiated by any defect in the act itself; 
not even the smallest sin may be committed 
that good may come. 

The End must justifie the means: 

He only Sins who 111 intends: 

Since therefore ’tis to Combat Evil; 

Tis lawful to employ the Devil. 

Prior: Hans Carvel. 

The ends of the earth. The remotest parts of 
the earth, the regions farthest from civilization. 

To be one’s end. The cause or agent ofliis 
death. 

This apoplexie will be his end, 

Henry IV, Pt. //, IV, iv. 

To begin at the wrong end. To attempt to do 
something unmethodically. 

To burn the candle at both ends. See Burn. 

To come to the end of one’s tether. See 
Tether. 

To go off the deep end. To get unnecessarily 
excited. 

To have it at my finger’s end. See Finger. 

To make ends meet. To make one’s income 
cover expenses; to keep out of debt. 

To put an end to. To terminate or cause to 
terminate. 

To the bitter end. See Bitter. 

West end, East end. The quarter or part of a 
town west or east of the central part. In Lon- 
don, and many other large towns, the West 
End is the fashionable quarter and the East 
End the part where the working population 
lives. 

End of the world. The. According to 
rabbinical legend, the world is to last six 
thousand years. The reasons assigned are (1) 
because the name Yahweh contains six letters; 
(2) because the Hebrew letter m occurs six 
times in the book of Genesis', (3) because the 
patriarch Enoch, who was taken to heaven 
without dying, was the sixth generation from 
Adam (Seth, Enos, Cainan, MahalalceJ, Jared, 
Enoch); (4) because God created the world in 
six days; (5) because six contains three binaries 
— the first 2000 years were for the law of 
nature, the next *000 years the written law, 
and the last 2000 the law of grace. 

End-irons. Two movable iron cheeks or 
plates, used in cooking-stoves to enlarge or 
contract the grate at pleasure. The term ex- 
plains itself, but must not be mistaken for 
andirons or “dogs”. 

End papers. The two leaves front and back 
of a book, one of which is pasted down on to 
the inside of the cover and the other is a fly- 
leaf ; they were formally generally coloured or 
marbled, but in modern books generally 
white, though sometimes maps, plans etc. are 
printed on them. 

End-stopped. A term used in prosody de- 
noting that the sense of the line to which it is 
applied is completed with the line and does 
not run over to the next; the opposite of 



Endymion 


331 


Ennius 


enjambment. In the following lines the first 
is an example of enjambment, and the second 
is end-stopped : — 

Awake, my St. John, leave all meaner things 

To low ambition, and the pride of kings. 

Pope: Essay on Man , I, i. 

Endymion (en dim' i on). In Greek mythology, 
a beautiful youth, sometimes said to be a king 
and sometimes a shepherd, who, as he slept 
on Mount Latmus, so moved the cold heart of 
Selene, the Moon goddess, that she came down 
and kissed him and lay at his side. He woke to 
find her gone, but the dreams which she gave 
him were such that he begged Zeus to give him 
immortality and allow him to sleep perpetually 
on Mount Latmus. Other accounts say that 
Selene herself bound him by enchantment so 
that she might come and kiss him whenever 
she liked. Keats used the story as the frame- 
work of his long allegory, Endymion (1817), 
and it forms the basis of Lyly’s comedy, 
Endimion , the Man in the Moone (1585). 

The moon sleeps with Endymion, 

And would not be awaked. 

Merchant of Venice, V, i. 

Enemy. How goes the enemy? or What says the 
enemy? What o’clock is it? Time is the enemy 
of man, especially of those who are behind- 
hand. 

Enfant terrible (ong fong te rebl) (Fr.). Liter- 
ally, a terrible child. An embarrassing person, 
one who says or does awkward things at in- 
convenient times. 

Enfilade (en fi lad) (Fr.) means literally to spin 
out; to put thread in (a needle), as enjiler une 
aiguille ; to string beads by putting them on a 
thread, as enfiler des penes. Bullets being 
compared to thread, we get the meaning to fire 
them through opposing ranks as thread 
through a needle; hence, to scour or rake with 
shot from the flank. 

England. In O.E. it is Engla land , meaning the 
land of the Angles, a German tribe that occu- 
pied the district since called Angeln in northern 
Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. They invaded 
Britain in the 5th century, and settled in areas 
that became East Anglia, Mercia, and North- 
umbria. 

England’s Darling. A name given to Here- 
ward the Wake (fi. 1070), the patriot who held 
the Isle of Ely against William the Conqueror. 
After a blockade of three months, Hereward 
and some of his followers escaped. 

Little Englander. One who would rather see 
England small, contented, and as self-con- 
tained as possible than have her the head of a 
world-wide Empire, the possession of which 
might be a source of trouble and danger to her; 
the opposite to an Imperialist. The term was in 
use during the S. African War of 1899-1902. 

English. The language of the people of England ; 
also the people themselves. The language is a 
member of the West Germanic branch of the 
Germanic or Teutonic division of the Aryan or 
Indo-European family of languages. The his- 
tory of the language is divided into three phases, 
but the development of language is continuous, 
and therefore the dates are approximate. Old 
English (formerly, and still sometimes, called 


Anglo-Saxon) dates from the beginnings, 
about 700, to 1100; Middle English from 1100 
to 1500; and Modern or New English from 
1500. 

In typography, English was the name given 
to a large size of type, two points (i.e. one- 
thirty-sixth of an inch) larger than pica and * 
four points smaller than great primer. 

Basic English. See Basic. 

Borough English. See Borough. 

Plain English. Plain, unmistakable terms. 
To tell a person in plain English what you think * 
of him is to give your very candid opinion 1 
without any beating about the bush. 

The King’s (or Queen’s) English. English as 
it should be spoken. The term is found in 
Shakespeare ( Merry Wives , I, iv), but it is 
older, and was evidently common. Queene’s 
English occurs in Nash’s Strange Newes of the 
Intercepting Certaine Letters (1593), and “thou 
clipst the Kinge’s English” in Dekker’s 
Satiromastix (1602). 

These fine English clerkes will saih thei speake in 
their mother tongue, if a manne should charge them 
for counterfeityng the Kinges Englishe. — WILSON: 
Arte of Rhetoricke (1553). 

To put on English (U.S.A.). In billiards, to 
apply spin to the ball. 

English French. A kind of perversity seems 
to pervade many of the words which we have 
borrowed from the French. Thus, our curate 
is the Fr. vicaire , and our vicar the Fr. cure. 
Encore (Fr. bis). Epergne (Fr. surtout ); surtout 
(Fr. pardessus). Screw (Fr. vis), whereas the 
French ecrou we call a nut; and our vice is 
etau in French. Some still say a Voutrance (Fr. 
a on trance). We say double entendre , the French 
a double entente. 

Englishman. The national nickname of an 
Englishman is “John Bull” ( q.v .). The old 
French nickname for him was “Goddam.” 

An Englishman’s house is his castle. Because 
so long as a man shuts himself up in his own 
house, no bailiff can break through the door to 
arrest him or seize his goods. In the third of 
his Institutes Sir Edward Coke (d. 1634) says: — 

A man’s house is his castle, et dornus sua cuique 
tutissimum refugium. 

And, again, in his report on Semayne’s case; — 

The house of everyone is to him as his castle and 
fortress, as well for his defence against injury and 
violence as for his repose. 

Enjambment. See End-stopped. 

Enlightened Doctor, The. Raymond Lully of 
Palma (c. 1234-1315), a Spaniard, and one 
of the most distinguished ot the 13th-century 
scholastic philosophers. 

Enniskillen. See Inniskilling. 

Ennius (en' i fis). The earliest of the great epic 
poets of Rome (c. 239-169 b.c.), and chief 
founder of Latin literature. 

The English Ennius. Layamon (fi. c. 1200), 
who made a late Old English paraphrase of 
Wace’s Roman de Brut , has been so called, but 
the title is usually given to Chaucer. 

The French Ennius. Guillaume de Lorris 
(c. 1235-65), author of the Romance of the 



Ennius 


332 


Ephebi 


Rose, Sometimes Jehen de Meung (c. 1260- 
1318), who wrote a continuation of the 
romance, is so called. 

The Spanish Ennius. Juan de Mena (d. 1456), 
born at Cordova. 

Enow. The representative of the inflexional 
plural of the O.E. adjective genogh (mod. 
enough ), and still called by Johnson in his 
Dictionary (1755) “the plural of enough.” It 
was used for numbers reckoned by tale, as: 
There are chairs enow, nails enow, men 
enow, etc.; but now enough does duty for both 
words, and enow is archaic. 

Ensign (en' sfcn). 

The British Navy. The Union Jack (tf.v.). 
The white ensign (Royal Navy) is the banner of 
St. George with the Jack cantoned in the first 
quarter; the red ensign is that of the merchant 
navy; the blue , that of the Navy reserve. See 
Flag. 

U.S.A. The Stars and Stripes. 

In the British Army an ensign was formerly 
an officer to whom was entrusted the bearing 
of the regimental colours. It was the lowest 
commissioned rank, and in 1871 it was abol- 
ished, that of second lieutenant being substi- 
tuted though the rank is still retained in the 
Footguards. In Shakespearean times the word 
was twisted into “ancient” or “auncient.” In the 
U.S. Navy ensign is the lowest commissioned 
rank; it was instituted in 1862 when the rank 
of passed midshipman was abolished. 

Entail (en 7 tal). An estate in which the rights 
of the owner are cut down (Fr. tailler , to cut) 
by his being deprived of the power of alienating 
them and so barring the rights of his issue. 

To cut off the entail is to put an end to the 
limitation of an inheritance to a particular 
line or class of heirs. 

Entelechy (cn tel' e ki) (Gr. telos , perfection). 
Aristotle’s term for the complete realization 
or full expression of a function or potentiality; 
the result of the union of Matter ( potentiality ) 
and Form {reality); e.g. the soul, considered 
as an end that is attained, is the Entelechy of 
the body. 

You can never get at the final entelechy which 
differentiates Shelley and Shakespeare from the 
average versifier, Cluvienus and myself from Paler or 
from Browne. — Saintsbury: Hist, of English Prose 
Rhythm , Preface , (1912). 

In Rabelais’s Pantagruel (Bk. V, ch. xix), 
entelechy is the name given to the kingdom of 
the Lady Quintessence. The argument on the 
name, whether it is entelechy (perfecting and 
coming into actuality) or endelechy (duration) 
reflects the fierce disputes that took place 
among the mediaeval schoolmen on these two 
words. 

Entente cordiale (on tont' kor di al') (Fr.). A 
cordial understanding between nations; not 
amounting to an alliance, but something more 
than a rapprochement. The term is not new, 
but is now usually applied to the entente 
between England and France that was 
arranged largely by the personal endeavours of 
Edward VII in 1906. 

If Guizot remains in office Normanby must be 
recalled, as the only chance of a renewal of the entente 
cordiale. — Greville*s Diary , p. 189 (1 847). 


Enthusiast. Literally, one who is possessed or 
inspired by a God (Gr. en theos). Inspired is 
very similar, being the Lat. in spirare , to 
breathe in (the god-like essence). In the 17th 
and 18th centuries the word enthusiasm was 
applied disparagingly to emotional religion. 
It is, according to Locke, “founded neither on 
reason nor divine revelation, but rises from the 
conceits of a warmed or over-weening brain.” 

Entire. A term rarely used now in connexion 
with beer but still seen on inn signs, etc. 
Before the introduction of porter in the early 
18th century the chief malt liquors were ale, 
beer, and twopenny (a superior kind of ale sold 
at 2d. a pint). The constant demand for a 
mixture induced the brewers to combine the 
flavours of these three in a liquor drawn from 
one cask. This was called Entire, or, being 
much drunk by porters and their like, Porter. 

Entire is also used of stallions and other 
uncastrated animals. 

Entree (on' tra). In full-course dinners a made 
dish served between the fish and the joint; 
from this it has come to mean almost any made 
dish of meat or poultry. 

To have entree. To have the right or privilege 
of admission. 

Entremets (on' tre ma) are served between 
the roast and the dessert; in other words they 
are the sweet course, which in the U.S.A. is 
known as dessert. 

Entre nous (Fr.). Between you and me, in 
confidence. 

Eolian Harp. See AEolian. 

Eolithic Age, The (e o lith' ik). The name given 
by paleontologists to the earliest part of the 
Stone Age (Gr. cos, dawn; lithos, a stone), 
which is characterized by the rudest stone 
implements. 

Eolus. See AEolus 
Eon. See AEon. 

Epact (e' pakt) (Gr. epagein , to intercalate). 
The excess of the solar over the lunar year, the 
former consisting of 365 days, and the latter 
of 354, or eleven days fewer. The epact of any 
year is the number of days from the last new 
moon of the old year to the 1st of the following 
January. It was formerly used in determining 
the date of Easter. See Tables at beginning of 
Prayer Book. 

Epaulette (ep' aw let). A shoulder ornament 
worn by officers of the Royal Navy above the 
rank of sub-lieutenant, when in full dress. 
Epaulettes ceased to be worn in the Army in 
1855. Officers of the U.S. Navy above the 
rank of ensign wear epaulettes, but since 1872 
in the army they are worn by generals only. 

Ephebi (e fe' bi). Youths between the age of 
eighteen and twenty were so called at Athens. 
During this period they were trained to military 
duties, were maintained at the public cost, and 
wore a uniform. In later times entrance into 
this class became voluntary, and by the 2nd 
century b.c. courses in literature, rhetoric, and 
philosophy had replaced the military duties 
and instruction. 




Ephesian 


333 


Epode 


Ephesian. A jolly companion; a roysterer. The 
origin of the term is unknown. Cp. Corinthian, 
which Shakespeare used in much the same way, 
It is thine host, thine Ephesian, calls. 

Merry Wives of Windsor , IV, v. 

Diana of the Ephesians. See Diana. 

The Ephesian poet. Hipponax, born at 
Ephesus in the 6th century b.c. 

Ephialtes. A giant, brother of Otus, who was 
deprived of his left eye by Apollo, and of his 
right eye by Hercules. 

Ephors. Spartan magistrates, five in number, 
annually elected from the ruling caste. They 
exercised control even over the kings and 
senate. 

Epic. A poem of dramatic character dealing by 
means of narration with the history, real or 
fictitious, of some notable action or series of 
actions carried out under heroic or super- 
natural guidance. Epic poetry may be divided 
into two main classes: (a) the popular or 
national epic, including such works as the 
Greek Iliad and Odyssey , the Sanskrit Mahab- 
harata , and the Teutonic Nibelungenlied: and 
(b) the literary or artificial epic, of which the 
Aineid , Ariosto’s Orlando Fnrioso, Tasso’s 
Gerusalemme Liberates and Milton’s Paradise 
Lost are examples. 

Father of Epic Poetry. Homer. 

Epicurus (ep i ku' rus). The Greek philosopher 
(c. 340-270 b.c.) who founded the Epicurean 
school. His axiom was that “happiness or 
enjoyment is the summum bomun of life.” 
His disciples corrupted his doctrine into “Good 
living is the object we should all seek.” 

Hence, epicure , one devoted to the pleasures 
of the table; epicurean , pertaining to good 
eating and drinking, etc. 

Epicurean cooks 

Sharpen with cloyless sauce his appetite. 

Antony and Cleopatra, II, i. 

Epigoni. See Thebes ( The Seven against Thebes). 

Epigram (cp' i gram). This was originally a 
simple inscription attached to religious offer- 
ings, etc., but even in Classic times it came to 
mean any short piece of verse conveying a 
single idea with neatness and grace, though 
usually with a sting in its tail: 

Treason doth never prosper; what’s the reason? 
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason. 

Sir John Harington, 1618. 
You beat your pate, and fancy wit will come: 
Knock as you please, there’s nobody at home. 

Alexander Pope. 

The Devil having nothing else to do 
Went off to tempt My Lady Poltagrue. 

My Lady, tempted by a private whim, 

To his extreme annoyance, tempted him. 

Hilaire Belloc. 

Sir, I admit your general rule. 

That every poet is a fool: 

But you yourself may serve to show it, 

That every fool is not a poet. 

Matthew Prior. 

Epimenides (e pi men' i dez). A Cretan poet and 
philosopher of the 7th century b.c. who, 
according to Pliny ( Natural History ), fell 
asleep in a cave when a boy, and did not wake 
for fifty-seven years, when he found himself 
endowed with miraculous wisdom. Cp. Rip 
Van Winkle. 


Epiphany (e pif' a ni) (Gr. epiphaneia, an 
appearance, manifestation). The manifestation 
of Christ to the Gentiles, i.e. to the wise men 
from the East. January 6th is the Feast of the 
Epiphany in commemoration of this. 


Episcopal Signatures. It is the custom of bishops 
of the Church of England to sign themselves 
with their Christian name and name of their 
sec. In some of the older dioceses the Latin 

form is US<*d imAc QKKrf>vi'if o/I ■ .... 

Cantuar: 

Win ton: 

Cicestr: 

Exon : 

Gloucestr: 

Norvic: 

Oxon : 

Pctriburg : 


Canterbury 

Roffen : 

Rochester. 

Winchester. 

Sarum : 

Salisbury. 

Chichester. 

Truron: 

Truro. 

Exeter. 

Ebor : 

York. 

Gloucester. 

Dunelm: 

Durham. 

Norwich. 

Carliol: 

Carlisle. 

Oxford. 

Cestr: 

Chester. 


Episode (Gr. coming in besides — i.e . ad- 
ventitious). Originally, the parts in dialogue 
which were interpolated between the choric 
songs in Greek tragedy; hence, an adventitious 
tale introduced into the main story that can be 
naturally connected with the framework but 
which has not necessarily anything to do with 
it. 

In music, an intermediate passage in a fugue, 
whereby the subject is for a time suspended. 


Epistle (e pis' el). This word, akin in origin to 
apostle , comes from a Greek verb meaning to 
send to, and is properly applied to a letter 
sent to a person at a distance. In modern usage 
a long and somewhat wordy letter is face- 
tiously called an epistle. The word is more 
generally applied to the letters sent by the 
apostles to the various churches in which they 
were interested. There are thirteen from St. 
Paul, one from St. James, two from St. Peter, 
three from St. John, one from St. Jude and the 
epistle to the Hebrews of unknown authorship. 

The epistle side of an altar is to the cele- 
brant’s right as he faces it. 


Epitaph (ep' i taf). In its strict meaning this is 
an inscription on a tomb, but it is frequently 
extended to include any brief and strikingly 
apt commemoration of a dead person: 

Si monumentum requiris circumspice. 

Sir Christopher Wren's epitaph in St. Paul's. 

Fuller’s Earth. 

Thomas Fuller's epitaph on himself 1661. 

Life is a jest, and all things show it; 

I thought so once, and now I know it. 

John Gay's epitaph on himself 1732. 
Here a pretty baby lies 
Sung asleep with lullabies; 

Pray be silent, and not stir 
Th’ easy earth that covers her. 

Robert Herrick , upon a child. 

His foe was folly and his weapon wit. 

Epitaph on W. S. Gilbert by "Anthony Hope ” Hawkins. 

Epoch (e' pok) (Gr. a stoppage, pause). A 
definite point of time; also the period that 
dates from such, the sequence of events that 
spring from it. The word is used with much the 
same sense as “era”; we speak of both the 
“Epoch” and the “Era” of the Reformation, 
for instance. 


Epode (Gr. epodos; from adein , to sing). In 
ancient Greek lyric poetry, the part after the 
strophe and anti-strophe; in the epode the 
chorus returned to their places and remained 
stationary. 



Epode 


334 


Ermine 


Father of Choral Epode. Stesichoros of 
Sicily (632-552 B.c.). 

Eppur si muove! (e poor se mu 6' vi) (Ital. and 
yet it [i.e. the earth] does move). The phrase 
said by a fable that dates only from 1757 to 
have been uttered in an undertone by Galileo 
immediately after his recantation of belief in 
the Copernican theory of the earth, which was 
made before the Inquisition in 1633. It is 
certainly apocryphal. 

Epsom Races. Horse races instituted in the 
early 17th century and held on Epsom Downs 
for four days in May. The second day (Wednes- 
day) is “Derby day” (q.v.), and on the fourth 
the “Oaks” (< q.v .) is run. 

There are other races held at Epsom besides 
the great four-day races — for instance, the City 
and Suburban and the Great Metropolitan 
(both handicap races). 

Epsom salts. Magnesium sulphate; used 
medicinally as a purgative, etc., and so called 
because it was originally (from 1618) obtained 
by the evaporation of the water of a mineral 
spring in the vicinity of Epsom, Surrey. 

Equality. The sign of equality in mathematics, 
two parallel lines ( = ), was invented by Robert 
Recorde, who died 1558. 

As he said, nothing is more equal than parallel lines. 
Equation of Time. The difference between mean 
and apparent time — i.e. the difference between 
the time as shown by a perfect clock and that 
indicated by a sundial. The greatest difference 
is at the beginning of November, when the sun 
is somewhat more than sixteen minutes slow. 
There are days in December, April, June, and 
September when the sun and the clocks agree. 

Equipage (ek'wipaj). To equip means to arm 
or furnish, and equipage is the furniture of a 
military man or body of troops. Hence camp 
equipage (all things necessary for an encamp- 
ment); field equipage (all things necessary for 
the field of battle); tea equipage (a complete 
tea-service); a prince's equipage , and so on. 
The word was often used for carriage and 
horses. 

Era. A series of years beginning from some 
epoch or starting-point as: — 

D.C. 


The Era of the Greek Olympiads . . 776 

„ the Foundation of Rome . 753 

„ Nabonassar .... 747 

„ Alexander the Great . .324 

„ the Seleucid® . . .312 

„ Julian ..... 45 


„ Abraham starts from Oct. 1, 2016 b.c. 
„ Actium starts from Jan. 1, 30 b.c. 

„ American Independence, July 4, a.d. 
1776. 

„ Armenia, July 9, a.d. 552. 

„ Augustus, 27 B.c. 

„ Diocletian, Aug, 29, a.d. 284. 

„ Tyre, Oct. 19, 125 b.c. 

„ the Chinese, 2697 b.c. 

„ the French Republic, Sept. 22, a.d. 
1792. 

M the Hegira, July 1 6, a.d. 622. (The flight 
of Mohammed from Mecca.) 

„ the Maccabees, 166 B.c. 

„ Vezdegird (Persian), June 16, a.d. 632. 
The Christian Era begins theoretically from 
the birth of Christ, though the actual Nativity 
was probably in 4 b.c. 


Erastians. The followers of Thomas Lieber 
(1524-83), a German heretic who wrote a work 
on excommunication in which he advocated 
the imposition of restrictions on ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction. His name was Grecized into 
Erast us {i.e. the lovely, or beloved). Erastian - 
ism. i.e. state supremacy or interference in 
ecclesiastical affairs, is named from him. The 
Church of England is sometimes called 
“Erastian,” because the measures of the Church 
Assembly are subject to the approval of 
Parliament and those of Convocation to the 
assent of the Queen in Council, and the 
Sovereign, as Supreme Governor, appoints 
bishops and other dignitaries on the advice of 
the Prime Minister. 

Erato. One of the nine Muses 0 q.v.); the muse 
of erotic poetry; usually represented holding or 
playing a lyre. 

Erebus. In Greek mythology, the son of Chaos 
and brother of Night; hence darkness personi- 
fied. His name was given to the gloomy cavern 
underground through which the Shades had 
to walk in their passage to Hades. 

Not Erebus itself were dim enough 
To hide thee. Julius Casar, II, i. 

Eretrian. The Eretrian bull. Menedemos of 
Eretria, in Euboea; a Greek philosopher of 
about 350-270 b.c., who founded the Eretrian 
school, a branch of the Socratic. 

Erewhon (er' won, ar' c won). The name of the 
ideal commonwealth in Samuel Butler’s 

f hilosophical novel of the same name (1872). 
t is an anagram of “Nowhere.” Cp. Common- 
wealth, Ideal. 

Erigena. John Scotus, called “Scotus the Wise,” 
who died about 890. He must not be con- 
fused with Duns Scotus (see Dunce), who 
lived some four centuries later. 

Erigone. See Icarius. 

Erin. Ireland (q.v.). 

Erin go bragh! Ireland for ever. See Mavour- 
NIN. 

Erinyes (e rin' yez). In Greek mythology, 
daughters of Ge (Earth), avengers of wrong; 
the Furies. See Eumenides; Furies. 

Erix. A giant mentioned by Rabelais. 

Erk. As “airk” (abbreviation of aircraftman) 
this nickname was given by the R.A.F. in 
World War I to aircraftmen and mechanics. 
It was later transformed into “erk” and, in 
World War II, the Christian name of Joe was 
frequently added to it. By an extension of 
meaning any beginner at a new job was called 
an erk. 

Erlking. In German legend, a malevolent 
goblin who haunts forests and lures people, 
especially children, to destruction. Goethe has 
a poem on him, set to music by Schubert. 
Ermine (Sr' min). This is another name for the 
stoat, Putorius erminea , which has a brown 
coat in summer and a white one in winter, with 
a black tip to the tail. The word ermine is 
applied chiefly to the fur, which in its white 
state is used for the robes of judges and peers, 
and women’s cloaks. It is one of the furs in 
heraldry, being represented by a number of 




Ermine 


335 


Essays 


small arrowheads beneath three dots, all 
black and symmetrically arranged on a white 
field. There are two other furs, variations of 
this: ermines (er' minz), which is the reverse of 
ermine, being white spots on a black field; and 
crminois (er 7 min ois), black spots on a gold 
(or) field. It is unheraldic to wear fur on a fur. 

Ermine Street. One of the most ancient roads 
in Britain; originally running from Colchester 
by way of Godmanchester and Lincoln to 
York, but later connected by the Romans with 
London, in the south, and the Wall of Hadrian 
in the north. The origin of the name is obscure, 
but it is not Roman. It may be connected with 
Old Teutonic irmin , mighty, large. The most 
important of the other so-called “Roman 
roads” in Britain are Wat ling Street , Icknield 
Street , and the Fosse Way (<?<?. r.). 

Eros. The Greek god of love, the youngest of 
all the gods; equivalent to the Roman Cupid 
(q.v.). The name is popularly given to the 
aluminium winged archer surmounting the 
memorial to the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, in 
the centre of Piccadilly Circus, London, 
although it is actually a symbol of Christian 
charity. The memorial was designed and the 
figure executed by Sir Alfred Gilbert (1854- 
1934) and unveiled in 1893. 

Erra-Pater. The supposititious author of an 
almanack published about 1535 as The 
Pronostycacion for ever of Err a Pater: a Je we 
bom in Jewery , a Doctour in Astronomye and 
Physycke. It is a collection of astrological 
tables, rules of health, etc., and is arranged 
for use in any year. 

(He] had got him a suit of durance, that would last 
longer than one of Krra Pater’s almanacks, or a 
cunstable’s browne bill. — N ash: Nashe's Lenten 
Stupe ( 1599 ). 

The almanacks were frequently reprinted, 
and nearly a hundred years later Butler says 
of William Lilly, the almanack-maker and 
astrologer:'— 

In mathematics he was greater 

Than Tycho Brahe or Erra Pater. 

Hudibras , I, i. 

Ersatz (Sr' zats). A German word meaning 
artificial, something substituted for a natural 
product. In a wider application it includes 
anything of the nature of an inferior imitation 
or substitute. 

Erse. The native language of the West High- 
landers of Scotland. The word, which is now 
nearly obsolete, is a variant of Irish , and was 
applied by the Lowlanders to the Highland 
Gaelic. In the 18th century Scots was often 
called Erse, without distinction of Highland 
and Lowland; and Irish was spoken of as Irish 
Gaelic. 

Erudite. Most erudite of the Romans. Marcus 
Terentius Varro (116-27 b.c.), a man of vast 
and varied erudition in almost every depart- 
ment of literature. 

Erythynus (e rith' i ntis). Have no doings with 
the Erythynus, i.e. “don’t trust a braggart.” 
The Erythynus is mentioned by Pliny fix, 77) 
as a reef fish with a white belly, and Pythagoras 
used it as a symbol of a braggadocio, who 
fable says is white-livered. 


Escapist (es k&p' ist.). The term applied by 
psycho-analysts to one who shirks unpleasant 
realities by withdrawing into a world of fantasy, 
or by concentrating on other and pleasanter 
activities or subjects for thought. 

Escorial, or Escurial (es kor' i al). The ancient 
palace of the Spanish sovereigns, containing 
also a monastery, church, and mausoleum, 
about twenty-seven miles north-west of Madrid. 
It was erected among rocks in 1563-84 as the 
result of a vow to St. Laurence (hence the 
“gridiron” shape of its plan) made by Philip II 
at the battle of St. Quentin, 1557. 

Escuage (es ku' &j) (O.Fr. escu\ Lat. scutum , a 
shield). A feudal term meaning “shield service,” 
i.e. the obligation which bound a vassal to 
serve his lord in the field for forty days in the 
year at his own private charge. 

Esculapius. See >Esculapius. 

Escutcheon of Pretence. In heraldry, the small 
shield of a wife, either heiress or co-heiress, 
placed in the centre of her husband’s shield. 

Esop. See Also p. 

Esoteric (Gr.). Those within, as opposed to 
exoteriCy those without. The term originated 
with Pythagoras, who stood behind a curtain 
when he gave his lectures. Those who were 
allowed to attend the lectures, but not to see 
his face, he called his exoteric disciples ; but 
those who were allowed to enter the veil, his 
esoteric. 

Aristotle adopted the same terms; those who 
attended his evening lectures, which were of a 
popular character, he called his exoterics ; and 
those who attended his more abstruse morning 
lectures, his esoterics. 

Esoteric Buddhism. See Theosophy. 

Esprit de corps (es' pre de kor) (Fr.). The spirit 
of pride in the organization with which you 
are associated, and regard for its traditions 
and institutions. 

Esquire (Lat. scutiger y a shield-bearer). One 
who carried the escu or shield of a knight. 
According to a dictum of the College of 

Heralds: — 

The foliowing persons are legally “Esquires”: — The 
sons of peers, the sons of baronets, the sons of knights, 
the eldest sons of the younger sons of peers, and their 
eldest sons in perpetuity, the eldest son of the eldest 
son of a knight, and his eldest son in perpetuity, the 
kings of arms, the heralds of arms, officers of the Army 
or Navy of the rank of captain and upwards, sheriffs 
of Counties for life, J.P.’s of counties whilst in com- 
mission, serjeants-at-law. Queen’s [King’s] counsel, 
serjeants-at-arms. Companions of the Orders of 
Knighthood, certain principal officers in the Royal 
household, deputy lieutenants, commissioners of the 
Court of Bankruptcy, masters of the Supreme Court, 
those whom the Sovereign, in any commission or 
warrant, styles esquire* and any person who, in virtue 
of his office, takes precedence of esquires. 

To these, doctors of law, barristers, physici- 
ans and graduates of the universities not in 
holy orders are often added; but the general 
use of the suffix has robbed it of all distinction. 
It is never used in America, and rarely in the 
overseas Commonwealth. 

Essays. Bacon’s essays were the first in English 
that bore the name. 




Essenes 


336 


Ethnophrones 


Certain brief notes . . . which I have called essays. 
The word is late, but the thing is ancient. — Suppressed 
Dedication to Prince Henry. 

Essenes. A puritanical and mystical sect of 
Jews, originating about the 2nd century b.c., 
whose doctrines are supposed by some to have 
influenced those of our Saviour. They were 
communists who abjured every sort of fleshly 
indulgence, ate no animal food, drank only 
water, and whose only sacrifices to God were 
the fruits of the earth. They kept the Sabbath 
extremely strictly, always dressed in white, 
devoted themselves to contemplative studies, 
and held the Scriptures in great reverence, 
but interpreted them allegorically. 

Essex Lions. Calves, for which the county is 
famous. 

Valiant as an Essex lion. Said ironically of a 
timid person. Cp. Cotswold. 

Establishment, The. A term which has recently 
acquired a special meaning denoting the 
hierarchy in any particular sphere of the com- 
munity, or the hierarchy taken collectively. It 
has the slightly derogatory implication that 
the hierarchy is stolid, unimaginative, and 
reactionary. 

Estate (O.Fr. estaf, Lat. status from stare , to 
stand). Estates of the realm. The powers that 
have the administration of affairs in their 
hands, that on which the realm stands. The 
three estates of Britain are the Lords Spiritual, 
the Lords Temporal, and the Commons; 
popularly speaking, the public press is 
termed the “fourth estate” (q.v.). It is a 
mistake to call the three estates of England the 
Sovereign, the Lords, and the Commons. See 
also under Four. 

The king and the three estates of the realm as- 
sembled in parliament. — Collect for Nov. 5. 

Est-il possible (a tel pos ebl). A nickname of 
Prince George of Denmark (1653-1708), the 
consort of Queen Anne. The story goes that 
when he was told of the abdication of his 
father-in-law, James II, all he did was to 
exclaim, “Est-il possible?” and when told, 
further, of the several noblemen who had fallen 
away from him, “Est-il possible?” exhausted 
his indignation. See also Brandy Nan. 

Estotiland (es tot' i land). An imaginary tract 
of land near the Arctic Circle in North 
America, said to have been discovered by John 
Scalve, a Pole. It is mentioned, and shown, in 
Peter Heylin’s Microcosmos (1622). 

The snow 

From cold Estotiland. 

Milton: Paradise Lost , X, 685. 

Estrama?on (es tra m& son) (Fr.). A blow or 
cut with a sword, hence also “estramagonner”. 

Estrich. The old name for the ostrich (?.v.). 

Eternal, The. God. 

The Eternal City. Rome. The epithet 
occurs in Ovid, Tibullus, etc., and in many 
official documents of the Empire; also Virgil 
(j£neid, I, 79) makes Jupiter tell Venus he 
would give to the Romans imperium sine fine 
(an eternal empire). 

The eternal fitness of things. The congruity 
between an action and the agent. 


Can any man have a higher notion of the rule of 
right, and the eternal fitness of things? — Fielding: 
Tom Jones, Bk. IV, ch. iv. 

The eternal tables. In Mohammedan legend, 
a white pearl extending from east to west, and 
from heaven to earth, on which God has 
recorded every event, past, present, and to 
come. 

Etesian Wind (e te' zhan). A Mediterranean 
wind which rises annually (Gr. etos , a year) 
about the dog-days, and blows forty days 
together in the same direction. It is gentle and 
mild. 

Deem not, good Porteus, that in this my song 
I mean to harrow up thy humble mind. 

And stay that voice in London known so long; 

For balm and softness, an Etesian wind. 

Petlr Pindar: Nil Admirare. 

Ethiopia (e thi o' pya). The name of the ancient 
country has been revived since World War II 
for the country known for hundreds of years 
as Abyssinia, but the present kingdom is very 
different territorially to the kingdom of ancient 
times. There were several independent tribes 
in the area when it became an Egyptian pro- 
vince some time during the 18th dynasty (c. 
1580-c. 1320 b.c.). In the 11th century b.c. 
Ethiopia became an independent kingdom, 
and in 750 b.c. subjugated Egypt. In 525 b.c. 
the Persian king Cambyses conquered the 
country. 

To the Greeks, at any rate from the time of 
Herodotus (5th century b.c.) Ethiopia meant a 
kingdom south of Egypt comprising Nubia, 
Senaar, Kordofan, and north Abyssinia, 
bounded on the east by the Red Sea, and 
included different peoples. Before Herodotus 
the Greeks tended to confuse Ethiopians with 
Indians; Herodotus himself distinguished the 
woolly-haired negroid Ethiopians in the west 
from the straight-haired people in the east. 
The Greeks thought of Ethiopians generally as 
“swarthy-faced” or “burnt-faced” people. 

The city of Meroe became the capital after 
Cambyses’ conquest and grew into a powerful 
kingdom which was subjugated by the Ro- 
mans in the time of Augustus. Then the city of 
Axum rose to power, reaching its summit four 
centuries later, and ruled over much of Ethiopia 
and adjacent territories. Christianity was intro- 
duced, about a.d. 330; then in the middle of 
the 7th century the Muslims conquered the 
kingdom ; its subsequent history was chequered 
and there was constant shift of power and 
frontiers. 

The Ethiopia of to-day occupies only a part, 
lying to the east, of the ancient kingdom. 
Several Ethiopian languages (which belong to 
the Semitic group) are spoken; the chief one 
up to the 14th century, called Geez (ge' ez) is 
the language of the Church (see Coptic 
Church) and of literature. The Emperor of 
Ethiopia (who claims descent from the Queen 
of Sheba) styles himself King of Kings, 
Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and 
Elect of God. 

Ethnophrones (Gr. ethnos-phren , heathen- 
minded). A sect of heretics of the 7th century, 
who combined such pagan practices as 
divination, augury, astrology, etc., with 
Christianity. 



Ethon 


337 


Eureka 


Ethon. The eagle or vulture that gnawed the 
liver of Prometheus. 

Etiquette. The usages of polite society. The 
word means a ticket or card, and refers to the 
ancient custom of delivering a card of direc- 
tions and regulations to be observed by all 
those who attended court. In French the word 
originally meant a soldier's billet. 

Etiquette . . . had its original application to those 
ceremonial and formal observances practised at Court. 
. . . The term came afterwards ... to signify cer- 
tain formal methods used in the transactions between 
Sovereign States. — Burke: Works , vol. VIII, p. 329. 

Etna (et' na). The highest active volcano in 
Europe. It stands over the Straits of Messina, 
10,750 ft. high, covering an area of 460 sq. 
miles, and is ever active from some of its 200 
minor cones. Serious eruptions occurred in 
1923 and 1928, yet many towns and villages 
live within its continual menace. In Sicily Etna 
is known as Monte.Gibello. Virgil (/ fcneid , III, 
578, etc.) ascribes its eruption to the restless- 
ness of Enceladus, a hundred-armed giant, 
who lies buried under the mountain, where also 
the Greek and Latin poets placed the forges of 
Vulcan and the smithy of the Cyclops. 
Etrenne. See Strenia. 

Etruria is a district in Stoke-upon-Trent 
founded and so named by Josiah Wedgwood 
when he established his pottery works there in 
1769. 

Etruscans (e trus' kanz). These ancient and 
mysterious people lived in the region of Italy 
now corresponding more or less to Tuscany. 
The many monuments in their old lands have 
never been deciphered, and very little is known 
of their language. Their art is of high quality, 
and they have never been excelled in the 
making of gold jewellery. Of recent years it 
has been discovered that the Etruscans were 
Orientals, coming from Asia Minor originally, 
perhaps from Lydia but certainly from between 
the Hellespont and Syria. 

Ettrick .Shepherd. The name given to James 
Hogg (1770-1835), the Scottish poet who was 
born at Ettrick, Selkirkshire, the son of a 
shepherd, and himself a shepherd. 

Etzel. The name given in German heroic 
legend to Attila (d. a.d. 453), King of the Huns. 
Eucharist. The consecrated Elements in Holy 
Communion (Gr. eucharistos , grateful). 
Literally, a thank-offering. Our Lord gave 
thanks before giving the bread and wine to His 
disciples at the Last Supper. The Church offers 
the Eucharist as a sacrifice of praise and thanks- 
giving. Cp. Impanation. 

Euclid (O' klid). Many generations of school- 
boys knew geometry only as “Euclid,” for the 
teaching of that branch of mathematics was 
based on the Elements of Eucleides, a Greek 
geometer who lived in Alexandria about 
300 b.c. Of his 15 books some have been lost 
and others mutilated by commentators and 
transcribers. Euclid’s methods have been 
discarded in modern teaching mainly because 
they ignore measurement and constructive 
movement. 

Eucrates (a kra' tez). More shifts than Eucra- 
tes. Eucrates, the miller, was one of the archons 


of Athens, noted for his shifts and excuses for 
neglecting the duties of the office. 

Eudoxians (Q doks' i anz). Heretics, whose 
founder was Eudoxius, patriarch of Antioch 
in the 4th century. They maintained that the 
Son had a will independent of the Father, and 
that sometimes their wills were at variance. 

Eugenius (u je' ni us). The friend and coun- 
sellor of Yorick in Sterne’s Tristram Shandy 
is intended for John Hall Stevenson (1718-85), 
the disreputable author of Crazy Tales , and a 
relative of Sterne’s. 

Eulalie, St. (O' la le). Eulalon (/.<?. “the 
sweetly-spoken”) is one of the names of Apollo, 
but there is a virgin martyr called Eulalie, 
born at Barcelona. When she was only twelve 
the persecution of Diocletian broke out, and 
she, in the presence of the Roman judge, cast 
down the idols he had set up. She was martyred 
on February 12th, 304, ana is the patron saint 
of Barcelona and of sailors. 

Eulenspiegel (oi len shpe' g61) (i.e. “Owl-glass”), 
Tyll. A 14th-century villager of Brunswick 
round whom clustered a large number of popu- 
lar tales of all sorts of mischievous pranks, 
first printed in 1515. The work was translated 
into many languages and rapidly achieved wide 
popularity. The hero is the subject of the 
picaresque novel Ulenspiegel by Charles de 
Coster (1867) and of a tone poem by Richard 
Strauss (first performed in 1895). 

Eumaeus (u me' us). The slave and swineherd 
of Ulysses; hence, a swineherd. 

This second Eumaeus strode hastily down the forest 
glade, driving before him . . . the whole herd of his 
inharmonious charges. — SCOTT. 

Eumenides (u men' i dez) (Gr. the good- 
tempered ones). A name given by the Greeks 
to the Furies, as it would have been ominous 
and bad policy to call them by their right 
name, Erinyes (q.v.). 

Eupatridae (Q pat' ri de). The land-owning 
aristocracy of ancient Attica. Their supremacy 
had been brought to an end by the time of 
Pericles, and a democratic form of govern- 
ment established. 

Euphemism (O' fe mizm). Word or phrase 
substituted, to soften an offensive expression. 

“His Satanic majesty”; “light-fingered 
gentry”; “a gentleman on his travels” ( one 
transported ); “an obliquity of vision” (< a 
squint) are common examples. 

Eureka (u re' ka) (Gr. more correctly Heure - 
ka, I have found it). An exclamation of delight 
at having made a discovery; originally that 
of Archimedes, the Syracusan philosopher, 
when he discovered how to test the purity of 
Hiero’s crown. The tale is, that Hiero delivered 
a certain weight of gold to a smith to be made 
into a votive crown, but, suspecting that the 
gold had been alloyed with an inferior metal, 
asked Archimedes to test it. The philosopher 
did not know how to proceed, but in stepping 
into his bath, which was quite full, observed 
that some of the water ran over. It immediately 
struck him that a body must remove its own 
bulk of water when it is immersed; silver is 
lighter than gold, therefore a pound-weight 
of silver will be more bulky than a pound- 



Earns 


338 


Everyman 


weight of gold, and would consequently re- 
move more water. In this way he round that 
the crown was deficient in gold; and Vitruvius 
says: 

When the idea flashed across his mind, the philoso- 
pher jumped out of the bath exclaiming, “Heureka! 
heureka!” and, without waiting to dress himself, ran 
home to try the experiment. 

“Eureka!'* is the motto of California, in 
allusion to the gold discovered there. 

Eurus (O' rus). The east wind; connected with 
Gr. eos and Lat. aurora , the dawn. 

While southern gales or western oceans roll, 

And Eurus steals his ice-winds from the pole. 

Darwin: Economy of Vegetation , canto vi. 
Eurydice (Q rid' i si). In Greek mythology the 
wife of Orpheus, killed by a serpent on her 
wedding night. Orpheus went down to the 
infernal regions to seek her, and was promised 
she would return on condition that he looked 
not back till she had reached the upper world. 
When the poet got to the confines of his 
journey, he turned his head to see if Eurydice 
were following, and she was instantly caught 
back again into Hades. 

Eustathlans (Q sta thi anz). The followers of 
Eustathius, Bishop of Scbaste, in Armenia, 
who was deposed by the council of Gangra in 
380. 

Euterpe (G tSr' pi). One of the nine Muses 
(q.v.)\ the inventor of the double flute; the muse 
of Dionysiac music; patroness of joy and 
pleasure, and of flute-players. 

Eutychians (G tik' yanz). Heretics of the 5th 
century, violently opposed to the Nestorians. 
They maintained that Jesus Christ was entirely 
God previous to the incarnation, and entirely 
man during His sojourn on earth, and were 
thus the forerunners of the Monophysites 
( q.v .). The founder was Eutyches, an abbot of 
Constantinople, excommunicated in 448. 
Euxine Sea (uks' in). The Greek name for 
the Black Sea (q.v.) y meaning the “hospitable.** 
It was originally called by that people Axeinos , 
inhospitable, on account of its stormy charac- 
ter and rocky shores; but this name was 
changed euphemistically, as it was never 
thought wise to give a derogatory (even though 
true) name to any force of nature. Cp. Erinyes 
and Eumenides. 

Evangelic Doctor, The. John Wyclif (1320- 
84), **the morning star of the Reformation.*’ 

Evangelists. The four Evangelists, Matthew, 
Mark, Loke, and John, are usually represented 
in art as follows: — 

Matthew. With a pen in his hand, and a 
scroll before him, looking over his left 
shoulder at an angel. 

Mark . Seated writing, and by his side a 
couchant winged lion. 

Luke. With a pen, looking in deep thought 
over a scroll, and near him a cow or ox chewing 
the cud. He is also frequently shown as paint- 
ing a picture, from the tradition that he painted 
a portrait of the Virgin. 

John. A young man of great delicacy, with 
an eagle in the background to denote sublimity. 

The more ancient symbols were— for 
Matthew, a man's face; for Mark, a lion ; for 
Luke, an ox; and for John, a flying eagle; in 


allusion to the four living creatures before the 
throne of God, described in the Book of 
Revelation: “The first . . . was like a lion, and 
the second . . . like a calf, and the thira . . . 
had a face as a man, and the fourth . . . was 
like a flying eagle** (iv, 7). 

Another explanation is that Matthew is 
symbolized by a man , because he begins his 
gospel with the humanity of Jesus, as a 
descendant of David; Mark by a lion , because 
he begins his gospel with the scenes of John 
the Baptist and Jesus in the Wilderness; 
Luke by a calf \ because he begins his gospel 
with the priest sacrificing in the temple; and 
John by an eagle, because he soars high, and 
begins his gospel with the divinity of the 
Logos. The lour symbols are those of Ezekiel’s 
cherubim. 

lrenaeus says: “The lion signifies the royalty 
of Christ; the calf His sacerdotal office; the 
man’s face His incarnation; and the eagle the 
grace of the Holy Ghost.’’ 

Evans’s Supper Rooms. In the early 19th cen- 
tury this was one of the besLknown resorts of 
London night life. The house, at the north- 
west corner of Covent Garden, was on the site 
later occupied by the National Sporting Club. 
In its heyday Evans’s was a supper room with 
entertainment provided solely by male 
artists. Women were not admitted except on 
giving their names and addresses, and even 
then were forced to enjoy the privilege of 
watching from behind a screen. Evans’s and 
the Cyder Cellar, described so graphically in 
Pendennis were the forebears — though far 
removed — of the music hall and variety show. 

Even-christlan. An old term for a fellow- 
Christian, a neighbour in the Gospel sense. 

He that hath desdayn of his neighebour, that is to 
seyn, of his evencristen. — Chaucer: Parson's Tate . 

The more pity that great folk should have counten- 
ance in this world to drown or hang themselves, more 
than their even Christian. — Hamlet , V, i. 

Events. At all events. In any case; be the issue 
what it may; utcumque ceciderit. 

In the event. “In the event of his being 
elected,” means in case , or provided he is 
elected; if the result is that he is elected. 

Ever and Anon. From time to time. See Anon. 

Ever-Victorious Army, The. A force of 
Chinese, officered by Europeans and Ameri- 
cans, raised in 1861, and placed under the 
command of Gordon. See Chinese Gordon. 
By 1864 it had stamped out the Taiping re- 
bellion, which had broken out in 1851. 
Everyman. The central character in the most 
famous 15th-century English morality play 
{q.v.) of the same name, which is considered by 
some to be a translation from a Dutch 
original (c. 1495), by others to have been the 
original. Everyman is summoned by Death and 
invites all his acquaintances (such as Kindred, 
Good Deeds, Goods, Knowledge, Beauty, 
Strength, etc.) to accompany him on his 
journey, but of them all only Good Deeds will 
go with him. The play in a German translation 
became world famous between the two world 
wars on account of Max Reinhardt’s lavish 
production of it upon the steps of the cathedral 
at successive Salzburg festivals. 




Everyman’s Library 


339 


Exaltation of the Cross 


Everyman’s Library was started by Dent’s, 
London, in 1906 and has issued over 1,000 
volumes. 

Evidence, In. Before the eyes of the people; to 
the front; actually present (Lat.). Evidence, 
meaning testimony in proof of something, has 
a large number of varieties, as : — 

Circumstantial evidence. That based on corrobor- 
ative incidents. 

Demonstrative evidence. That which can be proved 
without leaving a doubt. 

Direct evidence. That of an eye-witness. 

External evidence. That derived from history or 
tradition. 

Internal evidence. That derived from conformity 
with what is known. 

Mater al evidence. That which is essential in order 
to carry proof. 

Moral evidence. That which accords with general 
experience. 

Presumptive evidence. That which is highly probable. 

Prima facie evidence. That which seems likely, un- 
less it can be explained away. 

Kind's (or Queen s) evidence. That of an accessory 
against his accomplices, under the promise of pardon. 

Self evidence. That derived from the senses: 
manifest and indubitable. 

Evil. Evil communications corrupt good 
manners. The words are usually attributed 
to St. Paul (I Cor. xv, 33); but he was evidently 
quoting Menander’s saying, “It must be that 
evil communications corrupt good dis- 
positions.” Similar proverbs are, “he who 
touches pitch must expect to be defiled” 
(from Ecclus. xiii, 1); “one scabbed sheep will 
infect a whole flock.” 

Evil Eye. The alleged faculty of causing 
material harm by means of a glance; in rural 
England it is called “overlooking.” From its 
Latin name, fascinum , comes the word 
“fascination.” The evil eye is a form of witch- 
craft, owing its origin to the presumption that 
the human eye is capable of operating at a 
distance. In southern European countries the 
baleful effect of the evil eye is counteracted by 
closing the fist except for the forefinger and 
little finger, which are extended. This is a 
gesture of primeval antiquity. Virgil speaks of 
an evil eye making cattle lean. 

Nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos. 

Eel. iii, 103 

Evil May Day. The name given to the 
serious rioting made on May 1st, 1517, by 
the London apprentices, who fell on the 
French residents. The insurrection forms the 
basis of the anonymous Elizabethan play, Sir 
Thomas More. 

The Evil One. The Devil. 

Evil Principle. See Ahriman. 

Of two evils, choose the less. See Choice. 
Ewe-lamb. A single possession greatly prized; 
in allusion to the story told in II Sam. xii, 1-14. 
Ex (Lat. from, out of, after, or by reason of); 
it forms part of many adverbial phrases, of 
which those in common use in English are 
given below. As a prefix ex, when joined to the 
name of some office or dignity, denotes a 
former holder of that office, or the holder 
immediately before the present holder. An ex- 
president is some former holder of the office; 
the ex-president is the same as “the late 
president,” the one just before the present one. 


Ex cathedra. With authority. The Pope, 
speaking ex cathedra , is said to speak with an 
infallible voice — to speak as the successor and 
representative of St. Peter, and in his pontifical 
character. The words mean “from the chair” — - 
i.e. the throne of the pontiff — and are applied 
to all dicta uttered by authority, and ironically 
to self-sufficient, dogmatic assertions. 

Ex hypothesi. According to what is supposed 
or assumed; in consequence of assumption 
made. 


Ex fibris. Literally, “from the (collection of) 
books.” The phrase is written in the book* or 
printed on the bookplate, and is followed by 
the name of the owner in the genitive. Hence, 
a bookplate is often called an ex libris . 

Ex luce lucellum, A gain or small profit out 
of light. It was originally said of the old 
window-tax, and when Lowe in 1871 proposed 
to tax lucifcr matches, he suggested that the 
boxes should be labelled Ex luce lucellum . 

Ex officio. By virtue of office. As, the Lord 
Mayor for the time being shall be ex officio 
one of the trustees. 

Ex parte. Proceeding only from one of the 
parties; hence, prejudiced. An ex-parte 
statement is a one-sided or partial statement, a 
statement made by one side without modifica- 
tion from the other. 

Ex pede Herculem. From this sample you 
can judge of the whole. Plutarch says that 
Pythagoras calculated the height of Hercules 
by comparing the length of various stadia in 
Greece. A stadium was 600 feet in length, but 
Hercules* stadium at Olympia was much 
longer; therefore, said the philosopher, the 
foot of Hercules was proportionately longer 
than an ordinary foot; and as the foot bears 
a certain ratio to the height, so the height of 
Hercules can be easily ascertained. Ex ungue 
leonem, a lion (may be drawn) from its claw, is 
a similar phrase. 

Ex post facto. From what is done after- 
wards; retrospective. An ex post facto law is 
a law made to meet and punish a crime after 
the offence has been committed. 

Ex professo. Avowedly; expressly. 

I have never written ex professo on the subject. — 
Gladstone: Nineteenth Century, Nov., 1885. 

Ex proprlo motu. Of his (or its) own accord; 
voluntarily. 

Ex uno omnes. From the instance deduced 
you may infer the nature of the rest. A general 
inference from a particular example; if one 
oak bears acorns, all oaks will. 


Exaltation, In astrology, a planet was said to 
be in its “exaltation” when it was in that sign 
of the zodiac in which it was supposed to 
exercise its strongest influence. Thus the 
exaltation of Venus is in Pisces, and her 
“dejection” in Virgo. . 

And thus, god woot, Mercurte is desolat 
In Pisces, wher Venus is exaltat. 

Chaucer: Wife of Bath's Prologue , 703, 


Exaltation of the Cross. A feast held in the 
Roman Catholic Church on September 14th 
(Holy Cross Day), in commemoration of the 


Excalibur 


340 


Exhibitions 


victory over the Persians in 627, when Herac- 
lius recovered and restored to Calvary the 
cross that had been carried away by Khosroes 
the Persian. 

Excalibur (eks kal' i ber). The name of 
Arthur’s sword (O.Fr. Escalibor ), called by 
Geoffrey of Monmouth Caliburn , and in the 
Mabinogiotu Caledvwlch. There was a sword 
called Caladbolg , famous in Irish legend, which 
is thought to have meant “hard-belly,” i.e. 
capable of consuming anything; this and the 
name Excalibur are probably connected. 

By virtue of being the one knight who could 
pult Excalibur from a stone in which it had 
been magically fixed Arthur was acclaimed as 
“the right born king of all England.” After his 
last battle, when the king lay sore wounded, it 
was returned at his command by Sir Bedivere 
to the Lady of the Lake. See Malory, Bk. XXI, 
ch. v, and Tennyson’s Passing of Arthur 
(idylls of the King). 

Excelsior (Lat. higher). Aim at higher things 
still. It is the motto of the United States, and 
has been made popular by Longfellow’s poem 
so named. 

Exception. The exception proves the rule. 
Without a rule, there could be no exception; 
the very fact of an exception proves there must 
be a rule. 

To take exception. To feel offended; to find 
fault with. 

Exchange Equalisation Fund (or Account). On 
the outbreak of World War II the gold reserve 
of the Bank of England was transferred to this 
Fund as part of the policy for strengthening 
the United Kingdom’s financial resources 
abroad. It attempts to maintain the stability 
of the pound sterling by buying and selling 
gold and foreign currencies. 

Exchequer. Court of Exchequer. In the sub- 
division of the court in the reign of Edward I, 
the Exchequer acquired a separate and in- 
dependent position. Its special duty was to 
order the revenues of the Crown and recover 
the king’s debts. It was called the Scaccarium , 
from Lat. scaccum , a chess-board, because a 
chequered cloth was used on the table of the 
court. Foss, in his Lives of the Judges (1848-57), 
says : — 

All round the table was a standing ledge four 
fingers broad, covered with a cloth bought in the 
Easter Term, and this cloth was “black rowed with 
strekes about a span,” like a chess-board. On the 
spaces of this cloth counters were arranged, marked 
for checking computations. 

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is an office 
that originated under Henry III. Now a 
leading member of the Cabinet, he presents the 
Budget to the House of Commons and is 
responsible for the collecting and spending of 
the national revenue. 

Excise. Literally, a piece cut off (Lat. excido). 
It is a toll or duty levied on articles of home 
consumption. 

Taxes on commodities are either on production 
within the country, or on importation into it, or on 
conveyance or sale within it; and are classed respect- 
ively as excise, customs or tolls. — Mill: Political 
Economy , Bk. V, ch. iii, p. 562. 


In his Dictionary Dr. Johnson defined 
excise as “A hateful tax levied upon com- 
modities.” 

Excommunication. An ecclesiastical censure by 
which a person is deprived of the communion 
of the Church. Excommunicants lose the right 
of attending divine service and receiving the 
sacraments; they have no share in indulgences 
or in public prayers or Masses. If clerics they 
are forbidden to administer the sacraments. 
Formal sentence is ordinarily required, but in 
certain cases excommunication is incurred at 
once by the commission of a forbidden act, 
ipso facto. 

The practice of excommunication was no 
doubt derived from the Jewish practice at the 
time of Christ, which entailed exclusion from 
religious and social intercourse ( cp . Luke vi, 
22); cp. Interdict; Bell, Book and Candle. 

Exeat (Lat. he may go out). Permission 
granted by a bishop to a priest to leave his 
diocese. In the universities, permission to a 
student to be out of College for one or more 
nights, as opposed to an absit permitting his 
absence during the inside of a day. 

Execrate. This is the direct opposite to 
consecrate , and means to curse, to imprecate 
evil upon, to detest utterly, abhor, abominate. 

They gaze upon the links that hold them fast, 

With eyes of anguish, execrate their lot, 

Then shake them in despair and dance again. 

Cowper: The Task , II. 

Exempli gratia (Lat.). For the sake of example: 
abbreviated to ‘V.g.” when used as the 
introduction to an example. 

Exequatur. An official recognition of a person 
in authorizing him to exercise his power; 
formerly, the authoritative recognition of a 
papal bull by a bishop, sovereign, etc. The 
word is Latin, and means, “he may exercise” 
(the function to which he has been appointed). 

Exeter. See also Exter. 

The Duke of Exeter’s daughter. See Duke. 

The Exeter Book. A MS. colhfcction of 
Old English poetry presented about 1060 by 
Bishop Leofric to Exeter Cathedral, and still 
preserved in the library there. It includes 
poems and “riddles” by Cynewuif (8th cent)., 
the legends of St. Guthlac and St. Juliana, 
“Widsith.” “The Wanderer,” “The Complaint 
of Deor,” etc. 

The Exon or Exeter Domesday (q.v.) is also 
sometimes called the “Exeter Book.” 

Exhibition. A scholarship, i.e. a fixed sum 
spread over a definite period given by a school 
or university, etc., as a result of an examination, 
for the purpose of assisting in defraying the 
cost of education. The word was formerly used 
for maintenance generally, pecuniary support, 
an allowance of meat and drink. 

They have founded six exhibitions of £15 each per 
annum, to continue for two years and a half. — 
Taylor: The University of Dublin , ch. v. 

Exhibitions. Trade “fairs” for the display of 
manufactured goods to interested parties date 
from the Middle Ages, but the idea of attract- 
ing the general public was first brought forward 
by the Paris Exhibition of 1798. Several more 



Existentialism 


341 


Eye of a needle 


were held in France during the first half of 
the 19th century, and the great success of the 
Paris exhibition of 1849 inspired the Prince 
Consort to promote the Great Exhibition of 
1851, held in the Crystal Palace which was 
erected in Hyde Park, London. Since that date 
major exhibitions have been: — 

Paris, 1855, 1867, 1878, 1889, 1900, 1937. 

London, 1862, 1886, 1908, [Wembley] 1924, and 
the centenary exhibition throughout Great Brit- 
ain of 1951. 

Philadelphia, 1876. 

Melbourne, 1880, 1888. 

Chicago, 1893, 1933. 

St. Louis, 1904. 

San Francisco, 1915, 1939. 

New York, 1939. 

Existentialism (eks is ten' shal izm). A philo- 
sophical theory originating with Soren 
Kierkegaard (1815-55) and popularized in 
France in World War U, largely owing 
to the leaching of Jean-Paul Sartre. Man, 
say the Existentialists, can be free only through 
the full consciousness of his illogical position 
in a universe that has little relation to himself 
and is in itself meaningless. 

Exit (Lat. he goes out). A stage direction 
showing when an actor is to leave the stage; 
hence, the departure of an actor from the stage 
and departure generally, especially from life; 
also a door, passage, or way out. 

All the world’s a stage, 

And all the men and women merely players: 

They have their exits and their entrances. 

As You Like //, II, vii. 

Exodus (Gr. ex odos , a journey out). The 
second book of the Old Testament, which 
relates the departure of the Israelites from 
Egypt under the guidance of Moses; hence, a 
going out generally, especially a transference of 
population on a considerable scale, as the 
exodus from Ireland , meaning the departure of 
the Irish in large numbers for America; and 
the expulsion of colonists from Nova Scotia 
in 1755. 

Exon. One of the four officers in command of 
the Yeomen of the Guard; the acting officer 
who resides at the court; an exempt. The word 
is an Anglicized pronunciation of the Fr. 
exempt , this having been the title of a junior 
officer (next below an ensign) in the Life 
Guards. 

Exon (short for Lat. Exotiiensis, of Exonia, 
i.e. Exeter) is the signature of the Bishop of 
Exeter. See Episcopal Signatures. 

Exon Domesday. A magnificent MS. on 
532 folio vellum leaves, long preserved 
among the muniments at Exeter Cathedral, 
containing the survey of Wilts, Dorset, Somer- 
set, Devon, and, Cornwall. In 1816 it was 
published by Sir Henry Ellis as a Supplement 
to Domesday Book (</.v.). 

Exoteric. See Esoteric. 

Expectation Week. Between the Ascension and 
Whit Sunday, when the apostles continued 
praying “in earnest expectation of the Com- 
forter.” 

Experimental Philosophy. Science founded on 
experiments or data, in contradistinction to 
moral and mathematical sciences; also called 
natural philosophy. 


Expcrto crede (Lat.). Believe one who has had 
experience in the matter. The phrase is used 
to add significance or weight to a warning. 

Expose (Fr.). A formal exposition; also, an 
exposure of something discreditable. 

Exter. That’s Exter, as the old woman said 
when she saw Kerton. A Devonshire saying, 
meaning, I thought my work was done, but I 
find much still remains before it is completed. 
“Exter” is the popular pronunciation of 
Exeter, and “Kerton*’ is Crediton. The tradition 
is that the woman in question was going for 
the first time to Exeter, and seeing the grand 
old church of Kerton (Crediton), supposed 
it to be Exeter Cathedral. “That’s Exter,” she 
said, “and my journey is over”; but alas! she 
had still eight miles to walk. 

Extradition. The return of a criminal to stand 
trial, on request of the country in which his 
crimes are committed to the country to which 
he has fled. The first extradition treaty was 
signed between England and France in 1843. 

Extreme Unction. One of the seven sacraments 
of the Catholic Church, founded on James v, 
14, “Is any sick among you? let him call for 
the ciders of the Church; and let them pray 
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of 
the Lord.” 

Eye. A sheet in the wind’s eye. An early stage of 
intoxication. 

A sight for sore eyes. A proverbial expression 
used of something that is very welcome, 
pleasant, and unexpected. 

Do you see any green in my eye ? Do I look 
credulous and easy to be bamboozled? Do I 
look like a greenhorn? 

Eyes to the blind. A staff ; perhaps in allusion 
to that given to Tiresias (q.v.) by Athene, to 
serve him for the eyes of which she had de- 
prived him. 

In my mind’s eye. In my perceptive thought. 

In the twinkling of an eye. Immediately, very 
soon. 

In the wind’s eye. Directly opposed to the 
wind. 

Mind your eye. Be careful or vigilant; keep 
a sharp look out; keep your eyes open to 
guard against mischief. 

My eye! or Oh, my eye! an exclamation of 
astonishment. See All my Eye. 

One-eyed. An expression of contempt; as, 
“I’ve never been in such a one-eyed town,” 
i.e. such a poverty-stricken, mean, or unpleas- 
ing town. 

One-eyed peoples. See Arimaspians; Cy- 
clops. 

One might see that with half an eye. Easily; 
at a mere glance. 

The eye of a needle. The words of Christ in 

Matt, xix, 24: — 

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a 
needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom 
of God _ . , 

enshrine a proverbial saying, and there is no 
need to suppose that by “the eve of a needle” 



Eye of Greece 


342 


F.O.B. 


Was intended the small arched entrance through 
the wall of a city, nor is there any evidence 
that such a gateway had any such name in 
Biblical times. See Camel. A similar Eastern 
proverb occurs at Matt, xxiii, 24: — 

Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat and swallow 
a camel; 

and “In Media a camel can dance on a bushel,” 
meaning that there all things are possible, is 
another ancient Eastern saying. 

The Eye of Greece. Athens. 

Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts. 

Milton: Paradise Regained , IV, 240. 

The Eye of the Baltic. Gottland, in the Baltic. 

The eye of the storm. An opening between the 
storm clouds. Cp. Bull’s Eye. 

To cast sheep’s eyes at one. See Sheep. 

To cry one’s eyes out. To cry immoderately 
or excessively. 

To get one’s eye in. To adjust one’s sight at 
cricket, billiards, golf, bowls, etc. 

To give the glad eye to. To cast inviting 
glances at. 

To have, or keep, an eye on. To keep strict 
watch on the person or thing referred to. 

To have an eye to. To keep constantly in 
view; to act from motives of policy. See Main 
Chance. 

To keep one’s eyes skinned. To be particu- 
larly watchful. 

To make eyes at. To look amorously or 
lovingly at. 

To make someone open his eyes. To surprise 
him very much, and make him stare with 
wonder or admiration. 

To pipe your eye. See Pipe. 

To see eye to eye. To be of precisely the 
same opinion; to think both alike. 

Up to the eyes. Wholly, completely; as up to 
the eyes in work , very fully occupied, mortgaged 
up to the eyes , to the last penny obtainable. 

To hang on by one’s eyelashes. To be just 
able to maintain one’s position; hence, to be 
in difficulties. 

Eye-opener. Something that furnishes en- 
lightenment, also, a strong, mixed drink, 
especially a morning pick-me-up. 

Eye-picking. The phrase used in Australia 
during the settling days for the practice of 
buying up here and there the choice lots of 
land, leaving the waste parts in between to 
settlers of smaller means; it was called “picking 
the eyes out of the country.” Those who 
pursued this practice were known as pea- 
cockers . 

Eye-service. Unwilling service; the kind that 
is only done when under the eye of one’s 
master. 

Servants, be obedient to them that are your 
masters . . . not with eye service, as men pleasers; 
but as the servants of Christ. — Eph. vi, 5, 6. 

Eye-teeth. The canine teeth; so called be- 
cause their roots extend upwards nearly to the 
orbits of the eyes. 


He has cut his eye-teeth. See Tooth. 

To draw one’fc eye-teeth. To take the conceit 
out of a person; to fleece one without mercy. 

Eye-wash. Flattery; soft sawder; fulsome 
adulation given for the purpose of blinding 
one to the real state of affairs. 

Eyre (ar). Justices in Eyre. The ancient 
itinerant judges who, from about 1 100 to 1285, 
used to ride on circuit from county to county 
holding courts. Eyre is from Late Lat. iterare , to 
journey, Lat. iter , a journey. 


F 

F. The first letter in the Runic futhorc (q.v.) y 
but the sixth in the Phoenician and Latin 
alphabets, and their derivatives. The Egyptian 
hieroglyph represented a horned asp, and the 
Phoenician and Semitic character a peg. 

Double F (Ff or ff) as an initial in a few 
personal names, as Ffoulkes , ffrench , etc., is a 
mistaken use in print of the mediaeval or Old 
English capital F (Jf) as it appears written in 
engrossed leases, etc. In script the old capital 
F looked very much like two small f’s en- 
twined, and it so appears in all old documents, 
and in many modern legal ones, not only in 
the case of personal names but of all words 
beginning with a capital F. Its modern use is 
an affectation. 

F is written on his face. The letter F used to 
be branded near the nose, on the left cheek 
of felons, on their being admitted to “benefit 
of clergy.” The same was used for brawling in 
church. The custom was abolished by law in 
1822. 

F.A.N.Y. (British). First Aid Nursing Yeo- 
manry, founded 1909. The first women to 
serve with the British Army besides regular 
nurses. In 1916 they began to drive ambulance 
convoys, and transport duties replaced their 
previous medical duties. Retained after 1918. 
Called out during the General Strike 1926. 
Active again on transport work, 1939-45. 

F. E. R. T. See Annunciation, Order of the. 
F.F.I. Forces Francoises de VIntirieur . French- 
men within France who continued the struggle 
against Germany after the fall of their country 
in 1940. They were first armed by Britain and 
their co-operation with British parachute 
agents was co-ordinated and directed by an 
organization at the War Office. Later the 
United States also co-operated through their 
O.S.S. These Frenchmen were familiarly known 
as the Maquis (q.v.). As soon as the allied 
invasion landed in June 1944 they came into 
the open as a civilian army. 

F.F.V. First Families of Virginia, a snobbish 
term used in the 19th century by descendants 
of the first settlers. 

F.O.B. Free on board; meaning that the 
shipper, from the time of shipment, is free from 
all risk. Also prices are quoted as, for instance, 
“F.O.B. Detroit” where the goods have to 
make a long and expensive journey from the 
place of manufacture to their purchaser. 




Fabius 


343 


Faction 


Fabius (f& 7 bi vis). See Cunctator, and Fabian 
Society, below. 

The American Fabius. George Washington 
(1732-99), whose military policy was similar to 
that of Fabius. He wearied out the English 
troops by harassing them, without coming to 
a pitched battle. 

Fabian Society (fa 7 bi in). An association of 
socialists founded in January, 1884, by a small 
group of “intellectuals,” which included 
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) and Sidney 
Webb (1859-1947) among others. As an- 
nounced in its prospectus, it 
aims at “the reorganization of society by the emanci- 
pation of land and industrial capital from individual 
and class ownership and the vesting of them in the 
community for the general benefit” . . . and at “the 
transfer to the community of the administration of 
such industrial capital as can conveniently be managed 
socially.” 

The name is derived from Quintus Fabius 
(275-203 b.c.), surnamed “Cunctator” {q.v.), 
the Roman general, who won his way against 
Hannibal by defensive and not offensive policy. 

Fables. See AEsop; Pilpay. La Fontaine 
(1621-95) has been called the French AEsop, 
and John Gay (1685-1732) the English. 
Fabliaux (fab 7 le 6). Metrical tales, for the 
most part comic and satirical, and in- 
tended primarily for recitation by the Trou- 
veres, or early poets north of the Loire, in the 
twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The word is 
used very widely, for it includes not only such 
tales as Reynard the Fox, but all sorts of 
familiar incidents of knavery and intrigue, 
legends, family traditions, and caricatures, 
especially of women. 

Fabricius (fa brish 7 us). A Roman hero (d. 
c. 270 b.c.), representative of incorruptibility 
and honesty. The ancient writers tell of the 
frugal way In which he lived on his farm, how 
he refused the rich presents offered him by the 
Samnite ariibassadors, and how at death he 
left no portion for his daughters, for whom 
the senate provided. 

Fabulinus. The god, mentioned by Varro, who 
taught Roman children to utter their first word 
( fabulor , to speak). It was Vagitanus who 
taught them to utter their first cry. 

Face. A colloquialism for cheek, impudence, 
self-confidence, etc., as “He has face enough 
for anything.” i.e . cheek or assurance enough. 
The use is quite an old one. 

A brazen face. A bold, defiant look. See 
Brazen-faced, and cp. Brass. 

A wry face. The features drawn awry, 
expressive of distaste. 

Face to face. In the immediate presence of 
each other; two or more persons facing each 
other. 

On the face of It. To all appearance; in the 
literal sense of the words. 

That puts a new face on the matter. Said 
when frerfv evidence has been produced, or 
something has happened which sets the case 
in a new fight and makes it look different. 

To draw a long face. To look dissatisfied or 
sorrowful, in which case the mouth is drawn 


down at the corners, the eyes are dejected, and 
the face has an elongated appearance. 

To face down. To withstand with boldness 
and effrontery. 

To face it out. To persist in an assertion 
which is not true. To maintain without 
changing colour or hanging the head. 

To face the music. To stand up boldly and 
meet a crisis without faltering. 

To fly in the face of. To oppose violently and 
unreasonably: to set at defiance rashly. 

To have two faces, or to keep two faces under 
one hood. To be double-faced; to pretend to 
be very religious, and yet live an evil life. 

To look a person in the face, or full in the face. 
To meet with a steady gaze; implying lack of 
fear, or, sometimes, a spirit of defiance. 

To lose face. To be lowered in the esteem of 
others through an affront to one’s dignity — 
a matter of the utmost importance in the Far 
East. 

To make faces. To make grimaces with the 

face. 

To put a bold, or a good, face on the matter. 
To make the best of a bad matter; to bear up 
under something disagreeable. 

To save one’s face. Narrowly to avoid almost 
inevitable disgrace, disaster, or discomfiture. 

To set one’s face against something. To 
oppose it; to resist its being done. 

To shut the door in one’s face. To put an end 
to the negotiations, or whatever is in hand. 

Face-lifting. A method of enhancing beauty 
or concealing the marks of age by an operation 
in which the skin of the face is tightened and 
wrinkles removed. 

Faced. With a facing, lining of the cuffs, etc.; 
used of an inferior article bearing the surface 
of a superior one, as when cotton-velvet has a 
silk surface. 

Bare-faced. See Barefaced. 

Shame-faced. Having shame expressed in the 
face. Cp. Shamefast. 

Facer. A blow in the face, a sudden check, a 
dilemma. 

Face-card or Faced-card. A court card, a 
card with a face on it. 

Facile princeps. By far the best; admittedly first. 
Facilis descensus Averno. See Avernus. 

Facings. To put someone through his facings. To 
examine; to ascertain if what appears on the 
surface is superficial only. The term is also 
used for the lapels and cuffs on regimental 
uniforms, which used to differ in colour from 
the body of the coat, e.g. The Buffs ( q.v .), so 
called from wearing buff facings to their red 
coats. 

Fa£on de parler. Idiomatic or usual form of 
speech. 

Faction. The Romans divided the combatants 
in the circus into classes, called factions , each 
class being distinguished by its special colour* 
like the crews of a boat-race. The four original 




Factor 


344 


Faineant 


factions were the leek-green ( prasina ), the sea- 
blue ( veneta ), the white {alba), and the rose- 
red (rosea). Two other factions were added by 
Domitian, the colours being golden yellow 
(aurata) and purple. As these combatants 
strove against each other, and entertained a 
strong esprit de corps , the word was easily 
applied to political partisans. 

Factor. An agent, a substitute in mercantile 
matters, a commission merchant. 

Asleep and naked as an Indian lay 
An honest factor stole a gem away. 

Pope: Moral Essays , Ep. iii. 

This refers to Thomas Pitt, Governor of Fort 
St. George, who obtained the famous Pitt 
Diamond ( g.v .). 

Factory King. The name given to Richard 
Oastler (1789-1861), of Bradford, who devoted 
his life to the betterment of factory conditions, 
especially to the prohibition of child-labour 
and to the promotion of a Ten Hours Bill. 

Factotum (Lat. Jacere totum , to do everything 
required). One who does for his employer all 
sorts of services. Sometimes called a Johannes 
Factotum. Formerly the term meant a “Jack- 
of-all-trades,” and it is in this sense that 
Greene used it in his famous reference to 
Shakespeare: — 

There is an upstart Crow, beautified with our 
feathers, that with his Tygers heart wrapt in a Players 
hide , supposes he is as well able to bombast out a 
blankc verse as the best of you: but being an absolute 
Johannes fac totum , is in his owne conceit the onely 
Shake-scene in a countrie. — Greene: Groatsworth of 
Wit (1592). 

Fad. A hobby, a temporary fancy, a whim. 
Perhaps a contraction of faddle in “fiddle- 
faddle.” 

Fade. To fade in, to fade out. Phrases applied 
in cinematography to the operation of causing 
a picture to appear or disappear gradually; and 
similarly in broadcasting, it describes the 
fading of sound into silence. 

In golf, a ball so struck that towards the end 
of its flight it drifts towards the right is said 
to have a bit of fade. 

Fadge. Probably a Scandinavian word, con- 
nected with faga , to suit. To suit or fit together, 
as, It won't fudge; we cannot fadge together ; he 
does not fadge with me. 

How will this adge? 

Shakespeare: Twelfth Night , II, ii. 

The word is also old slang for a farthing. 
Faerie (fa' er i). The land of the fays or faeries. 
The chief fay realms are Avalon, an island 
somewhere in the ocean; Oberon’s dominions, 
situate “in wilderness among the holtis hairy”; 
and a realm somewhere in the middle of the 
earth, where was Pari Banou’s palace. 

For learned Colin [Spenser] lays his pipes to gage, 

And is to Fa£ry gone a pilgrimage. 

Drayton: Eclogue iii. 

Faerie Queene, The (far i kwen). An 
allegorical romance of chivalry by Edmund 
Spenser, originally intended to have been in 
12 books, each of which was to have portrayed 
one of the 12 moral virtues. Only six books of 
twelve cantos each, and part of a seventh, were 
written (I to III published in 1590, IV to VI 
in 1596, and the remaining fragments in 1611). 
It details the adventures of various knights, 


who personify different virtues, and belong to 
the court of Gloriana, the Faerie Queene, who 
sometimes typifies Queen Elizabeth I. 

Fag. Slang for a cigarette. The origin of the 
word is not known. Fag-end. The stub of a 
cigarette. 

In public schools a fag is a younger boy who 
waits upon an older one. The system was al- 
ready established at Eton and Winchester in 
the 16th century. Dr. Arnold (1795-1842), the 
famous headmaster of Rugby, described it as 
“the power given by the supreme authorities 
of the School to the Sixth Form to be exercised 
by them over the lower boys for the sake of 
securing a regular government among the 
boys themselves and avoiding the evil of 
anarchy.” Tom Brown's School Days and many 
volumes of reminiscences reveal the system at 
its best and worst. 

It’s too much fag. Too much trouble, too 
much needless exertion. 

Quite fagged out. Wearied with hard work; 
tired out. 

Fag-end. Originally the coarse end of a 
piece of cloth; hence the remaining part of 
anything; as “the fag-end of a leg of mutton,” 
“the fag-end of a conversation,” or “the fag- 
end of a session,” which means the last few 
days before dissolution. 

1 never yet saw a great House so neatly kept. . . . 
The Kitchen and Gutters and other Offices of noise 
and drudgery are at the fag-end; there’s a Back-gate 
f or the Beggars and the meaner sort of Swains to come 
in at. — Howell's Familiar Letters (20 May, 1619). 

Faggot. A bundle of sticks. 

In mediaeval times heretics were often burned 
at the stake with faggots, hence an embroidered 
representation of a faggot was worn on the 
arm by those who had recanted their “hereti- 
cal” opinions. It was designed to show what 
they merited but had narrowly escaped. 

Faggot votes. Votes obtained by the nominal 
transfer of property to a person whose income 
was not otherwise sufficient to qualify him for 
being a voter. 

The “faggot” was a bundle of property 
divided into small lots for the purpose stated 
above. 

Lord Lonsdale had conveyed to him a certain pro- 
perty, on which he was to vote in that borough, as, 
what was familiarly called a faggot vote. — S ir F. 
Burdett: Pari. Debates , 1817. 

The culinary faggot , deriving from the Latin 
ficatum , the liver of a pig fattened on figs, is a 
dish of liver chopped and seasoned with herbs 
before baking. 

Fagin (fa' gin). The rascally Jew who taught 
boys and girls how to nick pockets. This 
figure from Dickens’s Oliver Twist has for long 
been proverbial. 

Faience. Majolica. So called from Faenza, 
where, in 1299, it was first manufactured. It is 
termed majolica because the first specimens 
the Italians saw came from Majorca. 

Faineant. Les Rois Faineants (the “nonchalant” 
or “do-nothing” kings) Clovis II (d. 656) and 
his ten Merovingian successors on the French 
throne. The line came to an end in 751, when 
P6pin the Short usurped the crown. Louis V 
(last of the Carlovingian dynasty, d. 987) 
received the same name. 



Fains 


345 


Fairy rings 


Fains (fanz). A schoolchildren’s formula of 
unknown origin. When there is some un- 
desirable task to be done, whoever says 
“Fains I” first is exempted from performing it; 
e.g. “Fains I carry the bag!” 

Faint. Faint heart ne’er won fair lady. An old 
proverb, with obvious meaning. It occurs in 
Phineas Fletcher’s Britain's Ida (ca. v, st. i), 
1628, but is probably a good deal older. 

Fair. As personal epithets. 

Edwy, or Eadwig, King of Wessex (938-58). 

Charles IV, King of France, le Bel (1294, 
1322-8). 

Philippe IV of France, le Bel (1268, 1285- 
1314). 

Fair Geraldine. See Geraldine. 

The Fair-haired. Harold I, King of Norway 
(reigned 872-930). 

Fair Maid of Anjou. Lady Edith Plantagenet 
(fl. 1200), who married David, Prince Royal of 
Scotland. 

Fair Maid of Brittany. Eleanor (d. 1241), 
granddaughter of Henry II, and, after the 
death of Arthur (1203), the rightful sovereign 
of England. Her uncle, the usurper King John, 
imprisoned her in Bristol Castle, which she left 
to enter a nunnery at Amcsbury. Her father, 
Gcolfrcy, John’s elder brother, was Count of 
Brittany. 

Fair Maid of Kent. Joan (1328-85), Countess 
of Salisbury, wife of the Black Prince, and only 
daughter of Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of Kent. 
The prince was her third husband. 

Fair Maid of Norway. Margaret (1283-90), 
daughter of Eric II of Norway, and grand- 
daughter of Alexander III of Scotland. On his 
death she was recognized by the states of 
Scotland as successor to the throne. She set out 
for her kingdom, but died at sea from sea- 
sickness. 

Fair Maid of Perth. Katie Glover, heroine of 
Scott’s novel of the same name, is supposed to 
have lived in the early 1 5th century, but is not a 
definite historical character, though her house 
is still shown at Perth. 

Fair Rosamond. See Rosamond. 

A day after the fair. Too late for the fun; 
wise after the event. Here fair is (through 
French) from Lat .feria y a holiday, and is quite 
unconnected with the adjective fair , which is 
the O.E. feger. 

A fair field and no favour. Every opportunity 
being given. 

By fair means. Straightforwardly; without 
deception or compulsion. 

Fair and soft goes far in a day. Courtesy and 
moderation will help one to effect a good deal 
of one’s purpose. 

Fair and square. Honestly, justly, with 
straightforwardness. 

Fair fall you. Good befall you. 

Fair game. A worthy subject of banter; one 
who exposes himself to ridicule and may be 
fairly made a butt of. 

Fair Trade. An old euphemism for smug- 
gling. 


In politics the phrase signifies reciprocity of 
protection or free trade; that is, free trade to 
those nations that grant free trade to us. 

Fair words butter no parsnips. See Butter. 

In a fair way. On the right tack. 

Fairway. The clear run from hole to hole 
on a golf-course, etc. 

The fair sex. Women generally; the phrase 
was modelled on the French le beau sexe. 

To bid fair. To give good promise; to 
indicate future success or excellence as “he 
bids fair to be a good. . . .” 

Fair Isle. One of the Shetlands where a 
special pattern of knitting is done. 

Fair Maid of February. A once popular 
name for the snowdrop. 

Fairlop Oak. A huge tree in the forest of 
Hainault, Essex, blown down in 1820. Prior 
to that a fair was held annually in July beneath 
its spreading branches. 

Fairy. The names of the principal fairies and 
of groups of similar sprites known to fable 
and legend arc given throughout the Diction- 
ary. 

Fairies of nursery mythology wear a red 
conical cap; a mantle of green cloth, inlaid with 
wild flowers; green pantaloons, buttoned with 
bobs of silk; and silver shoes. Some accounts 
add that they carry quivers of adderslough, and 
bows made of the ribs of a man buried where 
“three lairds’ lands meet”; that their arrows 
are made of bog-reed, tipped with white flints, 
and dipped in the dew of hemlock; and that 
they ride on steeds whose hoofs would not 
“dash the dew from the cup of a harebell.” 
Fairies small Two foot tall. 

With caps red On their head 
Dance a round On the ground. 

Jasper Fisher: Song from Fuimus Troes (1633). 

Fairy darts. Flint arrow-heads. See Elf 
arrows. 

Fairy loaves or stones. Fossil sea-urchins, 
said to be made by the fairies. 

Fairy money. Found money. Said to be 
placed by some good fairy at the spot where it 
was picked up. “Fairy money” is apt to be 
transformed into leaves. 

Fairy of the mine. A malevolent gnome ( q.y .) 
supposed to live in mines, busying itself with 
cutting ore, turning the windlass, etc., but 
effecting nothing. 

No goblin, or swart fairy of the mine. 

Hath hurtful power o’er true virginity. 

Milton: Comus, 447. 

Fairy rings. Circles of rank or withered grass, 
often seen in lawns, meadows, and grass-plots, 
and popularly supposed to be produced by 
fairies dancing on the spot. In sober truth, 
these rings are simply an agaric or fungus 
below the surface, which has seeded circularly, 
as many plants do. Where the ring is brown 
and almost bare, the “spawn” has enveloped 
the roots and thus prevented their absorbing 
moisture; but where the grass is rank the 
“spawn” itself has died, and served as manure 
to the young grass. 



Fairy sparks 


346 


Fall 


You demi-puppets, that 
By moonshine do the green-sour ringlets make, 
Whereof the ewe not bites. 

Shakespeare: Tempest , V, i. 

Fairy sparks. The phosphoric light from 
decaying wood, fish, and other substances. 
Thought at one time to be lights prepared for 
the fairies at their revels. 

Fait accompli (fa fe kom' pie) (Fr.). An 
accomplished fact, something already done; a 
scheme which has been already carried out; 
often used in the sense of stealing a march on 
some other party. 

I pointed out to Herr von Jagow that this fait 
accompli of the violation of the Belgian frontier 
rendered, as he would readily understand, the situ- 
ation exceedingly grave. — Sir Edward Goschen, 
Ambassador in Berlin , to Sir Edward Grey , 8 Aug., 
1914. 

Faith. Act of faith. See Auto da Fe. 

Defender of the Faith. See Defender. 

In good faith. “ Bona fide ”; “de bonne foi"\ 
with no ulterior motive. 

To pin one’s faith to. See Pin. 

Faithful, in Bunyan’s Pilgrim's Progress , is 
seized at Vanity Fair, burnt to death, and taken 
to heaven in a chariot of fire. A Puritan used 
to be called Brother Faithful. The active 
disciples of any cult are called the faithful. 

Commander of the Faithful. The Caliph is so 
called by Mohammedans. 

Father of the faithful. Abraham {Rom. iv; 
Gal. iii, 6-9). 

Most Faithful King, The. The appellation by 
which the kings of Portugal used to be ad- 
dressed by the Vatican. Cp. Religious. 

Fake. A fraud or swindle; also verb, as “to 
fake antiques,” “to fake the accounts,” i.e. to 
“cook” tnem, falsify them. The word is old 
thieves’ slang from Dutch or German, and was 
originally feague. Feaguing a horse was making 
it look younger or stronger for purposes of 
sale, Cp. To bishop. 

Falbalas. Flounces on petticoats and sleeves; 
introduced by Madame de Maintenon in the 
late seventeenth century. 

Falcon and Falconet. Pieces of light artillery of 
the 16th century, the names of which are 
borrowed from hawks. Cp. Saker. 

Falcon gentle. A goshawk. 

Falcon peregrine. See Peregrine. 

Fald-stool (Old High Ger. faldan, to fold). A 
portable folding chair used by a bishop in a 
church other than his own cathedral; a small 
desk at which the Litany is sung or said; also 
the place at the south side of the altar at which 
sovereigns kneel at their coronations. 

Falernian (fe lir' nl in). A choice Italian wine, 
much esteemed by the ancient Romans, and 
celebrated by Virgil and Horace; so called 
because it was made of grapes from Falernus. 
There are three sorts — the rough, the sweet, 
and the dry. 

Falk In music, a sinking of tone, a cadence. 

That strain again l it had a dying fall. Shakespeare: 
Twelfth Night, I, i. 


In the fall. In the autumn, at the fall of the 
leaf. Though now commonly classed as an 
Americanism the term was formerly in good 
use in England, and is found in the works of 
Drayton, Middleton, Raleigh, and other 
Elizabethans. 

What crowds of patients the town doctor kills, 

Or how, last fall, he raised the weekly bills. 

Dryden: Juvenal. 

The Fall of man. The degeneracy of the 
human race in consequence of the disobedience 
of Adam. 

The fall of the drop, in theatrical parlance, 
means the fall of the drop-curtain at the end of 
the act or play. 

Fall line. The point at which rivers begin 
to fall on their way to the sea. It is a term of 
American geology, but its implications are 
largely sociological, the fall line determining 
the location of cities and influencing the lives 
of those inhabiting the area, who are known as 
Fall Liners. For example, in the Southern 
States of the U.S.A. the fall line runs through 
Virginia, down to Georgia and turns across to 
the Mississippi, producing circumstances and 
problems of national importance. 

To ride for a fall. See Ride. 

To try a fall. To wrestle, when each tries to 
“fall” or throw the other. 

I am given, sir to understand that your 

younger brother, Orlando, hath a disposition to come 
in disguised against me to try a fall. — As You Like If, 
I, i. 

See also Falling-bands. 

To fall away. To lose flesh; to degenerate; 
to quit a party, as “his adherents fell away one 
by one.” 

To fall back upon. To have recourse to. 

To fall between two stools. To fail, through 
hesitating between two choices. The French 
say, Etre assis entre deux chaises. 

To fall flat. To lie prostrate or procumbent; 
to fail to interest, as “the last act fell flat.” 

To fall foul of one. To make an assault on 
someone; to quarrel with, or run up against 
someone. A sea term. A rope is said to be foul 
when it is entangled; and one ship falls foul 
of another when it runs against her and pre- 
vents her free progress. 

To fall from. To violate, as “to fall from his 
word”; to tumble or slip off, as “to fall from a 
horse”; to abandon or go away from, as “to 
fall from grace,” to relapse into sin. 

To fall in. To take one’s place with others; 
to concur with, as “he fell in with my views” — 
that is, his views or ideas fell into line with my 
views or ideas. Cp. Fall our. 

To fall in love with. To become enamoured of. 

To fall in with. To meet accidentally; to 
come across. This is a Latin phrase, in aliquant 
casu incidere. 

To fall into a snare. To stumble accidentally 
into a snare. This is a Latin phrase, insidias 
incidere. Similarly, to fall into disgrace is the 
Latin in offensionem cadere. 

To fall out. To quarrel; also, to happen. Cp. 
Fall in. 

See yc fall not out by the way. — Gen. xlv, 24. 




Fall 


347 


Fancy 


To leave the ranks; hence, to take one’s 
departure, to desert some cause. 

To fall short of. To be deficient of a supply. 
To fall short of the mark is a figure taken from 
archery, quoits, etc., where the missile falls to 
the ground before reaching the mark. 

To fall sick. To be unwell. A Latin phrase. 
In morbum incidere. Cp. Falling sickness. 

To fall through. To fail of being carried out 
or accomplished. 

To fall to. To begin (eating, fighting, etc.). 

Come, Sir, fall to, then; you see my little supper is 
always ready when I come home, and I’ll make no 
stranger of you,— Cotton, in Walton’s Compleat 
Angler. 

To fall to the. ground. To fail from lack of 
support; to become of no account. “In view of 
what has happened my proposals fall to the 
ground,” i.e. are rendered useless. 

To fall together by the ears. To fight and 
scratch each other; to contend in strife. 

To fall under. To incur, as, “to fall under the 
reproach of carelessness”; to be submitted to, 
as, “to fall under consideration.” 

To fall upon. To attack, as “to fall upon the 
rear”; to throw oneself on, as, “he fell on his 
sword,”; to happen on, as, “On what day does 
Easter fall?” 

To fall upon one’s feet. To find oneself 
unexpectedly lucky; to find oneself in a situa- 
tion where everything seems to go right. 
Evidently from the old theory that a cat always 
falls on its feet and is able to get away unhurt. 

Fall-back chaise. A chaise with an adjustable 
hood. 

Failing-bands. Neck-bands which fall on the 
breast. They were common in the 17th century, 
when they were also called falls. 

Under that fay re ruffe so sprucely set 
Appeares a fall, a falling-band forsooth! 

Marston: Scourge of Villa in ie, iii (1599), 

Falling sickness. Epilepsy, in which the 
patient falls suddenly to the ground. Shake- 
speare plays on the term: — 

And honest Casca, we have the falling-sickness. 

Brutus: He hath the falling-sickness. 

Cassius: No, Ca:sar hath it not: but vou, and I. 

Julius Cotsar , I, ii. 

Falling stars. Meteors. Mohammedans 
believe them to be firebrands flung by good 
angels against evil spirits when they approach 
too near the gates of heaven. A wish wished as 
a star falls is supposed to come true. 

Fal-lals. Knick-knacks, trifling fripperies, 
ornaments of small value. 

His dress, his bows and fine fal-lalls. 

Evelyn's Diary. 

Fallow. Fallow land is land ploughed and 
harrowed but left unsown. The word is O.E. 
f&lging, connected with fcelga , harrows for 
breaking crops, and is nothing to do with the 
fallow of fallow deer. Fallow in this sense 
means “reddish yellow,” and is the O.E. fealu, 
which is related to Dut. vaal , Ger. fahl, and 
Lat. palidus , pale. 

False. False colours. See Colour. 

B.D.— 12 


False quantity. A tprm used in prosody to 
denote the incorrect use of a long for a short 
vowel or syllable, or vice versa. 

To play false. To act treacherously, to be 
faithless. 

FalstafT (fawl' staf). A fat, sensual, boastful, 
and mendacious knight; full of wit and 
humour; he was the boon companion of Henry, 
Prince of Wales. ( Henry IV , Pts. I and If and 
Merry Wives of Windsor.) Hence, Falstaffian, 
possessing Falstaff’s characteristics. 

Falutin’. See High falutin’. 

Fame. Temple of Fame. A Pantheon (<y.v.) 
where monuments to the famous dead of a 
nation are erected and their memories 
honoured. Hence, he will have a niche in the 
Temple of Fame , he has done something that 
will cause his people to honour him ana keep 
his memory green. 

Familiar, or Familiar spirit (Lat. famulus , a 
servant). A spirit slave, sometimes in human 
form, sometimes appearing as a cat, dog, 
raven, or other dumb creature, petted by a 
“witch,” and supposed to be her demon in 
disguise. 

Away with him! he has a familiar under his tongue. 
—Henry V/ t Pt . If IV, vii. 

Familiarity. Familiarity breeds contempt. The 
proverb appears in English at least as early as 
the mid- 16th century (Udall), and was well 
known in Latin. 

Familists (Him' i lists). Members of the “Family 
of Love,” a fanatical sect founded by David 
George, or Joriszoon, of Delft, who separated 
from the Anabaptists about 1535. They 
were also known as Davists, or Davidians. 
They maintained that all folk are of one 
family, and should love each other as brothers 
and sisters, and that complete obedience was 
due to all rulers, however tyrannical they 
might be. 

Fan. I could brain him with his lady’s fan 

( Henrv IV , Pt. l x II, iii) — i.e. knock his brains 
out with something whose weight and strength 
is very trifling. 

Wer’t not better 

Your head were broken with the handle of a fan, 

Or your nose bored with a silver bodkin? 

Fletcher: Wit at Several Weapons , V, i. 
Fan. Used from about 1900 as an abbrevia- 
tion of fanatic (<?.v.), an ardent admirer or 
devotee. Admiring letters written to the object 
of such devotion are known as fan mail. 

Fanatic. Literally, one who is possessed of the 
enthusiasm or madness of the temple, i.e. 
engendered by over-indulgence in religious 
observances (Lat. fanum , a temple — the Eng. 
fane). Among the Romans there were certain 
persons who attended the temples and fell 
into strange fits, in which they were credited 
with being able to see the spirits of the past 
and to foretell the events of the future. 

Earth’s fanatics make 
Too frequently heaven’s saints. 

Mrs. Browning: Aurora Leigh , ii, 448. 

Fancy. Love — i.e. the passion of the fantasy or 
imagination. 

Tell me where is fancy bred, 

Or in the heart or in the head. 

Merchant of Venice, III, ii. 


Fancy 


348 


Farrago 


The fancy. In early* 19th-century sporting 
parlance a collective name for prize-fighters. 

Fancy-man. Originally a cavaliere servente 
(q.v.) or cicisbeo (q.v.); one selected by a 
married woman to escort her to theatres, etc., 
to ride about with her, and to amuse her. 
It is now more usually applied to a harlot’s 
souteneur. 

Fancy-sick. Love-sick. 

All fancy-sick she is, and pale of cheer. 

Midsummer Night's Dream , III, ix. 

Fanfaron (fan' far on). A swaggering bully; a 
cowardly boaster who blows his own trumpet. 
Scott uses the word for finery, especially for 
the gold lace worn by military men. {Ft. fanfare, 
a flourish of trumpets.) 

Hence, fanfaronade, swaggering; vain 
boasting; ostentatious display. 

Fanning (western U.S.A.). Holding a revolver 
in one hand while passing the other hand 
several times over the hammer, thereby 
producing a rapid succession of shots. Much 
seen in western movies, but in real life too 
inaccurate to be employed in serious gun- 
fighting. 

Fanny, Lord. A nickname given by Pope to 
Lord Hervey (1696-1743) for his effeminate and 
foppish manners. He painted his face, and was 
as pretty in his ways as a boarding-school miss. 
The lines are weak, another’s pleased to say, 

Lord Fanny spins a thousand such a day. 

Pope: Satires of Horace , I. 

Fanny Adams. Sweet Fanny Adams, meaning 
“nothing at all,” though (especially by its 
initials alone) with a somewhat ambiguous con- 
notation, is a phrase with a tragic origin. In 
1810 a girl Fanny Adams was murdered at 
Alton, Hants, and her body cut up and thrown 
into the river Wey. With gruesome humour the 
Navy took up her name as a synonym for 
tinned mutton, and Sweet Fanny Adams be- 
came a phrase for anything worthless or, in 
fact, for nothing at all. 

Fantigue (fan teg'). A fussy anxiety; that rest- 
less, nervous commotion which persons have 
who are over-wrought. To get in a fantigue 
over something, is to get thoroughly excited, 
hysterical, or out of humour about it. 

Fantoccini (fan to che' ni). A dramatic per- 
formance by puppets. (Ital. fantoccio , a pup- 
pet.) 

Fantom. An old spelling of Phantom (q.v.). 
Far. A far cry. See Cry. 

Far and away. Beyond comparison; as, “far 
and away the best,” some person or thing 
beyond all rivalry. 

Far and wide. To a good distance in every 
direction. “To spread the news far and wide,” 
to blazon it everywhere. 

Far-fetched. Not closely connected ; strained, 
as, “a far-fetched simile,” a “far-fetched 
allusion.” 

Far from it. Not in the least; by no means; 
quite the contrary. If the answer to“ Was he 
sober at the time?” is “Far from it,” the impli- 
cation is that he was in a considerably advanced 
state of intoxication. 


Far gone. Deeply affected: as, “far gone in 
love.” 

Farce. A grotesque and exaggerated kind of 
comedy, full of ludicrous incidents and ex- 
pressions. The word is the Old French farce, 
stuffing (from Lat. farcire , to stuff), hence an 
interlude stuffed into or inserted in the main 
piece, such interludes always being of a racy, 
exaggerated comic character. 

Farcy or Farcin. A disease in horses, which 
consists of a swelling of the ganglions and 
lymphatic vessels and shows itself in little 
knots; very like glanders. The name is, like 
farce (above) from Lat .farcire, to stuff. 

Fardle or Fardel. A variant of obsolete furdlc 
(from which comes furl , to furl a sail), meaning 
to roll up; hence, that which is rolled up, i.e. a 
bundle or package. 

Fare. (O.E. faran, to go, to travel; connected 
with Lat. portare, to carry.) The noun formerly 
denoted a journey for which a sum was paid; 
but now the sum itself, and, by extension, 
the person who pays it. In certain English 
dialects, e.g. Suffolk, the verb fare is used in 
its original sense of “to go,” also as an 
auxiliary with much the same sense as “to do.” 

Farewell. Good-bye; adieu. It was originally 
addressed to one about to start on a journey, 
expressing the wish that the fare would be a 
good one. 

He cannot fare well but he must cry out roast 
meat. Said of one who blazons his good 
fortune on the house-top. 

Farmer George. George III; so called from his 
farmer-like manners, tastes, dress, and amuse- 
ments. 

A better farmer ne’er brushed dew from lawn. 

Byron: Vision of Judgment. 

Farnese (farnii'zi). A noted Italian family, 
celebrated in the 16th and 17th centuries as 
soldiers and patrons of the arts. Its fortunes 
were laid by Alessandro Farnese, who was 
Pope as Paul HI (1534-49), and who created 
the Duchy of Parma for his son, Pietro Luigi 
(1545). 

The Farnese Bull. A colossal group attribu- 
ted to Apollonius and Tauriscus of Tralles, in 
Asia Minor. They belonged to the Rhodian 
school, and lived about 300 b.c. The group 
represents Dirce bound to the horns of a bull 
by Zethus and Amphion, for ill-using their 
mother. It was discovered in the Baths of 
Caracalla in 1546, and placed in the Farnese 
palace, in Rome. It is now at the Museo 
Nazionale, Naples. 

The Farnese Hercules. Glykon’s copy of the 
famous statue of Lysippus, the Greek sculptor 
in the time of Alexander the Great. It represents 
the hero leaning on his club, with one hand 
on his back, as if he had just got possession of 
the apple of the Hesperides. It is now at the 
Museo Nazionale, Naples. 

Farrago (f& ra' go). A farrago of nonsense. A 
confused heap of nonsense. Farrago (Lat.) is 
properly a mixture of far (meal) with other 
ingredients for the use of cattle. 



Farthing 


349 


Fata 


Farthing. A fourth part. Silver penny pieces 
used to be divided into four parts thus, e. 
One of these quarters was a feorthing or fourth 
part. 

I don’t care for it a brass farthing. James JI 
debased all the coinage, and issued, amongst 
other worthless coins, brass pence, halfpence, 
and farthings. 

Farthingale (far' thing gal). The hooped under- 
structure of the large protruding skirt fashion- 
able in the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. 
The word is the O.Fr. verdugale , which is a 
corruption of Span, verdugado , green rods, 
referring to the twigs or switches of which the 
framework was made before whalebone was 
used for the purpose. 

Fascinate. Literally, to cast a spell by means of 
the eye (Lat . fascinum, a spell). The allusion is 
to the ancient notion of bewitching by the 
power of the eye. Cp. Evil Eye. 

None of the affections have been noted to fascinate 
and bewitch, but love and envy. — B acon: Essays; 
Of Envy. 

Fascinator. An opera cloak was thus termed 
in the 18th century; an evening-wear head 
veil. 

Fascines (fAs' enz). Bundles of faggots used to 
build up defences, or to fill ditches impeding 
an attack. For the latter they were revived in 
World War II and carried forward by tanks 
which dumped them mechanically in ditches 
and small streams. From Roman fasces. 
Fascism (fash' izm, fAs' izm). A political move- 
ment, originating in Italy, that takes its name 
from the old Roman fasces , a bundle of sticks 
borne by lictors as an emblem of office. Its 
leader was Benito Mussolini (1883-1945), who 
took advantage of the discontent felt in Italy 
after World War I to form a quasi-military 
party, to combat communism. In 1922 the 
Fascists “marched on Rome,” overthrew the 
existing government and replaced it by a 
government under Mussolini, with the king as 
a figurehead. Thenceforward Italy was a 
Fascist country until her defeat in 1943. 

Fascism is strictly authoritarian and as such 
has its followers and imitators in other 
countries and societies. As evolved by Musso- 
lini it was a technique for obtaining power, for 
exacting a ruthless militarism and rejecting all 
appeal to ethics. Struggles between races are 
beneficial, said Mussolini: “War is to the man 
what maternity is to the woman. ... I find 
peace depressing and the negation of the 
fundamental values of man.” Fascism denies 
democracy; the liberty of the individual is 
abolished in favour of the state; the inequality 
of men and races is proclaimed as immutable 
and even beneficial. “Credere, obbedire, 
combattere” (To have faith, to obey, to fight) 
is the final slogan. 

Fash. Dinna fash yoursel’! Don’t get excited; 
don’t get into a fantigue about it. The word is 
looked on as Scots, but it is the O.Fr. 
fascher (Mod.Fr. fdcher). 

Fashion. In a fashion or after a fashion. “In 
a sort of a way”; as, “he spoke French after a 
fashion.” 

Fast. The adjective was used figuratively of a 
person of either sex who is addicted to pleasure 


and dissipation; of a young man or woman 
who “goes the pace.” 

To play fast and loose. To run with the hare 
and hunt with the hounds; to blow both hot 
and cold; to say one thing and do another. 
The allusion is probably to an old cheating 
game that used to be practised at fairs. A belt 
was folded, and the player was asked to prick 
it with a skewer, so as to pin it fast to the table; 
having so done, the adversary took the two 
ends, and loosed it or drew it away, showing 
that it had not been pierced at all. 

He forced his neck into a noose. 

To show his play at fast and loose; 

And when he chanced t’escape, mistook, 

For art and subtlety, his luck. 

Butler: Hudibras , 111, ii. 

Fasti (fAs' ti). Working days; when, in Rome, 
the law-courts were open. Holy days {dies non), 
when the law-courts were not open, were, by 
the Romans, called ne-fasti. 

The Fasti were listed in calendars, and the 
registers of events occurring during the year 
of office of a pair of consuls was called fasti 
consular es; hence, any chronological list of 
events or office-holders became known as 
fasti, and hence such titles as Fasti Academai 
Mariscallance Aberdonenses , selections from 
the records of the Marischal College, Aberdeen. 
Fasting. In its literal meaning this is a complete 
abstention from food and drink, but the word 
is more usually applied to an extreme limita- 
tion of diet. In this sense its therapeutical 
value has been proved in various forms of 
disease. Fasting has, however, been adopted 
more as a religious exercise from the earliest 
times. Celts, Mexicans, Peruvians, Assyrians, 
Egyptians, Hebrews, and Mohammedans have 
alike used it as a means of penance or purifica- 
tion. Contemplatives and men of the stature of 
Mahatma Gandhi have found it helpful. 
Fasting plays an important part in Christian 
Church discipline; with more or less strictness 
the 40 days of Lenten fasting are observed 
throughout the Christian world. 

In more recent times fasting (under the 
epithet of hunger-striking) has been practised 
by political and other prisoners as a method of 
calling attention to alleged injustices. 

Fat. In printer’s slang, composition that does 
not entail a lot of setting, and hence can be 
done quickly. 

A bit of fat. An unexpected stroke of luck ; 
also, the best part of anything, especially, 
among actors, a good part m a play. 

The fat is in the fire. Something has been let 
out inadvertently which will cause a “regular 
flare up”; it’s all over, all’s up with it. The 
allusion is to frying; if the grease is spilt into 
the fire, the coals smoke and blaze so as to 
spoil the food. 

The Fat: — 

Alfonzo II of Portugal (1212-23). 

Charles II of France, le Gros (832, 884-8). 

Louis VI of France, le Gros (1078, 1 108-37). 

Fat-head. A silly fool, a dolt. 

Fata (fa' tA) (Ital. a fairy). Female super- 
natural beings introduced in Italian mediaeval 
romance, usually under the sway of Demo- 
gorgon iq.v.). 



Fata Morgana 


350 


Fault 


Fata Morgana. A sort of mirage in which 
objects are reflected in the sea, ana sometimes 
on a kind of aerial screen high above it, 
occasionally seen in the neighbourhood of the 
Straits of Messina, so named from Morgan le 
Fay (<?.v.) who was fabled by the Norman 
settlers in England to dwell in Calabria. 

Fatal Gifts. 

See Cadmus, Harmonia, Necklace, Nessus, 
Nibelungenlied, Opal, Gold of Tolosa, etc. 

Fate. The cruel fates. The Greeks and Romans 
supposed there were three Parcae or Fates, who 
arbitrarily controlled the birth, life, and death 
of every man. They were Clotho (who held 
the distaff), Lachesis (who spun the thread of 
life), and Atropos (who cut it off when life was 
ended); called “cruel” because they paid no 
regard to the wishes of anyone. 

Father. The name is given as a title to Catholic 
priests; also to the senior member of a body or 
profession, as the Father of the House of 
Commons , the Father of the Bench , and to the 
originator or first leader of some movement, 
school, etc., as the Father of Comedy (Aristo- 
phanes), the Father of English Song (Caedmon). 
In ancient Rome the title was given to the 
senators {cp. Patrician; Conscript Fathers), 
and in ecclesiastical history to the early Church 
writers and doctors. 

Father Mathew, Neptune, etc. See these 
names. 

Father Thoughtful. Nicholas Catinat (1637- 
1712), a marshal of France; so called by his 
soldiers for his cautious and thoughtful policy. 

Father of the Chapel. See Chapel. 

Father of Courtesy. Richard Beauchamp, 
Earl of Warwick (d. 1439). 

Father of English Botany. William Turner 
(c. 1520-1568), author of a herbal published in 
1568. 

Father of English History. The Venerable 
Bede ( q.v .). 

Father of the English Novel. Both Samuel 
Richardson and Henry Fielding have been 
given this title. 

Father of English Poetry. Chaucer. 

Father of his Country. 

Cicero was so entitled by the Roman senate. 
They offered the same title to Marius, but he 
reftised to accept it. 

Several of the Caesars were so called — 
Julius, after quelling the insurrection of Spain; 
Augustus, etc. 

Cosimo de’ Medici (1389-1464). 

George Washington, the first President of 
the United States (1732-99). 

Andrea Doria (1468-1560). Inscribed on the 
base of his statue by his countrymen of 
Genoa. 

Andronicus Palaeologus II assumed the title 
(c. 1260-1332). 

Victor Emmanuel II (1820-78), first king of 
Italy, was popularly called Father of his 
Country in allusion to his unnumbered progeny 
of bastard children. 

Father of History. Herodotus. 


Father of Letters. Francois I of France (1494, 
1515-47). 

Lorenzo de’ Medici, the Magnificent (1448- 

92). 

Father of Lies. Satan. 

Father of Moral Philosophy. St. Thomas 

Aquinas. 

Father of the People. 

Louis XII of France (1462, 1498-1515). 
Henri IV was also termed “the father and 
friend of the people’’ (1553, 1589-1610). 

Christian III of Denmark (1502, 1534-59). 

Father of Waters. The Irrawaddy, in Burma, 
and the Mississippi, in North America. The 
Nile is so called by Dr. Johnson in his Rasselas. 

The epithet Father is not uncommonly 
applied to rivers, especially those on which 
cities are built. 

Say, Father Thames, for thou hast seen 
Full many a sprightly race 
Disporting on thy margent green, 

The paths of pleasure trace. 

Gray: Distant Prospect of Eton College. 

O Tiber, Father Tiber, 

To whom the Romans pray. 

Macaulay: Lay of Horatius. 

To father a thing on one. To impute it to him; 
to assert that he was the originator of it. 

Fathers of the Church. All those writers of 
the first twelve centuries whose works on 
Christian doctrine are considered of weight 
and worthy of respect. But the term is more 
strictly applied to those teachers of the first 
twelve, and especially of the first six, centuries 
who added notable holiness and complete 
orthodoxy to their learning. The chief are: — 

Is* cent., Clement of Rome; 2nd cent., Cyril of 
Jerusalem, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin, Irenaeus, 
Polycarp; 3rd cent., Cyprian, Dionysius; 4th cent., 
Hilary, Ephraem the Syrian, Optatus, Epiphanius; 
5th cent., Peter Chrysologus, Pope Leo the Great, 
Cyril of Alexandria, Vincent of Lerins; 6th cent., 
Caesarius of Arles; 1th cent., Isidore; Stkcent John 
the Damascene, Venerable Bede; llth cent., Peter 
Damian; llth cent., Anselm, Bernard. 

Fathers of the Desert. The monks and hermits 
of the Egyptian deserts in the 4th century from 
whom all Christian monasticism derives. The 
most famous were St. Anthony, who ruled 
5,000 monks; Pachomius, the hermit; and 
Hilarion. There is a good description of their 
mode of life in Kingsley’s Hypatia. 

Fatima (fat' i ma). The last of Bluebeard’s 
wives. See Bluebeard. She was saved from 
death by the timely arrival of her brother with 
a party of friends. Mohammed’s daughter was 
called Fatima. 

Fatted Calf. See Calf. 

Fault. In geology, the break or displacement of 
a stratum of rock. 

At fault. Not on the right track. Hounds are 
at fault when the fox has jumped upon a wail, 
crossed a river, cut through a flock of sheep, 
or doubled like a hare, because the scent, i.e. 
the tracx, is broken. 

For fault of a better {Merry Wi ves t I. iv). In 
default of a better; no one (or nothing) better 
being available. 




Fault 


351 


Feather 


I am the youngest of that name, for fault of a worse. 
— Borneo anti Juliet , II, iv. 

In fault, at fault. To blame. 

Is Antony or we in fault for this? 

Antony and Cleopatra , III, xiii. 

No one is without his faults. No one is perfect. 

To a fault. In excess; as, kind to a fault. 
Excess of every good is more or less evil. 

To find fault. To blame; to express dis- 
approbation. 

Fauna (faw' na). The animals of a country at 
any given period. The term was first used by 
Linnaeus in the title of his Fauna Suecica (1746), 
a companion volume to his Flora Suecica of 
the preceding year, and is the name of a 
Roman rural goddess, sister of Faunus. 

Nor less the place of curious plant he knows — 

He both his Flora and his Fauna shows. 

Crabbe: Borough . 

Faust (foust). The hero of Marlowe’s Tragical 
History of Dr. Faust us (c*. 1589) and 

Goethe’s Faust (1770-1832) is founded on Dr. 
Johann Faust, or Faustus, a magician and 
astrologer, who was born in Wurtcmberg and 
died about 1538. 

The idea of making a pact with the devil for 
worldly reasons is of Jewish origin and dates 
back to the time of Christ. All subsequent 
legends of necromancers became crystallized 
round the person of Faustus. In 1587 he 
appeared for the first time as the central figure 
in The History of Dr. Faustus , the Notorious 
Magician and Master of the Black Art (pub- 
lished at Frankfort-on-Main), which immedi- 
ately became popular and was soon translated 
into English, French, and other languages. 

The basis of the legend is that, in return for 
twenty-four years of further life during which 
he is to have every pleasure and all knowledge 
at his command, Faust sells his soul to the 
devil, and the climax is reached when, at the 
close of the period, the devil claims him for 
his own. 

The story of Faust has struck the fancy of 
composers. Spohr’s opera Faust , 1816; 

Wagner’s overture Faust, 1839; Berlioz’s 
Damnation de Faust , 1846; Gounod’s opera, 
1859; Boito’s Mefistofele , 1868 Zollner’s 

opera Faust , 1887. In addition to these are 
numerous musical compositions, ballets, etc. 

There was another Faust of whom stories 
used to be told in the 16th century. This was 
Johann Fust or Faust (d. c. 1466), a German 
money-lender, who formed a partnership with 
the printer Gutenberg in 1450. On the termina- 
tion of this in 1455 Fust demanded the re- 
payment of the capital he had put into the 
business, and in default of this seized all 
Gutenberg’s types and plant. With this Fust 
started business on his own account, with his 
son-in-law Peter Schoffer as manager. Guten- 
berg was obliged to carry on his business with 
inferior types and presses. 

Fauvist (fo' vist). A phrase, meaning “wild 
beast,’’ applied to an important school of 
painters, oeginning 1904-5, under the leader- 
ship of Matisse, and including Derain, Othon 
Friesz, Marquet, Vlaminck, and Rouault. All 
the group were concerned primarily with the 
importance of pattern in their work, and 
prepared to subordinate all else. 


Faux pas (fo pa) (Fr.). A “false step”; a breach 
of manners or moral conduct. 

The fact is, his Lordship, who hadn’t it seems. 
Form’d the slightest idea, not ev’n in his dreams, 
That the pair had been wedded according to law, 
Conceived that his daughter had made a faux pas. 
Barham (Ingoldsby): Some account of a New Play. 

Favonius (fa vo' ni us). The Latin name for the 
zephyr or west wind. It means the wind 
favourable to vegetation. 

If to the torrid Zone her way she bend. 

Her the coole breathing of Favonius lend, 

Thither command the birds to bring their quires, 
That Zone is temp’ rate. 

Habbington : Castara: To the Spring (1634). 
Favour. Ribbons made into a bow are called 
favours from being bestowed by ladies on the 
successful champions of tournaments ( Cp . 
True-lovers’ Knot.) 

Here, Fluellen; wear thou this favour for me, and 
stick it in thy cap. — Shakespeare: Henry V , IV, vii. 

To curry favour. See Curry. 

Favourites. False curls on the temples; a curl 
of hair on the temples plastered with some 
cosmetic; whiskers made to meet the mouth. 
Yet tell me, sire, don’t you as nice appear 
With your false calves, bardash, ancf fav’rites here? 
Mrs. Centuvre: The Platonic Lady; Epilogue (1721). 

Fay. See Fairy. 

Morgan le Fay. See Morgan. 

Fearless (Fr. sans peur). Jean, Duke of 
Burgundy (1371-1419). Cp. Bayard. 

Feast. A day set apart for the commemoration 
of some event or mystery in the life of Our 
Lord, His mother, or some event of religious 
importance. Feasts are either immovable or 
movable. 

The chief immovable feasts in the Christian 
calendar are the four quarter-days — viz. the 
Annunciation or Lady Day (March 25th). the 
Nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24th), 
Michaelmas Day (September 29th), and Christ- 
mas Day (December 25th). Others are the 
Circumcision (January 1st), Epiphany (Janu- 
ary 6th), All Saints’ (November 1st), and the 
several Apostles’ days. 

The movable feasts depend upon Easter 
Sunday. They include — 

Palm Sunday. The Sunday next before 
Easter Sunday. 

Good Friday. The Friday next before 
Easter Sunday. 

Ash Wednesday. The first day of Lent, 40 
days before Easter. 

Septuagesima Sunday. Seventy days before 
Easter Sunday. 

Ascension Day or Holy Thursday. Fortieth 
day after Easter Sunday. 

Pentecost or Whit Sunday. The seventh 
Sunday after Easter Sunday. 

Trinity Sunday. The Sunday next after 
Pentecost. 

Feast of Reason. Conversation on and 
discussion of learned and congenial subjects. 
There St. John mingles with my friendly bowl 
The feast of reason and the flow of soul. 

Pope: Imitations of Horace , II, i. 

Feasts of Reason. See Reason, Goddess of. 

Feather. A broken feather in one’s wing. A 

scandal connected with one. 



Feather 


352 


Fee 


A feather in your cap. An honour to you. 
The allusion is to the very general custom in 
Asia and among the American Indians of 
adding a feather to the headgear for every 
enemy slain. The ancient Lycians and many 
others had a similar custom, and it is still 
usual for the sportsman who kills the first 
woodcock to pluck out a feather and stick it in 
his cap. 

The custom, in one form or another, seems 
to be almost universal; in Hungary, at one 
time, none might wear a feather but he who 
had slain a Turk, and it will be remembered 
that when Gordon quelled the Taiping re- 
bellion he was honoured by the Chinese 
Government with the “yellow jacket and 
peacock’s feather.” 

Birds of a feather flock together. See Bird. 

Fine feathers make fine birds. Said sarcasti- 
cally of an overdressed person who does not 
live up to his (or her) clothes. 

In full feather. Flush of money. In allusion 
to birds not on the moult. 

In grand feather. Dressed “up to the nines”; 
also, in perfect health, thoroughly fit. 

In high feather. In exuberant spirits, joyous. 

Of that feather. See Birds of a Feather. 

Prince of Wales’s feathers. See Wales, 
Prince of. 

Tarred and feathered. See Tar. 

Tickled with a feather. Easily moved to 
laughter. “Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a 
straw” (Pope: Essay on Man), is more usual. 

To cut a feather. A ship going fast is said to 
cut a feather, in allusion to the ripple which 
she throws oft from her bows. Metaphorically, 
“to cut a dash.” 

To feather an oar. To turn the blade parallel 
with the surface of the water as the hands are 
moved forward for a fresh stroke. The oar 
throws off the water in a feathery spray. 

He feathered his oars with such skill and dexterity. 
— Jolly Young Waterman. 

To feather one’s nest well. To provide for one’s 
own interests; to secure one’s own financial 
well-being. The phrase is commonly used with 
a somewhat disapproving implication. 

To show the white feather. See White. 

To smooth one’s ruffled feathers. To recover 
one’s equanimity after an insult, etc. 
Featherweight. Something of extreme light- 
ness in comparison with others of its kind. The 
term is applied to a jockey weighing not more 
than 4 st. 7 lb. or to a boxer weighing not more 
than 9 st. In the paper trade the name is given 
to very light antique, laid, or wove book 
papers. They are manufactured mainly from 
esparto, and are very loosely woven. 

Feature (Lat. facere, to make) formerly meant 
the “make” or general appearance of any- 
thing. Spenser speaks of God's “secret 
understanding of our feature” — i.e. make or 
structure. It now means principally that part 
which is most conspicuous or important. Thus 
we speak of the chief feature of a painting, a 
garden, a book, etc.; a moving picture is said 
to feature such and such a popular favourite or 
incident. 


February. The month of purification amongst 
the ancient Romans. (Lat. februo , I purify by 
sacrifice.) 

Candlemas Day (q.v.), February 2nd, is the 
feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary. 
It is said, if the weather is fine and frosty at 
the close of January and beginning of Febru- 
ary, we may look for more winter to come 
than we have seen up to that time. 

Si sol splendescat Maria Purificante, 

Major erit glacies post festum quam fuit ante. 

Sir T. Browne: Vulgar Errors. 

The Dutch used to term the month Spokkel - 
maand (vegetation-month); the ancient Sax- 
ons, Sprote-cal (from the sprouting of pot- 
wort or kele); they changed it subsequently to 
Sol-monath (from the returning sun). In the 
French Republican calendar it was called 
Phtviose (rain-month, January 20th to Febru- 
ary 20th). See also Fill-dyke. 

Fecit (Lat. he did it). A word inscribed after 
the name of an artist, sculptor, etc., as David 
fecit , Goujon fecit \ i.e. David painted it, 
Goujon sculptured it, etc. 

Federal. The modern usage of this term in the 
U.S.A. relates to the central government of the 
country as distinct from the governments of 
the various component States. In this sense 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.l.) 
is an organization of the Department of Justice 
of the U.S. Government which investigates 
offences against the laws of the U.S. A., 
especially such crimes as bank robberies, 
espionage, blackmail, etc. Its agents are known 
familiarly as G-men (Government men) and 
are all specially selected for intrepidity as 
criminal-hunters. 

Federalist. The party in America which in 
1787 was in favour of adopting the constitution 
of that year. Besides Washington, it was led by 
Alexander Hamilton and John Adams, who 
later became enemies. The party controlled the 
government until 1801. It was also the name of 
a newspaper during this period which provided 
a model of good prose. 

Federal States. The name given in the 
American War of Secession (1861-65) to those 
northern states which combined against the 
eleven southern or Confederate states ( q.v .). 

Fee. This is an Anglo-French word, from Old 
High Ger. Fehu , wages, money, property, 
cattle, and is connected with the O.E. feoh , 
cattle, goods, money. So in Lat. pecunia , 
money, from pec as, cattle. Capital is capita, 
heads (of cattle), and chattels is a mere variant. 

At a pin’s fee. See Pin. 

Fee-farm. A tenure by which an estate is 
held in fee-simple without any other services 
from the tenant beyond a perpetual fixed rent. 
Fee-farm-rent is rent paid on lands let to farm, 
and not let in recompense of service at a 
greatly reduced value. 

Fee-penny. A fine for money overdue; an 
earnest or pledge for a bargain. Sir Thomas 
Gresham often wrote for money “in order to 
save the fee-penny.” 

Fee simple. An estate held by a person in 
his own right, free from condition or limitation, 



Fee 


353 


Fenrir 


such as that of inheritance by any particular 
class of heirs. If restricted by conditions, it is 
called a “Conditional Fee.” 

Fee-tail, A. An estate limited to a person and 
his lawful heirs; an entailed estate. 

To hold in fee. To hold as one’s lawful and 
absolute possession. 

Once did she hold the gorgeous cast in fee: 

And was the safeguard of the west. 

Wordsworth : The Venetian Republic. 

Feeble. Most forcible Feeble. Feeble is a 
“woman’s tailor,’’ brought to Sir John FalstalT 
as a recruit ( Henry IV , Pt. II , III, ii). He tells 
Sir John he will do his good will, and the 
knight replies, “Well said, courageous Feeble! 
Thou wilt be as valiant as the wrathful dove, 
or most magnanimous mouse . . . most 
forcible Feeble.’’ 

Feed of Com. A quartern of oats, the quantity 
given to a horse on a journey when the ostler 
is told to give him a feed. 

Fehmgericht. See Vehmgerichte. 

Felix the Cat, hero of early animated cartoons, 
appeared in 1921, in a production by Pat 
Sullivan. Throughout his many adventures 
Felix the black cat kept on walking, and thus 
originated a once-familiar catch-phrase. 

Fell, Dr. See Doctor Fell. 

Fell’s Pointer. U.S.A. 18th century. A resident 
of the dockside area of Baltimore. 

Fellow Commoner. An undergraduate of 
Cambridge, who was formerly privileged to 
“common” (i.e. dine) at the fellows’ table. In 
Oxford, these demi-dons are termed Gentlemen 
Commoners. 

In ’varsity slang these names were given to 
empty bottles, the suggestion being that such 
students are, as a class, empty-headed. 

Fellow-traveller. A person in sympathy with 
a political party but not a member of that 
party; u$ed most often of Communist sym- 
pathizers. The term (Rus. poputchik) was 
coined by Leon Trotsky. 

“He is but one of a reputed short list of seven 
fellow-travellers under threat of expulsion.” — Com- 
ment in Time and Tide , May 1st, 1948, on the Labour 
Party’s expulsion of one of its members. 

Felo de se (fc' 16 de se). The act of a suicide 
when he commits self-murder; also, the self- 
murderer himself. Murder is felony, and a man 
who murders himself commits this felony — 
felo de se. 

Feme-covert (fern kQv' ert). A married woman, 
i.e. a woman who is under the cover, authority, 
*pr protection of her husband. The word is the 
Anglo-French and Old French form of Mod. 
f Fr. femme couverte , and couverte is still used in 
fortification, etc., with the sense “protected.” 

Feme-sole (fern sol). A single woman. Feme- 
sole merchant, a woman, married or single, 
who carries on a trade on her own account. 

Feminine ending. An extra unaccented syllable 
at the end of a line of verse, e.g. in lines 1 and 3 
of the following: — 

With rue my heart is laden 
For golden friends I had, 

For many a rose-lipt maiden 
And many a light-foot lad. 

A. E. Housman. 


Femynye (fern' i ni). A mediaeval designation 
for the kingdom of the Amazons. Gower 
terms Pcnthesilea “queen of Feminee.” 

He [Theseus] conquered al the regne of Femynye, 

That whylom was y-claped Scithia; 

And weddede the quene lpolita. 

Chaucer: Knight's Tale , 8. 
Fen Nightingale. A frog, which sings at night 
in the fens, as nightingales sing in the groves. 
Fence. Slang term for a receiver of stolen goods. 

Fence month, or season. The fawning time 
of deer, i.e. from about fifteen days before 
Midsummer to fifteen days after it. Also the 
close season for fishing, etc. 

To sit on the fence. To take care not to 
commit oneself; to hedge. The characteristic 
attitude of “Mr. Facing-Both-Ways.” 

Fencibles. Regiments of horse and foot militia 
raised for home service in 1759, again in 
1778-9, and again in 1794, when a force of 
15,000 was raised. It was disbanded in 1802. 
The word is short for defensible. 

Fenians. An Anti-British secret association of 
Irishmen, formed simultaneously in Ireland by 
James Stephens and in New York by John 
O’Mahony in 1857, with the object of over- 
throwing the domination of England in Ire- 
land, and making Ireland a republic. The word 
is from the Old Irish Fene , a name of the 
ancient Irish, confused with Fianna , the semi- 
mythological warriors who defended Ireland 
in the time of Finn. 

The Fenian Brotherhood quickly spread in 
the United States, and invasions of Canada 
were attempted. The Association made many 
insurrectionary attempts (including dynamite 
outrages at Clerkenwell, 1865, and at the 
Tower of London and Houses of Parliament, 
1885), but did nothing that could further their 
aims. Their leaders were termed “head centres,” 
and their subordinates “centres.” Cp. Clan- 
na-Gael; Sinn Fein. 

Fennel. Fennel was anciently supposed to be 
an aphrodisiac, thus “to cat conger and 
fennel” (two hot things together) was provoca- 
tive of sexual licence. Hence Falstaff’s remark 
about Poins: — 

He plays at quoits well, and eats conger and fennel, 
and drinks off candles’ ends for flan-dragons, and 
rides the wild mare with the boys. — Henry IV, Pt. II, 
11, iv. 

It was also emblematical of flattery, and may 
have been included among the herbs distributed 
by Ophelia ( Hamlet , IV, v) for this reason. 

Fenel is for flaterers. 

An evil thing it is sure: 

But I have alwa’es meant truely, 

With constant heart most pure. 

A Nosegay alwaies Sweet (in “ A Handful of Pleasant 
Delights ,” 1584). 

Uppon a banke, bordring by, grew women’s weedes, 
Fenel 1 1 meane for flatterers, fit generally for that sexe. 

Greene: A Quip for an Upstart Courtier (1592). 

The herb was also credited with being able 
to clear the sight, and was said to be the 
favourite food of serpents, with the juice of 
which they restore their sight when dim. 
Fenrir or Fenris (fen' rer). In Scandinavian 
mythology the wolf of Loki (tf.v.). He was the 
brother of Hel ( q.v .), and when he gaped one 
jaw touched earth and the other heaven. In 



Ferae Naturae 


354 


Feudal System 


* 

the Ragnarok he swallows the sun and con- 
quers Odin; but being conquered by Vidar, he 
was cast into Niflheim, where Loki was con- 
fined. 

Ferae Naturae (fer' e na tu' re) (Lat. of savage 
nature). The legal term for animals living in a 
wild state, as distinguished from those which 
are domesticated. 

Women are not comprised in our Laws of Friend- 
ship: they are Feral Natural. — Dryden: The Mock 
Astrologer , IV. 

Ferdinand the Bull, whose adventures were 
related in a Walt Disney film of 1939, first 
appeared in a book by Munro Leaf, His delight 
in the smell of flowers became for a time 
proverbial. 

Ferguson. It’s all very well, Mr. Ferguson, but 
you can’t do that, you mustn’t go there, etc. 
This was a popular catch-phrase in the early 
and middle 19th century, ft originated with the 
bright young men about town who, when 
brought before the “beak” for knocking down 
watchmen, wrenching off knockers, etc., gave 
the name of “Ferguson” in place of their 
proper name. The equivalent of the phrase 
in more modern days was, “You can’t do that 
there ’ere.” 

Fermiers G6n6raux. Those who in France in 
the 18th century farmed the state taxes. They 
guaranteed an agreed sum to the crown 
and retained any surplus which they could 
gather for themselves. They grew rich and 
amongst their activities was the production of 
a group of extremely rich illustrated books — 
notably the La Fontaine (1762) and the 
Boccaccio (1757-61). 

Fern Seed. We have the receipt of fern seed, we 
walk invisible {Henry IV, Pt. /, II, i). The seed 
of certain species of fern is so small as to be in- 
visible to the naked eye, and hence the plant 
was believed to confer invisibility on those who 
carried it about their person. It was at one time 
believed that plants have the power of im- 
parting their own speciality to their wearer. 
Thus, the yellow celandine was said to cure 
jaundice; wood-sorrel, which has a heart- 
shaped leaf, to cheer the heart; liverwort to be 
good for the liver, and so on. 

Why did you think that you had Gyges’ ring, 

Or the herb that gives invisibility? 

Beaumont and Fletcher: Fair Maid of the Inn, X, i. 
The seeds of fern, which, by prolific heat 
Cheered and unfolded, form a plant so great, 

Are less a thousand times than what the eye 
Can unassisted by the tube descry. 

Blackmore: Creation . 

Ferney. The Patriarch or Philosopher of Ferney. 
Voltaire (1694-1778); so called because for the 
last twenty years of his life he lived at Ferney, 
a small village near Geneva. 

Ferragus. The giant of Portugal in Valentine 
and Orson (q.v.). The great “Brazen Head” 
fa.v.), that told those who consulted it what- 
ever they required to know, was kept in his 
castle. 

Ferrara. See Andrea Ferrara. 

Ferrara Bible, The. See Bible, Specially 

NAMED. 

Ferrex and Porrex. Two sons of Gorboduc, a 
mythical British king, who divided his kingdom 


between them. Porrex drove his brother from 
Britain, and when Ferrex returned with an 
army he was slain, but Porrex was shortly 
after. put to death by his mother. The story is 
told in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia 
Regum Britannia ?, and it forms the basis of the 
first regular English tragedy, Gorboduc , or 
Ferrex and Porrex , written by Thomas Norton 
and Thomas Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, and 
acted in 1561. 

Fescennine Verses. Lampoons; so called from 
Fescennium in Tuscany, where performers at 
merry-makings used to extemporize scurrilous 
jests of a personal nature to amuse the audi- 
ence. 

Fesse. See Heraldry. 

Fetch. A wraith — the disembodied ghost of a 
living person; hence fetch-light , or fetch-candle , 
a light appearing at night and supposed to 
foretell the death of someone. Fetches most 
commonly appear to distant friends and 
relations, at the very instant preceding the 
death of those they represent. 

Fetches. Excuses, tricks, artifices. 

Deny to speak with me? They are sick? they are weary? 
They have travelled all the night? Mere fetches. 

King Lear , II, iv. 

Fetish (fet' ish). The name given by the early 
Portuguese travellers to amulets and other 
objects, supposed to have supernatural powers, 
used by the natives on the Guinea Coast; from 
Port, feitico , sorcery, charm (Lat. factitius , 
artificial). Hence, an idol, and object of 
devotion. Fetishism is found in all primitive 
nations, taking the form of a belief that the 
services of a spirit may be appropriated by the 
possession of its material emblem. In psycho- 
pathology the word is used to designate a 
condition or perversion in which sexual 
gratification is obtained from other than the 
genital areas of the body, or from some object 
that has become thus emotionally charged. 

Fettle, as a verb, means to repair; to smooth; 
as a noun it means condition, state of health, 
as in good fettle. It is probably from the O.E 
fetch, a girdle, with allusion to girding oneself 
up. 

Fettled ale. Ale warmed and spiced, mulled. 

It is a dialectal use, principally North Country. 

Feu de joie (Fr.). A running fire of guns on an 
occasion of rejoicing. 

Feud (fud). A word of two very different 
meanings. In its more u$u4l sense a feud is a 
continuous, bitter quarrel between individuals, .. 
families, or parties. Feuds have never played 
much part in the English manner of lire. See"- 
Vendetta. In its other sense a feud is a fief, j 
or land held in fee (#.v.). 

Feudal System, The. A system founded on the 
tenure of feuds or fiefs, given in compensation 
for military service to the lord of the tenants. 

It was introduced into England by William 
the Conqueror, who made himself owner of 
the whole country and allowed the nobles to 
hold it from him by payment of homage and,- 
military and other service. The nobles in turn 
had vassals bound to them by similar obliga- 
tions. 



Feuillants 


355 


Field 


Feuillants (fer' yong). A reformed Cistercian 
order instituted by Jean de la Barridre in 1586. 
So called from the convent of Feuillants, in 
Languedoc, where they were established in 
1577. 

The club of the Feuillants, in the French 
Revolution, was composed of moderate 
Jacobins. So called because the convent of the 
Feuillants, near the Tuileries, was their 
original club-room (1791-2). 

Feullleton (f6 tong) (Fr. from feuille, a leaf). 
The part of French newspapers devoted to 
tales, light literature, etc.; hence, in England a 
serial story in a newspaper, or the “magazine 
page.** 

Fey (fa). Epithet applied when a person sud- 
denly breaks into a state of light-heartedness. 
This was formerly supposed to be an indication 
of approaching death. The word is the O.E. 
fctge (on the point of death, or doomed to die). 

Fiacre (fe akr'). A French cab pr hackney 
coach. So called from the hotel dd St. Fiacre, 
Paris, where the first station of these coaches 
was established by M. Sauvage, about 1650. 

Legend has it that St. Fiacre was the son of 
an Irish king, born in 600, who settled in 
France and built a monastery at Breuil. His 
day is August 30th. 

Fiars (fi' ars). Striking the flars. Taking the 
average price of corn. Fiars are the legal prices 
of grain as fixed by the sheriff of a county for 
the current year. It is a Scottish term, frpm 
M.E. and O.Fr. feor, Lat. forum , a market. 

Fiasco. A failure. In Italy they cry Ola , old. 
fiasco! to an unpopular singer. 

In Italian fiasco means a flask, and may 
derive from the use of the word among the 
lass-blowers of Venice, who used to describe 
ad worksmanship by kti experienced blower 
as fiasco, i.e.y good enough for apprentice 
work, and not up to standard. 

Fiat (fi' &t) (Lat. let it be done). I give my fiat 
to that proposal. I consent to iu A liat in law is 
an order of the court directing that something 
stated be done. 

Fiat experiraentum in corpore vili. See 
Corpus vile. 

Fiat justitia ruat ccelunl* See Piso*s Justice. 

Fib. Arfattendant on Queen Mab in Drayton’s 
Nyntphidlq* Fib, meaning a falsehood, is the 
Latin fabula, a fable. 

Fico (fi ko). See Fig. 

Fico for the phrase. 

Merry Wives of Windsor , I, iii. 

I see contempt marching forth, giving me the fico 
with his thombe in his mouth. — Wit's Miserie Cl 596). 

Fiddle (O.E. fithele ; perhaps connected with 
mediaeval Lat. vitula or vidttla , whence violin). 
A violin or stringed instrument of that nature, 
in Stock Exchange slang a fiddle is one- 
sixteenth of a pound — Is. 3d. 

Fit as a fiddle. In fine condition, perfect trim 
or order. 

He was first fiddle. Chief man, the most 
distinguished of the company. The allusion is 
to the first violin, who leads the orchestra. 

12* 


To play second fiddle. To take a subordinate 
part. 

To fiddle. To manipulate accounts, etc*, to 
one’s own advantage, or to the advantage of 
the parties concerned. “He fiddled it/’ might 
indicate that he covered up a deficiency in the 
accounts. , * 

To fiddle about. To trifle, fritter away one’s 
time, mess about, play at doing things instead 
of doing them. To fiddle with one’s fingers is 
to move them about as a fiddler moves his 
fingers up and down the fiddle-strings. 

Fiddle-de-dee! An exclamation signifying 
what you say is nonsense. 

All the return he ever had . . . was a word, too 
common, 1 regret to say, in female lips, viz. fiddle- 
de-dee. — De Quincey: Secret Societies. 

Fiddle-faddle. To busy oneself with nothing; 
to dawdle; to talk nonsense. 

Ye may as easily 

Outrun a cloud, driven by a northern blast. 

As fiddle-faddle so. 

John Ford: The Broken Heart , I, iii. (1633). 

Fiddler. Slang for a sixpence; also for a 
farthing. 

Drunk as a fiddler. See Drunk. 

Fiddler’s fare or pay. Meat, drink, and 
money. 

Fiddler’s Green. The happy land imagined 
by sailors where there is perpetual mirth, a 
fiddle that never ceases playing to Untiring 
dancers^ plenty of grog, and unlimited 
tobacco. 

Fiddler’s money. A silver penn^ The fee 
given to a fiddler at a wake by each dancer. 

Fiddler’s news. News that arrives late, 
because fiddlers were long reputed to be 
purveyors of stale news. 

Oliver’s fiddler. Sir Roger L’Estrattge (1616- 
1704). So called because he, at one time, was 
playing a fiddle or viol with others in the house 
of John Hingston, the composer, when 
Cromwell was one of the guests. 

Fiddlesticks! An exclamation signifying what 
you say is not worth attention; much the same 
as fiddle-de-dee (^.v.). 

The devil rides on a fiddlestick. See Devil 

(Phrases). 

Fldei Defensor. See Defender of the Faith. 

FIDO. Fog Investigation and Dispersal 
Operation. A method of dispersing fog on air- 
fields by ejecting burning petrol from jets along 
the runways, developed in Britain during 
World War II. 

Fie! An exclamation indicating that what is 
reproved is indelicate or undesirable. It is an 
old word, and is found in many languages; it 
seems to be an instinctive sound uttered on 
experiencing something disagreeable. 

No word ne wryteth ne 
Of thilke wikkc ensample of Canacee, 

That lovede hir owne broth«r sinfully; 

Of swiche cursed stories 1 sey “fy.” 

Chaucer: Man of Lawes Prologue , 77, 

Field. 

In huntsman’s language, the field means all 
the riders. 

In heraldry, the entire surface of the shield. 



Field 


356 


Fifty-four 


In military language, the place where a battle 
is fought, or is about to be fought; the battle 
itself, or the campaign. 

In sportsmen’s language it means all the 
horses of any one race. 

In the field. A competitor for a prize. A term 
in horse-racing, as, “So-and-so was in the 
field.” Also in war, as, “the French were in the 
field already.” 

Master of the field. The winner; the con- 
queror in a battle. 

To back the field means to bet against all 
the horses except one. 

To keep back the field is to keep back the 
riders. 

To take the field. To make the opening 
moves in a campaign; to move the army pre- 
paratory to battle. 

To win the field. To win the battle. 

Field-day. A day of particular excitement or 
importance. A military term, meaning a day 
when troops have manoeuvres or field practice. 

Field-Marshal. The highest rank in the 
British Army. The title was first used in 1736, 
and is conferred on generals who have 
rendered conspicuous services, and on members 
of royal families. 

Field Officer. In the British Army any 
officer between the rank of captain and that of 
general, i.e. major, lieutenant-colonel, colonel. 

Field piece. A piece of field artillery, a field 
gun. 

Field works. Works thrown up by an army 
besieging or defending a fortress, or in 
strengthening its position. 

Field of Blood. Aceldama (< 7 .v.). 

Field of fire. (Mil.). That part of the terrain 
before infantry or machine guns which their 
weapons can cover — i.e. which is not inter- 
rupted by woods, buildings, or the contours of 
the ground. 

Field of force. A term used in physics to 
denote the range within which a force, such as 
magnetism, is effective. 

Field of the Cloth of Gold. The plain, near 
Guines, where Henry VIII met Francois I in 
1520 to discuss the succession to the Empire 
on the death of Maximilian. It was so called 
from the splendour and magnificence dis- 
played. Accompanied by Cardinal Wolsey in 
an immense panoply of state, Henry met the 
French king and his nobles who were overawed 
by this magnificence. Many of the imposing 
ceremonies were spoiled by the rain and wind 
that swept the countryside. 

Field of the Forty Footsteps, or The Brother's 
Steps. At the back of the British Museum, 
once called Southampton Fields, near the 
extreme north-east of the present Montague 
Street. The tradition is that at the time 
of the Duke of Monmouth’s rebellion two 
brothers fought each other here till both were 
killed, and for many years forty impressions 
of their feet remained on the field, and no 
grass would grow there, or upon the spot upon 


a bank where the young woman they were 
fighting for sat watching the duel. The site 
was built upon about 1800. 

Field of vision or view. The space in a 
telescope, microscope, etc., within which the 
object is visible. 

Fierabras, Sir (fi' 6r & bras). One of Charle- 
magne’s paladins, and a leading figure in many 
of the romances. He was the son of Balan ( q.v.) f 
King of Spain, and for height of stature, 
breadth of shoulder, and hardness of muscle 
he never had an equal. His pride was laid low 
by Olivier, he became a Christian, was accepted 
by Charlemagne as a paladin, and ended his 
days in the odour of sanctity. See Balan. 
Fiere facias (fi' er i fas' i &s) (Lat. cause it to be 
done). A judicial writ for one who has re- 
covered damages in the courts, commanding 
the sheriff to see the judgment of the court 
duly carried out. It is often abbreviated to fifa. 
The term was punnin^ly used in Elizabethan 
times in connexion with red noses and men 
with “fiery faces” through drink. 

Fiery Cross, The. A signal anciently sent round 
the Scottish clans in the Highlands summoning 
them to assemble for battle. It was symbolical 
of fire and sword, and consisted of a cross the 
ends of which had been burnt and then dipped 
in the blood of some animal slain for the 
purpose — a relic of Gaelic rites. See Scott’s 
Lady of the Lake , canto iii, for an account of it. 

The Ku Klux Klan adopted this symbol 
when it arose after the American Civil War. 

Fifteen, The. The Jacobite rebellion of 1715, 
when James Edward Stuart, “the Old Pre- 
tender,” with the Earl of Mar, made an 
unsuccessful attempt to gain the throne. 
Fifth. Fifth column. Persons in a country who, 
whether as individuals or as members of an 
organization, are ready to give help to an 
enemy. The origin of the phrase is attributed 
to General Mola who, in the Spanish Civil War 
(1936-39), said that he had four columns 
encircling Madrid and a fifth column working 
for him in the city. 

Fifth-Monarchy Men. A sect of English 
fanatics of about 1654 to 1660, who maintained 
that Jesus Christ was about to come a second 
time to the earth, and establish the fifth 
universal monarchy. The four preceding 
monarchies were the Assyrian, the Persian, 
the Macedonian, and the Roman. In politics, 
the Fifth-Monarchy Men were zealous re- 
formers and levellers. 

Fifty-four Forty or Fight. A slogan used in 
the U.S.A. presidential election of 1846. 
For some years there had been a dispute with 
Britain as to the northern boundary of the 
U.S.A. in the far west. The U.S.A. claimed 
that their territory should extend as far north 
as the southern border of Russian Alaska, 
which was 54 u 40' N.; Great Britain rejected 
this, and in 1818 it was agreed that the disputed 
territory should be jointly administered for 
ten years, which was later extended indefinitely. 
In 1846 the question was brought forward 
again in the U.S.A. as an issue in the election. 
Shortly afterwards, the new President Polk 
came to an amicable agreement that U.S. 



Fig 


357 


Figure 


territorial claims should end on the 49th 
parallel. 

Fig. Most phrases that include the word fig 
have reference to the fruit as being an object 
of trifling value; but in 

In full fig, meaning “in full dress,” figged 
outy “dressed up,” etc., the word is a variant of 
feague (see Fake). 

I don’t care a fig for you; not worth a fig. 
Nothing at all. Here fig is either an example of 
something comparatively worthless or the 
Spanish fico (q.v.) — adopted as English by the 
Elizabethans — a gesture of contempt made by 
thrusting the thumb between the first and 
second fingers, much as we say, “1 don’t care 
that for you,” snapping the fingers at the same 
time. See Thumb (To bite one's thumb). 

A fig for Peter. 

Henry VI , Pt. //, II, ix. 

The figo for thy friendship. 

Henry V, III, vi. 

I shan’t buy my Attic figs in future, but grow 
them. Said by way of warning to one who is 
building castles in the air — “don’t count your 
chickens before they are hatched.” Xerxes 
boasted that he was going to conquer Attica, 
where the figs grew, and add it to his own 
empire; but he met defeat at Salamis, and 
“never loosed his sandal till he reached 
Abdera.” 

In the name of the Prophet, Figs! A burlesque 
of the solemn language employed in eastern 
countries in the common business of life. 
The line occurs in the imitation of Dr. John- 
son’s pompous style, in Rejected Addresses> by 
James and Horace Smith. 

Mercury fig. See Mercury. 

Fig leaf. The leaf of the fig tree or the 
banyan, according to the Bible story (Gen. iii, 
7) used by Adam and Eve to cover their 
nakedness after the Fall, in the days of 
Victorian prudery tin fig leaves were fitted to 
statuary in the museums, Crystal Palace, etc. 

Fig Sunday. An old provincial name for 
Palm Sunday. Figs used to be eaten on that day 
in commemoration of the blasting of the barren 
fig-tree by Our Lord (Mark xi) which took 
place on the day following the triumphant 
entry into Jerusalem. 

Many festivals still have their special foods; 
as, the goose for Michaelmas, pancakes for 
Shrove Tuesday, salt cod for Ash Wednesday, 
etc. 

Fig-tree. It is said that Judas hanged himself 
on a fig-tree. See Elder-tree. 

To fig oneself out, is to dress oneself up 
“regardless.” 

The speaker sits at one end all in full fig, with a 
clerk at the table below. — Trollope: West Indies t 
ch. ix. 

To fig up a horse is to make it lively and 
spirited by artificial means. 

Figaro (fig' & ro). A type of cunning dexterity, 
and intrigue. The character is in the Barbier de 
Seville (1775) and Le Manage de Figaro (1784), 
by Beaumarchais. A former barber, he be- 
comes a valet in the service of the Count 


of Almaviva; in both plays he outwits every- 
one. There are several operas founded on 
these dramas, as Mozart’s Nozze di Figaro , 
Paisiello’s 7/ Barbier e di Siviglia , and Rossini’s 
II Barbie re di Siviglia. 

Fight. He that fights and runs away May live 
to fight another day. An old saw found in 
many languages. Demosthenes, being re- 
proached for fleeing from Philip of Macedon 
at Chaeronea, replied, “A man that runs away 
may fight again.” 

He that fights and runs away 
May turn and fight another day; 

But he that is in battle slain 
Can never rise to fight again. 

These lines occur in James Ray’s Complete 
History of the Rebellion , 1749. A similar 
sentiment is expressed in Hudibras , III, iii: 

For those that fly may fight again, 

Which he can never do that’s slain. 

The Fighting Fifth. See Regimental Nick- 
names. 

Fighting French, or La France Combattante, 
included all Frenchmen at home and abroad 
who joined together to collaborate with the 
Allied Nations in their war against Germany. 
After the fall of France, in 1940, General de 
Gaulle gathered round him such French 
troops, etc., as had escaped from France and 
formed them into a body called the Free 
French, with the cross of Lorraine for their 
emblem. On July 14th, 1942, this name was 
changed to The Fighting French. Not only 
did French troops fight side by side with the 
Allies in Africa, Italy, and wherever else there 
was lighting to be done, but in France itself 
they worked and fought behind the lines, 
organizing resistance and making themselves 
an annoyance and terror to the German 
occupying authorities. 

One of the greatest deeds of this body was 
the march of General Leclerc with his column 
from Lake Chad across the Sahara to join the 
British 8th Army in Libya. Strengthened and 
made into an armoured division Leclerc’s 
men fought thenceforward throughout the war 
and were given the honour of being the first 
formation to enter Paris, August 23rd, 1944. 

The Fighting Prelate. Henry Spencer, 
Bishop of Norwich, who greatly distinguished 
himself in the rebellion of Wat Tyler. He met 
the rebels in the field, with the temporal sword, 
then absolved them, and sent them to the 
gibbet. 

To live like fighting cocks. See Cock. 

To fight for one’s own hand. To uphold one’s 
own cause, to struggle for one’s own interest. 

To fight shy of. To avoid; to resist being 
brought into contest or conflict. 

To fight the tiger. To play against the bank 
at faro. 

To fight with gloves on. To spar without 
showing animosity, like boxers, with boxing 
gloves. Disputants fight with gloves on so long 
as they preserve all the outward amenities of 
debate, and conceal their hostility to each 
other by courtesy and forbearance. 

Figure. From Lat. fingere , to shape or fashion; 
not etymologically connected with Eng. finger , 



Figure 


358 


Fingal 


though the primitive method of calculating was 
doubtless by means of the fingers. For Roman 
figures, etc., see Numerals. 

A figure of fun. Of droll appearance, whether 
from untidiness, quaintness, or other peculi- 
arity, “A pretty figure” is a rather stronger 
expression. 

To cut a figure. To make an imposing 
appearance through dress, equipage, ana 
bearing. 

To cut a sorry or a pretty figure is the reverse. 

To make a figure. To make a name or reputa- 
tion, to be a notability, as ‘‘he makes no figure 
at court.” 

What’s the figure? How much am I to pay? 
What “figure” or sum does my debt amount 
to? 

Figure-head. A figure on the head or pro- 
jecting cutwater of a sailing ship, which has 
ornamental value but is of no practical use; 
hence a nominal leader who has no real 
authority but whose social or other position 
inspires confidence. 

Filch, To steal or purloin. A piece of 16th- 
century thieves’ slang of uncertain origin. File 
(g-v.) was used in much the same sense, but 
there is no evidence of etymological connexion. 

With cunning hast thou filched my daughter's heart. 

Midsummer Night's Dream, I, ii. 

A filch or filchman was a staff with a hook 
at the end, for plucking clothes from hedges, 
articles from shop windows, etc. 

File. Old slang for a rapscallion or worthless 
person; also for a pick-pocket. It comes from 
the same original as the word vile, though in 
the sense in which it is sometimes used, as 
meaning a hard-headed, heartless person, it 
seems to have been connected with the hard, 
rasping tool, a file. 

In single file. Single line; one behind an- 
other (Fr. file t a row). 

Rank and file. Soldiers and non-com- 
missioned officers as apart from commissioned 
officers; hence, the followers in or private 
members of a movement as apart from its 
leaders. Rank refers to men standing abreast, 
file to men standing behind each other. 

Filibuster (fil' i bfis ter). Derived from the 
Dutch vrijbuiter (a freebooter) ; the earlier form 
of the word was flibutier , and then the French 
form fiibustler was used about 1790-1850. The 
term was applied to pirates who attacked the 
Spanish colonies in the West Indies at the end 
of the 18th century, later to the American 
adventurers (1850-60) who followed General 
Lopez when he tried to wrest Cuba from Spain, 
and from thence it came to mean any irregular 
warfare against another country. See also 
Freebooter. 

To filibuster. As a term meaning obstructive 
tactics in a legislature, mainly by lengthy 
speeches, it came into use in the U.S.A. in the 
early 1880’$. 

Filioque Controversy (fil i 6' kw6). An argu- 
ment that long disturbed the Eastern and 
Western Churches, and the difference of 


opinion concerning which still forms one of 
the principal barriers to their fusion. The point 
was: Did the Holy Ghost proceed from the 
Father and the Son ( Filio-quc ), or from the 
Father only? The Western Church maintains 
the former, and the Eastern the latter dogma. 
The filio*que was recognized by the Council of 
Toledo, 589. 

The gist of the argument is this: If the Son is 
one with the Father, whatever proceeds from 
the Father must proceed from the Son also. 
This is technically called “The Procession of the 
Holy Ghost.” 

Fill-dyke. The month of February, when the 
rain and melted snow fills the ditches to over- 
flowing. 

February fill-dyke, be it black or be it white fwet or 
snowy] ; 

But if it be white it’s better to like. Old Proverb. 

Filter (Lat. feltrum , felt; filtrum , a strainer). 
Literally, to run through felt, as jelly is strained 
through flannel. The Romans strained the 
juice of their grapes through felt into the wine- 
vat, after which it was put into the casks. 

Fin de si&cle (Fr. end of century). It has 
come to mean decadent, with particular 
reference to the 19th century. 

Finality John. Earl Russell, who maintained 
that the Reform Bill of 1832 was a finality, yet 
in 1854, 1860, and 1866 brought forth other 
Reform Bills. 

Finance. By devious routes this word comes 
from the Late Latin finis, a settlement of a debt, 
or the winding up of a dispute by the payment 
of ransom. Hence, revenue derived from fines 
or subsidies and, in the plural, available 
money resources. Thus we say, “My finances 
are exhausted,” meaning I have no more funds 
or available money. 

Financial year. The annual period for which 
accounts are made up. The Finance Act is the 
name given to the annual Act of Parliament 
that embodies the proposals contained in the 
Budget. The financial year of the British 
Government ends on the 3 1st of March. 

Find. Findings, keepings! An exclamation made 
when one has accidentally found something 
that does not belong to one, and implying that 
it is now the finder’s property. This old saying 
is very faulty law. 

Findon Haddock. See Finnan. 

Fine. Fine as flvepence. An old alliterative 
saying meaning splendidly dressed or turned 
out. 

Fine feathers make fine birds. See Feather. 
In fine. To sum up; to come to a conclusion; 
in short. 

One of these fine days, Some time or other; 
at some indefinite (and often problematical) 
date in the future. 

The fine arts. Those arts which chiefly depend 
on a delicate or fine imagination, as music, 
painting, poetry, and sculpture, as opposed to 
the useful arts , i.e. those which are practised for 
their utility and not for their own sake, as the 
arts of weaving, metal-working, and so on. 

Fingal (fing' g&l). The great Gaelic semi- 



Fingal’s cave 35$ 


mythological hero, father of Ossian (tf.v.), who 
was purported by Macpherson to have been 
the original author of the long epic poem 
Fingal (1762), which narrates the hero’s ad- 
ventures. 

Fingal’s cave. The basaltic cavern on Staffa, 
said to have been a home of Fingal. This is the 
name given to Mendelssohms Hebridean 
Overture. 

Finger (O.E. finger ). The old names for the 
fingers are: — 

O.E. thuma , the thumb. 

Towcher (the finger that touches), foreman , 
or pointer. This was called by the Anglo- 
Saxons the scite-finger. i.e. the shooting finger, 
and is now commonly known as the index 
finger, because it is the one used in pointing. 

Long-man or long finger. 

Lech-man or ring-finger . The former means 
“medical finger,” and the latter is a Roman 
expression, “ digitus annularis .” Called by the 
Anglo-Saxons the gold-finger. This nnger 
between the long and little finger was used by 
the Romans as a ring-finger, from the belief 
that a nerve ran through it to the heart. 
Hence the Greeks and Romans used to call it 
the medical finger, and used it for stirring 
mixtures, under the notion that nothing noxi- 
ous could touch it without its giving instant 
warning to the heart. It is still a general 
notion in parts of England that it is bad to 
rub salve or scratch the skin with any but the 
ring finger. 

At last he put on her medical finger a pretty, hand- 
some gold ring, whereinto was enchased a precious 
toadstoneof Beausse.— Rabelais: Pantagruel, IH.xvii. 

Little-man or little finger. Called by the 
Anglo-Saxons the ear-finger , because it can, 
from its diminutive size, be most easily in- 
troduced into the orifice of the ear. 

The fingers each had their special significance 
in alchemy, and Ben Jonson says — 

The thumb, in chiromancy, we give to Venus; 

The fore-finger to Jove; the midst to Saturn; 

The ring to Sol; the least to Mercury. 

Alchemist , I, ii. 

Blessing with the fingers. See Blessing. 

Cry, baby, cry; put your finger in your eye, 
etc. This nursery rhyme seems to be referred to 
in Comedy of Errors , II, ii: — 

No longer will I be fool, 

To put the finger in the eye and weep. 

Fingers and toes. The farrier’s name for 
anbury, or ambury, i.e. a spongy wart on 
horses and oxen. 

Fingers were made before forks. The saying 
is used (especially at mealtimes) when one 
wants to convey that ceremony is unnecessary. 
It makes an interesting commentary on this 
self-evident statement that forks were not 
introduced into England until about 1620, 
before which period fingers were used. 

Finished to the finger-nail. Complete and 
perfect in every detail, to all the extremities. 
The allusion is obvious. 

His fingers are all thumbs. Said of a person 
awkward in the use of his hands. 

Lifting the little finger. Tippling. In holding 


Fingle-fartgte 


a tankard or glass, many persons stick out or 
lift up the little finger. 

Light-fingered gentry. Pickpockets, thieves. 

My little finger told me that. The same as “A 
little bird told me that” (see Bird), meaning, 
I know it, though you did not expect it. The 
expression is in Moli£re’s Malade Imaginaire. 
By the pricking of my thumbs, 

Something wicked this way comes. 

Macbeth . IV, i. 

The popular belief was that an itching or 
tingling foretold some change or other. 

To be finger and glove with another. To be 

most intimate. The more usual expression is 
to be hand in glove with. 

To burn one’s fingers. See Burn. 

To have a finger in the pie. To assist or mix 
oneself officiously in any matter. Said usually 
in contempt, or censoriously. 

To have it at one’s fingers’ ends. To be quite 
familiar with it and able to do it readily. The 
Latin proverb is Scire tanquam ungues digitos - 
que suos , to know it as well as one’s fingers and 
nails. The allusion is obvious; the Latin tag 
is referred to by Shakespeare in Love' s Labour' s 
Lost , V, i: — 

Costard: Go to; thou hast it ad dunghill, at the 
fingers’ ends, as they say. 

Holof ernes: O, I smell false Latin: dunghill for 
unguem. 

To keep one’s fingers crossed. To hope for 
success, to try to ensure against disaster. From 
the superstition that making the sign of the 
cross will avert bad luck. 

To lay, or put, one’s finger upon. To point 
out precisely the meaning, cause, etc.; to 
detect with complete accuracy. 

To twist someone round one’s little finger. To 
do just what one likes with him, to be master 
of his actions. 

With a wet finger. Easily, directly. The 
allusion is to spinning, in which the spinner 
constantly wetted the fore-finger with the 
mouth. 

Flores : Canst thou bring me thither? 

Peasant: With a wet finger. 

Wisdom of Dr. Dodipoll (c. 1596). 

Sailors find the wind by holding up a wet 
finger for the breeze to cool that side whence it 
comes. 

Finger-print. An impression taken in ink of 
the whorls of lines on the finger. In no two 
persons are they alike, and they never change 
through the entire life of any individual; 
hence, they are of very great value as a means 
of identifying criminals. 

Though the individuality of finger-prints had 
long been known, the publication of Sir Francis 
Galton’s Finger Prints (1893) and Finger Print 
Directory (1895) drew attention to the facts. 
The full value of finger-prints was developed 
by Sir Edward Henry who devised a numerical 
formula for classifying the impressions. The 
Henry system has been widely adopted by the 
police organizations of the world. 

Fingle-fangle. A ricochet word from f angle (see 
Newfangled) meaning a fanciful trifle. It 
was fairly common in the 17th century, but is 
not heard nowadays, except as an archaism. 




Finnan Haddocks 


360 


Fire-ship 


Finnan Haddocks. Haddocks smoked with 
green wood; so called from a place-name, 
either Findhorn in Elgin, or Findon in Kin- 
cardineshire, both fishing villages where 
haddocks are cured. 

Fionnuala. The daughter of Lir in old Irish 
legend, who was transformed into a swan, and 
condemned to wander over the lakes and 
rivers of Ireland till the introduction of 
Christianity into that island. Moore has a poem 
on the subject in his Irish Melodies. 

Firbolgs. See Milesians. 

Fir-tree. Atys was metamorphosed into a fir- 
tree by Cybele, as he was about to lay violent 
hands on himself. (Ovid : Metamorphoses , x, 2.) 

Fir-cone. This forms the tip of the thyrsus 
(q.v.) of Bacchus because the juice of the fir- 
tree ( turpentine ) used to be mixed by the 
Greeks with new wine to make it keep. 

Fire. (O.E. fyr\ Gr. pur.) 

A burnt child dreads the fire. See Burn. 

Between two fires. Subjected to attack, 
criticism, etc., from both sides at once. 

Coals of fire. See Coals. 

Fire away! Say on; say what you have to 
say. The allusion is to firing a gun; as, You 
are primed up to the muzzle with something 
you want to say; fire away and discharge your 
thoughts. 

Greek fire. See Greek. 

I have myself passed through the fire ; I have 
smelt the smell of fire. I have had experience in 
trouble, and am all the better for it. The allu- 
sion is to the refining of gold, which is passed 
through the fire and so purged of all its dross 

I will go through fire and water to serve you, 

i.e. through any difficulties or any test. The 
reference may be to the ordeals of fire and 
water which were common methods of trial in 
Anglo-Saxon times. 

If you would enjoy the fire you must put up 
with the smoke. You must take the sour with 
the sweet, every convenience has its incon- 
venience. 

Letters of fire and sword. Formerly in Scot- 
land if a criminal refused to answer his citation, 
it was accounted treason, and “letters of fire 
and sword” were sent to the sheriff, author- 
izing him to use either or both these instru- 
ments to apprehend the contumacious party. 

More fire in the bed-straw. More mischief 
brewing. A relic of the times when straw was 
used for beds. 

No smoke without fire. To every scandal there 
is some foundation. Every effect is the result 
of some cause. 

St. Anthony’s Fire. See Anthony. 

St. Elmo’s Fire; St. Helen’s Fire. See 
Corposant 

The fat is in the fire. See Fat. 

The Great Fire of London ( 1666 ) broke out 
at Master Farryner’s, the king’s baker, in 
Pudding Lane (the Monument is near the 


spot) and after three days and nights was 
arrested at Pie Corner, Smithfield, and at the 
Temple, Fleet Street. St. Paul’s Cathedral, 
eighty-nine other churches and 13,200 houses 
were burnt down, and 373 acres within the 
walls and 64 acres without were devastated. In 
the City itself only 75 acres 3 roods remained 
unconsumed. 

To fire, or to fire out. To discharge from 
employment suddenly and unexpectedly. 

This use was originally an Americanism. 

To fire up. To become indignantly angry; to 
flare up, get unduly and suddenly excited. 

To set the Thames on fire. See Thames. 

We do not fire first, gentlemen. According to 
tradition this very chivalrous reply was made 
to Lord Charles Hay (in command of the 
Guards) at the opening of the battle of 
Fontenoy (1745) by the French Marquis 
d’Autcroche after the former had advanced 
from the British lines and invited the French 
commander to order his men to fire. The story 
is told by the historian Espagnac as well as by 
Voltaire, but it is almost certainly ben tro\ato y 
and is not borne out by the description of the 
battle written a few days after the encounter by 
Lord Charles to his father, the Marquis of 
Tweeddale. 

Fire-brand. An incendiary; one who incites 
to rebellion; like a blazing brand which sets on 
fire all it touches. 

Our fire-brand brother, Paris, burns us all. 

Troilus and Cressida , II, ii. 

Fire-bug. An habitual committer of arson 
(usually a psychiatric case); a fire-raiser (see 
below). The term is also applied to a glow- 
worm. 

Fire-cross. See Fiery Cross. 

Fire-drake or Fire-dragon. A fiery serpent, 
an ignis-fatuus of large proportions, super- 
stitiously believed to be a flying dragon 
keeping guard over hid treasures. 

There is a fellow somewhat near the door, he should 
be a brazier by his face, for. o’ my conscience, twenty 
of the dog-days now reign in ’s nose. . . . That fire- 
drake did I hit three times on the head. — King Henry 
VIII , V, iii. 

Fire-eaters. Persons ready to quarrel for 
anything. The allusion is to the jugglers who 
“eat” flaming tow, pour molten lead down their 
throats, and hold red-hot metal between their 
teeth. Richardson, in the 17th century; 
Signora Josephine Girardelli (the original 
Salamander), in the early part of the 19th 
century; and Chaubert, a Frenchman, of the 
present century, were the most noted of these 
exhibitors. 

Fire hunting. An American term for hunting 
at night with the aid of fire-pans, or links. 

Fire-new. Spick and span new (q.v.). 

You should have accosted her; and with some ex- 
cellent jests fire-new from the mint. — Twelfth Night 
ill, ii. 

Fire raiser. One guilty of arson for profit, 
usually to collect insurance money. 

Fire-ship. A ship filled with combustibles 
sent against enemy vessels in order to set them 
on fire. 



Fire-worship 


361 


Fish 


Fire-worship. Said to have been introduced 
into Persia by Phcedima, widow of Smerdis, 
and wife of Hystaspes (521-485 b.c.). It is not 
the sun that is worshipped, but God, who is 
supposed to reside in it; at the same time the 
Fire Worshippers reverence the sun as the 
throne of deity. Cp. Parsees. 

First. A diamond of the first water. See Dia- 
mond. 

At first hand. By one’s own knowledge or 
personal observation. 

First-chop. See Chop. 

First Fleet. The first convoy of ships taking 
convicts to Australia in 1788. The second fleet 
arrived in 1790. To have been a first fleeter 
became a matter of some pride, and the ex- 
pression was in use as late as 1848. 

First floor. In England the first floor is the 
story next above the ground-floor, or entrance 
floor; but in America it is the ground floor 
itself. 

First foot, or first footer. The first visitor at a 
house after midnight on New Year’s Eve. In 
Scotland and the North of England the custom 
of “first-footing" is still very popular. 

First-fruits. The first profitable results of 
labour. In husbandry, the first corn that is cut 
at harvest, which, by the ancient Hebrews, was 
offered to Jehovah. We also use the word 
figuratively, as, the first-fruits of sin, the first- 
fruits of repentance. 

First light. Roughly, dawn. Used in World 
War II to signify the earliest time at which 
infantry can see to make their way forward; 
first tank light, about half an hour later, is 
the earliest time that a tank, closed down for 
battle, can see to move. The phrases last light 
and last tank light are used at the end of the 
day. 

First nighter. One who makes a practice of 
attending the opening performance of plays. 

The First Gentleman of Europe. A nickname 
given to George IV. who certainly was first in 
rank, but as Thackeray says in The Four 
Georges , “we can tell of better gentlemen.’’ 

The First Grenadier of the Republic. A title 
given by Napoleon to Latour d'Auvergne 
(1743-1800), a man of extraordinary courage 
and self-effacement. He refused all promotion 
beyond that of captain. 

The first stroke is half the battle. “Well 
begun is half done." “A good lather is half the 
shave.” 

Fish. The fish was used as a symbol of Christ 
by the early Christians because the letters of 
its Greek name — Ichthus (q. v.)— formed a 
monogram of the words Jesus Christ, Son of 
God, Saviour. 

Ivory and mother-o’-pearl counters used in 
card games, some of which arc more or less 
fish-shaped, are so called, not from their shape, 
but from Fr. fiche, a peg, a card-counter. La 
fiche de consolation (a little piece of comfort 
or consolation) is the name given in some 
games to the points allowed for the rubber. 

Fish-flake. An 18th-century American term 
for a frame on which fish were dried. 


Fish day (Fr. four maigre). A day when 
persons in the Roman Catholic Church are 
forbidden to eat meat without ecclesiastical 
permission; viz. all Fridays and Ember Days, 
Ash Wednesday, the Wednesdays of Lent, the 
vigils of Pentecost, Assumption, All Saints, and 
Christmas. 

Fish-wife. A woman who hawks fish about 
the streets. 

Fish-wives arc renowned for their powers of 
vituperation; hence the term is applied to any 
blatant, scolding woman. 

A fish out of water. Said of a person who is 
out of his usual environment and so feels 
awkward and in the way; also of one who is 
without his usual occupation and is restless in 
consequence. 

A loose fish. A man of loose or dissolute 
habits. Fish as applied to a human being 
usually carries with it a mildly derogatory 
implication. 

A pretty kettle of fish. See Kettle. 

A queer fish. An eccentric person. 

All is fish that comes to my net. I turn 

everything to some use; I am willing to deal in 
anything out of which I can make a profit. 

He eats no fish. An Elizabethan way of say- 
ing that he is an honest man and one to be 
trusted, because he is not a papist. Roman 
Catholics were naturally opposed to the 
Government, and Protestants, to show their 
loyalty, refused to adopt their ritual custom of 
eating only fish on Fridays. 

I have other fish to fry. I am busy and cannot 
attend to anything else just now. 

Neither fish, flesh, nor fowl ; or neither fish, 
flesh, nor good red herring. Suitable to no class 
of people; neither one thing nor another. Not 
fish (food for the monk), not flesh (food for 
the people generally), nor yet red herring (food 
for paupers). 

The best fish swim near the bottom. What is 
most valuable commercially is not to be found 
on the surface of the earth, nor is anything else 
really worth having to be obtained without 
trouble. 

There’s as good fish in the sea as ever came 
out of it. Don’t be disheartened if you’ve lost 
the chance of something good; you’ll get 
another. 

Fisherman, King. In the legends of the Holy 
Grail (</.v.) the uncle of Perceval, and dweller 
in the Castle of the Grail, where the holy vessel 
is enshrined. 

Fisherman’s Ring. A seal-ring with which 
the Pope is invested at his election, bearing the 
device of St. Peter fishing from a boat. It is 
used for sealing legal briefs, and is officially 
broken up at his death by the Chamberlain 
of the Roman Church. 

To cry stinking fish. See Cry. 

To drink like a fish. See Drink. 

To feed the fishes. To be drowned; to be sea- 
sick. 



Fish 


362 


To fish for compliments. To try to obtain 
praise usually by putting leading questions. 

To fish in troubled waters. To scramble for 
personal advantage in times of rebellion, war, 
etc.; to try to make a calamity a means to 
personal profit. 

To fish the anchor. A nautical term meaning 
to draw up the flukes to the bulwarks after the 
anchor has been “catted.” 

You must not make fish of one and flesh of 
the other. You must treat both alike. The 
alliteration has much to do with the phrase. 

Fitz. The Norman form of the modern French 
fils , son of; as Fitz-Herbert, Fitz-William, 
Fitz-Peter, etc. It is sometimes assumed by 
illegitimate or morganatic children of royalties, 
as Fitz-CJarence, Fitz-roy, etc. 

Fjtzroy Cocktail (Austr.). One of the many 
concoctions drunk by strong men “out back.” 
The recipe is methylated spirits, ginger beer, 
and one teaspoonful of boot polish. 

Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge). So called 
from the 7th and last Viscount Fitzwilliam, 
who, in 1816, left i'100,000, with books, 
paintings, etc., to form the nucleus of a 
museum for the benefit of the university. The 
present building was begun in 1837. It was 
considerably extended in 1930-31. 

Five. The pentad, one of the mystic numbers, 
being the sum of 2 + 3, the first even and first 
odd compound. Unity is God alone, i.e. with- 
out creation. Two is diversity, and three (being 
1+2) is the compound of unity and diversity, 
or the two principles in operation since 
creation, and representing all the powers of 
nature. 

Bunch of fives. Pugilistic slang for the fist. 

The Five Boroughs. In English history, the 
Danish confederation of Derby, Lincoln, 
Leicester, Stamford, and Nottingham in the 
9th and 10th centuries. 

Five fingers. A fisherman’s name for the 
star-fish. 

The Five Members. Pym, Hampden, Hasel- 
rig, Strode, and Holies; the five members of 
the Long Parliament whom Charles I attempted 
to arrest in 1642. 

The Five-mile Act. An Act passed in 1665 
(repealed in 1689) prohibiting ministers who 
had refused to subscribe to the Act of Uni- 
formity from coming within five miles of any 
corporate town or within that distance of the 
scene of their old ministry. 

The Five Nations. A description applied by 
Kipling to the British Empire — the Old 
Country, with Canada, Australia, South 
Africa, and India. 

In American history the term refers to the 
five confederated Indian tribes inhabiting the 
present State of New York, viz . the Mohawks, 
Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. 
Known also as the Iroquois Confederacy. 

The Five Points. See Calvinism. 

Five senses. The five senses are feeling, 
hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting. 


Flags 


The Five Towns. Towns in the Potteries in 
which Arnold Bennett (1867-1931) laid the 
scene of many of his novels and stories. They 
are Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke-upon- 
Trent, Longton, and Fenton — six in all — but 
for artistic purposes Bennett called them five. 
All are now merged within the municipal 
borough of Stoke-on-Trent. 

The five wits. Common sense, imagination, 
fantasy, estimation, and memory. Common 
sense is the outcome of the five senses; 
imagination is the “wit” of the mind; fantasy 
is imagination united with judgment; estima- 
tion estimates the absolute, such as time, space, 
locality, and so on; and memory is the “wit” 
of recalling past events. 

Four of his five wits went halting off. 

Much Ado, I, i. 

These are the five witts removyng inwardly: 

First, “Common witte,” and then “Ymagination,” 
“Fantasy,” and “Estimation” truely, 

And “Memory.” 

Stephen Hawes: The Passe-tyme of Plesure (1515). 

Also used to mean the five senses. 

Alone and warming her five wits 
The white owl in the belfry sits. — Tennyson. 

Fiver. A five-pound note. 

Fix. In a fix. In an awkward predicament. 

Fixed air. An old name of carbonic acid 
gas, given to it by Dr. Joseph Black (1728-99) 
because it existed in carbonate of magnesia in 
a fixed state. 

Fixed oils. The true oils; i.e. those which arc 
not changed by heating or distillation, and 
which harden on exposure to the air, thus 
differing from essential oils. The glycarides, 
such as linseed and walnut oils, are examples. 

Fixed stars. Stars whose relative position 
to other stars is always the same, as distin- 
guished from planets, which shift their relative 
positions. 

Flaccus (flak' us). Horace (65-8 b.c.), the 
Roman poet, whose full name was Quintus 
Horatius Flaccus. 

Flags. The following national flags are de- 
scribed as though flying from a mast on the 
reader’s left-hand side. 

Argentina: 3 horizontal stripes, blue, white, blue. 
Austria: 3 horizontal stripes, red, white, red. 

Belgium: 3 vertical stripes, black, yellow, red. 

Brazil: Green, with yellow lozenge in centre bearing 
a blue sphere with white band and stars. 

Chile: 2 horizontal bands, white and red; in top left 
corner a white star on a blue square. 

China: Red with blue square in left corner bearing a 
white sun. 

Cyprus: Gold map of Cyprus on a white grQund 
surmounting crossed olive branches in green. 
Czechoslovakia: 2 horizontal stripes, red and white, 
with blue triangle in top left comer. 

Denmark : Red with white cross from edge to edpe. 
Egypt: Green with white crescent and 3 5-pointed 
stars. 

Eire: 3 vertical stripes, green, white, orange. 

Ethiopia: 3 horizontal stripes, green, yellow, red. 
Finland: White field with a blue cross. 

France: 3 vertical stripes, blue, white, red. 

Germany, W. : 3 horizontal stripes, black, red, gold. 
Ghana: horizontal bands of red, gold, and green, 
bearing a black star on a gold band. 

Greece: 9 horizontal stripes, blue and white, with 
white cross on a blue ground in top left corner. 



Flags 


363 


Flaminian Way 


Hungary: 3 horizontal stripes, red, white, green. 
Iceland: Blue, with a white-bordered red cross from 
edge to edge. 

India, Republic of: 3 horizontal stripes, saffron, 
white, green. 

Iran: White bordered with green at top and red at 
bottom with arms of lion and sun in centre. 

Iraq: 3 horizontal bars, black, white, green, with a red 
triangle bearing 2 white stars, in left corner. 

Israel: White, charged with blue Star of David. 
Italy: 3 vertical stripes, green, white, red. 

Japan: White, charged with red sun. 

Mexico: 3 vertical stripes, green, white, red. 
Netherlands: 3 horizontal stripes, red, white, blue. 
Norway: Red with a white-bordered blue cross to 
edges. 

Pakistan: Green with white border, charged with 
white crescent and star. 

Peru: 3 vertical stripes, red, white, red. 

Poland: Flag divided horizontally, white and red. 
Portugal: Flag divided vertically, green and red. 
Rumania: 3 vertical stripes, blue, yellow, red. 

Siam: 5 horizontal stripes, red, white, blue, white, red, 
Spain: 3 horizontal stripes, red, yellow, red. 

Sweden: Blue with yellow cross to edges. 
Switzerland: Red field with white cross charged on it. 
Turkey : Red with white crescent with star in its centre. 
U.K.: See Union Jack. 

U.S.A.: See Stars and Stripes. 

U.S.S.R.: Red with yellow hammer and sickle sur- 
surmounted by a 5-pointed star, all in the top left 
corner. 

Yugoslavia: 3 horizontal stripes, blue, white, red. 

On railways and elsewhere a red flag is used 
for signalling Danger; a green flag for Go 
ahead, or Proceed with Caution. 

A black flag is the emblem of piracy or of 
no quarter. See Black. 

The Red Flag is the symbol of international 
Socialism, red having been traditionally 
recognized as the colour of social revolutionary 
movements ever since the French Revolution. 
The Red Flag is a Socialist anthem written by 
Jim Connell and set to several tunes. 

A white flag is the flag of truce or surrender, 
hence to hang out the white flag is to sue for 
quarter, to give in. 

A yellow flag signals contagious disease on 
board ship, and all vessels in quarantine or 
having contagious disease aboard are obliged 
to fly it. 

The flag’s down. Indicative of distress. When 
the face is pale the ‘‘flag is down.” Alluding to 
the ancient custom of taking down the flag of 
theatres during Lent, when the theatres were 
closed. 

’Tis Lent in your cheeks, the flag’s down.— Dods- 
ley's Old Flays, vol. V, p. 314 ( Mad World). 

The flag of distress. A flag hoisted at the 
masthead in reverse position to signal that 
trouble of some sort is on board. 

Trade follows the flag. See Trade. 

To get one’s flag. To become an admiral. Cp. 

Flag-Officer. 

I do not believe that the bullet is cast that is to 
deprive you of life, Jack ; you’ll get your flag, as I hope 
to get mine. — Kingston; The Three Admirals , xiii. 

To hang the flag half-mast high is in token of 
mourning or distress. 

To lower one’s flag. To eat humble pie; to 
confess onself in the wrong; to eat one’s own 
words. 


To strike the flag. To lower it. The phrase is 
used of an admiral relinquishing his command 
afloat; the action is also a token of respect, 
submission, or surrender. 

Flag Captain. The captain commanding a 
vessel in which an admiral is flying his flag. 

Flag Lieutenant. An admiral’s aide-de-camp. 

Flag-officer. An admiral (q.v.), vice-admiral, 
or rear-admiral. These officers alone are 
privileged to carry a flag denoting rank. An 
admiral of the fleet flies a Union Jack; an 
admiral a plain St. George’s Cross, while vice- 
admirals and rear-admirals have respectively 
one and two red balls on the cross. 

Flag-ship. A ship carrying a flag-officer (q.v.). 

To flag down. To stop someone; from motor 
racing, in which the stewards wave a flag at the 
winner or at any driver they require to stop or 
to warn to proceed with caution. 

Flagellants (fla jei' &nts). The Latin flagellum 
means a scourge, and this name is given to 
groups of fanatical persons who performed and 
administered exaggerated physical penances in 
public. They appeared at various places and 
times during the Middle Ages, particularly in 
Italy in 1260, and again in 1348 when the 
movement spread further afield in Europe. 
Although individuals such as St. Vincent 
Ferrer made use of the flagellant movements 
for legitimate religious purposes, the Church 
has never encouraged the practice of public 
flagellation and has definitely condemned any 
excesses in this direction. 

Flagellum Dei (Lat. the scourge of God). Attila 
was so called. See Scourge of God. 

Flak. The German abbreviation, adopted into 
English, of Flugabwehrkanone , meaning anti- 
aircraft gun or gunfire. 

Flam. Flattery for an object; blarney; humbug. 

They told me what a fine thing it was to be an 
Englishman, and about liberty and property ... I find 
it was a flam.— Godwin: Caleb Willlams t vo\.lX,ch. v. 

Flamboyant Architecture. The last phase of 
French Gothic architecture, named from Fr. 
flambe (flame). Characterized by the flame- 
like tracery and elaboration of detail, the style 
flourished from about 1460 until near the end 
of the century. 

Flame. A sweetheart. “An old flame,” a 
quondam sweetheart. 

Flaming. Superb, captivating, ostentatious. 
The Fr. flambant , originally applied to those 
persons who dressed themselves in rich dresses 
“flaming” with gold and silver thread. 

Flaming swords. Swords with a wavy or 
flamboyant edge, used now only for state pur- 
poses. The Dukes of Burgundy carried swords 
of this sort, and they were worn in our 
country till the accession of William III. 

The Flaming Tinman, or Black Jack Bosville, 
is one of the startling characters in George 
Borrow’s Lavengro , and the fight in the dingle 
one of the great scenes of English literature* 
Flaminian Way. The great northern road of 
ancient Italy, constructed by C. Flaminius in 
220 b.c. It led from the Flaminian gate of 
Rome to Ariminium (Rimini). 



Flanders 


364 


Flea 


Flanders. Flanders Babies. Cheap wooden 
jointed dolls common ip the early 19th 
century. 

Flanders Mare, The. So Henry VIII called 
Anne of Cleves, his fourth wife whom he 
married in January, 1540, and divorced in 
July of the same year. She died at Chelsea in 
1557. 

Flanders Poppies. The name given to the red 
artificial poppies sold in the streets on Remem- 
brance Day for the benefit of ex-service men. 
The connexion with poppies comes from a 
poem by John McCrae, which appeared in 
Punchy December 8th, 1915: — 

If ye break faith with us who die 
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow 
In Flanders fields. 

Fl&neur (Fr.). A lounger, gossiper. From 
Mner, to saunter about. 

Flannels. To be awarded one’s flannels. To gain 
one’s cricket colours at Eton. 

Flap. British slang for anxiety, confusion, 
anger; hence “unflappable”, of a person not 
easily worried or quick to anger. In American 
usage the term meant an air raid in World 
War II, and has since acquired the meanings 
of a fright, crisis, emergency, confusion, and 
anxiety. 

Fkp-dragons. An old name for our “snap- 
dragon,” i.e. raisins soaked in spirit, lighted, 
and floating in a bowl of spirituous liquor. 
Gallants used to drink flap-dragons to the 
health of their mistresses, and would frequently 
have lighted candle-ends floating in the liquor 
to heighten the effect. Hence: — 

He drinks off candles’ ends for flap-dragons. — 
Henry IV t Pt. II, II, iv. 

Flap-jack. A cake baked on a griddle or in a 
shallow pan, and so called from the practice 
of tossing it into the air when it was done on 
one side, and catching it flat with the brown 
side uppermost. 

We’ll have flesh for holidays, fish for fasting-days, 
and more o’er puddings and flap-jacks. — Pericles, II, i. 

In the 20th century the word has been 
applied to a woman’s flat powder compact. 

Flapper. In the early years of this century a 
familiar term for a young girl in her teens. The 
hair was worn long and plaited in a pigtail, 
tied with a large bow, which may have sug- 
gested a flapper. 

Flash. Showy, smart, “swagger”; as a flash 
wedding , a flash hotel. In Australia the term 
flash or flashy is applied to 

anyone who is proud and has nothing to be proud 
of. J. Kirby: Old Times in the Bush of Australia, 1895. 

Also counterfeit, sham, fraudulent. Flash 
notes are forged notes; a flash man is a thief or 
the companion of thieves. 

A mere flash in the pan. All sound and fury, 
signifying nothing; like the attempt to dis- 
charge an old flint-lock gun that ends with a 
flash in the lock-pan, the gun itself “hanging 
fire.” 

Flat. One who is not sharp. 

Flat-foot. U.S.A. slang for a policeman. In 
English slang he is a flattie. 

To be caught flat-footed. To be caught un- 
prepared, as a football player who is tackled 


by an opponent before he has been able to 
advance. 

To come out flat-footed. To state one’s be- 
liefs positively, as though firmly planted on 
one’s feet. 

Flat race. A race on the “flat” or level ground 
without obstacles, as opposed to a steeplechase, 
or “over the sticks.” 

Flat top. British and American name for 
aircraft-carrier (World War II). 

Flat as a flounder. I knocked him down flat 
as a flounder. A flounder is one of the flat- 
fish. 

Flat as a pancake. Quite flat. 

He is a regular flat-fish. A dull, stupid fellow. 
The play is upon flat (stupid), ana such fish 
as plaice, dabs, and soles. 

Flatterer. Vitellius (a.d. 15-69), Roman 

Emperor for a short while in 69. He was a 
sycophant of Nero’s, and his name became a 
synonym for a flatterer (Tacitus, Ann., vi, 32). 

When flatterers meet, the devil goes to dinner. 
Flattery is so pernicious, so fills the heart with 
pride and conceit, so perverts the judgment 
and disturbs the balance of the mind, that 
Satan himself could do no greater mischief, so 
he goes to dinner and leaves the leaven of 
wickedness to operate its own mischief. 

Flea. A flea’s jump. It has been estimated that 
if a man, in proportion to his weight, could 
jump as high as a flea, he could clear St. 
Paul’s Cathedral with ease. 

Aristophanes, in the Clouds , says that 
Socrates and Chaerephon tried to measure how 
many times its own length a flea jumped. They 
took in wax the size of a flea’s foot; then, on 
the principle of ex pede Herculem, calculated 
the length of its body. Having found this, 
and measured the distance of the flea’s jump 
from the hand of Socrates to Chserephon, the 
knotty problem was resolved by simple 
multiplication. 

A mere flea-bite. A thing of no moment. 

Great fleas have lesser fleas. No matter what 
our station in life, we all have some “hangers 
on.” 

Hobbes clearly proves that every creature 
Lives in a state of war by nature; 

So naturalists observe a flea 
Has smaller fleas that on him prey, 

And these have smaller still to bite ’em, 

And so proceed ad infinitum. 

Swift: Poetry ; a Rhapsody. 

Sent off with a flea in his ear. Peremptorily. 
A dog which has a flea in the ear is very restless, 
and runs off in terror and distress. 

The phrase is an old one, and dates from 
at least the 15th century in English, and 
earlier in French. It is found in Heywood’s 
Proverbs , Nash’s Pierce Penilesse , Skoggin’s 
Jests, etc. 

Ferardo . . . whispering Philantus in the ear (who 
stood as though he had a flea in his ear), desired him 
to keep silence. — Lyly: Euphues (1578). 

Here the phrase implies that vexatious news 
has been heard; and in Deloney’s Gentle Craft 
(1597) we have a similar instance, where a 
servant goes away shaking his head “like one 
that hath a flea in his eare,” 



Flecknoe 


365 


Flimsy 


Flecknoe. Richard. An Irish priest who printed 
a host of poems, letters, and travels, and died 
about 1678. He is now only remembered 
through Dryden’s satire, MacFlecknoe ; where 
it is said he 

Reigned without dispute 
Through all the realms of nonsense absolute. 

Fleeced. Cheated of one’s money; sheared like 
a sheep. 

Fleet, The. Fleet Marriages. Clandestine mar- 
riages, at one time performed without banns 
or licence bv needy chaplains, in the Fleet 
Prison, London. As many as thirty marriages 
a day were sometimes celebrated in this 
disgraceful manner; and Malcolm tells us that 
2,954 were registered in the four months ending 
with February 12th, 1705. The practice was 
suppressed and declared null and void in 1774. 

Fleet Book Evidence. No evidence at all. 
The books of the Old Fleet prison are not 
admissible as evidence to prove a marriage. 

Fleet Prison. The most notorious of the old 
debtors’ prisons, the Fleet Prison stood on the 
site now occupied by the Memorial Hall, 
Farringdon Street, London. Its history was as 
dismal as the building itself. Originally used for 
prisoners committed by the Star Chamber, on 
the abolition of that court it became a prison 
for debtors, bankrupts, and persons charged 
with contempt of court. It was in charge of a 
warden, who bought the job and reimbursed 
himself from the exorbitant fees he charged 
prisoners for board, lodging, and innumerable 
privileges they never received. Every day a 
prisoner took it in turns to beg from passers- 
by, standing in a barred cage opening on the 
street. The prison was burned down in the 
Great Fire (1666) and again by the Gordon 
Rioters in 1780. It was rebuilt again but in 
1844 the prisoners were removed to the Queen’s 
Bench Prison, and in 1864 the place was pulled 
down. See Liberties of the Fleet, under 
Liberty. 

Fleet Street. Now synonymous with journal- 
ism and newspaperdom. Fleet Street in London 
was a famous thoroughfare centuries before 
the first newspaper was published there at the 
close of the 18th century. It takes its name from 
the old Fleet River, which ran from Hampstead 
through Hockley-in-the-Hole to Saffron Hill, 
near where it joined the Hole Bourne (whence 
Holborn ), flowing on with it under what is now 
Farringdon Street and New Bridge Street to 
fall into the Thames at Blackfriars. It was 
navigable for coal-boats, etc., as far as Holborn 
Bridge (near the present Viaduct), but latterly 
became so foul that in 1764 it was arched over, 
and it is now used as a sewer. From earliest 
days there was a bridge (the Fleet Bridge) 
across the river at the modern Ludgate Circus. 

Flemish Account. A sum less than that ex- 
pected. In Antwerp accounts were kept in 
livres , sols, and pence ; but the livre or pound 
was only 12s.; hence, an account of 100 livres 
Flemish was worth £60 only, instead of £100, 
to the English creditor. 

Flemish School. A school of painting 
established by the brothers Van Eyck, in the 
15th century. The chief early masters were 
Memling, Weyden, Matsys, and Mabuse. Of 


the second period, Rubens and Van Dyck, 
Snyders, and the younger Teniers. 

Flesh. Sighing for the flesh-pots of Egypt. 
Hankering for good things no longer at your 
command. The children of Israel said they * 
wished they had died “when they sat by the 
flesh-pots of Egypt” ( Exod . xvi, 3) rather than 
embark on their long sojourn in the wilderness. 

He fleshed his sword. Used it for the first 
time. Men fleshed in cruelty, — i.e. initiated or 
used to it. A sportsman’s expression. A sports- 
man allows a young dog or hawk to have the 
first game it catches for its own eating, thus 
at the same time rewarding it and encouraging 
its taste for blood. This “flesh” is the first it has 
tasted, and fleshing its tooth thus gives the 
creature a craving for similar food. 

The wild dog 

Shall flesh his tooth on every innocent. 

Henry IV , Pt. //, IV, v. 

Fleshly School, The. In the Contemporary 
Review for October, 1871, Robert Buchanan 

f jublished a violent attack on the poetry and 
iterary methods of Swinburne, Rossetti, 
Morris, O’Shaughnessy, John Payne, and one 
or two others under the heading The Fleshly 
School of Poetry , over the signature “Thomas 
Maitland.” The incident created a literary 
sensation; Buchanan at first denied the author- 
ship but was soon obliged to admit it, and some 
years later was reconciled to Rossetti, his chief 
victim. Swinburne’s very trenchant reply is to 
be found in his Under the Microscope (1872). 

Fleur-de-lis, -lys, or -luce (fler de le, loos) (Fr. 
lily-flower). The name of several varieties of 
iris, and also of the heraldic lily, 
which is here shown and which was 
borne as a charge on the old French 
royal coat-of-arms. 

In the reign of Louis VII (1137- 
80) the national standard was thickly charged 
with flowers. In 1365 the number was reduced 
by Charles VI to three (the mystical church 
number). Guillim, in his Display of Heraldrie , 
1611, says the device is “Three 
toads erect, saltant”; in allusion to 
which Nostradamus, in the 16th 
century, calls Frenchmen crapauds . 
The fleur-de-lis was chosen by 
Flavio Gioja to mark the north point of the 
compass, out of compliment to the King of 
Naples, who was of French descent. Gioja was 
an early- 14th-century Italian navigator to 
whom has been (incorrectly) ascribed the in- 
vention of the mariner’s compass (?.v.). 

Flibbertigibbet. One of the five fiends that 
possessed “poor Tom” in King Lear. Shake- 
speare got the name from Harsnet’s Declara- 
tion of Egregious Popish Impostures (1603), 
where we are told of forty fiends which the 
Jesuits cast out, and among the number was 
“Fliberdigibet,” a name which had previously 
been used by Latimer and others for a mis- 
chievous gossip. Elsewhere the name is 
apparently a synonym for Puck. 

Flick. A cinematograph film; to go to the flicks, 
to go to the pictures. 

Flimsy (Aim' zi). A newspaper journalist’s term 
for newspaper copy, or a telegram. It arises 
from the thin paper (often used with a sheet of 




Fling 


366 


Flowers 


cafbbh paper to take a copy) on which the 
reporters and others write, up their matter for 
the press. Flimsy was also used for the white 
£5 bank note which ceased to be legal tender 
»in 1962. 

Fling, 1 must have a fling at . . . Throw a stone 
at something. To attack with words, especially 
sarcastically. To make a haphazard venture. 
Allusioh is to hurling stones from slings. 

To have his fling. To sow his wild oats. The 
Scots have a proverb: — 

Let him tak’ his fling and find oot his a in wecht 
(weight). 

meaning, give him a free hand and he’ll soon 
find his level. 

Flint. To skin a flint. See Skin. 

Flirt. A coquette. The word is from the verb 
flirt, as* “to flirt a fan,” i.e. to open it, or wave 
it, with a sharp, sudden motion. The fan being 
used for coquetting, those who coquetted were 
called “flirts.” In Dr. Johnson’s day a flirt , 
according to his Dictionary , Was “a pert 
hussey”; and he gives an account of one in No. 
84 of The Rambler , which, in some few particu- 
lars, resembles the modern article. 

Flittennouse. A bat ( cp . Gen Fledermaus). An 
earlier name was flindcr mouse. 

Then came . . . the flyndermows and the wezel 
and ther cam moo than xx whiche wolde not have 
comen yf the foxe had loste the feeld. — Caxton: 
Reynard the Fox, xli. 

Floating Academy. The hulks (q.v.); a convict 
ship. 

Flogging a dead horse. See Horse. 

Floor. I floored him. Knocked him down on the 
floor; hence figuratively, to overcome, beat, 
or surpass. 

Flora’s Dial. A fanciful or imaginary dial 
supposed to be formed by flowers which open 
or close at stated hours. 

Florentine Diamond. One of the large and 
famous diamonds in the world, weighing 133 
carats. It formed part of the Austrian crown 
jewels, and previously belonged to Charles, 
Duke of Burgundy. Tradition relates that it 
was picked up by a peasant and sold for half a 
crown. 

Florian, St. Patron saint of Poland; he was 
martyred by being drowned in the Enns, near 
Lorch, about 230. He is also the patron of 
mercers, having been himself of that craft. 
His cult was introduced into Poland in 1183; 
his day is May 4th. 

Florida. In 1512 Ponce de Le6n sailed from 
France \o the West in search of “the Fountain 
of Youth.” He first saw land on Easter Day, 
which was then popularly called in Spam 
pasetia fbrida, flowery Easter, and on that 
account called the new possession “Florida.” 

Florimel (flor' 1 mel). A character in Spenser’s 
Faerie Queene typifying the complete charm of 
womanhood. 

Florin. An English silver coin representing 2s., 
first issued in 1849 as a. tentative introduction 
of a decimal coinage, being one -tenth of a 


pound. Camden informs us that Edward III 
issued gold florins worth 6s., in 1337. The word 
is generally supposed to be derived from 
Florence; but as the coin had a lily on one 
side, probably it is connected with the Lat. 
flos, a flower* Cp. Graceless Florin. 

Florizel (flor' i zel). George IV. when Prince 
of Wales, corresponded under this name with 
Mrs. Robinson, the actress, generally known 
as Perdita, that being the character in which 
she first attracted the prince’s attention. The 
names come from Shakespeare’s Winter's 
Tale. 

In Lord Beaconsfield’s Endymion (1880) 
Prince Florizel is meant for Napoleon III. 

Flotsam and Jetsam. Wreckage found in the 
sea or on the Shore. “Flotsam,” goods found 
floating on the sea; “jetsam,” things thrown 
out of a ship to lighten it. (O.Fr. floter , to 
float; Fr. jeter, to throw out). Cp. Lagan. 


Flowers and Trees. 

(1) Dedicated to 
The Cornel cherry- 
,, Cypress 
„ Dittany 
„ Laurel 
„ Lily 

„ Maidenhair 
„ Myrtle 
„ Narcissus 
„ Oak 
„ Olive 
„ Poppy 
,, Vine 


heathen gods: 
tree to Apollo. 

„ Pluto. 

„ The Moon. 
„ Apollo. 

„ Juno. 

„ Pluto. 

„ Venus. 

„ Ceres. 

„ Jupiter. 

„ Minerva. 

„ Ceres. 

„ Bacchus. 


(2) Dedicated to saints: 

Canterbury Bells to St. Augustine of England. 

Crocus „ St. Valentine. 

Crown Imperial „ Edward the Confessor. 
Daisy „ St. Margaret. 

Herb Christophe „ St. Christopher. 

Lady’s-smock „ The Virgin Mary. 

Rose „ Mary Magdalene. 

St. John’s-wort St. John. 

St. Bamaby’s Thistle ,, St. Barnabas. 

(3) National emblems: 

Leek emblem of 

Lily ( Fleur-de-lys ) ,, 

„ (G7tf//o bianco) „ 

„ white ,, 

« red „ 

Linden „ 

Mignonette „ 

Pomegranate „ 

Rose „ 

„ red, Lancastrians; white, 

Shamrock emblem of 

Thistle „ 

Violet „ 

Sugar Maple. „ 


Wales. 

Bourbon France. 
Florence. 

the Ghibelline badge, 
badge of the Guelphs. 
Prussia. 

Saxony. 

Spain. 

England. 

Yorkists. 

Ireland. 

Scotland* 

„ Athens. 

„ Canada. 

(4) Symbols: 

Box a symbol of the resurrection. 

Cedars „ the faithful. 

Corn-ears „ the Holy Communion. 


Dates 
Grapes 
Holly 
ivy 
Lily 
Olive 

Orange-blossom 
Palm 
Rose 
Vine 
Yew 


the faithful, 
this is my blood, 
the resurrection, 
the resurrection, 
purity, 
peace, 
virginity, 
victory, 
incorruption. 
Christ our Life, 
death. 


N.B. — The laurel, oak, olive, myrtle, rosemary, 
cypress, and amaranth are all funereal plants. 




Flowers 


367 


Fly 


Flowers in Christian Traditions. Many plants 
and flowers, such as the aspen, elder, passion- 
flower, etc., play their part in Christian 
tradition. 

The following are said to owe their stained 
blossoms to the blood which trickled from the 
cross : — 

The red anemone ; the arum ; the purple orchis ; 

the crimson-spotted leaves of the roodselken 

(a French tradition); the spotted persicaria , 

snake- weed. 

Flower of Chivalry. A name given to several 
knights of spotless reputation, e.g . — 

Sir William Douglas, Knight of Liddesdale 
(slain 1353). 

Bayard ( le chevalier sans peur et sans 
reproche ) (14757-1524). 

Sir Philip Sidney (1554-86). 

Flower of Kings (Lat. Flos regum). King 
Arthur was so called by John of Exeter, who 
was Bishop of Winchester and died 1268. 

Flowery Kingdom, The. China; a translation 
of the Chinese Hwa-kwo. 

Fluellen (floo el' en). A Welsh captain and 
great pedant in Shakespeare’s Henry V, who, 
amongst other learned quiddities, attempted to 
draw a parallel between Henry V and Alex- 
ander the Great; but when he had said that one 
was born at Monmouth and the other at 
Macedon, both beginning with the same letter, 
and that there was a river in both cities, had 
exhausted his parallelisms. 

Fluff. To bungle, to foozle, to do something 
carelessly and unskilfully. In theatrical parlance 
an actor fluffs a part when he loses or has not 
learned his words. 

A little bit of fluff. Edwardian slang for a girl, 
especially a lively one of the fluffy variety. 

Fluke. A lucky chance, a stroke or action that 
accidentally meets with success, as in billiards 
when one pldys for one thing and gets another. 
Hence an advantage gained by luck more than 
by skill or judgment. 

Flummery. Flattering nonsense, palaver. In 
Wales it is a food made of oatmeal steeped in 
water and kept till it has become sour. In 
Cheshire and Lancashire it is the prepared skin 
of oatmeal mixed with honey, ale, or milk; 
pap; blanc-mange. (Welsh, llymry , wash-brew; 
from Ilym, sour or sharp.) 

Flummox, To. To bamboozle; to deceive; to 
be in a quandary. “I am regularly flummoxed” 
— i.e. perplexed. It is probably the Old English 
provincial word flummocks , to maul or mangle, 
or flummock, bewilderment, also untidiness or 
an untidy person. 

Flunk. To fail in examinations or a test com- 
pletely; found in U.S.A. by mid-19th century. 

Flunkey. A male livery servant, a footman, 
lackey. The word usually has a contemptuous 
implication and suggests snobbery and toady- 
ism; hence flunkey dom, flunkeyish , etc., 
pertaining to toadies. Probably a Scottish form 
of flanker , i.e . one who runs at the side (of 
carriages, etc.). Cp. Fr. flanquer 9 to run at the 
side of. 


Flurry. The death-struggle of a whale after 
harpooning. 

Flush. In cards, a whole hand of one suit. 

Flush of money. Full of money. Similarly a 
flush of water means a sudden and full flow of^ 
watei^(Lat. flux-us). 

To flush game. A gun dog is said to flush 
game when he disturbs them and they take to 
the air. 

Flute. The Magic Flute. An opera by Mozart 
( Die Zauberflote). The “flute” was bestowed 
by the powers of darkness, and had the power 
of inspiring love. Tamino and Pamina arc 
guidea by it through all worldly dangers to the 
knowledge of Divine Truth. 

Flutter. Colloquial term for a small gamble. 

Flutter the Dovecotes, To. To disturb the 
equanimity of a society. The phrase occurs in 
Coriolanus (V, vi). 

Fly (plural flys). A hackney coach, a cab. A 
contraction of Fly-by-night, as sedan chairs on 
wheels used to be called in the Regency. These 
“Fly-by-nights,” patronized greatly by the 
Regent and his boon companions during 
their wild night pranks at Brighton, were 
invented in 1809 by a carpenter, John Butcher. 

Fly. An insect (plural flies). For the theatrical 
use, see Flyman. 

It is said that no fly was ever seen in Solo- 
mon’s temple; and according to Mohammedan 
legend, all flies shall perish except one, and 
that is the bee-fly. 

The god or lord of flies. In the temple of 
Actium the Greeks used annually to sacrifice 
an ox to Zeus, who, in this capacity, was sur- 
named Apomyios, the averter of fnes. Pliny 
tells us that at Rome sacrifice was offered to 
flies in the temple of Hercules Victor, and the 
Syrians offered sacrifice to the same insects. 
See Achor; Beelzebub. 

Flies in amber. See Amber. 

Fly. Perspicacious in an unpleasant way, 
unlikely to be caught. 

No flying without wings. Nothing can be done 
without the proper means. 

The eagle doesn’t hawk at flies. See Aquila, 

The fly in the ointment. The trifling cause that 
spoils everything; a Biblical phrase. 

Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to 
send forth a stinking savour; so doth a little folly him 
that is in reputation for wisdom and honour. — Eccles. 
x, 1. 

The fly on the coach-wheel. One who fancies 
himself of mighty importance, but who is in 
reality of none at all. The allusion is to jEsop’s 
fable of a fly sitting on a chariot-wheel and 
saying, “See what a dust I make!” 

There are no flies on him. He's all right; he’s 
very alert; you won’t catch him napping. 

To crush a fly on a wheel. An allusion to the 
absurdity of taking a wheel used for torturing 
criminals and heretics for killing a fly. 

To fly a kite. See Kite. 

To fly in one’s face. To get into a passion with 
a person; to insult; as a hawk, when irritated, 
flies in the face of its master. 


Fly 


368 


Fond 


To fly in the face of danger. To run in a fool- 
hardy manner into danger, as a hen flies in the 
face of a dog or cat. 

To fly in the face of providence. To act rashly, 
*and throw away good opportunities; to court 
danger. 

To fly out at. To burst or break into a 
passion. 

To rise to the fly. To be taken in by a hoax, 
as a fish rises to the angler’s fly and is caught. 

Fly-boy. The boy in a printing-office who 
lifts the printed sheets off the press; so called 
because he catches the sheets as they fly from 
the tympan immediately the frisket is opened. 

Fly-by-night. One who defrauds his creditors 
by decamping at night-time; also the early 
name of a sedan-chair, and later of a horsed 
vehicle (hence Fly, a cab, q.v.). 

Fly-flat. A racing man’s term for a punter 
who thinks he knows all the ins and outs of the 
turf, but doesn’t. 

Flyman. In theatrical language, the scene- 
shifter, or the man in the “flies,” i.e. the gallery 
over the proscenium where the curtains, 
scenery, etc., are controlled. 

The flyman’s plot. The list of all the articles 
required by the flyman in the play produced. 

To come off with flying colours is to succeed 
triumphantly, as a ship coming out of action 
with all her colours flying. 

Flying Dutchman. In the superstitions of 
seamen a spectral ship that is supposed to 
haunt the southern seas round the Cape of 
Good Hope. She is only to be seen in stormy 
weather and bodes no good to those who pass 
her. There are various stories to account for 
this mysterious and ghostly craft; that worked 
out by Wagner in his opera Der Fliegende 
Hollander (1843) was partly suggested by 
Heinrich Heine. Captain Marryat’s novel The 
Phantom Ship (1839) tells of Philip Vander- 
decken’s successful but disastrous search for 
his father, the captain of the Flying Dutchman. 

Fob. See Fub. 

Fo’c’sle. See Forecastle. 

Fogy or Fogey. An old fogy. A man of ad- 
vanced years and somewhat antiquated ideas. 
A disrespectful but good-humoured descrip- 
tion. Several fanciful derivations have been 
found for this word, but its origin is unknown. 

Foil. That which sets off something to ad- 
vantage. The allusion is to the metallic leaf 
used by jewellers to set off precious stones. 
(Fr .feuille; Lat. folium; Gr. phullon , a leaf.) 

I’ll be your foil, Laertes. In mine ignorance 

Your skill shall, like a star i’ the darkest night. 

Stick fiery off indeed. hamlet , V, ii. 

To run a foil. To puzzle; to lead astray. The 
track of game is called its foil ; and an animal 
hunted will sometimes run back over the same 
foil in order to mislead its pursuers. In another 
sense the word means ‘‘to baffle, frustrate, 
parry.” It comes from the O.Fr. fouler , to 
trample upon ( we have the same word in the 
phrase “to full cloth”). His schemes were foiled, 
he was prevented in what he had in mind. 


Folio. Properly, a ream or sheet in its standard 
size; but when used of books it denotes a book 
whose sheets have been folded once only, so 
that each sheet makes two leaves; hence, a 
book of large size. Demy folio = lli x 17£in„ 
crown folio =•= 10 x 15 in., and so forth. It is 
from the Ital. un libro in foglio , through the 
Fr. in-folio. 

Folio so-and-so , in mercantile books, means 
page so-and-so, and sometimes the two pages 
which lie exposed at the same time, one 
containing the credit and the other the debit 
of one and the same account. So called because 
ledgers, etc., are made in folio. 

Printers call a page of MS. or printed matter 
a folio regardless of size. 

In conveyances, MSS., typewritten docu- 
ments, etc., seventy-two words, and in Parlia- 
mentary proceedings ninety words, make a 
folio. 

Folketing. Name of the Danish Parliament. 
Folkland. See Bockland. 

Folk-lore. The study or knowledge of the 
superstitions, mythology, legends, customs, 
traditions, sayings, etc., of a people. The word 
was coined in 1846 by W. J. Thoms (1803-85), 
editor of the Athenaeum. 

Folk-mote ( folk meeting). A word used in 
England before the Conquest for what we now 
call a county or even a parish meeting. 

Follow. Follow-my-Ieader. A parlour game in 
which each player must exactly imitate the 
actions of the leader, or pay a forfeit. 

Follow your nose. Go straight on. 

He who follows truth too closely will have dirt 
kicked in his face. Be not too strict to pry into 
abuse. 

To follow suit. To do as the person before 
you has done. A phrase from card-playing. 

Follower. In addition to its proper meaning of 
one who follows a leader, the word was used 
in Victorian days to designate a maid-servant’s 
young man. 

Mrs. Marker . . . offers eighteen guineas . . . 

Five servants kept . . . No followers. 

Dickens: Nicholas Nickleby. 

Folly. A fantastic or foolishly extravagant 
country seat, built for amusement or vainglory. 
Fisher's Folly , a large and beautiful house in 
Bishopsgate, with pleasure-gardens, bowling- 
green, and hothouses, built by Jasper Fisher, 
one of the six clerks of Chancery and a Justice 
of the Peace, is an historical example. Queen 
Elizabeth I lodged there; in 1620 it was acquired 
by the Earl of Devonshire, and its site is now 
occupied by Devonshire Square. 

Kirby’s castle, and Fisher’s folly, 

Spinola’s pleasure, and Megse’s glory. 

Stow: Survey (1603). 

Fond. A foolish, fond parent. Here fond does 
not mean affectionate, but silly, from the 
obsolete fon y to act the fool, to become 
foolish (connected with our fun). Chaucer uses 
the word fonne for a simpleton ( Reeve's Tale , 
169); Shakespeare has “fond desire,” “fond 
wretch,” “fond madwoman.” etc. 


Font 


369 


Fools 


Font or Fount. A complete set of type of the 
same body and face, with all the points, 
accents, figures, fractions, signs, etc., that 
ordinarily occur in printed books and papers. 
A complete fount (which, of course, includes 
italics) comprises over 200 separate pieces of 
type, not including the special characters 
needed in almanacs, astronomical and medical 
works, etc. The word is French, fonte , from 
fondre (to melt or cast). Cp. Type; Letter. 

Fontange. An extravagant head-dress or top- 
knot introduced in France in 1680 by Mile 
Fontange (d. 1681). In England it was called a 
Tower or Commode. Pieces of gummed linen, 
rolled into circular bands, served as a founda- 
tion to keep in place various feathers, bows 
and jewelled ornaments. This head-dress, 
sometimes rising to a height of 2 feet, was 
abolished by Louis XIV in 1699. 

Fontarabia (font a ra' bi a). Now called Fuen- 
terrabia (in Lat. Tons rapidus ), near the Gulf 
of Gascony. Here, according to legend, 
Charlemagne and all his chivalry fell by the 
sword of the Saracens. The French romancers 
say that, the rear of the king’s army being cut 
to pieces, Charlemagne returned to life and 
revenged their death by a complete victory. 
When Charlemagne with all his peerage fell 
By Fontarabia. Milton: Paradise Lost, I, 587. 

Food. Food for powder. Soldiers; especially raw 
recruits levied in times of war; cannon fodder. 

Prince : Tell me, Jack, whose fellows are these that 
come after? 

Fal.: Mine, Hal, mine. 

Prince: 1 did never see such pitiful rascals. 

Fal.: Tut, tut: good enough to toss; food for pow- 
der, food for powder; they’ll fill a pit as well as better: 
tush, man, mortal men, mortal men. Henry IV, Pi. /, 
IV, ii. 

The food of the gods. See Ambrosia ; Nectar. 

To become food for the worms, or for the 
fishes. To be dead and buried, or to be 
drowned. 

Fool. We have many old phrases in which this 
word plays the chief part; among those which 
need no explanation are: A fool and his money 
are soon parted ; Fortune favours fools ; There’s 
no fool like an old fool ; etc. Others that may be 
mentioned are: — 

A fool’s bolt is soon shot ( Henry F, III, vii). 
Simpletons cannot wait for the fit and proper 
time, but waste their resources in random 
endeavours. The allusion is to bowmen in 
battle; the good soldier shot with a purpose, 
but the foolish soldier at random. Cp. Prow 
xxix, 11. 

A fool’s paradise. To be in a fool’s paradise 
is to be in a state of contentment or happiness 
that rests only on unreal, fanciful foundations. 

As the fool thinks, so the bell clinks. A foolish 
person believes what he desires. 

At forty every man is a fool or his own 
physician. Said by Plutarch ( Treatise on the 
Preservation of Health) to have been a saying 
of Tiberius. It implies that by the age of 40 
a man ought to have learnt enough about his 
own constitution to be able to keep himself in 
health. 


Every man hath a fool in his sleeve. No one 
is always wise; there is something of the fool 
about everyone. 

The Feast of Fools. A kind of Saturnalia, 
popular in the Middle Ages. Its chief object 
was to honour the ass on which Our Lord made 
His triumphant entry into Jerusalem* This 
mummeiy was held on the Feast of the 
Circumcision (January 1st). The office of the 
day was chanted in travesty, then a procession 
was formed and all sorts of foolery was indulged 
in. An ass was an essential feature, and from 
time to time the whole procession imitated 
braying, especially in the place of “Amen.” It 
was put down only in the 15th century. 

The wisest fool in Christendom. James I was 
so called by Henry IV of France, who learnt 
the phrase of Sully. 

To be a fool for one’s pains. To have worked 
ineffectively; to have had no reward for one’s 
labours. 

To be a fool to. Not to come up^o; to be very 
inferior to; as, “bagatelle is a fool to billiards/* 

To make a fool of someone. To mislead him. 

Young men think old men fools, old men know 
young men arc. An old saying quoted by Cam- 
den in his Remains (1605, p. 228) as by a 
certain Dr. Metcalfe. It occurs also in Chap- 
man’s All Fools , V, ii (acted 1599). 

To fool about or around. To play the fool; 
to hang around in an aimless way. 

To fool away one’s time, money, etc. To 
squander it, fritter it away. 

Court fools. From mediaeval times till the 
17th century licensed fools or jesters were 
commonly kept at court, and frequently in the 
retinue of wealthy nobles. Thus we are told 
that the regent Morton had a fool, Patrick 
Bonny; Holbein painted Sir Thomas More’s 
jester, Patison, in his picture of the chancellor; 
and as late as 1728 Swift wrote an epitaph on 
Dickie Pearce, the fool of the Earl of Suffolk, 
who died at the age of 63 and is buried in 
Berkeley Churchyard, Gloucestershire. Dag- 
onet, the fool of King Arthur, is also remem- 
bered. 

Among the most celebrated court fools 

are : — 

Rahere, of Henry I; Scogan, of Edward IV; 
Thomas Killigrew, called “King Charles’s 
jester” (1611-82); Archie Armstrong (d. 1672), 
and Thomas Derrie, jesters in the court of 
James I. 

James Geddes, to Mary Queen of Scots; his 
predecessor was Jenny Colquhoun. 

Patch, the court fool of Elizabeth, wife of 
Henry VII. 

Will Somers (d. 1560), Henry VIII’s jester, 
and Patch, presented to that monarch by 
Cardinal Wolsey; and Robert Grene, jester in 
the court of Queen Elizabeth I. 

The fools of Charles V of France were Mit- 
ton and Th&venin de St. L6ger; Haincelin Coa 
belonged to Charles VI, and Guillaume Louel 
to Charles VII. Triboulet was the jester of 
Louis Xll and Francois I (1487-1536); 
Brusquet, of whom Brantdme says “he never 
had his equal in repartee,” of Henri II; Sibilot 
and Chicot, of Henri 111 and IV ; and l’Ang^ly, 
of Louis XIII. 



Foolscap 


370 


Forecastle 


Irt chess the French name for the “bishop” 
is fou ( i.e . fool), and they used to represent it in 
a fool’s dress; hence, RSgnier says: Les fous 
sont aux echecs les plus ptoches des Rols (14 
Sat.). Fou is said to be a corruption of an 
eastern word for an elephant (see Thomas 
Hyde’s De Ludis Orientalium , i, 4, 1689), and 
on old boards the places occupied by our 
“bishops” were occupied by elephants. 

Foolscap. A standard size of printing paper 
measuring 1 3i x 17 in. and of writing paper 
measuring 13{xl6£ in. The name is derived 
from an ancient watermark, of which the first 
known specimen occurs in 1540. 

Foot The foot as a measure of length (== 12 in., 
i of a yard, Or *3047075 of a metre) is common 
to practically all nations and periods, and has 
never varied much more than does the length 
of men’s feet, from which the name was taken. 

In prosody, the term denotes a division in 
verse which consists of a certain number of 
syllables (or pauses) one of which is stressed. 
Here the term, which comes front Greece, 
refers to beating time with the foot. 

At one’s feet. “To cast oneself at someone’s 
feet” is to be Entirely submissive to him, to 
throw oneself on his mercy. 

Best foot foremost. Use all possible dispatch. 
To “set on foot” is to set going. If you have 
various powers of motion, set your best 
foremost. 

Enter a house right foot foremost ( Petronius ). 
It is unlucky to enter a house or to leave one's 
chamber left foot foremost. Augustus was very 
superstitious on this point. Pythagoras taught 
that it is necessary to put the shoe on the right 
foot first. Iamblichus tells us this symbolized 
that man’s first duty is reverence to the gods. 

First foot. See First. 

How are your poor feet 7 An old street-cry 
said to have originated at the Great Exhibition 
of London in 1851. Tramping about the 
galleries broke down all but trained athletes. 

I have not yet got my foot In. I am not yet 
familiar and easy with the work. The allusion 
is to the preliminary exercises in Roman 
foot-races. While the signal was waited for, 
the candidates made essays of jumping, 
running, and posturing, to excite a suitable 
warmth and make their limbs supple. This was 
“getting their foot in” for the race. Cp. Hand. 

To have one’s foot on another’s neck. To have 
him at your mercy; to tyrannize over, or 
domineer over him completely. See Josh, x, 24. 

To measure another’s foot by your own last. 
To apply your personal standards to the 
conduct of actions of another; to judge people 
by yourself. 

To put one’s foot down. To make a firm stand, 
to refuse or insist Upon a thing firmly and 
finally. 

To set a man on his feet. To start him off in 
business, etc., especially after he has “come a 
cropper.” 

To show the doven foot. To betray an evil 
intention. The devil is represented with a cloven 
hoof. 


To trample under foot. To oppress, or out- 
rage; to treat with the greatest contempt and 
discourtesy. 

With one foot in the grave. In a dying state. 

You have put your foot in it nicely. You have 
got yourself into a pretty mess. As the famous 
Irish bull has it, “Every time I open my mouth 
1 put my foot in it.” 

To foot it. To walk the distance instead of 
riding it; also to dance. 

Lo how finely the graces can it foote to the Instrument. 
They dauncen deftly, and singen soote in their meri- 
ment. Spenser: Shepherd's Calendar; April. 

To foot the bill. To pay it; to promise to pay 
the account by signing one’s name at the foot 
of the bill. 

He is on good footing with the world. He 

stands well with the world. 

To pay your footing. To give money for 
drink when you first enter on a trade. Entry 
money for being allowed to put your foot in 
the premises occupied by fellow-craftsmen. 
Cp. Garnish. 

Footloose. Unfettered, a 17th-century 
expression. It survives to-day in the phrase 
“footloose and fancy free.” 

Footmen. See Running Footmen. 

Footnotes. Notes placed at the bottom of a 
page. 

Foot-pound. The unit of result in estimating 
work done by machinery. Thus, if we take 1 lb. 
as the unit of weight and 1 ft. as the unit of 
distance, a foot-pound would be 1 lb. weight 
raised 1 ft. 

Football Association Cup. See Association. 

Footlights. To appear before the footlights. To 

appear on the stage, where a row of lights is 
placed in front along the floor to light it up. 

Fop’s Alley. An old name for a promenade in 
a theatre, especially the central passage be- 
tween the stalls, right and left in the opera- 
house. 

Forbidden Fruit, The. Figuratively, unlawful 
sexual indulgence. According to Moham- 
medan tradition the forbidden fruit partaken 
of by Eve and Adam was the banyan or Indian 
fig. See Fig Leaf. 

Forcible Feeble. See Feeble. 

Fore! A cry of warning used by golfers before 
driving. 

To the fore. In the front rank; eminent. 

To come to the fore. To stand out promin- 
ently; to distinguish oneself; to stand forth. 

Fore-and-aft. AH over the ship; lengthwise, 
in opposition to “athwartships” or across the 
line of the keel. 

Forecastle (usually printed — and pronounced 
— fo’c’sle). So called because anciently this 
part of a vessel was raised and protected like 
a castle, so that it could command the enemy’s 
deck. Dana’s Seaman's Manual defines it as: — 
That part of the upper deck forward of the fore- 
mast. ... 1ft merchant ships, the forward part of the 
vessel under the deck, where the sailors five. 




Foreclose 


371 


Fork 


Foreclose, To put an end to. A legal term, 
meaning to close before the time specified, 

When a mortgager has failed to pay a 
debt the mortgagee may bring an action to 
foreclose, and the court will then hold that if 
the mortgager does not redeem within a 
certain time the mortgagee shall become owner 
of the property. 

Forefathers’ Day. See Pilgrim Fathers. 

Forehand. In the 17th century forehanded 
meant provident, thrifty. To-day it survives only 
in games, denoting a stroke in which tho player 
takes a ball on his natural side — i.e. right side 
for a right-handed player, as opposed to back- 
hand. 

Foreshortening. This is a technical term in 
perspective drawing. In a portrait, for example, 
an arm represented as pointing at full length 
towards the observer occupies less space than 
if it were shown as pointing to one side; yet 
the perspective must clearly indicate that the 
full length of the arm is the same. 

He forbids the fore-shortenings, because they make 
the parts appear little. — Dryden. 

Forestick. The faggot laid in the front of a 
log fire, which holds alt the others in; its 
opposite is backlog. 

Foreign correspondent. A newspaper corres- 
pondent living in foreign parts, not a cor- 
respondent who is a foreigner. Until The Times 
newspaper originated the system of sending 
specially equipped men to reside abroad and 
send news regularly, all foreign news was sent 
by casual and amateur correspondents whose 
own political views gave a distinctive colour 
to the news — or the presentation of it — they 
transmitted. 

Foreign Office, The department presided 
over by the Secretary of State for Foreign 
Affairs. It was instituted in 1782, in place of 
the old Secretaryship for the Northern 
Department of Europe, as it had been called 
since 1688. The Foreign Secretary appoints, 
sends out, and supervises ambassadors, con- 
suls and other diplomatic agents and keeps 
himself acquainted with affairs abroad; he 
represents tho British government to foreign 
ambassadors, etc., who represent their govern- 
ments in this country, and represents his 
Government abroad at important international 
conferences, etc. The Foreign Secretary is 
assisted by two Ministers of State and two 
Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State. 

Forest City. Cleveland, Ohio. 

Forgeries, Broadly speaking, a forgery is an 
attempt to pass off as genuine some piece of 
spurious work or writing. It is not always 
easy to distinguish a forgery and an imposture; 
strictly, perhaps, the Rowley poems are im- 
postures rather than forgeries, 

Billy and Charley Antiques* In 1857 two men 
known as Billy and Charley, living in Rose- 
mary Lane, Tower Hill, began to make 
mediaeval “antiquities” on a large scale. These 
were mostly plaques and other objects of no 
apparent use, cast in lead or an alloy of lead 
and copper known as cock-metal, and 


artificially aged by pitting with acids. These 
objects bore strange and enigmatic devices, 
usually surrounded by a scroll bearing charac- 
ters resembling letters, though wholly un- 
intelligible. A great number of simple folk and 
naive collectors were taken in, though the 
nature of these forgeries was so obvious, and 
they were full of such anachronisms that but 
little knowledge was needful to discern their 
nature. The whole business was exposed at a 
meeting of the British Archaeological Associa- 
tion in 1858. 

The Ireland Forgeries. One of the most 
famous of literary forgers was William Henry 
Ireland (1777-1835), the son of a bookseller 
and amateur antiquarian. When only 17 young 
Ireland produced a number of seemingly 
ancient leases and other documents purporting 
to be in the handwriting of William Shake- 
speare, among them being a love-letter to Anne 
Hathaway, enclosing a lock of hair. Em- 
boldened by the credulity with which his 
impostures were accepted, he next came out 
with two new “Shakespeare” plays — Vortlgern 
and Henry If. Ignoring the protests of Kemble, 
who was suspicious from the outset, Sheridan 
produced Vortlgern at Drury Lane in 1796. 
During the rehearsals Mrs, Siddons and Mrs, 
Palmer resigned their roles and refused to be 
associated with so palpable a fraud. On the 
opening night the theatre was packed with an 
audience that grew increasingly critical as the 
play went on; and when Kemble spoke in his 
part, “When this solemn mockery is o’er,” the 
house yelled and hissed until the curtain fell — 
on the first and last performance of Vorilgern. 
Meanwhile Malone and other critics had 
studied the Miscellaneous Papers said to be 
Shakespeare’s and had declared them forger- 
ies — eventually extorting a confession from 
Ireland late in that same year, 1796. 

The Rowley Poems. Certain poems written 
by Thomas Chatterton (1752-70), and said by 
him to have been the work of a 15th-century 
priest of Bristol named Thomas Rowley, who, 
in fact, was purely fictitious. Chatterton began 
to write them before he was 15, and alter 
having been refused by Dodsley, they were 
published in 1769. Many prominent con- 
noisseurs and litterateurs, including Horace 
Walpole, were hoaxed by them. 

The Vermeer Forgery. Henricus Athonius 
Van Mecgeren (1889-1947), a Dutch painter, 
made several brilliant fakes of 17th-century 
masters, including Vermeer. They were not 
detected for many years, and then Van Mee- 
geren was prosecuted for forgery. 

Fork, Old thieves’ slang for a finger; hence 
to fork out, to produce and hand over, to pay 
up. 

A forked cap. A bishop’s mitre; so called by 
John Skelton (early J6th cent.). It is cleft or 
forked. 

Fingers were made before forks. See Fingers. 

The forks. The gallows (Lat. furca). The 
word also meant a kind of yoke, with two arms 
stretching over the shoulders, to which the 
criminal’s hands were tied. The punishment 
was of three degrees of severity; (I) T hqfnrca 



Fork 


372 


Forty-two Line Bible 


ignominiosa ; (2) the furca partialis-, and (3) the 
furca capitdlis . The first was for slight offences, 
and consisted in carrying the furca on the 
shoulders, more or less weighted. The second 
consisted in carrying the furca and being 
scourged. The third was being scourged to 
death. The word furcifer meant what we call a 
gallows-bird or vile fellow. 

The Caudine Forks. See Caudine. 

Forlorn Hope. This phrase is the Dutch 
verloren hoop , the lost squad or troop, and is 
due to a misunderstanding, as the words are 
not connected with our forlorn or hope. The 
French equivalent is enfants perdus , lost chil- 
dren. The forlorn hope was originally a picked 
body of men sent in front to begin an attack; 
thus Cromwell says, “Our forlorn of horse 
marched within a mile of the enemy,” i.e. our 
horse picket sent forward to reconnoitre 
approached within a mile of the enemy’s camp. 
It is now usually applied to a body of men 
specially selected for some desperate or very 
dangerous enterprise. 

Form. Good or bad form is conformity — or 
otherwise — with the unwritten laws and con- 
ventionalities of society. 

We’ll eat the dinner and have a dance together, or 
we shall transgress all form. — S tf.ele: Tender Hus- 
band, V, i. 

Forma pauperis (for 7 ma paw' per is) (Lat. plea 
of poverty). To sue in forma pauperis. When a 
person has just cause of a suit, but is so poor 
that he cannot raise the money necessary to 
enter it, the judge will assign him lawyers and 
counsel without the usual fees. 

Fortiter in re (fort' i ter in re) (Lat.). Firmness 
in doing what is to be done; an unflinching 
resolution to persevere to the end. See 
SUAVITER. 

Fortunatus (for tu na' tus). A hero of mediaeval 
legend (from Eastern sources) who possessed 
an inexhaustible purse, a wishing cap, etc. 
He appears in a German Volksbuch of 1509, 
Hans Sachs dramatized the story in 1553, and 
at Christmas, 1599, Dekker’s Pleasant Comedy 
of Old Fortunatus was played before Queen 
Elizabeth I. 

You have found Fortunatus’s purse. Are in 
luck’s way. 

Fortune. Fortune favours the brave. The ex- 
pression is found in Terence — Fortes fortuna 
adjuvat ( Phormio , J, iv); also in Virgil — 
Audentes fortuna juvat {/ En . X, 284), and many 
other classic writers. 

Fortunate Islands. An ancient name for the 
Canary Islands; also, for any imaginary lands 
set in distant seas, like the “Islands of the 
Blest.” 

Their place of birth alone is mute 

To sounds that echo farther west 

Than your sire’s Islands of the Blest. 

Byron: The Isles of Greece ( Don Juan , iii). 

Forty. A number of frequent occurrence in 
Scripture, and hence formerly treated as, in a 
manner, sacrosanct. Moses was forty days in 
the mount; Elijah was forty days fed by ravens; 
the rain of the flood fell forty days, and another 
forty days expired before Noah opened the 
window of the ark ; forty days was the period of 


embalming; Nineveh had forty days to repent; 
Our Lord fasted forty days; He was seen forty 
days after His resurrection, etc. 

St. Swithin betokens forty days’ rain or dry 
weather; a quarantine extends to forty days; 
forty days, in the Old English law, was the 
limit for the payment of the fine for man- 
slaughter; the privilege of sanctuary was for 
forty days; the widow was allowed to remain 
in her husband’s house for forty days after his 
decease; a knight enjoined forty days’ service 
of his tenant; a stranger, at the expiration of 
forty days, was compelled to be enrolled in 
some tithing; Members of Parliament were 
protected from arrest forty days after the 
prorogation of the House, and forty days 
before the House was convened; a new-made 
burgess had to forfeit forty pence unless he 
built a house within forty days, etc. etc. 

Fool or physician at forty. See Fool. 

Forty stripes save one. The Jews were for- 
bidden by the Mosaic law to inflict more than 
forty stripes on an offender, and for fear of 
breaking the law they stopped short of the 
number. If the scourge contained three lashes, 
thirteen strokes would equal “forty save one.” 

The Thirty-nine Articles of the Anglican 
Church used sometimes to be called “the 
forty stripes save one” by theological students. 

Forty winks. A short nap. 

The Forty Immortals (or simply the Forty). 
The members of the French Academy, who 
number forty. 

The Hungry Forties. See Hungry. 

The Roaring Forties. Nautical term for the 
Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans between 
40° and 50° south latitude, where heavy 
westerly winds (known as Brave West Winds) 
prevail. Owing to these winds, Mariners used 
often to return to Europe by the Cape Horn 
instead of the Cape of Good Hope route. 

Forty-five, The. The name given to the 
rebellion of 1745 led by Charles Edward Stuart, 
the Young Pretender. On July 25th, accom- 
panied by severt followers, he landed in Scot- 
land and raised the banner of his father, 
“James III,” the Old Pretender. A large army 
of clansmen gathered round him, he defeated 
Sir John Cope at Prestonpans (September 
20th) and began his march down into England. 
On December 4th the Young Pretender 
reached Derby, but the massing forces of Wade 
and Cumberland obliged him to retreat to 
Scotland where, on April 16th, 1746, he was 
utterly defeated on Culloden Moor by the 
Duke of Cumberland. 

“Number 45“ is the celebrated number of 
Wilkes’s North Briton (April 23rd, 1763), in 
which Cabinet Ministers were accused of 
putting a lie into the king’s mouth. 

Forty-niners. Prospectors for gold, who 
rushed to California following the discovery of 
gold there in 1848. Best remembered to-day, 
perhaps, in the song Clementine. 

Forty-two Line Bible, The. See Bible, 
Specially named. 




Forwards, Marshal 


m 


Fourteeri 


Forwards, Marshal. Bliicher (1742-1819) was 
called Mar sc ha 1 1 Vor warts, from his constant 
exhortation to his soldiers in the campaigns 
preceding Waterloo. Vurwdrts! always Vor - 
warts! 

Fosse, The, or Fosse-way. One of the four 
principal highways made by the Romans in 
England. It leads from Exeter through Honi- 
ton, Axminster, Bath Cirencester, Leicester, 
and Lincoln, and had a fosse or ditch on each 
side of it. Cp . Ermine Street. 

Fossick. An old English verb used in Australia 
in the sense of “to search.’’ In World War II it 
came widely into use in the British forces in an 
unfavourable sense -- to fossick around was to 
move about aimlessly. 

Fou. Scots expression for drunk. It is a variant 
of full. 

The clachan yill had made me canty. 

I was na fou, but just had plenty. 

Burns: Death and Dr. Hornbook. 

Foul-weather Jack. Admiral John Byron (1723- 
86), grandfather of the poet, said to have been 
as notorious for foul weather as Queen Victoria 
was for fine. 

Fount of type. See Font; Letter; Type. 

Fountain pen. This apparently modern in- 
vention is really of considerable antiquity. In 
the anonymous “Diary of a Journey to Paris 
in 1657-58“ under date July 11th, 1657 there is 
reference to a man who “makes pens of silver 
in which he puts ink, which does not get dry, 
and without having to take any, one can write 
a half-quire of paper at a sitting.” In 1721 
there is an advertisement in a Welsh almanac, 
“Inkhorns. Fountain pens, the best sort of 
Holman’s ink powder, and red and black led 
pencils.” 

Fountain of Arethusa. The nymph Arethusa, 
pursued by the river god Alphsus, was 
changed by Artemis into a fountain on the 
island of Ortygia near Syracuse, Sicily. The 
god continued his pursuit under the sea, and 
at Ortygia tried to mingle his stream with the 
fountain. The legend arose from the fact that 
the river Alphseus in parts of its course is 
underground. 

Fountain of Youth. In popular folk-talcs, a 
fountain supposed to possess the power of 
restoring youth. Expeditions were fitted out in 
search of it, and at one time it was supposed to 
be in one of the Bahama Islands. 

Four. Four Freedoms. Franklin Roosevelt, 
during World War II, declared as one of 
the aims of the democratic nations that when 
the war was over all the peoples of earth might 
live in freedom from fear, and from want, and 
with freedom of speech and of worship. 

The History of the Four Kings (Livre des 
Quatre Rois). A pack of cards. In a French 
pack the four kings are Charlemagne, David, 
Alexander, and Caesar. 

Four Letters, The. See Tetragrammaton. 

The Annals of the Four Masters is the name 
usually given to a collection of old Irish 
chronicles published in 1632-36 as Annals of 


the Kingdom of Ireland. The Four Masters 
(authors or compilers) were Michael O’Clery 
(1575-1643), Conaire his brother, his cousin 
Cucoigcriche O’Clery (d. 1664), with Fearfeasa 
O’Mulconry. 

Four Sons of Aymon. See Aymon. 

Fourlegs, Old. Nickname for the ccelacanth, 
a species of fish considered to be extinct until 
a specimen was caught in 1952 off East 
London, Cape Province. The lobate fins which 
could be used more or less as limbs gave rise 
to the term. 

Fourth dimension. The three dimensions of 
space universally recognized are length, 
breadth, and height; three in number because 
we can draw three lines, but no more, all at 
right angles to one another. A piece of line 
has only one dimension — length; a region of a 
surface has two — length and breadth; a solid 
body in space has three. After the mathema- 
tician has applied Algebra to Geometry he can 
increase the number of his variables without 
altering the character of his equations; and 
retaining for convenience his geometrical 
vocabulary he constiucts what he calls an 
algebraic geometry of as many dimensions as 
he pleases. A four-dimensional body may be 
thought of as bearing the same relation to one 
in the three-dimensional space which we 
perceive as volume does to area, or area to 
length. The measurement of time introduces a 
fourth variable into everyday life; but to say 
that for that reason time is the fourth dimen- 
sion of space, and is somehow at right angles 
to every line that we can draw is a confusion of 
language. It is safe to say that in mathematical 
operations time is sometimes found to be 
behaving very like a fourth spatial dimension. 

Fourth Estate of the Realm. The daily Press. 
The most powerful of all, the others ( see 
Estates) being the Lords Spiritual, the Lords 
Temporal, and the Commons. Burke, referring 
to the Reporters’ Gallery, is credited with 
having said, “Yonder sits the Fourth Estate, 
more important than them all,” but it does not 
appear in his published works. 

Fourth of July. See Independence Day. 

Fourierism. A communistic system, so called 
from Francois Marie Charles Fourier (1772- 
1837), of Besangon. Population was to be 
grouped into “phalansteries,” consisting each 
of 400 families or 1,800 individuals, who were 
to live in a common edifice, furnished with 
workshops, studios, and all sources of amuse- 
ment. The several groups were at the same 
time to be associated together under a unitary 
government like the cantons of Switzerland or 
the United States. Only one language was to 
be admitted; all profits were to go to the 
common purse; talent and industry were to 
be rewarded; and no one was to be suffered 
to remain indigent, or without the enjoyment 
of certain luxuries and public amusement. 

Fourteen, in its connexion with Henri IV and 
Louis XIV. The following are curious and 
strange coincidences: — 

Henri IV; 



Fourteen Hundred 


374 


Francesca da Rimini 


14 letters in the name Henri-de-Bourbon. He was the 
14th king of France and Navarre on the extinc- 
tion of the family of Navarre. He was born on 
Dec. 14, 1553, the sum of which year amounts to 
14; he was assassinated on May 14, 1610; and 
lived 4 times 14 years, 14 weeks, and 4 times 14 
days. 

14 May, 1552, was born Marguerite de Valois, his first 
wife. 

14 May, 1588, the Parisians rose in revolt against him 
because he was a “heretic.” 

14 March, 1590, he won the great battle of Ivry. 

14 May, 1590, was organized a grand ecclesiastical 
and military demonstration against him, which 
drove him from the faubourgs of Paris. 

14 Nov., 1590, the Sixteen took an oath to die rather 
than submit to a “heretic” king. 

It was Gregory XIV who issued a Bull excluding Henri 
from the throne. 

14 Nov., 1 592, the Paris parlement registered the papal 
Bull. 

14 Dec., 1599, the Duke of Savoy was reconciled to 
Henri IV. 

14 Sept.. 1606, was baptized the dauphin (afterwards 
Louis XIII), son of Henri IV. 

14 May, 1610, Henri was assassinated by Ravaillac. 

Louis XIV: 

14th of the name. He mounted the throne 1643, the 
sum of which figures equals 14. He died 1715, the 
sum of which figures also equals 14. He reigned 
77 years, the sum of which two figures equals 14. 
He was born 1638, died 1715, which added to- 
gether equals 3353, the sum of which figure comes 
to 14. 

Fourteen Hundred. The cry raised on the 
Stock Exchange to give notice that a stranger 
has entered the “House.” The term is said to 
have been in use in Defoe’s time, and to have 
originated at a time when for a considerable 
period the number of members had remained 
stationary at 1399. 

Fourteen Points. Conditions laid down by 
President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) as 
those on which the Allies were prepared to 
make peace with Germany. He outlined them 
in a speech to Congress on January 11th, 1918, 
and at the end of the war they were accepted 
as the basis for the peace. They included the 
evacuation by Germany of all allied territory, 
the restoration of Poland, freedom of the seas, 
reduction of armaments, and open diplomacy. 

Fowler, The. Henry I (876-936), son of Otto, 
Duke of Saxony, and King of Germany from 
919 to 936, was, according to an 11th century 
tradition, so called because when the deputies 
announced to him his election to the throne, 
they found him fowling with a hawk on his fist. 

Fox. As a name for the Old English broad- 
sword fox probably refers to a maker’s mark of 
a dog, wolf, or fox. The swords were manu- 
factured by Julian del Rei of Toledo, whose 
trade-mark was a little dog, mistaken for a fox. 
O signieur Dew, thou diest on point of fox. 
Except, O signieur, thou do give to me 
Egregious ransom . — Henry V , IV, iv. 

I had a sword, ay, the flower of Smithfield for a 
sword, a right fox i’ faith. — Porter: Two Angry 
Women of Abingdon (1599). 

A fox’s sleep. A sleep with one eye. Assumed 
indifference to what is going on. See below . 

A wise fox will never rob his neighbour’s hen- 
roost. It would soon be found out, so he goes 
farther from home where he is not known. 


Every fox must pay his skin to the furrier. 
The crafty shall be taken in their own wiliness. 

I gave him a flap with a fox-tail. I cajoled 
him; made a fool of him. The fox-tail was one 
of the badges of the motley, and to flap with a 
fox-tail is to treat one like a fool. 

Reynard the Fox. See Reynard. 

The fox and the grapes. “It’s a case of the fox 
and the grapes” is said of one who wants 
something badly but cannot obtain it, and so 
tries to create the impression that he doesn’t 
want it at all. The allusion is to one of iEsop’s 
fables. See Grapes. 

The Old Fox. Marshal Soult (1769-1851) 
was so nicknamed, from his strategic talents 
and fertility of resources. 

To set a fox to keep the geese (Lat. ovem 
lupo commit tere). Said of one who entrusts nis 
money to sharpers. 

To fox. To steal or cheat; keep an eye on 
somebody without seeming so to do. A dog, 
a fox, and a weasel sleep, as they say, “with 
one eye open.” 

Foxed. A print or page of a book stained 
with reddish brown marks is said to be “foxed,” 
because of its colour. 

Foxed was also an expression widely used 
in military parlance during World War 11 for 
“bewildered.” 

Fox-fire. The phosphoric light, without heat, 
which plays round decaying matter. It is the 
Fr. faux , or “false fire,” and was first found in 
1485. 

Foxglove. The flower is named from the 
animal and the glove. The reason for the second 
half is obvious from the finger-stall appearance 
of the flower, but it is not known how the fox 
came to be associated with it. It belongs to the 
botanical genus Digitalis , or finger-shaped. The 
leaves of this genus contain several powerful 
principles which are highly valuable in the 
treatment of heart disease. 

Fox-hole. A small slit trench for one or more 
men. 

Fox-trot. A modern ball-room dance. It was 
introduced from America in the first half of 
the 20th century. A horse’s fox-trot is the short 
steps it takes when changing from a trot to a 
walk. 

Fra Diavolo (fra de av' 6 16). Auber’s opera 
of this name (1830) is founded on the ex- 
ploits of Michele Pozza (1760-1806), a cele- 
brated brigand and renegade monk, who 
evaded pursuit for many years amidst the 
mountains of Calabria. 

France. See Frank. 

Francesca da Rimini (fr&n ches' ka da rim' i ni). 
Daughter of Guido da Polenta, Lord of 
Ravenna. Her story is told in Dante’s Inferno 
(canto v). She was married to Giovanni 
Malatesta, Lord of Rimini, but her guilty love 
for his younger brother, Paolo, was discovered, 
and both were put to death by him about 1289. 




Franche Comte 


375 


Free 


Stephen Phillips has a play (1900), and Silvio 
Pellico a tragedy, on the subject. 

Franche Comt6. Territory in upper Burgundy, 
which was made a county in 915 by Hugh the 
Black, It got its name of the free county by 
being taken from Reynaud III (1127-48) and 
later restored to him. 

Franciscans (frfin sis' k£nz). The fViars minor 
founded by St. Francis of Assisi in 1209. They 
form one Order of Friars Minor, divided into 
three distinct and independent branches, of 
which one is known simply as Friars Minor, 
another as Friars Minor Conventual and the 
third as Friars Minor Capuchin. The Order 
had 64 houses in England at the time of the 
Reformation, being known a$ Grey Friars, 
from the indeterminate colour of their habit; 
this is now brown. The Friars Minor observe 
the unmitigated rule of St. Francis, with its 
insistence on poverty, abstinence, and preach- 
ing; Friars Minor Conventual have a modified 
rule with regard to the holding of property, 
and wear a black tunic with a white cord. The 
Capuchins, initiated in 1525, have the strictest 
rules of any, subsisting largely on the begging 
of the lay brothers. The Recollects, or Cordel- 
iers, and Observants were formerly divisions 
of the Order, and were amalgamated with the 
Friars Minor by Leo XIII in 1897. 

The Order of Franciscan Nuns was founded 
in 1212 by St. Clare; they are hence known as 
the Clares or Poor Clares ; also Minoresses . 
Various reformations have taken place in the 
Order, giving rise to the Cole trines. Grey 
Sisters , Capuchin Nuns , Sisters of the Annuncia- 
tion, Conceptionists , and the Urbanists , the last 
named observing a modified rule and being 
permitted to hold property. 

Frangipane, frangipani (friln' ji pan, fnln ji pa' 
ni). The name is supposed to come from the 
Marquis Frangipani, a soldier under Louis 
XIV. It is applied to a kind of pastry cake filled 
with cream, almonds, and sugar; also to a per- 
fume made from, or imitating the smell of, the 
flower of a West Indian tree Plumeria rubra , 
or red jasmine. 

Frangipani pudding. Pudding made of broken 
bread (Lat .frangere, to break; panis , bread). 

Frank. One belonging to the Teutonic nations 
that conquered Gaul m the 6th century (whence 
the name France), By the Turks, Arabs, etc., 
of the Levant the name is given to any of the 
inhabitants of the western parts of Europe, as 
the English, Germans, Spaniards, French, etc. 

Frankalmoin, frankalmoigne (frangk' &1 moin) 
is an old legal term composed of frank, free, 
and almoin , an alms-chest, or alms. The term 
was applied to land held by religious bodies in 
perpetuity free of all encumbrances or dues on 
condition that the religious and their successors 
prayed for the soul of the donor, 

Frankelin’s Tale (Chaucer). See Dorigen. 

Frankenstein (fYang k6n stln). The young 
student in Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s ro- 
mance of that name (1818). He made a soulless 
monster out of corpses from churchyards and 
dissecting-rooms, and endued it with life by 
galvanism. The tale shows how the creature 


longed for sympathy, but was shunned by 
everyone and became the instrument of dread- 
ful retribution on the student who usurped the 
prerogative of the Creator. 

Frankfurter. A small smoked sausage of beef 
and pork, somewhat akin to the saveloy. 

Frankincense (frangk' in sens). The literal 
meaning of this is pure, or true incense. It is a 
fragrant gum exuded from several trees of the 
genus Boswe/lia, abundant on the Somali coast 
and in South Arabia. The ceremonial use of 
frankincense was practised by the Egyptians, 
Persians, Babylonians, Hebrews, Greeks, and 
Romans, and the gum is an ingredient of 
modern incense used liturgically. 

Frank-pledge. The system by which, in Anglo- 
Saxon times, the freemen in a tithing were 
pledged for each other’s good behaviour. 
Hallam says every ten men in a village were 
answerable for each other, and if one of them 
committed an offence the other nine were 
bound to make reparation, or to see that it was 
made. 

Frater (fra' ter). The refectory or dining-room 
of a monastery, where the brothers (Lat. 
fratres) met together for meals. Also called the 
fra try. 

In old vagabonds’ slang a frater was much 
the same as an Abram-man (< 7 .v.). 

A Frater goeth wyth a Lisence to beg for some 
Spittlehouse or Hospital. Their pray is comonly upon 
poore women as they go and come to the markets. — 
Awdeley: Fraternity e of Vacabondes (1575). 

Frateretto (frat' er et' 6). A fiend mentioned by 
Edgar in King Lear (III, vi); this is another of the 
names that Shakespeare obtained from Hars- 
net’s Declaration . See Flibbertigibbet. 

Fraternity, The. A term highwaymen used to 
apply to themselves as a body. It implied a 
friendship and union among themselves that 
by no means existed, for like all rogues, high- 
waymen were very jealous of one another. 

Fraticelli (fr&t i chel' e) (Little Brethren ). A 
sect of renegade and licentious monks which 
appeared about the close of the 13th century 
and threw off all subjection to the Pope, whom 
they denounced as an apostate. They had 
wholly disappeared by the 15th century. 

Frazzle (U.S. A.). A frayed edge, hence worn to 
a frazzle, reduced to a state of nerviness. 

Free. A free and easy, A social gathering where 
persons meet together without formality to 
chat and smoke. In a free and easy way, with 
an entire absence of ceremony. 

A free fight. A fight in which all engage, 
rules being disregarded. 

I’m free to confess. There’s nothing to 
prevent my admitting. . . . 

To have a free hand. See Hand. 

To make free with. To take liberties with; 
to treat whatever it is as one’s own. 

Free Bench (francus bancus). A legal term 
denoting a widow’s right to a copyhold in 
certain English manors. It is not a dower or 



Free 


376 


French 


gift, but a free right independent of the will 
of the husband. Called bench because, upon 
acceding to the estate, she becomes a tenant of 
the manor, and entitled to sit on the bench at 
manorial courts. 

Free coup (in Scotland) means a piece of 
waste land where rubbish may be deposited 
free of charge; also the right of doing so. 

Free French. See Fighting French. 

Free lance. See Lance. 

Free on board. Said of goods delivered on 
board ship, or into the conveyance, at the 
seller’s expense; generally contracted to F.O.B. 

Free Trade. The system by which goods are 
allowed to enter one country from another 
country without paying customs duty for the 
protection of home producers. For many years 
it was held that the prosperity of Britain 
depended upon leaving the ports open to the 
shipping and goods of all the world. In 1932 
Great Britain abandoned Free Trade by 
imposing a general tariff on imported goods. 

The Apostle of Free Trade. Richard Cobden 
(1804-65), who established the Anti-Corn Law 
League in 1838. 

Freebooter. A pirate, an adventurer who 
makes his living by plundering; literally, one 
who obtains his booty free (Dut. vrij, free; 
buit , booty). See also Filibuster. 

Freehold. An estate held in fee-simple or fee- 
tail; one on which no duty or service is owing 
to any lord but the sovereign. Cp . Copyhold. 

Freeman, Mrs. The name assumed by the 
Duchess of Marlborough in her correspondence 
with Queen Anne. The queen called herself 
Mrs. Morley. 

Freeman of Bucks. A cuckold. The allusion is 
to the buck’s horn. See Horns. 

Freemasonry. In its curious and characteristic 
ritual Freemasonry traces its origins to the 
building of Solomon’s Temple. Without 
accepting or rejecting this theory, however, it 
can be taken as a fact that it has existed for 
many centuries as a secret society. In mediaeval 
days operative, i.e. actual stone-masons, 
banded together with secret pass-words, signs 
and tests, and Masonic students find material 
for research in the marks engraved on fash- 
ioned stones in cathedrals and certain ancient 
buildings. Freemasonry as we know it was 
already flourishing in the 17th century, and 
although Sir Christopher Wren’s association 
with the Craft has not been established, it is 
likely. Elias Ashmole describes his own initia- 
tion in 1682. The mother Grand Lodge ot 
England was founded in London in 1717 and 
took under its aegis the many small lodges that 
were working up and down the country. Even 
the extremely ancient York Lodge, which has 
given its name to most of the Masonic rites of 
the Continent and U.S.A., acknowledged its 
authority. From this first Grand Lodge of 
England derive all Masonic lodges of whatever 
kind throughout the world. 

In Britain Masonry has three degrees, the 
first is called Entered Apprentice; the second, 
Fellow Craft, the third. Master Mason. Royal 


Arch masonry is an adjunct to these, and is 
peculiar to Britain. Mark Masonry is a 
comparatively modern addition to the fratern- 
ity. In the U.S.A. the first regular lodge was 
founded at Boston in 1733, though there are 
minutes extant of a lodge in Philadelphia in 
1730. The ritual side of Freemasonry has 
appealed to American more than it has to 
British masons, and many degrees are worked 
in the U.S.A. with elaborate ritual and mys- 
teries. In addition to the three degrees of British 
masonry there are the Cryptic Degrees of 
Royal and Select Masters; the Chivalric Rite, 
with three degrees of Knights Red Cross, 
Temple and of Malta; and the 33 degrees of 
the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The 
various Grand Orients of the Continent (all 
disowned by the Grand Lodge of England on 
account of their political activities) were 
founded at different times and work modifica- 
tions of the Scottish Rite. The part played by 
masonic lodges in the French Revolution is 
still obscure; Philippe Egalite was head of the 
Grand Orient but repudiated it during the 
Terror. Napoleon was reported to have been 
initiated at Malta in 1798; he certainly favoured 
masonry and during the Empire Cambacer&s, 
Murat, and Joseph Bonaparte were successive 
Grand Masters. Freemasonry has been con- 
demned by the Holy See not only for being a 
secret society but for its alleged subversive 
aims — aims that may be cherished by Contin- 
ental Masons but which are quite unknown to 
their British and American brethren. 

The Lady Freemason. Women are not ad- 
mitted into freemasonry, but the story goes 
that a lady was initiated in the early 18th 
century. She was the Hon. Elizabeth St. Leger, 
daughter of Lord Doneraile, who hid herself 
in an empty clock-case when the lodge was held 
in her father’s house, and witnessed the pro- 
ceedings. She was discovered, and compelled to 
submit to initiation as a member of the craft. 

Freezing-point. The temperature at which a 
liquid becomes solid; if mentioned without 
qualification, 32° Fahrenheit (0° Centigrade), 
the freezing-point of water is meant. For other 
liquids the name is added as the freezing-point 
of milk, sulphuric ether, quicksilver, and so on. 
In Centigrade and Reaumur’s instruments zero 
marks the freezing-point. The zero of Fahren- 
heit’s thermometer is 32° below the freezing- 
point of water, being the lowest temperature 
observed by him in the winter of 1709. 

Freischiitz (fri' shutz) (the free-shooter). A 
legendary German archer in league with the 
devil, who gave him seven balls, six of which 
were to hit infallibly whatever the marksman 
aimed at, and the seventh was to be directed as 
the devil wished. F. Kind wrote the libretto, 
and Weber set to music, the opera based on the 
legend, called Der Freischiitz (1820). 

French. French Cream. Brandy; from the cus- 
tom (which came from France) of taking a cup 
of coffee with brandy in it instead of cream 
after dinner. 

To take French leave. To take without 
asking leave or giving any equivalent; also, to 
leave a party, house, or neighbourhood with- 
out bidding good-bye to anyone; to slip away 



French 


377 


Friar 


unnoticed. This kind of backhanded compli- 
ment to our neighbours used to be very 
common ( cp . “French gout’* for venereal 
disease), and many objectionable things or 
practices have been called “French/* 

It is only fair to say that the French have 
returned the compliment in many ways. The 
equivalent of “to take French leave’’ is s'en 
aller (or filer) a Vanglaise ; in the 16th century a 
creditor used to be called un Anglais , a term 
used by Clement Marot. 

French of Stratford atte Bow. This has been 
taken to mean French as spoken by an 
Englishman, and a Cockney at that, but it 
has no such ironical connotation. Stratford 
and Bromley were fashionable suburbs in 
those days, and at Bromley was the convent 
of St. Leonard’s where the daughters of 
well-to-do citizens and others were taught 
French by the nuns. French was a common 
acquirement of the time and freely used at 
Court and in society; but it was a somewhat 
archaic French, descending from Norman days, 
and not such as was current in Paris. 

And Frensh, she [the nun] spak ful faire and fetisly, 
After the scole of Stratford atte Bowc, 

For Frensh of Paris was to hir unknowe. 

Chaucer: Canterbury Tales; Prologue, 124. 

Frenchman. Nicknames of a Frenchman 
are “Crapaud” (q.v.), “Jean,” “Mossoo,** 
“Robert Macaire’’ (q.v.)-, but of a Parisian 
“Grenouille” (frog). 

French Canadian, “Jean Baptiste.’’ 

French peasantry, “Jacques Bonhomme.” 

Done like a Frenchman, turn and turn again 
( Henry VI , Pt. /, III, iv). The French were fre- 
quently ridiculed as a tickle, wavering nation. 
Dr. Johnson says he once read a treatise the 
object of which was to show that a weather- 
cock is a satire on the word Callus (a Gaul or 
cock). 

Fresco (fres' ko). A method of painting upon 
fresh mortar. The plaster must be fresh to 
absorb the colour, and since it dries rapidly, 
the artist must work with great dexterity and 
speed. The wall must be free of saltpetre, and 
only such colours can be used as are not 
affected by lime — many brilliant greens, reds 
and yellow being thus ruled out. Frescoes 
should not be confused with wall paintings 
such as Leonardo’s famous Last Supper at 
Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. 

Freshman. An undergraduate of a university 
in his first term. 

Freyja (fra'v&). In Scandinavian mythology 
the sister of Freyr and wife of Odin, who 
deserted her because she loved finery better 
than her husband. She is the fairest of the 
goddesses, goddess of love and also of the 
dead. She presides over marriages, and, 
besides being the Venus, may be called 
the Juno of Asgard. She is sometimes confused 
with Frigg, who was also a wife of Odin. 
Friday ( frige dag, “Freyja’s day”) is named 
after her. 

Friar (Lat. /rater, a brother). A religious, 
especially one belonging to one of the four 


great orders, i.e. Franciscans, Dominicans, 
Augustinians, and Carmelites. See these names . 

In printer’s slang a friar is a part of the sheet 
which has failed to receive the ink properly, 
and is therefore paler than the rest. As Caxton 
set up his press in Westminster Abbey, it is but 
natural that monks and friars should give 
foundation to some of the printer’s slang. Cp . 
Monk. 

Curtal Friar. See Curtal. 

Friar Bungay (bQng' ga). A famous necro- 
mancer of the 15th century, whose story is 
much overlaid with legend. It is said that he 
“raised mists and vapours which befriended 
Edward IV at the battle of Barnet.” In the old 
prose romance. The Famous History of Friar 
Bacon , and in Greene’s Honourable History of 
Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (acted 1591), he 
appears as the assistant to Roger Bacon (d. 
1292). 

Friar John. A prominent character in 
Rabelais’s Gargantua and Pantagruel , a tall, 
lean, wide-mouthed, long-nosed friar of 
Seville. 

In the original he is called “Friar John des 
Entommeures” : Urquhart mistakenly trans- 
lated this as “of the Funnels”; “of the Trench- 
ermen” is the best equivalent (entamer, to 
broach, to carve, with reference to a hearty 
appetite). Entonnoirs are “funnels”; and as this 
word has been used as slang for the throat 
perhaps that accounts for the mistake. 

Friar Rush. A legendary house-spirit who 
originated as a kind of ultra-mischievous and 
evil-dispositioned Robin Goodfellow in medi- 
eval German folk-tales. A prose History oj 
Friar Bush appeared in English as early as 
1568, and in 1601 Hcnslowe records a comedy 
(now lost), Friar Rush and the Proud Woman of 
Antwerp , by Day and Houghton. 

Friar Tuck. Chaplain and steward of Robin 
Hood. 

In this our spacious isle I think there is not one 
But he hath heard some talk of Hood and Little John: 
Of Tuck, the merry friar, which many a sermon made 
In praise of Robin Hood, his outlaws, and their trade. 

Drayton: Polyol bion, xxvi, 311-16. 

Friar’s Heel. The outstanding upright stone 
at Stonehenge, formerly supposed by some to 
stand in the central axis of the avenue, is so 
called. Geoffrey of Monmouth says the devil 
bought the stones of an old woman in Ireland, 
wrapped them up in a wyth, and brought 
them to Salisbury Plain. Just before he got to 
Mount Ambre the wyth broke, and one of the 
stones fell into the Avon, the rest were carried 
to the plain. After the fiend had fixed them in 
the ground, he cried out, “No man will ever 
find out how these stones came here.” A friar 
replied, “That’s more than thou canst tell,” 
whereupon the foul fiend threw one of the 
stones at him and struck him on the heel. The 
stone stuck in the ground and remains so to 
the present hour. 

Friar’s Lanthom. One of the many names 
given to the Will o’ the Wisp. See Ignis 
Fatuus. 

Friar’s Tale. In the Canterbury Tales , a tale 
throwing discredit on Summoners. Chaucer 



Friar 


378 


Froebel 


( Obtained it from the Latin collection, Prompts 
'tirium Exemplorutn. 

Friars Major (Fratres major es). The Domini- 
cans. 

Friars Minor ( Fratres minorts). The Francis- 
cans. 

Friday. The sixth day of the week was the dies 
Veneris in ancient Rome, i.e. the day dedicated 
to Venus. The northern nations adopted the 
Roman system of nomenclature, and the sixth 
day was dedicated to their nearest equivalent 
to Venus, who was Frigg or Freyja (</.v.); 
hence the name Friday (O.E. frige dceg). In 
France the Latin name was kept, and Friday 
is vendredi. 

Friday was regarded by the Norsemen as the 
luckiest day of the week: among Christians 

f enerally it has been regarded as the unluckiest, 
ecause it was the day of Our Lord’s crucifixion, 
and is a fast-day. in the Roman Catholic 
Church. Mohammedans (among whom Friday 
is the Sabbath) say that Adam was created on a 
Friday, and legend has it that it was on a 
Friday that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden 
fruit, and on a Friday that they died. Among 
the Buddhists and Brahmins it is also held to 
be unlucky; and the old Romans called it 
nefastits , from the utter overthrow of their 
army at Gallia Narbonensis. In England the 
proverb is that “a Friday moon brings foul 
weather,” but it is not, apparently, unlucky to 
be born on this day, for, according to the old 
rhyme, “Friday’s child is loving and giving.” 

Black Friday. See Black. 

Good Friday. See Good. 

He who laughs on Friday will weep on Sunday. 
Sorrow follows in the wake of joy. The line is 
taken from Racine’s comedy, Les Plaideurs. 

Long Friday. Good Friday was so called by 
the Saxons, probably because of the long fasts 
and offices used on that day. 

Man Friday. The young savage found by 
Robinson Crusoe on a Friday, and kept as his 
servant and companion on the desert island; 
hence, a faithful and willing attendant, ready 
to turn his hand to anything. 

Never cut your nails on a Friday. “Cut them 
on Friday, you cut them for sorrow.” See 
Nail-paring. 

Friend. A Quaker ( q.v .), i.e. a member of the 
Society of Friends; also, one’s second in a 
duel, as “Captain B. acted as his friend.” In 
the law courts counsel refer to each other as 
“my learned friend,” though they may be 
entire strangers, just as in the House of 
Commons one member speaks of another as 
“my honourable friend.” 

A friend at court. Properly, a friend in a 
court of law who watches the trial and tells the 
judge if he can discover an error (see Amicus 
curl£). The term is generally applied to a 
friend who is in a position to help one by 
influencing those in power. 

A friend in need Is a friend indeed. The Latin 
saying (from Ennius) is, Amicus certus in re 
incerta cernitur , a sure friend is made known 
when (one is) in difficulty. 


Better kinde trend than fremd kinde. This 
is the motto of the Waterton family, and it 
means “better kind friend (i.e. neighbour) than 
a kinsman who dwells in foreign parts” ( cp . 
Prov. xxvii, 10, “Better is a neighbour that is 
near, than a brother far off”). Fremd is an Old 
English word (from Old Teutonic) meaning 
foreign, strange, outlandish. 

The Friend of Man. The name given to the 
Marquis de Mirabeau (1715-89), father of 
Mirabeau, the French revolutionary orator. 
His great work was L'Ami des Hommes , hence 
the nickname. 

The soldier’s friend. An official appointed by 
the authorities at the various pension boards 
to assist soldiers in making out and presenting 
their claims to pensions, etc. 

A friendly suit, or action. An action at law 
brought, not with the object of obtaining a 
conviction or damages, but to discover the law 
on some debatable point, to get a legal and 
authoritative decision putting some fact on 
record. 

Friendship. The classical examples of lasting 
friendship between man and man arc Achilles 
and Patroclus, Pylades and Orestes, Damon 
and Pythias, and Nisus and Euryalus. See 
these names. To these should be added David 
and Jonathan. 

Frigg. See Freyja. 

Frills. “Airs and graces”; as, to put on frills, 
to give oneself airs. 

Fringe. The fringes on the garments of the 
Jewish priests were accounted sacred, and were 
touched by the common people as a charm. 
Hence the desire of the woman who had the 
issue of blood to touch the fringe of Our Lord’s 
garment. (Matt, ix, 20-22.) 

Frippery. Rubbish of a tawdry character; 
worthless finery; foolish levity. A friperer or 
fripperer was one who dealt in old clothes (cp. 
Fr.friperie , old clothes, cast-off furniture, etc.). 
Old clothes, cast dresses, tattered rags. 

Whose works arc e’en the frippery of wit. 

Ben Jonson: Epig. I, lvi. 

Also, a shop where odds and ends, old 
clothes, and so on are dealt in. Hence Shake- 
speare’s: — 

We know what belongs to a frippery. 

Tempest , VI, i. 

Frith. By frith and fell. By wold and wild, wood 
and common. Frith means ground covered 
with scrub or underwood ; fell is a common. 
Frithiof (frit' yof). A hero of Icelandic myth 
who married Ingeborg, daughter of a petty 
king of Norway, and widow of Hring, to whose 
dominions he succeeded. His adventures are 
recorded in the saga which bears his name, 
and which was written about the close of the 
13th century. The name signifies “the peace- 
maker.” 

Fritz. Frederick the Great of Prussia (1712, 
1740-86) was known as Old Fritz . In World 
War I the men in the trenches commonly 
hailed any prisoner or German in the enemy 
lines as Fritz. 

Froebel (frer' b 61). The name given to a system 
of teaching young children devised by F. W. A. 




379 


Fulbright Scholar 


Frog 


Froebel (1782-1852), a German schoolmaster. 
The main part of his system has been put into 
practice in kindergartens where children’s 
senses are developed by means of clay- 
modelling, work with colour-brushes, mat- 

laiting, etc., as well as the care of animals, 

owers, and suchlike. 

Frog. A frog and mouse agreed to settle by 
single combat their claims to a marsh; but, 
while they fought, a kite carried them both off. 
CdEsop: Fables , clxviii.) 

Old /Esop’s fable, where he told 
What fate unto the mouse and frog befel. 

Cary: Dante , cxxiii. 

In Ovid’s Metamorphoses (vi, 4) we are told 
that the Lycian shepherds were changed into 
frogs for mocking Latona. 

As when those hinds that were transformed to frogs 

Railed at Latona’s twin-born progeny. 

Milton: Sonnet vii. 

Frenchmen, properly Parisians , have been 
nicknamed Frogs or Froggies ( grenouilles ) from 
their ancient heraldic device {see Fleur-de-lis), 
which was three frogs or three toads. Qtten di- 
sent les grenouilles ? — What do the frogs (people 
of Paris) say? — was in 1791 a common court 
phrase at Versailles. There was point in the 
pleasantry Paris having once been a quagmire, 
called Lutetia (mud-land). See Crapaud. 
Further point is given to the nickname by the 
fact that the back legs of the edible frog ( Rana 
esculanta ) form a delicacy in French cruisine 
that awakened much contemptuous humour in 
the less exquisite English. 

Nic Frog. The Dutchman in Arbuthnot’s 
History of John Bull (1712). Frogs are called 
“Dutch nightingales.” 

A frog in the throat. A temporary loss of 
voice. 

It may be fun to you, but it is death to the 
frogs. A caution, telling one that one’s sport 
should not be at the expense of other people’s 
happiness. The allusion is to AEsop’s fable of a 
boy stoning frogs for his amusement. 

Frog’s march. Carrying an obstreperous 
prisoner, face downwards, by his four limbs. 

Frogmen. In World War II strong swimmers 
dressed in rubber suits with paddles on their 
feet resembling frogs’ legs, who entered enemy 
harbours by night and attached explosives to 
shipping and installations. Since the war 
they have sometimes been used in salvage 
operations. 

Fronde (frond). A civil struggle during the 
ministry of Cardinal Mazarin, in the minority 
of Louis XIV (1648-53). Its members, who were 
opposed to the court party, were called 
Frondeurs from fronde , a sling, they being 
likened to boys who sling stones about the 
streets and scamper away the moment anyone 
in authority approaches. 

Frost Saints. See Ice Saints. 

Frozen Words. Everyone knows the incident of 
the “frozen horn” related by Munchausen, also 
how Pantagruel and his friends, on the con- 
fines of the Frozen Sea, heard the uproar of a 
battle, which had been frozen the preceding 
winter, released by a thaw (Rabelais. Bk. IV, 
ch. lvi). The joke appears to have been well 

B.D.— -13 


* known to the ancient Greeks, for Antiphanes 
applies it to the discourses of Plato: “As tn# 
cold of certain cities is so intense that it freezes 
the very words we utter, whicn’rehiain con- 
gealed till the heat of summer thaws them, so 
the mind of youth is so thoughtless that the 
wisdom of Plato lies there frozen, as it were, 
till it is thawed by the ripened judgment of 
mature age” (Plutarch’s Morals). 

Frying-pan. Out of the frying-pan into the fire. 
In trying to extricate yourself from one evil, 
you fall into a greater. The Greeks used to say, 
“Out of the smoke into the flame”; and the 
French say, “ Tomber de la poele dans la braise .” 

Frying-pan brand. An Australian term of the 
mid- 19th century to describe the large brand 
superimposed by cattle thieves to blot ouf,lhe 
rightful owner’s brand. 

Fub. To hoax, impose upon, swindle. “You are 
trying to fub me off with a cock-and-bull 
story.” Connected with Ger. foppen , to hoax. 
Fob is another form of the same word. 

Fuchsia (fa' sha). A genus of highly ornamen- 
tal shrubs cornfhg from Mexico and the Andes, 
though two species are found in New Zealand. 
They were so named in 1703, in honour of the 
German botanist Leonhard Fuchs (1501-66). 
The best-known varieties in this country are 
derived from the Chilean species Fuchsia 
macrostemma . 

Fudge. A word of contempt bestowed on one 
who says what is absurd or untrue. 

A sort of soft candy is known as fudge . 

Fudge-box. An attachment on newspaper 
printing machines to allow of late news being 
added on the machine while running. This 
news appears in the “Stop-press” column, 
which is, consequently, called the fudge-box. 
In this sense the word is another form of 
fadge (q.v.). 

Fuel. Adding fuel to fire. Saying or doing 
something to increase the anger of a person 
already angry. 

Fugger (fug' 6r). A noted family of German 
merchant-bankers, famous in the 15th and 
16th centuries and proverbial for their great 
wealth, their news-letter, and fine library. 
“Rich as a Fugger” is common in Elizabethan 
dramatists. Charles V introduced some of 
the family into Spain, where they superintended 
the mines. 

Iam neither an Indian merchant, nor yet a Fugger, 
but a poor boy like yourself . — Guzmdn de Alfaracke 
( 1599 ). 

Fugleman. Originally a leader of a wing (Ger. 
Fliigel , wing) or file; now applied to a soldier 
who stands in front of men at drill to show 
theix^what to do. 

Fiihrer (fa' rer). The title, meaning in German 
“leader,” assumed by Adolf Hitler when he 
acceded to the supreme power in Germany on 
the deat^f of Hinaenburg in 1934. ^ 

Fulbright Scholar. Public Law 584 (bf*the 
79th Congress of the United States) declared 
that moneys accruing from the disposal of 
surplus U.S.A. war stores at the end of World 
War II should be left in the countries where 
they accumulated and used to pay the expenses 



Pul hams 


380 


Funny Bone 


of exchange scholarships and professorships }■ 
ifThose benefiting frojm the scheme are known 
‘‘Fiiibrigfit scholars’* after Senator Ful- 
bright, df Tvrkansas, who promoted this en- 
lightened and successful bill. 

Fulhams, or Fullams. An Elizabethan name for 
loaded dice. Dice made with a cavity were 
called gourds; those made to throw the high 
numbers were high fullams or gourds, and 
those made to throw the low numbers were 
low fullams or gourds. 

For gourd and fullam holds 
And “high” and “low” beguile the rich and poor. 

Merry Wives of Windsor , I, iii. 

The name was probably from Fulham, which 
was notorious as the resort of crooks and 
l^gues of every description. 

Ffflfi. Full dress. The dress worn on occasions 
of ceremony; court dress, uniform, academi- 
cals, evening dress, etc., as the case may be. A 
full-dress debate is one for which preparation 
and arrangements have been made, as opposed 
to one arising casually. 

Full house. A term in the game of poker for 
a hand holding three of one kind and two of 
another, e.g. 3 tens and 2 sixes. 

Full of beans. See Bean. 

In full cry. Said of hounds that have caught 
the scent, and give tongue in chorus; hence, 
hurrying in full pursuit. 

In full fig. See Tig. 

In full swing. Fully at work; very busy; in 
full operation. 

Fum, or Fung-hwang. The phoenix (q.v.) of 
Chinese legend, one of the four symbolical 
animals presiding over the destinies of China. 

It originated from fire, was born in the Hill 
of the Sun’s Halo, and has its body inscribed 
with the five cardinal virtues. It is this curious 
creature that is embroidered on the dresses 
of certain mandarins. 

Fum. See George IV. 

Fumage. Another name for Hearth-money or 
Chimney-money (q.v.) (Lat. f umus y smoke). 

Fume. In a fume. In ill temper, especially from 
impatience. 

Fun. To make fun of. To make a butt of; to 
ridicule; to play pranks on one. 

Like fun. Thoroughly, energetically, with 
delight. 

On’y look at the dimmercrats, see what they’ve done, 
Jest simply by stickin’ together like fun. 

Lowell: Biglow Papers (First series, iv, st. v). 

Fund. The Funds, or The Public Funds. Money 
lent at interest to Government on Goverqjnent 
security. : 

The sinking fund. Money set aside by the 
Government for paying off a part of the 
national debt. This money is “sunk,” or with- 
dratyl from circulation, for the bonds pur- 
chaseaby it are destroyed. 

To be out of funds. To be out of money. 

Fundamentalism. A religious movement that 
arose in the U.S.A. about 1919. It opposed all 
theories of evolution and anthropology. 


teaching that God transcends all the laws of 
nature, and that He manifests Himself by 
exceptional and extraordinary activities. Be- 
lief in the literal meaning of the Scriptures is 
an essential tenet. In 1925 a professor of 
science was convicted of violating the State 
laws of Tennessee by teaching evolution, and 
this incident aroused interest and controversy 
far beyond the religious circles of the U.S.A. 
The Fundamentalist attitude was largely set 
forth by William Jennings Bryan, who insisted 
that the theory of evolution was a denial of 
Bible teaching and hence a doctrine inimical to 
Christianity. 

Funeral (Late Lat .funeralis, adj. from fums , a 
burial). Fun us is connected with fumus (San- 
skrit dhu-mas ), smoke, and the word seems to 
have referred to the ancient practice or 
disposing of the dead by cremation. Funerals 
among the Romans took place at night by 
torchlight, that magistrates and priests might 
not be made ceremonially unclean by seeing a 
corpse, and so be prevented from performing 
their sacred duties. 

Most of our funeral customs are derived 
from the Romans; as dressing in black, 
walking in procession, carrying insignia on the 
bier, raising a mound over the grave, called 
tumulus (whence our tomb), etc. In Roman 
funerals, too, the undertaker, attended by 
lictors dressed in black, marched with the 
corpse, and, as master of the ceremonies, 
assigned to each follower his proper place in 
the procession. The Greeks crowned the dead 
body with flowers, and placed flowers on the 
tomb also; and the Romans decked the funeral 
couch with leaves and flowers, and spread 
flowers, wreaths, and fillets on the tomb of 
friends. In England the Passing Bell or the 
Soul Bell used to be tolled from the parish 
church when a parishioner was dying, and 
there are many references to it in literature. At 
the funeral the bell would be tolled at intervals 
as many times as the dead person’s age in 
years. 

Public games were held both in Greece and 
Rome in honour of departed heroes. Examples 
of this custom are numerous; as the games in- 
stituted by Hercules at the death of Pclops, 
those held by Achilles in honour of Patroclus 
(Iliad, Bk. XXIII), those held by AEneas in 
honour of his father Anchises (/, Eneid ', Bk. V), 
etc. ; and the custom of giving a feast at funerals 
came to us from the Romans, who not only 
feasted the friends of the deceased, but also 
distributed meat to the persons employed. 

Fung-hwang. See Fum. 

Funk. To be in a funk, or a blue funk, may be 
the Walloon "In de fonk zun ,” literally to “be 
in the smoke.” Colloquially to be in a state of 
trepidation from uncertainty or apprehension 
of evil. It first appeared in England at Oxford 
in the first half of the 18 th century. 

Funny Bone. A pun on the word humerus , the 
Latin (and hence scientific) name for the upper 
bone of the arm. It is the inner condyle of this, 
or, to speak untechnically, the knob, or 
enlarged end of the bone terminating where the 
ulnar nerve is exposed at the elbow and can be 



Furbelow 


381 


Gaberlunzie 


rolled against this bone. A knock on this part of 
the elbow produces a painful sensation. 

Furbelow. A corruption of falbalas (q.v). 

Furcam et Flagellum (f£r' k£m et jel' um) 
(Lat. gallows and whip). The meanest of all 
servile tenures, the bondman being at the 
lord’s mercy, both life and limb. Cp. Forks. 

Furies, The. The Roman name ( Furice ) for the 
Greek Erinyes (<?.v.), said by Hesiod to have 
been the daughters of Ge (the earth) and to 
have sprung from the blood of Uranus, and 
by other accounts to be daughters of night and 
darkness. They were three in number, Tisi- 
phone (the Avenger of blood), Alecto (Im- 
placable), and Mcgaera (Disputatious). 

The Furies of the Guillotine. Another name 
for the tricoteuses ( q.v .). 

Furphy. In World War I latrine buckets were 
supplied to the Australian forces by the firm 
of Furphy & Co., whose name appeared on 
all their products. Hence a “furphy” was a 
latrine rumour. 

Furry Dance (fu' ri). An ancient ceremony of 
Helston and other Cornish towns, held on 
May 8th, locally known as Flora’s Day. 
Couples dance through the streets and houses 
to a tune of immemorial antiquity, probably 
coeval with the dance, which may be of Druidic 
origin. 

Fusiliers. Foot-soldiers who used to be armed 
with fusils or light muskets. 

The Royal English Fusiliers, the first 
regiment using the name, was raised in 1685. 

Fustian (fOs' chin). A coarse twilled cotton 
cloth with a velvety pile, probably so called 
from Fustat, a suburb of Cairo. 

It is chiefly used now in its figurative sense 
meaning inflated or pompous talk, claptrap, 
bombast (q.v.), pretentious words. 

Discourse fustian with one’s own shadow. — 
Othello , II, iii. 

Some scurvy quaint collection of fustian phrases, 
and uplandish words. — Heywood: Faire Maide of the 
Exchange , II, ii. 

Futhorc (fu' thork). The ancient Runic alpha- 
bet of the Anglo-Saxons and other Teutons; 
so called, on the same principle as the ABC, 
from its first six letters, viz.,/, it, ih, o> r , k. 
Futurism. An art movement which originated 
in Turin in 1910 under the influence of F. T. 
Marinetti. Its adherents sought to introduce 
into painting a “poetry of motion” whereby, for 
example, the painted gesture should become 
actually “a dynamic condition.” The Futurists 
tried to indicate not only the state of mind of 
the painter but also that of the figures in the 
picture. The original Futurists included 
Marinetti, Boccioni, Carra, Russolo, and 
Severini. Their first exhibitions were held in 
Paris, 1911, and London, 1912. 

Fylfot. A mystic sign or emblem, known also 
as the swastika and gammadion, and in 
heraldry as the cross cramponnie, used (especi- 
ally in Byzantine architecture and among the 
North American Indians) as an ornament, and 
as of religious import. It has been found at 
Hissarlik, on ancient Etruscan tombs, Celtic 
monuments, Buddhist inscriptions, Greek 


c8ins, etc., and has been thought to have repre- 
sented the power of the sun, of the four winds;* 
of lightning, and so on. Its shade is, that of* a* 
right-angled cross, the arms orVhteh are of 
equal length, with an additional piece at the 
extremity of each, fixed at a right-angle, each 
addition being of the same length and in the 
same direction. It is used nowadays in jewellery 
as an emblem of luck. 

The nam q fylfot was adopted by antiquaries 
from a MS. of the 15th century, and is prob- 
ably fill foot, signifying a device to fill the foot 
of a stained window. See Swastika. 


g 

G. This letter is a modification of the Latirf C 
(which was a rounding of the Greek gamma , F); 
until the 3rd century b.c. the g and k sounds 
were represented by the same letter, C. In 
the Hebrew and old Phoenician alphabets G 
is the outline of a camel’s head and neck. Heb. 
gimel , a camel. 

G.C.B. See Bath. 

G.I. In World War II, American enlisted men 
called themselves G.I.s. It is actually an 
abbreviation of Government Issue, a term 
attached to all their clothing, equipment, etc. 
After speaking for some time of G.I. shirts, 
G.I. blankets, and G.I. haircuts, the soldiers 
began to apply the term to themselves. 

G-man, short for Government Man, an agent 
of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. 
See Federal. 

G.O.M. The initial letters of “Grand Old 
Man,” a nickname of honour given to W. E. 
Gladstone (1809-98) in his later years. Lord 
Rosebery first used the expression in 1882. 

G.P.U. See Ogpu. 

Gab. The gift of the gab or gob. Fluency of 
speech, also the gift of boasting. The word gab 
may be onomatopoeic or derive from the 
identical Gaelic word for mouth. 

Gabbara. The giant who, according to 
Rabelais, was “the first inventor of the drink- 
ing of healths.” 

Gabble Ratchet. See Gabriel’s hounds. 

Gabelle (ga bel'). A tax on salt. All the salt 
made in France had to be brought to the royal 
warehouses, and was there sold at a price 
fixed by the Government. The iniquity was that 
some provinces had to pay twice as much as 
others. It was abolished in 1789, together with 
the corvee (forced labour on the roads). 

Gaberdine (gab" er den). A long, coarse cloak 
or gbwn, especially as worn in the Middle 
Ages by Jews and almsmen. The word is the 
Spanish gabardina , a frock worn by pilgrims. 
You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog. 

And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine. - 
Merchant of 

Gaberlunzie (gab' er IGnzi, gSb'pr lpn yi). A 
mendicant; or one of the king s bedesmen, 
who were licensed beggars. The name has also 
been given to the wallet carried by a gaber- 
lunzie-man . Its derivation is unknown. 




Gabriel 


382 


Galaxy 


Gabriel (ga' bri el) (/.<?. man of God). One if 
the archangels of Hebrew mythology, some- 
¥ tifties regarde<$ as the angel of death, the prince 
of fire and thunder, but more frequently as 
one of God’s chief messengers, and tradition- 
ally said to be the only angel, that can speak 
Syriac and Chaldee. The Mohammedans call 
him the chief of the four favoured angels, and 
the spirit of truth. Milton makes him chief of 
the angelic guards placed over Paradise (Para- 
dise Lost , IV, 549). 

In the Talmud Gabriel appears as the 
destroyer of the hosts of Sennacherib, as the 
man who showed Joseph the way (Gen. xxxvii, 
15), and #s one of the angels who buried Moses 
(Deut. xxxiv, 6). 

# Jit wa&vGabriel who (we are told in the 
Koran) took Mohammed to heaven on Al 
Borak and revealed to him his “prophetic lore.” 
In the Old Testament Gabriel is said to have 
explained to Daniel certain visions; in the New 
Testament he announced to Zacharias the 
future birth of John the Baptist, and appeared 
to Mary, the mother of Jesus (Luke i, 26, etc.). 

Gabriel’s horse. Haizum. 

Gabriel’s hounds, called also Gabble Ratchet. 
Wild geese. The noise of geese in flight is like 
that of a pack of hounds in full cry. The legend 
is that they are the souls of unbaptized children 
wandering through the air till the Day of 
Judgment. 

GabrieUe. La Belle Gabrielle (1571-1599). 
Daughter of Antoine d’Estrees, grand-master 
of artillery, and governor of the lie de France. 
Towards the close of 1590, Henri IV happened 
to sojourn for a night at the Chateau de 
Coeuvres, and fell in love with her. He married 
her to Liancourt-Damerval, created her 
Duchesse de Beaufort, and took her to live with 
him at court. 

Charmante Gabrielle, 

Perce de mille dards, 

Quand la gloire m’appelle 

A la suite de Mars. Henri IV. 

Gad. By gad. A minced form of God y occurring 
also in such forms as Gadzooks, Begad, Egad. 

How he still cries “Gad!” and talks of popery 
coming on, as all the fanatiques do. — Pepys: Diary, 
Nov. 24, 1662. 

Gad-fly. Not the roving but the goading fly 
(O.E. gad , a goad). 

Gadget (gaj' it). An expressive word introduced 
into general use during World War I, popular- 
ized. apparently, by the R.A.F., where it was 
used for almost any little tool or appliance. 

Gadshlll (g&dzhil). About 3 miles N.W. of 
Rochester. Famous for the attack of Sir John 
Falstaflf and three of his knavish companions 
on a party of four travellers, whom they 
robbed of their purses (Henry IV Pt. /, II, iv) 
and also as the home of Charles Dickens, who 
died there in 1870 

Gadshill is also the name of one of the 
thieylsh companions of Sir John Falstaff. 
Ga<f-stlel. Flemish steel. So called because it is 
wrought in gads , or small bars (O.E. gad , a 
small bar; Icel. gaddr, a spike). 

I will go get a leaf of brass. 
And with a gad of steel will write these words. 

Titus Andronicus, IV, i. 


Gaelic (ga' lik). The language of the Gaelic 
branch of the Celtic race which, in Greek and 
Roman times, occupied much of Central 
Europe. The name is now applied only to the 
Celtic language spoken in the Scottish High- 
lands. In the 18th century this was called Erse. 

Gaff. Slang for humbug; also for a cheap 
public entertainment or a low-class music-hall. 

Crooked as a gaff. Here gaff is an iron hook 
at the end of a short pole, used for landing 
salmon, etc., or the metal spur of fighting- 
cocks. (Span, and Port. gafa t a boat-hook.) 
To blow the gaff. See Blow. 

To stand the gaff. To bear punishment or 
raillery with calmness. 

Gaffer. An old country fellow; a boss or fore- 
man; a corruption of “grandfather.” Cp. Gam- 
mer. 

Gag. In theatrical parlance, an interpolation. 
When Hamlet directs the players to say no 
more “than is set down” (111, ii) he cautions 
them against gagging; also a joke. 

Gag-man. One who is employed to supply 
jokes for films or radio programi. es. 

To apply the gag. Said of applying the closure 
in the House of Commons. Here gag is some- 
thing forced into the mouth to prevent speech. 

Gaiety. Gaiety of Nations. This phrase, now 
often used in an ironic sense, such as “that 
won’t add much to the gaiety of nations,” 
springs from the words uttered by Dr. Johnson 
on hearing of the death of David Garrick — 
“I am disappointed by that stroke of death 
which has eclipsed the gaiety of nations and 
impoverished the public stock of harmless 
pleasure.” 

Gaiety Girl. One of the beauty chorus for 
which the old Gaiety Theatre in the Strand was 
famous in the ’90s and Edwardian days. 
Several of them married into the peerage. 

Gala Day (ga' la). A festive day; a day when 
people put on their best attire. (Ital. gala , 
festivity.) 

Galahad, Sir (gal' a had). In the Arthurian 
legends the purest and noblest knight of the 
Round Table. He is a late addition and was 
invented by Walter Map in his Quest of the San 
Graal. He was the son of Lancelot and Elaine : 
at the institution of the Round Table one seat 
(the Siege Perilous ) was left unoccupied, and 
could be occupied only by the knight who could 
succeed in the Quest. When Sir Galahad sat 
there it was discovered that it had been left for 
him. Vide Malory’s Morte d' Arthur, Tenny- 
son’s The Holy Grail , etc. 

Galatea (g&l a t6' a). A sea-nymph, beloved by 
Polypheme, but herself in love with Acis. Acts 
was crushed under a huge rock by the jealous 
giant, and Galatea threw herself into the sea, 
where she joined her sister nymphs. Handel 
has an opera entitled Acis and Galatea (1732). 
The Galatea beloved by Pygmalion G?.v.) was 
a different person. 

Galaxy, The (cal' ak si). The “Milky Way.” 
A long white luminous track of stars which 
seems to encompass the heavens like a girdle. 




Galen 


383 


Gallimaufry 


The Galaxy is a vast collection of stars set in a 
shape something like a double convex lens. It is 
because our Sun — and we ourselves in the 
planetary system with it — is in the midst of this 
Galaxy that the mass of stars appears so 
dense when we are looking lengthwise through 
it, whereas when we look out sideways, so to 
speak, we see the constellations of the heavens 
separately. It is supposed that the whole vast 
Galactic system revolves round a centre some- 
where in the constellation of Sagittarius, 
30,000 light years (a light year is six million 
million miles; from the Sun. 

According to classic fable, it is the path to 
the palace of Zeus or Jupiter. (Gr. gala , 
galaktos , milk.) 

Galen (ga len). A Greek physician and philo- 
sopher of the 2nd century a.d. For centuries he 
was the supreme authority in medicine. Hence, 
Galenist , a follower of Galen’s medical 
theories; Galenical , a simple, vegetable 
medicine. 

Galen says “Nay” and Hippocrates “Yea.” 
The doctors disagree, and who is to decide? 
Hippocrates — a native of Cos, born 460 b.c. — 
was the most celebrated physician of antiquity. 

Galore (§2 larT Que diable allait-il faire dans 
cette galere? What business had he to be in 
that galley? This is from Molidre’s comedy of 
Les Fourberics de Scapin. Scapin wants to 
bamboozle G6ronte out of his money, and tells 
him that his master (Geronte’s son) is detained 
prisoner on a Turkish galley, where he went 
out of curiosity. Geronte replies “What 
business had he to go on board the galley?” 
The phrase is applied to a person who finds 
himself in difficulties through being where he 
ought not to be, or in some unexpected pre- 
dicament. 

Vogue la galere. See Vogue. 

Galimatias (g&l i ma' shas). Nonsense; un- 
meaning gibberish. The word first appeared in 
France in the 16th century, but its origin is 
unknown; perhaps it is connected with 

( i allimaufry ( q.v .). In his translation of Rabelais 
Jrquhart heads ch. ii of Bk. I a “Galimatias of 
Extravagant Conceits found in an Ancient 
Monument.” 

Gall (gawl). Bile; the very bitter fluid secreted 
by the liver; hence used figuratively as a symbol 
for anything of extreme bitterness; colloquia- 
ally, impudence. 

Gall and wormwood. Extremely disagreeable 
and annoying. 

And I said, My strength and my hope is perished 
from the Lord: Remembering my affliction and my 
misery, the wormwood and the gall. — Lam. iii, 18, 19. 

The gall of bitterness. The bitterest grief; 
extreme affliction. The ancients taught that 
grief and joy were subject to the gall as affec- 
tion was to the heart, knowledge to the kidneys, 
and the gall of bitterness means the bitter 
centre of bitterness, as the heart of hearts 
means the innermost recesses of the heart or 
affections. In the Acts it is used to signify “the 
sinfulness of sin,” which leads to the bitterest 
grief. 

I perceive thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in 
the bond of iniquity. — Acts viii, 23. 


The gall of pigeons. The story goes that 
pigeons have no gall, because the dove sent 
from the ark by Noah burst its gall out of grief# 
and none of the pigeon family has had a gall 
ever since. 

For sin* the Flood of Noah 
The dow she has nae ga’. 

Jamieson : Popular Ballads ( Lord of Rorlin's Daughter ). 

Gallant. The meaning of this word varies with 
its pronunciation. As gdl' fint it is an adjective 
meaning brave, grand, fine, chivalrous; as 
g&l ant' it describes the cavalier or admirer of 
women, a flirt, or the adjective and verb 
implying this. 

Gallery. To play to the gallery. To work for 
popularity. As an actor who sacrifices his 
author for popular applause. 

The instant we begin to think about success and the 
effect of our work — to play with one eye on the 
gallery — we lose power, and touch, and everything 
else.— Kiplino: The Light that Failed . 

Galley Halfpence. Silver coin brought over by 
merchants (“galley-men”) from Genoa, who 
used the Galley Wharf, Thames Street. These 
halfpence were larger than our own, and their 
use was forbidden in England early m the 15th 
century. 

Gallia (gal' i a). France; the Latin name for 
Gaul. 

Gallia Braccata {trousered Gaul). Gallia 
Narbonensis — South-western Gaul, from the 
Pyrenees to the Alps — was so called from the 
“braccae,” or trousers, which the natives wore 
in common with the Scythians and Persians. 

Gallia Comata. That part of Gaul which 
belonged to the Roman emperor, and was 
governed by legates ( legati ), was so called from 
the long hair (coma) worn by the inhabitants 
flowing over their shoulders. 

Gallicism (gal' i sizm). A phrase or sentence 
constructed after the French idiom; as, “when 
you shall have returned home you will find a 
letter on your table.” In Matt, xv, 32, is a 
Gallicism: “1 have compassion on the multi- 
tude, because they continue with me now three 
days, and have nothing to eat.” Cp. Mark 
viii, 2. 

Galligaskins (gal i gas' kinz). A loose, wide 
kind of breeches worn by men in the 16th and 
17th centuries. 

My galligaskins, that have long withstood 
The winter’s fury and encroaching frosts . . . 

A horrid chasm disclos’d, with orifice 
Wide, discontinuous. 

J. Philips: The Splendid Shilling (1703). 

The taylor of Bisiter, he has but one eye; 

He cannot cut a pair of green galagaskins, if he were 
to try. — Aubrey MS. 

The word is a corruption of Fr. garguesque, 
which was the Ital. grechesca , Greekish, 
referring to a Greek article of clothing. 

Gallimaufry (gal i maw' fri). A medley; any 
confused jumble of things; but strictly speak- 
ing, a hotch-potch made up of all the scraps 
of the larder. (Fr. galimafrde, the origin of 
which is unknown, though it is probitbly re- 
lated to galimatias). 

He woos both high and low, both rich and poor. 

Both young and old, one with another. Ford; 

He Joves the galimaufry [all sorts]. 

Merry Wives , II, i. 



Gallo-Belgicus 


384 


Gamelyn 


Gallo-Belgicus (g&l 6 bel' ji kus). An annual 
register in Latin for European circulation, first 
published in 1598. 

It is believed. 

And told for news with as much diligence 
As if ’twere writ in Gallo-Belgicus. 

Thomas May: The Heir , 1615. 
Galloglass (g&r 6 glas). An armed servitor (or 
foot-soldier) of an ancient Irish chief. (O.Ir. 
and Gael, gall, a stranger; oglach , a warrior.) 

The Galloglass are pycked ana scelected men of 
great and mightie bodies, crewel without compassion. 
— John Dymmok: Treatice of Ireland (1600). 

Galloway (gSP 6 wa). A horse less than fifteen 
hands high, of the breed which originally came 
from Galloway in Scotland. 

• Thrust him downstairs! Know we not Galloway 
nags? — Henry IV , Pt. II, II, iv. 

Gallup Poll (g^r up pol). A method devised by 
Dr. George Gallup for ascertaining the trend 
of public opinion by interrogating a cross- 
section of the population. Trained inter- 
viewers question a very small sample of the 
public, which is carefully chosen with regard 
to its composition of men or women, geo- 
graphical distribution, age groups and social 
position. For the British Parliamentary elec- 
tion of 1945 the interviewers spoke to 1,809 
persons out of the 25,000,000 voters. These 
were so scientifically selected that the Gallup 
Poll forecast was less than 1 per cent, wrong 
when the actual voting figures were made 
known. On the other hand, their forecast was 
as wrong as that of everyone else at the 
American Presidential election of 1948. 

Galore (g& lor'). One of our words from Old 
Irish go leor, to a sufficiency; hence, in 
abundance, and abundance itself. 

Galosh (g& losh'). The word comes to us from 
the Span, galocha (wooden shoes); Ger. 
Galosche ; Fr. galoche , which is probably from 
Gr. kalopous , a shoe-maker’s last. 

The word was originally applied to a kind of 
clog or patten worn as a protection against wet 
in days when silk or cloth shoes were common. 
It is in this sense that writers so remote as 
Langland use the word : — 

... the kynde of a knyght that cometh to be 

doubed, 

To geten hus gilte spores and galoches y-couped. 

Piers Plowman , xxi, 12. 

The modern galoshes are rubber overshoes, 
and are sometimes spelled goloshes. 

Galway Jury (gawP wa). An enlightened, in- 
dependent jury. The expression has its birth in 
certain trials held in Ireland in 1635 upon the 
right of the king to the counties of Ireland. 
Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo, and Mayo gave 
judgment in favour of the Crown, but Galway 
opposed it; whereupon the sheriff was fined 
£1,000, and each of the jurors £4,000. 

Gamboge (gam bozh). So called from Cambo- 
dia, whence it was first brought. It is a gum 
resin made from various species of a laurel-like 
tree of Siam, Cambodia, and Cochin China. 
Wljen powdered it becomes a brilliant yellow 
which forms a pigment. 

Gambrel. A bent piece of wood used by 
butchers, from which they suspend carcases. 
It is also known as a chambrel, cambrel, 
chambren, etc. See Mansard Roof. 


Game. Certain wild animals and birds, legally 
protected, preserved, and pursued for sport, 
such as hares, pheasants, partridges, grouse, 
heath-game, etc. See Sporting Season. 

The game's afoot. The hare has started; 
the enterprise has begun. 

I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, 

Straining upon the start. The game’s afoot! 

Follow your spirit! — Shakespeare: Henry V , III, i. 

The game is not worth the candle. See 
Candle. 

The game is up. The scheme, endeavour, etc., 
has come to nothing; everything has failed. 

He’s a game 'un! He’s got some pluck; he’s 
“a plucked ’un.” Another allusion to game- 
cocks. 

He’s at his little games again, or at the same 
old game. He’s at his old tricks; he’s gone back 
to his old habits or practices. 

To die game. To maintain a resolute attitude 
to the last. A phrase from cock-fighting. 

To have the game in one’s hands. To have 
such an advantage that success is assured; to 
hold the winning cards. 

To play a waiting game. To bide one’s time, 
knowing that that is the best way of winning; 
to adopt Fabian tactics (r/.v.). 

To play the game. To act in a straightforward, 
honourable manner; to keep to the rules. 

This they all with a joylui mind 
Bear through life like a torch in flame. 

And falling, fling to the host behind — 

“Play up! Play up! and play the game!” 

Sir H. Newbolt: Vitae Lampada. 

You are making game of me. You are 
bamboozling me, “pulling my leg,” holding 
me up to ridicule. 

Game Chicken. The sobriquet of the pugilist. 
Hen Pearce. Beginning as a pupil of* James 
Belcher, he eventually defeated his teacher in a 
terrible battle on Barnby Moor near Doncaster, 
6th December, 1805. 

Game Laws. A survival of the forest laws 
imposed by William the Conqueror. Game 
licences were first issued in 1784. The seasons 
during which certain game might be shot were 
set out in the Game Act of William IV, 1831. 

Game leg, A lame leg. In this instance game 
is a dialect form of the Celtic cam , meaning 
crooked. It is of comparatively modern usage. 
Gammy is also used in this sense. 

Gamesmanship. A term popularized by 
Stephen Potter, who coined it for the title of 
his book (1947), and its sub-title succinctly 
defines the meaning: “The Art of Winning 
Games without actually Cheating.” 

Gamelyn, The Tale of (gilm' lin). A Middle- 
English metrical romance, found among the 
Chaucer MSS. and supposed to have been 
intended by him to form the basis of one of the 
un-written Canterbury Tales. Gamelyn is a 
ounger son to whom a large share of property 
ad been bequeathed by the father. He is kept 
in servitude and tyrannically used by his elder 
brother until he is old enough effectually to 
rebel. After many adventures, during which he 
becomes a leader of outlaws in the woods, he 




Gammadion 


385 


Garcia 


comes to his own again with the help of the 
king, and Justice is meted out to the elder 
brother and those who aided him. Thomas 
Lodge made the story into a novel — Rosalyttde , 
or Euphues ’ Golden Legacie (1590) — and from 
this Shakespeare drew a large part of As You 
Like It . The authorship is, however, still in 
doubt. 

Gammadion (ga ma' di 6n). The fylfot (q.v.), or 
swastika, so called because it resembles four 
Greek capital gammas CO set at right angles. 

Gammer. A rustic term for an old woman; a 
corruption of grandmother , with an inter- 
mediate form “granmer.” Cp. Gaffer. 

Gammer Gurton’s Needle. The earliest 
English comedy with the exception of Ralph 
Roister Doister; acted at Christ’s College, 
Cambridge, in 1552, and printed in 1575. It was 
published as “By Mr. S. Mr. of Art,” who 
remained unidentified until Isaac Reed in 1782 
announced that it was Bishop Still. The 
comedy is vigorous and it closes with the 
discovery of Gammer Gurton's missing needle 
in the seat of Hodge’s breeches. 

Gammon. This word comes from the same 
original as game and gamble , but in Victorian 
slang it meant to impose upon, delude, cheat; 
and sometimes, to play a game upon. As an 
exclamation it meant “Nonsense, you’re 
pulling my leg!” 

A landsman said, “I twig the chap — he’s been upon 

the Mill, 

And ’cause he gammons so the flats, ve calls him 

Vceping Bill.” 

Ingoldsby Legends. 

Gammon, the buttock or thigh of a hog 
salted and cured, is the Fr. jambon , O.Fr. 
gambon , from gambe , the leg. 

Gamp. Sarah Gamp is a disreputable monthly 
nurse in Dickens’s Martin Chuzzlewit , famous 
for her bulky umbrella and perpetual reference 
to Mrs. Harris, a purely imaginary person, 
whose opinions always confirmed her own. 
Hence a gamp is a common term for an um- 
brella. 

Gamut (gam' ut). Originally, the first or 
lowest note in Guido of Arezzo’s scale, 
corresponding to G on the lowest line of the 
modern bass stave; later, the whole series of 
notes recognized by musicians; hence, the 
whole range or compass. 

It is gamma ut; gamma (the third letter of 
the Greek alphabet) was used by Guido to 
mark the first or lowest note in the medieval 
scale; and ut is the first word in the mnemonic 
stanza, Ut queant laxis resonare fibris , etc. (see 
Doh), containing the names of the hexachord. 
Gamma ut , or G ut> was added to the scale 
in the 11th century. 

Ganelon. A type of black-hearted treachery, 
figuring in Dante’s Inferno and grouped by 
Chaucer (Nun's Priest's Tale , 407) with Judas 
Iscariot and 

Greek Sinon, 

That broghtest Troye al outrely to sorwe. 

He was Count of Mayence, one of Charle- 
magne's paladins. Jealousy of Roland made 
him a traitor; and in order to destroy his rival, 
he planned with Marsillus, the Moorish king, 
the attack of Roncesvalles. 


Ganesha (g5n' esh &). The god of wisdom in 
Hindu mythology, lord of the Ganas, or lesser 
deities. He was the son of Siva, is propitiated 
at the commencement of important work, at 
the beginning of sacred writings, etc. 

Gang. A gang of saws. A number of circular 
power-driven saws mounted together so that 
they can reduce a tree trunk to planks at a 
single operation. 

Gang agley, To (Scot.). To go wrong. The 
verb to glee , or gley, means to look asquint, 
sideways. 

The best-laid schemes of mice and men 
Gang aft agley. Burns: To a Mouse. 

Gang-day. The day when boys gang round 
the parish to beat its bounds. See Bounds. 
Ganges, The (gan' jez). So named from ganga 
or gunga , a river; as in Kishenganga, the black 
river; Neelganga , the blue river; Naraingunga , 
the river of Naranyana or Vishnu, etc. The 
Ganges is the Borra Ganga , or great river. It is 
the sacred river of the Hindus. 

Those who through the curse, have fallen from 
heaven, having performed ablution in this stream, be- 
come free from sin; cleansed from sin by this water, 
and restored to happiness, they shall enter heaven and 
return again to the gods. — The Ramayana (section 
xxxv). 

Gangway. Originally, the boarded way (hence 
sometimes called the gang-board , gang, an 
alley) in the old galleys made for the rowers 
to pass from stem to stern, and where the 
mast was laid when it was unshipped; now, 
the board with a railing at each side by which 
passengers walk into or out of a ship. 

As we were putting off the boat they laid hold of the 
gangboard and unhooked it off the boat’s stern. — 
Cook: Second Voyage, Bk. Ill, ch. iv. 

Below the gangway. In the House of Com- 
mons, on the farther side of the passage-way 
between the seats which separate the Ministry 
from the rest of the Members. To sit “below 
the gangway’’ is to sit amongst the general 
members, and not among the Ministers or ex- 
Ministers and leaders of the Opposition. 
Ganymede (gan' i med). In Greek mythology, 
the cup-bearer of Zeus, successor to Hebe, 
and the type of youthful male beauty. Origin- 
ally a Trojan youth, he was taken up to 
Olympus and made immortal. Hence, a cup- 
bearer generally. 

Nature waits upon thee still. 

And thy verdant cup does fill; 

’Tis fill’d wherever thou dost tread, 
Nature’s self’s thy Ganymede. 

Cowley: The Grasshopper (Anacreontics). 

Gaora (ga or' a). According to Hakluyt this 
was a tract of land inhabited by people without 
heads, with eyes in their shoulders and their 
mouths in their breasts. See Blemmyes. 

Gape. Looking for gape-seed. Gaping ab 9 Ut 
and doing nothing. A corruption of “Looking 
agapesing’’; gapesing (still used in Norfolk) is 
staring about with one’s mouth open. 

Seeking a gape’s nest (Devon). A gape's nest 
is a sight which one stares at with wide-open 
mouth. Cp. Mare’s Nest. 

Garcia (gar' si &). To take a message to Garda 
is to be resourceful and courageous, to be able 
to accept resoonsibility and carry one’s task 



Garcias 


386 


Garnish 


through to the end. The phrase originated in 
the exploit of Lieut. Andrew Rowan who, in 
the Spanish-American War of 1898, made his 
way through the Spanish blockade into Cuba, 
made contact with General Calixto Garcia, 
chief of the Cuban insurgent forces, and carried 
news from him back to Washington. 

Garcias. The soul of Pedro Garcias. Money. 
The story is that two scholars of Salamanca 
discovered a tombstone with this inscription: 
“Here lies the soul of the licentiate Pedro 
Garcias”; and on searching found a purse with 
a hundred golden ducats. {Gil Bias , Preface.) 
Garden. Garden City. A name given alike to 
Norwich and to Chicago; also, as a general 
name, to model suburbs and townships that 
have been planned with a special view to the 
provision of open spaces and wide roads. 

The foundation of garden cities was due to 
the ideas of Sir Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928), 
in his book To-Morrow (1898). The first 
garden city was founded at Letchworth, Hert- 
fordshire, in 1903. 

The Garden or Garden Sect. The disciples 
of Epicurus, who taught in his own private 
garden. 

The Garden of Eden. See Eden. The name as 
applied to Mesopotamia, with its vast sandy 
deserts, is nowadays somewhat ironical; but 
it is traditionally supposed to be its “original 
site.” 

In many countries the name is applied to 
the more fertile districts as — 

Garden of England. Kent and Worcestershire 
are both so called. 

Garden of Europe. Italy. 

Garden of France. Amboise, in the depart- 
ment of Indre-et-Loire; also Touraine. 

Garden of India. Oudh. 

Garden of Ireland. Carlow. 

Garden of Italy. The island of Sicily. 

Garden of South Wales. The southern divi- 
sion of Glamorganshire. 

Garden of Spain. Andalusia. 

Garden of Switzerland. Thurgau. 

Garden of the Hesperides. See Hesperides. 

Garden of the Sun. The East Indian (or 
Malayan) Archipelago. 

Garden of the West. Illinois; Kansas (“the 
Garden State”) is also so called. 

Garden of the World. The region of the 
Mississippi. 

Gardy loo. The cry of warning formerly given 
by Edinburgh housewives when about to 
throw the contents of the slop-pail out of the 
window into the street below. It is a corruption 
of Fr. garde Veau , beware of the water. 

At ten o’clock at night the whole cargo is flung 
out of a back window that looks into some street or 
lane, and the maid calls “Gardy loo” to the passen- 
gers. — Smollett; Humphry Clinker . 

Gargamelle (gar' g£ mel). In Rabelais’s satire, 
daughter of the king of the Parpaillons 
{butterflies), wife of Grangousier, and mother 
of Gargantua (g.v.). On the day that she gave 
birth to him she ate sixteen quarters, two 
bushels, three pecks, and a pipkin of dirt, the 
mere remains left in the tripe which she had 
for supper. 


She is said to be meant either for Anne of 
Brittany, or Catherine de Foix,%Queen of 
Navarre. 

Gargantua (gar g&n' to &). A giant of mediaeval 
(perhaps Celtic) legend famous for his 
enormous appetite (Sp. garganta, gullet), 
adopted by Rabelais in his great satire (1532), 
and made the father of Pantagruel. One of his 
exploits was to swallow five pilgrims with their 
staves and all in a salad. He is the subject of a 
number of chap-books, and became pro- 
verbial as a voracious and insatiable guzzler. 

You must borrow me Gargantua’s mouth first 
[before I can utter so lon^ a word]; ’tis a word too 
great for any mouth of this age’s size . — As You Like 
It, III, ii. 

Gargouille (gar goo elO. The great dragon that 
lived in the Seine, ravaged Rouen, and was 
slain by St. Romanus, Bishop of Rouen, in the 
7th century. 

Gargoyle (gar' goil). A spout for rain-water in 
Gothic architecture, projecting from the wall 
so that the water falls clear, and usually carved 
into some fantastic shape, such as a dragon’s 
head, through which the water flows. So 
named from Fr. gargouille, the throat, gullet. 

Garibaldi (gar i bol' di). The red shirt made 
famous by Garibaldi and his men in their 
deliverance of Italy in 1860 had a very simple 
origin. It was in Montevideo, in 1843, where 
Garibaldi was raising an Italian legion, that 
a number of red woollen shirts came on the 
market owing to the difficulty of export due to 
the war with Argentina. The Uruguay govern- 
ment bought them up cheaply and handed 
them over to Garibaldi for his men. When the 
Italian Legion came over to Europe in 1848 
they brought their red shirts with them, thus 
furnishing Italy with her long-treasured symbol 
of freedom. 

The Garibaldi biscuit, in which currants are 
mixed in the pastry, was a form of food much 
favoured by the General on his farm in 
Caprera. 

Garland. The primary use of this word, mean- 
ing a wreath or flowers either worn or festooned 
around some object, has been extended to 
include a collection of pieces in prose or verse, 
a sort of choice anthology. 

What I now offer to your Lordship is a collection 
of Poetp\ a kind of Garland of Good Will. — Prior’s 
dedication to his Poems. 

Garlic. The old superstition that garlic can 
destroy the magnetic power of the loadstone 
has the sanction of Pliny, Solinus, Ptolemy, 
Plutarch, Albertus, Mathiolus, Rueus, Ru- 
landus, Renod«eus, Langius, and others. Sir 
Thomas Browne places it among Vulgar Errors 
(Bk. II, ch. iii). 

Martin Rulandus saith that Onions and Garlick 
. . . hinder the attractive power [of the magnet] and 
rob it of its virtue of drawing iron, to which Renodanis 
agrees; but this is all lies. — W. Salmon: The Complete 
English Physician, ch. xxv (1693). 

Garnish. In old prison slang, the entrance- 
money, to be spent in drink, demanded by 
jailbirds of new-comers. Garnish means embel- 
lishment, extra decoration to dress, etc.; 
hence, it was applied by prisoners to fetters, 
and the garnish-money was money given for 




Garrett 


38 ? 


the “honour” of wearing them. The custom 
became obsolete with the reform of prisons. 

In its original meaning to garnish was to 
warn, and it is in this sense that the word is now 
used legally. John X (called the garnishee) is 
garnished or warned not to pay a sum he owes 
to Henry Y as Henry Y owes money to George 
Z but is disputing the debt. 

Garratt. The Mayor of Garratt. Garratt is near 
Earlsfield, Wimbledon; the first “mayor” was 
elected in 1778. He was really merely the chair- 
man of an association of villagers formed to 
put a stop to encroachments on the common, 
and as his election coincided with a general 
election, the society made it a law that a new 
“mayor” should be chosen at every general 
election. This tickled the public fancy, crowds 
assembled to see the fun (on one occasion 
there were 80,000 persons present) and the 
most fantastic candidates came forward under 
assumed names to contest the “mayoralty” on 
the most outrageous platforms. The addresses 
of these mayors, written by Garrick, Wilkes, 
and others, are satires on the corruption of 
electors and political squibs. The first recorded 
mayor was “Squire Blowmedown”; the 
last was “Sir” Harry Dimsdale (1796), a muffin- 
seller and dealer in tinware. 

Foote has a farce entitled The Mayor of 
Garratt. All that remains of Garratt is a lane 
so named. 

Garraway’s. A noted coffee-house in Change 
Alley, Cornhill, which existed for over 200 
years and was founded by Thomas Garway, a 
tobacconist and coffee merchant of the 17th 
century. Here the promoters of the South Sea 
Bubble met. Sales were held periodically, and 
tea (introduced into England about 1645, and 
sold privately for anything up to £10 per Lb.) 
was first sold in 1657 publicly at Garraway’s 
from I65. to 50r. a lb. Garra way’s was closed 
down in 1866. 

Garrotte (Span, garrote , a stick). A Spanish 
method of execution by fastening a cord round 
the neck of the criminal and twisting it with a 
stick till strangulation ensued. In 1851 General 
Lopez was garrotted for attempting to gain 
possession of Cuba; and about that time the 
term was first applied to the practice of London 
thieves and roughs who strangled their victim 
while an accomplice rifled his pockets. 

Garter. The Most Noble Order of the Garter. 
The highest order of knighthood in Great 
Britain and in the world, traditionally instituted 
by King Edward III about 1348, re-con- 
stituted in 1805 and 1831. The popular legend 
is that Joan, Countess of Salisbury, accident- 
ally slipped her garter at a court ball. It was 
picked up by the king, who gallantly diverted 
the attention of the guests from the lady by 
binding the blue band round his own knee, 
saying as he did so, “ Honi soil qui mal y pense ” 
(Evil — or shame — be to him who thinks evil of 
it) (?.v.). The order is limited to the Sovereign, 
and other members of the Royal Family, with 
twenty-five Knights, and such foreign royalties 
as may be admitted by statute. The only Ladies 
of the Garter are the Sovereign’s Queen and 
his eldest daughter when she is heir presumptive 
to the throne; and untiL in 1912, Viscount 

13 * 


Cate 


Grey (then Sir Edward Grey) was admitted 
to |he order, no commoner for centuries had 
b^gn able to put “K.G.” after his name. 

SEach knight is allotted a stall in St. George’s 
Chapel, Windsor. The habits and insignia are 
the garter, mantle, surcoat, hood, star, collar, 
and George — a jewelled figure representing St. 
George and the Dragon. 

Wearing the garters of a pretty girl either on 
the hat or knee was a common custom with 
our forefathers. Brides usually wore on their 
legs a host of gay ribbons, to be distributed 
after the marriage ceremony amongst the 
bridegroom’s friends; and the piper at the 
wedding dance never failed to tie a piece of the 
bride’s garter round his pipe. 

Magic garters. In the old romances, etc., 
garters made of the strips of a young hare’s 
skin saturated with motherwort. Those who 
wore them excelled in speed. i 

Prick the garter. An old swindling game, 
better known as “Fast and loose.” See under 
Fast. 

Garvies. Sprats; perhaps so called from Inch- 
garvie, the island in tne Firth of Forth that 
supports the central pier of the Forth Bridge. 
Gas mask. A popular name for any contrivance 
designed to preserve the wearer from inhaling 
poison gas. In World War I (when gas was first 
used) the gas mask went through various forms 
from a sort of greasy felt domino to a box 
respirator strapped on the chest. In World 
War II there were several kinds of respirator — 
for infants, for small children, civilians, 
civilians on national duty, and for the Services; 
all of which differed only in the period for 
which they were effective. 

Gasconade. Absurd boasting, vainglorious 
braggadocio. It is said that a Gascon being 
asked what he thought of the Louvre in Paris, 
replied, “Pretty well; it reminds me of the back 
part of my father’s stables.” The vainglory of 
this answer is the more palpable when it is 
borne in mind that the Gascons were proverbi- 
ally poor. The Dictionary of the French 
Academy gives the following specimen: “A 
Gascon, in proof of his ancient nobility, 
asserted that they used in his father’s house no 
other fuel than the batons of the family 
marshals.” 

Gat. American slang term for an automatic 
pistol, much used during the prohibition era 
of gangsters. It is a wrongly applied contrac- 
tion oi Gatling, from the prototype of the 
machine-gun invented by Richard Gordon 
Gatling. See Gatling Gun. 

Gat-tooth. Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath” was gat* 
toothed {see Prol . , to Cant. Tales, 468, and Wife 
of Bath's ProL, 603); this probably means that 
her teeth were set wide apart, with gats, ue. 
openings or gaps between them; but some 
editors have thought it is goat-toothed (O.E. 
gat), i.e. lascivious, like a goat. 

Gate. Gate money. Money paid at the door or 
gate for admission to an enclosure where some 
entertainment or contest, etc., is to take place. 

Gate of Italy. A narrow gorge between two 
mountain ridges in the valley of the Adige, in 
the vicinity of Trent and Roveredo. 



Gate of Tears 


388 


Gazebo 


Gate of Tears. The passage into the Red Sea. 
So called by the Arabs (Bab-el- Mandeb) from 
the number of shipwrecks that took place th^*e. 

Gate-posts. The post on which a gate hangs 
is called the hanging-post; that against which 
it shuts is called the banging-post. 

Gath (g3th). In Dryden’s Absalom and 
Achitophel (q.v.), this means Brussels, where 
Charles II long resided while in exile. 

Tell it not in Gath. Don’t let your enemies 
hear it. Gath was famous as being the birth- 
place of the giant Goliath. 

Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of 
Askelon: lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, 
lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph, — II 
Sam. i, 20. 

Gathering is a common phrase among Dis- 
senters to describe any sort - of religious or 
social assembly. 

Bibliographically, it is any number of leaves 
which may be put together and joined into a 
section of the book by being sewn through. 

Gatling Gun. An early form of automatic 
weapon invented in the U.S.A. in 1867. It had 
a large number of barrels, the projectiles in 
which could be discharged in rapid succession. 
It preceded all types of weapons constructed on 
the principle of discharging numerous pro- 
jectiles rapidly through* the same barrel, as a 
machine gun. 

Gauche (gosh) (Fr. the left hand). Awkward. 

Gaucherle. Behaviour not according to the 
received forms of society; awkward and un- 
toward ways. 

Gaucho (gou' cho). A cowboy of the S. 
American pampas, of mixed Indian and 
Spanish descent. The word is also applied to 
an itinerant minstrel of the Argentine pampas, 
who goes from village to village with horse and 
guitar. 

Gaudy-day (gaw' di) (Lat. gaudium , joy). A 
holiday, a feast-day; especially an annual 
celebration of some event, such as the founda- 
tion of a college. 

Gaul (gawl). In classical geography, the 
country inhabited by the Gauls, hence, in 
modern use, France. Cisalpine Gaul lay south 
and east of the Alps, in what is now northern 
Italy. Transalpine Gaul was north and north- 
west of the Alps, and included Narbonensis, 
Aquitania, Lugdunensis, and Belgica. It was 
inhabited by Franks, Germans, Burgundians, 
Celts and others, as well as Gauls. 

Gaunt. John of Gaunt (1340-99), third son of 
Edward III; so called from Ghent, in Flanders, 
the place of his birth. 

Gauntlet. To run the gauntlet. To be attacked 
on all sides, to be severely criticized. The word 
came into English at the time of the Thirty 
Years’ War as gantlope , meaning the passage 
between two files of soldiers, and is the Swedish 
gata, a way, passage (cp. Gat-tooth, above), 
and lopp (connected with our leap), a course. 
The reference is to a punishment formerly 
common among soldiers and sailors; the com- 
pany or crew, provided with rope ends, were 
drawn up in two rows facing each other, and 


the delinquent had to run between them, while 
every man dealt him as severe a chastisement 
as he could. v 

To throw down the gauntlet. See Here 1 
thrown down my glove , under Glove. 

To throw down the gauntlet. To challenge. 
The custom in the Middle Ages, when one 
knight challenged another, was for the chal- 
lenger to throw his gauntlet on the ground, and 
if the challenge was accepted the person to 
whom it was thrown picked it pp. 

Gautama (gaw ta' ma). The family name of 
Buddha {q.v.). His personal name was Siddhat- 
tha, his lather’s name Suddhodana, and his 
mother’s Maya. Buddha means “The En- 
lightened,” “Tfie One Who Knows,” and he 
assumed this title at about the age of 36, when, 
after seven years of seclusion and spiritual 
struggle, he believed himself to have attained 
to perfect truth. 

Gauvaine. Gawain ( q.v .). 

Gavelkind (gav' el kind). A tenure of Saxon 
origin, still it) force in some parts of Kent and 
formerly in Wales, Northumberland, and else- 
where, whereby land and property of persons 
dying intestate descended from the father to 
all his sons in equal proportions, or to the 
daughters in the absence of sons. The youngest 
had the homestead, and the eldest the horse 
and arms. The word is the O.E. gafol, tribute, 
tax (cp. Gabelle), and kind , nature, soecies. 

Coke ( Institutes , 1, 140 a) says the word is gij cal cyn 
(give all the kin). 

Gawain (ga wan'). One of the most famous of 
the Arthurian knights, nephew of King 
Arthur, and probably the original hero of the 
Grail quest. He appears in the Welsh Triads 
and the Mabinogion as Gwalchmei, and in the 
Arthurian cycle is the centre of many episodes 
and poems. The Middle English poem (about 
1360), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , is a 
romance telling how Gawain beheads the 
Green Knight in single combat. 

Gay. A gay deceiver. A Lothario {q.v.)\ a 
libertine. 

The Gay Science. A translation of gai saber, 
the old Provencal name for the art of poetry. 

A guild formed at Toulouse in 1323 with 
the object of keeping in existence the dying 
Provencal language and culture was called the 
Gai Saber. Its full title was “The Very Gay 
Company of the Seven Troubadours of 
Toulouse.” 

Gaze. To stand at gaze. To stand in doubt what 
to do. A term in forestry. When a stag first 
hears the hounds it stands dazed, looking all 
round, and in doubt wjiat to do. Heralds call 
a stag which is represented full-faced, a “stag 
at gaze.” 

As the poor frightened deer, that stands at gaze, 

Wildly determining which way to fly. 

Rape of Lucrece, 1 149. 

Gaze-hound. See Lyme-hound. 

Gazebo (g& ze' bo). A humorous Latin 
future tense applied to the English gaze, to 
describe a summer-house with an extensive 
prospect. The word is also used for a balcony, 
window, or any other vantage spot whence a 
good view can be obtained. 


Gazette 


389 


Generic Names 


Gazette. A newspaper. The first newspapers 
were issued in Venice by the Government, and 
came out in manuscript once a month, during 
the war of 1563 between the Venetians and 
Turks. The intelligence was read publicly in 
certain places, and the fee for hearing it read 
was one gazetta (a Venetian coin, somewhat 
less than a farthing in value). 

The first official English newspaper, called 
The Oxford Gazette , was published in 1642, at 
Oxford, where the Court was held. On the 
removal of the;Court to London, the name was 
changed to The London Gazette . This name was 
revived in 1665. Now the official Gazette , 
published every Tuesday and Friday, contains 
announcements of pensions, v promotions, 
bankruptcies, dissolutions of partnerships, etc. 

Gazetted. Posted in The London Gazette as 
having received some official appointment, 
service promotion, etc., or on being declared 
bankrupt, etc. 

Gazetteer. A geographical and topographical 
index or dictionary; so called, because the 
name of one of the earliest in English (L. 
Eachard’s, 1693) was The Gazetteer's or News- 
man's Interpreter , i.e. it was intended for the 
use of journalists, those who wrote for the 
Gazettes. 

Gear. In machinery, the wheels, chains, belts, 
etc., that communicate motion to the working 
parts are called the gear or gearing (O.E. 
gearwa , clothing). The term is more particu- 
larly applied to a toothed wheel or a series of 
toothed wheels for the transmission of motion 
from one machine to another, or from one 
part of a machine to another. High gear is said 
of an arrangement of wheels, etc., whereby 
the driving part moves slowly in relation to the 
driven part; Low gear is the reverse of this, 
the driving part moving relatively more quickly 
than the driven; Differential gearis a combina- 
tion of toothed gear wheels connecting two 
axles but allowing them to revolve at different 
speeds. Gear is also applied to all forms of 
equipment, as, for example, sports gear . 

In good gear. To be in good working order. 

Out of gear. Not in working condition, 
when the “gearing’' does not act properly; out 
of health. 

Gee-up! and Gee-whoa! Interjections addressed 
to horses meaning respectively “Go ahead!" 
and “Stop!" From them came the childish 
“gee-gee,*' a horse, a term adopted by sporting 
men and others, as in “Backing the gee-gees." 
Geese. See Goose. 

Gehenna (ge hen' k) (Heb.). The place of 
eternal torment. Strictly speaking, it means 
simply the Valley of Hinnom ( Ge-Himom ), 
where sacrifices to Baal and Moloch were 
offered ( Jer . xix, 6, etc.), and where refuse of all 
sorts was subsequently cast, for the consump- 
tion of which fires were kept constantly 
burning. 

And made his grove 

The pleasant valley of Hinnom, Tophet thence 

And black Gehenna called, the type of hell. 

Milton: Paradise Lost, I, 403. 
Gelert (gel'ert). Llewelyn’s dog. See Beth 
Gelert. 


Gemara (gema'r&) (Aramaic, complement). 
The second part of the Talmud (tf.v.), consisting 
ofannotations, discussions, ancf amplifications 
or the Mishna , which is the first part. The 
Mishna , is the interpretation of the written law, 
the Gemara the interpretation of the Mishna . 
There is the Babylonian Gemara and the 
Jerusalem Gemara. The former, which is the 
more complete, is by the academies of Babylon, 
and was completed about a.d. 500; the latter 
by those of Palestine, completed towards the 
close of the 4th or during the 5th century a.d. 

Gemini (jem' i ni). A zodiacal sign. See The 
Twins. 

Gen (jen). An R.A.F. slang word meaning 
information, full details. It comes from either 
“General Information" or from “Genuine," 
and it is sometimes used as a verb, Le. To gen it 
up , to swot it up. 

Gendarmes (zhon' darm). “Men at arms," the 
armed police of France. The term was first 
applied to those who marched in the train of 
knights; subsequently to the cavalry; in the 
time of Louis XIV to a body of horse charged 
with the preservation of order; after the 
Revolution to a military police chosen from old 
soldiers of good character; and now to the 
ordinary police. 

Gender Words. These are words which, pre- 
fixed to the noun, indicate an animal’s sex: — 
Bull, cow: elephant, rhinoceros, seal, whale. 
Dog , bitch : ape, fox (the bitch is usually called 
a vixen), otter, wolf. 

Buck, doe: hare, rabbit, deer. * % 

He, she: general gender words for quadrupeds. 
Cock , hen: gender words for most birds. 

In many cases a different word is used for 
each of the sexes, e.g. : — 

Boar, sow; cockerel, pullet; colt, filly; drake, 
duck; drone, bee; gander, goose; hart, roe; 
ram, ewe; stag, hind; stallion, mare; steer, 
heifer; ram, wether; tup, dam. 

General Issue. The plea of “Not guilty" to a 
criminal charge; “Never indebted" to a 
charge of debt; the issue formed by a general 
denial of the plaintiff’s charge. 

Generalissimo. The supreme commander, 
especially of a force drawn from two or more 
nations, or of a combined military and naval 
force. The title is said to have been coined by 
Cardinal Richelieu on taking supreme com- 
mand of the French armies in Italy, in 1629. 
Called Tagus among the ancient Thessalians, 
Brennus among the ancient Gauls, Pendragon 
among the ancient Welsh or Celts. 

In modem times the title has been applied 
to Marshal Foch (1851-1929) who was 
appointed generalissimo of the Allied forces 
in France in 1918: to Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) 
who was made marshal and generalissimo of 
the Soviet forces in 1943; to General Franco 
(b. 1882) who proclaimed himself generalissimo 
of the Spanish army in 1939; to Marshal Chiang 
Kai-shek. President of the Nationalist Re- 
public of China, and leader of the Chinese 
armies against the Japanese and internal foes. 

Generic Names. See Biddy. 




Generous 


390 


Gentleman 


Generous. Generous as Hatim. An Arabian 
expression. Hatim was a Bedouin chief famous 
for his warlike deeds and boundless generosity. 
His son was contemporary with Mohammed. 
Let Zal and Rustum bluster as they will, , 

Or Hatim call to Supper — heed not you. 

Fitzgerald: Rubaiydt of Omar Khayydm, x. 

Geneva (je nS' v&). See Gin. 

The Geneva Bible. See Bible, the English. 

The Geneva Bull. A nickname given to 
Stephen Marshall ( c . 1594-1655), a Presby- 
terian divine, and one of the authors of 
Smectymnuus (q.v.), because he was a disciple 
of John Calvin, of Geneva, and when preach- 
ing he roared like a “bull of Bashan.” 

Geneva Convention. Henri D unant, a Swiss, 
published an account of the sufferings of the 
wounded at the battle of Solferino in 1859. 
From this sprang (1) the International Red 
Cross, and (2) an international convention, 
1864, governing the treatment of wounded. At 
a conference in London in 1872 Dunant 
suggested a code for the treatment of prisoners 
of war which was adopted by all civilized 
nations. 

Geneva courage. Pot valour; the braggadocio 
which is the effect of having drunk too much 
gin ( q.v.), or geneva . Cp. Dutch Courage. 

Geneva Cross. See Red Cross. 

Gen^v^ doctrines. Calvinism. Calvin, in 1541, 
was inVitfcd to take up his residence in Geneva 
as the public teacher of theology. From this 
period Geneva was for many years the centre 
of edition for the Protestant youths of 
Europe. " 

Genevieve, St. (jen&vgv) (422-512). Patroness 
of the city of Paris. Her day is January 3rd, 
and She is represented in art with the keys of 
Paris at her girdle, a devil blowing out her 
candle, and an angel relighting it, or as 
restoring sight to her blind mother, or guarding 
her father's sheep. She was born at Nanterre, 
and was influential in averting a threatened 
attack*. on Paris by Attila the Hun. 

Genius (pi. Genii). In Roman mythology the 
tutelary spirit that attended a man from his 
cradle to his grave, governed his fortunes, 
determined his character, and so on. The 
Eastern genii (sing, genie ) were entirely 
different from the Roman, not attendant 
spirits, v but fallen angels, dwelling in Dijin- 
nistan* under the dominion of Eblis; the 
Roman were very similar to the guardian 
angels spoken of in Matt . xviii, 10; and in this 
sense Mephistopheles is spoken of as the evil 
genius (the “familiar”) of Faust. The Romans 
maintained that two genii attended every man 
from birth to death — one good and the other 
evil. Good luck was brought about by the 
agency of “his good genius;” and ill luck by 
that of his “evil genius.” 

The genius loci was the tutelary deity of a 
place. 

The word is from the Lat. gignere , to be^et 
(Gr. etenesthal , to be born), from the notion 
that birth and life were due to these dU 
genitales. Hence it is used for birth-wit or in- 
nate talent; hence propensity, nature, inner 
man. 


Genocide/jen' 6 sld). A word invented by Prof. 
Raphael Lemkin, of Duke University, U.S.A., 
and used in the drafting of the official in- 
dictment of war criminals in 1945. It comes 
from the Greek genos , race; and Latin caedere , 
to kill. It is defined as acts intended to destroy, 
in whole or in part, national, ethnical, racial, or 
religious groups. On 9th December, 1948, it 
was declared by the United Nations General 
Assembly to be a criitie in international law. 

Genre Painter fzhon' r£). A painter of domes- 
tic, rural, or village scenes, such as A Village 
Wedding, The Young Recruit , Blind Man*s 
Buff, The Village Politician , etc. In the drama, 
Victor Hugo introduced the genre system in 
lieu of the stilted, unnaturafUtyle of Louis 
XlV’s era. 

We call those “genre** canvases, whereon are 
painted idylls of the fireside, the roadside, and the 
farm; pictures of real life. — E. C. Stedman: Poets of 
America, ch. iv. 

Gens (jenz) (Lat. pi. gentes). A clan or sept in 
ancient Rome; a number of families deriving 
from a common ancestor, having the same 
name, religion, etc. 

Gens braccata (Lat.). Trousered people. The 
Romans wore no trousers (“breeches”) like 
the Gauls, Scythians, and Persians. Cp . 
Gallia Braccata. 

Gens togata. See Toga. 

Gentle. Belonging to a family of position; well 
born; having the manners of genteel persons. 

We must be gentle, now we are gentlemen. — 
Winter's Tale , V, li. 

The word is from Lat. gentilis , of the same 
family or gens , through O.Fr. gentil, high-born. 

The gentle craft. Shoe-making; so called from 
St. Crispin, who is said to have been a Roman 
citizen of high birth who was converted to 
Christianity. He left his native city on account 
of persecution, became a shoemaker at Sois- 
sons, and was martyred about 285. 

As I am a true shoemaker and a gentleman of the 
gentle craft, buy spurs yourselves, and I’ll find ye boots 
these seven years. — Dekker: The Shoemaker's Holi- 
day, or a Pleasant Comedy of the Gentle Craft , I, i 
( 1599 ). 

Angling is also known as “the gentle craft” 
— perhaps because there is nothing that can be 
called rough about its practice. 

The Gentle Shepherd. A nickname given by 
Pitt to George Grenville (1712-70). In the 
course of a speech on the cider tax (1763) 
Grenville addressed the House somewhat 
plaintively: “Tell me where? tell me where?” 
Pitt hummed a line of a song then very popular, 
“Gentle shepherd, tell me where?” The House 
burst into laughter; and the name stuck to 
Grenville. The line is from a song by Samuel 
Howard (1710-82), a writer of many popular 
lyrics. 

Gentleman (from O.Fr. gentilz hom). Properly, 
a man entitled to bear arms but not of the 
nobility; hence, one of gentle birth, of some 

osition in society, and with the manners, 

earing, and behaviour appropriate to one in 
such a position. 

Be it spoken (with all reverent reservation of duty) 
the King who hath power to make Esquires, Knights, 
Baronets, Barons, Viscounts, Earls, Marquesses, and 




Gentleman 


391 


Georg6 


Dukes, cannot make a Gentleman, for Gentilitie is a 
matter of race, and of blood, and of descent, from 
Gentle and noble parents and ancestors, which-no 
Kings can give to any, but to such as they beget,— 
Edmond Howes (fl. 1607 - 31 ). 

Juliana Berners, in her Boke of St. Albans 
(1486), in the treatise “Blasyng of Armys,” 
has a curious use of the word : — 

Of the offspring of the gentilman Jafeth came 
Habraham, Moyses, Aron, and the profettys: and also 
the kyng of the right lyne of Mary, of whom that 
gentilman Jhesus was borne very god and man: after 
his manhode kyng of the londe of Judea of Jues, 
gentilman by is modre Mary, prynce of Cote armure. 

In the York Mysteries also (c. 1440) we 
read, “Ther schall a gentilman, Jesu, unjustely 
be judged/’ 


A gentleman large. A man of means, who 
does not have td work for his living, and is free 
to come and go as he pleases. Formerly the 
term denoted a gentleman attached to the 
court but having no special duties. 


* 


for the preceding in their absence. (4) The 
Gentleman Usher to the Robes , >who replaces 
the Groom of the Stole (<y.v.), an office which 
was allowed to lapse at the accession of Queen 
Victoria, the Mistress of the Robes taking his 
place. 

Gentlemen at Arms, The Honourable Corps of. 
The Bodyguard of the Sovereign (formerly 
called Gentlemen Pensioners ), acting in con- 
junction with the Yeomen of the Guard. 
It consists of 40 retired officers of ranks from 
general to major of the Regular Army and 
Marines, and has a Captain, Lieutenant, 
Standard Bearer, Clerk of the Cheque & 
Adjutant, and a Harbinger. 

The gentleman in black velvet. It was in these 
words that the 18th-century Jacobites used to 
toast the mole that made the molehill that 
caused William Ill’s horse to stumble and so 
brought about his death. 


A gentleman of fortune. A pirate, an adven- 
turer (a euphemistic phrase). 

A gentleman of the four outs. A vulgar up- 
start, with-o/// manners, with-c?w/ wit, with -out 
money, and with-owr credit. There are variants 
of the phrase, and sometimes the outs are 
increased to five: — 

Out of money, and out of clothes, 

Out at the heels, and out at the toes. 

Out of credit — but, don’t forget, 

Never out of but aye in debt! 

A gentleman’s gentleman. A manservant, 
especially a valet. 

Fag.: My master shall know this — and if he don’t call 

him out / will. 

Lucy: Ha! ha! ha! You gentlemen’s gentlemen are 

so hasty! Sheridan: The Rivals, II, ii. 

A nation of gentlemen. So George IV called 
the Scots when, in 1822, he visited their 
country and was received with great expres- 
sions of loyalty. 

Gentleman Commoner. See Fellow Com- 
moner. 

Gentleman Pensioner. See Gentlemen at 
Arms, below . 

Gentleman-ranker. In the days of the small 
regular army before World War I this term was 
applied to a well-born or educated man who 
enlisted as a private soldier. It was considered 
a last resort of one who had made a mess of 
things. 

We’re poor little lambs who’ve lost our way, 
Baa! Baa! Baa! 

We’re little black sheep who’ve gone astray. 
Baa— aa — aa ! 

Gentlemen-rankers out on the spree, 

Damned from here to Eternity, 

God ha’ mercy on such as we. 

Baa! Yah! Bah! 

Kipung : Gentlemen Rankers. 

Gentleman Usher. A court official belonging 
to one of four classes, viz.: (1) Gentlemen 
Ushers of the Privy Chamber; these are in 
closest association with the Sovereign, wait 
on him at chapel, and conduct him in the 
absence of the Lord Chamberlain. (2) Gentle - 
men Ushers Daily Waiters , who are headed by 
Black Rod (?.v.) and officiate monthly by 
turns in the Presence Chamber. (3) Gentlemen 
Ushers Quarterly Waiters f who act as deputies 


The Old Gentleman. The Devil; Old Nick. 
Also a special card in a prepared pack, used 
for tricks or cheating. 

To put a churl upon a gentleman. To drink 
beer just after drinking wine. 

Geomancy (je' 6 man si) (Gr. ge, the earth; 
manteia , prophecy). Divining by the earth.*. 
Diviners in the 16th century made deductions 
from the patterns made by earth thrown into 
the air and allowed to fall on some flat surface, 
and drew on the earth their magija pircles, 
figures, lines, etc. 

Geopolitics (je 6 pol' i tiks). Theories relating 
to a nation’s political dependence on pfcysl<£al 
environment and its geographical position. 
The chief developers of these theories were Sir 
Halford Mackinder, Father Walsh (U.S.A.j, 
and Karl Haushofer in Germany. Tne Nazis 
seized on the teachings of the last-named and 
distorted them to support their demand for 
Lebensraum. 

George. St. George. The patron saint of Eng- 
land since about the time of the institution of 
the Order of the Garter (c. 1348), when h<? was 
“adopted” by Edward III. He is commepidr- 
ated on April 23rd. 4 

St. George had been popular in England 
from the time of the early Crusades, for he was 
said to have come to the assistance of the 
Crusaders at Antioch (1089), and many of the 
Normans (under Robert, son of Wilham the 
Conqueror) then took him as theii^J&fron. 

Gibbon and others argued that George of 
Cappadocia, the Arian bishop of Alexandria, 
became the English patron saint. Historians 
now generally believe that the real St. George 
was a martyr who suffered at or near Lydda 
in Palestine, possibly in the time of Diocletian, 
who was emperor during 284-305. 

The legend of $t. George and the dragon is 
simply an allegorical expression of the triumph 
of the Christian hero over evil, which St. John 
the Divine beheld under the image of a dragon. 
Similarly, St. Michael, St. Margaret, St. 
Silvester, and St. Martha are all depicted as 
slaying dragons; the Saviour and the Virgin as 
treading them under their feet; St. John the 
Evangelist as charming a winged dragon from 
a poispned chalice given him to dnnk; and 



George 


392 


German comb 


Bunyan avails himself of th^satne figure when 
he makes Christiah prevail against Apollyon. 

Thfe legend forms the subject of an ajd ballad 
givep in Percy’s Reliques , in which St. George 
was the son of Lord Albert of Coventry. 

St. George he was for England, St. Denis was 
for France. This refers to the war-cries of the 
two nations — that of England was “St. 
George!” that, of France, “Montjoye St. 
Denis l” 

St. George’s Cross. Red on a white back- 
ground. 

When St. George goes on horseback St. Yves 
goes on foot. In times of war it was supposed 
that lawyers have nothing to do. St. George is 
the patron of soldiers, and St. Yves, or Yvo, an 
early French judge and lawyer noted for his 
incorruptibility and just decrees (d. 1303, 
canonized 1347), patron of lawyers. 

George IV was the English king whose man- 
ner of life dubbed him with the most nick- 
names. As Prince Regent he was known as 
“Prinny,” “Prince Florizel” (the name under 
which he corresponded with Mrs. Robinson) 
“The First Gentleman of Europe,” “The 
Adonis of fifty” (for writing this Leigh Hunt 
^%as sent to prison in 1813). As king he was 
called, among less offensive titles, “Fum the 
Fourth,” as by Byron in Don Juan , xi, 78. 

George Cross and Medal. The George Cross 
is secoirar Only to the Victoria Cross. It consists 
of a pldln silver cross, with a medallion 
shewing St. George and the Dragon in the 
, centre# ;The words “For Gallantry” appear 
round tilts medallion, and in the angle of each 
limb of the Cross is the royal cipher. It hangs 
fr 9 n| a dark blue ribbon. The George Cross 
was founded in 1940, primarily for civilians, 
and is awarded only for acts of the greatest 
heroism or the most conspicuous courage in 
circumstances of extreme danger. The George 
Medal (red ribbon with five narrow blue 
stripes) is awarded in similar circumstances to 
the Cross where services are not so outstanding 
asf tp merit the higher award. 

%s good as George-a-Green. Resolute- 
minded: one who will do his duty come what 
may. George-a-Green was the mythical Finder 
(Pinner or Pindar) or pound-keeper of Wake- 
field, who resisted Robin Hood, Will Scarlett, 
and fetU&^John single-handed when they 
attempted to commit a trespass in Wakefield. 

Robert Greene wrote a comedy (published 
1599) called George-a-Greene , or the Pinner of 
Wakefield. 

By George. An oath or exclamation. “St. 
George” used to be the battle-cry of English 
soldiers, and from this arose such expressions 
as “before George”, “ Tore George”. In Ameri- 
can usage it is just “George”, which has several 
additional meanings, chief of which is the 
application of the expression to any person or 
thing that is remarkable or particularly 
satisfying; in fact it means the same as “the 
cat’s pyjamas” ( q.v .). 

Let George do it. Let someone else do it. 
Derived from Louis XII who, when an 
unpleasant task arose, was apt to say “Let 


Georges do it,” referring to his minister, 
Caj^naFGeorges. 

Geraint (ge'rlnt, geranT). In’Arthurian legend, 
a tributary prince of Devon, and one of the 
knights of the Round Table. In the Mabinogion 
story he is the son of Erbin, as he is in the 
Frdhch original, Chrestien de Troyes’ Eric et 
Enide , from which Tennyson drew his Geraint 
and Enid in the Idylls of the King. 

Geraldine (je' r&l den). The Fair Geraldine. 
Lady Elizabeth Fitzgerald (d. 1589) is so 
called in the Earl of Surrey’s poems. She was 
the youngest daughter of the Earl of Kildare. 

Geranium. The Turks say this was a common 
mallow changed by the touch of Mohammed’s 
garment. 

The word is Gr. geranos , a crane; and the 
wild plant is called “Crane’s Bill,” from the 
resemblance of the fruit to the bill of a crane. 

Gerda or Gerdhr (ger' da). In Scandinavian 
mythology (the Skirnismal ), a young giantess, 
wife of Freyj and daughter of the frost giant 
Gymer. She is so beautiful that the brightness 
of her naked arms illumines both air and sea. 

Geriatrics (je ri at' riks). The study of old age, 
medically and socially. The word comes from 
the Greek geron , an old man. 

German or germane. Pertaining to, nearly 
related to, as cousins-german (first cousins), 
germane to the subject (bearing on or pertinent 
to the subject). This word has no connexion 
with the German nation, but is Lat. germanus , 
of the same germ or stock. 

Those that are germane to him, though removed 
fifty times, shall all come under the hangman. — 
Winter's Tale, IV, iii. 

Germany. The English name for the German 
Deutschland (Fr. Allemagne) is the Lat. 
Germania , the source of which is not certain; 
it is thought to be the form given by the 
Romans to the Celtic or Gaulish name for the 
Teutons; in which case it may be connected 
with Celt, gair, neighbour, gavim , war-cry, or 
with ger, spear. 

Geoffrey of Monmouth, recording popular 
eponymic legends, says that Ebrancus, a 
mythological descendant of Brute (q.v.) and 
founder of York ( Eboracuni ), had twenty sons 
and thirty daughters. All the sons, except the 
eldest, settled m Germany, which was there- 
fore called the land of the germans or brothers. 
Spenser, speaking of “Ebranck,” says: — 

An happy man in his first days he was, 

Ancf happy father of fair progeny; 

For all so many weeks as the year has 
So many children he did multiply! 

Of which were twenty sons ? which did apply 
Their minds to praise and chivalrous desire. 

Those germans did subdue all Germany, 

Of whom it hight. Faerie Queenc , II, x, 22. 

German comb. The four fingers and thumb. 
The Germans were the last nation to adopt 
periwigs; and while the French were never seen 
without a comb in one hand, the Germans 
adjusted their hair by running their fingers 
through it. 

He apparelled himself according to the season, and 
afterwards combed his head with an Alman comb. — 
Rabelais: Bk. I, xxi. 



German silver 


393 


Ghebers 


German silver. A silvery-looking alloy of 
copper, zinc, and nickel. It was first mad| jn 
Europe at Hildburghausen, in Germany, in 
the early 19th century, but had been used by 
the Chinese time out of mind. 

Geronimo (je ron' i mo). The name taken by 
Goyathlay (One who Yawns), an Apache 
chieftain who led a sensational Indian cam- 
paign against the Whites in 1885-6. He was 
captured by General Cook, escaped, was re- 
captured, and imprisoned for some time. He 
later became a member of the Dutch Reformed 
Church, and wrote his memoirs, 1906. 

Gerrymander (jer i man' der). So to divide a 
county or nation into representative districts 
as to give one -special political party undue 
advantage over others. The word is derived 
from Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814), who adopted 
the scheme in Massachusetts in 1812 when he 
was governor. Gilbert Stuart, the artist, look- 
ing at the map of the new distribution, with a 
little invention converted it into a salamander. 
“No, no!” said Russell, when shown it, “not a 
Sala-mander, Stuart, call it a Gerry-mander.” 

Hence, to hocus-pocus statistics, election 
results, etc., so as to make them appear to give 
other than their true result, or so as to alfect 
the balance. 

Gertrude, St. An abbess (d. 664), aunt of 
Charles Martel’s father, Pepin. She founded 
hospices for pilgrims, and so is a patron saint 
of travellers, and is said to harbour souls on 
the first night of their three days’ journey to 
heaven. She is also the protectress against 
rats and mice, and is sometimes represented as 
surrounded by them, or with them running 
about her distaff as she spins. 

Geryon (ger' i on). In Greek mythology, a 
monster with three bodies and three heads, 
whose oxen ate human flesh, and were guarded 
by Orthros, a two-headed dog. Hercules slew 
both Geryon and the dog. 

Gessler, Hermann (ges' ler). The tyrannical 
Austrian governor of the three Forest Cantons 
of Switzerland who figures in the Tell legend. 

See Tell, William. 

• 

Gesta Romanorum (jes' ta ro ma nor' urn). A 
pseudo-devotional compilation of popular 
tales in Latin (many from Oriental sources), 
each with an arbitrary “moral” attached for the 
use of preachers, assigned — in its collected 
form — to about the end of the 14th century. 
The name, meaning “The Acts of the Romans,” 
is merely fanciful. It was first printed at Utrecht 
about 1472, and the earliest English edition is 
that of Wynkyn de Worde about 1510, but 
long before this the people had, through the 
pulpit, come to know it, and many English 
poets, from Chaucer to William Morris, have 
laid it under contribution. Shakespeare drew 
the plot of Pericles from the Gesta Roman - 
orum , as well as the incident of the three 
caskets in the Merchant of Venice. i 

Gestapo (ge sta' po). A word made up from 
the German Geheime Staatspolizei , the political 
police who acquired such sinister fame in Nazi 
Germany. It was organized by Heinrich Himm- 
ler as an independent supreme Reich authority, 
beyond all judicial or administrative control, 


and to it was cbrrffnitted the execution of all 
punitive or repressive measufts of the’govern- 
ment. J Jty 

Gestas (jjes' tas). The traditional name of^he 
impendent thief. See Dysmas. 

Get. With its past and past participle got , one 
of the hardest-worked words in the English 
language; the following example from a mid- 
Victorian writer shows some ofTts uses — and 
abuses : — 

I got on horseback within ten minutes after I got 
your letter. When I got to Canterbury I got a chaise 
for town; but I got wet through, and have got such a 
cold that I shall not get rid of in a hurry. I got to the 
Treasury about noon, but first of all got shaved and 
dressed. I soon got into the secret of getting a mem- 
orial before the Board, but I could not get an answer 
then; however, I got intelligence from a messenger 
that I should get one next morning. As soon as I got 
hack to my inn. I got my supper, and then got to bed. 
When I got up next morning, I got my breakfast, and, 
having got dressed, I got out in time to get an answer 
to my memorial. As soon as I got it, I got into a 
chaise, and got back to Canterbury by three, and got 
home for tea. I have got nothing for you, and so adieu. 

For phrases such as To get out of bed the 
wrong side, To get the mitten. To get the wind 
up, etc., see the main word in the phrase. 

How are you getting on? How do things fare 
with you? How are you prospering? 4, 

To get at. To tamper with, bribe, influence 
to a wrong end; especially used in horse- 
racing. * 

To get by. To get along all rijS'hX just 
satisfactorily. 

To get down to it. To set about your wMk . 
or whatever it is you have in hand Ijrftdowh^ 
right earnest. „ ^ 

To get it in the neck. To receive a though 
dressing down, beating, punishment, etc. 

To get off. To escape; also (of a girl) to be- 
come engaged to be married, or to make 
acquaintanceship with a man. 

To get there. To succeed; to “arrive”; attain 
one’s object. ^ 

To get up. To rise from one’s bed. To lCarri, . 
as “1 must get up my history.” To organize ail'd" 
arrange, as “We will get up a bazaar.” 

To get well on, or well oiled. To become 
intoxicated. 

Who are you getting at ? Who are youirying 
to take a rise out of? Whose leg aretyou trying 
to pull? A question usually asked sarcastically 
by the intended butt. 

Your get-up was excellent. Your style of dress 
exactly suited the part you professed to enact. 
In the same way, She was got up regardless , 
her dress was splendid; money was no obiect 
when obtaining it — it was bought “regardless 
of expense.” 

Gethsemane (geth sem' a ni). The Orchis macu - 
lata , supposed in legendary story to be spotted 
by the blood of Christ. 

Gewgaw. A showy trifle. The word may be an 
imitation of Fr. joujou , a baby word for a toy 
( jouer , to play), or it may be from givegove , a 
M.E. reduplication of give. 

Ghebers. See Guebres, 



Ghibelline 


394 


Giants 


Ghibellta# (gib' eygn). The Imperial and aris- 
tocratic Taction m Italy in the Middle Ages, 
oppfled to the Guelphs ( see Guems and 
GhIbelunes). The name was the war-cry of 
the followers of Conrad III at the battle of 
Weinsberg (1140), and is the Italian form of 
Ger. Waiblingen , am estate in Wurtemberg, 
then belonging to the Emperor's family, the 
House of Hohenstaufen. 

Ghost. To give up the ghost. To die. The idea 
is that life is independent of the body, and is 
due to the habitation of the ghost or spirit in 
the material body. 

Man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up 
the ghost, and where is he ? — Job xiv, 10. 

The ghost of a chance. The least likelihood. 
“He has not the ghost of a chance of being 
elected," not the shadow of a probability. 

The ghost walks. Theatrical slang for “salaries 
are about to be paid"; when there’s no money 
in the treasury actors say “the ghost won’t 
walk this time. The allusion is to Hamlet I, i. 
where Horatio asks the ghost if it “walks’* 
because — 

Thou hast uphoarded in thy life 
Extorted treasure in the womb of earth. 


Ghost-word. A term invented by Skeat 
( Philol . Soc. Transactions , 1886) to denote 
words that have no real existence but are due 
to the blunders of scribes, printers, or editors, 
etc. Like-ghosts we may seem to sec them, or 
may fmtfciy that they exist; but they have no 
real entity. We cannot grasp them. When we 
, wfhld dot. so, they disappear. Acre-fight and 
; sliig-hoipiq.v.) are examples. 

Intrusive letters that have no etymological 
right in a WSra but have been inserted through 
fjybfl^uialo^ with words similarly pronounced 
(®te the gh in sprightly or the h in aghast) are 
sometimes called ghost-letters. 

Ghost writer. The anonymous author who 
writes speeches, articles or books — especially 
autobiographies — for which another and better 
kn<^jpi person gets the credit. 

^Gjfppts, i.e . persons well above the average 
*neight and size, are by no means uncommon 
as T ‘sports" or “freaks of nature"; but the 
widespread belief in pre-existing races or in- 
dividual instances of giants among primitive 
peoples is due partly to the ingrained idea that 
the pufesent generation is invariably a degener- 
ation — ’‘There were giants in the earth in 
those days" ( Gen . vi, 4)-y-and partly to the 
existence from remote antiquity of cyclopaean 
buildings, gigantic sarcophagi, etc., and to the 
discovery from time to time in pre-scientific 
days of the bones of extinct monsters which 
ware taken to be those of men. Among in- 
stances of the latter may be mentioned the 
following : — 

A skeleton discovered at Lucerne in 1577 19 ft. in 
height. Dr. Plater is our authority for this measure- 
ment. . s 

“Teutobochus,” whose remains were discovered near 
the Rhone in 1 613. They occupied a tomb 30 ft. long. 
The bones of another gigantic skeleton were ex- 
posed by the action of the Rhone in 1456. If this 
was a human skeleton, the height of the living man 
must have been 30 ft. 

Pliny records that an earthquake in Crete exposed the 
pon^s of a giant 46 cubits (i.e. roughly 75 ft.) in 


height; he called this the skeleton of Orion, others 
held it to be that of Otus. 

Antaeus te said by Plutarch to have been 60 cubits 
(about >0 fk) in height. He furthermore adds that 
the grave of the giant was opened by Serbonius. 
The “monster Polypheme.” It is said that his skeleton 
^afs discovered at Trapani, in Sicily, in the 14th 
v century. If this skeleton was that of a man, he must 
have been 300 ft. in height. 

Giants of the Bible. 

Anak. The eponymous progenitor of the Anakim (see 
below). The Hebrew spies said they were mere 
grasshoppers in comparison with these giants. 
I Josh . xv, 14; Judges i, 20; and Numb, xiii, 33). 
Goliath of Gath (I Sam. xvii, etc.). His height is given 
as 6 cubits and a span: the cubit varied and might 
be anything from about 18 in. to 21 in., and a span 
was about 9 in.; this would give Goliath a height of 
between 9 ft. 9 in. and 1 1 ft. 3 in. 

Og, King of Bashan (Josh, xii, 4; Deut. iii, 8, iv, 47, 
etc.), was “of the remnant of the Rephaim.” Accord- 
ing to tradition, he lived 3,000 years and walked 
beside the Ark during the Flood. One of his bones 
formed a bridge over a river. His bed (Deut. iii, 11) 
was 9 cubits by 4 cubits. 

The Anakim and Rephaim were tribes of reputed 
giants inhabiting the territory on both sides of the 
Jordan before the coming of the Israelites. The 
Nephilim, the offspring of the sons of God and the 
daughters of men (Gen. vi, 4), a mythological race 
of semi-divine heroes, were also giants. 

The giants of Greek mythology were, for 
the most part, sons of Uranus and Ge. When 
they attempted to storm heaven, they were 
hurled to earth by the aid of Hercules, and 
buried under Mount Etna. See Titans. Those 
of Scandinavian mythology were evil genii, 
dwelling in Jotunheim ( giant-land ), who had 
terrible and superhuman powers, could appear 
and disappear, reduce and extend their stature 
at will, etc. 

Many names of ancient giants will be found 
in their appropriate places in this Dictionary. 

Giants of Later Tradition. 

Andronicus IJ was 10 ft. in height. He was grandson 
of Alexius Comnenus. Nicetas asserts that he had 
seen him. 

Charlemagne was nearly 8 ft. in height, and was so 
strong he could squeeze together three horseshoes 
with nis hands. 

Eleazer was 7 cubits (nearly 11 ft.). Vitellus sent this 
giant to Rome; he is mentioned by Josephus. 
Goliath was 6 cubits and a span. 

Gabara, the Arabian giant, was 9 ft. 9 in. This Arab- 
ian giant is mentioned by Pliny, who says he was 
the tallest man seen in the days of Claudius. 
Hardrada (Harold) was nearly 8 ft. in height (“5 ells 
of Norway”), and was called “the Norway giant.” 
Maximinus I was 8 ft. 6 in. in height. Roman emperor 
from 235 to 238. 

Osen (Heinrich) was 7 ft. 6 in. in height at the age 
of 27, and weighed above 37 st. He was bom m 
Norway. 

Porus was 5 cubits in height (about ft.). He was 
an Indian king who fought against Alexander the 
Great near the Hydaspes. ( Quintus Curtius: De 
rebus ges/is Alexandrl Magni.) 

Josephus speaks of a Jew 10 ft. 2 in. 

Becanus asserts that he had seen a man nearly 10 ft. 
high, and a woman fully 10 ft. 

Gasper Bauhin speaks of a Swiss 8 ft. in height. 
Del Rio tells us he himself saw a Piedmontese in 1572 
more than 9 ft in height. , 

A Mr. Warren (in Notes and Queries , August 14th, 

1 875) said that his father knew a woman 9 ft. in height, 
and adds “her head touched the ceiling of a good- 
sized rooni.” 

Vanderbrook says he saw in the Congo a black man 
9 ft. high. 

A giant was exhibited at Rouen in the early part of 
the 18th century 17 ft; 10 in. (!) in height. 



Giants 


395 


Gib Cat 


Gorapus, the surgeon, tells us of a Swedish giantess, 
who, at the age of 9, was over 10 ft. in height. 

Turner, the naturalist, tells us he saw in Brazil a 
giant 12 ft. in height. , ,, + 

M. Thevet published, in 1575, an account of a 
South American giant, the skeleton of which he 
measured. It was 11 ft. 5 in. 

Giants of Modem Times. 

Bamford ( Edward ) was 7 ft. 4 in. He died in 1768, and 
was buried in St. Dunstan’s churchyard. 

Bates ( Captain ) was 7 ft. 1 1| in. He was a native 
of Kentucky, and was exhibited in London in 1871. 
His wife, Anne Hannen Swan, a native of Nova 
Scotia, was the same height. 

Blacker {Henry) was 7 ft. 4 in. and most sym- 
metrical. He was born at Cuckfield, in Sussex, in 
1724, and was called “The British Giant.’’ 

Bradley ( William ) was 7 ft. 9 in. in height. He 
was born in 1787, and died 1820. His birth is duly 
registered in the parish church of Market Weighton, 
in Yorkshire, and his right hand is preserved in the 
museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. 

Brice (M. J.), exhibited under the name of Anak, was 
7 ft. 8 in. in height at the age of 26. He was born 
in 1840 at Ramonchamp, in the Vosges, and visited 
England 1862-5. His arms had a stretch of 95i in. 
Brusted {Von) was 8 ft. in height. This Norwegian 
giant was exhibited in London in 1880. 

Busby {John) was 7 ft. 9 in. in height, and his brother 
was about the same. They were natives of Darlield, 
in Yorkshire. 

Chang, the Chinese giant, was 8 ft. 2 in. in height. He 
was exhibited in London in 1865-6, and again in 
1880. 

Cotter ( Patrick ) was 8 ft. 71 in. in height. This 
Irish giant died at Clifton, Bristol, in 1802. A cast 
of bis hand is preserved in the museum of the 
Royal College of Surgeons. 

Daniel, the porter of Oliver Cromwell, was a man of 
gigantic stature. 

Eleizegue {Joachim) was 7 ft. 10 in. in height. He 
was a Spaniard, and exhibited in the Cosmorama, 
Regent Street, London, in the mid- 19th century. 
Evans {William) was 8 ft. at death. He was a porter 
of Charles I, and died in 1632. 

Frank {Big) was 7 ft. 8 in. in height. He was 
Francis Sheridan, an Irishman, and died in 1870. 
Frenz {Louis) was 7 ft. 4 in. in height. He was called 
“the French giant,” and his left hand is preserved 
in the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. 
Gilly was 8 ft. This Swedish giant was exhibited in 
the early part of the 10th century. 

Gordon {Alice) was 7 ft. in height. She was a native 
of Essex, and died in 1737, at the age of 19. 

Hale {Robert) was 7 ft. 6 in. in height. He was born 
at Soraerton, in Norfolk, and was called “the 
Norfolk giant” (1820-62). 

Holmes {Benjamin) was 7 ft. 6 in. in height. He was a 
Northumberland man, and was made sword- 
bearer to the Corporation of Worcester. He died in 
1892. 

Louishkin. A Russian giant of 8 ft. 5 in.; drum- 
major of the Imperial Guards. 

McDonald {James) was 7 ft. 6 in. in height. Born in 
Cork, Ireland, and died in 1760. 

McDonald {Samuel) was 6 ft. 10 in. in height. This 
Scot was usually called “Big Sam.” He was the 
Prince of Wales’s footman, and died in 1802. 
Magrath {Cornelius) was 7 ft. 10 in. in height at the 
age of 16. He was an orphan reared by Bishop 
Berkeley, and died at the age of 20 (1740-60). 
Mellon ( Edmund ) was 7 ft. 6 in. in height at the 
age of 19. He was born at Port Leicester, in Ireland 
(1665-84). 

Middleton ( Jphn ) was 9 ft. 3 in. in height. {Cp. 
Gabara, above.) “His hand was 17 inches long and 
8fc broad.” He was* born at Hale, Lancashire, in 
the reign of James I. (Dr. Plott: Natural History of 
Staffordshire , p. 295.) 

Miller {Maximilian Christopher) was 8 ft. in height, 
His hand measured 12 in., and his forefinger was 
9 in. long. This Saxon giant died in London at 
the age of 60 (1674-1734). 


Murphy was 8 ft. 10 in. In height. An 'Irish giant 
of the late 18th century. He didd at Marseilles. 
O’Brien, or Charles Byrne, was 8 ft. 4 in. in 
height*/ The skeleton of this Irish giant is prelUved 
in the Royal College of Surgeons. He died in Cock- 
spur Street, London (1761-83). 

O’Brif.* t Patrick ), was 8 ft. 7 in. in height. He died 
August 3, 1804, aged 39. 

Riechart {J. N.) was 8 ft. 4 in. in height. He was 
a native of Friedberg, ahd both his father and 
mother were of gigantic stature. 

Salmeron {Martin) was 7 ft. 4 in. in height. He 
was called “The Mexican Giant.” 

Sam (Big). See McDonald. 

Sheridan. See Frank. 

Swan (Anne Hannen). See Bates. 

Toller (James) was 8 ft. at the age of 24. He died in 
February, 1819. 

In the museum of Trinity College, Dublin, is a 
human skeleton 8 ft. 6 in. in height. 

Thomas Hall, of Willingham, was 3 ft. 9 in. at the 
age of 3. 

Giants, Battle of the. Melagnano or Mari- 
gnano, situated on the Lambro, 9 miles south- 
east of Milan. On September 13-14th, 1515 the 
French under Francis I defeated the Swiss 
mercenaries defending the city of Milan. The 
same battlefield was the scene of the French 
victory over the Austrians, June 8th, 1859. 

Giant’s Causeway. A formation of prismatic 
basaltic columns, projecting into the sea about 
8 miles E.N.E. of Portrush, Co. Antrim, on the 
north coast of Ireland. It is fabled to be the 
beginning of a road to be constructed by the 
giants across the channel, reaching from 
Ireland to Scotland. v' 

Giants* Dance, The. Stonehenge, wfyich 
Geoffrey of Monmouth says was removed;,, 
from Killaraus, a mountain in Ireland, by the a 
magical skill of Merlin. d * 

Giant’s Leap, The. A name popularly >^iven 
in many mountainous districts to two promin- 
ent rocks separated from each other by a wfae 
chasm or open stretch of country across which 
some giant is fabled to have leapt while being 
pursued and so to have baffled his followers. 

Giants’ Ring, The. A prehistoric circular 
mound near Milltown, Co. Down. Ireland. It 
is 580 ft. in diameter, and has a cromlech in 
the centre. 

Giants’ Staircase. The staircase which rises 
from the courtyard of the Doge’s Palace, 
Venice is so called because of the figures of two 
giants at the head. 

Giants’ War with Zeus, The. The War of thp 
Giants and the War of the Titan^ should Bfe 
kept distinct. The latter was before Zeus became 
god of heaven and earth, the former was after 
that time. Kronos, a Titan, had been exalted 
by his brothers to the supremacy, blit Zeus 
dethroned him, after ten years’ contest, and 
hurled the Titans into hell. The other war v&as 
a revolt by the giants against Zeus, which was 
readily put down by the help of the other 
gods and the aid of Hercules. 

Giaour (jou' £r). Amdng Mohammedans, one 
who is not an adherent of their faith, especially 
a Christian; generally used with a contemp- 
tuous or insulting implication. The word is a 
variant of Guebre 

Gib Cat (jib kat). A tom-cat. The male cat used 
to be called Gilbert, Tibert or Tybalt fa.v.) is 


Gibeonite 


396 


Giles 


the French form of Gilbert, and hence 
Chaucer, or whoever it was that translated 
tha&part of the Romance of the Rose , renders 
“Thioert le Cas” by “Gibbe, our Cat” (line 
6204). Generally used of a castrated cat. 

I am as melancholy as a gib cat or a luggedjbear. — 
Henry IV, Pt. I, I, ii. 

Gibeonite (gib' i on It). A slave’s slave, a 
workman’s labourer, a farmer’s under- 
strapper, or Jack-of-all-work. The Gibeonites 
were made “hewers of wood and drawers of 
water” to the Israelites (Josh, ix, 27). 

Gibraltar (jib rol' tar). The “Calpe” and 
“Pillars of Hercules” of the ancients. The 
modern name is a corruption of Gebel-al-Tarik , 
the Hill of Tarik, Tarik being a Saracen leader 
who, under the orders of Mousa, landed at 
Calpe in 710, utterly defeated Roderick, the 
Gothic King of Spain, and built a castle on the 
rock. It was taken from the Moors in 1462; in 
1704 a combined force of English and Dutch 
took the place, since when it has remained in 
British hands. The Spaniards and French 
beseiged it in 1704-5, the Spaniards in 1727, 
and the Spaniards and French in 1779-83, 
when it was held by Lord Heathfield. 

Gibson Girl. A type of feminine beauty 
characteristic of its period depicted by Charles 
Dana Gibson (1867-1944) in several popular 
series of black-and-white drawings, dating 
from 1896. His delineations of the American 
girl enjoyed an enormous vogue, culminating 
in the series entitled The Education of Mr. Pipp 
which appeared in Colliers Weekly (1899) and 
formed the basis of a play of that name. The 
Gibson girl, who was depicted in various poses 
and occupations, was tall, bending forward 
somewhat from the waist, her individuality 
accentuated by the period costume of sweeping 
skirts and large hats. 

Gibus (jl' bus). An opera-hat named after its 
inventor, a Parisian hat-maker in the early 
19th century. It is a cloth top-hat with a 
collapsible crown that enables the wearer to 
fold it up when not in use. 

*Gi&Gaff. Give and take; good turn for good 
c turn. 

Gifford Lectureships. Founded in the univers- 
ities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and St. 
Andrews in 1885 by a bequest of Adam Lord 
Gifford. Their subject is Natural Theology, 
without reference to creed or sect 

Gift-horse. Don’t look a gift-horse in the mouth. 
When a present is made, do not inquire too 
minutely into its intrinsic value. The proverb 
has its counterpart in many languages. 

Giggle. Have you found a giggle’s nest? A 
question asked in Norfolk when anyone laughs 
immoderately and senselessly. The meaning is 
obvious — have you found the place where 
giggles are made? Cp. Gape’s nest. 

Gig-lamps. Slang for spectacles, especially large 
round ones ; the reason is obvious. 

Giglet. Formerly a light, wanton woman, the 
word is still in common use in the West of 
England for a giddy, romping, tomboy girl; 
and in Salop a flighty person is called a 
“giggle.” ^ 


If this be 

The recompehse of striving to preserve 
A wanton gigglat honest, v$ry shortly 
’Twill make all mankind panders. 

Massinger^ The Fatal Dowry, HI, i (1619). 

Gigman. A quite respectable person (in 
contempt); hence gigmanity , smug respecta- 
bility, a word invented by Carlyle. A witness 
in the trial for murder of John Thurtell (1823) 
said, “I always thought him [Thurtell] a 
respectable man.” And being asked by the 
judge why he thought so, replied, “He kept a 
gig” 

Gigolo (jig' o 16). A French slang term for a 
prostitute’s bully, but more commonly applied 
to a lounge lizard, a fellow who hires himself 
out as a dancing-partner or male escort to 
wealthy women. 

Gilbertian (gil ber' ti an). A term applied to 
anything humorously topsy-turvy, any situ- 
ation such as those W. S. Gilbert (1836-191 1) 
depicted in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Of 
these perhaps the Mikado (1885) furnishes the 
best examples. 

Gilbertines (gil' ber tlnz). An English religious 
order founded in the 12th century by St. 
Gilbert of Sempringham, Lincolnshire. The 
monks observed the rule of the Augustinians 
and the nuns that of the Benedictines. 

Gild. To gild the pill. It was the custom of old- 
time doctors — quacks and genuine — to make 
their nauseous pills more attractive, at least 
to the sight, by gilding over them a thin coating 
of sugar. Hence the phrase means to make an 
unattractive thing at least appear desirable. 

Gilded Chamber, The. A familiar name for 
the House of Lords. 

Gilderoy. A famous cattle-stealer and highway- 
man of Perthshire, who is said to have robbed 
Cardinal Richelieu in the presence of the king, 
and hanged a judge. He was hanged in 1636; 
he was noted for his handsome person, and his 
real name was Patrick Macgregor. There are 
ballads on him in Percy’s Reliqucs , Ritson’s 
collection, etc., and a modern one by Camp- 
bell. 

To be hung higher than Gilderoy ’s kite is to 
be punished more severely than the very worst 
criminal. The greater the crime, the higher the 
gallows, was at one time a practical legal 
axiom. The gallows of Montrose was 30 feet 
high. The ballad says; — 

Of Gilderoy sae fraid they were 
They bound him mickle strong, 

Tull Edenburrow they led him thair 
And on a gallows hong; 

They hong him high aboon the rest, 

He was so trim a boy . . . 

Giles. A mildly humorous generic name for a 
farmer; the “farmer’s boy” in Bloomfield’s 
poem was so called. 

Giles, St. Patron saint of cripples. The 
tradition is that Chflderic, king of France, 
accidentally wounded the hermit in the knee 
when hunting; and thp, hermit, refusing to be 
cured that he might the better mortify the 
flesh, remained a cripple for life. 

His day is September 1st, and his symbol a 
hind, in allusion to thp “heaven directed hind” 



titles 


397 


Giovanni 


which went daily to his cave ©ear the mouth of 
the Rhone to give him mjlkt He is. sometimes 
represented as ah old man v^ith an arrow in his 
knee and a hind by his side,'* * 

Churches dedicated to St. Giles were usually 
situated in the outskirts of a city, and originally 
without the walls, cripples and beggars not 
being permitted to pass the gates. 

Giles of Antwerp. Giles Coignet, the Flemish 
painter (1530-1600). 

Gills. Humorous slang for the mouth. 

Blue about the gills. Down in the mouth; 
depressed looking. 

Rosy, or red about the gills. Flushed with 
liquor. 

White about the gills. Showing unmistakable 
signs of fear or terror — sometimes of sickness. 

Gillie. A Gaelic word for a Highland man- 
servant or attendant, especially one who waits 
on a sportsman fishing or hunting. 

Gillies’ Hill. In the battle of Bannockburn 
(1314) King Robert Bruce ordered all the 
gillies, drivers of carts, and camp followers to 
go behind a height. These, when the battle 
seemed to favour the Scots, desirous of sharing 
in the plunder, rushed from their concealment 
with such arms as they could lay hands on; 
and the English, thinking them to be a new 
army, fled in panic. The height was ever after 
called The Gillies* Hill. 

Gillie-wet-foot. A barefooted Highland lad. 
Gillites (U.S.A.). Calvinistic followers of Dr. 
Gill in the District of Columbia. 

Gillyflower (jil i flou' er). Not the Jnly-flower, 
but Fr. giroflee , from girofle (a clove), called by 
Chaucer “gylofre.” The common stock, the 
wallflower, the rocket, the clove pink, and 
several other plants are so called. (Gr. 
karuopltu/lon ; Lat. caryophyllum.) 

The fairest flowers o’ the season 

Are our carnations and streaked gillyflowers. 

Winter's Tale , IV, ii. 

Gilpin, John (gif pin), of Cowper’s famous 
ballad (1782), is a caricature of a Mr. Beyer, an 
eminent lincndrapcr at the end of Paternoster 
Row, where it joins Chcapside. He died in 1791, 
at the age of 98. It was Lady Austin who told 
the adventure to our domestic poet, to divert 
him from his melancholy. The marriage 
adventure of Commodore Trunnion m 
Smollett’s Peregrine Pickle is very similar to 
the wedding day adventure of John Gilpin. 
Gilt-edged Investments. A phrase introduced in 
the last quarter of the 19th century to denote 
securities of the most reliable character, such 
as Consols and other Government and Colo- 
nial stock, first mortgages, debentures, and 
shares in first-rate companies, etc. 

Gimlet-eyed (ginT lit), keen-eyed, very sharp- 
sighted, given to watching or peering into 
things. A gimlet-eye is occasionally applied to 
a squint. 

Gimmer. A jointed Hinge; in Somersetshire, 
gimmace . These words, as also gitnmal , are 
variants of gemel, a ring formed of two inter- * 
laced rings, from Lat. gemellus , the diminutive 
of geminusy a twin. 


. Their poor jades 

Lob down their heads, dropping the hides and hips . . • 
And in their pale dull mouths the gimmal bit 
Lies foul with chew’d grass, still and motionless. 

Henry V, IV, ii. 

Gimmick (gim' ik). The first use of this word 
m U.S.A. slang was to describe some device 
by which a conjurer or fair-ground showman 
worked his trick. In later usage it is applied to 
some distinctive quirk or trick associated with 
a film or radio star. 

Gin. A contraction of geneva, the older name 
of the spirit, from Fr. geni&vre (O.Fr. genivre), 
juniper, the berries of which were at one time 
used to flavour the extract of malt in the 
manufacture of gin. 

Gin-sling. A long drink composed mainly of 
gin and lemon. It has been attributed to John 
Collins, famous bar-tender of Limmer's Hotel 
in London, but it dates from before his time 
and was found in the U.S.A. by 1800. 

Ginevra (jin ev' ra). A young Italian bride 
who hid in a trunk with a spring-lock. The lid 
fell upon her, and she was not discovered 
till the body had become a skeleton. 

Gingerbread. Tawdry wares, showy but worth- 
less. The allusion is to the gingerbread cakes 
fashioned like men, animals, etc., and pro- 
fusely decorated with gold leaf or Dutch leaf, 
which looked like gold, commonly sold at 
fairs up to the middle of the 19th century. 

To take the gilt off the gingerbread. To 
destroy the illusion; to appropriate all the fun 
or profit and leave the dull base behind. 

Gingerly. Cautiously, with hesitating, mincing, 
or faltering steps. The word is over 400 years 
old in English; it has nothing to do With ginger, 
but is probably from O.Fr. gensour , compara- 
tive of gent, delicate, dainty. 

They spend their goods . . . upon their dansing 
minions, that mins it fel gingerlie, God wot, tripping 
like gotes, that an egge would not brek under their 
feet. — S tubbes: Anatomy of Abuses , II, i, (1583J. 

Gingham (ging' am). A playful equivalent of 
umbrella; properly, a cotton or linen fabric 
dyed usually in stripes or checks; so called from 
a Malay word ginggang (that came to us 
through Dutch), meaning striped. 

Ginnunga Gap (gi nung' ga). The abyss be- 
tween Niflheim (the region of fog) and Mus- 
pelheim (the region of heat). It existed before 
either land or sea, heaven or earth, as a chaotic 
whirlpool. (Scandinavian mythology.) 

Giotto’s O (jot' 6). The old story goes that the 
Pope wishing to employ artists from aJl over 
Italy sent a messenger to collect specimens of 
their work. When the man visited Giotto 
(1276-1337) the artist paused for a moment 
from the picture he was working on and 
with his paintbrush drew a perfect circle on 
a piece of paper. In some surprise the man 
returned to the Pope, who, appreciating the 
perfection of Giotto’s artistry and skill by this 
unerring circle, required no further proof but 
employed Giotto forthwith. 

I saw . ... that the practical teaching of the masters 
of Art was summed up by the O of Giotto. — R uskin: 
Queen of the Air , iii. 

Giovanni, Don. See Don |uan. ^ 



Gipsy - 398 Give 


Gipsy. A member of a dark-skinned nomaflfc 
race which first appeared in England about the 
beginning of the 16th century, andf as they 
were thought to have come from Egypt, were 
named Egyptians , which soon became cor- 
rupted to Gypcians , and so to its present form. 
They call themselves Rom (feminine Romni) and 
their language Ronypni, which is connected 
with Indian languages, but the differences of 
dialect from country to country are consider- 
able. 

The name of the largest group of European 

§ ipsies is Atzigan ; this, in Turkey and Greece, 
ecame Tshingian , in the Balkans and Rou- 
mania Tsigan , in Hungary Czigany , in Ger- 
many Zigeuner , in Italy Zingaro , in Portugal 
Cigano , and in Spain Gitano. The original 
name is said to mean “dark man.” See also 
Bohemian. 

Serious study of the Gipsies, their origin, 
history, language, etc., has been carried out by 
George Borrow, R. Hindes-Groome, B. Vesey- 
Fitzgerald, and others. 

Giralda. The name given to the great square 
tower of the cathedral at Seville (formerly a 
Moorish minaret), which is surmounted by a 
statue of Faith, so pivoted as to turn with 
the wind. Giralda is a Spanish word, and means 
a weather-vane. 

Gird. To gird up the loins. To prepare for hard 
work or a journey. The Jews wore a girdle 
only when at work or on a journey. Even to 
the present day. Eastern people who wear loose 
dresses gird them about the loins. 

To gird with the sword. Tp^raise to a peerage. 
It was the Saxon method of investiture to an 
earldom, continued after the Conquest. Thus, 
Richard I “girded with the sword” Hugh de 
Pudsdy, the aged Bishop of Durham, making 
(as he said) “a young earl of an old prelate.” 

Girdle. A good name is better than a golden 
girdle. A good reputation is better than money. 
It used to be customary to carry money in the 
belt, or in a purse suspended from it, and a 
girdle of gold meant a “purse of gold.” 

Children under the girdle. Not yet born. 

He has a large mouth but small girdle. Great 
expenses but small means. 

He has undone her girdle. Taken her for^us 
wife. The Roman bride wore a chaplet' pf 
flowers on her head, and a girdle of sheep’s 
wool about her waist. A part of the marriage 
ceremony was for the bridegroom to loose this. 

If he be angry, he knows how to turn his 
girdles Much Ado About Nothing , V, i). He 
knows how to prepare himself to fight. Before 
wrestlers engaged in combat, they turned the 
buckle of their girdle behind them. Thus, Sir 
Ralph Winwood writes to Mr. Secretary Cecil: 

1 said, “What I spake was not to make him angry.” 
He replied, “If I were angry, I might turn the buckle 
of my girdle behind me.ssypec. 17, 1602. 

The girdle of Venus. See Cestus. 

To put a girdle round die earth. To travel or 
go round it. Puck says: 

I’ll put a girdle round the earth * 

In forty imputes. *■ 

£ v Midsijpimer Night's Dream , II, i. 


Girl. This word is not present in Old English 
but appeacsin Middle English (13th cent.), and 
its etymology has gi^en rise to a host of guesses. 
It was fortfierly#a|plicable to a child of either 
sex jfa boy was sometimes distinguished as a 
“knave-girl”), and is nowadays applied to an 
unmarried Woman of almost any age. It is 
probably a diminutive of some lost word 
cognate with Pomeranian goer and Old Low 
German gor, a child. It appears nearly 70 
times in Shakespeare, but only twice in the 
Authorized Version ( Joel iii, 3; Zech . viii, 5). 

Girl Guides. The opposite number to the 
Boy Scouts and organized in 1910 by General 
Baden-Powell and his sister, Miss Agnes Baden- 
Powell. The training is essentially the same as 
that of the Scouts and is based on similar 
promises and laws. There are three sections: 
Brownies, aged 8 to 11; Guides, 11 to 16; and 
Rangers, for girls over 16 years of age. 

In U.S.A., where they were organized in 
1921, they are called Girl Scouts. 

Girondists, or The Gironde. The moderate 
republicans in the French Revolution (1791- 
93). So called from the department of Gironde, 
which chose for the Legislative Assembly men 
who greatly distinguished themselves for their 
oratory, and formed a political party. They 
were subsequently joined by Brissot (and were 
hence sometimes called the Brissotins), 
Condorcet, and the adherents of Roland. 

They were the ruling party in 1792 but were 
overthrown in the Convention by the Moun- 
tain in 1793 and many of their leaders were 
executed, including Brissot, Vergniaud, Gen- 
sonne, Ducos and Sillery. 

Gis. A corruption of Jesus or J. H. S. Ophelia 
says, “By Gis and by St. Charity” ( Hamlet , 
IV, v). 

Gitano. See Gipsy. 

Give. For phrases such as Give the devil his due, 
Give a dog a bad name and hang him, To give 
one beans, etc., see the principal noun. 

A given name. In American usage a given 
name is a first, or Christian name. 

A give-away is a revealing or betraying 
circumstance. 

To give and take. To be fair; in intercourse 
with others to practise forbearance and 
consideration. In horse-racing a give and take 
plate is a prize for a race in which the runners 
which exceed a standard height carry more, 
and those that come short of it less, than the 
standard weight. 

To giveaway. To hand the bride in marriage 
to the bridegroom, to act the part of the bride's 
father. Also, to let out a secret, inadvertently 
or on purpose; to betray an accomplice. 

To give in. To confess oneself beaten, to 
yield. 

To give it anyone, tofcive it hjxn bet. To scold 
or thrash a person. As I gavp it him right and 
left.” ‘Til give it you wljen I catch you.” 

To giv# *ptieself atvay. To betray oneself by 
some thoughtless action or remark ; to damage 
one’s own cause byfpaplessly letting something 
out. 



Gizzard 


Gleek 


m 


To give out. To make public. Xlso, to come 
to an end, to become ^exhausted ; as “My*" 
money has quite given jut:” ^ * 

To give way. To break ddtyil; to yield. * 

To give what , for. To administer a sound 
thrashing. 

Gizzard. The strong, muscular second stomach 
of birds, where the food is ground, attributed 
humorously to man in some phrases. 

That stuck in his gizzard. Annoyed him, was 
more than he could stomach, or digest. 

Glacis. The sloping bank on the outer edge of 
the covered way in old fortifications. 

Glad To give the glad eye. See Eye. 

Glad rags. A demoded slang term for evening 
dress. 

Gladiators. Those who fought in the ring in 
Rome, originally criminals who thus had the 
choice of death or liberty. They first appeared 
at the funeral ceremonies of the Romans in 
263 b.c.; they were introduced into festivals 
about 215 b.c. Such combats were suppressed 
in the Eastern Empire by Constantino in a.d. 
325 and in the West by Theodoric in A.D. 500. 

Gladstone. A leather bag made in various 
sizes, all convenient to be carried, is so called 
from the statesman William Ewart Gladstone 
(1809-98). His name was also given to cheap 
claret, because, in 1860, when Chancellor of 
the Exchequer, he reduced the duty on French 
wines. 

Glamorgan (gl& mor' g&n). Geoffrey of Mon- 
mouth says that Cundah and Morgan, the 
sons of Gonorill and Regan, usurped the crown 
at the death of Cordellia. The former, resolved 
to reign alone, chased Morgan into Wales, 
and slew him at the foot of a hill, hence called 
Gla-Morgan or Glyn-Morgan, valley of 
Morgan. (See Spenser: Faerie Queene , 11, x, 33.) 
The name is really Welsh for “the district by 
the side of the sea” (gw/ad, district; mor, the 
sea; gant, side). 

Glasgow, Arms of. See Kentigern, St. 

Glasgow magistrate. A salt herring. The 
phrase dates from about 1688 when, the story 
goes, some wag placed a salt herring on the 
iron guard of the carriage of a well-kftoyvn 
magistrate who formed one of a deputation on 
a state occasion. 

Glass. Glass breaker. A wine-bibber. In the 
early part of the 19th century it was by no 
means unusual with topers to break ph the 
stand of their wineglass, so that theyipiight 
not be able to set it down, but were compelled 
to drink it clean off, without heel-taps. 

Glass House. Army slang for a military 
prison. It was originally applied to the military 
prison at North Camp, ^dershot, which had 
a glass roof. ^ 

Those who live 4 in glasp bouses should not 
throw stones. Those wno are opendo criticism 
should be very careful how they critic^ others. 
An old proverb fobnd hv varying fdrms from 
the time of Chaucer M.jfast ( Troylus and 
Cresseide , Bk. II). Cp. aum matt . vii, 1-4. 


Glass slipper (of Cinderella). See Cinder- 
ella. * 

Glass©, Mrs. Hannah. A name immortalized 
by the reputed saying in a cookery book, 
“First catch your hare” (which see under 
Catch). 

Glassite. A Sandemanian (^.v.). 

Glastonbury. An ancient town in Somerset, 
where a prehistoric settlement has been found, 
and famous in the Arthurian and Grail 
cycles as the place to which Joseph of Arimathea 
came, and as the burial place of King Arthur 
(see Avalon). It was here that Joseph planted 
his staff— the famous Glastonbury Thorn — which 
took root and burst into leaf every Christmas 
Eve. This name is now given to a variety of 
Crataegus, or hawthorn, which flowers about 
old Christmas Day, and is fabled to have 
sprung from Joseph’s staff. 

Glauber Salts (glou' b6r). A strong purgative, 
so called from Johann Rudolph Glauber (1604- 
68), a German alchemist who discovered it in 
1658 in his search for the philosopher’s stone. 
It is sodium sulphate, crystallized below 34° C. 

Glaucus (glaw' kus). The name of a number of 
heroes in classical legend, including: 

(1) A fisherman of Baeotia, who became a 
sea-god endowed with the gift of prophecy and 
instructed Apollo in the art of soothsaying. 
Milton alludes to him in Comus (1. 895), and 
Spenser mentions him in the Faerie Queene 
(IV, xi, 13): 

And Glaucus, that wise soothsayer understood, 
and Keats gives hfe name to the old magician 
whom Endymion met in Neptune’s hall be- 
neath the sea ( Endymion , Bk. III). See also 
Scylla. 

(2) A son of Sisyphus who would not allow 
his horses to breed; the goddess of Love so 
infuriated them that they killed him. Hence, 
die name is given to one who is so overfond of 
horses that he is ruined by them. 

(3) A commander of the Lycians in the War 
of Troy (Iliad, Bk. VI,) who was connected 
by ties of ancient family friendship with his 
enemy, Diomed. When they met in battle th£y 
not only refrained from fighting but exchanged 
arms in token of amity. As the armour of the 
Lycian was of gold, and that of the Greek of 
bra$s, it was like bartering precious stones for 
French paste. Hence the phrase A Glaucus 
swap. 

Gleek (Ger. gleich , like). An old card-game, 
popular from the 16th to the 18th century, 
the object being $o get three cards all alike, as 
three aces, three kings, etc. Four cards allalike, 
as four aces, four kings, etc., is known as 
mo arrival. 

A moumival of aces, gleek of knaves. 

Just nine a-piece. Albumazar t III. v. 

Poole in his English Parnassus ( c . 1650) called 
the four elements Nature's first mournivaL 

Gleek is played by t^ree persons. The twos 
and threes are thrown out of the pack; twelve 
cards are then dealt to each player, and eight 
are left for stock, which is offered in rotation 
to the ptoers for purchase. The trumps are 
^balleHTidcm Tumbler, Tib, Tom, and Towser. 
Mention or it is of frequent occurrence in 16th- 
and early 17th-century literature.* 


Gleipnir 


#)0 


Glove 


Gleipnir (gllp' n£r) (Old Norse, the fetter). In 
Scandinavian legend, the chain by which the 
wolf Fenrir was bound. It was extremely light, 
and made of the noise made by the footfalls of 
a cat, the roots of the mountains, the sinews of 
bears, the breath of fishes, the beards of women, 
and the spittle of birds* When the chain 
breaks, the wolf will be free and the end of the 
world will be at hand. 


Glencoe. The massacre of Glencoe. The 
treacherous massacre of the Macdonalds of 
Glencoe on February 13th, 1692. Pardon had 
been offered to all Jacobites who submitted on 
or before December 31st, 1691. Mac-Ian, chief 
of the Macdonalds of Glencoe, delayed till the 
last minute, and, on account of the state of the 
roads, did not make his submission before 
January 6th. The Master of Stair (Sir John 
Dalrymple) obtained the kina’s permission “to 
extirpate the set of thieves. Accordingly, on 
February 1st, 120 soldiers, led by a Captain 
Campbell, marched to Glencoe, told the clan 
they were come as friends, and lived peaceably 
among them for twelve days; but on the 
morning of the 13th, the glenmen, to the 
number of thirty-eight, were scandalously 
murdered, their huts set on fire, and their 
flocks and herds driven off as plunder. Thomas 
Campbell and Scott have written poems, and 
Talfourd a play on the subject. 

Glendoveer (glen do ver'). The name given by 
Southey in his Curse of Kehama to a kind of 
sylph, the most lovely of the good spirits. The 
name is Sanskrit ganharva through the Fr. 
grandouver. 

I am a blessed Glendoveer, 

Tis mine to speak and yours to hear. 

James and Horace Smith: Rejected Addresses 
(Imitation of Southey). 

Glengarry. A narrow valley in Inverness-shire 
after which the Glengarry bonnet, or cap, is 
named. 

Glim. See Douse the Gum. 


Global (glo / b£l). A word that came into use in 
World War II, meaning world-wide, extending 
to every part of the globe. 

Gloria (glor' i a). A cup of coffee with brandy 
in it instead of milk; also, a mixture of silk 
and wool used for covering umbrellas, etc. 

Gloria in Excelsis (glor i a in ek sel' sis). The 
doxology, “Glory be to the Father,’* etc., so 
called because it begins with the words sung 
by the angels at Bethlehem. The first verse is 
said to be by St. Basil, and the latter portion is 
ascribed to Telesphorus, 139 a, d. During the 
Arianf controversy it ran thus: “Glory be to 
the Father by the Son, and in the Holy Ghost.” 

Gloriana (glor i an' &). Spenser’s name in his 
Faerie Queene for the typification of Queen 
Elizabeth I. She held an annual feast for twelve 
days, during which time adventurers appeared 
before her to undertake whatever task she 
chose to impose upoiFthem. On one occasion 
twelve knights presented themselves before 
her, and theif exploits form the scheme of 
Spenser’s allegory of which only sbt^nd a half 
books remain. ; * 

Glory, glorious. Hand of Glory. In folk lore, a 
dead man’s hand, preferably one cut from the 


body ot a mtfn wfyo has been hanged, soaked 
“in oil and ufced as a^magid torch by thieves. 
Robert Graves points out that Hand of Glory 
is a. .translation of th^French main de gloire , 
a cojjuption of mandragore , the plant man- 
dragora, whose roots had a similar magic value 
to thieves. See Hand. 

Glory be to the Father. See Gloria in 
Excelsis. 

Glory-hole. A small room, cupboard, etc., 
where all sorts of rubbish and odds and ends 
are heaped. 

Glorious First of June. June 1st, 1794, when 
Lord Howe, who commanded the Channel 
fleet, gained a decisive victory over the French 
off Cape Ushant. 

Glorious John. John Dryden, the poet 
(1631-1700). George Borrow gave this name to 
the publisher John Murray (1778-1843). 

Glorious Revolution. A name given to what 
Macaulay called the English Revolution, when 
James II abdicated and was succeeded by 
William and Mary in 1688. 

Glorious Uncertainty of the Law, The. The 
toast at a dinner given to the judges and counsel 
in Serjeant’s Hall. The occasion was the eleva- 
tion of Lord Mansfield to the peerage and to 
the Lord Chief Justiceship (1756), and was 
somewhat prophetic of the legal decisions and 
innovations that were to follow. 

Glove. In the days of chivalry it was customary 
for knights to wear a lady’s glove in their 
helmets, and to defend it with their life. 

One ware on his headpiece his ladies sieve, and 
another bare on hys hclme the glove of his dearlynge. 
— Hall: Chronicle , Henry IV . 

On ceremonial occasions gloves are not 
worn in the presence of royalty, because one 
is to stand unarmed, with the helmet off the 
head and gauntlets off the hands, to show that 
there is no hostile intention. 

Gloves used to be worn by the clergy to 
indicate that their hands are clean and not 
open to bribes. Anciently, judges were not 
allowed to wear gloves on the bench; so to 
give a judge a pair of gloves symbolized that 
he need not take his seat, and in an assize with 
no case to try, the sheriff presents the judge 
with a pair of white gloves. But, on the con- 
trary, bishops were sometimes given gloves as a 
symbol of accession to their See. The Glovers 
Company of London was founded in 1556. 

A round with gloves. A friendly contest; a 
fight with gloves. 

Glare money. A bribe, a perquisite: so 
called from the ancient custom of a client 
presenting a pair of gloves to a counsel who 
undertook a cause. Mrs. Croaker presented 
Sir Thomas More, the Lord Chancellor, with a 
pair of gloves lined with forty pounds in 
“angels,” as a “token.” Sir Thomas kept the 
gloves, but returned the lining. Relics of this 
ancient custom still survive here and there in 
the presentation of gldves to those attending 
weddings and funerals. 

There also existed at due time the claim of a 
pair of gloves by; & lady who chose to salute 
a gentleman caught tapping in her company. 



Glove 


401 


Go 


Hand in glove. Sworn friends; oh most 
intimate terms; close companions, like glove 
and hand. * , ' > 

He bit his glove. He resolved on mortal 
revenge. On the Border, to bite the glove was 
considered a pledge of deadly vengeance. 

Stern Rutherford right little said. 

But bit his glove and shook his head. 

Scott: Lay of the Last Minstrel. 

Here I throw down my glove. I challenge you. 
In allusion to an ancient custom of a challenger 
throwing his glove or gauntlet at the feet of 
the person challenged, and bidding him to 
pick it up and thus to accept the challenge. 

I will throw my glove to Death himself, 

That there’s no maculation in thy heart. 

Troilus and Cressida, IV, v. 

Glubdubdrib (glQb dub' drib). The land of 
sorcerers and magicians visited by Gulliver in 
his Travels . (Swift.) 

Gluckists (gluk' ists). A foolish rivalry excited 
Paris from 1774 until 1780 between the ad- 
mirers of Gluck and those of Piccinni. Marie 
Antoinette favoured Gluck, and many in 
Young France leant towards the rival claimant. 
In the streets, coffee-houses, private houses, and 
even schools, the merits of Gluck and Piccinni 
were canvassed; and all Paris was ranged on 
one side or the other. 

Glumdalclitch (glum dal' klitch). A girl, nine 
years old, and forty feet high, who had charge 
of Gulliver in Brobdingnag. (Swift: Gulliver's 
Travels.) 

Glutton, The.Vitellius, the Roman emperor (15- 
69). who reigned from January 4th to December 
22nd, a.d. 69, was so called. See Apicius. 

Gnome (nom). According to the Rosicrucian 
system, a misshapen elemental spirit, dwelling 
in the bowels of the earth, and guarding the 
mines and quarries. The word seems to have 
been first used (perhaps invented) by Paracel- 
sus, and to be Gr. ge-nomos, earth-dweller. Cp. 
Salamander. 

Gnomic Verse. The Greek word gnome , mean- 
ing expression of opinion, acquired specialized 
meanings such as epigram, proverb, maxim; 
hence gnomic verse, which is characterized by 
pithy expression of sententious or weighty 
maxims. A group of gnomic poets existed in 
Greece in the 6th century b.c. An English 
exemplar is Francis Quarles. Gnomic writing 
is not confined to verse, and is found in several 
literatures. 

Gnostics (nos' tiks). The knowers, opposed to 
believers , various sects in the first six centuries 
of the Christian era, which tried to accommo- 
date Christianity to the speculations of Pythag- 
oras, Plato, and other Greek and Oriental 
philosophers. They taught that knowledge, 
rather than mere faith, is the true key of 
salvation. In the Gnostic creed Christ is 
esteemed merely as an epn or divine attribute 
personified, like Mind, Truth, Logos, Church, 
etc., the whole pf which eons made up this 
divine pleroma or fullness. 

Go. A go. A fix, a scrape; && in here’s a go or 
here’s a pretty go-^ft£re’s a mess or awkward 
state of affairs. Also a shtfre, portion, or tot, 
as a go of gin. A ’ * ^ 


A go-between. One who acts as an inter- 
mediary; one who interposes between two 
parties. 

A regular goer. One who goes the pace. 

All the go. All the fashion, quite in vogue. 

Her carte is hung in the West-end shops. 

With her name in full on the white below; 

And all day long there’s a big crowd stops 
To look at the lady who’s “all the go. 

Sims: Ballads of Babylon (“Beauty and the Beast”). 

Go as you please. Not bound by any rules; 
do as you like; unceremonious. 

Go It! An exclamation of encouragement, 
sometimes ironical. 

Go it alone. From the game of euchre, to 
play single-handed. 

Go to! A curtailed oath. “Go to the devil!” 
or “Go to hell!” 

Go to Halifax. A euphemism for “Go to 
hell!” There is no proper reason why Halifax 
should be selected, but no doubt the coinage 
derived from reminiscence of the proverb 
“From, Hull, hell and Halifax, Good Lord, 
deliver us” (see Hull). 

Go-to-meeting clothes, behaviour, etc. One’s 
best. 

I’ll go through fire and water to serve you. 

See Fire. 

I’ve gone and done it! or I’ve been and gone 
and done it! There! I've done the very thing I 
oughtn’t to have done! 

It is no go. It is not workable. 

That goes for nothing. It doesn’t count; it 
doesn’t matter one way or the other. 

That goes without saying. The French say: 
Cela va sans dire. That is a self-evident fact; 
well understood or indisputable. 

To give one the go-by. To pass without 
notice. 

To go ahead. To prosper, make rapid pro- 
gress towards success; to start. 

To go back on one’s word. To fail to keep 
one’s promise. 

To go bald-headed for a thing. To go for it 
as hard as possible. At the Battle of Warburg, 
1760, the Life Guards were commanded by 
Lord Cranby. As he galloped at their head his 
hat and wig blew oft', disclosing a completely 
bald head. Hence the expression, to go at a 
thing regardless of consequences. 

To go by the board, etc. In this and many 
similar phrases see under the principal word. 

To go farther and fare worse. To take more 
pains and trouble and yet find oneself in a 
worse position. 

To go for a man. To attack him, either 
physically or in argument, etc. 

To go hard with one. To prove a troublesome 
matter. “It will go hard with me before I give 
up the attempt,” i.e. I won’t give it up until 
I have tri$d every means to success, no matter 
how difficult, dangerous, or painful it may be. 

To go in for. To follow as a pursuit or 
occupation. 


402 


God 


Go 


To go it. To be fasL extravagant, headstrong 
in one's behaviour and habits. To go it blind is 
to act without stopping to deliberate. In 
poker, if a player chooses to “go it blind," he 
doubles the ante before looking at his cards. * , 

To go off one’s head, nut, onion, rocker, etc. 
Completely to lose control of oneself; to go 
mad, either temporarily or permanently; to go 
out of one's mind. 

To go on all fours. See All Fours. 

To go the whole hog. See Hog. 

To go to grass. To succumb, give in. From 
the putting out of race-horses or hunters to 
rass when they are too old for racing or 
unting. 

To go to the wall. See Wall. 

To go under. To become ruined; to fail 
utterly, lose caste. 

Also to pass as, to be known as; as “He goes 
under the name of 'Mr. Taylor,' but we all 
know he is really ‘Herr Schneider.’ " 

To go with the stream. See Stream. 

Go-backs. Would-be settlers in the Far West 
(of theU.S.A.) who returned East discouraged 
and spread gloomy rumours about the diffi- 
culties they had encountered. 

Go-getter. An enterprising, ambitious person. 

Goat. From very early times the goat has been 
connected with the idea of sin (cp. Scapegoat) 
and associated with devil-lore. It is an old 
superstition in England and Scotland that a 
goat is never seen for the whole of the 
twenty-four hours, because once every day it 
pays a visit to the devil to have its beard 
combed. Formerly the devil himself was 
frequently depicted as a goat; and the animal 
is also a type of lust and lechery. 

Don’t play the giddy goat! Don't make a 
ridiculous fool of yourself; keep yourself with- 
in bounds. A goat frolicking about is a very 
absurd sight. 

The Goat and Compasses. There have been 
several more or less ingenious derivations found 
for this inn sign; none of them has yet been 
endowed with authority. A once favourite 
theory is that the words are a corruption of 
the old Commonwealth tavern sign “God 
encompasses us," though there is no ground 
for supposing that any such inn existed in 
Puritan days. It is almost certainly of some now- 
forgotten armorial origin. 

To get one’s goat. An old Americanism for 
annoying one, making one wild. 

To separate the sheep from the goats. To 
divide the worthy from the unworthy, the good 
from the evil. A Biblical phrase, the allusion 
being to Matt . xxv, 32: — 

And before him shall be gathered all nations; and 
he shall separate them one from another, as a shep- 
herd divideth his sheep from the goats. 

Goatsucker or goat-owl. A name popularly 
given to the nightjar, from the ancient and very 
widespread belief that this bird sucks the 
udders of goats. In Greek, Latin, French, Ger- 
man, Spanish? and some other languages its 
name has the same signification. 

Gobbler* A turkey-cock is so called from its 
cry. 


Gobelin Tapestry ^ (go' be lin). So called from 
the Gobelins, i French family of dyers 
founded by Jean Gobelin (d. 1476); their 
tapestry works were taken over by Louis XIV 
as a royal establishment about 1670, and are 
still in the Faubourg St. Marcel, Paris. Parts 
of the buildings were burned down by the 
Communards in 1871. 

Goblin. A familiar demon, dwelling, according 
to popular belief, in private houses and 
chinks of trees; and in many parts miners 
attribute those strange noises heard in mines 
to them. The word is the Fr. gobelin , probably 
a diminutive of the surname Gobel , but perhaps 
connected with Gr. kobalos , an impudent 
rogue, a mischievous sprite, or with the Ger. 
Kobold (#.v.). 

God. A word common, in slightly varying 
forms, to all Teutonic languages, probably 
from a Sanskrit root, ghu — to worship; it is in 
no way connected with good. 

It was Voltaire who said, **Si Dieu n'existait 
pas , il faudrait V inventer” 

Greek and Roman gods were divided into 
Dii Majores and Dii Minorca, the greater and 
the lesser. The Dii Majores were twelve in 
number: — 


Latin. 

Greek. 

Jupiter (King) 

Zeus. 

Apollo (the sun) 

Apollbn. 

Mars (war) 

Ares. 

Mercury ( messenger ) 

Herm&s. 

Neptune (ocean) 

Poseidon. 

Vulcan (smith) 

Hephaistos. 

Juno (Queen) 

Hera. 

Ceres (tillage) 

Demeter. 

Diana (moon, hunting) 

Artemis. 

Minerva (wisdom) 

Athene. 

Venus (love and beauty) 

Aphrodite. 

Vesta (home-life) 

Hestia. 

Their blood was ichor, their food was ambrosia, 
their drink nectar. 


Four other deities are often referred to: — 

Bacchus (wine) Dionysos. 

Cupid (love) Eros. 

Pluto (the underworld) Pluton. 

Saturn (time) Kronos. 

Proserpine (Latin) or Persephone (Greek), was the 
wife of Pluto, Cybcle was the wife of Saturn, and Rhea 
of Kronos. 

In Hesiod’s time the number of gods was 
thirty thousand, and that none might be 
omitted the Greeks observed a Feast of the 
Unknown Gods. 

Some thirty thousand gods on earth we find 
Subjects of Zeus, and guardians of mankind. 

Hesiod , i, 250. 

A god from the machine. See Deus ex 
Machina. 

Among the gods. In the uppermost gallery 
of a theatre, just below the ceiling, which was 
frequently embellished with a representation 
of a mythological heaven. The French call 
this the paradis. 

God bless the Duke of Argyle. See Argyle. 

God helps those who help themselves. In 

French, Aide-toi , le del /’ aider a (La Fontaine , 
vi, 1 8) ; and among the Fragments of Euripides 
is: — ■ 

Bestir yourself, &nd then call on the gods. 

For heaven assists the man that laboureth. 

No. 435. 




God 


403 


God*intoxicated man. The name given to 
Spinoza by Novalis (pseudonym of Friedrich 
Leopold von Harden berg). 

God made the country, and man made the 
town^owper in The Task ( The Sofa , 749), Cp. 
Cowley’s “God the first garden made, and the 
first city Cain” (On Gardens). Varro says in 
De Re Rustica: Divina Natura dedit agros ; ars 
humana adificavit urbes. 

God save the Queen. See National Anthem. 

God sides with the strongest. Fortune favours 
the strong. Napoleon I said, Le bon Dieu est 
toujour s du cote des gros ba tail lons t God is 
always on the side of the big battalions, but the 
phrase is far older than his day. Tacitus (Hist. 
iv, 17) has Deos fortioribus adesse , the gods are 
on the side of the strongest; the Comte de 
Bussy, writing to the Count of Limoges, used 
it in 1677, as also did Voltaire in his Epitre d 
M. le Riche , February 6th, 1770. 

God tempers the wind to the shorn Iamb. The 

phrase comes from Sterne’s Sentimental Journey 
(1782), but it was not original with Sterne, 
for Dieu mesure le froid a la brebis tondue 
appears in Henri Estienne’s Les Prdmices 
(1594), and “To a close-shorn sheep God gives 
wind by measure” in Herbert's Jacula Pruden - 
turn (1640). It may be noticed that though 
Sterne’s version is more poetical, he did not 
improve the sense in substituting lamb for sheep ; 
for lambs are never shorn! 

Man proposes, God disposes. An old proverb 
found in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, etc. In Prov. 
xvi, 9, it is rendered : — 

A man’s heart deviseth his way; but the Lord 
directeth his steps; 

and Publius Syrus (No. 216) has; — 

Homo semper aliud, Fortuna aliud cogitat 

(Man has one thing in view, Fate has another). 

Whom God would destroy He first makes mad. 

A translation of the Latin version (Quos Deus 
vult per dene, prius dement at) of one of the 
Fragments of Euripides. Cp. also Stuttum facit 
fortuna quern vult perdere (Publius Syrus, No. 
612), He whom Fortune would ruin she robs 
of his wits. 

Whom the gods love dies young. The Lat. 
Quern Di diligunt , adolesce ns moritur (Plautus: 
Bacchides , IV, vii, 18). For the popular saying 
“Only the good die young” see under Good. 

God's Acre. A churchyard or cemetery. 

Goddam or Godon (g6 dim', go donO. A 
name given by the French to the English at 
least as early as the 15th century, on account 
of the favourite oath of the English soldiers 
which was looked upon almost as a shibboleth. 
Joan of Arc is reported to have used the word 
on a number of occasions in contemptuous 
reference to her enemies. 

Godless Florin. See Graceless Florin. 

Godfather. To stand godfather. To pay the 
reckoning, godfathers being often chosen for 
the sake of the present they are expected to 
make to the child at christening or in their wills. 

Godchild. One for whom a person stands 
sponsor in baptism. A godson or a goddaughter. 


Gogmagdg Hill 


Godiva, Lady (g6 dl' v&)* Patroness of Coven- 
try. In 1040, Leofric, Earl of Mercia and Lord 
of Coventry, imposed certain exactions on his 
tenants, which his lady besought him to 
remove; he said he would do so if she would 
ride naked through the town. Lady Godiva 
took him at his word, and the Earl faithfully 
kept his promise. 

The legend is recorded by Roger of Wen- 
dover (d. 1236), in Flores Historiarum , and this 
was adapted by Rapin in his History of Eng- 
land. 1732, into the story as commonly known. 
An addition of the time of Charles II asserts 
that everyone kept indoors at the time, but a 
certain tailor peeped through his window to 
see the lady pass and was struck blind in 
consequence. He has ever since been called 
“Peeping Tom of Coventry.” Since 1678 the 
incident of Lady Godiva’s ride has been 
annually commemorated at Coventry by a pro- 
cession in which “Lady Godiva r ’ plays a 
leading part. 

Godolphin Barb. See Darley Arabian. 

Goel (go' el). The name among the ancient 
Jews for one who redeemed back to the family 
property that a member of it had sold; as this 
was usually done by the next of kin, on whom 
also devolved the duty of the avenger of blood, 
the name was later applied specially to the 
avenger of blood. 

Goemot or Goemagot (go' mot, gd em' & got). 
Names given in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s 
Chronicles (I, xvi), Spenser’s Faerie Queene 
(II, x, 10), etc., to Gogmagog (q.v.). 

Gog and Magog. In English legend, the sole 
survivors of a monstrous brood, the offspring 
of the thirty-three infamous daughters of the 
Emperor Diocletian, who murdered their 
husbands. Being set adrift in a ship they 
reached Albion, where they fell in with a 
number of demons. Their descendants, a race 
of giants, were extirpated by Brute and his 
companions, with the exception of Gog and 
Magog, who were brought in chains to London 
and were made to do duty as porters at the 
royal palace, on the site of the Guildhall, 
where their effigies have stood at least since 
the reign of Henry V. The old giants were 
destroyed in the Great Fire, and were replaced 
by figures fourteen feet high, carved in 1708 by 
Richard Saunders; these were subsequently 
destroyed in the wreck of Guildhall in an air 
raid in 1940. New figures were installed in 1952. 
Formerly wickerwork models were carried in 
the Lord Mayors’ Shows. 

In the Bible Magog is spoken of as a son of 
Japhet (Gen. x, 2), in the Revelation Gog and 
Magog symbolize all future enemies of the 
kingdom of God, and in Ezekiel Gog is a prince 
of Magog, a terrible ruler of a country in the 
north, probably Scythia or Armenia. By 
rabbinical writers of the 7th century a.d. Gog 
was identified with Antichrist. 

Gogmagog Hill. The higher of two hills* 
some three miles south-east of Cambridge. The 
legend is that Gogmacog fell in love with the 
nymph Granta, but she would- have nothing 
to say to the huge giant, and he was meta- 
morphosed into the hill. (Drayton : Polyolbion , 
xxi.) 



404 


Golden Age 


Goggles 


Goggles. A very ancient word, coming through 
the old English gogglkn, to look asquint, from 
the Celtic gog , a nod, a shaking of the head. 
The word is now applied to spectacles, but 
until Victorian days it was used to describe 
any rolling of the eyes or squinting. 

Such sight have they that see with goggling eyes. 

Sir P. Sidney: Arcadia . 

He goggled his eyes and groped in his money- 
pocket. — Horace Walpole: Letters. 

Golconda (gol kon' d&). An ancient kingdom 
and city in India (west of Hyderabad), famous 
and powerful up to the early 17th century, 
The name is emblematic of great wealth, 
particularly of diamonds; but there never were 
diamond mines in Golconda, the stones were 
only cut and polished there. 

Gold. By the ancient alchemists, gold represen- 
ted the sun, and silver the moon. In heraldry 
gold (called “or”) is depicted by dots. 

In Great Britain every article in gold is 
compared with a given standard of pure gold, 
which is supposed to be divided into twenty- 
four parts called carats (q.v.)\ gold equal to the 
standard is said to be twenty-four carats fine. 
Manufactured articles are never made of pure 
gold, but the quality of alloy used has to be 
stated. Sovereigns (and most wedding rings) 
contain two parts of alloy to every twenty- 
two of gold, and are said to be twenty-two 
carats fine. Thus, 20 lb. troy of standard gold 
were coined into 934 sovereigns and 1 half- 
sovereign ; 1 oz. troy was therefore worth £3 1 7s. 
10Jd. (£46 14s. 6d. per lb.), and 1 oz. of pure 

f old, on the same basis, £4 4s. 11 id. Since 
915 the market price of gold has, however, 
exceeded these figures. The best gold watch- 
cases contain six parts of silver or copper to 
eighteen of gold, and arc therefore eighteen 
carats fine; cheaper gold articles may contain 
nine, twelve, or even fifteen parts of alloy. 

A gold brick. An American phrase descrip- 
tive of any form of swindling. It originated in 
the gold-rush days when a cheat would sell 
his dupe an alleged — or even a real — gold 
brick, in the latter case substituting a sham 
one before making his get-away. In World War 
II, gold-bricking was synonymous with idling, 
shirking, or getting a comrade to do one’s job. 

AH he touches turns to gold. All his ventures 
succeed; he is invariably fortunate. The 
allusion is to the legend of Midas (q.v.). 

All that glisters is not gold (Shakespeare: 
Merchant of Venice, II, vii). Do not be deceived 
by appearances. 

All thing which that schineth as the gold 
Nis not gold as that I have herd it told. 

Chaucer: Canon's Yeoman's Tale, 243. 

Healing gold. Gold given to a king for 
“heafing’ T the king’s evil, which was done by 
a touch; 

He has got the gold of Tolosa. His ill-gotten 
gains will never prosper. Caepio, the* Roman 
consul, in his march to Gallia Narbonensis, 
desecrated the temple of the Celtic Apollo at 
Tolosa (Toulouse) and stole from it all the gold 
and silver vessels and treasure belonging to the 
Cimbrian Druids. This, in turn, was stolen 
from him while it was being taken to Massilia 
(Marseilles); and when he encountered the 


Cimbrians both he and Maximus, his brother- 
consul, were defeated, and 112,000 of their 
* men were left upon the field (106 b.c.). 

Mannheim gold. A sort of pinchbeck, made 
of copper, zinc, and tin, used for .cheap 
jewellery and invented at Mannheim, Ger- 
many. 

The gold of the Nibelungen. See Nibelungen 
Hoard. 

The Gold Purse of Spain. Andalusia is so 
called because it is the most fertile portion of 
Spain. 

Golden. Jean Dorat (1510-88), one of the Pleiad 
oets of France, was so called (“Auratus”) 
y a pun on his name. 

Golden Ball. Edward Hughes Ball, a dandy 
in the days of the Regency (fl. (820-30). He 
married a Spanish dancer. 

The Golden-mouthed. St. Chrysostom (d. 
407), a father of the Greek Church, was so 
called for his great eloquence. 

The Golden Stream. St. John Damascene (d. 
756), author of Dogmatic Theology. 

The Golden-tongued (Gr. Chrysologos). St. 
Peter, Bishop of Ravenna (d. c. 449), was so 
called. 

Golden Age. An age in the history of peoples 
when everything was as it should be, or when 
the nation was at its summit of power, glory, 
and reputation; the best age, as the golden 
age of innocence, the golden age of literature. 
Ancient chronologers divided the time between 
Creation and the birth of Christ into ages; 
Hesiod describes five. See Age. 

The “Golden Ages” of the various nations 
are often given as follows: — 

Assyria. From the reign of Esarhaddon, 
third son of Sennacherib, to the fall of Nineveh 
(c. 700 to 600 b.c.). 

Chald/4eo-Babylonian Empire. From the 
reign of Nabopolassar to that of Belshazzar 
(c. 606-538 b.c.). 

China. The reign of Tac-tsong (618-26), 
and the era of the Tang dynasty (626-84). 

Egypt. The reigns of Sethos 1 and Rameses 
II (c. 1350-1273 b.c.), the XIXth Dynasty. 

Media. The reign of Cyaxares (c. 634-594 

B.C.). 

Persia. From the reign of Khosru, or 
Chosroes, I, to that of Khosru II (c. a.d. 531- 
628). 

England. The reign of Elizabeth I (1558- 
1603). 

France. The century including the reign of 
Louis XIV (1640-1740). 

Germany. The reign of Charles V (1519- 
58). 

Portugal. From John I to the close of 
Sebastian’s reign (1383-1578). 

Prussia. The reign of Frederick the Great 
(1740-86). 

Roman Empire. Gibbon (Decline and Fall , 
ch. iii), considered it to be from the death of 
Domitian to the accession of Commodus (a.d. 
96-180). 

Russia. The reign of Peter the Great 
(1672-1725). 



Golden Apples 


405 


Spain. The reign of Ferdinand and Isabella 
when the crowns of Castile and Aragon were 
united (1474-1516). 

Sweden. From Gustavus Vasa to the close 
of the reign of Gustavus Adolphus (1523-1632). 

Go%en Apples. See Apple of Discord; 
Atalanta’s Race; Hesperides. 

Golden Ass, The. A satirical romance by 
Apuleius, written in the 2nd century, and 
called the golden because of its excellency. It 
tells the adventures of Lucian, a young man 
who, being accidentally metamorphosed into 
an ass while sojourning in Thessaly, fell into 
the hands of robbers, eunuchs, magistrates, 
and so on, by whom he was ill-treated; but 
ultimately he recovered his human form. It 
contains the story of Cupidl and Psyche — the 
latest born of the myths. 

Go(den Bull, TIkj. An edict by the Emperor 
Charles IV, issued at the Diet of Nuremberg 
in 1356, for the purpose of fixing how the 
German emperors were to be elected. It was 
sealed with a golden bulla . See Bull. 

To worship the golden calf. To bow down to 
money, to abandon one’s principles for the 
sake of gain. The reference is to the golden calf 
made by Aaron when Moses was absent on 
Mt. Sinai. For their sin in worshipping the 
calf the Israelites paid dearly ( Exodus xxxii). 

Golden Fleece, The. The old Greek story is 
that Ino persuaded her husband, Athamas, 
that his son Phryxus was the cause of a famine 
which desolated the land. Phryxus was there- 
upon ordered to be sacrificed, but, being 
apprised of this, he made his escape over sea 
on the winged ram, Chrysomallus, which had 
a golden fleece. When he arrived at Colchis, he 
sacrificed the ram to Zeus, and gave the fleece 
to King Aretes, who hung it on a sacred oak. 
It later formed the quest of Jason’s celebrated 
Argonautic expedition, and was stolen by him. 
See Argo; Jason. 

Australia has been called “The Land of the 
Golden Fleece,” because of the quantity of 
wool produced there. 

Golden Fleece, The Order of the (Fr. Vordre 
de la toison d'or). An order of knighthood 
common to Spain and Austria, instituted in 
1429, for the protection of the Church, by 
Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, on his 
marrialge with the Infanta Isabella of Portugal. 
Its badge is a golden sheepskin with head and 
feet attached, and its motto Pretium laborum 
non vile . The selection of the fleece as a badge 
is perhaps best explained by the fact that the 
manufacture of wool had long been the staple 
industry of the Netherlands. 

Golden Gate, The. The name given by Sir 
Francis Drake to the strait connecting San 
Francisco Bay with the Pacific. San Francisco 
is hence called The City of the Golden Gate . 

Golden Horn, The. The inlet of the Bosporus 
on which Istanbul is situated. So called from 
its curved shape and great beauty. 

Golden Horde. The Mongolian Tartars who 
in the 13th century established an empire in 
S.E. Russia under Bator, grandson of Genghis 
Khan. They gained control over eastern Russia 



and parts of western and central Asia, being 
eventually defeated in 1481. 

Golden Legend, The. (Lat. Legenda aurea.) 
A collection jof so-called lives of the saints 
made by JaCques de Voragine in the 13th 
century; valuable for the picture it gives of 
mediaeval manners, customs, and thought. 
Jortin says that the “lives” were written by 
young students of religious houses to exercise 
their talents by accommodating the narratives 
of heathen writers to Christian saints. 

Longfellow’s The Golden Legend (1851) is 
based on a story by Hartmann von der Aue, 
a German minnesinger of the 12th century. 

Golden number. The number of the year in 
the Metonic Cycle ( q.v .). As this consists of 
nineteen years it may be any number from 1 to 
19, and in the ancient Roman and Alexandrian 
calendars this number was marked in gold, 
hence the name. The rule for finding the golden 
number is: — 

Add one to the number of years and divide by 
nineteen; the quotient gives the number of cycles since 
1 b.c. and the remainder the golden number, 19 being 
the golden number when there is no remainder. 

It is used in determining the Epact and the 
date of Easter. 

Golden ointment. Eye salve. In allusion to 
the ancient practice of rubbing “stynas of the 
eye” with a gold ring to cure them. . v , 

“I have a sty here, Chilax.” , ' ^ 

“I have no gold to cure it.” 

Beaumont and Fletcher: Mad Lover , V, i. 

Golden Roses. An ornament made of gold 
in imitation of a spray of roses, one rose 
containing a receptacle into which is poured 
balsam and musk. The rose is solemnly 
blessed by the Pope on Laetare Sunday, and 
is conferred from time to time on sovereigns 
and others, churches and cities distinguished 
for their services to the Church. The last to 
receive it was Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians in 
1925. That presented by Pius IX to the 
Empress Eugenie in 1856 is preserved in 
Farnborough Abbey. 

Golden Rule, The. “Do as you would be done 
by.” 

Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do 
ye even so to them: for this is the law and the pro- 
phets. — Matt, vii, 1 2. 

Golden shower or Shower of gold. A bribe, 
money. The allusion is to the classical tale ot 
Zeus and Danae. See Danae. 

Golden State, The. California; so called from 
the gold fever of 1849. 

Golden Town, The, So Mainz or Mayence 
was called in Carlovingian times. 


Golden Valley, The. The eastern portion of 
Limerick is so called, from its great natural 
fertility. The name is also given to the valley 
in mid-Wales from Pcntrilas to Hay. 


Golden Verses. Greek verses containing the 
moral rules of Pythagoras, usually thought to 
have been composed by some of his scholars. 
He enjoins, among other things, obedience to 
God and one’s rulers, deliberation before 
action, fortitude, and temperance m exercise 
and diet. He also suggests making a critical 
review each night of the actions of that day. 



r4 > 

Golden Wedding 406 Good Regent 


Golden Wedding. JThe fiftieth anniversary of 
wedding, husband and wife bein| both alive. 

A good name is better than a golden girdle. 
See Girdle. g 

The golden bowl is broken. Death. A biblical 
allusion: — 

Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden 
bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the 
fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern ; then shall 
the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit 
shall return unto God who gave it. — Eccles. xii, 6, 7. 

The golden section of a line. Its division into 
two such parts that the area of the rectangle 
contained by the smaller segment and the 
whole line equals that of the square on the 
larger segment. ( Euclid , ii. 11 .) 

The three golden balis. See Balls. 

To keep the golden mean. To practise 
moderation in all things. The wise saw of 
Cleobulos, King of Rhodes ( e . 630-559 b.c.). 
Goldfish Club. World War II. It is similar to 
the Caterpillar Club (<y.v.) and is for those who 
had ditched their aeroplanes and taken to the 
rubber dinghy. A cloth insignia was presented. 

Golgotha (gol' goth 4). The place outside Jeru- 
salem where Christ was crucified. The word is 
Aramaic and means “a skull,” and according to 
Jerome and others the place was so called 
from % tradition that Adam’s skull had been 
^TounftThere. The more likely reason is that it 
designated a bare hill or rising ground, having 
some fancied resemblance to a bald skull. 

Golgotha seems not entirely unconnected with the 
hill of Gareb, and the locality of Goath, mentioned in 
Jer. xxxi, 39, on the north-west of the city. I am in- 
clined to fix the place where Jesus was crucified . . . 
on the mounds which command the valley of Hinnom, 
above Birket-Mamila. — R enan; Life of Jesus, ch. xxv. 

Golgotha, at the University church, Cam- 
bridge, was the gallery in which the “heads of 
the houses” sat; so called because it was the 
place of skulls or heads. It has been more 
wittily than truly said that Golgotha was the 
place of empty skulls. 

Gollards. Educated jesters and buffoons who 
wrote ribald Latin verse, and noted for 
riotous behaviour, who flourished mainly in 
the 12th and 13th centuries. The word comes 
from Old Fr. goliard (glutton) which derived 
from the Lat. gula (gluttony). 

Goliath (g6 li' 4th). The Philistine giant, slain 
by the, stripling David with a small stone 
hurled from a sling. (I Sam. xvii, 23-54.) 
Golosh. See Galosh. 

Gombeen Man. A village usurer; a money- 
lender. The word is of Irish extraction. 

They suppose that the tenants can have no other 
supply of capital than from the gombeen man. — 

,v* Eo MONT Hake: Free Trade in Capital. 

Gombo. Pidgin French, or French as it is 
spoken by the coloured population of Louisi- 
ana, the French West Indies, Bourbon, and 
Mauritius. 

Creole is almost pure French, not rtuch more mis- 
pronounced than In some parts of France; but Gombo 
is a mere phonetic burlesque of French, interlarded 
with African words, and other words which are 
neither African nor French, but probably belong to 
the aboriginal language of the various countries to 
which the slaves were brought from Africa. — E. 
Wakefield, in The Nineteenth Century , October, 1891. 


Gomerell (gom' 6r 61), a Scottish word for a 
stupid senseless person, a blockhead. 

Gondola (gon* d6 la). A long, narrow Venetian 
boat. Also the carriage attached to an airship 
in which the passengers were carried. ^ 

Goneril (gon' er il). One of Lear’s three daugh- 
ters. Having received her moiety of Lear’s 
kingdom, the unnatural daughter first abridged 
the old man’s retinue, then gave him to under- 
stand that his company was troublesome. In 
Holinshed she appears as “Gonorilla.” Cp. 
Cordelia. 

Gonfalon or Gonfanon (gon' f4 Ion). An ensign 
or standard. A gonfalonier was a magistrate in 
certain of the old Italian republics that had a 
gonfalon. 

Ten thousand thousand ensigns high advanced, 

Standards and gonfalons, ’twixt van and rear 

Stream in the air, and for distinction serve 

Of hierarchies, of orders, and degrees. 

Milton: Paradise Lost , V, 589. 
Gonnella’s Horse (go nel' a). Gonnella, the 
domestic jester of the Duke of Ferrara, rode 
on a horse all skin and bone. The jests of 
Gonnella are in print. 

His horse was as lean as Gonnella’s, which (as the 
Duke said) “Osso atquc pcllis totus erat” (Plautus). — 
Cervantes: Don Quixote. 

Gonville and Caius. See Caius. 

Gonzdlez (gon za' lez). Fernan Gonzalez, the 
hero of many Spanish ballads, lived in the 10th 
century. His life was twice saved by his wife 
Sancha, daughter of Garcias, King of Navarre. 
Good. The Good. Among the many who 
earned — or were given — this appellation are: — 

Alfonso VIII (or IX) of Leon, “The Noble 
and Good” (1158-1214). 

Haco I, King of Norway (c. 920-960). 

Jean II of France, le Don (1319, 1350-64). 

Jean III, Duke of Brittany (1286, 1312-41). 

Philip the Good, Duke ol Burgundy (1396, 
1419-67). 

Ren6, called The Good King Rene , Duke of 
Anjou, Count of Provence, Duke of Lorraine, 
and King of Sicily (1409-80). 

The Prince Consort, Albert the Good (18 19- 
60, husband of Queen Victoria. 

Good Duke Humphrey. Humphrey, Duke of 
Gloucester (1391-1447), youngest son of 
Henry IV, said to have been murdered by 
Suffolk and Cardinal Beaufort (Shakespeare: 
Henry VI , Pt. If III, ii) ; so called because of his 
devotion to the Church. To Dine with Duke 
Humphrey. See Humphrey. 

Good Friday. The Friday preceding Easter 
Day, held as the anniversary of the Crucifixion. 
“Good” here means holy; Christmas, as well 
as Shrove Tuesday, used to be called “the 
good tide.” 

Born on Good Friday. According to old 
superstition, those born on Christmas Day or 
Good Friday have the power of seeing and 
commanding spirits. 

Good Parliament, The. Edward Ill’s Parlia- 
ment of 1376; so called because of the severity 
with which it pursued the unpopular party of 
the Duke of Lancaster. 

Good Regent. James Stewart, Earl of Morav 
(d. 1570), a natural son of James V and half- 



Good Samaritan 


407 


brother of Mary Queen of Scots. He was 
appointed Regent of Scotland after the 
imprisonment of Queen Mary. 

Good Samaritan. See Samaritan. 

There is a good time coming. This has been 
for a long time a familiar saying in Scotland, 
and it is introduced by Scott in his Rob Roy . 
In 1846 Charles Mackay wrote a once-popular 
song so called. 

Good and ail, For. Not tentatively, not in 
pretence, nor yet temporarily, but bona fide , 
and altogether. 

The good woman never died after this, till she came 
to die tor good and all. — L’Estrange: Fables. 

Only the good die young. A popular saying 
derived ultimately from one of the 6th century 
(b.c.) Gnomic poets of Greece, and echoed by 
several writers. Plautus says Quern Di diligunt , 
adolescens moritur (he whom the gods love dies 
young). Byron says “Heaven gives its favourites 
early death” (Childe Harold , iv, 102), and 
“Whom the gods love die young” ( Don Juan , 
iv, 12). Defoe, in Character of the late Dr. S. 
Annesley , has “The good die early, and the bad 
late”, and Wordsworth “The good die first” 
(The Excursion , Bk. 1). 

Good-bye. A contraction of God be with you . 
Similar to the French adieu, which is a Dieu 
(I commend you to God). 

Goodfellow. See Robin Goodfellow. 

Goodman. A husband or master. In Matt, xxiv, 
43, “If the goodman of the house had known 
in what watch the thief would come, he would 
have watched.” 

There’s nae luck about the house 

When our gudeman’s awa. — Mickle. 

Goodman of Ballengeich. The assumed name 
of James V of Scotland when he made his 
disguised visits through the country districts 
around Edinburgh and Stirling, after the 
fashion of Haroun-al-Raschid, Louis XI, etc. 

Goodman’s Croft. The name given in 
Scotland to a strip of ground or comer of a 
field left untilled, in the belief that unless 
some such place were left, the spirit of evil 
would damage the crop. Here Goodman is a 
propitiatory euphemism for the devil. 

Goods. I carry all my goods with me ( Omnia 
mea me cum porto). Said by Bias, one of the 
seven sages, when Priene was besieged and the 
inhabitants were preparing for flight. 

“He’s got the goods on you!” He’s got 
evidence against you. 

That fellow’s the goods. He’s all right, just 
the man for the job. 

To deliver the goods. Said of one who fulfills 
his promises or who comes up to expectations. 

Goodwin Sands. It is said that these dangerous 
sandbanks, stretching about 10 miles NE. and 
SW. some 5J miles off the Kentish coast, 
consisted at one time of about 4,000 acres of 
low land (Lomea, the bxfera Insula of the 
Romans) fenced from the sea by a wall, and 
belonging to Earl Godwin. William the 
Conqueror bestowed them on the abbey of 
St. Augustine, Canterbury f but the abbot 
allowed the seawall to fall into a dilapidated 


■ 4 - 

Goose 

% 

state, so that the sea broke through in 1100 
and inundated the whole. See Tenterden 
Steeple. 

Goodwood Races. So called from the park in 
which they are held. They begin tne last 
Tuesday of July, and last four days, the chief 
being Thursday, called the “Cup Day.” These 
races are held in a private park, the property 
of the Duke of Richmond. The racecourse is 
one of the oddest shaped in the world, with 
a curious loop at the end of the 5-furlong 
gallop. The course of the Goodwood Cup is 
2 miles 5 furlongs. The Cup was first run in 
1812; the Goodwood Stakes in 1823; the 
Stewards’ Cup in 1840. 

Goody. A depreciative, meaning weakly, moral 
and religious. In French, bonhomme is used m 
a similar way. 

The word is also a rustic variant of goodwife , 
the mistress of a household ( cp . Goodman), 
and is sometimes used as a title, like “Gammer” 
(q.v.) % as “Goody Blake,” “Goody Dobson.” 

A goody is something especially nice to eat, 
a sweet, jam tart, or curranty bun. 

Goody-goody. Affectedly, or even hypo- 
critically, pious, but with no strength of mind 
or independence of spirit. * 

Goody Two-shoes. This nursery tale first 
appeared in 1765. It was written fo» Johfi, 
Newbery (1713-67), the originator of children?* 
books, probably by Oliver Goldsmith. *• 
Googiy. A cricket term for a ball bowled so 
as to break a different way from the way it 
swerves. 

Goose. A foolish or ignorant person is called 
a goose because of the alleged stupidity of this 
bird; a tailor’s smoothing-iron is so called 
because its handle resembles the neck of a 
goose. Note that the plural of the iron is gooses , 
not geese . 

Come in, tailor; here you may roast your goose. — 
Macbeth , II, iii. 

Geese save the Capitol. The tradition is that 
when the Gauls invaded Rome a detachment 
in single file clambered up the hill of the 
Capitol so silently that the foremost man 
reached the top without being challenged; but 
while he was striding over the rampart, some 
sacred geese, disturbed by the noise, began to 
cackle, and awoke the garrison. Marcus 
Manlius rushed to the wall and hurled the 
fellow over the precipice. To commefnorate 
this event, the Romans carried a golden goose 
in procession to the Capitol every year (390 

B.C.). 

Those consecrated geese in orders. 

That to the capitol were warders. 

And being then upon patrol. 

With noise alone beat off the Gaul. 

Butler: Hudlbras , II, iii. 

The Goose Bible. See Bible, specially 

NAMED. 

Goose-egg. See Duck. 

Goose fair. A fair formerly* held in many 
English towns about the time of Michaelmas 
(q.v.), when geese were plentiful. That still held 
at Nottingham was the most important. 

Goose month. The lying-in month for 
women. 


Goose 


408 


Gopher 


— iy - * — - " — 

Goose step. A form of military marching in 
which the legs are moved only from the hips, 
the knees being kept rigid, each leg being 
swung as high as possible. It was never popular 
in the British army, where it was introduced as 
a form of recruit drill in the late 18th century. 
In a modified form it still exists in the slow 
march. The goose step ( Stechschritt ) in its 
most exaggerated form has been a full-dress 
and processional march in the German army 
since the days of Frederick the Great. When 
the Axis flourished it was introduced into the 
Italian army (// passo di oca) but it was soon 
ridiculed into desuetude. 

Goose-trap. A late- 18th-century American 
colloquialism for a swindle. 

He can’t say Bo! to a goose. See Bo. 

He killed the goose that laid the golden eggs. 
He grasped at what was more than his due, 
and lost what he had. The Greek fable says 
a countryman had a goose that laid golden 
eggs; thinking to make himself rich, he killed 
the goose to get the whole stock of eggs at 
once, but lost everything. 

He steals a goose, and gives the giblets in 
alms. He amasses wealth by over-reaching, and 
salves his conscience by giving small sums in 
charity. 

* ^^cooked his goose. He’s done for himself, 
he’s made a fatal mistake, ruined his chances, 
“dished” himself. The phrase is of 19th-century 
origin, though how it arose cannot now be 
traced. 

If they come here we’ll cook their goose, 

The Pope and Cardinal Wiseman. 

Street ballad of 1851, the time of the “Papal Aggres- 
sion.” 

His geese are swans. He sees things in too 
rosy a light, is too pleased with his own doings 
and his own possessions. 

Michaelmas goose. See Michaelmas. 

Mother Goose. Famous as giving the name 
to Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes , which first 
seems to have been used in Songs for the 
Nursery: or Mother Goose's Melodies for 
Children , published by T. Fleet in Boston, 
Mass., in 1719. The rhymes were free adapta- 
tions of Perrault’s Contes de ma m£re Voye 
(“Tales of my Mother Goose”) which appeared 
in 1697. 

The Goose and Gridiron. A public-house 
sign, properly the coat of arms of the Company 
of Musicians — viz. a swan with expanded 
wings, within a double tressure [the gridiron], 
counter, flory, argent. Perverted into a goose 
striking the bars of a gridiron with its foot; 
also called “The Swan and Harp.” 

In the United States the name is humorously 
applied to the national coat-of-arms — the 
American eagle with a gridiron-like shield on 
its breast. 

The old woman is plucking her goose. A 
children’s way of saying “it is snowing.” 

The royal game of goose. The game re- 
ferred to by Goldsmith ( Deserted Village , 232) 
as being present in the ale-house — 

The pictures placed for ornament and use, 

The twelve good rules, the royal game of goose — 


was a game o t compartments through which 
the player progressed according to the cast of 
the dice. At certain divisions a goose was 
depicted, and if the player fell into one of these 
he doubled the number of his last throw and 
moved forward accordingly. 

The “twelve good rules” was a broadside 
showing a rough cut of the execution of Charles 
I with the following “rules” printed below: — 

1. Urge no healths; 2. Profane no divine ordinances; 
3. Touch no state matters; 4. Reveal no secrets; 5. 
Pick no quarrels; 6. Make no comparisons; 7. Main- 
tain no ill opinions; 8. Keep no bad company; 9. En- 
courage no vice; 10. Make no long meals; 11. Repeat 
no grievances; 12. Lay no wagers. 

These were said to have been “found in the 
study of King Charles the First, of Blessed 
Memory,” and in the 18th century were 
frequently framed and displayed in taverns. 

To shoe the goose. To fritter away one’s 
time on unnecessary work; to play about, 
trifle. 

Tuning goose. The entertainment given in 
Yorkshire when the corn at harvest was all 
safely stacked. 

Wavzgoose. See Wayz. 

Gooseberry. Gooseberry fool. A dish made of 
gooseberries scalded and pounded with cream. 
The word fool is from the French fouler , to 
press or crush. 

Let anything come in the shape of fodder or eatinge 
stuffe, it is Wellcome, whether it be Sawsedge, or 
Custard, or Flawne, or Foole. — John Taylor: The 
Great Eater , 1610. 

He played old gooseberry with me. He took 
great liberties with my property, and greatly 
abused it; in fact, he played the very deuce 
with me and my belongings. 

The big gooseberry season. A mid-Victorian 
phrase applied to the dull time in journalism 
when Parliament was not sitting, the Law 
Courts were up, and nobody was in Town, 
when the old-fashioned editor published 
accounts of giant gooseberries, sea-serpents, 
vegetable marrows, sweet peas, just to nil up 
his paper. 

To play, or be gooseberry. To act as chaperon ; 
to be an unwanted third when lovers are 
together. The origin of the phrase is obscure, 
but it has been suggested that it arose from the 
charity of the chaperon occupying herself 
in picking gooseberries while the lovers were 
more romantically occupied. 

Goosebridge. Go to Goosebridge. “Rule a wife 
and have a wife.” Boccaccio (ix, 9) tells us that 
a man who had married a shrew asked Solo- 
mon what he should do to make her more 
submissive; and the wise king answered, “Go 
to Goosebridge.” Returning home, deeply 
perplexed, he came to a bridge which a muleteer 
was trying to induce a mule to cross. The beast 
resisted, but the stronger will of his master at 
length prevailed. The man asked the name of 
the bridge, and was told it was “Goosebridge.” 

Gopher (go 7 f£r). A native of Minnesota, 
U.S.A. The word probably comes from the 
prairie rodent of that name. 

Gopher wood, the wood of which Noah 
made his ark (Gen. vi. 14). There has been much 



Gordian Knot 


409 


Gossip 


discussion as to what wood is really meant, 
but it is now considered that it is that of the 
cypress. 

Gordian Knot (gor' di an). A great difficulty. 
Gordius, a peasant, being chosen king of 
Phrygia, dedicated his wagon to Jupiter, and 
fastened the yoke to a beam with a rope of 
bark so ingeniously that no one could untie it. 
Alexander was told that “whoever undid the 
knot would reign over the whole East.” “Well 
then,” said the conqueror, “it is thus 1 perform 
the task,” and, so saying, he cut the knot in 
twain with his sword. Thus: To cut the Gordian 
knot is to get out of a difficult or awkward 
position by one decisive step; to solve a 
problem by a single brilliant stroke. 

Such praise the Macedonian got 
For having rudely cut the Gordian knot. 

Waller: To the King . 
Turn him to any cause of policy, 

The Gordian knot of it he will unloose, 
Familiar as his garter. 

Henry V, I, i. 

Gordon Riots. Riots in 1780, headed by Lord 
George Gordon, to compel the House of 
Commons to repeal the bill passed in 1778 for 
the relief of Roman Catholics. Gordon was of 
unsound mind, and died in 1793, a proselyte 
to Judaism. Dickens has given a very vivid 
description of the Gordon Riots in Burnaby 
Rudge. 

Gore. A triangular piece of material, or of 
land, from the low Latin gora. Cp. Kensington 
Gore, and the Gore, New York (late 18th 
century). 

Gorgon (gor' gon). Anything unusually hide- 
ous, particularly a hideous or terrifying woman. 
In classical mythology there were three Gor- 
gons, with serpents on their heads instead of 
hair; Medusa was the chief, and the only one 
that was mortal; but so hideous was her face 
that whoever set eyes on it was instantly turned 
into stone.. She was slain by Perseus, and her 
head placed on the shield of Minerva. 

What was that snaky-headed Gorgon shield 
That wise Minerva wore, unconquered virgin, 
Wherewith she freezed her foes to congealed stone? 
But rigid looks of chaste austerity, 

And noble grace, that dashed brute violence 
With sudden adoration and blank awe. 

Milton: Comus, 458. 

Gorgonzola (gor g6n zo' la). A town in Italy 
some 12 miles north-cast of Milan and chiefly 
famous for the cheese once made there. This 
is of a Stilton nature, made from the whole 
milk of cows and mottled or veined with a 
penicillium which is the principal ripening 
agent. It is usually exported with a thin, clay- 
like coat made of gypsum and lard or tallow. 
This cheese is now made chiefly in Novara in 
Piedmont. 

Gorham Controversy (gdr' am). This arose out 
of the refusal (1848) of the bishop of Exeter 
to institute the Rev. Cornelius Gorham to the 
living of Brampford Speke, “because he 
held unsound views on the doctrine of bap- 
tism.” After two years’ controversy, the Privy 
Council decided in favour of Mr. Gorham. 

It was a major sensation of its decade and 
at one time seemed likely to split the Church 
of England in twain. 


Gospel. From O.E. godspel (good tidings), a 
translation of Mediaeval Lat. bonus nuntius . It 
is employed to describe collectively the lives of 
Christ as narrated by the evangelists in the 
New Testament; it signifies the message of 
redemption set forth in those books; it is used 
as a term for the entire Christian system of 
religion; and it is applied to any doctrine or 
teaching set forth for some specific purpose. 

The first four books of the New Testament, 
known as the Gospels, arc ascribed to Mat- 
thew, Mark, Luke, and John. The first three of 
these are called “synoptic,” as they follow 
the same lines and have, broadly speaking, the 
same point of view. The fourth Gospel was 
written later than the others. Critics are still 
uncertain as to the authorship of the Gospels. 

Gospel according to . . . The chief teaching 
of [so-and-so]. Tnc Gospel according to 
Mammon is the making and collecting of 
money. 

The Gospel of Nicodemus, or “The Acts of 
Pilate” is an apocryphal book compiled about 
the 5th century. It gives an elaborate and 
fanciful description of the trial, death and 
resurrection of Our Lord; names the two 
thieves (Dysmas and Gestas); Pilate’s wife 
(Procla); the centurion (Longinus), etc., and 



The Gospel of Peter is an apocryphal book 
first mentioned in the year 191. Only a frag- 
ment remains, and it departs from the canonical 
gospels in several particulars. 

The Gospel of Thomas is a Gnostic apocry- 
phal book full of stories of crude prodigies 
and puerile fancies. 

The gospel of wealth. The hypothesis that 
wealth is the great end and aim of man, the one 
thing needful. 

The Gospel side of the altar is to the left of 
the celebrant facing the altar. 

Gospeller. The priest who reads the Gospel 
in the Communion Service; also a follower of 
Wyclif, called the “Gospel Doctor”; anyone 
who believes that the New Testament has in 
part, at least, superseded the Old. 

Hot Gospellers was an old nickname for the 
Puritans; it is now frequently applied to the 
more energetic and vociferous evangelists who 
conduct revival meetings. 

Gossamer. According to legend, this delicate 
thread is the ravelling of the Virgin Mary’s 
winding-sheet, which fell to earth on her 
ascension to heaven. It is said to be God's 
seam , i.e. God’s thread. Actually, the name 
is from M.E. gossomer , literally goose-summer, 
or St. Martin’s summer (mid-November), 
when geese are eaten and gossamer is prevalent. 

Gossip. A tattler; a sponsor at baptism, a 
corruption tifGod-sibb , a kinsman in the Lord. 
(O.E. sibb, relationship, whence sibman , kins- 
man; he is our sib , is still used.) 

’Tis not a maid, for she hath had gossips [sponsors 
for her child]; yet ’tis a maid, for she is her master’s 
servant, and serves for wages .— Two Gentlemen of 
Verona, III, i. 



Gotch 


410 


Grab 


Gotch. In East Anglian dialect a large stone 
jug with a handle. Fetch the gotch , mor — i.e. 
fetch the great water-jug, my girl. 

A gotch of milk I’ve been to fill. 

R. Bloomfiei£> : Richard and Kate. 

Goth. One of an ancient tribe of Teutons which 
swept down upon and devastated large 
portions of southern Europe in the 3rd to 5th 
centuries, establishing kingdoms in Italy, 
southern France, and Spain. They were looked 
on by the civilized Romans as merely destroy- 
ing barbarians; hence the name came to be 
applied ta any rude, uncultured, destructive 
people. 

The last of the Goths. See Roderick. 

Gotham (go' tham). Wise Men of Gotham — 
fools, wiseacres. The village of Gotham, in 
Nottinghamshire, was for centuries proverbial 
for the folly of its inhabitants, and many tales 
have been fathered on them, ©ne of which is 
their joining hands round a thornbush to shut 
in a cuckoo. Cp. Coggeshall. 

It is said that King John intended to make 
a progress through this town with the view of 
purchasing a castle and grounds. The towns- 
men had no desire to be saddled with this ex- 
pense, and therefore when the royal messengers 
appeared, wherever they went they saw the 
peoule occupied in some idiotic pursuit. The 
^kini.belhg told of it, abandoned his intention, 
andthe “wise men” of the village cunningly 
remarked, “More fools pass through Gotham 
than remain in it.” 

A collection of popular tales of stupidity 
was published in the reign of Henry VIII as 
Merie Tales of the Mad Men of Gotam y 
gathered together by A. B. of Phis ike. Doc tour. 
This “A. B.” has been supposed to be Andrew 
Boorde (c. 1490-1549), physician and traveller. 

Most nations have fixed upon some locality 
as their limbus of fools; thus we have Phrygia 
as the fools’ home of Asia Minor, Abdera 
of the Thracians, Boeotia of the Greeks, 
Nazareth of the ancient Jews, Swabia of the 
modern Germans, and so on. 

Gothamites. Inhabitants of New York. The 
term was in use by 1800. The name of Gotham 
was given to New York by Washington Irving 
in his Salmagundi , 1807. 

Gothic Architecture. A style prevalent in 
Western Europe from the 12th to the 16th 
centuries, characterized by the pointed arch, 
clustered columns, etc. The name has nothing 
to do with the Goths, but was bestowed in 
contempt by the architects of the Renaissance 
period on mediaeval architecture, which they 
termed clumsy, fit only for barbarians or Goths. 

A revival in England of Gothic architecture 
and ornament was started by wealthy dilet- 
tanti such as Horace Walpole in the 18th 
century. It was further popularized by Sir 
Walter Scott and Ruskin, and took a concrete 
form in work of the Roman Catholic architect, 
A. W. Pugin (1812-52). T 

Gouk or Gowk. The cuckoo (from Icel. 
gaukr ); hence, a fool, a simpleton. 

Hunting the gowk is making one an April 
fool. See April. 


A gowk storm is a storm consisting of several 
days of tempestuous weather, believed by the 
easantry to take place periodically about the 
eginning of April, at the time that the gowk 
or cuckoo visits this country; it is also, 
curiously enough, a storm that is short and 
sharp, a “storm in a tea-cup.” 

That being done, he hoped that this was but a 
gowk-storm. — Sir G. Mackenzie: Memoirs , p. 70. 

Gourd. “Doctored” dice with a secret cavity 
were called gourds. See Fulhams. 

Jonah’s gourd. This plant (see Jonah iv, 6-10), 
the Heb. kikayon, was probably the Palma 
Christi, called in Egypt kiki. Niebuhr speaks 
of a specimen which he himself saw near a 
rivulet, which in October “rose eight feet in 
five months’ time.” And Volney says, “Wher- 
ever plants have water the rapidity of their 
growth is prodigious. In Cairo,” he adds, 
“there is a species of gourd which in twenty- 
four hours will send out shoots four inches 
long.” ( Travels , vol. I, p. 71.) 

Gourmand and Gourmet (goor' mond, goor' 
ma) (Fr.). The gourmand is one whose chief 
pleasure is eating; but a gourmet is a connois- 
seur of food and wines. The gourmand regards 
quantity more than quality, the gourmet 
quality more than quantity. See Apicius. 

In former times [in France] gourmand meant a 
judge of eating, and gourmet a judge of wine . . . 
Gourmet is now universally understood to refer to 
eating, and not to drinking. — Hamerton: French and 
English, Pt. I, ch. iv. 

The gourmand’s prayer. “O Philoxenos, 
Philoxenos, why were you not Prometheus?” 
Prometheus was the mythological creator of 
man, and Philoxenos was a great epicure, 
whose great and constant wish was to have 
the neck of a crane, that he might enjoy the 
taste of his food longer before it was swallowed 
into his stomach. (Aristotle, Ethics> iii, 10.) 

Gout. The disease is so called from the Fr. 
goutte , a drop, because it was once thought to 
proceed from a “drop of acrid matter in the 
joints.” 

Goven. St. Coven’s Bell. See Inchcape. 

Government Stroke. Early Australian slang for 
taking a long time over very little work; still 
a common expression in that country. 

Cowan (gou' an). A Scottish word for various 
field flowers, especially the common daisy, 
sometimes called the ewe-go wan, apparently 
from the ewe, as being frequent in pastures fed 
on by sheep. 

Gowk. Sec Gouk. 

Gown. Gown and town row. In university 
towns, a scrimmage between the students of 
different colleges and the townsmen. These 
feuds go back at least to the reign of King John, 
when 3,000 students left Oxford for Reading, 
owing to a quarrel with the men of the town. 

Gownsman. A student at one of the uni- 
versities; so called because he wears an 
academical gown. 

Graal. See Grail. 

Grab. To clutch or seize. He grabbed him> i.e. 
he caught him. 




Land grabber 


411 


Graft 


Land grabber. A common expression in 
Ireland during the last two decades of the 19th 
century, to signify one who takes the farm or 
land of an evicted tenant. The corresponding 
phrase in the 18th century was Land pirate. 

Grace. A courtesy title used in addressing or 
speaking of dukes, duchesses, and archbishops. 
“His Grace the Duke of Devonshire,” “My 
Lord Archbishop, may it please Your Grace,” 
etc. 

Act of grace. A pardon; a general pardon 
granted by Act of Parliament, especially that 
of 1690, when William III pardoned political 
offenders;? and that of 1784, when the estates 
forfeited for high treason in connexion with 
“the ’45” were restored. 

Grace before (or after) meat. A short prayer 
asking a blessing on, or giving thanks for, 
one’s food. Here the word (which used to be 
plural) is a relic of the old phrase to do graces 
or to give graces , meaning to render thanks 
(Fr. rendre graces; Lat. gratias age re), as in 
Chaucer’s 

They weren right glad and joyeful, and answereden 
ful mekely and benignely, yeldinge graces and thank- 
inges to hir lord Melibec. — Tale of Melibeus , §71. 

Grace card or Grace’s card. The six of hearts 
is so called in Kilkenny. One of the family of 
Grace, of Courtstow-n, in Ireland, equipped at 
his own expense a regiment of foot and troop 
of horse, in the service of James 11. William III 
promised him high honours if he would join 
the new party, but the indignant baron wrote 
on a card, “Tell your master I despise his 
offer.” The card was the six of hearts, and 
hence the name. 

Grace cup or Loving cup. This is a large 
tankard or goblet from which the last draught 
at a banquet is drunk, the cup being passed 
from guest to guest. The name is also applied 
to a strong brew, as at Oxford, of beer 
flavoured with lemon-peel, nutmeg and sugar, 
and very brown toast. 

Grace days, or Days of grace. The three 
days over and above the time stated in a 
commercial bill. Thus, if a bill is drawn on 
June 20th, and is payable in one month, it is 
due on July 20th, but three “days of grace” are 
added, bringing the date to July 23rd. 

Grace, Herb of. See Herb of Grace. 

Grace notes are musical embellishments, 
vocal or instrumental, not essential to the 
harmony or melody of a piece. They used to be 
much more common in music for the viol and 
harpsichord than they are for modern instru- 
ments, and it was not unusual for a virtuoso to 
introduce them at his own discretion. 

The three Graces. In classical mythology, 
the goddesses who bestowed beauty and charm 
and were themselves the embodiment of both. 
They were the sisters Aglaia, Thalia, and 
Euphrosyne. 

They are the daughters of sky-ruling Jove, 

By him begot of faire Eurynome, . . . 

The first of them hight mylde Euphrosyne, 

Next faire Aglaia, last Thalia merry ; 

Sweete Goddesses all three, which me m mirth do 
cherry. Spenser : Faerie Quecne, VI, x, 22. 

Andrea Appiani (1754-1817), the Italian 
fresco artist, was known as the Painter of the 
Graces . 

b.d.-— 14 


Time of grace. See Sporting Seasons. 

To fall from grace. Apart from a theological 
implication, this means to relapse from a moral 
position one has attained. 

To get into one’s good graces. To insinuate 
oneself into the favour of. 

To take heart of grace. To take courage 
because of favour or indulgence shown. 

With a good or bad grace. Gracefully or 
ungracefully, willingly or unwillingly. With a 
good grace has an air of rather forced acqui- 
escence. 

Year of Grace. The year of Our Lord, Anno 
Domini. In University language it is the year 
allowed to a Fellow who has been given a 
College living, at the end of which he must 
resign either his fellowship or the living. 

Graceless or Godless florin. The first issue 
of the English florin (1849), called “Grace- 
less” because the letters D.G. (“by God’s 
grace”) were omitted, and “Godless” because 
of the omission of F.D. (“Defender of the 
Faith”). 

It happened that Richard Lalor Sheil (1791- 
1851), master of the Mint at the time, was a 
Roman Catholic, and the suspicion was aroused 
that the omission was made on religious 
grounds. The florins were called in and re-cast, 
and Mr. Sheil left the Mint the foHowing*year 
on his appointment as minister to Florence. 

Grade. In American usage this word is used 
for the more common English gradient for 
the rate of ascent or descent of a road or 
railway track, also for the hill itself. A grade- 
crossing is usually known in Britain as a level 
crossing. 

To make the grade, to rise to the occasion, to 
have it in one to do what has to be done; from 
the analogy of a locomotive succeeding in 
drawing its load up a steep gradient. 

Gradely. A north of England term meaning 
thoroughly; regularly; as a gradely fine day. 
The word is from Scand. graith , ready, prompt. 

Gradgrind, Thomas. A character in Dickens’s 
Hard Times , typical of a man who allows 
nothing for the weakness of human nature, and 
deals with men and women as a mathematician 
with his figures. 

Gradual. An antiphon sung between the 
Epistle and the Gospel, as the deacon ascends 
the steps (Late Lat. graduates) of the altar. Also, 
a book containing the musical portions of the 
service at mass — the graduate, in traits, kyries , 
gloria in excels is, credo, etc. 

The Gradual Psalms. Ps. exx to cxxxiv in- 
clusive; probably so called because they were 
sung when the ascent to the inner court was 
made by the priests. In the Authorized Version 
they are called Songs of Degrees, and in the 
Revised Version Songs of Ascents. Cp. Hallel. 

Gnemes, The (gramz). A clan of freebooters 
who inhabited the Debatable Land (q.v.), and 
were transported to Ireland at the beginning 
of the 17th century. 

Graft. Illicit profit or commission. Of U.S.A. 
origin, the word is now world wide. It seems to 
have come into use in the 1890s. 



Grahame’s Dyke 


412 


Grand 


Grahame's Dyke. A popular name for the 
remains of the old Roman wall between the 
firths of Clyde and Forth, the Wall of An- 
toninus. 

Grail, The Holy. The cup or chalice tradition- 
ally used by Christ at the Last Supper, and the 
centre round which a huge corpus of mediaeval 
legend, romance, and allegory revolves. 

According to one account, Joseph of 
Arimathaea preserved the Grail, and received 
into it some of the blood of the Saviour at the 
Crucifixion. He brought it to England, but it 
disappeared. According to others, it was 
brought by angels from heaven and entrusted 
to a body of knights who guarded it on top of a 
mountain. When approached by anyone of not 
perfect purity it disappeared from sight, and 
its quest became the source of most of the 
adventures of the Knights of the Round Table. 
But see also Perceforest. 

The mass of literature concerning the Grail 
cycle, both ancient and modern, is enormous; 
the chief sources of the principal groups of 
legends are — the Peredur (Welsh, given in the 
Mabinogion ), which is the most archaic form 
of the Quest story; Wolfram’s Parzifal (c. 
1210), the best example of the story as trans- 
formed by ecclesiastical influence; the 13th- 
century French Percival le Gallois (founded 
on eanier English and Celtic legends which had 
no connexion with the Grail), showing Percival 
in his later role as an ascetic hero (translated 
by Dr. Sebastian Evans, 1893, as The High 
History of the Holy Grail) ; and the Quete du St. 
Graal , which, in its English dress, forms Bks. 
X1II-XVI1I of Malory’s Morte d' Arthur. See 
Fisherman, King; Galahad; Percival. 

It was the French poet, Robert le Boron (fl. 
c. 1215), who, in his Joseph d'Arimathie or 
Le Saint Graal , first definitely attached the 
history of the Grail to the Arthurian cycle. 

The framework of Tennyson’s Holy Grail 
(1869, Idylls of the King), in which the poet 
expressed his “strong feeling as to the Reality 
of the Unseen,” is taken from Malory. 

Grain. A knave in grain. A thoroughgoing 
knave, a knave all through. An old phrase 
which comes from dyeing. The brilliant crim- 
son dye obtained from the kermes and 
cochineal insects used to be thought to come 
from some seed, or grain; it was of a very 
durable and lasting nature, dyed the thing com- 
pletely and finally, through and through. Hence 
also the word ingrained , as in “an ingrained 
[i.e. ineradicable] habit.” 

How the red roses flush up in her cheeks, 

And the pure snow with goodly vermeil stain 
Like crimson dyed in grain! 

Spenser: Epithalamion , 226. 

*Tis ingrain, sir; ’twill endure wind and weather. — 
Shakespeare: Twelfth Night , I, v. 

To go against the grain. Against one’s 
inclination. The allusion is to wood, which 
cannot be easily planed the wrong way of the 
grain. 

Your minds, 

Pre-occupied with what you rather must do 
Than what you should, made you against the grain 
To voice him consul. — Coriolanus , II, iii. 

With a grain of salt. See Salt. 


Gramercy. Thank you very much; from O.Fr. 
grant , great; rnerci , reward, the full meaning 
of the exclamation being “May God reward 
you greatly.” When Gobbo says to Bassanio, 
“God bless your worship V* he replies, 
“Gramercy. Wouldst thou aught with me?” 
(Merchant of Venice , II, ii.) 

Grammar. Caesar is not above the grammarians. 
Suetonius tells us ( De Grammaticis , 22) that 
Tiberius was rebuked by a grammarian for 
some verbal slip, and upon a courtier re- 
marking that if the word was not good Latin 
it would be in future, now that it had received 
imperial recognition, he was rebuked with the 
words, Tu enim Ctesar civiratem dare potes 
hominibus , verbis non potes (Oesar, you can 
grant citizenship to men, but not to words). 
Hence the saying, Ccesar non supra grammaticos. 

But when a later Emperor, the German 
Sigismund I, stumbled into a wrong gender at 
the Council of Constance (1414), no such 
limitation would be admitted; he replied, Ego 
sum Imperator Romanorum , et supra gram - 
maticam (I am the Roman Emperor, and am 
above grammar!). 

The Scourge of Grammar. So Pope, in the 
Dunciad (III, 149), called Giles Jacob (1686- 
1744), a very minor poet, who, in his Register 
of the Poets , made an unprovoked attack on 
Pope’s friend, Gay. 

Prince of Grammarians. Apollonius of 
Alexandria (2nd cent, b.c.), so called by 
Priscian. 

Grammont (gra' mong). The Count de Gram- 
mont’s short memory is a phrase arising from 
a story told of the Count’s marriage to Lady 
Elizabeth Hamilton — La Belle Hamilton — of 
the Restoration court. When he was leaving 
England after a visit in which this young lady’s 
name had been compromised by him, he was 
followed by her brothers with drawn swords, 
who asked him if he had not forgotten some- 
thing. “True, true,” said the Count pleasantly; 
“I promised to marry your sister.” With which 
he returned to London and married Elizabeth, 
1663. 

Granby, The Marquess of. At one time this was 
a popular inn sign, there being in London 
alone over twenty public-houses of this name. 
John Manners, Marquess of Granby (1721-70), 
commanded the Leicester Blues against the 
Pretender in the ’45 ; was a lieutenant-general at 
Minden (1759) and commander-in-chief of the 
British army in 1766. He was a very bald man, 
and most of the inn-signs exaggerated this 
defect in his appearance. 

Grand, Le. (Fr. the Great.) 

Le Grand Batdrd. Antoine de Bourgogne (d. 
1504), a natural son of Philip the Good, 
famous for his deeds of prowess. 

Le Grand Cond6. Louis II of Bourbon, Prince 
de Cond6, one of France’s greatest military 
commanders (1621-86). The funeral oration 
pronounced at his death was Bossuet’s finest 
composition. 

Le Grand Corneille. Pierre Corneille, the 
French dramatist (1606-84). 



Grand 


413 


Grape 


Le Grand Dauphin. Louis, son of Louis XIV 
(1661-1711). 

La Grande Mademoiselle. The Duchesse de 
Montpensier (1627-93), daughter of Gaston, 
Due d’Orteans, and cousin of Louis XIV. 

Le Grand Monarque. Louis XIV, King of 
France (1638-1715). 

Le Grand Pan. Voltaire (1694-1778). 

Monsieur le Grand. The Grand Equerry of 
France in the reign of Louis XIV, etc. 

Grand. 

Grand Alliance. Signed May 12th, 1689, 
between Germany and the States General, 
subsequently also by England, Spain, and 
Savoy, to prevent the union of France and 
Spain. 

Grand Guignol. See Guignol. 

Grand Lama. See Lama. 

Grand Seignior. A term applied to the Sultan 
of Turkey. 

Grandee. In Spain, a nobleman of the highest 
rank, who has the privilege of remaining 
covered in the king’s presence. 

Grandison, Sir Charles, the hero of Samuel 
Richardson’s History of Sir Charles Grandison , 
published in 1753. Sir Charles is the beau-ideal 
of a perfect hero, the union of a good Christian 
and an English gentleman, aptly ascribed by 
Sir Walter Scott as “a faultless monster 
that the world ne’er saw.” It has been sug- 
gested that Richardson’s model for this 
character was the worthy Robert Nelson (1665- 
1715), a religious writer and eminent non- 
juror. 

Grandison Cromwell. The nickname given by 
Mirabeau to Lafayette (1757-1834), implying 
that he had all the ambition of a Cromwell, 
but wanted to appear before men as ti Sir 
Charles Grandison. 

Grandmontines. An order of Benedictine her- 
mits founded by St. Stephen of Muret about 
1100, with its mother house at Grandmont, 
Normandy. They came to England soon after 
the foundation and established three houses, 
one of which, at Craswall, Herefordshire (fl. c. 
1222-1464) is one of the loneliest and most 
interesting monastic ruins in England. 

Grange. Properly the granum (granary) or farm 
of a monastery, where the corn was kept in 
store. In Lincolnshire and the northern 
counties the name is applied to any lone farm; 
houses attached to monasteries where rent 
was paid in grain were also called granges. 

Till thou return, the Court I will exchange 

For some poor cottage, or some country grange. 

Drayton: Lady Geraldine to Earl of Surrey. 

Tennyson’s poem, Mariana , was suggested 
by the line in Shakespeare’s Measure for 
Measure (III, i): — 

There, at the moated grange, resides this dejected 

Mariana. 

The word came into more common use in 
Victorian times when new and largish houses 
were being built in the country and often 
magniloquently called The Grange. 


In U.S.A. The Grange is a nation-wide 
association for promoting the interests of 
agriculture. 

Grangerize (gran' jer iz). To “extra-illustrate” 
a book; to supplement it by the addition of 
illustrations, portraits, autograph letters, 
caricatures, prints, broadsheets, biographical 
sketches, anecdotes, scandals, press notices, 
parallel passages, and any other sort of matter 
directly or indirectly bearing on the subject. 
So called from James Granger (1723-76), vicar 
of Shiplake, Oxon, who collected some 14,000 
engraved portraits and in 1769 published his 
Biographical History of England from Egbert 
the Great to the Revolution. . . . “with a preface 
showing the utility of a collection of engraved 
portraits.” The book went through several 
editions with additional matter, and in 1806 
was edited by Mark Noble. Collectors made 
this book a sort of core around which they 
assembled great collections of portraits, etc., 
and in 1856 two copies of the book were sold 
by London booksellers, one in 27 volumes 
with 1,300 portraits, the other in 19 volumes 
containing 3,000 portraits. There was for many 
years a fashion of Grangerizing books, with 
the result that many excellent editions of 
biographies, etc., were ruined by having the 
plates torn out, for pasting into some dilet- 
tante’s collection. 

Grangousier. In Rabelais’s satire, Gargantua 
and Pantagruel , a king of Utopia, who married 
in “the vigour of his old age’’ Gargamelle, 
daughter of the king of the Parpaillons, and 
became the father of Gargantua (q.v.). Some 
say he is meant for Louis XII, but Motteux 
thinks the “academy figure’’ of this old Priam 
was John d’Albret, King of Navarre. 

Granite. Granite City, The. Aberdeen. 

Granite Redoubt. The grenadiers of the 
Consular Guard were so called at the battle of 
Marengo in 1800, because when the French 
had given way they formed into a square, stood 
like stone against the Austrians, and stopped 
all further advance. 

Granite State, The. New Hampshire is so 
called, because the mountainous parts are 
chiefly granite. 

Granny-knot. An ill-tied reef knot which 
breaks down when any strain is placed upon it. 

Grape. Sour grapes. You disparage it because 
it is beyond your reach. The allusion is to 
Aisop’s well-known fable of the fox which 
tried in vain to get at some grapes, but when 
he found they were beyond his reach went 
away saying, “I see they are sour.” 

Grape shot. A form of projectile at one time 
much used with smooth-bore guns. It con- 
sisted of a large number of cast-iron bullets 
packed in layers between thin iron plates and 
then arranged in tiers (usually three), the whole 
being held together by an iron bolt passing 
through the centre of the plates. When fired 
the shot broke up and distributed the bullets 
in showers. The well-known phrase “A whiff 
of grape shot” occurs in Carlyle’s French 
Revolution (III, vii, 7). 


Grape-sugar 


414 


Great 


Grape-sugar. Another name for glucose (dex- 
trose), a fermentable sugar, less sweet than 
cane-sugar, and obtained from dried grapes 
and other fruits as well as being made chemi- 
cally. It is used in the manufacture of jams, 
beer, etc. 

Grapevine telegraph. The intangible and un- 
traceable means whereby rumours — as often as 
not false — are conveyed around by whisperings, 
etc. 

Grass. Not to let the grass grow under one’s 
feet. To be very active and energetic. 

A grass hand is a compositor who fills a 
temporary vacancy; hence to grass, to take 
only temporary jobs as a compositor. 

Grass widow. Formerly, an unmarried 
woman who has had a child; but now, a wife 
temporarily parted from her husband; also, by 
extension, a divorced woman. The word has 
nothing to do with grace widow (a widow by 
courtesy). The phrase grass widower is used in 
the same sense. 

Grasshopper. Considered as the sign of a grocer 
because it was the crest of Sir Thomas 
Gresham, merchant grocer. The Royal Ex- 
change, founded by him, used to be profusely 
decorated with grasshoppers, and the brass one 
on the eastern part of the present building 
escaped the fires of 1666 and 1838. 

Grattan’s Parliament. The free Irish Parliament 
established in Dublin in 1782, when Henry 
Grattan (1746-1820) obtained the repeal of 
Poynings* Law (q.v.). It lasted till the coming 
into force of the Act of Union, January 1st, 
1801. 

Grave. Solemn, sedate, and serious in look and 
manner. This is Lat. gravis , heavy, grave; but 
“grave,** a place of interment, is OiE. grcef \ a 
pit; graf-an, to dig. 

Close as the grave. Very secret indeed. 

It’s enough to make him turn In his grave. 
Said when something happens to which the 
deceased person would have strongly objected. 

Someone is walking over my grave. An ex- 
clamation made when one is seized with an 
involuntary convulsive shuddering. 

To carry away the meat from the graves. See 
Meat. 

With one foot in the grave. At the very verge 
of death. The expression was used by Julian, 
who said he would “learn something even if 
he had one foot in the grave.** The parallel 
Greek phrase is, “With one foot in the ferry- 
boat,” meaning Charon’s. 

Gravelled. I’m regularly gravelled. Nonplussed, 
like a ship run aground and unable to move. 

When you were gravelled for lack of matter . — As 
You Like It , IV, i. 

Gray. See Grey. 

Gray-hack. Confederate soldier in the 
American Civil War. So called from the colour 
of the Confederate army uniform. 

Gray’s Inn (London) was the inn or mansion 
of the Lords de Grey, and the property be- 
longed to them from at least as earlv as 1 307 


to 1505. It was let to students of law in the 
14th century, and is still one of the four Inns 
of Court (^.v.). In the Hall, erected 1555-60, 
Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors was first acted, 
1 594. The walks and gardens were laid out by 
Sir Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam. The library 
contained some 30,000 volumes and MSS. but, 
together with the Hall, it was destroyed in the 
air-raids of 1940-41. The Hall was rebuilt and 
opened in 1951. 

Grease. Slang for money, especially that given 
as a bribe; “palm-oil.” 

Like greased lightning. Very quick indeed. 

To grease one’s palm or fist. To give a bribe. 

Grease my fist with a tester or two, and ye shall find 
it in your pennyworth. — Quarles; 77j<? Virgin Widow, 
IV, i* p. 40. 

S.: You must oyl it first. 

C. : I understand you — 

Greaze him i’ the fist. 

Cartwright: Ordinary (1651). 

To grease the wheels. To make things run 
smoothly, pass off without a hitch; usually 
by the application of a little money. 

Greaser. The American name for a Mexican 
or Spanish American, generally used in con- 
tempt. 

Great, The. The term is usually applied to the 
following: — 

Abbas I, Shah of Persia. (1557, 1585-1628). 

Albertus Magnus, the schoolman, (d. 1280.) 

Alexander, of Macedon. (356, 340-323 b.c.) 

Alfonso HI, King of Asturias and Leon. (884, 866- 
912.) 

Alfred, of England. (849, 871-899). 

St. Basil, Bishop of Caesarea. (4th cent.) 

Canute, of England and Denmark. (995, 1014- 
1035.) 

Casimir III, of Poland. (1309, 1333-1370.) 

Catherine II, Empress of Russia. (1729, 1762— 
1796.) 

Charles, King of the Franks and Emperor of the 
Romans, called Charlemagne, (764-814.) 

Charles III, Duke of Lorraine. (1543-1608). 

Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy. (1562-1630.) 

Clovis, King of the Franks. (466-511.) 

CondL See Louis U, below. 

Constantine I, Emperor of Rome. (272, 306-337.) 

Cyrus, founder of the Persian Empire, (d. 529 b.c.) 

Darius, King of Persia, (d. 485 b.c.) 

Douglas ( Archibald , the great Earl of Angus, also 
called Bell-the-Cat 

Ferdinand I, of Castile and Leon (Reigned 1034- 
1065.) 

Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, sur- 
named The Great Elector . (1620-1688.) 

Frederick II. of Prussia. (1712, 1740-1786.) 

Gregory I, Pope. (544, 590-604.) 

Gustavus Adolphus, of Sweden. (1 594, 1611-1632.) 

Henry IV, of France. (1553, 1589-1610.) 

Herod I, King of Judea. (73-3 b.c.) 

John I, of Portugal. (1357, 1385-1433.) 

Justinian I, Emperor of the East. (483, 527-565.) 

Leo I, Pope. (440-461.) 

Leo I, Emperor of the East. (457-474.) 

Leopold I. of Germany. (1640-1705.) 

Lewis I, of Hungary. (1326, 1342-1383.) 

Louis II, de Bourbon, Prince of Cond6, Due 
d’Enghien (1621-1686), always known as The Great 
Condi. 

Louis XIV, called Le Grand Monarque. (1638, 
1643-1715.) 

Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria, victor of Prague. 
(1573-1651.) 

Cosmo de* Medici, first Grand Duke of Tuscany. 
(1519, 1537-1574.) 

Gonzales Pedro de Mendoza, great Cardinal of 
Spain, statesman and scholar. (1428-1495.) 




Great 


415 


Greek Church 


Mohammed II, Sultan of the Turks. (1430, 1451- 
1481.) 

Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. (Reigned 
1804-1815.) 

Nicholas I, Pope. (858-867.) 

Otho I, Emperor of the Romans. (912, 936-973.) 

Peter I, of Russia. (1672, 1689-1725.) 

Pierre III, of Aragon. (1239, 1276-1285.) 

Sancho HI, King of Navarre, (c. 965-1035.) 

Sapor III, King of Persia, (d. 380.) 

Sforza (Giacomo), the Italian general. (1369-1424.) 

Sigismund II, King of Poland. (1467, 1506-1548.) 

THeodoric, King of the Ostrogoths. (454, 475-526.) 

Theodosius I, Emperor. (346, 378-395.) 

Matteo Visconti, Lord of Milan. (1252, 1295- 
1323.) 

Vladimir, Grand Duke of Russia. (973-1015.) 

Waldemar I, of Denmark. (1 131, 1157-1 182.) 

Great Bear, The. See Bear. 

Great Bible, The. See Bible, The English. 

Great Bullet-head, Georges Cadoutfal (1771- 
1804), leader of the Chouans , born at Brech, in 
Morbihan. 

Great Captain. See Capitano, El Gran. 

Great Cham of Literature. So Smollett calls 
Dr. Johnson (1709-84). 

Great Commoner. William Pitt, Earl of 
Chatham (1708-78). 

Great Dauphin, The. See Grand. 

Great Divide. The Rocky Mountains. 

Great Elector, The. Frederick William, 
Elector of Brandenburg (1620-88). 

Great Go. At the universities, a familiar 
term for the final examinations for the B.A. 
degree; at Oxford usually shortened to Greats . 
Cp. Little Go. 

Great Harry. The name popularly given to 
the Henry Grace a Dieu , the first double- 
decked warship in the English navy. Built in 
1512, and named after Henry VIII, she was a 
three-master of about 1,000 tons, carried 72 
guns and sailed with a crew of 700 men. She 
was burned accidentally at Woolwich, in 1533. 

Great Head. Malcolm III, of Scotland; also 
called Canmore , which means the same thing. 
(Reigned 1057-1093.) 

Great Lakes. The five American inland seas 
— Lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and 
Superior. 

Great Mogul. The title of the chief of the 
Mogul Empire (<?.v.). 

Great Scott or Sscot! An exclamation of 
surprise, wonder, admiration, indignation, 
etc. It seems to have originated in America 
about the late 60s of last century, perhaps in 
memory of General Winfield Scott (1786-1866) 
a popular figure in the mid- 19th century after 
his victorious campaign in Mexico in 1847. 

Great Unknown, The. Sir Walter Scott, who 
published Waverley (1814), and the subsequent 
novels as “by the author of Waverley,” 
anonymously. It was not till 1827 that he 
admitted the authorship, though it was already 
pretty well known. 

The Great White Way. The name formerly 
applied to Broadway, the theatrical district oi 
New York City. 

Greatheart, Mr. The guide of Christiana and 
her family to the Celestial City in Bunyan’s 
Pilgrim's Progress , part II. 


Grecian. See Blue-coat School. 

Grecian bend. An affectation in walking 
with the body stooped slightly forward, 
assumed by English women in 1868. 

Grecian Coffee-house, in Devereux Court, 
the oldest in London, was originally opened 
by Pasqua, a Greek slave, brought to England 
in 1652 by Daniel Edwards, a Turkey merchant* 
and the first to teach the method of roasting 
coffee and to introduce that beverage into 
England. It was closed in 1843. 

A Grecian nose or profile is one where the 
line of the nose continues that of the forehead 
without a dip. 

Greco, El (grek' 6), or The Greek. A Cretan 
named Domenico Theotocopuli, who studied 
under Titian and Michelangelo, and moved to 
Spain about 1570. He was the foremost 
painter of the Castilian school in the 16th 
century. 

Greegrees. The name given on the West Coast 
of Africa to amulets, charms, fetishes, etc. 

A greegree man. One who sells these. 

Greek. A merry Greek. In Troilus and Cress ida 
(1, ii) Shakespeare makes Pandarus, bantering 
Helen for her love to Troilus, say, “I think 
Helen loves him better than Paris”; to which 
Cressida, whose wit is to pariy and pervert, 
replies, “Then she’s a merry Greek indeed,” 
insinuating that she was a “woman of 
pleasure.” See Grig. 

All Greek to me. Quite unintelligible; an 
unknown tongue or language. Casca says, “For 
mine own part, it was all Greek to me.” 
( Julius Caesar , I, ii.) 

Last of the Greeks. Philopoemen, of Mega- 
lopolis, whose great object was to infuse into 
the Achaeans a military spirit, and establish 
their independence (252-183 b.c.). 

To play the Greek. To indulge in one’s cups. 
The Greeks have always been considered a 
luxurious race, fond of creature comforts. The 
rule in Greek banquets was E pithi e apithi 
(Quaff, or be off!). 

When Greek meets Greek, then is the tug of 
war. When two men or armies of undoubted 
courage fight, the contest will be very severe. 
The line is slightly altered from a 17th-century 
play, and the reference is to the obstinate 
resistance of the Greek cities to Philip and 
Alexander, the Macedonian kings. 

When Greeks joined Greeks, then was the tug of war. 

Nathaniel Lee: The Rival Queens , IV, ii. 

Greek Anthology. See Anthology. 

Greek Calends. Never. To defer anything to 
the Greek Calends is to defer it sine die. There 
were no calends in the Greek months. See 
Never. 

Greek Church. A name often given in- 
accurately to the Eastern or Orthodox Church 
of which the Greek Church is only an 
autocephalous unit, recognized as independent 
by the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1850. 
It is governed by a synod under the presidency 
of the Archbishop of Athens, and does not 
differ in any point of doctrine from its parent 
the Orthodox Church. 


Greek Cross 


416 


Green Room 


Greek Cross. See Cross. 

Greek fire. A combustible composition used 
for setting fire to an enemy’s ships, fortifica- 
tions, etc., of nitre, sulphur, and naphtha. Tow 
steeped in the mixture was hurled in a blazing 
state through tubes, or tied to arrows. The 
invention is ascribed to Callinicos, of Heliop- 
olis, a.d. 668, and it was used by the Greeks at 
Constantinople. 

Greek gift. A treacherous gift. The refer- 
ence is to the Wooden Horse of Troy ( g.v .), 
or to Virgil’s Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes 
(/ Eneid \ II, 49), “1 fear the Greeks, even when 
they offer gifts.” 

Greek trust. No trust at all. “ Grceca fides" 
was with the Romans no faith at all. 


Green. Young, fresh, as green cheese , cream 
cheese, which is eaten fresh; a green old age , 
an old age in which the faculties are not im- 
paired and the spirits are still youthful; green 
goose , a young or mid-summer goose. 

Immature in age or judgment, inexperienced, 
young. 

My salad days 

When I was green in judgment! 

Antony and Cleopatra, I, v. 

Simple, raw, easily imposed upon; the 
characteristic greenhorn (q.v.). 

“He is so jolly green,” said Charley. — D ickens: 
Oliver Twist , ch. ix. 

For its symbolism, etc., see Colours. 

Do you see any green in my eye? See Eye. 


If they do these things in the green tree, what 
shall be done in the dry? {Luke xxiii, 31.) If they 
start like this, how will they finish? Or, as Pope 
says ( Moral Essays , Ep. i), “Just as the twig is 
bent, the tree’s inclined.” 

To give a girl a green gown. A 16th-century 
descriptive phrase for romping with a girl in 
the fields and rolling her on the grass so that 
her dress is stained green. 

There’s not a budding Boye, or Girle, this day, 

But is got up, and gone to bring in May . . . 

Many a green-gown has been given; 

Many a kisse, both odd and even. 

Herrick: Corinna's Going a-Maying. 

To look through green glasses. To feel 
jealous of one; to be envious of another’s 
success. Cp. Green-eyed Monster, below . 

The Board of Green Cloth. See Board. 


The moon made of green cheese. See Moon. 

The wearing of the green. An Irish patriotic 
and revolutionary song, dating from 1798. 
Green (cp. Emerald Isle) was the emblematic 
colour adopted by Irish Nationalists. 

TheyTe hanging men and women for the wearing 
of the green. 

Gentlemen of the Green Baize Road. Whist 

B ’ rs. “Gentlemen of the Green Cloth 
,” billiard players. (See Bleak House , ch. 
xxvi, par. 1.) Probably the idea of sharpers is 
included, as “Gentlemen of the Road” means 
highwaymen. 

Green belt. A stretch of country around a 
city or large town that has been set aside to 
be kept open and free from all building 
except within certain limits. 


Green Dragoons. The old 13th Dragoons 
(whose regimental facings were green). Later 
called the 13th Hussars, with white regimental 
facings since 1861 ; now the 1 3th/l 8th Hussars 
(Queen Mary’s Own). 

Green-eyed monster, The. So Shakespeare 
called jealousy: — 

lago : O! beware, my lord, of jealousy; 

It is the green-ey’d monster which doth mock 

The meat it feeds on. Othello . Ill, iii. 

A greenish complexion was formerly held 
to be indicative of jealousy; and as all the 
green-eyed cat tribe “mock the meat they feed 
on,” so jealousy mocks its victim by loving 
and loathing it at the same time. 

Green fingers. Said of a successful gardener 
whose fingers are supposed to have a sort of 
magic touch in growing plants. 

Green hands. A nautical phrase for inferior 
sailors. See Able-bodied Seaman, and cp. 
Greenhorn, below. 

The Green Howards. The official name, since 
1920, of the Yorkshire Regiment, the 19th of 
the line, named after Sir Charles Howard, 
colonel from 1738 to 1748. Green is the 
colour of the regimental facings. 

The Green Isle. Ireland. See Emerald Isle. 

The Green Knight. In the old romance, 
Valentine and Orson , a pagan who demanded 
Fezon in marriage but, overcome by Orson, 
resigned his claim. 

Green Linnets. The 39th Foot, so called 
from the colour of their facings. Now The 
Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, and the 
facings are grass green. 

Green Man. This common public-house sign 
probably represents cither a Jack-in-the-green 
(q.v.), or a game-keeper, who used at one time 
to be dressed in green. 

But the ‘‘Green Man” shall I pass by unsung, 

Which mine own James upon his sign-post hung? 

His sign, his image — for he once was seen 

A squire’s attendant, clad in keeper’s green. 

Crarbe: Borough. 

The public-house sign. The Green Man and 
Still , is probably from the arms of the Distil- 
lers’ Company, the supporters of which were 
two Indians, which, by the sign-painters, were 
depicted as clad in green boughs like a “green 
man” or Jack-in-the-green. 

On a golf course the ^reen-man is the club 
servant who is responsible for the putting 
greens. 

Green Mountain Boys. Men of Vermont, 
U.S.A. — a term in use since 1775. Vermont, or 
Vert Mont, so called from its forest-covered 
mountains, was formed from the states of New 
Hampshire and New York in 1777, largely 
through the action of its farmers who agitated 
for an independent state of their own, and 
were called the Green Mountain Boys. 

Green Ribbon Day in Ireland is March 17th, 
St. Patrick’s Day, when the shamrock and 
green ribbon are worn as the national badge. 

Green room. The common waiting-room 
beyond the stage at a theatre for the performers ; 
so called because at one time the walls were 
coloured green to relieve the eyes affected by 
the glare of the stage lights. 




Green sickness 


,417 


Grenadier 


Green sickness. The old name for chlorosis, 
a form of anaemia now very rare but once 
common in adolescent girls. It was character- 
ized by a greenish pallor. 

Green wax. In old legal practice an estreat 
(certified extract from an official record) 
formerly delivered to the sheriff* by the Ex- 
chequer for levy. It was under the seal of the 
court, which was impressed upon green wax. 

Greenbacks. A legal tender note in the 
United States, first issued in 1862, during the 
Civil War, as a war-revenue measure; so 
called because the back is printed in green. 

Greengage. A variety of plum introduced 
into England from France (with others) by 
Sir William Gage of Hengrave, Suffolk, about 
1725, and named in honour of him. Called by 
the French “Reine Claude,” out of compliment 
to the daughter of Anne de Bretagne and 
Louis XII, generally called la bonne reine 
(1499-1524). 

Greenhorn. A novice at any trade, profession, 
sport, etc., a simpleton, a youngster. Cp. 
Green; Green Hands. 

Greensleeves. A very popular ballad in 
Elizabethan days, first published in 1581, 
given in extenso in Clement Robinson’s 
Handefull of Pleasant Delites (1584), and twice 
mentioned by Shakespeare ( Merry Wives , II, i, 
and V, v.). The air goes back to Elizabethan 
times, and was used for many ballads. During 
the Civil Wars it was a party tune to which the 
Cavaliers sang political ballads. Pcpys (April 
23rd, 1660) mentions it under the title of The 
Blacksmith , by which it was sometimes known. 

Greenlander. A native of Greenland, which was 
originally so called (Grdnland) by the Norse- 
men in the 10th century with the idea that if 
only they gave the country a good name it 
would induce settlers to go there! Facetiously 
applied to a greenhorn. 

Greenwich. Greenwich barbers. Retailers of 
sand; so called because the inhabitants of 
Greenwich used to “shave the pits” in the 
neighbourhood to supply London with sand. 

Greenwich stars. The stars used by astrono- 
mers for the lunar computations in the nautical 
ephemeris. 

Greenwich time. Mean time for the meridian 
of Greenwich, i.e. the system of time in which 
noon occurs at the moment of passage of the 
mean sun over the meridian of Greenwich. 
It is the standard time adopted by astronomers; 
Greenwich noon is in legal use throughout 
the British Isles, Portugal, West Africa and 
the islands of the South Atlantic Ocean. 

Since 1883 the system of Standard Time by 
zones has been accepted by all civilized nations. 
Standard Time differs from Greenwich Mean 
Time by an integral number of hours, either 
slow or fast. Central European Time is, for 
example, one hour fast of Greenwich Time; 
Pacific Time is 9 hours slow; i.e. noon at 
Greenwich is 3 a.m. of the same day in British 
Columbia. 

Gregorian. Gregorian Calendar. See Calendar. 

Gregorian chant. Plain-song; a mediaeval 
system of church music, so called because it 


was introduced into the service by Gregory the 
Great (600). 

Gregorian Epoch. The epoch or day on which 
the Gregorian calendar commenced in October, 
1582. 

See Gregorian Year, below . 

Gregorian telescope. The first 1 form of the 
reflecting telescope, invented by James 
Gregory (1638-75), professor of mathematics 
at St. Andrews (1663). 

Gregorian tree. The gallows; so named from 
Gregory Brandon and his son, Robert (who 
was popularly known as “Young Gregory”), 
hangmen from the time of James I to 1649. 
Sir William Segar, Garter Knight of Arms, 
granted a coat of arms to Gregory Brandon. 
See Hangmen. 

This trembles under the black rod, and he 
Doth fear his fate from the Gregorian tree. 

Mercutias Pragmaticus (1641). 

Gregorian Year. The civil year, according to 
the correction introduced by Pope Gregory 
XIII in 1582. See Calendar. The equinox, 
which occurred on March 25th in the time of 
Julius Caesar, fell on March 11th in the year 

1582. This was because the Julian calculation 
of 365 J days to a year was 11 min. 10 sec. too 
much. Gregory suppressed ten days in October, 
so as to make the equinox fall on March 21, 

1583, as it did at the Council of Nice, and, by 
some simple arrangements, prevented the 
recurrence in future of a similar error. 

The New Style, as it was called, was adopted 
in England in 1752, when Wednesday, Septem- 
ber 2nd, was followed by Thursday, September 
14th. 

This has given rise to a double computation, as 
Lady Day, March 25th, Old Lady Day, April 6th; 
Midsummer Day, June 24th, Old Midsummer Day, 
July 6th; Michaelmas Day, September 29th, Old* 
Michaelmas Day, October 11th; Christmas Day, 1 
December 25th, Old Christmas Day, January 6th. 

Until 1752 the legal new year in Britain 
began on March 25th, though New Year’s Day 
was popularly reckoned as January 1st. It was, 
therefore, customary to put for all dates 
between January 1st and March 25th the two 
years involved: e.g. January 31st, 1721 in 
popular reckoning would be written or printed 
as January 3 1st, 1720/21, that is, 1720 legally 
but popularly and actually 1721. 

Gregories. Hangmen. See Gregorian Tree. 
Gregory. A feast held on St. Gregory’s Day 
(March 12th), especially in Ireland but 
formerly common to all Europe. 

Gremlin (grem' lin). One of a tribe of imaginary 
elves, whom the R.A.F. in World War II 
blamed for all inexplicable failures, mechanical 
oi otherwise, in aeroplanes. The phrase was 
coined just before Woild War II by a Squad- 
ron of Bomber Command then serving on the 
N.W. frontier of India* It was compounded 
from Grimm’s Fairy Tales , the only book 
available in the mess, and Fremlin, whose beer 
was the only liquid refreshment available. It 
first appeared in print in Charles Graves’s Thin 
Blue Line (1941), the author having heard it 
used by Group Captain Cheshire, v.c., at a 
Yorkshire airfield shortly before that. 
Grenadier. Originally a soldier whose duty in 
battle was to throw grenades, i.e . explosive 



Grendel 


418 


Griffin 


shells, weighing from two to six pounds. There 
were some four or five tall, picked men, chosen 
for this purpose from each company; later 
each regiment had a special company of them ; 
and when, in the 18th century, the use of 
grenades was discontinued (not to be revived 
until World War I), the name was retained for 
the company composed of the tallest and 
finest men. In the British Army it now survives 
only in the Grenadier Guards, the First 
regiment of Foot Guards (2 battalions), noted 
for their height, fine physique, traditions, and 
discipline. 

Grendel, The mythical, half-human monster in 
Beowulf ( q.v .), who nightly raided the king’s 
hall and slew the sleepers; he was slain by 
Beowulf. 

Gresham. Sir Thomas. See Cleopatra and her 
Pearl; Grasshopper. 

Gresham’s Law can be briefly summarized as 
stating that bad money drives out good, and 
was promulgated by Gresham to Elizabeth I in 
1558, though the same law had been explained 
earlier by Copernicus. 

To dine with Sir Thomas Gresham. See Dine. 
Greta Hall. The poet of Greta Hall. Southey, 
who lived at Greta Hall, Keswick, Cumber- 
land (1774-1843). 

Gretna Green Marriages. Runaway matches. 
In Scotland, all that is required of contracting 
parties is a mutual declaration before witnesses 
of their willingness to marry, so that elopers 
reaching Gretna, a hamlet near the village of 
Springfield, Dumfriesshire, 8 miles N.W. of 
Carlisle, and just across the border, could (up 
to 1856) get legally married without either 
licence, banns, or priest. The declaration was 
generally made to a blacksmith. 

By an Act of 1856 the residence in Scotland 
for at least 21 days of one of the parties is 
essential before a marriage can be performed. 

Grfcve (grav). Place de Gr&ve. The Tyburn of 
old Paris, where for centuries public executions 
took place. The present Hotel de Ville occupies 
part of the site, and what is left of the Place is 
now called the Place de VHdtel de Ville. The 
word grdve means the strand of a river or the 
shore of the sea, and the Place is on the bank 
of the Seine. 

Who has e’er been to Paris must needs know the 
Gr£ve, 

The fatal retreat of th’ unfortunate brave. 

Where honour and justice most oddly contribute 
To ease Hero’s pains by a halter or gibbet. 

Prior: The Thief and the Cordelier. 

Grey. Greys, The. The Royal Scots Greys (2nd 
Dragoons) were raised in 1678. It is now un- 
certain wheth# their name comes from their 
grey horses or their uniform, which was also 
grey. The horses surypved the uniform, but 
both have now gone, as the regiment is mech- 
anized. 

Greybeard. An old man — generally a 
doddering old fellow; also an earthen pot for 
holding spirits; a large stone jar. Cp. Bellar- 
mine. 

Grey Cloak. A City of London alderman 
who has passed the chair; so called because 
his official robe is furred with grey amis. 


Grey Eminence. The name given to Francois 
Leclerc^du Tremolay (1577-1638), or P6re 
Joseph, *as he was called, the Capuchin agent 
and trusty counsellor of Cardinal Richelieu. 
He owed his sobriquet to the fact that his 
influence and his policy inspired the Cardinal’s 
actions, and that he was, as it were, a shadowy 
cardinal in the background. 

Grey Friars. Franciscans (q.v.). Black Friars 
are Dominicans, and White Friars Carmelites. 

Grey goose feather, or wing. “The grey 
goose wing was the death of him,” the arrow 
which is winged with grey goose feathers. 

Grey mare. See Mare. 

Grey matter. A pseudo-scientific euphemism 
for the brain, for common sense. The active 
part of the brain is composed of a greyish 
tissue which contains the nerve-endings. 

Grey Sisters. See Franciscans. 

Grey Washer by the Ford, The. An Irish 
wraith which seems to be washing clothes in a 
river; but when the “doomed man T ’ approaches 
she holds up what she seemed to be washing, 
and it is the phantom of himself with his 
death wounds from which he is about to suffer. 

Greyhound. Juliana Berners, in the Boke of St. 
Albans (I486) gives the following as “the 
propreteYs of a goode Grehound”: — 

A greyhounde shoulde be heded like a Snake, And 
necked like a Drake; Foted like a Kat, Tayled iike u 
Rat; Syded like a Teme, Chyned like a Beme. 

“Syded like a Teme” probably means both 
sides alike, a plough-team being meant. 

Greyhound. The Greyhound as a public- 
house sign is in honour of Henry VII, whose 
badge it was; it is still the badge (in silver) of 
the Queen’s Messengers. 

Gridiron. This is emblematic of St. Lawrence 
whose feast is celebrated on August 10th. One 
unsubstantiated legend says that he was 
roasted on a gridiron; another that he was 
bound to an iron chair and thus roasted alive. 
All that is certainly known of him is that he 
was martyred in the year 258 and is buried in 
the church dedicated to him outside the walls 
of Rome. The church of St. Lawrence Jewry 
in the City of London has a gilt gridiron for a 
vane. 

Used also in the shorter form grid, this is 
the American term for a football playing field, 
derived from the fact that the field was ori- 
ginally marked with squares or grids. 

Gridironer. An Australian settler who bought 
land in strips like the bars of a gridiron, so 
that the land lying between was rendered 
worthless and could be acquired later at a 
bargain price. 

Grief. To come to grief. To meet with disaster; 
to be ruined; to fail in business. 

Griffin. A mythical monster, also called Griffon , 
Gryphon , etc., fabled to be the offspring of the 
lion and eagle. Its legs and all from the shoulder 
to the head are like an eagle, the rest of the 
body is that of a lion. This creature was sacred 
to the sun, and kept guard over hidden 
treasures. See Arimaspians. 

[The Griffin is] an Emblem of valour and magnan- 
imity, as being comoounded of the Eagle and Lion, 



Griffon 


;419 


Groat 


the noblest Animals in their kinds; and so is it applic- 
able unto Princes, Presidents, Generals, and all 
heroick Commanders; and so is it also born in the 
Coat-arms of many noble Families of Europe . — Sir 
Thomas Browne: Pseudodoxia Epidemical III, xi. 

The Londoners’ familiar name for the figure 
on the monument placed on the site of Temple 
Bar is The Griffin. 

Among Anglo-Indians a newcomer, a green- 
horn (q. vO was called a griffin ; and the residue of 
a contract feast, taken away by the contractor, 
half the buyer’s and half the seller’s, is known 
in the trade as griffins . 

A griffon is a small, rough-haired terrier used 
in France for hunting. 

Grig. Merry as a grig. A grig is a cricket, or 
grasshopper; but it is by no means certain that 
♦he animal is referred to in this phrase (which 
is at least as old as the mid-sixteenth century) ; 
for grig here may be a corruption of Greek , 
“merry as a Greek,” which dates from about 
the same time. Shakespeare has: “Then she’s a 
merry Greek”; and again, “Cressid ’mongst 
the merry Greeks” ( Troilus and Cressida , 1, ii; 
IV, iv) ; and among the Romans grcecari signi- 
fied “to play the reveller.” 

Grim. This is a fairly common element in 
English place-names. It derives from Old 
Norse grimr , a nickname for Odin. Hence the 
following four names. 

Grim’s Ditch. A prehistoric earthwork in 
Wiltshire. 

Grim’s Dyke. A prehistoric earthwork in 
Buckinghamshire. 

Grim’s Dyke, or Devil’s Dyke. A prehistoric 
earthwork in Berkshire. 

Grime’s Graves. Neolithic flint quarries at 
Weeting, Norfolk. 

Grimalkin. An old she-cat, especially a wicked- 
or eerie-looking one: from grey and Malkin 
(q.v.). Shakespeare makes the Witch in Mac- 
beth say, “I come, Graymalkin.” The cat was 
supposed to be a witch and was the companion 
of witches. 

Grimm’s Law. The law of the permutation of 
consonants in the principal Aryan languages, 
first formulated by Jacob L. Grimm, the Ger- 
man philologist, in 1822. Thus, what is p in 
Greek, Latin, or Sanskrit, becomes/in Gothic, 
and b or /in the Old High German; what is t in 
Greek, Latin, or Sanskrit becomes th in Gothic, 
and d in Old High German ; etc. Thus changing 
p into /, and / into th , “pater” becomes 
“father/’ Grimm’s Law has, naturally, much 
greater philological importance than this ex- 
ample shows. 

Grin. To grin like a Cheshire cat. See Cat. 

You must grin and bear it. Resistance is 
hopeless; you may make a face, if you like, 
but you cannot help yourself. 

Grind. To work up for an examination. 

To grind one down. To reduce the price 
asked; to lower wages. 

To take a grind. To take a constitutional; to 
cram into the smallest space the greatest 
amount of physical exercise. This is the 
physical grina. The literary grind is a turn at 
hard study, 

14* 


Grinders. The double teeth which grind the 
food put into the mouth. The preacher speaks 
of old age as the time when “the grinders 
cease because they are few” ( Eccles . xii, 3). 

To take a grinder. An obsolete gesture of 
obloquy and insult, performed by applying 
the left thumb to the nose and revolving the 
right hand round it, as if working a hand-organ 
or coffee-mill; done when someone had tried 
to practise on your credulity, or to impose upon 
your good faith. 

Gringo. A contemptuous term in South 
America for an Englishman or American. It 
probably derives from the Spanish grtego , 
meaning Greek, and used in parts of Spain to 
mean also foreigner and foreign languages 
(the latter meaning would be quivalent to “it’s 
all Greek to me”). 

Grisilda or Griselda (gri ziT dd, gri zel' da). The 
model of enduring patience and obedience, 
often spoken of as “Patient Grisel.” She was 
the heroine of the last tale in Boccaccio’s 
Decameron , obtained by him from an old 
French story, Parement des Femmes; it was 
translated from Boccaccio by Petrarch, and 
thence used by Chaucer for his Clerk's Tale in 
the Canterbury Tales, and by Dekker in Patient 
Grissil. The story is of the Marquis of Saluzzo, 
who marries a poor man’s daughter of great 
beauty. He subjects her to almost unendurable 
trials, including the pretence that he had 
married another. At last, convinced of her 
patience and devotion, he is united to her. 

Grist. All’s grist that comes to my mill. All is 

appropriated that comes to me; I can make 
advantage out of anything; all is made use 
of that comes my way. Grist is that quantity 
of corn which is to be ground at one time. 

To bring grist to the mill. To bring profitable 
business or gain; to furnish supplies. 

Grit. See Clear Grit, j.v. Clear. 

Grizel (griz' 61). A variant — like Grissel — of 
Griselda (q.v.). Octavia, wife of Mark Antony 
and sister of Augustus Caesar, is called the 
“patient Grizel” of Roman story. 

For patience she will prove a second Grissel. 

Taming of the Shrew , II, i. 

Groaning Chair. A rustic name for a chair in 
which a woman sits after her confinement to 
receive congratulations. Similarly “groaning 
cake” and “groaning cheese” (plied in some 
dialects kenno , because its making was kept a 
secret) are the cake and cheese which used to 
be provided in “Goose month” (?.v.), and 
“groaning malt” was a strongple brewed for 
the occasion. $ 

For a nurse, the child to dandle, 

Sugar, soap, spice$tpots and candle, 

A groaning chair add eke a cradle. 

Poor Robin* s Almanack , 1676. 

Groat. A silver fourpence. The Dutch had a 
coin called a groot (i.e. great , with reference 
to its thickness), hence the fourpenny-piece of 
Edward III was the groat or great silven>enny. 
The modern fourpenny-piece — never officially, 
but often popularly, called a groat— was issued 
from 1836 to 1856, the issue of the true groat 
having ceased in 1662. 


Groat 


42Q 


Groundlings 


You half-faced groats A 16th-century collo- 
quialism for “You worthless fellow.” The 
debased groats issued in the reign of Henry 
VIII had the king’s head in profile, but those in 
the reign of Henry VII had the king’s head with 
the full face. See King John , I, i. *■ 

Thou half-faced groat! You thick-cheeked chitty- 
face! 

Munday: The Downfall of Robert , Earle of Hunting - 
don (1598). 

Groats. Husked oat or wheat, fragments rather 
larger than grits (O.E. grut , coarse meal). 

Blood without groats is nothing. Family with- 
out fortune is worthless. The allusion is 
perhaps to black pudding, which consists 
chiefly of blood and groats formed into a 
sausage. 

Grog. Spirits, originally rum, diluted with 
water. Admiral Vernon (nicknamed Old Grog 
from the grogram coat he wore) disapproved 
of the practice of serving neat spirits to sailors 
because it led to drunkenness and violence. 
In a famous order of 1740 he directed that rum 
must henceforth be diluted with water. Seven- 
water grog is a nautical term for very weak 
grog. 

Grog-blossoms. Blotches or pimples on the 
face produced by over-indulgence in drink. 

Grogram (grog' ram). A coarse kind of taffeta 
made of silk and mohair or silk and wool, 
stiffened with gum. A corruption of the Fr. 
gros -grain. 

Gossips in grief and grograms clad. 

Praed: The Troubadour , c. i, st. v. 

The blood of the Grograms. See Blood. 
Grommet. See Grummet. 

Grongar Hill, on the right bank of the Towy 
in Carmarthenshire, was rendered famous by 
the poem of that name by John Dyer (c. 1 700- 
58). Although a native of a nearby village, 
Llangathen, most of his life was spent in 
Lincolnshire where he held various livings. 
His descriptions of Grongar Hill and its neigh- 
bourhood have a peculiar fascination. 

Groom of the Stole. See Stole. 

Groove. To get into a groove. To get into a 
narrow, undeviating course of life or habit, to 
become restricted in outlook and ways. 

To be in the groove. To be in the right mood, 
to be doing something successfully. A phrase 
originating from the accurate reproduction of 
music by a needle set in the groove of a gramo- 
phone record. 

Gross. The French word gros, big, bulky, 
corpulent, coarse, which in English has 
developed m|liy meanings not present in 
French. Thus, a gross is twelve dozen ; a great 
gross , twelve gross; gfoss weight is the entire 
weight without deductions; gross average is the 
general average. A villein in gross was the 
property of his master, and was not part of 
the property of a manor; a common in gross is 
one which is entirely personal property, and 
does not belong to the manor. Cp. Advowson 

in GROSS. 

Grotesque. Literally, in “Grotto style.” The 
chambers of ancient buildings revealed in 
mediaeval times in Rome were called grottoes , 


apd as the walls of these were frequently 
decorated with fanciful ornaments and outri 
designs, the word grotesque ( grotesco ) came to 
be applied to similar ornamentation. 

Grotto. Pray remember the grotto. This cry 
used to be raised by small children in the 
streets who collected old shells, bits of col- 
oured stone or pottery, with leaves, flowers, 
and so on, built a little “grotto,” and knelt 
beside it with their caps ready for pennies. 
The custom should be restricted to July 25th 
(St. James’s Day), for it is a relic of the old 
shell grottoes which were erected with an 
image of the saint for the behoof of those who 
could not afford the pilgrimage necessary to 
pay a visit on that day to the shrine of St. 
James of Compostella. 

The scallop shell was the badge worn in the 
hats or cloaks of pilgrims to the shrine of St. 
James the Greater, probably because it made 
a useful begging-spoon or bowl. 

And how should I know your true love 
From many another one? 

Oh by his scallop shell and hat 
And by his sandal shoon. 

Friar of Orders Grey. 

Ground. Ground floor. The story level with the 

round outside: or, in a basement-house, the 

oor above the basement. In U.S.A. known as 
the first floor. 

Ground and lofty tumbling. An 18th- 

century phrase for an acrobatic performance 
on the ground and upon a tight-rope, or swing. 

Ground hog. The wood-chuck or N. Ameri- 
can marmot. 

Ground-hog Day. Candlemas (February 2nd), 
from the saying that the ground hog first 
appears from his hibernation on that day. 

Ground swell. A long, deep rolling or swell 
of the sea, caused by a recent or distant storm, 
or by an earthquake. 

It would suit me down to the ground. Wholly 
and entirely. 

To break ground. To be the first to com- 
mence a project, etc.; to take the first step in 
an undertaking. 

To gain ground. To make progress; to be 
improving one’s position. 

To have the ground cut from under one’s feet. 
To see what one has relied on for support 
suddenly removed. 

To hold one’s ground. To maintain one’s 
authority, popularity, etc.; not to budge from 
one’s position. 

To lose ground. To become less popular or 
less successful; to drift away from the object 
aimed at. 

To shift one’s ground. To try a different plan; 
to change one’s argument or the basis of one’s 
reasoning. 

To stand one’s ground. Not to yield or give 
way; to stick to one’s colours; to have the 
courage of one’s opinion. 

Groundlings. Those who occupied the 
cheapest portion of an Elizabethan theatre, 
i.e. the pit, which was the bare ground in front 
of the stage, without any seats. The actor 


Growlers 


, 421 


Guelphs 


who to-day “plays to the gallery*’ in Eliza- 
bethan times 

Split the ears of the groundlings. 

Hamlet , III, ii. 

Growlers. The old four-wheeled cabs were 
called “growlers” from the surly Sind dis- 
contented manners of their drivers, and 
“crawlers” from their slow pace. 

Grub Stake, To. A miner’s term for equipping 
a gold prospector with what he needs in ex- 
change for a share of his finds. 

Grub Street. The former name of a London 
street in the ward of Cripplegate Without, 
which, says Johnson, was 
Much inhabited by writers of small histories, 
dictionaries, and temporary poems; whence any mean 
production is called grubstreet. 

The word is used allusively for needy authors, 
literary hacks, and their work. 

In 1830 the name was changed to Milton 
Street — not from the poet, though he lived in 
the neighbourhood for years and was buried 
at St. Giles’s, Cripplegate — but in honour of 
the carpenter and builder who was ground 
landlord at the time. The street leads north out 
of Fore Street, Moorfields, to Chiswell Street. 

Gruel (groo' 61). To take one’s gruel, to accept 
one’s punishment, to take what’s coming to 
one. 

He had a gruelling, he was punished severely 
(in boxing, etc.). 

A gruelling time, gruelling heat, etc. Exhaust- 
ing, over-powering. 

Grummet. The cabin-boy on board ship; the 
youth whose duty it was to take in the topsails, 
or top the yard for furling the sails or slinging 
the yards. The name is also given to a ring of 
rope made by laying a single strand, and to a 
powder-wad. 

Grundy. What will Mrs. Grundy say? What will 
our strait-laced neighbours say? The phrase is 
from Tom Morton’s Speed the Plough (1798). 
In the first scene Mrs. Ashfield shows herself 
very jealous of neighbour Grundy, and farmer 
Ashfield says to her: “Be quiet, wull ye? Al- 
ways ding, dinging Dame Grundy into my ears. 
What will Mrs. Grundy zay? What will Mrs. 
Grundy think? . . .” 

Gruyfcre Cheese (groo' yar). A kind of cheese 
made in the Jura district of Switzerland and 
France, taking its name from the district of 
Gruy6re in Canton Fribourg. The curd is 
pressed in large, shallow cylindrical moulds, 
and while still in the mould is well salted for at 
least a month. The cheese is of a pale yellow 
colour and is characterized by an abundance 
of large air-bubbles. 

Gryll. Let Gryll be Gryll, and have his hoggish 
mind (Spenser: Faerie Queene, II, xii, 87). 
Don’t attempt to wash a blackamoor white; 
the leopard will never change his spots. Gryll 
is the Gr. grullos, a hog. When Sir Guyon 
disenchanted the forms in the Bower of Bliss 
(tf.v.) some were exceedingly angry, and Gryll, 
who had been metamorphosed by Acrasia into 
a hog, abused him most roundly. 

Gryphon. See Griffin. 


Guadiana. According to the old legend the 
Spanish river was so Called from the Squire of 
Durandarte of this name. Mourning the fall 
pf his master at Roncesvalles, he was turned 
intq, the river. See Don Quixoti , ii, 23. Actu- 
ally, it is Arabic wadi, & river, and Anas, its 
classical name (Strabo). 

Guaho (gwa' no). A fertilizing substance found 
On many small islands off the western coast of 
South America and other places. It is composed 
of the droppings of the immense flocks of sea- 
birds that resbrt to these rocky islets, and is 
found in beds as much as 60 ft. in depth. It is 
valuable as containing much ammonium 
oxalate with urates, and phosphates. 

Guard* To be off one’s guard. To be careless or 
heedless. 

To put 006 on his guard. To “give him the 
tip,” show him where the danger lies. 

A guardroom is the place where military 
offenders are detained; and a guardship is a 
ship stationed in a port or harbour for its 
defence. 

Guards, The. See Household Troops. 

Guards of the Pole. See Bear, the Great. 
Gubblngs. The wild and savage inhabitants in 
the neighbourhood of Brent Tor, Devon, who, 
according to Fuller in his Worthies (1661) — 
lived in holes, like swine; had all things in common; 
and multiplied without marriage. Their language was 
vulgar Devonian. . . . They lived by pilfering sheep; 
were fleet as horses; held together like bees; and re- 
venged every wrong. One of the society was always 
elected chief, and called King of the Gubbings. 

Gudgeon. Gaping for gudgeons. Looking out 
for things extremely improbable. As a gudgeon 
is a bait for fish, it means a lie, a deception. 

To swallow a gudgeon. To be bamboozled 
with a most palpable lie, as silly fish are caught 
by gudgeons. (Fr. goujon ; whence the phrase 
avaler le goujon , to swallow the bait, to die.) 
Make fools believe in their foreseeing 
Of things before they are in being; 

To swallow gudgeons ere they’re catched. 

And count their chickens ere they’re hatched. 

Butler: Hudibras , II, iii. 

Gudrun (gud' run). The heroine of the great 
popular German epic poem, Gudrun, or Kud- 
run, written about 1210, and founded on a 
passage in the Prose Edda (< q.v .). 

Gudulc (gu dOlO or Gudila, St. Patron saint 
of Brussels, daughter of Count Witger, died 
712. She is represented with a lantern, from a 
tradition that she was one day going to the 
church of St. Morgelle with a lantern, which 
went out, but the holy virgin lighted it again 
with her prayers. Her feast day is January 8th. 

Guebres or Ghebers (ga' berz). Followers of 
the ancient Persian religion, reformed by 
Zoroaster; fire-worshippers; Parsees. The 
name, which was bestowed upon them by their 
Arabian conquerors, is now applied to fire- 
worshippers generally. 

Guelphs and Ghibellines (gwelfs, gib'elenz).^ 
Two great parties whose conflicts made so 
much of the history of Italy and Germany in 
the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries. The Guelphs 
were the papal and popular party in Italy; 
their name is the Italian form of Welfe, as 



Guenever 


422 


Guinea-dropper 


f 

“Ghibelline” is that of Waiblingen, and the 
origin of these two words is this : At the battle 
of Weinsberg, in Suabia (1140) # Conrad, Duke 
of Franconia, rallied his followers with the* 
war-cry Waimingen (his family estate), while 
Henry the Lion, Duke of S$3coim used the 
cry of Welfe (the family jiame). The uhibellines 
supported in Italy the* side of the German 
emperors: the Guelphs opposed it, ah^d 
supported the cause of the Pope. 

The reigning dynasty in Great Britain is 
descended from the House of Hanover (1714- 
1901). In Hanover the Guelph dynasty lasted 
until 1866, in Brunswick until 1918. 

*Guenevef. See Guinevere. 

Guerilla War (ge ril' d), A petty War carried 
on by bodies of irregular troops acting in- 
dependently of each other, fronr Spart. 
guerrilla , diminutive of guerrd , war. The word 
is applied to the armed bands of peasants, and 
to individuals, who carry on irregular war on 
their own account, especially at such time as 
their government is contending with invading 
arpiies. 

Guerinists (ger' i nists). An early 17th-century 
sect of French Illuminati (q.v.), founded by 
Peter Gu6rin. They were Antinomians, and 
claimed a special revelation of the Way to 
Perfection. 

Guerino Meschino [the Wretched]. An Italian 
romance, half chivalric and half allegorical, 
first printed in Padua in 1473. Guerino was the 
son of Millon, King of Albania. On the day of 
his birth his father was dethroned, and the 
child was rescued by a Greek slave, and called 
Meschino. When he grew up he fell in love 
with the Princess Elizena, sister of the Greek 
Emperor, at Constantinople. 

Guernsey Lily. See Misnomers. 

Guess. The modem American use of the verb, 
meaning to think, to suppose, to be pretty sure, 
was good colloquial English before America 
was colonized. 

Gueux, Les (la ger) or The Beggars. The name 
was assumed by those who rose against Span- 
ish rule in the Netherlands in the 16th century. 
When they formed an association in 1 565 one 
of the councillors of the Regent, Margaret of 
Parma, asked her what she had to fear from 
“beggars” {gueux). The name was adopted by 
the insurgents as an honoured title. “The 
Beggars of the Sea” (gueux de mer) was a 
term applied to Dutch and Huguenot priva- 
teers who harassed Spanish shipping in the 
same struggle. 

Guides. The military name for men formed 
into companies for reconnoitring purposes; 
especially a regiment of cavalry and infantry 
in the Punjab Frontier Force of the Anglo- 
Indian army, originally raised by Sir Henry 
Lawrence in 1846. 

Among the incidents in the history of the 
Guides are the march to Delhi during the 
Mutiny (1857), the massacre at Kabul (1879) 
<and the relief of Chitral (1895). 

In the French army the Guides were created 
in 1744 as a small company, but the number 
was gradually increased, and they relinquished 
their special duties, till in Napoleon s time 

'kH„ 


they formed a personal bodyguard of 10,000 
strong. 

Napoleon III made the corps a part of the 
Imperial Guard. 

See also GirI Guides. 

Guignof (ge' nyol). Tile principal character in 
a popular French puppet-show (very like our 
“Punch and Judy”) dating from the 18th 
century As the performance comprised 
macabre and gruesome incidents the name 
pame \o be attached to short plays of this 
nature^ hence Grand Guignol , a series of such 
plays, or the theatre in which they were per- 
formed. 

Guildhall. Properly, the meeting-place of a 
trade £uild, i.e. an association of persons 
exercising the same trade or craft, formed for 
the protection and promotion of their common 
interests. In London the guilds became of 
importance in the 14th century, and as it came 
about that the Corporation was formed almost 
entirely from among their members, their Hall 
was used as the Town Hall or headquarters 
of the Corporation, as it still is to-day. Here 
are the Court of Common Council, the Court 
of Aldermen, the Chamberlain’s Court, the 
police court presided over by an alderman, 
the Corporation Art Gallery, Museum, etc. 

Portions of the London Guildhall were 
badly damaged in the air-raids of 1940-41, the 
Council Chamber and the roof of the great 
hall being entirely destroyed. 

The ancient guilds are to-day represented by 
the Livery Companies (q.v.). 

Guiliemites. See William of Maleval, St. 

Guillotine (gil' o ten). So named from Joseph 
Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814), a French 
physician, who proposed its adoption to 
prevent unnecessary pain. 

It was introduced April 25th, 1792, and is 
still used in France. A previous instrument 
invented by Antoine Louis (1723-92), a French 
surgeon, was called a Louisette. The Maiden 
(q.v.) was a similar instrument. 

In English Parliamentary phraseology the 
terms “guillotine,” “to guillotine,” “to apply 
the guillotine,” signify the curtailment of 
debate by fixing beforehand when the vote on 
the various parts of a Bill must be taken. 

Guinea. A gold coin current in England from 
1663 to 1817, originally made of gold from 
Guinea in West Africa and intended for use in 
the Guinea trade. The earliest issues bore a 
small elephant beneath the head of the king. 
The nominal value was originally 20s.; from 
1717 it was legal tender for 21s., but its actual 
value varied, and in 1695, owing to the bad 
condition of silver coin, was as high as 30s. 

It is still the custom for professional fees, 
subscriptions, the price of race-horses, pictures, 
and other luxuries, to be paid in guineas, 
though there is no such coin current. See 
Spade Guinea. 

Guinea-dropper. A cheat. The term is about 
equal to thimble-rig, and alludes to an ancient 
cheating dodge of dropping counterfeit 
guineas. 

Who now the guinea-dropper's bait regards, 

Tricked by the sharper's dice or juggler’s cards? 

Gay; Trivia , III, 249. 




Guinea fowl 


423 


Gun 


Guinea fowl. So called because if was 
brought to us from the coast of Guinea, where 
it is very common. 

Guinea-hen. An Elizabethan synohym for a 
prostitute. * " « 

Ere .... I would drown myself for the love of a 
Guinea-hen, I would change my humanity with a 
baboon. — Othello , I, iii. ' - 

Guinea-pig. A director of a company 
appointed because of his reputation in another 
sphere or through his social status, and not 
partaking in the usual director's duties, *who 
used to receive guinea fees. In this sense the 
term is now obsolete. A deputy clergyman and, 
a midshipman used to be known as guinea- 
pigs. The word is now used of anyone used in a 
test case in medical or scientific experiments. 

Guineapig Club. A club founded in World 
War II for severely wounded R.A.F. personnel 
who had to undergo plastic surgery, or volun- 
teered for experimental operations. 

Guinevere, Guinever, or Guenever (gwin' e ver). 
A corruption of Guanhumara (from Welsh 
Gwenhwyfar ) as she is spelled in^Geoffrey of 
Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae , the 
chief source of Arthurian romance, and where 
the story of this legendary British queen is told. 
In later Arthurian legend she becomes the wife 
of King Arthur. 

Gule (gOl). The Gule of August. August 1st, 
Lammas Day, a quarter day in Scotland, and 
half quarter day in England. The word is 
probably the Welsh gwyl (Lat. vigilia ), a 
festival. 

Gules (gulz). The heraldic term for red. In 
engraving it is shown by perpendicular parallel 
lines. From mediaeval Latin gulte, ermine dyed 
red. 

With man’s blood paint the ground, gules, gules. 

Tinion of Athens, IV, iii. 

And threw warm gules on Madeline's fair breast. 

Keats : Eve of St. Agnes. 

Gulf. A man who goes in for honours at the 
Universities, is not good enough to be classed 
and yet has shown sufficient merit to pass. 
When the list is made out a line is drawn 
after the classes, and the few names put below 
are in the “gulf,” those so honoured being 
“gulfed.” In the good old times these men were 
not qualified to stand for the classical tripos. 

The ranks of our curatehood are supplied by youths 
whom, at the very best, mcrciflil examiners have 
raised from the very gates of “pluck” to the com- 
parative paradise of the "Gulf ".-—Saturday Review. 

A great gulf fixed. An impassable separation. 
The allusion is to the parable of Dives and 
Lazarus (Luke xvi, 26). 

Gulf Stream. The great, warm ocean current 
which flows out of the Gulf of Mexico (whence 
its name) and, passing by the eastern coast of 
the United States, is, near the banks of New- 
foundland, deflected ^across the Atlantic to 
modify the climate of Western Europe as far 
north as Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya. It 
washes the shores of the British Isles. 

Guiistan (Pers. the garden of roses). The famous 
collection of moral sentences by Sadi (c. 
1190-1291), the most celebrated of Persian 
poets, except, perhaps, Omar Khayyam. It con- 
sists of sections on kings, dervishes, content- 


ment, love| youtft, ol(&age, -social duties, etc., 
with many stories and philosophical sayings. 

Gull. A well-known Elizabethan, synonym for 
one who is easily duped, especially a high- 
born gentleman {cp. B$jan). Dekker wrote 
his Gulfs Hornbook (l|?09) as a kind of guide 
to, the behaviour of contemporary gallants. 
The most notorious geek and gull 
Thfct e’er invention played on. 

Shakespeare: Twelfth Night ,*V, i. 

Gully-raker. In early Australia*) slaflg/one 
wh<f combs wild country and appropriated any 
unbranded cattle he finds there. 

Gumbo. A thick vegetable soup eaten in the 
U.S.A. 

Gummed. He frets like gummed velvet or 
gummed taflety. Velvet and taffeta were some- 
times stiffened with gum to make them “sit 
better,” but, being very stiff, they fretted out 
quickly. 


Gumption. Common sense, the wit to |urn 
things to account, capability. The derivation 
and origin of the word are unknown. * 


Gum-shoes. The American name for the English 

galoshes. 

Gun. This word was formerly used for some 
large, stone-throwing engine of war besides 
the firearm, but it is not certain that the first- 
mentioned use was the earlier. In The House of 
Fume (iii, 553) Chaucer speaks of the trumpet 
sounding: — 

As swifte as pelet out of gonne 
Whan fire is in the poudre ronne. 
and in the Legend of Good Women ( Cleopatra , 
58) he seems to use the word in reference to 
the ballista: — 

With grisly soune out gooth the gretft gonne. 

And hertely they hurtelen al attones. 

And fro the toppe down cometh the grete stones. 

The word is a shortened form of the ol™ 
Scandinavian female name, Gunnildr ( gunnr 
is Icelandic for war, and hildr for battle); and 
it may have been given first to the ballista and 
then, when cannon came into use, transferred 
to the firearm. The bestowing of female names 
on arms is not uncommon; there are the 
famous “Mons Meg,” “Queen Elizabeth’s 
pocket-pistol,” as well as the “Big Bertha” of 
World War I — the long-range gun that 
bombarded Paris, so called in honour of Bertha 
Krupp, wife of the head of the great armament 
factory at Essen. 

Barisal guns, or lake guns. See Baris al. 

Evening or sunset gun. A gun fired at sunset, 
or about 9 o’clock p.m. 

He’s a great gun. A man of note or conse- 
quence. 

Minute gun. The firing of a gun once a 
minute, generally as a salute at a royal or 
state funeral. 

Sure as a gun. Quite certain. It is as certain 
to happen as a gun to go off if the trigger is 
pressed. 

To blow great guns. To be very boisterous 
and windy. Noisy and boisterous as the reports 
of great guns. ^ 



Gun 


424 Guy of Warwick 


To give it the gun. In R.A.F. parllnce during 
World War II, to open the throttle of an 
aeroplane suddenly and hard. * 

To lay a*%un. To aim it; (used only of 
artillery). 

To run away from one’s own guns. Tp eat 
one’s words; desert what is laid down as a 
principle. The allusion is obvious. 

To^stick to trie’s gups. To maintain one’s 
position* argument, etc., in spite of opposition. 

To*gun fo^sofnfeone. To set out deliberately 
J>o gefoa person and do him a mischief. 

Gun cotto#. A highly explosive compound, 
prepared by saturating cotton or other 
cellulose material with nitric and sqlphuric 
acids. 

Gun-man. A desperado armed with a re- 
volver and prepared to use it in the most 
reckless manner. A term of American origin. 

Gun money. Base money issued in Ireland 
by Jtmes II, made from old brass cannon, with 
admail admixture of silver. 

Gun room. A room in the afterpart of a 
lower gun-deck for the accommodation of 
junior officers. 

Gun-runner. One who unlawfully smuggles 
guns into a country for belligerent purposes. 
The word is formed on the model of blockade- 
runner . 

Gunnar. The Norse form of Gunther (q.v.). 

Gunner. Kissing the gunner’s daughter. Being 
flogged on board ship. At one time sailors in 
the Royal Navy who were to be flogged were 
tied to the breech of a cannon. 

Gunpowder Plot. The project of a few Roman 
Catholics to destroy James I with the Lords 

f \d Commons when he opened Parliament, on 
ovember 5th, 1605. 

It was to be done by exploding barrels of 
gunpowder placed in cellars adjacent to the 
chamber, and Guy Fawkes, a convert to 
Catholicism, was deputed to fire the train. Had 
the plot succeeded, and king and Parliament 
been destroyed, Prince Charles and his sister 
were to have been made captive, and a Cath- 
olic rising attempted in the Midlands. One 
of the Catholic peers was, however, warned to 
keep away from Parliament that day; he 
communicated his news to the authorities; the 
cellars were searched and Guy Fawkes taken, 
the night of November 4th. 

The ceremony of searching the vaults of the 
Houses before the annual opening of Parlia- 
ment is a legacy of the Gunpowder Plot. 

Gunter’s Chain, for land surveying, is so named 
from Edmund Gunter (1581-1626), the great 
mathematician and professor of Astronomy at 
Gresham College, 1619-26. It is sixty-six feet 
long, and divided into one hundred links. As 
ten square chains make an acre, it follows that 
an acre contains 100,000 square links. 

Gunter’s scale is a two-foot rule having 
scales of chords, tangents, etc., and logarithmic 
lines, engraved on it; it is used in surveying 
and navigjdon for the mechaoical solving of 
problems. # 


* . 

According to Gunter. Carefully and correctly 
done; with no possibility of mistake; the 
American counterpart of “according to 
Cocker” (see, Cocker), which is more common 
in England. 

Gunther (gun' ter). In the Nibelungen saga, a 
Burgundian king, brother of Kriemhila (— 
Gudrun), the wife of Sigurd (= Siegfried). He 
resolved to wed the martial queen Brunhild 
(q.v.)> who had made a vow to marry only the 
man who could ride through the flames that 
encircled her castle. Gunther failed, but 
Siegfried did so in his likeness and remained 
with the Queen for three nights, his sword 
being between them all the time. Gunther 
then married Brunhild, but later Kriemhild 
told Brunhild that it was Siegfried who 
had ridden through the fire; jealousy sprang up 
between the families, Siegfried was slain at 
Brunhild’s desire, and she killed herself, her 

S wish being to be burnt on a pile with 
ied at her side, his sword between them. 
Gunther was slain by Atli because he refused 
to reveal where he had hidden the hoard of the 
Nibelungs. Gundicarius, a Burgundian king 
who, with his whole tribe, perished by the 
sword of the Huns in 437, is supposed to be 
the historical character round whom these 
legends collected. 

Gurgoyle. See Gargoyle. 

Gurney Light. See Bude. 

Guru (goo' roo). A Sanskrit word meaning 
venerable; it is now applied to a Hindu 
spiritual teacher and leader. 

Guthlac, St., (guth' lak) of Crowland, Lincoln- 
shire, is represented in Christian art as a 
hermit punishing demons with a scourge, or 
consoled by angels while demons torment him. 
He was a member of the royal family of Mercia 
in the 7th century. 

Guthrum (guth' rum). Silver of Guthrum’s Lane. 
Fine silver was at one time so called, because 
the chief gold and silver smiths of London 
resided there in the 13th and 14th centuries. 
The street, which is now called Gutter Lane , 
and runs from Cheapside into Gresham Street, 
was originally Godrun Lane. The hall of the 
Goldsmiths’ Company is still in this locality. 

Guy. An effigy of a man, stuffed with com- 
bustibles and supposed to represent Guy 
Fawkes, carried round in procession and finally 
burnt on November 5th, in memory of Gun- 
powder Plot (q.v.); hence, any dowdy, fantastic 
figure, a “fright.” In American usage the word, 
as applied to a person, has a much wider 
significance, and can mean almost anyone. 

To do a guy. To decamp. 

To guy a person is to chaff him, to make fun 
of him. 

Guy of Warwick. An English hero of legend 
and romance, whose exploits were first 
written down by an Anglo-Norman poet of 
the 12th century and were, by the 14th century, 
accepted as authentic history. 

To obtain F&ice, daughter of the Earl of 
Warwick, he performed doughty deeds abroad. 
Again he went abroad, and slew a giant in the 



Guy’s Hospital 


425 


Haberdasher 


Holy Land. Returning to England, he slew the 
giant Colbrand of Winchester, and thus 
delivered England from tribute to foreign 
kings. Having achieved all this, he became a 
hermit near Warwick. Daily he went in rags to 
his own castle and begged bread of his wife 
Felice; but on his death-bed he sent her a ring, 
by which she recognized her lord, and she went 
to close his dying eyes. 

Guy’s Hospital. Founded in 1722 by Thomas 
Guy ( c . 1645-1724), bookseller, and philan- 
thropist. He amassed an immense fortune in 
1720 by speculations in the South Sea Stock, 
and gave £238,292 to found and endow the 
hospital, which is situated in Southwark. 

Gwyn, Eleanor or Nell (1650-87) was a popu- 
lar London actress. She first became known 
when selling oranges at the Theatre Royal, 
Drury Lane, and in 1665 she appeared as 
Cydaria in Dryden’s Indian Emperor. She was 
an illiterate girl but excellent company and 
soon won the favour of Charles II, by whom 
she had a son, Charles Beauclerk (1670-1726), 
who was created Duke of St. Albans in 1684. 
Nell Gwyn left the stage in 1682, but she 
never lost the king’s favour, and one of his 
dying wishes was that she should be looked 
after. 

Gyges (gi'jez). A king of Lydia of the 7th 
century b.c., who founded a new dynasty, 
warred against Asurbanipal of Assyria, and is 
memorable in legend for his ring and his 
prodigious wealth. 

According to Plato, Gyges descended into a 
chasm of the earth, where he found a brazen 
horse; opening the sides of the animal, he 
found the carcass of a man, from whose finger 
he drew a brazen ring which rendered him 
invisible. 

Why, did you think that you had Gyges ring. 

Or the herb that gives invisibility [fern-seed]? 
Bfaumont and Fletchcr: Fair Maid of the Inn , I, i. 

It was ,by the aid of the ring that Gyges 
obtained possession of the wife of Candaules 
( q.v .) and, through her, of his kingdom. 

Gymnosophists (jim nos' o fists). A sect of 
ancient Hindu philosophers who went about 
with naked feet and almost without clothing. 
They lived in woods, subsisted on roots, and 
never married. They believed in the trans- 
migration of souls (Gr. gurnnos , naked; 
sophistes , sage). 

Gyp (jip)- The name at Cambridge (and at 
Durham) for a college servant, who acts as 
valet to two or more undergraduates, the 
counterpart of the Oxford scout. He differs 
from a bedmaker, inasmuch as he does not 
make beds; but he runs on errands, waits at 
table, wakes men for morning chapel, brushes 
their clothes, and so on. The word is probably 
from gippo, a 17th-century term for a scullion. 

Gypped. Many of th^ creeks and rivers in the 
cattle country of the^U.S.A. contain so much 
gypsum, or alkali salts, that anyone drinking 
immoderately therefrom suffers a stomach 
attack, and is referred to as “gypped.” The 
hrase now in general use denoting to have 
een “had” or “done down” probably des- 
cends from this prigint 


Gyromancy. A kind of divination performed 
by walking round in a^circle or ring until one 
fell from dizziness, the direction of the fall 
being of significance. 

Gytrash. A north-of-England spirit, which, 
in the form of horse, mule, or large dog, 
haunts solitary ways, and sometimes comes 
upon belated travellers. 

I remembered certain of Bessie’s tales, wherein 
figured a . . . spirit called a Gytrash. — Charlotte 
BrontE : Jane Eyre , xii. » 


H 

H. The form of our capital H is through the 
Roman and Greek directly from the Phoenician 
(Semitic) letter Heth or Kheth , which, having 
two cross-bars instead of one, represented a 
fence. The corresponding Egyptian hieroglyph 
was a sieve, and the Anglo-Saxon rune is 
called hcegel , hail. 

H.M.S. Her or His Majesty’s service or stiip, 
as H.M.S. Wellington. * 

Habeas Corpus (ha' be &s k6r' pus). The 
Habeas Corpus Act was passed in 1679, and 
defined a provision of similar character in 
Magna Carta, to which also it added certain 
details. Its chief purpose was to prohibit any 
judge, under severe penalties, from refusing to 
issue to a prisoner a Writ of Habeas Corpus 
by which the jailer was obliged to produce the 
prisoner in court in person and to certify the 
cause of imprisonment, thus preventing people 
being imprisoned on mere suspicion, and 
making it illegal for one to be left in prison an 
indefinite time without trial. 

It further provides that every accused person 
shall have the question of his guilt decided by a 
jury of twelve, and not by a Government agent 
or nominee; that no prisoner can be tried a 
second time on the same charge; that every 
prisoner may insist on being examined within 
twenty days of his arrest, and tried at the next 
session; and that no one may be sent to prison 
beyond the seas, either within or without the 
British Dominions. 

Habeas Corpus means “[I hear] that you 
have the body”; these being the opening 
words of the writ. 

The Habeas Corpus Act has been suspended 
in times of political and social disturbance, 
and its provisions have been more than once 
amended and extended. 

A Habeas Corpus Act was passed in Ireland 
in 1782, and in Scotland its place is taken by 
the Wrongous Imprisonment Act of 1701. 

Haberdasher. The word is probably connected 
with O.Fr. hapertas , a word of unknown origin 
denoting some kind of fabric; but Prof. 
Weekley makes what he calls the “dubious” 
conjecture that it is from O.Fr. avoir ( aveir ), 
goods, property (as in avoirdupois ), and Fr. 
and Provencal ais f a shop-board. 

To match this saint there was another. 

As busy and perverse a brother. 

An haberdasher of small wares 
in politics and state atfairs. 

Butler: Hudiwas, III, ii. 



Habit 


426 


Hadrian’s Wall 


The Haberdashers is one of the twefve great 
London livery compares, It was founded in 
the 15th century as the Merchant Haber- 
dashers* Company. The Hall, destroyed by 
enemy actioivin 1940, was built by Christopher 
Wren. 

Habit is Second Nature. The wise saw of 
Diogenes, the cynic (412-323 b.c.). 

Shakespeare: “Use almost can change the 
stamp of nature’* ( Hamlet , III, iv). 

French : V habitude e^t une seconde nature. 

Latin: Usus est optimus magister. 

Habsburg or Papsburgufhiibz' berg) is a con- 
traAion of Habichts-ljurg (Hawk's Castle); so 
called from fhe castle 6n the right bank of the 
Aar, built in the 11th century by Werner, 
Bishop of Strassburg, whose nephew (Werner 
II) was the first to assume the title of “Count of 
Habsburg.’* His great-grandsbn, Albrecht II, 
assumed the title of “Landgraf of Sundgau.” 
His grandson, Albrecht IV, in the 13th 
century, laid the foundation of the greatness 
of the House, the original male line of which 
beclhte extinct on the death of Charles VT 
in 1740. The late imperial family of Austria 
were the Habsburg-Lorraines, springing from 
the marriage of Maria Theresa, daughter of 
Charles VI, with Francis I, Duke of Lorraine, 
in 1736. 

Habsburg Lip. See Austrian Lip. 

Hack. Short for hacknef. ( (q.v.), a horse let out 
for hire; hence, one whose services are for hire, 
especially a literary drudge, compiler, fur- 
bisher-up of better men’s work. Goldsmith, 
who well knew from his own experience what 
the life was, wrote an “Epitaph” on one: — 

Here lies poor Ned Purdon, from misery freed, 
Who long was a bookseller’s hack; 

He led such a damnable life in this world, 

I don’t think he’ll wish to come back. 

Hackell’s Coit. A vast stone said to weigh 
about 30 tons, near Stanton Drew, Somerset; 
so called from a tradition that it was a quoit 
or coit thrown by Sir John Hautville. In 
Wiltshire three huge stones near Kennet are 
called the Devil's coits . 

Hackney. Originally (14th. ceftt) the name 
given to a class of meaiuttHized horses, 
distinguishing them from war-horses. They 
were used for ordinary rid|ng* and later the 
name was applied io a horse4et out for hire — 
whence hackney carriage arid hackney writer 
or hack (q.v.). 

The knights are well horsed, and the common 
people and others on litell hakeneys and geldynges. 

— Froissart, 

The name of the London borough of Hack- 
ney has no connection whatever with the 
foregoing. There is some doubt as to its actual 
derivation; the earliest mention of the place is 
in a patent of Edward IV. 

Had it. To have. An expression which came into 
wide use during World War II. It may have 
sprung from North Australia where it was 
used prior to the War in the sense of anything 
which was past or done with, i.e. a book which 
one had read and finished with had “had it.” 
During the war it came to be synonymous 
with “done for,” i.e . of a man killed or 
seriously wounded — “he’s had it.” In both 


these senses it may be short for “had his time,” 
as the full expression was also found during 
the war, i.e . one who had been caught by 
shell fire with no cover available and expected 
to be killed would say afterwards “I thought 
I’d had my time.” Since then the expression 
has strayed farther from the original sense and 
is now applied sarcastically to something one 
has not had, i.e. to one who has missed his 
train an onlooker will say “you’ve had it.” 

Haddock. According to tradition, it was a 
haddock in Xvhose mouth St. Peter found the 
piece of money, th e stater or shekel (Matt, xvii, 
27), and the two marks on the fish’s neck are 
said to be impressions of the finger and thumb 
of the apostle. It is a pretty story, but haddocks 
cannot live in the fresh water of the Lake of 
Gennesaret. Cp. John Dory. 

O superstitious dainty, Peter’s fish, 

How com’st thou here to make so goodly dish? 

Metellus: Dialogues (1693). 

Hades (ha' dez). In Homer, the name of the 
god (Pluto) who reigns over the dead; but in 
later classical mythology the abode of the 
departed spirits, a place of gloom but not 
necessarily a place of punishment and torture. 
As the state or abode of the dead it corres- 
ponds to the Hebrew Shool, a word which, in 
the Authorized Version, has frequently been 
translated by the misleading Hell. Hence 
Hades is sometimes vulgarly used as a 
euphemism for Hell. 

The word is usually derived from Gr. a , 
rivative, and idein, to see, i.e. the unseen: 
ut this derivation is not at all certain. Cp. 
Inferno. 

Hadith (ha' dith) (Arab, a saying or tradition). 
The traditions about the prophet Mohammed’s 
sayings and doings. This compilation, which 
was made in the 10th century by the Moslem 
jurists Moshin and Bokhari, forms a supple- 
ment to the Koran as the Talmud to the 
Jewish Scriptures. The Hadith was not allowed 
originally to be committed to writing, but the 
danger of the traditions being perverted or 
forgotten led to their being placed on record. 

Hadj (haj). The pilgrimage to the Kaaba 
(shrine at the great mosque of Mecca), which 
every Mohammedan feels bound to make once 
at least before death. Those who neglect to 
do so “might as well die Jews or Christians.” 
These pilgrimages take place in the twelfth 
month of each year, Zu ’ll Hajjia, roughly 
corresponding to our August. 

Until comparatively recent years none but a 
Moslem could make this pilgrimage except at 
risk of his life, and the Hadj was only performed 
by Burckhardt, Burton and a few other intrepid 
travellers in the disguise of zealous Moham- 
medans. 

Hadji (ha'je). A Mohammedan who has 
made the Hadj or pilgrimage to the Prophet’s 
tomb at Mecca. Every mdji*is entitled to wear 
a green turban. 

Hadrian’s Wall, a Roman rampart that runs 
for 73 i miles between Wallscnd-on-Tyne and 
Bowness on the Solway Firth. It was erected 
about a.d. 122 by the Emperor Hadrian to 
keep back the Pictish tribes of North Britain, 




Hamony 


427 


Hair 


and was repaired by Severus in 208. The wall 
was 20 ft. high and 8 ft. thick, with strong 
points every mile or so, and towers between. 
To the south of the wall is a parallel vallum or 
ditch with three ramparts, all of earthworks. 
Excavations and research have been made at 
various points, notably at the ancient Borco- 
vicus, near the present Housesteads. 

Haemony (he' mb ni). The name invented by 
Milton ( Comus , 639) for a mythical plant 
which is 

$ “of sovran use 

’Gainst all enchantments, mildew blast, or damp, 
Or ghastly Furies’ apparition.” 

The reference is probably to Hcenionia , an old 
name for Thessaly, a country specially en- 
dowed with mystical associations by the 
ancient Greeks, but Coleridge rather fanci- 
fully says the word is hcema-oinos (blood- 
wine), and refers to the blood of Jesus Christ, 
which destroys all evil. The leaf, says Milton, 
“had prickles on it,” but “it bore a bright 
golden flower.” With this explanation the 
prickles became the crown of thorns, the 
flower the fruits of salvation. 

Hafiz (ha' fiz). A Persian poet (fl. 14th cent.), 
and one of the greatest poets of the world. His 
ghazels ( i.e . songs, odes) tell of love and wine, 
nightingales, flowers, the instability of all 
things human, of Allah and the Prophet, etc.; 
and his tomb at Shiraz is still the resort of 
pilgrims. The name Hafiz is Arabic for “one 
who knows the Koran and Hadith (q.v.) by 
heart.” 

Hag. A witch or sorceress; originally, an evil 
spirit, demon, harpy. (O.E. hcegtesse , a witch or 
hag.) 

How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags? 

Macbeth , IV, i. 

Hag-knots. Tangles in the manes of horses, 
etc., supposed to be used by witches for stirrups. 
The term is common in the New Forest. 
Seamen use the word hag’s-teeth to express 
those parts of a matting, etc., which spoil its 
general uniformity. 

Hagarenes (hag a renz). An old name for the 
Saracens, Arabs, or Moors, who were sup- 
posed to be descendants of Hagar, Abraham’s 
bondwoman. 

San Diego hath often been seen conquer- 

ing .... the Hagarene squadrons. — C ervantes: Don 
Quixote, Pt. II, Bk. IV, vi. 

Hagen (ha' gen). In the Nibelungenlied and 
the old Norse sagas (where he is called Hogni), 
a Burgundian knight, liegeman to the king, 
Gunther (q.v.), in some accounts his brother 
and in others a distant kinsman. 

Haggadah (h&ga' d&). The portion of the Mid- 
rash (q.v.) which contains rabbinical interpre- 
tations of the historical and legendary, ethical, 
parabolic, and speculative parts of the Hebrew 
Scriptures: the portion devoted to law, 
practice, and doCfrineKts called the Halachah. 
They were commenced in the 2nd century a.d. 
and completed by the 11th. 

Hagganah (h&g d naO, the Jewish defence 
force raised in Palestine during the British 
mandate (1923-48), for defensive and aggres- 
sive action towards establishing the country as 
a Jewish commonwealth. 


Hague, The (Mg) is the English form of the 
Dutch 's Gravenhaje i or Den Haag , the 
capital of the Netherlands. The Hague Tri- 
bunal is an international court of Justice 
establi: shed at the suggestion of Tsar Nicholas 
II in 1899, when 16 powers signed the agree- 
ment by which each power nominates four 
members to serve for six years. Many inter- 
national cases have been referred to the Court, 
including one about the sovereignty of Green- 
land, in 1932, which was adjudicated to 
Denmark; 

Ha-ha. A ditch or sunk fence serving the 
purpose of a hedge without breaking the 
prospect. , , 

Haidee (hr de). A beautiful Greek girl in 
Byron’s Don Juan who died of love when 
parted from him. 

Hail. Health, an exclamation of welcome, like 
the Lat. salve. It is from the Icel. he ill, hale, 
healthy, and represents the O.E. greeting wes 
hal (may you) be in whole (or good) health. 
Hail , the frozen rain, is O.E. hagol. 

All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis! 

Macbeth , I, iii. v 

Hail fellow well met. One on easy, familiar 
terms; an intimate acquaintance. 

To hail a ship. To call to those on board. 

To hail an omnibus or a cab is to accost the 
driver in order to sltop or hire the vehicle. 

Hainault (ha' nolt). A province in Belgium. 
Also a forest in Essex which ceased to exist 
in the 19th century, though the name survives. 
The Fairlop oak (q.v.) was here. 

Hair. One single tuft is left on the shaven crown 
of a Moslem for Mohammed to grasp hold of 
when drawing the deceased to Paradise. 

The scalp-lock of the North American 
Indians, left on the otherwise bald head, is for 
a conquering enemy to seize when he tears off 
the scalp. 

The ancients believed that till a lock of hair 
is devoted to Proserpine, she refuses to release 
the soul from thp dying body. When Dido 
mounted the funeral pile, she lingered in 
suffering till Jtjfino sent Iris to cut off a lock of 
her hair; Thanatos did the same for Alcestis, 
when she gave her life for her husband; and 
in all sacrifices a forelocl^ v was first cut off 
from the heaa 6f tl^e victim as an offering 
to the black queen. 

It was an old idea that a person with red hair 
could not be trusted, from the tradition that 
Judas had red hair. 

Rosalind: His very hair is of the dissembling colour. 
Celia: Somewhat browner than Judas’s . — As You 
Like It, III, iv. 

A man with black hair but a red beard was 
the worst of all. The old rhyme says: — 

A red beard and a black head. 

Catch him with a good trick and take him dead. 

See also Red-haired Persons. 

Byron says, in The Prisoner of Chillon : — 

My hair is grey, but not with years, 

Nor grew it white 
In a single night, 

As men’s have grown from sudden fears, 
and it is a well-authenticated fact that this can 
take, and has taken, place. It is told that 



Hair 


428 


Half 


Ludovico Sforza became grey in a single night; 
Charles I, also, while he was on his trial ; and 
Marie Antoinette grew grey from grief during 
her imprisonment. 

Hair shirt, a garment of coarse haircloth 
(made from horsehair and wool or cotton) 
worn next the skin by ascetics and penitents. 

Hair-spring is a fine, spiral spring in a clock 
or watch for regulating the movement of the 
balance. 

Hair Stane. A hoarstone ( q.v .) is s 6 called 
in Scotland. 

Hair trigger, a trigger that allows the firing 
mechanism of a rifle or revolver to be operated 
by a very slight pressure. Invented in the 16th 
century. " 

Against the hair. Against the grain, contrary 
to its nature. 

If you should fight, you go against the hair of your 
professions . — Merry Wives of Windsor , II, iii. 

Both of a hair. As like as two peas, or hairs; 
also*, similar in disposition, taste, or trade, etc. 

Hair by hair you will pull out the horse’s 
tail. Slow and sure wins the race. 

Plutarch says that Sertorius, in order to 
teach his soldiers that perseverance and wit 
are better than brute force, had two horses 
brought before them, and set two men to pull 
out their tails. One of the men, a burly 
Hercules, tugged and tugged, but all to no 
purpose; the other was a sharp, weazen-faced 
tailor, who plucked one hair at a time, amidst 
roars of laughter, and soon left the stump 
quite bare. 

Keep your hair on! Obsolete slang for “Don’t 
lose your temper, don’t get excited! ’* Wool is 
sometimes substituted for hair in this phrase. 

The hair of the dog that bit you. See Dog. 

To a hair or To the turn of a hair. To a 
nicety. 

To comb his hair the wrong way. To cross 
or vex him by running counter to his prejudices, 
opinions, or habits. 

To make one’s hair stand on end. To terrify. 
Dr. Andrews, of Beresford Chapel, Walworth, 
who attended an execution says: “When the 
executioner put the cords on the criminal’s 
wrists, his hair, though long and lanky, of a 
weak iron-grey, rose gradually and stood 
perfectly upright, and so remained for some 
time, and then fell gradually down again.’’ 

Fear came upon me and trembling, . . . [and] the 
hair of my flesh stood up . — Job iv, 14, 15. 

To split hairs. To argue over petty points, 
make fine, cavilling distinctions, quibble over 
trifles. 

To tear one’s hair. To show signs of extreme 
anguish, grief, or vexation. 

Without turning a hair. Without indicating 
any sign of distress or agitation. The phrase 
is from the stable; for when horses sweat 
they show it by a roughening of the hair. 

Hair-bfained, See Hare-Brained. 


Hair-breadth ’scape. A very narrow escape 
from some danger or evil. In measurement the 
forty-eighth part of an inch is called a “hair- 
breadth.” 

Wherein I spake of most disastrous chances 

Of moving accidents by flood and field, 

Of hair-breadth ’scapes i' th’ imminent deadly 
breach. Othello , I, iii. 

Hajji Baba (haj' i ba' ba), the title of the 
strange story told by J. J. Morier (c. 1780-1849) 
which has become a classic of its kind. Morier 
was born |n Syria and spent much of his life 
in the East. In 1824 hd published this remark- 
able romance of Persia in which Hajji Baba, a 
barber and a delightful rogue of the Gil Bias 
genus, narrated his adventures shady and 
amusing. So true to life was the story that the 
Persian government took pains to prove that 
it was not an authentic account of a real 
person but the work of a devil-inspired Ferangi. 

Hake. We lose in hake, but gain in herring. 
Lose one way, but gain in another. Herring 
are persecuted by the hake, which are therefore 
driven away from a herring fishery. 

Halcyon Days (hal' si on). A time of happiness 
and prosperity. Halcyon is the Greek for a 
kingfisher, compounded of ha Is (the sea) and 
kuo (to brood on). The ancient Sicilians be- 
lieved that the kingfisher laid its eggs and 
incubated for fourteen days, before the winter 
solstice, on the surface of the sea, during which 
time the waves of the sea were always un- 
ruffled. 

Amidst our arms as quiet you shall be 
As halcyon brooding on a winter’s sea. 

Dryden. 

The peaceful king fishers are met together 

About the deck and prophesie calm weather. 

Wild: Iter Boreale. 

Half. Half and half. A mixture of two liquors, 
especially porter and ale, in equal quantities. 

Half done, as Elgin was burnt. In the wars 
between James II of Scotland and the Doug- 
lases in 1452, the Earl of Huntly burnt one-half 
of the town of Elgin, being the side which 
belonged to the Douglases, but left the other 
side standing because it belonged to his own 
family. (Scott: Talcs o a Grandfather , xxi.) 

Half is more than the whole. This is what 
Hesiod said to his brother Perseus, when he 
wished him to settle a dispute without going to 
law. He meant “half of the estate without the 
expense of law will be better than the whole 
after the lawyers haveTiad their pickings.” The 
remark, however, has a very wide signification. 

Unhappy they to whom God has not revealed, 

By a strong light which must their sense control. 

That half a great estate’s more than the whole. 

Cowley : Essays in Verse and Prose , iv. 

Half Joe. A Portuguese coin (worth about 
$4), current on the Atlantic coast of the U.S.A. 
in the 18th century. 

Half-seas over. Midway between one 
condition and another: now usually applied to 
a person slightly drunk. 

I am half-seas o’er to death. — D ryden. 

I have iust left the Right Worshipful and his Myr- 
midons about a Sneaker of Five Gallons. The whole 
Magistracy was pretty well disguised before I gave 'era 
the Slip. Our Friend the Alderman was half Seas 
over. — Spectator , No, 616 (Nov. 5th, 1714), 




Half 


429 


Hallelujah 


Half the battle. See Battle. 

He is only half-baked. He is soft, a noodle. 
See Baked. 

My better half. See Better. 

Not half. Not half bad means “not at all 
bad”; pretty good, indeed; better than I had 
expected; but Not half! has a more ironical 
meaning, and means something like “ Rather l 
1 should think so!” 

To do a thing by halves. To do it in a slap- 
dash manner, very imperfectly. 

To go halves. To share something equally 
with another. 

Half-deck. An old sailing-ship term: the 
quarters of the second mate, carpenters, 
coopers, boatswain, and all secondary officers. 
Quarter-deck, the quarters of the captain and 
superior officers. In a gun-decked ship hqlf- 
deck is below the spar-decky and extends from 
the main-mast to the cabin bulkheads. 

Half-mast high. The position of a flag flying 
from the middle of the flagstaff in token of 
respect to a dead person. 

Half-timer. One engaged in some occupa- 
tion for only half the usual time; the term was 
formerly applied to a child attending school 
for half time and working the rest of the day. 
Half-timers were done away with by the 
Education Act of 1918. 

Half-tone block. A typographic printing- 
block for illustrations, produced by photo- 
graphing on to a prepared plate through a 
screen or grating which breaks up the picture 
of the object to be reproduced into small 
dots of varying intensity, thus giving the lights 
and shades, or tones. 

Half-world. See Demi-monde. 

Halgaver (hal' ga ver). Summoned before the 
mayor of Halgaver. The mayor of Halgaver is 
an imaginary person, and the threat is given 
to those who have committed no offence 
against the laws, but are simply untidy and 
slovenly. Halgaver is a moor in Cornwall, near 
Bodmin, famous for an annual carnival held 
there in the middle of July. Charles II was so 
pleased with the diversions when he passed 
through the place on his way to Scilly that he 
became a member of the “self-constituted” 
corporation. The mayor of Garratt (<y.v.) is a 
similar “magnate.” 

Halifax. Halifax Law. By this (law), whoever 
committed theft in the liberty of Halifax, 
Yorkshire, was to be executed on the Halifax 
gibbet, a kind of guillotine. 

At Hallifax the law so sharpe doth deale, 

That whoso more than thirteen pence doth steale, 

They have a jyn that wondrous quick and well 

Sends thieves aH headless into heaven or hell. 

Taylor (the Water Poet): Works , II (1630). 

Go to Halifax. See under Go. 

Hull, Hell, and Halifax. See Hull. 

Halifax, Nova Scotia, was so called by the 
Hon. Edward Cornwallis, the governor, in 
compliment to his patron, the Earl of Halifax 
(1749). 


Hall Mark. The official mark stamped on gold 
and silver articles after they have been assayed, 
so called because the assaying or testing and 
the stamping was done at the Goldsmiths* 
Hall. The hall mark includes (1) tlje standard 
mark, (2) the assay office^ or “hall” mark, 

(3) the date letter, and sometimes (4) the duty 
mark. With it is found (5) the maker’s mark. 

(1) The standard mark. For gold, a crown 
in England and a thistle in Scotland, for 22- 
and 18 : carat gold, followed by the number of 
carats in figures. In Ireland, a crowned harp 
for 22-carat, three feathers for 20-carat and a 
unicorn's head for 18-carat. Lower standards 
of gold have the number of carats in figures, 
without the device. 

For silver, a lion passant inu, England, a 
thistle in Edinburgh, a thistle plus a lion 
rampant in Glasgow, a crowned harp in Dublin. 

(2) The Assay Office mark. 

London — a leopard’s head (q.v). 

Birmingham — an anchor. 

Sheffield — a York Rose for gold, a crown 
for silver. 

Edinburgh — a castle. 

Glasgow — the city arms: a tree, a bird* a 
bell, and a salmon with a ring in its 
mouth. 

Dublin — Hibernia. 

Marks of Assay Offices now closed, and 
dates of closing: — 

Chester, 1962 — three sheaves and a sword. 

Exeter, 1 882 — a castle. 

Newcastle, 1883 — three castles. 

Norwich, 1701 — castle over lion. 

York, 1856 — five lions on a cross. 

(3) The date letter. A letter of the alphabet 
indicates the date of an article. The London 
Assay Office uses 20 letters of the alphabet, 
Glasgow 26 and most of the others 25. The 
letter is changed each year, and at the beginning 
of each new cycle a new type-face is adopted 
and the shape of the letter’s frame is changed. 
Given the date letter and the Assay Office mark, 
the date of manufacture of an article may be 
easily discovered on referring to a table. 

(4) The duty mark. Articles on which duty 
has been paid are stamped with the head of the 
reigning sovereign. 

(5) The maker’s mark. A device or set of 
initials which the maker has registered at the 
Assay Office, and which he stamps on goods 
which he intends to send for hall marking. 

Hall Sunday. The Sunday preceding Shrove 
Tuesday; the next day is called Hall Monday 
or Hall Night. Shrove Tuesday is also called 
Pancake Day, and the day preceding it, Callop 
Monday, from the special foods popularly 
prepared for those days. All three were days 
of merrymaking. Hall is a contraction of 
H allow y meaning holy or festal. 

Hallel (har el). A Jewish hymn of praise sung 
at the four great festivals, consisting of Ps . 
cxiii to cxviii both included. Ps. cxxxvi was 
called the Great Hallel. Sometimes the 
Songs of Degrees (see Gradual Psalms) sung 
standing on the fifteen steps of the inner court 
are so called (i.e. exx to cxxxvii inclusive). 

Hallelujah is the Heb. halelu-Jah , “Praise ye 
Jehovah.” 



Hallelujah 


430 


Hanaper 


* Hallelujah Lass. A name given to female 
members of the Salvation Army in the early 
days of that movement. 

Hallelujah Victory. A victory said to have 
been gained by some newly baptized Britons 
over the Piets ancrScots near Mold, Flintshire 
in 429. They were led by Germanus, Bishop 
of Auxerre, and began the battle with loud 
shouts of “Hallelujah!” 

Halloween (hildenO. October 31st, which in 
the old Celtic calendar was the last day of the 
year, its night being the time when all the 
witches and warlocks were abroad and held 
their wicked revels. On the introduction of 
Christianity it was taken over as the Eve of 
All Hallows^ or All Saints, and — especially in 
Scotland and the north of England — it is still 
devoted to all sorts of games in which the old 
superstitions can be traced. See Burns’s poem 
Hallowe'en* 

Halo. In Christian art the same as a nimbus 
(?.v.). The luminous circle round the sun or 
moon caused by the refraction of light through 
a*nist is also called a halo. The word is from 
Gr. halos , originally a circular threshing-floor. 

Ham Actor. A ranting actor. The term ulti- 
mately derives probably from the fact that in 
the 19th century theatrical make-up was 
removed with the fat offiam chops, and came 
into use through a edmbination of facts in 
theatrical history. Hamish McCullough (1835- 
85) used to tour Illinois with his own troupe, 
himself being familiarly known as Ham and 
his troupe as Ham’s actors. In the most pop- 
ular period of American ministrelsy there was 
a song, “The Hamfat Man,” about an inept 
actor. Such facts, together with the similarity 
to the word amateur, and the tradition that 
down-at-heel actors had acted Hamlet in better 
days, apparently account for the expression. 
Hamlet himseli in the speech to the players, 
describes the essence of ham acting — “to saw 
the air too, much with your hand,” to “tear a 

f jassiod to tatters,” and to “strutt and bel- 
ow.” Hamlet therefore may be the source of 
the expression, which may have been in use 
earlier than has so far been traced. 

Hamadryads. See Dryad. 

Hambletonian (him b61 td' ni £n). The name 
given to a superior strain of horse bred in 
the U.S.A. for trotting, and descended from a 
stallion called Hambletonian (1849-76). 

Hamet. See CiD Hamet. 

Hamiltonian System. A method of teaching 
foreign languages by inter-linear translations, 
suggested by James Hamilton (1769-1831). 

Hamlet. It’s Hamlet without the Prince. Said 
when the person who was to have taken the 
principal place at some function is absent. 
The allusion, of course, is to Shakespeare’s 
Hamlet , which would lose all its meaning if the 
part of the Prince were omitted. 

Hammer. In personal appellatives : — 

Pierre d’Ailly (1350-1425), Le Marteau 
(hammer) des Hiritiques , president of the 
council that condemned John Huss. 


St. Augustine (354-430) is called by Hake- 
well “that renowned pillar of truth and 
hammer of heresies.” 

John Faber (1478-1541), the German 
controversialist, was surnamed Malleus Hereti - 
corum , from the title of one of his works. 

St. Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers (d. 368). was 
known as “The Hammer of the Arians. 

Charles Martel (q.v.). 

Edward I (1239-1307), “Longshanks,” was 
called “The Hammer of the Scots.” On his 
tomb in Westminster Abbey is the inscription 
“ Edwardus long us Scotorum Malleus hie est' y 

The second name of Judas Maccabeus , the 
son of Mattathias the Hasmoncan, is thought 
by some to denote that he was a “Hammer’ r or 
“Hammerer,” because Makk&beth is Hebrew 
for a certain kind of hammer. 

Hammer and Sickle. Since 1923, the em- 
blems of the U.S.S.R., symbolic of productive 
work in the factory and on the land. 

Gone to the hammer. Applied to goods sent 
to a sale by auction; the auctioneer giving a 
rap with a small hammer when a lot is sold, 
to intimate that there is an end to the bidding, 
hence to sell under the hammer . 

They live hammer and tongs. Are always 
quarrelling. 

Both parties went at it hammer and tongs; and hit 
one another anywhere and with anything . — James 
Payn. 

To be hammered. A Stock Exchange term, 
used of one who is in the “House” officially 
declared a defaulter. This is done by the “Head 
Waiter,” who goes into the rostrum and, be- 
fore making the announcement, attracts the 
attention of the members present by striking 
the desk with a hammer. 

To hammer away at anything. To go at it 
doggedly; to persevere. 

Hammercloth. The cloth that covers the 
driver’s seat, or “box,” in an old-fashioned 
coach. It may be connected with Dan. ham- 
mel , a swingle-bar, or with hammock , the seat 
which the cloth covers being formed of straps 
or webbing stretched between two crutches 
like a sailor’s hammock. 

Hammock or Hummock. A small round hill, 
usually wooded. 

Hampton Court Conference. A conference held 
at Hampton Court in January, 1604, to settle 
the disputes between the Church party and the 
Puritans. It lasted three days. Its chief results 
were a few slight alterations in the Book of 
Common Prayer, but it was here that the first 
suggestion was made for the official re- 
translation of the Bible which resulted in the 
Authorized Version of 1611. 

Hampton Roads, Battle of. Fought in March 
1862, between the Confederate ship Merrimac 
and the Federal ship Monitor , it is note- 
worthy as the first battle between ironclad 
ships. 

Hanaper (hdn' & pSr). Hanap was the mediaeval 
name for a goblet or wine-cup, and the 
hanaper (connected with hamper) was the 
wickerwork case that surrounded it. Hence the 
name was given to any round wicker basket 




Hancock 


431 


Hand 


and especially to one in which documents that 
had passed the Great Seal were kept in the 
Court of Chancery. The office where the 
Chancellor carried on his business— tne 
Exchequer, or a branch thereof— thus came to 
be known as the Hamper , and its officials as 
Comptrollers, Clerks, etc., of the Hanaper. 
In England these were abolished in 1842, but 
for many years in Ireland the official title of 
the Permanent Secretary to the Chancery 
Division and to the Lord Chancellor remained 
“Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper.’* 

Hancock. See John Hancock. 

Hand. A symbol of fortitude in Egypt, of 
fidelity in Rome. Two hands symbolize con- 
cord; by a closed hand Zeno represented 
dialectics, and by an open hand eloquence. 

In early art the Deity was frequently 
represented by a hand extended from the 
clouds; sometimes the hand was open, with 
rays issuing from the fingers, but generally it 
was in the act of benediction, i.e. with two 
fingers raised. 

In card-games the word is used for the game 
itself, for an individual player (as “a good 
hand at whist”) or the cards held by him. 

A saint in heaven would grieve to see such “hand” 

Cut up by one who will not understand. 

Crabbe: Borough. 

Also for style of workmanship, handwriting, 
etc. (“he writes a good hand'*). 

Operatives at a factory are called hands. As 
a measure of length a hand = four inches. 
Horses are measured up the fore leg to the 
shoulder, and are called 14, 15, 16 (as it may 
be), hands high. 

Dead man’s hand. It is said that carrying a 
dead man’s hand will produce a dead sleep. 
Another superstition is that a lighted candle 
placed in the hand of a dead man gives no light 
to anyone but him who carries the hand. Cp. 
Dead Hand. 

The red hand, or bloody hand, in coat 
armour is the device of Ulster (see Ulster), 
and is carried as a charge on the coats of 
arms of English and Irish baronets (not 
on those of Scotland or Nova Scotia). 

The “bloody hand” is also borne privately 
by a few families; its presence is generally 
connected with some traditional tale of blooa. 

In all instances, however, it is nothing but 
a heraldic charge or a badge with no personal 
significance whatever. Cp. Bloody Hand. 

Hand gallop. A slow and easy gallop, in 
which the horse is kept well in hand. 

Hand paper. A particular sort of paper well 
* known in the Record Office, and so 
*** called from its water-mark, which 
goes back to the 15th century. 

A bird in hand. See Bird. 

An empty hand is no lure for a hawk. You 
must not expect to receive anything without 
giving a return. 

A note of hand. A promise to pay made in 
writing and duly signed. 

An old hand at it. One who is experienced 
at it. 


A poor hand. An unskilful one. “He is but # 
a poor hand at it,” i.e. he is not skilful at the 
work. 

All hands. The nautical term for the whole 
of the crew. ^ 

It is believed on all hands. It is generally (or 

universally) believed. 

At first or second hand. As the original (first) 
purchase^ owner, hearer, etc., or (second) as 
one deriving, learning, etc., through another 
party. 

At hand. Conveniently near. “Near at hand,” 
quite close by. 

By hand. Without the aid of machinery or 
an intermediate agent. A letter “sent by hand” 
is one delivered by a personal messenger, not 
sent through the post. But a child “brought up 
by hand” is one reared on the bottle instead of 
being breast-fed. 

By the hand of God. See Act of God. 

Cap in hand. SuppUantly. humbly; as, “to 
come cap in hand.” See Cap. 

From hand to hand. From one person to 
another. 

Hand in hand. In friendly fashion; unitedly. 

Hand over hand. To go or to come up hand 
over hand, is to travel with great rapidity, as 
climbing a rope or a ladder, or as one vessel 
overtakes another. Sailors in hauling a rope 
put one hand over the other alternately as fast 
as they can. In French, main sur main. 

Hands up! The order given by captors 
when taking prisoners. The hands are to be 
held stretched high above the head to preclude 
any possibility of resistance or the use of 
revolvers, etc. 

He is my right hand. My principal assistant, 
my best and most trustworthy man. 

In hand. Under control, in possession; also, 
under progress. 

In one’s own hands. In one’s sole control, 
ownership, management, responsibility, etc. 

Kings have long hands. See King. 

Laying on of hands. See To lay hands on, 
below. 

Many hands make light work. An old pro- 
verb (given in Ray’s Collection , 1742) en- 
shrining the wisdom of a fair division of 
labour. The Romans had a similar saying, 
Multorum manibus magnum levatur onus , by the 
hands of many a great work is lightened. 

My hands are full. I am fully occupied; I 
have as much work to do as I can manage. 

Offhand. In a casual, unceremonious fashion, 
curt, rude; extempore. 

Off one’s hands. No longer under one’s 
responsibilities. If something — or somebody 
—is left on one’s hands one has to take entire 
responsibility. 

On the other hand. A phrase used in the 
presentation of a case meaning “from that 
point of view,” as opposed to the point of view 
already mentioned. 




Hand 


432 


Handfasting 


Out of hand. At once; done with, over. 

We will proclaim you out of hand. 

Henry VI, Pt. Ill , IV, vii. 

And, were these inward wars once out of hand, 

We would, dear lords, unto the Holy Land. 

Henry IV , Pt. II , III, i. 

Also with the meaning “beyond control”; 
as, “these children are quite out of hand.” 

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. 
The line is from the poem “What Rules the 
World?” by the American poet, William Ross 
Wallace (1819-81):— 

They say that man is mighty. 

He governs land and sea, 

He wields a mighty sceptre 
O’er lesser powers that be; 

But a mightier power and stronger 
Man from his throne has hurled, 

And the hand that rocks the cradle 
Is the hand that rules the world. 

They are hand in glove. Inseparable com- 
panions, of like tastes and like affections. They 
fit each other like hand and glove. 

To ask or give the hand of so-and-so. To ask 
or give her hand in marriage. 

To bear a hand. To come and help. 

To change hands. To pass from a possessor 
to someone else. 

To come to hand. To be received; to come 
under one’s notice. 

To come to one’s hand. It is easy to do. 

To get one’s hand in. To become familiar 
with the work in hand. 

To get the upper hand. To obtain the 
mastery. 

To give one’s hand upon something. To take 
one’s oath on it; to pledge one’s honour to 
keep the promise. 

To hand down to posterity. To leave for 
future generations. 

To hand in one’s checks. To die. An American 
phrase derived from poker and such games, 
where checks is American for counters. When 
one handed them in one had finished, was 
“cleaned out.” Also, to pass in, or cash, one's 
checks. 

To hand round. To pass from one person to 
another in a regular series. 

To hand a sail. To take it in, to furl it. 

To have a free hand. To be able to do as one 
thinks best without referring the matter to 
one’s superiors; to be quite uncontrolled by 
outside influences. 

To have a hand in the matter. To have a 
finger in the pie. 

To kiss hands. See Kiss. 

To lay hands on. To apprehend; to lay hold 
of. 

In ecclesiastical use the laying on of hands, 
or imposition of hands , is the laying on, or the 
touch, as in signing the cross, of a bishop’s 
hands in ordination or confirmation. 

Among the Romans a hantj laid on the head 
of a person indicated the nght of property. 
Thus if a person laid claim to a slave, he laid 
his hand upon him in the presence of the 
praetor. 


To lend a hand. To help; to give assistance. 

To live from hand to mouth. To live without 
any provision for the morrow. 

To play into someone’s hands. Unwittingly or 
carelessly to act so that the other party gets the 
best of it; to do just what will help him and not 
advance your own cause. 

To play one’s own hand. To look after 
Number One; to act entirely for one’s own 
advantage. 

To serve someone hand and foot. To be at his 
beck and call; to be his slave. 

To shake hands. To salute by giving a hand 
received into your own a shake; to bid adieu. 
Fortune and Antony part here; even here 
Do we shake hands. 

Antony and Cleopatra , IV, x. 

The custom of shaking hands in confirma- 
tion of a bargain has been common to all 
nations and all ages. In feudal times the vassal 
put his hands in the hands of his overlord on 
taking the oath of fidelity and homage. 

To strike hands. To make a contract, to 
become surety for another. See Prov. xvii, 18, 
and xxii, 26. 

To take a hand. To play a part, especially 
in a game of cards, etc. 

To take in hand. To undertake to do some- 
thing; to take the charge of. 

To take something off one’s hands. To relieve 
one of something troublesome. 

To wash one’s hands of a thing. To have 
nothing to do with it after having been con- 
cerned in the matter; to abandon it entirely. 
The allusion is to Pilate’s washing his hands 
at the trial of Jesus. 

When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but 
that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and 
washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am 
innocent of the blood of this just person; see ye to it. 
— Matt, xxvii, 24. 

To win hands down. To be victor without the 
slightest difficulty. The allusion is to horsc- 
racing; the jockey is riding with his hands 
down because he is winning easily. 

With a heavy hand. Oppressively; without 
sparing. 

It is a damned and a bloody work; 

The graceless action of a heavy hand. 

If that it be the work of any hand. 

King John , IV, iii. 

With a high hand. See High. 

With clean hands. See Clean. 

Handcuff King. The nickname of Harry 
Houdini, celebrated for his ingenuity in 
escaping from handcuffs, etc. 

Handfasting. A “marriage on approval,” 
formerly in vogue on the Border. A fair was 
at one time held in Dumfriesshire, at which a 
young man was allowed to pick out a female 
companion to live with him. They lived to- 
gether for twelve months, and if they both 
liked the arrangement were man and wife. 
This was called hand-fasting or hand-fastening. 

This sort of contract was common among 
the Romans and Jews, and is not unusual in 
the East even now. 



Handicap 


433 


Hanging Gardens 


Handicap. A game at cards not unlike loo, 
but with this difference — the winner of one 
trick has to put in a double stake, the winner 
of two tricks a triple stake, and so on. Thus: 
if six persons are playing, and the general 
stake is Is., and A gains three tricks, he gains 
6s., and has to “hand i’ the cap” or pool 3s. 
for the next deal. Suppose A gains two tricks 
and B one, then A gains 4s. and B 2s., and A 
has to stake 3s. and B 2s. for the next deal. 

In common parlance a handicap is a diffi- 
culty — physical or otherwise — under which a 
person labours; a short-sighted man is handi- 
capped without his spectacles. 

Handicap , in racing, is the adjudging of 
various weights to horses differing in age, 
power, or speed, in order to place them all, as 
far as possible, on an equality. In golf it is a 
certain number of strokes allowed to a player 
to allow him a reasonable chance of scoring 
par at any game. If two unequal players chal- 
lenge each other at chess, the superior gives up 
a piece, and this is his handicap. So called 
from the custom of drawing lots out of a hat 
or cap. 

The Winner’s Handicap. The winning horses 
of previous races being pitted together are first 
handicapped according to their respective 
merits: the horse that has won three races has 
to carry a greater weight than the horse that 
has won only two, and this latter more than 
its competitor who is winner of a single race 
only. 

Handirons. See Andirons. 

Handkerchief. To throw the handkerchief. In 

some children’s games to throw or drop the 
handkerchief to a child is to signify that he or 
she is to run after the one who does it. 

With handkerchief in one hand and sword in 
the other. Pretending to be sorry at a calamity, 
but prepared to make capital out of it. 

Maria Theresa stands with the handkerchief in one 
hand, weeping for the woes of Poland, but with the 
sword in the other hand, ready to cut Poland in 
sections, and take her share. — Carlyle: The Dia- 
mond Necklace , ch. iv. 

Handle. A handle to one’s name. Some title, as 
“lord,” “sir,” “doctor.” 

To fly off the handle. To fly into a rage, or 
lose one’s head, as the head of an axe might 
fly dangerously off its shaft. 

To give a handle to ... To give grounds for 
suspicion; as, “He certainly gave a handle to 
the rumour.” 

Dead man’s handle. A handle on the con- 
troller of an electric vehicle so designed that it 
cuts off the current and applies the brakes if 
the driver releases his pressure from illness or 
some other cause. 

Handsel (O.E. handselen , delivery into the 
hand). A gift for luck; earnest-money; the first 
money received in a day. Hence Handsel Mon- 
day, the first Monday of the year, when little 
gifts used to be given before our Boxing Day 
W-v.) took its place. To “handsel a sword is to 
use it for the first time; to “handsel a coat,” to 
wear it for the first time, etc. 


Handsome. Handsome 1s as handsome does. It 

is one’s actions that count, not merely one’s 
appearance or promises. The proverb is in 
Ray’s Collection (1742), and is also given by 
Goldsmith in The Vicar of Wakefield (ch. i). 

To do the handsome towards one, to act 
handsomely. To be liberal, generous. 

Handwriting on the Wall. An announcement of 
some coming calamity, or the imminent 
fulfilment of some doom. The allusion is to the 
handwriting on Belshazzar’s palace wall 
announcing the loss of his kingdom ( Dan . v). 

Hang. Hang it all! I’ll be hanged! Exclamations 
of astonishment or annoyance; mild impreca- 
tions, a mincing form of “damned.” 

Hanged, drawn, and quartered. See Drawn. 

Hanging and wiving go by destiny. “If a man 
is doomed to be hanged, he will never be 
drowned.” And “marriages are made in 
heaven,” we are told. The proverb is given in 
Hey wood’s Collection (1546) as “Wedding’s 
destiny and hanging likewise”; and Shake- 
speare has: — 

The ancient saying is no heresy — 

Hanging and wiving goes by destiny. 

Merchant of Venice, II, ix. 

To get the hang of a thing. To understand 
the drift or connexion; to acquire the knack. 

To hang a jury. To reduce them to disagree- 
ment so that they cannot bring in a verdict. 

To hang about. To loaf, loiter. In America 
to hang around is more usual. 

To hang back. To hesitate to proceed. 

To hang by a thread. To be in a very pre- 
carious position. The allusion is to the sword 
of Damocles (<?.v.). 

To hang fire. To fail in an expected result. 
The allusion is to a gun or pistol which fails 
to go off. 

To hang in the bell ropes. To have one’s 
marriage postponed after the banns have been 
published at church. 

To hang on. To cling to; to persevere; to be 
dependent on. 

To hang on by the eyelids is to maintain one’s 
position only with the greatest difficulty or by 
the slightest of holds. 

Where do you hang out? Where are you 
living or lodging? The phrase may arise from 
the old custom of shopkeepers and others 
hanging a sign outside their residence and 
places of business. Inn signs and barbers’ poles 
are among the few survivals of this custom. 

“I say, old boy, where do you hang out?” Mr. 
Pickwick replied that he was at present suspended at 
the George and Vulture.— Dickens: Pickwick Papers, 
ch. xxx. 

Hangdog look. A guilty, shame-faced look. 

Hanging Gardens of Babylon. A square 
garden (according to Diodorus Siculus), 400 ft. 
each way, risinjt a series of terraces from the 
river in the northern part of Babylon, and pro- 
vided with earth to a sufficient depth to 
accommodate trees of a great size. These 
famous gardens were one of the Seven Wonders 



Hangmen 


434 


Harbinger 


of the World, and according to tradition were 
constructed by Nebuchadnezzar, to gratify his 
wife Amytis, who felt weary of the flat plains 
of Babylon, and longed for something to 
remind her of her native Median hills. 

Hangmen and Executioners. 

The best known to history are: — 

Bull, the earliest hangman whose name survives 
(c. 1593). 

Jock Sutherland. 

g ERRigK, who cut off the head of Essex in 1601. 
reqory Brandon (c. 1648), and Robert 

Brandon, his son, who executed Charles I. These 
were known as “the two Gregories” (see Gregorian 
Tree). 

Squire Dun, mentioned in Hudibras (Pt. Ill, ii). 
Jack Ketch (1678) executed Lord Russell and the 
Duke of Monmouth. His name became a general term 
to denote a hangman. 

Rose, the butcher 0686). 

Edward Dennis (1780), introduced in Dickens’s 
Barnaby Rudge . 

Thomas Cheshire, nicknamed “Old Cheese.” 
William Calcraft (1800-79) was appointed official 
hangman in 1829 and was pensioned off in 1874. 

William Marwood (1820-83) is known in the 
profession for having invented the “long drop.” 

Of French executioners, the most celebrated are 
Capeluche, headsman of Paris during the terrible days 
of the Armagnacs and Burgundians; and the two 
brothers Sanson, who worked the guillotine during the 
first French Revolution. 

The fee given to the executioner at Tyburn 
used to be 13£d., with l£d. for the rope. 

For half of thirteen-pence ha’penny wages 
1 would have cleared all the town cages. 

And you should have been rid of all the stages 
I and my gallows groan. 

The Hangman's Last Will and Testament (Rump Songe ). 

Noblemen who were to be beheaded were 
expected to give the executioner from £1 to 
£10 for cutting off their head; 3 /*d it is still 
the case that any peer who comes to the halter 
can claim the privilege of being suspended by a 
silken rope. 

Hanger. A short sword or dagger that hung 
from the girdle; also the girdle itself. 

Men’s swords in hangers hang fast by their side. — 
J. TaFlor (1630). 

Hankey Pankey. Jugglery, fraud. The word 
is probably a variation of Hocus Pocus. 

Hansard. The printed official report of the 
proceedings and debates in the British Houses 
of Parliament, so called from Luke Hansard 
(1752-1828), who commenced the Journal of 
the House of Commons in 1774. In 1889 
Hansard became a public company, and later 
the work was done by contract, the reports 
from 1895 to 1908 being supplied by The Times . 
Since then the debates nave been reported by a 
government staff, the name Hansard being 
reintroduced in 1943. 

Hanse Towns (hSn' s6). The maritime cities 
of Germany, which belonged to the Hanseatic 
League (q.v.). 

Hanseatic League (hanz i St' ik). The confeder- 
acy, first established in 1239, between certain 
dues of Northern Germany for their mutual 
prosperity and protection. The diet which used 
to be held every three years was called the 
Hansa (Old High German for Association ), 
and the members of it Hansards. The league in 
its prosperity comprised eighty-five towns; it 
declined ^rapidly in the Thirty Years* War; in 


1669 only six cities were represented; and the 
last three members of the league (Hamburg, 
Liibeck, and Bremen) joined the German 
Customs Union in 1889. 

Hansel; Hansel Monday. See Handsel. 

Hansom. A light two-wheeled cab, very popu- 
lar in London before the introduction of taxi- 
cabs early in this century. It was invented in 
1834 by J. Aloysius Hansom (1803-82), the 
architect of Birmingham Town Hall. The 
original vehicle had two very large wheels with 
sunk axle-trees and a seat for the driver by the 
side of the passenger. Subsequent improve- 
ments reduced the size of the wheels, placed 
the driver in a dickey at the backhand provided 
a pair of double doors in front of the passenger 
with sliding glass folding panels lowered from 
the roof by the driver. 

Happy. Happy as a clam. See Clam. 

Happy dispatch. See Hara-kiri. 

Happy family. The name given in travelling 
menageries to a collection of all sorts of 
animals of different and antagonistic habits 
living together peaceably. It is now more 
generally associated* with a children’s card 
game. 

Happy-go-lucky. Thoughtless, indifferent, 
care-free. 

Happy is the nation that has no history. The 

old proverb says in other words what Gibbon 
remarked in the Decline and Fall, ch. iii : — 

History is, indeed, little more than the register of the 
crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind. 

Montesquieu said much the same: — 

Heureux les peuples dont l’histoire est ennuyeuse. 

The Happy Valley. The home of the Prince 
of Abyssinia in Johnson’s tale of Rasselas 
(1759). It was a Garden of Peace, completely 
isolated from the world, and replete with every 
luxury; but life there was so monotonous that 
the philosopher Imlac and the Prince Rpssc- 
las were glad to escape. 

Bomb-happy. A phrase used in World War 
II to describe one in a state bordering on 
hysteria induced by bombing; the term arose 
from the fact that this hysteria often took the 
form of wild elation of spirits. 

Hapsburg. See Habsburo. 

Hara-kiri (ha ra ki'ri) (Jap. hara , the belly; kiri, 
to cut). A method of suicide by disembowelling 
practised by Japanese military officials, 
daimios, etc., when in serious disgrace or 
liable to be sentenced to death, or when their 
honour is irretrievably impugned. The first 
recorded instance of hara-kiri, or Happy Dis- 
patch , as it is also called, is that of Tametomo, 
brother of Sutoku, an ex-Emperor in the 12th 
century, after a defeat at which most of his 
followers were slain. 

Harbinger. One who looks out for lodgings, 
etc.; a courier; hence, a forerunner, a messen- 
ger. (O.H.Ger. Hari t an army; bergan , to 
lodge.) 

I’ll be myself the harbinger, and make joyfUl 

The hearing of my wife with your approach. 

Macbeth % I, iv. 




Hard 


435 


Hare 


Hard. Hard and fast. Strict, unalterable. A 
“hard and fast rule’* is one that must be rigidly 
adhered to and cannot be relaxed for anyone. 
Originally a nautical phrase, used of a ship run 
aground. 

Hard-boiled. An expressive term for one who 
is toughened by experience, a person with no 
illusions or sentimentalities. 

Hard by. Near. Hard here means close, 
pressed close together; hence firm or solid, in 
close proximity to. 

Hard by a sheltering wood. 

David Mallet: Edwin and Emma. 

Hard cash. Money; especially actual money 
— as opposeefto cheques or promises— “down 
on the nail”; formerly coin as distinguished 
from bank-notes. 

Hard hit. Seriously damaged by monetary 
losses; as “He was hard hit in the slump after 
the war”; also, badly smitten with love. 

Hard labour. Enforced labour added to 
the punishment of criminals receiving a 
sentence of six months or over, it used to 
consist largely of working the treadmill, 
stone-breaking, oakum picking, etc. 

Hard lines. Hard terms; “rather rough 
treatment”; exacting. Lines here means “one’s 
lot in life,” as, “The lines arc fallen unto me in 
pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage” 
(Ps. xvi, 6 ), i.e. my lot is excellent. 

Hard of hearing. Unable to hear properly; 
rather deaf. 

Hard-shell Baptists. Baptists in Georgia 
(U.S.A.) who stuck to their principles and 
were impervious to any mellowing influence. 

Hard tack. Ship’s biscuit; coarse, hard bread. 

Hard up. Short of money. Originally a 
nautical phrase; when a vessel was hard put 
to it by stress of weather the order Hard up the 
helm! was given, and the tiller was put up as 
far as possible to windward so as to turn the 
ship’s head away from the wind. So, when a 
man is “hard up” he has to weather the storm 
as best he may. 

To go hard with. To fare ill with; usually 
followed by but , implying “unless so-and-so 
happens.” 

Sf)eed: Nay, that I can deny by a circumstance. 

Pro.: It shall go hard but I’ll prove it by another. 

Two Gentlemen of Verona , 1, i. 

Hards and Softs. Two schools of finance in 
the U.S.A. in the 19th century. The Hards 
followed Senator T. H. Benton (1782-1858) in 
favouring a currency of metal; the Softs 
favoured a paper currency. 

Hardshell. A term used in American politics 
for an “out-and-outer,” one prepared, and 
anxious, to “go the whole hog.” In 1853 a 
hardshell in the Southern States was for the 
execution of the Fugitive Slave law, while soft- 
shells were for the maintenance of national 
harmony at all costs. 

Hardy. Brave or daring, hence the phrase, 
hardi comme un lion. 

Among those who have been surnamed 
“The Hardy” are:— 

William Douglas, defender of Berwick (d, 
1302); 


Philippe III of France (1245, 1270-85); and 

Philippe II, Duke of Burgundy (1342, 1363- 
82). 

Hare. It is unlucky for a hare to cross your 
path, because witches were said to transform 
themselves into hares. 

A witch is a kind of hare 
And marks the weather 
* As the hare doth. 

^Ben Jonson: Sad Shepherd t II, ii. 

In the North, until comparatively Recently, 
if a fisherman on his way to the boats chanced 
to meet a woman, parson, or hare, he turned 
back, being convinced that he would have no 
luck that day. 

The superstitious is fond in observation, servile in 
feare. . . . This man dares not stirre forth till his 
breast be crossed, and his face sprinkled: if but an 
hare crosse him the way, he returnes. — B p. Hall: 
Characters ( 1 608). 

According to mediaeval “science,” the hare 
was a most melancholy beast, and ate wild 
succory in the hope of curing itself; its flesh, 
of course, was supposed to generate melancholy 
in any who partook of it. 

Fal .: ’Sblood, I am as melancholy as a gib cat, or a 
lugged bear. 

Prince: Or an old lion, or a lover's lute. 

Fal.: Yea, or the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe. 

Prince: What sayest thou to a hare, or the melan- 
choly of Moor-ditch? Henry IV , Pt. I, I, ii. 

Another superstition was that hares are 
sexless, or that they change their sex every year. 
Snakes that cast their coats for new. 
Chameleons that alter hue. 

Hares that yearly sexes change. 

Fletcher: Faithful Shepherdess , IIT, i. 

And among the Hindus the hare is sacred to 
the moon because, as they affirm, the outline 
of a hare is distinctly visible in the full disk. 

The Order of the Hare. An order of twelve 
knights traditionally said to have been created 
by Edward III in France, on an occasion when 
he thought that a great shouting raised by the 
French army heralded the onset of battle;*but 
found afterwards it was on account of alferc 
running between the two armies. 

The quaking hare, in Dryden’s Hind and 
Panther , means the Quakers. v,; 

Among the timorous kind, the quaking hare 
Professed neutrality, but would not swear. 

Pt. 1, 37, 38. 

First catch your hare. See Catch. 

Mad as a March hare. Hares are unusually 
shy and wild in March, which is their rutting 
season. 

Erasmus says “Mad as a marsh hare,” and 
adds, “hares are wilder in marshes from the 
absence of hedges and cover.” 

The hare and the tortoise. An allusion to the 
well-known fable of the race between the hare 
and the tortoise, won by the latter; and the 
moral, “Slow and steady wins the race.”^ 

To hold with the hare and run with the 
hounds. To play a double and deceitful game, 
to be a traitor in the camp. To run with the 
hounds as if intent to catch the hare, all the 
while being the secret friend of poor Wat. In 
the American Civil War these double-dealers 
were called Copperheads ( 17 . v.). 



Hare 


436 


Harmonists 


To kiss the hare's foot. To be too late for 
anything, to be a day after the fair. The hare 
has gone by, and left its footprint for you to 
salute. A similar phrase is To kiss the post. 

Hare-brained. Mad as a March hare, giddy, 
foolhardy. 

Let’s leave this town; for they [the English] are hare- 
brained slaves. 

And hunger will enforce them to be more eager. 

Henw VI, Pt. /, I, ii. 

Probably from this, in World War 11, arose 
the term a hare to denote a baseless idea which, 
if pursued, would leatj to nothing. 

Harefoot. The surname given to Harold I, 
youngest son of Canute (1035-40). 

Hare-lip. A cleft lip; so called from its 
resemblance to the upper lip of a hare. It was 
fabled to be caused at birth by an elf or 
malicious fairy. 

This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet. He begins at 
curfew, and walks till the first cock. He . . . squints 
the eye and makes the hare-lip. — King Lear , II I, iv. 

Hare-stone. Another form of hoarstone 

Harem (har' em). The name given by Moham- 
medans to those apartments (and the oc- 
cupants) which are appropriated exclusively 
to the female members of a household. The 
word is Arab, haram , from harama , be pro- 
hibited. 

Harikiri. See Hara-kiri. 

Hark Back, To. To return to the subject. A 
call to the dogs in fox-hunting, when they have 
Overrun the scent, “Hark [dogs] conic back”; 
so “Hark for’ards!” “Hark away!” etc. 

Harleian (har le' in). Robert Harley, Earl of 
Oxford (1661-1724) and his son Edward, the 
second earl (1689-1741) were great collectors 
of manuscripts, scarce tracts, etc. Their library 
was purchased by the nation in 1753 and 
deposited in the British Museum, and the 
Harleian MSS. are amongst its most valuable 
literary and historical possessions. The Harleian 
Mu&eilany (10 vols., first published 1744-46) 
contains reprints of nearly 700 tracts, etc., 
mostly of the 16th and 1 7th centuries; and 
since 1870 the Harleian Society has published 
numerous volumes of Registers, Heralds’ 
Visitations, and Pedigrees. 

Harlem, New York City, was named after 
their home town of Haarlem by the early 
Dutch settlers. It is now the uptown section of 
New York and is the metropolis of the Negro 
population of the city. 

Harlequin (har' le kwin). In the British panto- 
mime, a mischievous fellow supposed to be in- 
visible to all eyes but those of his faithful 
Columbine (q.v.). His office is to dance through 
the world and frustrate all the knavish tricks 
of the Clown, who is supposed to be in love 
with Columbine. He wears a tight-fitting 
spangled or parti-coloured dress and is usually 
marked. He derives from Arlecchino , a stock 
character of Italian comedy (like Pantaloon 
and Scaramouch), whose name was in origin 
probably that of a sprite or hobgoblin. One 
of the demons in Dante is named ‘Alichino,” 
and another devil of mediaeval demonology 
was "Hennequin.” 


The old Christmas pantomime or harle- 
uinade is essentially a British entertainment, 
rst introduced by John Weaver (1673-1760), 
a dancing-master of Shrewsbury, in 1702. 

What Momus was of old to Jove 
The same a harlequin is now. 

The former was buffoon above. 

The latter is a Punch below. 

SwiFr: The Puppet Show. 
The prince of Harlequins was John Rich 
(1681-1761). 

Harlequin. So Charles Quint (1500-58) was 
called by Francois I of France. 

Harlot. Popular etymology used to trace this 
word to Arlotta, mother of William the 
Conqueror, but it is O.Fr. herlot and Ital. 
arlotto , a base fellow, vagabond, and was 
formerly applied to males as well as females. 
Hence Chaucer speaks of “a sturdy harlot . . . 
that was her hostes man.” 

He was a gentil harlot, and a kinde; 

A bettre felaw shulde man no wher finde. 

Canterbury Tales , prol., 649. 

The harlot king is quite beyond mine arm. 

Winter's Tale. II, iii. 

The earliest sense of the word may have been 
“camp-follower,” and if so it represents O.H. 
Gcr. Hari, war, and Lot ter (O.E. loddere ), a 
beggar, wastrel. 

Harm. Harm set, harm get. Those who lay 
traps for others get caught themselves. Haman 
was hanged on his own gallows. Our Lord says, 
“They that take the sword shall perish with 
the sword” (Matt, xxvi, 52). 

Harmattan (har mat' an). A wind which blows 
periodically from the interior parts of Africa 
towards the Atlantic. It prevails in December, 
January, and February, and is generally 
accompanied by fog, but is so dry as to 
wither vegetation and cause human skin to 
peel off. 

Harmonia (har mo' ni &). Harmonia’s Neck- 
lace. An unlucky possession, something that 
brings evil to all who possess it. Harmonia was 
the daughter of Mars and Venus. On her 
marriage with King Cadmus, she received a 
necklace which proved fatal to all who pos- 
sessed it. Cp. Fatal Gifts. 

On the same occasion Vulcan, to avenge the 
infidelity of her mother, made the bride a 
present of a robe dyed in all sorts of crimes, 
which infused wickedness and impiety into all 
her offspring. Cp. Nfssus. Both Harmonia and 
Cadmus, having suffered many misfortunes, 
and seen their children a sorrow to them, were 
changed into serpents. 

Medea, in a fit of jealousy, sent Creusa a 
wedding robe, which burnt her to death. 

Harmonious Blacksmith, The. The name given, 
after his death, to a well-known air by Handel. 
An ingenious story, but a complete and base- 
less fabrication, ascribed the origin of the 
tune to the hammering at his forge of a 
blacksmith, William Powell (d. 1780), the 
ringing of whose hammer set Handel to work 
on it. Powell’s tomb is still to be seen in the 
little churchyard of St. Lawrence at Whit- 
church in Edgware. 

Harmonists. A sect founded in Wurtemberg by 
George and Frederick Rapp about 1780. They 



Harness 


437 


Hart 


emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1815 (Indiana, later 
Pittsburgh, Pa.). They are now extinct and little 
is known of their tenets, except that they held 
property in common and regarded marriage as 
a purely civil contract. 

Harness. Out of harness. Not in practice* 
retired. A horse out of harness is one not at 
work. 

To die in harness. To continue in one’s work 
or occupation till death. The allusion is to a 
horse working in harness until it falls down 
dead, or to soldiers in armour or harness. 

At least we’ll die with harness on our back. 

Macbeth , V, v. 

Harness cask. A large cask or tub with a rim 
cover, containing a supply of salt meat for 
immediate use. A nautical term. 

Harness Prize. A prize founded at Cambridge 
in memory of William Harness (1790-1869), 
editor of a Life of Shakespeare, of the Plays of 
Massinger and Ford, etc., for the best essay 
connected with Shakespearean literature. 
Awarded every third year. 

Haro (ha' ro). To cry out haro to anyone. To 
denounce his misdeeds, to follow him with hue 
and cry. “Ha rou” was the ancient Norman 
hue and cry, and the exclamation made by 
those who wanted assistance, their person or 
property being in danger. 

In the Channel Isles, Haro! said to have been 
originally Ha! ho! a I'aide , mon prince! is a 
protest still in vogue when one’s property is 
endangered, and is still a form of legal appeal. 
It is supposed to have been an appeal to Rollo, 
Duke of Normandy. 

Haroun al Raschid (ha roon' al rash' id). Calif 
of Bagdad, of the Abbasside line (763-809). 
The adventures and stories connected with him 
form a large part of the Arabian Nights Enter- 
tainments ( q-v •). 

Harp. The cognizance of Ireland. According 
to tradition, one of the early kings of Ireland 
was named David, and this king took the harp 
of the Psalmist as his badge. But King John, to 
distinguish his Irish coins from the English, 
had them marked with a triangle, either in 
allusion to St. Patrick’s explanation of the 
Trinity, or to signify that he was king of Eng- 
land, Ireland, and France, and the harp may 
have originated from this. Henry VII was the 
first to adopt it as the Irish device, and James I 
to place it in the third quarter of the royal 
achievement of Great Britain. 

Harp is an American slang term for a native 
of Ireland. 

To harp for ever on the same string. To 
reiterate, to return continually to one point 
or argument. 

Harpagon (ar pi gong). A miser, the chief 
character in Moltere’s L'Avare , 1668. 

Harpocrates (har pok' ri tez). The Greek form 
of the Egyptian Heru-P-Khart (Horus the 
Child), who is figured as a youth with one 
finger pointing to his mouth. He was adopted 
by them as the god of silence. 

I assured my mistress she might make herself 
perfectly easy on that score for I was the Harpocrates 
of trusty valets. — Gil Bias , IV, ii. 


Harpsichord (harp' s* kdrd). The most impor- 
tant of the stringed instruments with Key- 
boards before the invention of the pianoforte. 
The strings are plucked by quills of leather 
plectra inserted in “jacks” or uprights, which 
are caused to pass the strings when the keys 
are depressed. The harpsichord was univers- 
ally used in the 16th to 18th centuries. As a 
distinctive instrument and not merely a crude 
piano it has been reintroduced for the per- 
formance of musid originally composed for it. 

Harpy. In classical mythology, a winged 
monster with the head and breasts of a woman, 
very fierce, starved-looking, and loathsome, 
living in an atmosphere of filth and stench, and 
contaminating everything it came near. Homer 
mentions but one harpy, Hesiod gives /wo, and 
later writers three. Their names, Ocypeta 
[rapid), Celcno ( blackness ), and Aello (storm), 
indicate that these monsters were personifica- 
tions of whirlwinds and storms. 

A regular harpy. One who wants to appropri- 
ate everything; one who sponges on another 
without mercy. 

I will ... do you any embassage . . . rather than 
hold three words conference with this harpy. — Much 
Ado, II, i 

Harridan (har' i dan). A haggard old beldame. 
So called from the Fr. haridelle , a worn-out 
jade of a horse. 

Harrier (har' i er). A dog for hare-hunting, 
whence the name. 

Harrington. Formerly a term for a farthings 
So called from John, 1st Lord Harrington (d. 
1613), to whom James 1 granted a patent 
(1613) for making these coins of brass. 

I will not bate a Harrington of the sum. 

Bln Jonson: The Devil is an Ass , II, i. 

Harris, Mrs. The fictitious crony of Sarah 
Gamp (q.v.), to whom the latter referred for 
the corroboration of all her statements ( Martin 
Chuzzlewit ). 

Harry. By the Lord Harry. A mild imprecation, 
the person referred to being the devil. * * 

By the Lord Harry, he says true. 

Congreve: Old Bachelor , II, i. 

Great Harry. See Great. V 

Old Harry. A familiar name for the devil; 
Old Scratch. Probably from the personal 
name ( cp . Old Nick), but perhaps with some 
allusion to the word harry, meaning to plunder, 
harass, lay waste, from which comes the old 
harrow , as in the title of the 14th-century estrlf, 
or miracle-play, The Harrowing of Hell. 

To play Old Harry. To play the devil; to 
ruin, or seriously damage. 

Hart. In Christian art, the emblem of solitude 
and purity of life. It was the attribute of St. 
Hubert, St. Julian, and St. Eustace. It was also 
the type of piety and religious aspiration ( Ps . 
xlii, 1). Cp. Hind. 

Hart of grease. A hunter’s phrase for a fat 
venison; a stag full of the pasture, called by 
Jaques “a fat and greasy citizen” (As You Like 
It, II, i). 

Hart royal. A male red deer, when the crown 
of the antler has made its appearance, and the 
creature has been hunted by a king. 



Hart 


438 


Hat 


The White Hart, or Hind, with a golden 
chain, in public-house signs, is the badge of 
Richard II, which was worn by his adherents. 
It was adopted from his mother, Joan of Kent, 
whose cognizance it was. 

Hamm Scarum (h&r' Cim sk&r' um). Giddy, 
hare-brained; or a person so constituted. 
From the old hare (cp. Harry) to harass, and 
scare ; perhaps with the additional allusion 
to the “madness of a Mareh hare." 

> Who’s there? I s’pose young harum-scarum. 
Cambridge Fa office : Collegian and Porter . 

Haraspex (pi. haruspices). Officials among the 
Etruscans and ancient Romans who interpreted 
the will of the gods by inspecting the entrails of 
animals offered in sacrifice (O.Lat. haruga , a 
victim; specio t I inspect). Cato said, “I wonder 
how one haruspex can keep from laughing 
when he sees another.” 

Harvard University. The senior University in 
the U.S.A., situated at Cambridge, Mass., and 
founded in 1636 by the general court of the 
colony in Massachusetts Bay. In 1638 it was 
named after John Harvard (1607-1638), who 
had left to it his library and half his estate. 

Harvest Moon. The full moon nearest the 
autumnal equinox, which rises for several days 
nearly at sunset, and at about the same time. 

Hash. A mess, a muddle; as, “a pretty hash 
.he made of it.” 

^ I!U soon settle his hash for him. I will soon 
smash him up; ruin his schemes; “cook his 
goose”; “put my finger in his pie”; ‘‘make 
mincemeat of him.” Our slang is full of such 
phrases. See Cooking. 

About carls as goes mad in their castles 
And females what settles their hash. 

G. R. Sims: The Dagonet Ballads. 

Hassan-Ben-Sabah (his' &n ben sa' ba). The 
Old Man of the Mountain, founder of the sect 
of the Assassins ( q.v .). 

•< 5 , 

Hassock. A footstool, properly one made of 
coarse grass (O.E. hassuc ), or sedge (Welsh 
hesg). 

Hassocks should be gotten in the fens, and laid at 
the foot of the said bank . . . where need required. 
— Dug dale: Imbanklng, p. 322. 

Hat. How Lord Kingsale acquired the right 
of wearing his hat in the royal presence is this: 
King John and Philip II of France agreed to 
settle a dispute respecting the duchy of 
Normandy by single combat. John de Courcy, 
conqueror of Ulster and founder of the 
Kingsale family, was the English champion, 
and no sooner appeared than the French 
champion put spurs to his horse and fled. The 
king asked the earl what reward should be 
given him, and he replied, “Titles and lands I 
want not, of these I have enough; but in 
remembrance of this day 1 beg the boon, for 
myself and successors, to remain covered in 
the presence of your highness and all future 
sovereigns of the realm. So runs the story. 

The privilege was at one time more extensive ; 
Motley informs us that all the Spanish gran- 
dees had the privilege of being covered in the 
presence of the reigning monarch ; and to this 


day, in England, any peer of the realm has 
the right to sit in a courtfof justice with his hat 
6n. 

In the House of Commons, whilst a division 
is proceeding a member may speak on a point 
of order arising out of or during the division, 
but if he does so he must speak sitting and with 
his head covered. 

It was a point of principle with the early 
Quakers not to remove the hat as a mark of 
respect but to remain covered, even in the 
presence of royalty. The story goes that on one 
occasion William Penn came into the room 
where Charles II was standing and kept his hat 
on; whereupon Charles removed his own hat. 
“Friend Charles,” said Penn, “why dost thou 
uncover thy head?” “Friend Penn,” answered 
Charles with a smile, “it is the custom here that 
only one person wears his hat in the king’s 
presence.” 

A cockle hat. A pilgrim’s hat. So called from 
the custom of putting cockle-shells upon their 
hats, to indicate their intention or performance 
of a pilgrimage. 

A white hat. A white hat used to be emble- 
matical of radical proclivities, because the 
Radical reformer, “Orator” Henry Hunt 
(1773-1835) wore one during the Wellington 
and Peel administration. 

Street arabs used to accost a person wearing 
a white hat with the question, “Who stole the 
donkey?” and a companion would answer, 
“Him wi’ the white hat on.” 

Hat-trick. A cricket phrase for taking three 
wickets with three successive balls. A bowler 
who did this used to be entitled to a new hat 
at the expense of his club. 

Hats and Caps. Two political factions of 
Sweden in the 18th century, the former 
favourable to France, and the latter to Russia. 
Carlyle says the latter were called Caps, 
meaning night-caps, because they were averse 
to action and war; but the fact is that the 
French partisans wore a French chapeau as 
their badge, and the Russian partisans wore a 
Russian cap. 

Knocked into a cocked hat. See Cocked. 

Never wear a brown hat in Friesland. When 
at Rome do as Rome does. In Friesland (a 
province of the Netherlands) the inhabitants 
used to cover the head first with a knitted cap, 
a high silk skull-cap, a metal turban, and over 
all a huge flaunting bonnet. A traveller once 
assed through the province with a common 
rown wide-awake, and was hustled by the 
workmen, jeered at by the women, pelted by 
the boys, and sneered at by the magnates. 

Pass around the hat. Gather subscriptions 
into a hat. 

To eat one’s hat. Indicative of strong 
emphasis. “I’d eat my hat first,” “I’d be hanged 
first.” 

To hang up one’s hat in a house. To make 
oneself at home; to become one of the family. 

“Where did you get that hat?” A catch- 
phrase in the early r 90s, originating in J. J. 



Hat 


439 


Haw-haw, Lord 


Sullivan’s comic song, sung in 1888, with the 
refrain: — * « 

Where did you get that hat? # 

Where did you get that tile? 

Isn’t it a nobby one 
And just the proper style? 

You are only fit to wear a steeple-crowned hat * 
To be burnt as a heretic. The victims of the 
Inquisition were always decorated with such 
a headgear. 

Hatches. Put on the batches. Figuratively, shut 
the door. (O.E. hace, a gate; cp. haca t a bar or 
bolt.) 

Under hatches. Very depressed; down in the 
world; also, dead and buried. The hatches of 
a ship are the coverings over the hatchways (or 
openings in the deck of a vessel) to allow of 
cargo, etc., being easily discharged. 

For though his body’s under hatches 
His soul has gone aloft. 

Dibdin : Tom Bowling. 

These lines were inscribed on Dibdin's 
tombstone at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. 

Hatchet. To bury the hatchet. See Bury. 

To throw the hatchet. To exaggerate heavily, 
tell falsehoods. In allusion to an ancient 
game where hatchets were thrown at a mark, 
like quoits. It means the same as drawing the 
longbow {q.v.). 

Hatto (hfit 7 6). A 10th-century archbishop of 
Mainz, a noted statesman and councillor of 
Otho the Great, proverbial for his perfidy, who, 
according to tradition (preserved in the Mag - 
deburg Centuries ), was devoured by mice. The 
story says that in 970 there was a great famine 
in Germany, and Hatto, that there might be 
better store for the rich, assembled the poor in 
a barn, and burnt them to death, saying: 
“They are like mice, only good to devour the 
corn. * By and by an army of mice came against 
the archbishop, who, to escape the plague, 
removed to a tower on the Rhine; but hither 
came the mouse-army by hundreds and 
thousands, and ate him up. The tower is still 
called the Mouse Tower (q.v.). 

Many similar legends, or versions of the 
same legend, are told of the mediaeval Rhine- 
land. 

Count Graaf raised a tower in the midst of 
the Rhine, and if any boat attempted to evade 
payment of toll, the warders snot the crew 
with crossbows. One year a famine prevailed, 
and the count made a corner in wheat and 
“profiteered” grossly; but an army of rats, 
pressed by hunger, invaded his tower, and 
falling on the old baron, worried him to death 
and then devoured him. 

Widerolf, bishop of Strassburg (in 997), was 
devoured by mice because he suppressed the 
convent of Seltzen, on the Rhine. 

Bishop Adolf of Cologne was devoured by 
mice or rats in 1112. 

Freiherr von Giittingen collected the poor 
in a great barn, and burnt them to death; and 
being invaded by rats and mice, ran to his 
castle of Giittingen. The vermin, however, 
pursued him and ate him clean to the bones 
after which his castle sank to the bottom of the 
lake, “where it may still be seen.” 


A similar tale is recorded in the chronicles 
of William of Mulsburg, Bk. II; and cp. Pied 
Piper of Hameun. 

Haussmannization. The pulling down of 
buildings, districts, etc., and the construction 
on the site of new streets and cities, as Baron 
Haussmann (1809-91) remodelled Paris. By 
1868 he had saddled Paris with a debt of about 
£35,000,000, and two years later was dismissed 
from his office of Prefect of the Seine. 

Hautville Coit. See Hack^ll’s Coit. 

Havelok the Dane (hav' lok). A hero of 
mediaeval romance. He was the orphan son of 
Birkabegn, king of Denmark, was exposed at 
sea through the treachery of his guardians, and 
the raft drifted to the coast of Lincolnshire. 
Here a fisherman named Grim found the 
young prince, and brought him up as his own 
son. In due time he became king of Denmark 
and of part of England ; Grim was suitably re- 
warded, and with the money founded the town 
of Grimsby. 

Haver-cakes. Oaten cakes (Scand. ha/re; Ger. 
Hafer , oats). 

Haversack. Strictly speaking, a bag to carry 
oats in. See Haver-cakes. It now means any 
small canvas bag for rations, etc., slung from 
the shoulder; a gunner’s leather-case for 
carrying charges. 

•r 

Havock. An old military command to massacre" 
without quarter. This cry was forbidden itLthe v 
ninth year of Richard II on pain of death. In a 
14th-century tract entitled The Office of the 
Constable and Maresehall in the Tyme of Werre 
(contained in the Black Book of the Admiralty), 
one of the chapters is, “The peyne of hym that 
cricth havock, and of them that followeth 
him” — Item si quis inventus fuerit qui clamor em 
inceperit qui vocatur hav ok. 

Cry Havock, and let slip the dogs of war. 

Julius Catsar , III, i. 

Havre, Le (le avr). A contraction of Le Havre 
(the haven, harbour) de notre Dame de grdee . 

Hawcubltes (haw' ktt bitz). Street bullies in the 
reign of Oueen Anne. It was their deMjht to 
molest and ill-treat the old watchmen, women, 
children, and feeble old men who chanced to 
be in the streets after sunset. The succession 
of these London pests after the Restoration 
was: The Muns, tne Tityre Tus, the Hectors, 
the Scowrers ( q.v the Nickers, then the 
Hawcubites (1711-14), and then the Mohocks — 
most dreaded of all. 

From Mohock and from Hawcubite, 

Good Lord deliver me. 

Who wander through the streets at nighte. 
Committing cruelty. 

They slash our sons with bloody knives. 

And on our daughters fall: 

And, if they murder not our wives, 

We have good luck withal. 

The name Hawcubite is probably a combina- 
tion of Mohawk and Jacobite. 

Haw-haw, Lord. The name given (originally by 
a Fleet St. journalist) to William Joyce, who 
broadcast anti-British propaganda in English 
from Germany during World War II. He was 
hanged for treason in 1946. 


Hawk 


440 


Haywire 


Hawk. 

(1) Different parts of a hawk: 

Arms. The legs from the thigh to the foot. 

Beak. The upper and crooked part of the bill. 

Beams. The long feathers of the wings. 

Clap. The nether part of the bill. 

Feathers summed and unsummed. Feathers full or not 
full grown. 

Flags. The next to the principals. 

Glut. The slimy substance in the pannel. 

Gorge. The crow or crop. 

Haglurs. The spots on the feathers. 

Mails. The breast feathers. 

blares. The two little holes ornihe top of the beak. 
Pannel. The pipe next to the fundament. 

Pendent feathers. Those behind the toes. 

Petty singles. The toes. 

Pounces. The claws. 

Principal feathers. The two longest. 

Sails. The wings. 

. Sear or sere. The yellow part under the eyes. 

Train. The tail. 

(2) Different sorts of hawk : 

Gerfalcon. A Gerfalcon (esp. the Tercel, or male) is for 
a king. 

Falcon or Tercel gentle. For a prince, 

* Falcon of the rock . For a duke. 

Falcon peregrine. For an earl. 

Bastard hawk. For a baron. 

Sacre and sacret. For a knight. 

. Lanare and Lanret. For & squire. 

Merlin. For a lady. V 
//o6y. For a young man. ’ 

Goshawk. For a yeoman. 

Tercel. For a poor man. 

Sparrow-hawk. For a priest. 

* Musket . For a holy-water clerk. 

^ Kestrel . For a knave or servant. 

Dame Juliana Berners. 

'Die “Sore-hawk’* is a hawk of the first year: so 
called from the French, sor or saure, brownish-yellow. 

(3) The dress of a hawk: 

Bewits. The leathers with the hawk-bells, buttoned to 
the bird’s legs. 

Creanse. A packthread or thin twine fastened to the 
leash in disciplining a hawk. 

Hood. A cover for the head, to keep the hawk in the 
dark. A rufter hood is a wide one, open behind. To 
unstrike the hood is to draw the strings so that the 
hood may be in readiness to be pulled off. 

Jesses. The little straps by which the leash is fastened 
tO the legs. 

fjuUh. The leather thong for holding the hawk. 

(4) Terms used in falconry: 

Casting. Something given to a hawk to cleanse her 
gorge. 

Cawkihg. Treading. 

Cowering. When young hawks, in obedience to their 
elders, quiver and shake their wings. 

Crabbing . Fighting with each other when they stand 
too near. 

Hack. The place where a hawk’s meat is laid. 

Imping. Repairing a hawk’s wing by engrafting a new 
feather. 

lake or Ink. The breast and neck of a bird that a hawk 
preys on. 

Intermewing. The time of changing the coat. 

Lure. A figure of a fowl made of leather and feathers. 
Make. An old staunch hawk that sets an example to 
young ones. 

Mantling. Stretching first one wing and then the other 
over the legs. 

Mew. The place where hawks sit when moulting. 
Muting. The dung of hawks. 

Pelf or pill. What a hawk leaves of her prey. 

Pelt. The dead body of a fowl killed by a hawk. 

Perch. The resting-place of a hawk when off the 
falconer’s wrist. 

Plumage . Small feathers given to a hawk to make her 
cast. 

Quarry. The fowl or game that a hawk, flies at. 

Bangle. Gravel given to a hawk to bring down her 
stomach. 


Sharp set. Hungry. 

Tiring. Giving a hawk a leg or wing of a fowl to pull at. 
* The peregrine when Full grown is called a 
blue-hawk. 

The hawk was the symbol of Ra or Horus, 
the sun-god of the Egyptians. 

See Birds (protected by superstitions). 

I know a hawk from a handsaw {Hamlet , II, ii). 
Handsaw is probably a corruption of hern- 
shaw (a heron). I know a hawk from a heron, 
the bird of prey from the game flown at; I 
know one thing from another. 

Neither hawk nor buzzard. Of doubtful 
social position — too good for the kitchen, and 
not good enough for the family; not hawks 
to be fondled and petted — the “tasselled 
gentlemen” of the days of falconry — nor yet 
buzzards — a dull kind of falcon synonymous 
with dunce or plebeian. “Neither flesh, fowl, 
nor good red herring.” 

Hawker’s News or “Piper’s News.” News 
known to all the world. Un secret de polichi - 
nelle. 

Hawkeye. An inhabitant of the State of 
Iowa. 

It was one of the names of Natty Bumpo in 
J. Fenimore Cooper’s novels. See Leather- 
stocking. 

Hawse-hole. He has crept through the hawse- 
hole, or He has come in at the hawse-hole. That 
is, he entered the service in the lowest grade; 
he rose from the ranks. A naval phrase. The 
hawse-hole of a ship is tnat through which the 
cable of the anchor runs. 

Hawthorn. The symbol of “Good Hope” in the 
language of flowers, because it shows that 
winter is over and spring at hand. The Athenian 
girls used to crown themselves with hawthorn 
flowers at weddings, and the marriage-torch 
was made of hawthorn. The Romans con- 
sidered it a charm against sorcery, and placed 
leaves of it on the cradles of newborn infants. 

The hawthorn was chosen by Henry VII for 
his device, because the crown of Richard III 
was discovered in a hawthorn bush at Bos- 
worth. 

Hay, Hagh, or Haugli (all pron. ha). An en- 
closed estate; rich pasture-land, especially 
a royal park; as Bilhagh {Billa-haugh) , Besk- 
wood- or Bestwood-hay, Lindeby-hay, Welley- 
hay or Wel-hay. These were “special reserves” 
of game for royalty alone. 

A bottle of hay. See Bottle. 

Between hay and grass. Too late for one and 
too soon for the other. 

Make hay while the sun shines. Strike while 
the iron is hot; take time by the forelock; one 
to-day is worth two to-morrows. 

Neither hay nor grass. That hobbledehoy 
state when a youth is neither boy nor man. 

Hayseed. An American colloquial term for a 
countryman, a rustic. 

Haywire. To go haywire is to run riot, to 
behave in an uncontrolled manner. This 
American phrase probably arises from the 
difficulty of handling the coils of wire used for 
binding bundles of hay; if such a coil is 




Hay 


441 


Health 


unfastened unskilfully it springs out in great 
loops that quickly become entangled and un- 
manageable 

Hay, Antic. The hay was an old English 
country dance, somewhat of the nature of a 
reel, with winding, sinuous movements around 
other dancers or bushes, etc., when danced in 
the open. 

My men like satyrs grazing on the lawn 

Shall with their goat feet dance the antic hay. 

Marlowe: Edward Il t I, i. 

Haysugge. See Isaac. 

Hayward. An official in the old English village 
whose duty it was to look after the hedges and 
boundaries and impound any cattle found 
straying. 

1 haue an home and be haywarde and liggen outc 
a nyghtes 

And keep my corn in my croft fro pykers and 
theeves. Piers Plowman (C),vi, 16. 

Hazazel. The scapegoat. See Azazel . 

Haze. To bully (first used at sea). “It is very 
expressive to a sailor, and means to punish by 
hard work.” R. H. Dana: Two Years Before 
the Mast , 1840. 

He Bible, The. See Bible, Specially named. 

Head. Cattle are counted by the head; la- 
bourers by hands , as “How many hands do you 
employ?’*; soldiers by their arms , as “So 
many rifles, bayonets,” etc.; guests at dinner 
by the cover , as “Covers for ten,” etc. 

Human beings are, in some circumstances, 
counted as “heads,” as, for instance, in 
contracting for meals the caterer will take the 
job at so much “a head” — i.e. for each person. 

Better be the head of an ass than the tail of a 
horse. Better be foremost amongst commoners 
than the lowest of the aristocracy; “Better to 
reign in hell than serve in heav’n” (Milton: 
Paradise Lost , I, 263). 

Get your head shaved. You are a dotard. Go 
and get your head shaved like other lunatics. 
See Bath. 

Thou thinkst that monarchs never can act ill, 

Get thy head shaved, poor fool, or think so still. 

Peter Pindar: Ode Upon Ode. 

Head and shoulders. A phrase of sundry 
shades of meaning. Thus “head and shoulders 
taller” means considerably taller; “to turn one 
out head and shoulders” means to drive one 
out forcibly and without ceremony. 

Heads I win, tails you lose. Descriptive of a 
one-sided arrangement. 

Heads or tails. Guess whether the coin 
tossed up will come down with head-side 
uppermost or not. The side not bearing the 
head has various devices, which are all in- 
cluded in the word tail, meaning opposite to 
the head. The ancient Romans use&to play 
this game, but said, “Heads or ships. 

He has a head on his shoulders. He is a clever 
fellow, with brains in his head. 

He has quite lost his head. He is so excited 
and confused that he does not know the right 
thing to do. 

He has quite turned her head. He has so 
completely enchanted her that she is unable to 
take a reasonable view of the situation. 


I can make neither head nor tail of it. I can- 
not understand it at all. A gambling phrase. 

Off one’s head. Deranged; delirious; 
extremely excited. 

Over head and ears. See Ear. 

To come to a head. To ripen, to reach a crisis. 
The allusion is to the ripening, or coming to a 
head, of a suppurating boil or ulcer. 

To eat his head off. To cost more in food than 
he is worth; to do little or no work. The 
phrase comes froih the stable. 

To give one his head. To allow him complete 
freedom, let him go just as he pleases. Another 
“horsey” phrase. 

To head off. To intercept; get ahead of and 
force to turn back. 

To hit the nail on the head. To guess aright; 
to do the right thing. The allusion is obvious. 
The French say, Vous avezfrappe ait but (You 
have hit the mark); the Italians have the 
phrase, Avete da to in brocca (You have hit 
the pitcher), alluding to a game where a 
pitcher stood in the place of Aunt Sally (q.v.). 
The Lat. Rem acu tetigisti (You have touched 
the thing with a needle) ^refers to the custom 
of probing sores. 

To keep one’s head above water. To avoid 
bankruptcy. 

To make head, or headway. To get on, W 
struggle effectually against something. 

To take it into one’s head. To conceive a 
notion. 

Heady. Wilful; also, affecting the head, as 
“The wine or beer is heady.” 

Health. Drinking healths. This custom, of 
immemorial antiquity, William of Malmesbury 
says, took its rise from the death of young 
King Edward the Martyr (979), who was 
traitorously stabbed in the back while drinking 
a cup of wine presented to him by his mqttber 
Elfrida. According to Rabelais, the giant Gaj)- 
bara was “the first inventor of the drinking ot 
healths.” He was an ancestor of Gargantua. 

It was well known to the ancieqts. The 
Greeks handed the cup to the person toasted 
and said, “This to thee.” Our holding out the 
wineglass is a relic of this Greek custom. 

The Romans had a curious fashion of 
drinking the health of a mistress, which 
was to drink a bumper to each letter of her 
name. Hudibras satirizes this custom, which he 
calls “spelling names with beer-glasses” (II, i). 
In Plaut^ we read of a man drinking to his 
mistress #ith these words: Bene vos , bene nos , 
bene te, bene me, bene nostrum etiam Stephan - 
ium (Here’s to you, here’s to us all, here’s to 

thee, here’s to me, here’s to our dear ). 

(Stick. V, iv) Martial, Ovid, Horace, etc. refer 
to the same custom. 

The Saxons were great health-drinkers, and 
Geoffrey of Monmouth (Bk. VI, xii) says that 
Hengist invited King Vortigern to a banquet 
to see his new levies. After the meats were re- 
moved, Rowena, the beautiful daughter of 
Hengist, entered with a golden cup full of wine, 
and, rnakit^ obeisance, said, Lauerd Lining , 
wacht heil (Lord King, your health). The king 



Heap 


442 


Heat 


then drank and replied, Drinc hell (Here’s to 
you). See Wassail. 

Heap* Struck all of a heap. Struck with 
astonishment. 

Hear, hear! An exclamation approving what a 
speaker says. Originally disapproval of a 
speaker was marked by humming; those on 
the speaker’s side protested by saying “Hear 
him, which eventually became “Hear, hear!” 
In this latter form its first use in the English 
Parliament was in 1689. 

Hearse. Originally a framework shaped like 
an ancient harrow (O.Fr. herce , a harrow), 
holding candles and placed over a bier or 
coffin. These frames at a later period were 
covered with a canopy, and lastly were 
mounted on wheels and became the modern 
carriage for the dead. 

Heart. In Christian art the heart is an attribute 
of St. Teresa. 

The Bleeding Heart. See Bleeding. 

The flaming heart is the symbol of charity, 
and an attribute of St. Augustine, denoting 
the fervency of his devotion. The heart of the 
Saviour is frequently so represented. 

A heart to heart talk. A confidential talk in 
private; generally one in which good advice is 
offered, or a warning or reprimand given. 

v After my own heart. Just what I like; in 
discordance with my wish. 

Be of good heart. Cheer up. 

From the bottom of one’s heart. Fervently; 
with absolute sincerity. 

His heart is in the right place. He is kind and 
sympathetic in spite, perhaps, of appearances. 
He is perfectly well disposed. 

His heart sank into his boots. In Latin, Cor 
illi in genua decidit. In French, Avoir la peur au 
ventre . The last two phrases are very expressive : 
feptf, makes the knees shake, and it gives one 
a stomach ache; but the English phrase suggests 
that his heart or spirits sank as low as possible 
short of absolutely deserting him. 

His heart was in his mouth. That choky 
feeling in the throat which arises from fear, 
conscious guilt, shyness, etc. 

In one’s heart of heart. In the farthest, inner- 
most, most secure recesses of one’s heart. 

Give me that man 

That is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him 

In my hearrs core, ay, in my heart of heart. 

Hamlet , II, ii. 

The phrase is often heard as “hear|pf hearts p 
but this, as will be seen from Shakespeare’s 
very clear reference to the “heart’s core,” is 
incorrect. Cp. also: — 

Even the very middle of my heart 
Is warmed. Cymbeline , II, vl. 

Out of heart. Despondent; without sanguine 
hope. 

Set your heart at rest. Be quite easy about 
the matter. 

Take heart. Be of good courage. Moral 
courage at one time was suppdsed to reside in 
the heart, physical courage in ffte stomach, 
wisdom in the head, affection in' the reins or 


kidneys, melancholy in the l^ile, spirit in the 
blood, etc. 

To break one’s heart. To%aste^away or die 
of disappointment. “Broken-hearted,” hope- 
lessly distressed. It is not impossible to die “of 
a broken heart.” 

To eat one’s he^rt out. To brood over some 
trouble to such arrextent that one wears one- 
self out with the worry of it; to suffer from 
hopeless disappointment in expectations. 

To have at heart. To cherish as a great hope 
or desire; to be earnestly set on. 

To lose one’s heart to. To fall in love with 
somebody. 

To set one’s heart upon. Earnestly to desire it. 

To take heart of grace. To pluck up courage ; 
not to be disheartened or down-hearted when 
all seems to be going against one. This expres- 
sion may be based on the promise, “My grace 
is sufficient for thee” (II Cor . xii, 9); by this 
grace St. Paul says, “When I am weak then am 
I strong.” Take grace into your heart, rely on 
God’s grace for strength, with grace in your 
heart your feeble knees will be strengthened. 

To take to heart. To feel deeply pained at 
something which has occurred; to appreciate 
fully the implications of. 

To wear one’s heart upon one’s sleeve. To 
expose one’s secret intentions to general 
notice; the reference being to the custom of 
tying your lady’s favour to your sleeve, and 
thus exposing the secret of the heart, lago 
says : — 

When my outward action doth demonstrate 
The native act and figure of my heart 
In compliment extern, ’tis not long after 
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve 
For daws to peck at: I am not what I am. 

Othello , I, i. 

With all my heart, or with my whole heart and 
soul. With all the energy and enthusiasm of 
which I am capable. 

With heart and hand. With enthusiastic 
energy. 

Heartbreaker. A flirt. Also a particular kind 
of curl. A loose ringlet worn over the shoulders, 
or a curl over the temples. 

Heart of Midlothian. The old jail, the Tol- 
booth of Edinburgh, taken down in 1817. Sir 
Walter Scott has a novel so entitled. 

Heartsease (harts' ez). The Viola tricolor. It has 
a host of fancy names ; as the “Butterfly flower,” 
“Kiss me quick,” a “Kiss behind the garden 
gate,” “Love-in-Idleness” (q.v.), “Pansy,” 
“Three faces under one hood,” the “Variegated 
violet,” “Herba Trinitatis,” etc. 

Hearth Money. See Chimney Money. 

HeaL^ne course in a race; that part of a race 
run as ^’instalment” of the main event. One, 
two, or more heats make a race. A dead heat is 
a heat in which two or more competitors are 
tied for the first place. 

Feigned Zeal, you saw, set out with speedier pace, 

But the last heat Plain Dealing won the race. 

Dryden: Albion and Albanius; Epilogue. 

To turn the heat on. To subject to a severe 
cross-examination, to grill. 



Heath Robinson 


443 


Hector 


Heath Robinson is a phrase popularly applied 
to any fantastic but ingenious contraption — 
usually of bits of string and wood. In a number 
of amusing drawings in Punch and elsewhere 
W. Heath Robinson (1872-1944) invented the 
crazy inventors of such needlessly complicated 
devices to perform simple actions. 

Heaven (O.E. heofon ). The word properly 
denotes the abode of the Deity and His angels 
— “heaven is My throne” (Is. Ixvi, 1, and Matt. 
v, 34) — but it is also used in the Bible and 
elsewhere for the air, the upper heights as 
“the fowls of heaven,” “the dew of heaven,” 
“the clouds of heaven”; “the cities are walled 
up to heaven” {Dent, i, 28); and a tower whose 
top should “reach unto heaven” (Gen. xi, 4); 
the starry firmament, as, “Let there be lights in 
the firmament of heaven” (Gen. i, 14). 

In the Ptolemaic system (<v.v.) the heavens 
were the successive spheres of space enclosing 
the central earth at different distances and 
revolving round it at different speeds. The first 
seven were those of the so-called Planets, viz. 
the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, 
Jupiter, and Saturn; the eighth was the firma- 
ment of heaven containing all the fixed stars; 
the ninth was the crystalline sphere, invented 
by Hipparchus (2nd cent, b.c.), to account for 
the precession of the equinoxes. These were 
known as The Nine Heavens (see Spheres); 
the tenth — added much later — was the primum 
mobile. 

The Seven Heavens (of the Mohammedans). 

The first heaven is of pure silver, and here 
the stars, each with its angel warder, are hung 
out like lamps on golden chains. It is the abode 
of Adam and Eve. 

The second heaven is of pure gold and is the 
domain of John the Baptist and Jesus. 

The third heaven is of pearl, and is allotted 
to Joseph. Here Azrael, the angel of death, is 
stationed, and is for ever writing in a large 
book or blotting words out. The former are 
the names of persons born, the latter those of 
the newly dead. 

The fourth heaven is of white gold, and is 
Enoch’s. Here dwells the Angel of Tears, 
whose height is “500 days’ journey,” and he 
sheds ceaseless tears for the sins of man. 

The fifth heaven is of silver and is Aaron’s. 
Here dwells the Avenging Angel, who presides 
over elemental fire. 

The sixth heaven is composed of ruby and 
garnet, and is presided over by Moses. Here 
dwells the Guardian Angel of heaven and 
earth, half-snow and half-fire. 

The seventh heaven is formed of divine light 
beyond the power of tongue to describe, and 
is ruled by Abraham. Each inhabitant is bigger 
than the whole earth, and has 70,000 heads, 
each head 70,000 faces, each face 70,000 
mouths, each mouth 70,000 tongues and each 
tongue speaks 70,000 languages, all Tor ever 
employed in chanting the praises of the Most, 
High. 

To be in the seventh heaven. Supremely happy. 
The Cabbalists maintained that there are 
seven heavens, each rising in happiness above 
the other, the seventh being the abode of God 
and the highest class of angels. See also 
Paradise. 

b.d.— 15 


Heaviside Layer. The name given to an ionised 
region of the upper atmosphere having a high 
degree of electrical conductivity. It is believed 
to exist about 60 miles above the earth and it 
reflects radio waves back to the earth, thus 
enabling reception round the curved surface 
of the globe. The name is taken from Oliver 
Heaviside (1850-1925) who suggested its exis- 
tence in 1901. 

Heavy. Heavy man. In theatrical parlance, an 
actor who plays foil to the hero, such as the 
king in Hamlet ; Iago is another “heavy man’s” 
part as foil to Othello. 

Heavy water is the name given to deuterium 
oxide, a liquid similar to ordinary water but 
about 10 per cent, denser. It is largely used in 
experiments in nuclear physics and its proper- 
ties and possible uses are still being investi- 
gated. 

Heavies, The. See Regimental Nicknames. 

Hebe (he' bi). Goddess of youth, and cup- 
bearer to the celestial gods. She had the power 
of restoring the aged to youth and beauty 
(Greek mythology), 

Hebron (heb' ron). In Dryden’s Absalom and 
Ac hi top he l (</.v.), in the first part stands for 
Holland, but in the second part for Scotland. 

Hecate (hek' a ti). One of the Titans of Greek 
mythology, and the only one that retained her 
power under the rule of Zeus. She was the 
daughter of Perses and Asteria, and became a 
deity of the lower world after taking part in 
the search for Proserpine. She taught witch- 
craft and sorcery, and was a goddess of the 
dead, and as she combined the attributes of, 
and became identified with, Selene, Artemis, 
and Persephone, she was represented as a triple 
goddess and was sometimes described as 
having three heads — one of a horse, one of a 
dog, and one of a lion. Her offerings consisted 
of dogs, honey, and black lambs, which were 
sacrificed to her at cross-roads. Shakespeare 
refers to the triple character of this goddess: 

And we fairies that do run 

By the triple Hecate’s team. 

Midsummer Night's Dream , V, ii. 

Hecatomb (hek' a tom). In Greek antiquities, a 
sacrifice consisting of a hundred head of oxen 
( hekaton , a hundred); hence, a large number. 
Keats speaks of “hecatombs of vows,” Shelley 
of “hecatombs of broken hearts,” etc. 

It is said that Pythagoras, who, we know, 
would never take life, offered up 100 oxen to 
the gods when he discovered that the square 
of the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle 
equals the Sum of the squares of the other two 
sides. This is the 47th proposition of Bk. I of 
“Euclid,” called the Dulcarnon (< q.v .). 

Hector (hek' tbr). Eldest son of Priam, the 
noblest and most magnanimous of alt the 
Trojan chieftains in Homer’s Iliad. After 
holding out for ten years, he was slain by 
Achilles, who lashed him to his Chariot, ana 
dragged the dead body in triumph thrice 
round the walls of Troy. The Iliad concludes 
with the funeral obsequies of Hector and 
Patroclus. 

In modem times his name has somewhat 
deteriorated* for it is used to-day for a swag- 


Hector 


444 


Helen 


gering bully, and “to hector” means to brow- 
beat, bully, bluster. 

The Hector of Germany. Joachim II, Elector 
of Brandenburg (1514-71). 

You wear Hector’s cloak. You are paid in 
your own coin for trying to deceive another. 
When Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland, 
in 1569, was routed, he hid himself in the house 
of Hector Armstrong, of Harlaw. This villain 
betrayed him for the reward offered, but never 
after did anything go well with him till at last 
he died a beggar on the roadside. 

Hecuba (hek' Q ba). Second wife of Priam, and 
mother of nineteen children, including Hector. 
When Troy was taken by the Greeks she fell 
to the lot of Ulysses. She was afterwards 
metamorphosed into a dog, and threw herself 
into the sea. Her story has furnished a host of 
Greek tragedies. 

Hedge. To hedge, in betting, is to protect one- 
self against loss by cross bets; to prevaricate. 

He [Godolphin] began to think . . . that he had 
betted too deep . . . and that it was time to hedge. — 
Macaulay: England , vol. IV, ch. xvii. 

The word is used attributively for persons of 
low origin, vagabonds who ply their trade in 
the open, under — or between — the hedges, etc.; 
hence for many low and mean things, as 
hedge-priest , a poor or vagabond parson; 
hedge-writer, a Grub Street author; hedge- 
marriage, a clandestine one, etc.; hedge-born 
swain, a person of mean, or illegitimate, birth 
(Henry VI, Pt. I, IV, i) ; hedge-school, a school 
kept in the open air, at one time common in 
Ireland; etc. 

To hedge-hop. Airman’s term for flying so 
low as almost to skim the tops of the hedges. 
Hedonism. The doctrine of Aristippus, that 
pleasure or happiness is the chief good and 
chief end of man (Gr. hedotie , pleasure). 

Heebie-jeebies (he' bi je' biz). An American 
slang term descriptive of intense nervousness, 
the jitters. 

Heel. In American slang usage a heel is a cad, 
a despicable fellow with no sense of decency or 
honour. 

Achilles’ heel. See Achilles. 

Down, or out at heels. In a sad plight, in 
decayed circumstances, like a beggar whose 
boots are worn out at the heels. 

A good man’s fortune may grow out at heels. 

King Lear , II, ii. 

To cool or kick one’s heels. To be kept 
waiting a long time, especially after an appoint- 
ment has been given one. 

To lay by the heels. To render powerless. 
The allusion is to the stocks, in which vagrants 
and other petty offenders were confined by the 
ankles. 

To lift up the heel against. To spurn, 
physically or figuratively; to treat with con- 
tumely or Cdhtempt: to oppose, to become a 4 
enemy. 

Yea, mine own familiar friend, ip whom I trusted, 
which did eat of my bread, hath lifted his heel against 
me. — Ps. xli, 9. 

To show a clean or fair pair of heels. To 
abscond, run away and get clear. S 


To take to one’s heels. To run off. 

Heeled in Western U.S.A. means supplied 
with all necessities, particularly money and 
firearms. 

A heeler is the hanger-on of a political boss. 

Bumpers all round, and no heel-taps. The 
bumpers are to be drained to the bottom of the 
glass. 

Heep, Uriah. An abject toady and a malignant 
hypocrite, making great play of being “’umble,” 
but in the end falling a victim to his own malice. 
(Dickens: David Copperfield.) 

Hegemony (he gem' o ni). The hegemony of 
nations. The leadership. (Gr. hegemonia ; from 
ago, to lead.) 

Hegira (hej' i ra, he ji' ra) (Arab, hejira, the 
departure). The epoch of the flight of Moham- 
med from Mecca to Medina when he was 
expelled by the magistrates, July 15th, 622. 
The Mohammedan calendar starts from this 
event. 

Heiindall (him' dal). One of the gods of Scan- 
dinavian mythology, son of the nine virgins, 
daughters of Aigir, and in many attributes 
identical with Tiw. 

Heimskringla (him skring' la). An important 
collection of sixteen sagas containing an 
account of the history of Norway — sketched 
through the medium of biography — and a 
compendium of ancient Scandinavian myth- 
ology and poetry. It is probably by Snorri 
Sturluson (d. 1241). See Edda. 

Heir-apparent. The actual heir who will 
succeed if he outlive the present holder of the 
crown, estate, etc., as distinguished from the 
heir-presumptive, whose succession may be 
broken by the birth of someone nearer akin, 
or of a son (who takes priority over daughters), 
to the holder. Thus, in the time of Queen 
Victoria, the Princess Royal was heir-presump- 
tive until the Prince of Wales, afterwards 
Edward VII, was born and became heir- 
apparent. At the death of his predecessor the 
heir-apparent becomes heir-at-law. 

Hel. The name in late Scandinavian mythology 
of the queen of the dead; also of her place of 
abode, which was the home of the spirits of 
those who had died in their beds, as distin- 
guished from Valhalla, the abode of heroes slain 
in battle. 

Heldenbuch (heP den buk) (Gcr. Book of 
Heroes). The name given to the collection of 
songs, sagas, etc., recouping the traditions and 
myths of Dietrich of Bern. Much of it is 
ascribed to Wolfram von Eschenbach. 

Helen. The type of female beauty. She was the 
daughter of Zeus and Leda, and wife of 
Menelaus, king of Sparta. She eloped with 
Paris, and thus brought about the siege and 
destruction of Troy. 

For which men all the life they here enjoy 
Still fight, as for the Helens of their Troy. 

Sir Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke: Treatie of 
Humane Learning. 

She moves a goddess and she looks a queen. 

Pope: Homer's Iliad , III. 




St. Helen 


445 


Hellenes 


St. Helen’s fire. See Corposant. 

Helena (hel' en a). The type of a lovely woman, 
patient and hopeful, strong in feeling, and 
sustained through trials by her enduring and 
heroic faith. (A IV s Well that Ends Well ) 

Helena, St. Mother of Constantine the 
Great. She is represented in royal robes* wear- 
ing an imperial crown, because she was 
empress. Sometimes she carries in her hand a 
model of the Holy Sepulchre, an edifice raised 
by her in the East; sometimes she bears a large 
cross, typical of her alleged discovery of Our 
Lord’s Cross (see Invention of the Cross , under 
Cross); sometimes she also bears the three 
nails by which the Saviour was affixed to the 
cross. She lived c. 255 -c. 330, and is commemor- 
ated on August 18th. 

The island of St. Helena (san 7 ta le 7 n&) in the 
South Atlantic, discovered by the Portuguese 
on St. Helena’s Day, 1501, was the place of 
exile of Napoleon from 1815 until his death in 
1821. 

Helicon (hel 7 i kon). The home of the Muses, 
a part of the Parnassus, a mountain range in 
Greece. It contained the fountains of Aganippe 
and Hippocrenc, connected by ‘‘Helicon’s 
harmonious stream.” The name is used 
allusively of poetic inspiration. 

From Helicon’s harmonious springs 
A thousand rills their mazy progress take: 

The laughing flowers that round them blow 
Drink life and fragrance as they flow. 

Gray: The Progress of Poesy. 

Helicopter (hel 7 i kop t£r). A flying-machine 
that can raise itseli vertically by means of 
horizontally revolving propellers. 

Heliopolis (hel i op 7 6 lis, he 7 li op 7 6 lis), the 
City of the Sun, a Greek form of (1) Baalbek, 
in Syria; and (2) of An, in ancient Egypt, 
noted for its temple of Actis, which may be 
the Beth Shemesn, or Temple of the Sun, 
referred to in Jer. xliii, 13. It is now a pleasant 
residential suburb of Cairo. 

Helios (he 7 li os). The Greek sun-god, who 
rode to his palace in Colchis every night in a 
golden boat furnished with wings. He is called 
Hyperion by Homer, and, in later times, 
Apollo. 

Heliotrope (hel 7 i 6 trop, he 7 li 6 trop). Apollo 
lpved Clytie (<?.v.), but forsook her for her 
sister Leucothoe. On discovering this, Clytie 
pined away; and Apollo changed her at death 
to a flower, which, always turning towards the 
sun, is called heliotrope. (Gr. “turn-to-sun.”) 

The bloodstone, a greenish quartz with veins 
and spots of red, used to be called “helio- 
trope. * the story being that if thrown into a 
bucket of water it turned the rays of the sun to 
blood-colour. This stone also had the power of 
rendering its bearer invisible. 

No hope had they of crevice where to hide, 

Or heliotrope to charm them out of view. 

Dante: Inferno , xxvi. 

Hell. This word occurs twenty-one times in the 
Authorized Version of the New Testament. In 
nine instances the Greek word is Hades \ in 
eight instances it is Gehenna ; and in one it is 
Tartarus . 


According to the Koran, Hell has seven 
portals leading into seven divisions (Surah xv, 
44). 

True Buddhism admits of no Hell, properly 
so called (cp. Nirvana), but certain of the more 
superstitious acknowledge as many as 136 
places of punishment after death, where the 
dead are sent according to their degree of 
demerit. d 

Classic authors tell us that the Inferno is 
encompassed by five rivers : Acheron, Cocytus, 
Styx, Phlegethon, and Lethe. Acheron, from 
the Gr. achos-reo , grief-flowing; Cocytus, from 
the Gr. kokuo, to weep, supposed to be a flood 
of tears; Styx, from the Gr. stugeo , to loathe; 
Phlegethon, from the Gr. phlego , to burn; and 
Lethe, from the Gr. lethe , oblivion. See also 
Inferno. 

Hell and chancery are always open. There’s 
not much to choose between lawyers and the 
devil. An old saying, given in Fuller’s Collec- 
tion (1732). 

Hell, Hull, and Halifax. See Hull. 

Hell is paved with good intentions. This 
occurs as a saying of Dr. Johnson (Boswell’s 
Life, ann. 1775), but it is a good deal older than 
his day. It is given by George Herbert (Jacula 
Prudentum ) (1633) as “Hell is full of good 
meanings and wishings.” 

It was hell broken loose. Said of a state of 
anarchy or disorder. 

The road to hell is easy. Facilis descensus 
Aver no. See Avernus. 

The Vicar of Hell. See Vicar. 

To give one hell. To make things very un- 
pleasant for him. 

To Hell or Connaught. This phrase, usually 
attributed to Cromwell, and common to the 
whole of Ireland, rose thus: during the Com- 
monwealth all the native Irish were dispossessed 
of their lands in the other three provinces 
and ordered to settle in Connaught, under pain 
of death. 

To lead apes in hell. See Ape. 

To ride hell for leather. To ride with the 

utmost speed, “all out.” 

To work, play, etc., like hell. To do it 
feverishly, with all the power at one’s disposal. 

Hell broth. A magical mixture prepared for 
evil purposes. (Macbeth V, i.) 

Hell’s Corner (World War II). The triangle 
of Kent about Dover, so called from its being 
both under fire from German cross-channel 
guns and the scene of much of the bitterest air 
fighting during the Battle of Britain, 1940. 

Hell Gate. A dangerous passage between 
Great Barn Island and Long Island. The Dutch 
settlers of New York called it Hoellgat 
(whirling-gut), corrupted into Hell Gate, 
drlood Rock, its most dangerous reef, has been 
blown up. 

Hellenes (hel 7 pnz). ‘‘This word had in Palestine 
three severaL meanings: sometimes it desig- 
nated the pagans; sometimes the Jews, 
speaking Greek and dwelling among the 


Hellenic 


446 


Hen 


pagans; and sometimes proselytes of the gate, 
that is, men of pagan origin converted to 
Judaism, but not circumcised {John vii, 35, 
xii, 20; Acts xiv, 1, xvii, 4, xviii, 4, xxi, 28)/* 
(Renan : Life of Jesus , xiv.) 

The Greeks were called Hellenes , from 
Hellcn, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, their 
legendary ancestor; the name has descended 
to thfc modern Greeks, and their sovereign is 
not “King of Greece,” but “King of the 
Hellenes.” The ancient Greeks called their 
country “Hellas”; it was the Romans who 
applied to it the name “Graecia,” which, among 
the inhabitants themselves, referred only to 
Epirus. 

Hellenic. The common dialect of the Greek 
writers after the age of Alexander. It was 
based on the Attic. 

Hellenistic. The dialect of the Greek 
language used by the Jews. It was full of 
Oriental idioms and metaphors. 

Hellenists. Those Jews who used the Greek 
or Hellenic language; also a Greek scholar. 

Hellespont (her es pont). The “sea of Helle”; 
so called because Helle, the sister of Phryxus, 
was drowned there. She was fleeing with her 
brother through the air to Colchis on the 
golden ram to escape from Ino, her mother-in- 
law, who most cruelly oppressed her, but 
turning giddy, she fell into the sea. It is the 
ancient name of the Dardanelles and is 
celebrated in the legend of Hero and Leander 
(q.v.). 

Helmet. The helmets of Saragossa were most in 
repute in the days of chivalry. 

Bever, or drinking-piece. One of the movable 
parts, which was lifted up when the wearer ate 
or drank. It comes from the old Italian verb 
bevere (to drink). 

Close helmet. The complete head-piece, 
having in front two movable parts, which 
could be lifted up or let down at pleasure. 

Morion. A low iron cap, worn only by 
infantry. 

Visor. One of the movable parts; it was to 
look through. 

Mohammed’s helmet. Mohammed wore a 
double helmet; the exterior one was called al 
mawashah (the wreathed garland). 

The helmet of Perseus rendered the wearer 
invisible. This was the “helmet of Hades,” 
which, with the winged sandals and magic 
wallet, he took from certain nymphs who held 
them in possession; but after he had slain 
Medusa he restored them again, and presented 
the Gorgon’s head to Athene (Minerva), who 
placed it in the middle of her aigis. 

The pointed helmet in the bas-reliefs from the 
earliest palace of Nimroud appears to have been the 

most ancient Several were discovered in the ruins. 

They were iron, and the rings which ornamented the 
lower part . . . were inlaid with copper.~-LAYARi»: 
Nineveh and its Remains , vol. II, Pt. II. ch. iv. 

In heraldry, the helmet, resting on the chief 
of the shield, and bearing the f rest, indicates 
rank. 

Cold , with six bars , or with the visor raised (in full 

face), for royalty; 


Steel , with gold bars , varying in number {in profile), 
for a nobleman; * 

Steel, without bars , and with visor open (in profile), for 
a knight or baronet; 

Steel, with visor closed (in profile), for a squire or 
gentleman. 

Helot (her 6t). A slave in ancient Sparta; 
hence, a slave or. serf. The Spartans used to 
make a helot drunk as an object-lesson to the 
youths of the evils of intemperance. Dr. John- 
son Said of one of his old acquaintances: — 
He is a man of good principles; and there would be 
no danger that a young gentleman should catch his 
manner; for it is so very bad, that it must be avoided. 
In that respect he would be like the drunken Helot. — 
Boswell’s Life : ann. 1779. 

Helter-skelter. Higgledy-piggledy; in hurry and 
confusion. A jingling expression, more or less 
imitating the clatter of swiftly moving feet; 
post-haste, as Shakespeare uses the expression 
{Henry IV, Pt. //, V, iii>: — 

Sir John, I am thy Pistol and thy friend. 

And helter-skelter have I rode to thee. 

And tidings do I bring. 

Helve. To throw the helve after the hatchet. To 

be reckless, to throw away what remains 
because your losses have been so great. The 
allusion is to the fable of the wood-cutter who 
lost the head of his axe in a river and threw 
the handle in after it. 

Helvetia (hel v5' sha). Switzerland. So called 
from the Helvetii, a powerful Celtic people 
who dwelt thereabouts. 

Hempe. When hempe is spun England is done. 
Bacon says he heard the prophecy when 
he was a child, and he interpreted it thus: 
Hempe is composed of the initial letters of 
He nry, Edward, A/ary, Philip, and Elizabeth. 
At the close of the last reign “England was 
done,” for the sovereign no longer styled him- 
self “King of England,” but “King of Great 
Britain and Ireland.” See Notarikon. 

Hempen caudle, collar, etc. A hangman's 
rope. 

Ye shall have a hempen caudle then, and the help 
of a hatchet. — Henry VI, Pt. II, IV, vii. 

Hempen fever. Death on the gallows, the 
rope being made of hemp. 

Hempen widow. The widow of a man who 
has been hanged. 

Hen. A grey hen. A stone bottle for holding 
liquor. Large and small pewter pots mixed 
together are called “hen and chickens.” 

A dirty leather wallet lay near the sleeper, . . . also 
a grey-hen which had contained some sort of strong 
liquor. — Emma Robinson: Whitefrlars , ch. viii. 

A whistling maid and a crowing hen Is fit for 
neither God nor men. A whistling maid means a 
witch, who whistles like the Lapland witches 
to call up the winds; they were supposed to be 
in league with the devil. The crowing of a hen 
was supposed to forebode a death. The usual 
interpretation is that masculine qualities in 
women are undesirable. 

As fussy as a hen with one chick. Over- 
anxious about small matters; over-particular 
and fussy. A hen with one chick is for ever 
clucking it, and never leaves it in independence 
a single moment. 




Hen 


447 


Heraldry 


A lien 6n a hot griddle. A Scottish phrase 
descriptive of a restless person. 

Hen and chickens. In Christian art this de- 
vice is emblematical of God’s providence. See 
Matt . xxiii, 37. See also Grey hen, above. 

Hen-pecked. A man who tamely submits to 
the lectures and nagging of his wife is said 
to be “hen-pecked.” 

Tappit-hen. See Tappit. 

Henchman. A faithful follower. Originally a 
squire or attendant, especially one who looked 
alter the horses (O.E. hengest , horse, and man). 
I do but beg a little changeling boy 
To be my henchman. 

A Midsummer Night's Dream , II, i. 

Hengist and Horsa. The semi-legendary leaders 
of the Jutes, who landed in England at Ebbs- 
fleet, Kent, in 449. Horsa is said to have been 
slain at the battle of Aylesford, about 455, and 
Hengist (Ger. Hengst , a stallion), to have ruled 
in Kent till his death in 488, and Horsa is 
connected with our word horse. The two 
brothers may have received their names from 
the devices borne on their arms. 

Henry Grace a Dieu. See Great Harry. 

Hep. An American slang phrase of uncertain 
origin meaning “aware of, informed of, wise 
to.” 

Hep-cat. One who is fond of and moved by 
fast and noisy music. 

Hephaestos (he fes' tos). The Greek Vulcan. 

Heptameron, The. A collection of Italian and 
mediaeval stories written by — or at any rate 
ascribed to — Marguerite of Angoulemc, Queen 
of Navarre (1492-1549), and published post- 
humously in 1558. They were supposed to have 
been related in seven days, hence the title (Gr. 
hepta , seven; hentera , day; cp. Decameron; 
Hexameron). 

Heptarchy (Gr. seven governments). The 
Saxon Heptarchy was the division of England 
into seven parts, each of which had a separate 
ruler: as Kent, Sussex, Wessex, Essex, East 
Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria. It flour- 
ished in various periods from the 6th to the 
9th centuries under a Bretwalda (<y.v.), but 
seldom consisted of exactly seven members, 
and the names and divisions were constantly 
changing. 

Hera (he' ra). The Greek Juno, the wife of 
Zeus. (The word means “chosen one,” haireo .) 

Heraldry. The herald (O.Fr. heralt, Iterant) was 
an officer whose duty it was to proclaim war 
or peace, carry challenges to battle, and 
messages between sovereigns, etc.; nowadays 
war or peace is still proclaimed by the heralds, 
but their chief duty as court functionaries is to 
superintend state ceremonies such as corona- 
tions, installations, etc., and also to grant arms, 
trace genealogies, attend to matters of prece- 
dence, honours, etc. 

Edward III appointed two heraldic kings- 
at-arms for south and north — Surroy and 
Norroy — in 1340. The English College of 
Heralds was incorporated by Richard III in 
1483-84. It consists of three kings of arms, and 
four pursuivants, under the Earl Marshal, 


which office is hereditary in the line of the 
Dukes of Norfolk. 

The three kings of arms are Garter (blue), 
Clarcnceux, and Norroy and Ulster (purple). 

The six heralds are styled Somerset, Rich- 
mond, Lancaster, Windsor, Chester, and York. 

The four pursuivants are Rouge Dragon, 
Blue Mantle, Portcullis, and Rouge Croix. 

Garter King of Arms is so called frdm his 
special duty to attend at the solemnities of 
election, investiture, and installation of 
Knights of the Garter; he is Principal King Oi 
Arms for all England. 

Clarcnceux King of Arms. So called from the 
Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV. His 
jurisdiction extends over England south of the 
Trent. 

Norroy and Ulster King of Arms has juris- 
diction over England on the north side of the 
Trent and over Northern Ireland. 

The “Bath King of Arms” is not a member 
of the Heralds’ College, and is concerned only 
with the Order of the Bath. 

The Scottish officers of Arms are, unlike 
those of England, directly under the Govern- 
ment, and are not connected with the Earl 
Marshal or Garter. 

In Scotland the heraldic college consists of 
the Lord Lyon King of Arms , three heralds 
{Albany , Marchmont , and Rothesay) , and 
three pursuivants {Car rick , Kintyre , and 
Unicorn). 

In Blazonry , the coat of arms represents the 
knight himself from whom the bearer is 
descended. 

The shield represents his body, and the 
helmet his head. 

The flourish is his mantle. 

The motto is the ground or moral pretension 
on which he stands. 

The supporters are the pages, designated by 
the emblems of bears, lions, and so on. 

There are nine joints on the shield or 
escutcheon , distinguished by the first nine 
letters of the alphabet — three at top, A, B, C; 
three down the middle, D, E, F; and three at 
the bottom, G, H, 1. The first three are chiefs ; 
the middle three are the collar point ,/ esse point , 
and nombril or navel point ; the bottom three 
are the base points. 

It should be noted that in heraldry the shield 
is taken as being held before the wearer; hence' 
the dexter , or right side is the left side of the 
shield as it appears on paper. 

The tinctures or colours used in heraldry are 
known by distinctive names, also sometimes 
by equivalents among the planets and precious 
stones. They are: — 

Gold: or, Sol, topaz. 

Silver: argent, Luna, pearl. 

Red: gules, Mars, ruby. 

Blue: azure, Jupiter, sapphire. 

Black: sable, Saturn, diamond. 

Green: vert, Venus, emerald. 

Purple: purpure, Mercury, amethyst. 

Besides these there are the different furs, as 
ermine , vair, and their arrangements as 
erminois , erminites , pean. potent, verry , etc. 

Marshalling is the science of bringing to- 
gether the arms of several families in one 
escutcheon. 



Heraldry 


448 


Hercules 


The following are the main terms used in 
heraldry: — 

Bendy a diagonal stripe. 

Bordurey an edge of a different colour round 
the whole shield. 

Chevrony a bent stripe, as worn by non- 
commissioned officers m the army, but the 
pointupwards. 

Cinque f oily a five-petalled formalised flower. 

Couchanty lying down. 

Counter-passant , moving in opposite direc- 
tions. 

Coupedy cut off straight at the stem or neck. 

Cowardy coue , with tail hanging between the 
legs. 

Displayed (of birds), with wings and talons 
outspread. 

Dormanty sleeping. 

Endorsey a very narrow vertical stripe; see 
Pale. 

Erasedy with nothing below the stem or neck, 
which ends roughly as opposed to the sharp 
edge of couped. 

Fessey a horizontal stripe across the middle 
of the shield. 

File , a horizontal bar from which normally 
depend one or more smaller bars called labels. 

Gardanty full-faced. 

Haurianty standing on its tail (of fishes). 

Issuanty rising from the top or bottom of an 
ordinary. 

Lodgedy reposing (of stags, etc.). 

Martlet , a swallow, with no feet. 

Mullety a star of a stated number of points. 

Naianty swimming (of fishes). 

Nascent , rising out of the middle of an 
ordinary. 

Pale , a wide vertical stripe down the centre 
of the shield. 

Pallet y a narrow vertical stripe; see Pile. 

Passant, walking, the face in profile (emble- 
matic of resolution). 

Passant gardanty walking, with full face 
(emblematic of resolution and prudence). 

Passant regardant , walking and looking 
behind. 

Pile , a narrow triangle. 

Rampanty rearing, with face in profile 
(emblematic of magnanimity). 

Rampant gardanty erect on the hind legs; full 
face (emblematic of prudence). 

Rampant regardant , erect on the hind legs; 
side face looking behind (emblematic of 
circumspection). 

Regardanty looking back (emblematic of 
circumspection). 

Salienty springing (emblematic of valour). 

Sejanty seated (emblematic of counsel). 

Statanty standing still. 

Trippanty running (of stags, etc.). 

Volant, flying. 

Herb. Herb of grace. Rue is so called probably 
because (owing to its extreme bitterness) it is 
the symbol of repentance. 

Here did she fall a tear; here in this place, 

PH set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace; 

Rue, even for ruth, here shortly shall be seen, 

In the remembrance of a weeping queen. 

Richard II, HI, iv. 

Jeremy Taylor, quoting from the Flagellum 
D(emonum t a form of exorcism by Father 


Jerome Mengus (used in exorcizing Martha 
Brosser in 1599), says: — 

First, they are to try the devil by holy water, in- 
cense, sulphur, rue, which from thence, as we suppose, 
came to be called “herb of grace,” — and especially, 
St. John’s wort, which therefore they call “devil’s 
flight,” with which if they cannot cast the devil out, 
yet they may do good to the patient.— A Dissuasive from 
Popery , I, ii, 9 (1664). 

Herba Sacra. The “divine weed,” vervain, 
said by the old Romans to cure the bites of 
all rabid animals, to arrest the progress of 
venom, to cure the plague, to avert sorcery and 
witchcraft, to reconcile enemies, etc. So highly 
esteemed was it that feasts called Verbenalia 
were annually held in its honour. Heralds 
wore a wreath of vervain when they declared 
war; and the Druids held vervain in similar 
veneration. 

Lift your boughs of vervain blue. 

Dipt in cold September dew; 

And dash the moisture, chaste and clear. 

O’er the ground, and through the air, 

Now the place is purged and pure. 

W. Mason: Caractacus (1759). 

Herb Trinity. The popular name for the 
pansy, Viola tricolor; also called “Threc- 
faccs-under-ahood”; the markings of the 
pansy account for both names. Cp. Hearts- 
ease . 

Herculaneum (her kfl la' ni um). One of the 
ancient towns on the Bay of Naples destroyed 
in the eruption of a.d. 79. But whereas Pompeii 
was buried in ashes, Herculaneum was over- 
whelmed with molten lava and its remains have 
had to be hewn with difficulty from this rock. 
The architectural remains are inferior to those 
of Pompeii but the works of art are superior. 

Hercules (h£r' ku Iez). A hero of ancient Greek 
myth, who was possessed of superhuman 
physical strength and vigour. He is represented 
as brawny, muscular, short-necked, and of 
huge proportions. The Pythian told him that if 
he would serve Eurystheus for twelve years he 
should become immortal; accordingly he 
bound himself to the Argive king, who im- 
posed upon him twelve tasks of great difficulty 
and danger: 

(1) To slay the Nemean lion. 

(2) To kill the Lernean hydra. 

(3) To catch and retain the Arcadian stag. 

(4) To destroy the Erymanthian boar. 

(5) To cleanse the stables of King Augeas. 

(6) To destroy the cannibal birds of the Lake 
Stymphalis. 

(7) To take captive the Cretan bull. 

(8) To catch the horses of the Thracian 
Diomedcs. 

(9) To get possession of the girdle of Hip- 
polyta, Queen of the Amazons. 

(10) To take captive the oxen of the monster 
Geryon. 

(11) To get possession of the apples of the 
Hesperides. 

(12) To bring up from the infernal regions 
the three headed dog Cerberus. 

After death Hercules took his place in the 
heavens as a constellation, and is still to be seen 
between Lyra and Corona Borealis. 

The Attic Hercules. Theseus, who went about 
like Hercules, destroying robbers and achieving 
wondrous exploits. 



Hercules 


449 


Hermes 


The Farnese Hercules. A celebrated statue, 
copied by Glykon from an original by Lysippus, 
and now in the Museo Nazionale, Naples. It 
exhibits the hero, exhausted by his toils, 
leaning upon his club; his left hand rests upon 
his back, and grasps one of the apples of the 
Hesperides. 

Hercules’ choice. Immortality, the reward of 
toil, in preference to pleasure. Xenophon tells 
us that when Hercules was a youth he was 
accosted by Virtue and Pleasure, and asked to 
choose between them. Pleasure promised him 
all carnal delights, but Virtue promised 
immortality. Hercules gave his hand to the 
latter, and, after a life of toil, was received 
amongst the gods. 

Hercules’ horse. Arion, given him by 
Adrastos. It had the power of speech, and its 
feet on the right side were those of a man. 

Hercules’ Pillars. See Pillars. 

Hercules Secundus. Commodus, the Roman 
Emperor (a.d. 180-92), gave himself this title. 
Dissipated and inordinately cruel, he claimed 
divine honours and caused himself to be 
worshipped as Hercules. It is said that he 
killed 100 lions in the amphitheatre, and that 
he slew over a thousand defenceless gladiators. 

Herculean knot (her ku le' 3n). A snaky 
complication on the rod or caduceus of Mer- 
cury, adopted by the Grecian brides as the 
fastening of their woollen girdles, which only 
the bridegroom was allowed to untie. As he 
did so he invoked Juno to render his marriage 
as fruitful as that of Hercules, whose numerous 
wives all had families. Amongst his wives were 
the fifty daughters of Thestius, all of whom 
conceived in one night. See Knot. 

Herefordshire Kindness. A good turn rendered 
for a good turn received. Thomas Fuller says 
the people of Herefordshire “drink back to 
him who drinks to them.” 

Heretic. From a Greek word meaning “one 
who chooses,” hence heresy means simply “a 
choice.” A heretic is one who chooses his own 
creed instead of adopting one set forth by 
authority. 

The principal heretical sects of the first six 
centuries were: — 

First Century: The Simonians (from Simon 
Magus), Cerinthians (Cerinthus), Ebionites 
(Ebion), and Nicolaitans (Nicholas, deacon of 
Antioch). 

Second Century: The Basilidians (Basil- 
ides), Carpocratians (Carpocrates), Valentin - 
ians (Valentinus), Gnosties (Knowing Ones), 
Nazarenes y MillenarianSy Cainites (Cain), Set Il- 
ians (Seth), Quart odecimans (who kept Easter 
on the fourteenth day of the first month), 
Cerdonians (Cerdon), Marcionites (Marcion), 
Montanists (Montanus), Alogians (who denied 
the “Word”), Artoty rites (q.v.) 9 and Angelics 
(who worshipped angels). 

Tatianists Delong to the 3rd or 4th century. 
The Tatian of the 2nd century was a Platonic 
philosopher who wrote Discourses in good 
Greek; Tatian the heretic lived in the 3rd or 
4th century, and wrote very bad Greek. The 
two men were widely different in every respect, 


and the authority of the heretic for “four 
gospels” is of no worth. 

Third Century: The Patri-passians , Ar ab- 
aci, AquarianSy NovatianSy Origenists (followers 
of Origen), Melcltisedechians (who believed 
Melchisedec was the Messiah), Sabellians 
(from Sabcllius), and Manicheans (followers of 
Mani). 

Fourth Century: The Aria ns (from Arius), 
Colluthians (Coltuthus), Macedonians , Agnetce , 
Apollinarians (Apollinaris), Timotheans (Tim- 
othy, the apostle), Collyridians (who offered 
cakes to the Virgin Mary), Seleucians (Seleu- 
cius), Priscillians (Priscillian), Anthropomor - 
phites (who ascribed to God a human form), 
Jovinianists (Jovinian), Messalians , and Bono - 
sians (Bonosus). 

Fifth Century: The Pelagians (Pelagius), 
Nestorians (Nestorius), Eutychians (Eutychus), 
Theo-paschites (who said ail the three persons 
of the Trinity suffered on the cross). 

Sixth Century: The Predestinariansy In - 
corruptibilists (who maintained that the body 
of Christ was incorruptible), the new Agnoetce 
(who maintained that Christ did not know 
when the day of judgment would take place), 
and the Monothelites (who maintained that 
Christ had but one will). 

Heriot (her' i ot). The ancient right of the lord 
of a manor to the best beast or chattel of a 
deceased copyhold tenant. The word is 
compounded of the Sax. here (army); geatwe 
(equipments), because originally it was 
military furniture, such as armour, arms, and 
horses paid to the lord of the fee. 

Hernue. See Hermes. 

Hermaphrodite (her maf' ro dlt). A person or 
animal with indeterminate sexual organs, or 
with these organs being of both sexes; a flower 
containing both the male and female organs 
of reproduction. The word is derived from the 
fable of Hermaphroditus, son of Hermes and 
Aphrodite. The nymph Salmacis became 
enamoured of him, and prayed that she might 
be so closely united that “the twain might 
become one flesh.” Her prayer being heard, 
the nymph and boy became one body. (Ovid: 
Metamorphoses , iv, 347.) 

Though hermaphroditism in human beings 
to the extent of the combination in one person 
of certain characteristics of the two sexes is not 
unknown, a true hermaphrodite is rare, and 
the so-called examples are almost invariably 
merely cases of the malformation of the re- 
productive organs. 

The Jewish Talmud contains several refer- 
ences to hermaphrodites; they are recognized 
in English law, and an old French law allowed 
them great latitude. The ancient Athenians 
commanded that they should be put to death. 
The Hindus and Chinese enact that every 
hermaphrodite should choose one sex and keep 
to it. According to fable, all persons who 
bathed in the fountain Salm&cis, in Carla, 
became hermaphrodites. 

Hermes. The Greek Mercury, whose busts, 
known as Hernue , were affixed to stone pillars 
and set up as boundary marks at street corners, 
and so on. The Romans used them also for 
garden decorations. 


Hermetic 


450 


Herring 


Among alchemists Hermes was the usual 
name for quicksilver or mercury (q.v.). 

See Milton’s Patadise Lost , III, 603. 

Hermetic Art or Philosophy. The art or 
science of alchemy; so called from Hermes 
Trismegistus (the Thrice Greatest Hermes), 
the name given by the Neo-Platonists to the 
Egyptian god Thoth, its hypothetical founder. 

Hermetic books. Forty-two books fabled to 
have been written from the dictation of Hermes 
Trismegistus dealing with the life and thought 
of ancient Egypt. They state that the world 
was made out of fluid; that the soul is the 
union of light and life; that nothing is destruc- 
tible; that the soul transmigrates; and that 
suffering is the result of motion. 

Hermetic powder, A sympathetic powder, 
supposed to possess a healing influence from 
a distance; so called by medieval philosophers 
out of compliment to Hermes Trismegistus. 
(Sir Kenelm Digby: Discourse Concerning the 
Cure of Wounds by the Sympathetic Powder , 
1644.) 

By his side a pouch he wore 

Replete with strange hermetic powder, 

That wounds nine miles point-blank would solder. 

Butler: Hiuiibras , I, ii. 

Hermetically sealed. Closed securely; from 
sealing a vessel hermetically , i.e. as a chemist, 
a disciple of Hermes Trismegistus, would, by 
heating the neck of the vessel till it is soft, and 
then twisting it till the aperture is closed up. 

Hermit. Peter the Hermit (1050-1 115). Preacher 
of the first crusade, which he led as far as 
Asia Minor. 

Hermit’s Derby. One of the famous races in 
the history of the Turf, when Hermit, belong- 
ing to Henry Chaplin (1840-1923), later 
Viscount Chaplin, won the Derby of 1867 
against all expectations, and the notorious 
Marquis of Hastings lost £300,000 in bets. 

Herne the Hunter. See Wild Huntsman. 

Hero. No man is a hero to his valet. An old 
saying. Plutarch has the idea both in his De 
Iside and Regum et Imperatorum Apophthegm 
mata. And Montaigne in his Essays (Bk. Ill, 
ch. ii) amplifies the idea — 

1 Tel a est6 miraculeux au monde, auquel sa femme et 
*Ott valet n’ont rien veu seulcment de remarquable; 
peu d’hommes ont este admire/ par leur domestiques. 
(Such an one has been, as it were, miraculous in the 
world in whom his wife and valet have seen nothing 
even remarkable; few men have been admired by their 
servants). 

Cp. the Latin saying frequently quoted by 
Bacon, Verior fama e domesticis emanat 
(Truer fame comes from one’s servants), and 
Matt, xiii, 57 — 

A prophet is not without honour save in . . . his 
own house. 

Heroic age. That age of a nation which 
comes between the purely mythical period and 
the historic. This is the age when the sons of 
the gods were said to take unto themselves the 
daughters of men, and the offspring partake of 
the twofold character. 

Heroic size in sculpture denotes a stature 
superior to ordinary life, but not colossal. 


Heroic verse. That verse in which epic 
poetry is generally written. In Greek and Latin 
it is hexameter verse, in English it is ten- 
syllable iambic verse, either in rhymes or not; 
in Italian it is the ottava rirna. So called be- 
cause it is employed to celebrate heroic exploits. 

Hero and Leander. The old Greek tale is that 
Hero, a priestess of Venus, fell in love with 
Leander, who swam across the Hellespont 
every night to visit her. One night he was 
drowned, and heart-broken Hero drowned her- 
self in the same sea. The story is told in one of 
the poems of Musaeus, and in Marlowe and 
Chapman’s Hero and Leander. 

Lord Byron and Lieutenant Ekenhead re- 
peated the experiment of Leander in 1810 and 
accomplished it in 1 hour 10 minutes. The 
distance, allowing for drifting, would be about 
four miles. In Don Juan Byron says of his 
hero : — 

A better swimmer you could scarce see ever. 

He could, perhaps, have pass’d the Hellespont, 

As once (a feat on which ourselves we prided) 

Leander, Mr. Ekenhead, and I did. 

Canto II, cv. 

Herod (her' od). To out-herod Herod. To outdo 
in wickedness, violence, or rant, the worst of 
tyrants. Herod, who destroyed the babes of 
Bethlehem {Matt, ii, 16), was made (in the 
ancient mysteries) a ranting, roaring tyrant; 
the extravagance of his rant being the measure 
of his bloody-mindedness. Cp. Pilate. 

Herrenvolk (har £n fok), a German word, 
meaning broadly “master race,” used in the 
Nazi philosophy to describe the superiority of 
the German peoples. 

Herring. A shotten herring. One that has shot 
off or ejected its spawn, and hence is worthless. 

Go thy ways, old Jack; die when thou wilt. If man- 
hood, good manhood, be not forgot upon the face of 
the earth, then am I a shotten herring. There live not 
three good men unhanged in England, and one of them 
is fat and grows old . — Henry JV, Ft. /, II, iv. 

Drawing a red herring across the path. Trying 
to divert attention from the main question by 
some side issue. A red herring (i.e. one dried, 
smoked, and salted) drawn across a fox’s 
path destroys the scent and sets the dogs at 
fault. 

Neither barrel the better herring. Much of a 
muchness; not a pin to choose between you; 
six of one and half a dozen of the other. The 
herrings of both barrels are so much alike that 
there is no choice whatever. 

Neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring. 

Neither one thittfl nor another. 

The Battle of the Herrings. A sortie made 
during the Hundred Years’ War (February 12th, 
1429) by the men of Orleans, during the siege 
of their city, to intercept a supply of food being 
brought to the besiegers by the English under 
Sir John Fastolf. The English repulsed the 
onset, using barrels of herrings, which were 
among the supplies, as a defence; hence the 
name. 

The king of the herrings. The Chimcera , or 
sea-ape, a cartilaginous fish which accompanies 
a shoal of herrings in their migrations. 




Herring 


451 


Hicksites 


Herring-bone (in building). Courses of stone 
laid angularly, thus: <r<-<r<r. Also applied to 
strutting placed between thin joists to increase 
their strength. 

In needlework an embroideiy stitch, or 
alternatively a kind of cross-stitch used to 
fasten down heavy material. 

Herring-pond, The. A name humorously 
given to various dividing seas, especially to the 
Atlantic, which separates America from the 
British Isles. The English Channel, the North 
Sea, and the seas between Australasia and the 
United Kingdom are also so called. 

4 Tle send an account of the wonders I meet on the 
Great Herring Pond.” — John Dunton: Letters from 
New England , 1686. 

Hershey Bar (her' shi). In the U.S.A. a Hershey 
Bar is a trade-marked form of sweetmeat; in 
U.S. army slang the term was applied to the 
narrow gold bar worn by troops on the left 
sleeve to indicate that they had done six 
months* overseas service. 

Hertha. See Nerthus. 

Hesperia (lies per' i &) (Gr. western). Italy was 
so called by the Greeks, because it was to them 
the “Western Land*’; and afterwards the 
Romans, for a similar reason, transferred the 
name to Spain. 

Hesperides (hes per' i dcz). Three sisters who 
guarded the golden apples which Hera received 
as a marriage gift. They were assisted by the 
dragon Ladon. Hercules, as the last of his 
“twelve labours, 1 ’ slew the dragon and carried 
some of the apples to Eurystheus. 

Many poets call the place where these 
golden apples grew the “garden of the Hesper- 
ides.” Shakesoeare (Love's Labour's Lost , IV, 
iii) speaks of “climbing trees in the Hes- 
perides.” ( See ComuSy lines 402-6.) 

Hesperus (lies' per us). The evening star, be- 
cause it sets in tne west. See Hesperia. 

Ere twice in murk and occidental damp 
Moist Hesperus hath quenched his sleepy lamp. 

All's Well that Ends Well , II, i. 

The Wreck of the Hesperus, a ballad once 
learned by every child at school, written by 
H. W. Longfellow in 1842, and based upon an 
actual disaster at sea. 

Hessian. A coarse, strong cloth made from 
jute or hemp originally made in Hesse in 
Germany. Hessian boots were first worn by 
troops in Germany and became fashionable 
in England in the 19th century. 

Hetman. A general or commander-in-chief. 
(Ger. Hauptmamu chief man.) The chief of the 
Cossacks of the Don used to be so called. He 
was elected by the people, and the mode of 
choice was thus: the voters threw their fur 
caps at the candidate they voted for, and ho 
who had the largest number of caps at his feet 
was the successful candidate. The last elected 
Hetman was Count Plato ff (1812-14). 

Hexameron (hek z&m' er 6n). Six days taken 
as one continuous period; especially the six 
days of the Creation. 

Hexameter (hek z&m' c ter). The metre in which 
the Greek and Latin epics were written, and 
15* 


which has been imitated in English in such 
poems as Longfellow’s Evangeline , Clough’s 
Bothie , Kingsley’s Andromeda (probably the 
best), etc. 

The line consists, says George Saintsbury 
(Manual of English Prosody , IV, i); — 
of six feet, dactyls or spondees at choice for the first 
four, but normally always a dactyl in the fifth and 
always a spondee in the sixth— the latter foot being 
by special licence sometimes allowed in the fifth also 
(in which case the line is called spondaic), but never a 
dactyl in the sixth. To this metre, and to the attempts 
to imitate it in English, the temv should be strictly 
confined, and never applied to die Alexandrine or 
iambic trimeter. 

Verse consisting of alternate hexameters and 
pentameters (?.v.) is known as elegiac (g.v.). 
Coleridge illustrates this in his: — # * 

In the hexameter rises the fountain’s silvery column; 
In the pentameter aye falling in melody back. 

The Authorized Version of the Bible 
furnishes a number of examples of “acciden- 
tal” hexameter lines; the following are well 
known 

How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of 
the Morning! 

Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a 
vain thing? 

God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound 
of the trumpet. 

Hiawatha. The Iroquois name of a hero of 
miraculous birth who came (under a variety 
of names) among the North American Indian 
tribes to bring peace and goodwill to man. In 
Longfellow’s poem (1855) he is an Ojibway, 
son of Mudjekeewis (the west wind) and 
Wenonah. He represents the progress of civili- 
zation among the American Indians^ He 
married Minnehaha, “Laughing Watet^’^hfen 
the white man landed and taught the Indians 
the faith of Jesus, Hiawatha exhorted them to 
receive the words of wisdom, to reverence the 
missionaries who had come so far to see them. 

Hibernia (hfbdr'nia). The Latin name for 
Ireland, and hence still used in poetry. It is a 
variant of the old Celtic Erin. 

Hie Jacets. Tombstones, so called from the 
first two words of their Latin inscriptions: 
“Here lies . . .” 

By the cold Hie Jacets of the dead. 

Tennyson: Idylls of the King (Vivien). 

Hickathrift, Tom (hik' a thrift). A hero of nu^, 
sery rhyme, fabled to have been a podt 
labourer at the time of the Conquest, of such 
enormous strength that, armed with an axle- 
tree and cartwheel only, he killed a giant who 
dwelt in a marsh at Tilney, Norfolk. He was 
knighted and made governor of Thanet. 

Hickory. Hickory cloth. Cloth dyed with 
hickory juice. 

Hickory Mormons. Mormons who are only 
half-hearted adherents to the religion. 

Old Hickory. General Andrew Jackson 
1767-1845), President of the United States 
829-37. He was first called “Tough,” from his 
great powers of endurance, then “Tough as 
nickory,” and lastly, “Old Hickory.” 

Hicksites. A sect of Quakers in the U.S.A. who 
seceded from the main body under the leader- 
ship of Elias Hicks in 1827. 


Hidalgo 


452 


Highness 


Hidalgo (hi dal' g6). The title in Spain of the 
lower nobility. The word is from Lat. filius de 
aliquOy son of someone, or, as we should say, 
the son of a “somebody.” In Portuguese it is 
fidalgo . 

Hide of Land. The term applied in Anglo- 
Saxon times to a portion of land that was 
sufficient to support a family; usually from 60 
to 100 acres, but no fixed number. A hide of 
good arable land was smaller than a hide of 
inferior quality. 

Hieroglyphs (hi dr o glifs). The name applied 
to the picture characters which the Egyptians 
used in writing. The Egyptians called them 
“words of thq gods,” and coming to us through 
thejpreek, hiero means sacred, glyph , what is 
carved. For many years these inscribed sym- 
bols of beasts ancfbirds, men and women, were 
undecipherable, but in 1822 a French archae- 
ologist, J. F. Champoilion, pieced together an 
alphabet from the three-language inscription on 
the Rosetta Stone ( q.v .) and from those small 
beginnings the decipherment of hieroglyphic 
inscriptions has enabled scholars to elucidate 
the whole history of Egyptian civilization. 

Higgledy-piggledy. In great confusion; at 
sixes and sevens; perhaps with reference to a 
higgler or pedlar whose stores are ail huddled 
together. Higgledy would then mean after the 
fashion of a higgler’s basket; piggledy is a 
ricochet word suggested by this. 

High. High-ball, the American term for a drink 
of whiskey diluted with water, soda-water or 
ginger ale and served in a tall glass with ice. 

^Hifghbuiders. Gangsters in New York City 
in the first decade of the 19th century. 

High-brow. A learned person; an intellectual 
person. The term is also used adjectivally to 
denote cultural, artistic and intellectual mat- 
ters above one’s own head. It originated in the 
U.S.A. about 1911. From high-brow have 
developed low-brow and middle-brow. 

High Church. The name given to one of the 
three great schools in the Anglican Church, 
distinguished by its maintenance of sacerdotal 
claims and assertions of the efficacy of the 
sacraments. 

High days. Festivals. On high days and 
holidays. Here “high” means grand or great. 

High falutin. Oratorical bombast, affected 
pomposity, tall talk. The word is perhaps a 
variant of high-flown. 

High hand. With a high hand. Arrogantly. 
To carry things with a nigh hand in French 
would be : Faire une chose haut la main. 

High Heels and Low Heels. The names of 
two factions in Swift’s tale of Lilliput ( Gulliver's 
Travels ), satirizing the High and Low Church 
parties. 

High places. In the Authorized Version of 
the Scriptures this is a literal translation of the 
Hebrew bamah , but actually the word was 
applied to a tribal or village place of worship 
because such were usually on hilltops or rises 
in the ground. Such sites usually had a stele , 
the seat of the local god, and a wooden pole, 
itself an object of worship and often trans- 
lated in the Old Testament as a “grove.” This 


worship of a local or tribal Baal was a relic of 
the ancient Canaanitish religion and was long 
anterior to the cult of Jahwe. It was denounced 
fiercely by the prophet Hosea as idolatry. 
Hezekiah removed the high places (II Kings 
xviii, 4), so did Asa (II Citron . xiv, 3) and 
others. Cp. Hills. 

High seas. As defined in international law, 
all the area of sea not under the sovereignty of 
any state. The area of sea within three miles of 
land is known as territorial waters, but re- 
cently Iceland has been claiming territorial 
waters to a depth of twelve miles. 

High tea. A meal served about the usual 
teatime which includes besides tea, fish, cold 
meats, pastry, etc. It is common in Scotland 
and the North of England, and generally in 
agricultural communities. 

A well understood “high tea” should have cold 
roast beef at the top of the table, a cold Yorkshire 
pie at the bottom, a mighty ham in the middle. The 
side dishes will comprise soused mackerel, pickled 
salmon (in due season), sausages and potatoes, etc., 
etc. Rivers of tea, coffee, and ale, with dry and buttered 
toast, sally-lunns, scones, muffins and crumpets, jams 
and marmalade. — Daily Telegraphy May 9th, 1893. 

High words. Angry words. 

Highgatc. Sworn at Highgate. A custom 
anciently prevailed at the public-houses in 
Highgate to administer a ludicrous oath to all 
travellers who stopped there. The party was 
sworn on a pair of horns fastened to a stick — 

(1) Never to kiss the maid when he can kiss 
the mistress. 

(2) Never to eat brown bread when he can 
get white. 

(3) Never to drink small beer when he can 
get strong — unless he prefers it. 

Highlands. That part of Scotland lying north of 
the line approximately Dumbarton to Stone- 
haven. Stirling is known as “the gateway to the 
Highlands”; in the wars between Scotland and 
England, possession of this strong point 
carried immense advantage. 

Highland bail. Fists and cuffs; to escape the 
constable by knocking him down with tne aid 
of a companion. 

Highland Mary. The most shadowy of 
Robert Burns’s sweethearts, but the one to 
whom he addressed some of his finest poetry, 
including “My Highland Lassie, O,” “High- 
land Mary,” “To Mary in Heaven,” and — 
perhaps — “Will ye go to the Indies, my Mary?” 

She is said to have been a daughter of 
Archibald Campbell, a Clyde sailor, and to 
have died young about 1784 or 1786. 

Highness. A title of honour (used with a 
possessive pronoun) given to royalties and a 
few others of exalted rank. In England the 
title Royal Highness was formerly given to 
the Sovereign, his consort, his sons and 
daughters, brothers and sisters, paternal 
uncles and aunts, grandsons and grand- 
daughters being the children of sons, and 
great-grandchildren being the children of an 
eldest son of any Prince of Wales; but by the 
proclamation of June 17th, 1917 (when the 
style, the House of Windsor, was adopted), 
the title Royal Highness was confined in future 
to children of the Sovereign and to grand- 
children in the male line. 




Highness 


453 


Hip! Hip! Hurrah! 


James I was the first King of England to be 
styled “Your Royal Highness”; Oliver Crom- 
well and his wife were both called “Your 
Highness.” 

Serene Highness was a title of many of the 
members of the former German Imperial, 
Royal, and Ducal Houses. 

Hijacker (hl'j&kdr). In American slang a 
bandit who preys on such criminals as boot- 
leggers by robbing them of their ill-gotten 
booty; a parasite on rogues. 

Hike. To hike is an old English dialect word 
meaning to walk a long distance; it is now 
used in the sense of going on a cross-country 
tramp organized by a club or undertaken by a 
smaller party of two or three. 

To hitch-hike is to travel from one place 
to another by getting lifts from cars or 
lorries. 

Hilary Term (hil' & ri), legal or university term, 
begins on the day after Plough Monday (q.v.) 
and ends the Wednesday before Easter. It is so 
called in honour of St. Hilary, whose day is 
January 13th. 

Hildebrand (hil' de brand). The Nestor of Ger- 
man romance. His story is told in the Hilde - 
brandslied y an Old High German poem, and he 
also appears in the Nibelungenlied y Dietrich von 
Rer/i, etc. Like Maugis among the heroes of 
Charlemagne, he was a magician as well as 
champion. 

The name is, however, more commonly 
associated with the great pope St. Gregory VII 
(c. 1020-85) who was elected to the papal chair 
in 1073. He curbed the temporal power and re- 
formed the Church from top to bottom, en- 
forced celibacy among the clergy, put down 
simony, and promoted piety. His uncom- 
promising forcefulness made him many ene- 
mies and gained him few friends. He was 
canonized in 1728, his feast day being May 
25th. 

Hildesheim (hil' des him). Legend relates that a 
monk of Hildesheim, an old city of Hanover, 
doubting how with God a thousand years 
could be as one day, listened to the singing of 
a bird in a wood, as he thought for three 
minutes, but found the time had been three 
hundred years. Longfellow introduced this tale 
in his Golden Legend , calling the monk Felix. 

Hill. Hill-billy. An American phrase descrip- 
tive of a countryman from the hilly or moun- 
tainous districts. The hill-billy is a distinctive 
type, whose music and literature are being 
increasingly studied. 

Hill folk. So Scott calls the Cameronian 
Scottish Covenanters, who met clandestinely 
among the hills. Sometimes the Covenanters 
generally are so called. 

A class of beings in Scandinavian tradition 
between the elves and the human race were 
known as “hill folk” or “hill people.” They 
were supposed to dwell in caves and small hills, 
and to be bent on receiving the benefits of 
man’s redemption. 

Hills. Prayers were offered on the tops of 
high hills, and temples built on “high places,” 


from the notion that the gods could better hear 
rayers on such places, as they were nearer 
eaven. It will be remembered that Balak 
(Hum. xxiii, xxiv) took Balaam to the top of 
Peor and other high places when Balaam 
wished to consult God. We often read of 
“idols on every high hill” (Ezek. vi, 13). Cp. 
High Places. 

Old as the hills. Very old indeed. 

Hinc illae lachrymse (hingk il e lSk' ri m5) (Lat. 
“hence those tears.” Terence; Andria t I, i, 99). 
This was the real offence; this was the true 
secret of the annoyance; the real source of the 
vexation. 

Lady Loadstone: He keeps off all her suitors, keeps 
the portion t . 

Still in his hands ; and will apt part withal. 

On any terms. * ^ 

Palate.: Hinc ilia lachryma. 

Thence flows the cause of the main grievance. 

Ben Jonson: Magnetic Lady t I, i. 

Hind. Emblematic of St. Giles, because “a 
heaven-directed hind went daily to give him 
milk in the desert, near the mouth of the 
Rhone.” Cp . Hart. 

The hind of Sertorius. Sertorius was invited 
by the Lusitanians to defend them against the 
Romans. He had a tame white hind, which he 
taught to follow him, and from which he 
pretended to receive the instructions of Diana. 
By this artifice, says Plutarch, he imposed on 
the superstition of the people. 

The milk-white hind, in Dryden’s Hind and 
the Panther . means the Romam Catholic 
Church, milk-white because “infallible/yFhe 
panther, full of the spots of error, is the Church 
of England. 

Without unspotted, innocent within. 

She feared no danger, for she knew no sin. 

Part I, 3, 4. 

Hindustan (hin doo stanO* India; properly, the 
country watered by the river Indus, i.e. the 
country known by the ancients as “India.” 
From Pers. hindu, water; stan , district or 
region. The suffix is common in the East, as 
Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Gulistan (the 
district of roses), Kafiristan (the country of the 
unbelievers), etc. See India. 

Hindustan Regiment. See Regimental 
Nicknames. 

Hinny. See Mule. 

Hip. To have one on the hip. To have the 

mastery over him in a struggle. 

“Now, infidel, I have thee on the hip” 
(Merchant Oj Venice ); and again, “I’ll have 
our Michael Cassio on the hip” (Othello), The 
term is derived from a throw in wrestling. 

To smite hip and thigh. To slay with great 
carnage. A Biblical phrase. 

And he smote them hip and thigh with great 
slaughter . — Judges xv, 8. 

Hip! Hip! Hurrah! The old fanciful explanation 
of the origin of this cry is that hip is a notarikon 
(o.v.), composed of the initials Hierosolyma 
est perdita and that when the German knights 
headed a Jew-hunt in the Middle Ages, they 


Hipped 


454 


Hiroshima 


ran shouting ‘'Hip! Hip!’* as much as to say 
“Jerusalem is destroyed.” w 

Hurrah (q,v.) was derived from Slavonic 
hu-raj (to Paradise), so that Hip! hip ! hurrah l 
would mean “Jerusalem is lost to the infidel, 
and we are on the road to Paradise.” These 
etymons may be taken for what they are 
worth! The older English form of this cry was 
Huzza! 

Hipped. Melancholy, low-spirited, suffering 
from a “fit of the blues.” The hip was formerly 
a common expression for morbid depression 
(now supersededby the pip ) ; it is an abbrevia- 
tion of hypochondriat 

Hlpppr-switches. A dialect name for coarse 
willow withes. A hipper is a coarse osier used in 
basket-making, arid^n osier field is a hipper - 
holm, A suburb of Halifax, Yorks, is called 
Hipperholme-with-Brighouse. 

Hippo (hip' 6). Bishop of Hippo. A title by 
which St. Augustine (354-430) is sometimes 
designated. Hippo was a town in Numidia, 
N. Africa, near the modern Bdne. It was 
destroyed by the Vandals in 430. 

Hippocampus (hip' 6 k&m' pfis) (Gr. hippos , 
horse; kampos , sea monster). A seahorse, 
having the nead and forequarters resembling 
those of a horse, with the tail and hindquarters 
of a fish or dolphin. It was the steed of Nep- 
tune (q.v.), 

Hippocras Chip' 6 kr&s). A cordial of the late 
Middle Ages and down to Stuart times, made 
of, Lisbon and Canary wines, bruised spices, 
and%ugar ; so called from being passed through 
Hippocrates* sleeve (q.v.). 

When these [l.e. other wines] have had their course 
which nature yeeldeth, sundrie sorts of artificial stuffe 
as ypocras and wormewood wine, must in like maner 
succeed in their turnes. — Harrison: Description of 
England , II, vi (1577). 

Hippocrates (hip ok 7 r& tez). A Greek physi- 
cian who lived c, 460-377 b.c., and is com- 
monly called the Father of Medicine. He 
was member of the famous family of priest- 
physicians, the Asclepiadae, and was an acute 
and indefatigable observer, practising as both 
hysician and surgeon. More than seventy of 
is essays are extant. In the Middle Ages he 
vfts called “Ypocras” or “Hippocras.” Thus: 
Well knew he the old Esculapius, 

And Deiscorides, and eek Rufus, 

Old Ypocras, Haly, and Galien. 

Ch^CBr: Canterbury Tales (Prologue, 431). 

Hippocratean School. The “Dogmatic” 
school of medicine, founded by Hippocrates. 
See Empirics. 

Hippocrates’ sleeve. A woollen bag of a 
square piece of flannel, having the opposite 
comers joined, so as to make it triangular. 
Used by chemists for straining syrups, 
decoctions, etc., and anciently by vintners, 
whence the name of Hippocras (q. v.). 

Hippocratic oath. A code of ethics governing 
theprofession and sworn to by physicians upon 
taking a doctor’s degree. Tne oath relates 
particularly to the inviolability of secrecy 
concerning any communication made by a 


patient in the course of consultation, and en- 
joins the absolute integrity essential in dealing 
with problems arising from a patient’s confes- 
sion or revelation. 

Hippocrene (hip' 6 kren) (Gr. hippos , horse; 
krone, fountain). The fountain of the Muses 
on Mount Helicon, produced by a stroke of 
the hoof of Pegasus; hence poetic inspiration. 
O for a beaker full of the warm South. 

Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene. 

Keats: Ode to a Nightingale, 

Hippodamia. See Briseis. 

Hippogriff Chip' o grif) (Gr. hippos , a horse; 
gryphos , a griffin). The winged horse, whose 
father was a griffin and mother a filly. A 
symbol of love (Ariosto : Orlando Furioso , iv, 
18, 19). 

So saying, he caught him up, and without wing 
Of hippogrif, bore through the air sublime. 

Over the wilderness and o’er the plain. 

Milton: Paradise Regained, IV, 541-3. 

Hippolyta (hip ol' i t&). Queen of the Amazons, 
and daughter of Mars. Shakespeare has 
introduced the character in his A Midsummer 
Night's Dream , where he betroths her to 
Theseus, Duke of Athens. In classic fable it is 
her sister Antiope who married Theseus, al- 
though some writers justify Shakespeare’s 
account. Hippolyta was famous for a girdle 
given her by her father, and it was one of the 
twelve labours of Hercules to possess himself of 
this prize. 

Hippolytus (hip oY it us). Son of Theseus, 
King of Athens. He was dragged to death by 
wild horses, and restored to life by Esculapius. 

Hippomenes (hip om' en ez). The name given 
in Boeotian legend to the Greek prince who ran 
a race with Atalanta (q.v,) for her hand in 
marriage. He had three golden apples, which 
he dropped one by one, and which the lady 
stopped to pick up. By this delay she lost the 
race. 

Hipster. See Beatnik. 

Hiram Abif (hi' r&m k bifO is a central figure 
in the legend and ritual of Freemasonry. Under 
the name of Huram he appears in II Chron. 
ii and iii, as the craftsman builder of Solomon’s 
Temple; he must not be confused with Hiram, 
King of Tyre, who supplied much of the 
material. 

Hiren. A strumpet. She was a character in 
Greene’s lost play (c. 1594), The Turkish 
Mahomet and Hyren the Fair Greek , and is fre- 
quently referred to by Elizabethan dramatists. 
See Henry IV, Pt, II , II, iv, Dekker’s Satiro - 
mastix , IV, iii, Massinger’s Old Law , IV, i. 
Chapman’s Eastward Hoe , II, i, etc. The name 
is a corruption of the Greek “Irene.” 

Hiroshima (hi ro she' ma), a Japanese army 
base and a city of 343,000 inhabitants, was the 
target of the first atomic bomb to be dropped 
in warfare, August 6th, 1945. The flash of the 
explosion was seen 170 miles away, and a 
column of black smoke rose over the city to a 
height of 40,000 feet. The entire business 
section of Hiroshima disappeared, 60,000 




Hispania 


455 


Hobbledehoy 


persons were killed, 100,000 injured, and twice 
that number made homeless. 

Hispania (his p&n' y&). Spain. So called from 
the Phoenician word Sapan , or Span, the skin 
of the marten (or perhaps rabbit), which was 
procured from Spain in great quantities. 

Hispaniola (his p&n yd' 1&). The old name for 
the island of Haiti. When Columbus discovered 
the island on his first voyage, 1492, he named 
it Espanola, or Little Spain, which in the maps 
was Latinized as above. It was not until 1844, 
when the island was divided politically into 
Haiti and the Dominican Republic, that the 
old name completely disappeared. 

Historia Augusta. See Augustan History. 

History. The Father of History. Herodotus, the 
Greek historian (5th cent. b.c.). So called by 
Cicero. 

The Father of Ecclesiastical History. Euse- 
bius of Caesarea (c. 264-340), 

Father of French History. Andr6 Duchesne 
(1584-1640). 

Father of Historic Painting. Polygnotus of 
Thaos (fi. 463-435 b.c.) 

Happy is the nation that has no history. See 
Happy. 

Histrionic, pertaining to the drama or to 
theatrical matters, is from the Lat. histrio , a 
stage-player. History is quite another word, 
being the Greek historia , his tor, a judge, allied 
to histamai , to know. 

Hit. A great hit. A piece of good luck; a great 
success. From the game hit and miss , or the 
game of backgammon, where “two hits equal 
a gammon.” 

Hitting on all six. Doing well, giving a fine 
performance. The phrase comes from motoring, 
where an engine which is running well is 
described as having the pistons in all six 
cylinders hitting perfectly. 

To hit it off. To describe a thing tersely and 
epigrammatically; to make a sketch truthfully 
ana quickly. 

To hit it off together. To agree together, or 
suit each other. 

To hit the nail on the head. See Head. 

To make a hit. To meet with great approval; 
to succeed unexpectedly in an adventure or 
speculation. 

Hitch. Hitch your wagon to a star. Aim high; 
don’t be content with low aspirations. The 
phrase is from Emerson’s essay, Civilization . 
Young expressed much the same idea in his 
Night Thoughts (viii) : — 

Too low they build who build beneath the stars. 

There is some hitch. Some impediment. A 
horse is said to have a hitch in his gait when he 
is lame. 

To get hitched. To get married. 

To hitch. To get on smoothly; to fit in 
consistently: also, to harness: as, “You and I 
hitch on well together"; “These two accounts 
do not hitch in with each other." 

To hitch-hike. See Hike. 


Hitlerism. A generic term for the whole doc- 
trine and practice of Fascism, exemplified in 
the regime of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945). 

Hittites built up one of the ancient civilizations 
of the world. Little is known of their origin; 
they first appear in eastern Asia Minor where 
their superior knowledge of implements and 
weapons of the early copper-age culture 
enabled them to master all their foes. They also 
bred and harnessed the horse — one of the 
earliest people to do so. The Hittites were well 
established by the 3rd millennium b.c.; they 
overturned the first dynasty of Babylon in 
1925 b.c. and in one form or another flourished 
until about 700 b.c. when Carchemish, their 
main city, fell to the Assyrians. 

Hoarstone. A stone marking out the boundary 
of an estate, properly an old, grey, lichen- 
covered stone. They are also called UHour- 
stoncs” and (in Scotland) “Hare Stanes, m and 
have been erroneously taken for Druidical 
remains. % 

Hob and nob. See Hob-nob. 

Hob’s Pound. Difficulties, great embarrass- 
ment. To be in Hob’s pound is to be in the 
pound of a hob or hoberd—i.e. a fool or ne’er- 
do-well — paying for one’s folly. 

Hobbema (hob' e mi). Meindert Hobbema 
(1638-1709) the Dutch landscape painter. 

The English Hobbema, John Crome (1768- 
1821), “Old Crome.” of Norwich, whose last 
words were, “O Hobbema, my dear Hobbema, 
how I have loved you!” 

The Scottish Hobbema. Patrick Nasmyth 
(b. at Edinburgh, 1787, d. 1831), the landscape 
painter, was so called. 

Hobbinol (hob' i nol). The shepherd in Spen- 
ser’s Shepherd's Calendar who sings in praise of 
Eliza, queen of shepherds (Queen Elizabeth I). 
He typifies Spensers friend and correspondent 
Gabriel Harvey (c. 1545-1630), the poet and 
writer. 

Hobbism. The principles of Thomas Hobbes 
(1588-1679), author of Leviathan (1651). He 
taught that religion is a mere engine of state, 
and that man acts wholly on a consideration 
of self; even his benevolent acts spring front 
the pleasure he experiences in doing acts of 
kindness. 

Hobble Skirts. This women’s fashion of skirts 
so tight round the ankles that the Wearer was 
impeded in walking — much as a hone is 
hobbled — was at its height in 1912 and was 
gone by 1914. 

Hobbledehoy. A raw, awkward young fellow, 
neither man nor boy. The word is generally 
taken as being connected with hobble , in 
reference to an awkward, clumsy gait; but this 
is hardly borne out by the early Forms of the 
word, which include such spellings as hobbard 
de hoy , habber de hoy , hobet a hoy , etc. The first 
syllable is probably hob, a clown, as seen in 
Hobbididance , Hobbinol, etc., and is connected 
with Robert or Robin , as in Robin Goodfellow . 
There is very little etymological support for 



Hobblers 


456 


Hocus Pocus 


the thdbry that would connect the word with 
hobby hawk. 

The first seven yeeres bring up as a child©. 

The next to learning, for waxing too wide, 

The next keepe under sir hobbard de hoy, 

The next a man, no longer a boy. 

Tusser: Hundred Good Points (1573). 

Hobblers or Hovellers. An old name for long- 
shoremen— -especially on*the Kentish coast — 
who acted as pilots although they were not 
licensed, and got their living by rendering 
casual assistance to vessels in distress, plun- 
dering wrecks^yvarning smugglers, etc. 

The word was also applied to seafaring men 
whose duties were to reconnoitre, carry 
intelligence, harass stragglers, act as spies, 
intercept convoys, pursue fugitives, etc. 

Hobblers were another description of cavalry more 
lightly armed, and taken from the class of men rated at 
15 pounds and upwards. — Linoard : History of Eng - 
land t $r<m IV, ch. ii. 

Hobby. A favourite pursuit; a personal pastime 
that interests o%amuses one. 

There are two words hobby , and they are 
apt to be confused. The earlier, meaning a 
medium-sized horse, is the M.E. hobyn ( cp . 
Dobbin as a name for a horse); the later, a 
small species of falcon, is the O.Fr. hobe or 
hobet, from Lat. hobetus , a falcon. It is from 
the first that our '‘hobby,** a pursuit, comes. 
It is through hobby-horse, a light frame of 
wickerwork, appropriately draped, in which 
someone performed ridiculous gambols in the 
old morris dances, and later applied to a child’s 
plaything consisting of a stick across which he 
straddledj with a norsc’s head on one end. 
Padstow in Cornwall is famous for its hobby- 
horse festival. 

To ride a hobby-horse was to play an infan- 
tile §ame of which one soon tired; and now 
implies to dwell to excess on a pet theory; the 
transition is shown in a sentence in one of 
Wesley’s sermons (No. lxxxiii) : — 

Every one has (to use the cant term of the day) his 
hobby-horse! 

Hobgoblin (hob gob' lin). An impish, ugly, and 
mischievous sprite, particularly Puck or Robin 
Goodfellow (q.v.). The word is a variant of 
Rob-Goblin — i.e. the goblin Robin, just as 
Hodge is the nickname of Roger. 

Those that Hobgoblin call you, and sweet Puck, 

You do their work, and they shall have good luck. 

A Midsummer Night* s Dream , II, i. 

Hob-nob. A corruption of hab mb , meaning 
“have or not have," hence hit or miss, at 
random; and, secondarily, give or take, 
whence also an open defiance. 

The citizens in their rage shot habbe or nabbe [hit or 
miss] at random. — H olinshed: History of Ireland. 

He writes of the weather hab nab and as the toy 
takes him, chequers the year with foul and fair. — 
Quack Astrologer (1673). 

He is a devil in private brawls . . . hob nob is his 
word, give ’t or take *t. — Twelfth Night , III, iv. 

Not of Jack Straw, with his rebellious crew, 

That set king, realm and laws at hab or nab [de- 
fiance]. Sir J. Harinoton: Epigrams , IV. 

To hobnob or bob and nob together. To be on 
intimate terms of good-fellowship, hold close 
and friendly conversation with, etc. • especially 
to drink together as cronies — probably with 
the meaning of "give and take.’ 


"Have another glass 1" "With you Hob and nob," 
returned the sergeant. "The top of mine to the foot of 
yours— the foot of yours to the top of mine— Ring once, 
ring twice — the best tune on the Musical Glasses! 
Your health." — Dickens: Great Expectations^ ch. v. 

Hobo (ho' bo). In American usage a migratory 
worker who likes to travel, in contrast to a 
tramp who travels without working and a bum 
who neither travels nor works. It derives 
probably from hoe-boy , which meant a 
migratory farm worker. 

Hobson’s Choice means no choice at all. 
The saying derives eponymously from Thomas 
Hobson (15447-1631) a Cambridge carrier 
well known in his day (he is celebrated in 
Fuller’s Worthies and in two epitaphs by 
Milton) who refused to let out any horse 
except in its proper turn. 

Hock. German white wine, so called from 
Hockheim, on the River Main. It used to be 
called hoccamore. 

Restored the fainting high and mighty 
With brandy, wine, and aqua-vitae; 

And made ’em stoutly overcome 
With Bacrack, Hoccamore, and Mum. 

Butler: Hudibras , 111, iii, 297. 

The earlier English name was Rhenish. 

There are several colloquial uses of this word 
hock. In American slang to hock is to pawn and 
a hock-shop a pawnbroker’s. 

Hock cart. The last cartload of harvest; 
probably connected with hockey ( q.v .). 

The harvest swains and wenches bound. 

For joy, to sec the hock cart crowned. 

Herrick: Hesperides, p. 114. 

Hock-day or Hock Tuesday. The second 
Tuesday after Easter Day, long held as a 
festival in England; it was the time for paying 
church dues, and landlords received an 
annual tribute called Hock-money, for allowing 
their tenants and serfs to commemorate it. Its 
origin is unknown; but the old idea that it 
commemorates the massacre of the Danes in 
1002 does not seem to be tenable, as this took 
place in November. 

Hoke Monday was for the men and Hock Tuesday 
for the women. On both days the men and women 
alternately, with great merryment, obstructed the 
public road with ropes, and pulled passengers to them, 
from whom they exacted money to be laid out in 
pious uses. — Brand: Antiquities , vol. I, p. 187. 

Hockey. A game of Indian origin in which each 
player has a hooked stick with which to strike 
the ball. Hockey is simply the diminutive of 
hook. 

Hockey cake. The cake given out to the 
harvesters when the hock cart (qv.) reached 
home. 

Hockey is the old name in the eastern 
counties for the harvest-home feast. 

Hockiey-i’-the-HoIe. Public gardens near 
Clerkenwell Green, famous in Restoration 
times for bear- and bull-baiting, dog- and cock- 
fights, etc., and for its butchers. 

Hocus Pocus (ho' kiis p6' kus). The words 
formerly uttered by conjurers when performing 
a trick ; hence the trick or deception itself, also 
the juggler himself. 

The phrase dates from the early 17th 
century, and is the opening of a ridiculous 




Hodge 


457 


Hogs-Norton 


string of mock Latin used by some well-known 
performer {Hocus pocus , toutus talontus , vade 
celerita jubes ), the first two words of which 
may have been intended as a parody of Hoc 
est corpus , the words of consecration in the 
Mass, while the whole was reeled off merely to 
occupy the attention of the audience. 

Our word hoax is probably a contraction of 
hocus pocus , which also supplies the verb to 
hocus, to cheat, bamboozle, tamper with. 

Hodge. A familiar and slightly contemptuous 
name for a farm labourer or peasant; an 
abbreviated form of Roger, as Hob is of 
Robert or Robin. 

Hodge-podge. A medley, a mixed dish of “bits 
and pieces all cooked together.” The word is a 
corruption of hotch-pot {q.v.). 

Hodmandod. See Dodman. 

Hoe-cake (U.S.A.). Flat cake originally baked 
on a hoe held over a coal fire. 

Hog. Properly a male swine, castrated, and — 
as it is raised solely for slaughter — killed young. 
The origin of the word is not certain, but it 
may originally have referred to age more than 
to any specific animal. Thus, boars of the 
second year, sheep between the time of their 
being weaned and shorn, colts, and bullocks a 
year old, were all called hogs or hoggets , which 
name was specially applied to a sheep after its 
first shearing. A boar three years old is a 
“hog-steer.” 

In slang use a hog is a gluttonous, greedy, or 
unmannered person; motorists who, caring 
nothing for the rights or convenience of 
other travellers, drive in a selfish and reckless 
manner, wanting the whole road to themselves, 
are called road-hogs. 

Hog and hominy (U.S.A.). Pork and maize, 
considered inferior food. 

Hog ill armour. A person of awkward man- 
ners dressed so fine that he cannot move 
easily; perhaps a corruption of “ Hodge in 
armour.” See Hodge. 

Hog-shearing. Much ado about nothing. 
“It’s great cry and little wool, as the Devil 
said when he sheared his hogs.” See Cry. 

Hog-wallows. American prairie which has 
become a series of mounds and depressions 
through the alternate action of rain and 
drought. 

As independent as a hog on ice. Supremely 
confident, cocky, self-assured. A phrase 
common in the U.S.A. Its origin is unknown, 
though it may be Scottish, having some con- 
nexion with the hog used in curling. The phrase 
is discussed amusingly and in detail by Charles 
Earle Funk in his book A Hog on Ice . 

To drive one’s hogs to market. To snore very 
loudly. 

To go the whole hog. To do the thing 
completely and thoroughly, without com- 
promise or reservation; to go the whole way. 
William Cowper says {Hypocrisy Detected , 
1779) that the Moslem divines sought to 
ascertain which part of the hog was forbidden 
as food by the Prophet. Unable to come to a 
decision, each thought excepted the portion of 


the meat he most preferred, and as the, tastes 
of the worthy imams differed : v * 

The conscience freed from every clog, 
^Mohammedans eat up the hog. 

A more probable origin of the phrase is that 
a hog was old slang for a shilling — to go the 
whole hog was to spend the whole shilling at 
one go, to spare nothing. 

Formerly, any small silver coin, a shilling or 
sixpence, or (in the U.S.A.) a ten-cent piece, 
was contemptuously styled a hog . 

In U.S.A. the phrase came into popularity 
during Andrew Jackson’s campaign for the 
Presidency, in 1828. Hence the expression 
whole-hogger , one who will see the thing 
through to the bitter end, and “damn the 
consequences.” At the time of Joseph 
Chamberlain’s agitation on behalf of Protection 
(1903, et seq.) those who advocated a complete 
tariff of protective duties regardless of possible 
reciprocity were called the whole-hoggers . 

To hear as a hog in harvest. In at one ear and 
out at the other; hear without paying attention. 
Giles Firmin says, “If you call hogs out of the 
harvest stubble, they will just lift up their 
heads to listen, and fall to their shack again.” 
{Real Christian , 1670.) 

You have brought your hogs to a fine market. 
You have made a pretty kettle of fish; said in 
derision when one’s projects turn out ill. 

To hog it, in English colloquial usage means 
to live in a rough, uncouth fashion amid crude 
surroundings; in American to hog it is to act 
selfishlv and greedily, to grasp everything for 
oneself. 

Hogen Mogen (ho' gen mo' gen). Holland or 
the Netherlands; so called from Hooge en 
Mogende (high and mighty), the Dutch style 
of addressing the States-General. 

But I have sent him for a token 

To your low country Hogen-Mogen. 

Butler: Hudibras, III, i, 1440. 
Hogmanay (hog mi naO. The name given in 
Scotland to the last day of the year, also to an 
entertainment or present given on that day. 
It is from the French, and probably represents 
the O.Fr. aixuillanneuf \ which has been (some- 
what doubtfully) explained as standing for au 
gui ran neuf y “(good luck) to the mistletoe of 
the new year.” 

It is still the custom in parts of Scotland 
for persons to go from door to door on New 
Year’s Eve asking in rude rhymes for cakes 
or money; and in Galloway the chief features 
are “taking the cream off the water,” wonderful 
luck being attached to a draught thereof; and 
“the first foot” {q.v.) or giving something to 
drink to the first person who enters the house. 

Hogni. See Hagen. 

Hogshead. A large cask containing approxi- 
mately 52i gallons; also, the measure of this, 
apart from the cask. The word dates from the 
14th century and is composed of hog and heady 
and not of ox and hide y or of any of the other 
fancy etymologies that have been proposed. 
The reason for the name is obscure; but cp. 
the name of a Low German measure for beer, 
Bullenkopy bull’s head. 

Hogs-Norton. A village in Oxfordshire, now 
called Hook Norton. I think you were born at 




Hoi Polio! 


458 


Hole 


Hogs-Morton. A reproof to an ill-mannered 
personrrhe name has been made famous over 
the radio bv the English comedian Gillie Potter 
who described in mock-erudite fashion at lbng 
series of unlikely events taking place in this 
village. 

I think thou bom at Hoggs-Norton where 
piggs ^la^upon the organs. — H owell: English Pro- 

Hol Polio! (hoi pol' oi) (Gr. the many). The 
masses of the people, the majority. 

If by the people you understand the multitude, the 
hot potloi, *ti$ no matter what they think; they are 
sometimes in the right, sometimes in the wrong; their 
judgment is a mere lottery. — Dryden: Essay on 
Dramatic Poesy (1668). 

At the Universities the poll-men, i.e. those 
who take a degree without honours, are 
colloquially known as the hoi polloi . 

Hoity-toity. A reduplicated word (like harum- 
scarum , mingle-mangle , hugger-mugger , etc.), 
probably formed from the obsolete verb hoit , 
to romp about noisily. It is used as an adjective, 
meaning “stuck up/* haughty, or petulant; as 
a noun f meaning a good romp or frolic; and 
aS'an interjection expressing disapproval or 
contempt of one’s airs, assumptions, etc. 

See the quotation from Selden given under 
Cushion Dance, where hoyte-cum-toyte is 
used of rowdy behaviour. 

Hokey cokey (hd'ki kd' ki). A ludicrous dance 
gogular during the 1940s in English dance- 

Hokey-pokey (h6' ki po' ki).The name given to 
cheap ice-cream as sold in the street. The name 
comes from hocus-pocus ($.v.) but the con- 
nexion is not obvious. 

Hokum (ho' kum). An American colloquialism 
(also deriving from hocus-pocus) for any de- 
vice employed to create a poignant effect or 
stimulate easy sentimentality. 

Holborn. A metropolitan borough of London, 
taking its name from the Holeburne (as it is 
spelled in Domesday Book), which was the 
name of the upper part of the Fleet river, and 
means “the stream in the hollow.” 

To ride backwards up Holborn Hill. To go 
to be hanged. The way to Tyburn from New- 
gate was up Holborn Hill which led steeply 
from Farnngdon Street to what is now 
Holborn Circus, and criminals used to sit or 
stand with their backs to the horse when 
drawn to the place of execution. 

The spanning of the valley by Holborn 
Viaduct (1867-69) did away with the old hill. 

Hold. Hold hard! Stop; go easy; keep a firm 
hold, seat, or footing, as there is danger else of 
being overthrown. A caution given when a 
sudden change of vis inertia is about to occur. 

Hold off! Keep at a distance. 

Hold the fort! Maintain your position at all 
costs. Immortalized as a phrase from its use by 
General Sherman, who signalled it to General 
Corse from the top of Kenesaw in 1864 during 
the American Civil War. 

Hold your horses! Be patient, wait a moment; 
Jiold up for a while whatever you are doing. 


To cry hold. To give the order to stop; in the 
old tournaments, when the umpires wished to 
stop the contest they cried out “Hold!” 

Layton, Macduff, 

And damn’d be him that first cries, “Hold, enoughl” 

Macbeth , V, viii. 

To hold the candle to one, a candle to the 
devil. See Candle. 

To hold forth. To speak in public; to 
harangue; to declaim. An author holds forth 
certain opinions or ideas in his book, i.e. 
exhibits them or holds them out to view. A 
speaker does the same in an oratorical display. 

To hold good. To be valid, or applicable. 
We say “such and such a proverb is very true, 
but it does not hold good in every case,” i.e. 
it does not always apply. 

To hold in. To restrain. The allusion is to 
horses reined up tightly. 

To hold in esteem. To regard with esteem. 

To hold on one’s way. To proceed steadily; 
to eo on without taking notice of interruptions 
or being delayed. 

To hold one guilty. To adjudge or regard as 
guilty. 

To hold one in hand or in play. To divert one’s 
attention, or to amuse in order to get some 
advantage. 

To hold one’s own. To maintain one’s own 
opinion, position, way, etc. 

To hold one’s tongue. To keep silence. In 
Coverdale’s Bible ( 1 535), where the Authorized 
Version has “But Jesus held his peace” (A fait. 
xxvi, 63) the reading is “Jesus helde his tongc.” 

To hold out. To endure, persist; not to 
succumb. 

To hold over. To keep back, retain in re- 
serve, defer. 

To hold up. To stop, as a highwayman does, 
with the object of robbing. In this connexion 
the order, “Hold up your hands!” or “Hold ’em 
up!” means that the victim must hold them 
above his head to make sure that he is not 
reaching for a weapon. 

To hold water. To bear close inspection; to 
endure a trial; generally used negatively, as 
“That statement of yours won’t hold water,” 
i.e . it will prove false as soon as it is examined. 
A vessel that will hold water is sound. 

Holding the baby or the bag. In an awkward 
predicament, held responsible for faults com- 
mitted by others. 

Holdfast. A means by which something is 
clamped to another; a support. 

Brag is a good dog, but Holdfast is a better. 
See Brag. 

Hole. A better ’ole. Any situation that is 
preferable to that occupied at present. The 
phrase dates from World War I when it 
originated from a drawing by the humorist 
Bruce Bairnsfather, depicting “Old Bill” 
taking cover in a wet and muddy shell-hole and 
rebutting the complaints of his companion 
with the remark “If you know a better ’ole, 
go to it,” 



Hole 


Holy 


459 


Fox-hole. World War II. A phrase of U.S.A. 
cyrigin for a small slit-trench to hold one man. 

In a hole. In an awkward predicament; in a 
difficulty or a position from which it is not easy 
to extricate oneself. 

It is a hole and corner business. There’s 
something “fishy” about it — it is underhand, 
secret for a bad or shady purpose. 

To make a hole in anything. To consume a 
considerable portion of it. 

To pick holes in. To find fault with; properly, 
to cause some depreciation and then complain 
of it. The older phrase was to pick a hole in 
one's coat. 

And shall such mob as thou, not worth a groat, 
Dare pick a hole in such a great man’s coat? 

Peter Pindar: Epistle to John Nichols. 

Holger Danske (hoi' ger d&n' ske). The national 
hero of Denmark. See Ogier the Dane. 

Holiday. Give the boys a holiday. This custom 
of marking some specially noteworthy event 
is of great antiquity; it is said that Anaxagoras, 
on his death-bed, being asked what honour 
should be conferred upon him, replied, “Give 
the boys a holiday.” 

Holiday speeches. Fine or well-turned 
speeches or phrases; complimentary speeches. 
We have also “holiday manners,” “holiday 
clothes.” meaning the best we have. 

With many holiday and lady terms 
He questioned me. 

Henry IV, Pt. 1 , I, iii. 

Holidays of Obligation, days on which 
Roman Catholics are bound to hear Mass and 
rest from servile works. They are: all Sundays, 
Christmas Day, the Circumcision (January 
1st), the Epiphany (January 6th), Ascension 
Day (40th day after Easter Sunday). Corpus 
Christi (Thursday after Trinity Sunday), SS. 
Peter and Paul (June 29th), the Assumption of 
the B.V.M. (August 15th), All Saints (Novem- 
ber 1st), the Immaculate Conception (Decem- 
ber 8th), St. Joseph (March 19th). The last 
two are not observed in England and Wales; 
Epiphany, Corpus Christi, SS. Peter and Paul, 
and St. Joseph are not kept in the U.S.A. 

Holland, the cloth, is so called because it was 
originally manufactured in, and imported 
from, Holland; its full name was Holland cloth. 

Hollands, or properly Hollands gin, is the 
Dut. Hollandsch geneveer. 

Hollow. I beat him hollow. Completely, 
thoroughly. Hollow is, perhaps, here a corrup- 
tion of wholly. 

Holly. The custom of decking the interiors of 
churches and houses with holly at Christmas- 
time is of great antiquity, and was probably 
employed by the early Christians at Rome in 
imitation of its use by the Romans in the great 
festival of the Saturnalia, which occurred at 
the same season of the year. 

Hollyhock is the O.E. holihoc , the holy mallow , 
i.e . the marsh-mallow. It is a mistake to derive 
the second syllable from oak. 

Holmes. See Sherlock Holmes. 


Hply. Holy Alliance. A league framed by 
Russia, Austria, and Prussia in 1815 to regu- 
late the affairs of Europe after the fall of 
Napoleon “by the principles of Christian 
charity” — meaning that every endeavour 
would be made to stabilize the existing 
dynasties and to resist all change. It lasted until 
1830, and was joined by all the European 
sovereigns except George III, the Sultan of 
Turkey and the Pope. 

Holy Boys, The. See Regimental Nick- 
names. 

Holy City. That city which the religious 
consider most especially connected with their 
faith, thus: 

Allahabad is the Holy City of the Moslems of India. 

Benares of the Hindus. 

Cuzco of the ancient Incas. 

Fez of the Western Arabs. 

Jerusalem of the Jews and Christians. 

Kairwan near Tunis contains the Okbar Mosque 
in which is the tomb of the prophet’s barber. 

Mecca and Medina as the places of the birth and 
burial of Mohammed. 

Moscow and Kiev of the Russians, the latter being 
the cradle of Christianity in Russia. 

Holy Coat. See Treves. 

Holy Cross (or Holy Rood) Day. September 
14th, the day of the Feast of the Exaltation of 
the Cross, called by the Anglo-Saxons “Rood- 
mass-day,” commemorating the return of the 
true Cross to Jerusalem by the Emperor 
Heraclius in 627, after retaking it from the 
Persians who had carried it off thirteen years 
before. 

It was on this day that the Jews in Rome 
used to be compelled to go to church, and 
listen to a sermon — a custom done away with 
about 1840 by Pope Gregory XVI. See 
Browning’s Holy Cross Day (1855). 

Holy Family. The infant Saviour and His 
attendants, as Joseph, Mary, Elisabeth ? Anne 
the mother of Mary, and John the Baptist. All 
five figures are not always introduced in 
pictures of the “Holy Family.” 

Holy Ghost, The. The third Person of the 
Trinity, the Divine Spirit; represented in art as 
a dove. 

The seven gifts of the Holy Ghost are: 
(1) counsel, (2) the fear of the Lord, (3) 
fortitude, (4) piety, (5) understanding, (6) wis- 
dom, and (7) knowledge. 

The Order of the Holy Ghost. A French order 
of knighthood ( Ordre du Saint-Esprit ), 
instituted by Henri III in 1578 to replace the 
Order of St. Michael. It was limited to 100 
knights, and has not been revived since the 
revolution of 1830. 

The Procession of the Holy Ghost. See 
Filioque controversy. 

The Sin against the Holy Ghost. Much has 
been written about this sin, the definition of 
which has been based upon several passages 
in the Gospels such as Matthew xii, 31, 32. No 
conclusion has been reached upon the true 
meaning. In his Lavengro Borrow draws a 
graphic picture of the fear inspired by this 
threat. 


Holy Isle 


460 


Home Counties 


Holy Isle. Lindisfarne, in the North Sea, 
about eight miles from Berwick-upon-Tweed. 
Chosen by St. Aidan in 635 as the head of this^ 
diocese, and (685-87) the see of St. Cuthbert, it 
is now in the diocese of Durham. The ruins 
of the old cathedral are still visible. 

Ireland was called the Holy Island on 
account of its numerous saints. 

Guernsey was so called in the 10th century in 
consequence of the great number of monks 
residing there. 

Holy Land, The. 

(1) Christians call Palestine the Holy Land, 
because it was the site of Christ’s birth, 
ministry, and death. 

(2) Mohammedans call Mecca the Holy 
Land, because Mohammed was born there. 

(3) The Chinese Buddhists call India the 
Holy Land, because it was the native land of 
Sakya-muni, the Buddha (q.v.). 

( 4 ) The Greeks considered Elis as Holy 
Land, from the temple of Olympian Zeus and 
the sacred festival held there every four years. 

Holy League, The. A combination formed by 
Pope Julius II in 1511 with Venice, Maxi- 
milian of Germany, Ferdinand III of Spain, 
and various Italian princes, to drive the French 
out of Italy. 

Other leagues have been called by the same 
name, particularly that formed in the reign 
of Henri III of France (1576), under the 
auspices of Henri de Guise, “for the defence of 
the Holy Catholic Church against the en- 
croachments of the reformers,” i.e. for 
annihilating the Huguenots. 

Holy Maid of Kent, The. Elizabeth Barton 
(c. 1506-34) who incited the Roman Catho- 
lics to resist the Reformation, and imagined 
that she acted under inspiration. Having 
announced the doom and speedy death of 
Henry VIII for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, 
she was hanged at Tyburn in 1 534. 

Holy of Holies. The innermost apartment of 
the Jewish temple, in which the ark of the 
covenant was kept, and into which only the 
high priest was allowed to enter, and that but 
once a year on the Day of Atonement. Hence, 
a private apartment, a sanctum sanctorum (q.v.). 

Holy Office, The. See Inquisition. 

Holy Orders. See Orders. 

Holy places. Places in which the chief 
events of our Saviour’s life occurred, such as 
the supper-room, Gethsemane, the sepulchre, 
the Church of the Ascension, and so on. 

Holy Roman Empire, The. The name given 
to the confederation of Central European 
States that subsisted, either in fact or in theory, 
from a.d. 800, when Charlemagne was 
crowned Emperor of the West, until 1806. It 
was first called “Holy” by Barbarossa, in 
allusion both to its reputed divine appoint- 
ment, and to the inter-dependence of Empire 
and Church; it comprised the German-speak- 
ing peoples of Central Europe, and was ruled 
by an elected Emperor, who claimed to be the 
representative of the ancient Roman Emperors. 

After the defeat of Austerlitz the Habsburg 
Emperor lost even the semblance of authority 


over the greater part of the Empire, and the 
constitution of this ancient estate ceased/to 
exist even in name. At Napoleon’s biddirtg 
Francis II published an Act (1806) declaring 
himself Emperor of Austria and abdicating 
from the throne of an outworn and dishonoured 
fiction — the Holy Roman Empire — which was 
justly stigmatized by a contemporary as being 
neither Holy, nor Roman nor an Empire. 

Holy Rood Day. See Holy Cross Day. 

Holy Thursday. An old name in England for 
Ascension Day (q.v.), i.e. the Thursday but one 
before Whitsun. By Roman Catholics and 
others Maundy Thursday (^.v.), i.e. the 
Thursday before Good Friday, is called “Holy 
Thursday.” See also In Ccna Domini. 

Holy Saturday. See Holy Week. 

Holy War. A war in which religious fanati- 
cism plays, or purports to play, a considerable 
part. The Crusades, the Thirty Years’ War, the 
wars against the Albigenses, etc., were so 
called. 

The Jehad or Holy War of the Moslems, is a 
call to the whole Islamic world to take arms 
against the Unbelievers. 

John Bunyan’s Holy War , published in 1682, 
tells the story of the assault of the armies of 
Satan against the citadel of Mansoul. 

Holy Water. Water blessed by a priest or 
bishop for sacramental purposes. Its principal 
use is at the Asperges , or aspersing of the con- 
gregation before High Mass, but it is employed 
in nearly every blessing which the Church gives. 

As the devil loves holy water. Not at all. 

Holy water sprinkler. A military club of 
mediaeval times, set with spikes. So called 
facetiously because it makes the blood to flow 
as water sprinkled by an aspergillum. 

Holy Week. The last week in Lent. It begins 
on Palm Sunday; the fourth day is called “Spy 
Wednesday” (an allusion to Judas Iscariot’s 
spying on Jesus preparatory to betraying him); 
tne fifth is “Maundy Thursday” (q.v.)\ the 
sixth is “Good Friday”; and the last “Holy 
Saturday” or the “Great Sabbath.” 

Holy Week has been called Hebdomada Muta 
(Silent Week); Hebdomada Inofficiosa (Vacant Week); 
Hebdomada Penitentialis\ Hebdomada Indulgent ice \ 
Hebdomada Luctuosa ; Hebdomada Nigra ; and Heb- 
domada Ultima . 

Holy Writ. The Bible. 

Homburg. A soft felt hat popularized by 
Edward VII. It was originally made in Hom- 
burg in Prussia where the King “took the 
waters.” 

Home. At home. At one’s own house and 
prepared to receive visitors. An at home is a 
more or less informal reception for which 
arrangements have been made. To be at home 
to somebody is to be ready and willing to 
receive him; to be at home with a subject is to 
be familiar with it, quite conversant with it. 

Home Counties. Those counties nearest 
London — Kent, Surrey, Essex, Middlesex, and 
sometimes Hertfordshire and Sussex are 
included. 




Home Rule 


461 


Honeymoon 


Home Rule, now a mere skeleton in the 
British political cupboard, was half a century 
ago a problem that called forth the fiercest 
passions. The Irish movement for constitu- 
tional self-government was to the forefront 
from 1870 until 1920. The Home Rulers 
formed a party in Parliament led by Isaac 
Butt (1813-79) and then by C. S. Parnell 
(1846-91). They were about 80 strong, kept 
themselves free from all political alliances or 
bonds and pursued a policy of obstruction. In 
1885 W. E. Gladstone took up their cause, but 
his first Home Rule Bill (1886) was thrown out 
by the Commons; his second Bill (1893) was 
thrown out by the Lords and it was not until 
1914 that a third Home Rule Bill was passed 
into law. The outbreak of World War I post- 
poned the putting of the Act into operation; 
the Easter rising of 1916 and the growth of 
Sinn Fein made Home Rule, as such, a thing 
of the past, and Eire gained her independence 
by a new measure enacted by Parliament in 
1920. 

Home, sweet home. This popular English 
song first appeared in the opera Claris the 
Maid of Milan (Co vent Garden, 1823). The 
words were by John Howard Payne (an 
American), and the music by Sir Henry 
Bishop, who professed to have founded it on 
a Sicilian air. 

Not at home. A familiar locution for “not 
prepared to receive visitors” — or the one who 
is applying for admission; it does not neces- 
sarily mean “away from home.” 

An old story, sometimes attributed to Swift, is that 
once when Scipio Nasica called on the poet Ennius, 
the servant said, “Ennius is not at home,” but Nasica 
could see him plainly in the house. A few days later 
Ennius returned the visit, and Nasica called out, “Not 
at home.” Ennius instantly recognized the voice, and 
remonstrated. “You are a nice fellow” (said Nasica); 
“why, I believed your slave, and you won’t believe 
me.” 

One’s long home. The grave. 

Man goeih to his long home, and the mourners go 
about the streets. — EccJes. xii, 5. 

To come home to one. To reach one’s heart; 
to become thoroughly understood or realized. 

I doe now publish my Essaycs; which, of all my 
other workes, have been most Currant: For that, as it 
seems they come home, to Mens Businesse, and 
Bosomes. — Bacon: Epistle Dedicatorie to the 
“ Essayes ” (1625). 

To come home to roost. Usually said of a lie, 
fault, hidden sin, etc., which eventually re- 
bounds to the discomfiture of its originator. 

To make oneself at home. To dispense with 
ceremony in another person’s house, to act as 
though one were at home. 

Who goes home? When the House of 
Commons breaks up at night the door-keeper 
asks this question of the members. In bygone 
days all members going in the direction of the 
Speaker’s residence went in a body to see him 
safe home. The question is still asked, but is 
a mere relic of antiquity. 

Homer (ho' m6r). From the time of the Greeks 
until the late 18th century it was the general 
belief that a poet called Homer, of whom 
nothing was known and only unverifiable 
traditions existed, was nevertheless the author 


of the Iliad (q.v.) and the Odyssey (q.v.). In 
1795 the German scholar F. A. Wolf began 
the controversy known as the “Homeric 
question” by contending that the Iliad and 
the Odyssey were groups of songs put together 
500 years after they were composed; and since 
then there have been several schools of thought, 
one strongly contending that the two epics 
were composed by two different poets, a theory 
coming down from antiquity. Modern scholar- 
ship seems more or less agreed that the two 
poems were the work of Homer (though they 
contain interpolations), that he lived in the 
late 8th century b.c., and that his locality was 
either Chios or Smyrna. Tradition assigns 
five other places of his birth: Rhodes, Colo- 
phon, Salamis, Argos, and Athens {and see 
Maeonides; Scio’s Blind Old Bard). 

Milton has been called the English Homer, 
Ossian the Gaelic Homer, and Plato the Homer 
of philosophers; Byron called Fielding the 
prose Homer of human nature, and Dryden 
said that “Shakespeare was the Homer, or 
father, of our dramatic poets.” 

The Casket Homer. An edition corrected by 
Aristotle, which Alexander the Great always 
carried about with him, and laid under his 
pillow at night with his sword. After the battle 
of Arbela, a golden casket richly studded with 
gems was found in the tent of Darius; and 
Alexander being asked to what purpose it 
should be assigned, replied, “There is but one 
thing in the world worthy of so costly a 
depository,” saying which he placed therein 
his edition of Homer. 

Homer a cure for the ague. See Ague. 

Homer sometimes nods. Even the best of us 
is liable to make mistakes. The line is from 
Horace’s De Arte Poetica (359): — 

Quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus! 

Verum open longo fas est obrepere somnum. 

(Sometimes good Homer himself even nods; but 
in so long a work it is allowable if there should be a 
drowsy interval or so.) 

Homeric laughter. Irrepressible laughter; 
the reference is to the Iliad , Bk. I: “helpless 
laughter seized the happy gods.” 

Homoeopathy (ho mi op' & thi) (Gr. homoios 
pathos , like disease). The plan of curing a 
disease by minute doses of a medicine which 
would in healthy persons produce the disease. 
The theory was first formulated and practised 
by Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), a German 
physician. 

Honey. An expression of endearment (with 
allusion to sweetness), formerly common, and 
recently revived. 

Him thinketh verraily that he may see 
Noe’s flood come walwing as the see 
To drenchen Alisoun, his hony dere. 

Chaucer: Miller * s Tale t 429. 

Honeydew. A sweet substance found on the 
leaves of lime-trees and some other plants. 
Bees and ants are fond of it. It is the excretion 
of Aphoid insects, and gets its popular name 
from its great sweetness coupled with its dew- 
like appearance. 

Honeymoon. The first month after marriage, 
especially that part of it spent away from home. 



le 


462 


Hoodman Blind 


It appears to have been an ancient custom to 
drink a dilution of honey for thirty days after 
marriage — i.e. a moon’s cycle, hence the name. 
Attila is said to have drunk so liberally of this 
potion that he died of suffocation in a.d. 453. 

Honeysuckle. See Misnomers. 

Hong Merchants. Those Chinese merchants 
who, under licence from the government of 
China, held the monopoly of trade with 
Europeans until 1842, when the restriction was 
abolished by the Treaty of Nanking. The 
Chinese applied the word hong to the foreign 
factories situated at Canton. 

Honi soit qui mal y pense (on' e swa ke mal e 
pons). The motto of the Most Noble Order of 
the Garter (a.v.). The common rendering of 
the motto as '‘Evil be to him who evil thinks” 
has little meaning. A better rendering is, 
“Shame to him who thinks evil of it.” 

Honky-tonk (hong 7 ki tongk). An American 
slang term for a brothel, a disreputable night- 
club or low roadhouse. 

Honorificabilitudinitatibus (on or if i ka 'bil i 
tu' din i tat' i bus). A made-up word on the 
Lat. honorificabilitudo, honourableness, which 
frequently occurs in Elizabethan plays as an 
instance of sesquipedalian pomposity. 

Thou art not so long by the head as honoriflcabili- 
tudinitatibus. — Shakespeare: Love's Labour's Lost , 
V,i. 

See Long Words. 

Honour. In feudal law, a superior seigniory, on 
which other lordships or manors depended by 
the performance of customary services. At 
bridge, the honours are the five highest trump 
cards — ace, king, queen, knave, and ten. 

An affair of honour. A dispute to be settled 
by a duel. Duels were generally provoked by 
offences against the arbitrary rules of etiquette, 
courtesy, or feeling, called the laws “of 
honour”; and, as these offences were not 
recognizable in the law courts, they were 
settled by private combat. 

Crushed by his honours. The allusion is to 
the legend of the Roman damsel, Tarpeia, who 
agreed to open the gates of Rome to King 
Tatius, provided his soldiers would give her 
the ornaments which they wore on their arms. 
As they entered they threw their shields on her 
and crushed her, saying as they did so, “These 
are the ornaments worn by Sabines on their 
arms.” 

Draco, the Athenian legislator, was crushed 
to death in the theatre of Angina, by the 
number of caps and cloaks showered on him by 
the audience, as a mark of their high apprecia- 
tion of his merits. A similar story is told of 
the mad Emperor, Elagabalus (q.v.), who 
smothered the leading citizens of Rome with 
roses. 

Debts of honour. Debts contracted by betting 
or gambling, so called because these debts 
cannot be enforced as such by law. 

Honours of war. The privilege allowed to an 
enemy, on capitulation, of being permitted 
to retain his offensive arms. This is the 
highest honour a victor can pay a vanquished 


foe. Sometimes the troops so treated are 
allowed to march with all their arms, drums 
beating, and colours flying. 

Laws of honour. Certain arbitrary rules which 
the fashionable world tacitly admits; they 
wholly regard deportment, and have nothing 
to do with moral offences. Breaches of this code 
are punished by expulsion or suspension from 
society, “sending to Coventry” (q.v.). 

Legion of Honour. See Legion. 

Point of honour. An obligation which is 
binding because its violation would offend 
some conscientious scruple or notion of self- 
respect. 

Word of honour. A gage which cannot be 
violated without placing the breaker of it 
beyond the pale of respectability and good 
society. 

Honourable. A title of honour accorded in the 
United Kingdom to the younger sons of earls 
and the children of viscounts, of barons and 
life peers, to maids of honour, the Lord 
Provost of Glasgow, justices of the High Court 
except lords justices and justices of appeal. In 
the House of Commons one member speaks of 
another as “the honourable member for — 

In U.S.A. honourable is a courtesy title applied 
to persons of distinction in legal or civic life. 
See also Right Honourable. 

Honourable Artillery Company. A very 
ancient regiment in the British Army, having 
been founded by Henry VIII in 1537, as the 
Guild of St. George. Since 1641 it has occupied 
its training ground near Bunhill Fields. In 
Tudor and Stuart days the officers for the 
Trained Bands of London were supplied by 
the H.A.C., in whose ranks Milton, Wren, and 
Samuel Pepys served at one time or another. 
It has the privilege of marching through the 
City with fixed bayonets. 

In 1638 Robert Keayne, a member of the 
London company, founded the Ancient and 
Honourable Artillery Company of Boston, 
Mass., the oldest military unit in the U.S.A. 

Hooch. An American slang term for whisky or 
crude raw spirits, often made surreptitiously 
or obtained illegally. The word comes from 
the Alaskan Indian hoochinoo , a crude 
distilled liquor. 

Hood. The hood (or cowl) does not make the 
monk. It is a man’s way of life, not what he 
professes to be, that really matters; from the 
Latin Cucullus non facit monachum. 

The origin of the phrase is probably to be 
found in these lines from St. Anselm’s Carmen 
de Contemptu Mundi (11th cent.): — 

Non tonsura facit monachum, non horrida vestis; 

Sed virtus animi, perpetuusque rigor. 

Hood, Robin. See Robin Hood. 

Hoodlum (American slang). A rough hooligan. 
The word was originally confined to the 
particular variety native to San Francisco. 

Hoodman Blind. Now called "Blindman’s 
Buff.” 

What devil was’t 

That thus hath cozened you at hoodman blind? 

Hamlet , III, iv. 


Hoo-doo 


463 


Horn 


Hoo-doo. Originating from Voodoo (<?.v.), this 
term is applied to any person or object that 
is supposed to bring bad luck. 

Hook. Above your hook. Beyond your compre- 
hension; beyond your mark. The allusion is 
perhaps to hat-pegs placed in rows, the higher 
rows being beyond the reach of small statures. 

By hook or crook. Either rightfully or wrong- 
fully; somehow; one way or another. 

There is more than one attempted explana- 
tion of the phrase; it is probable, however, 
that it derives from an old manorial custom 
which authorized tenants to take as much 
firewood from the hedges, etc., as could be 
cut with a crook or bill-hook, and as much 
low timber as could be reached down from 
the boughs by a shepherd’s crook. 

Dynmure Wood was ever open and common to the 
. . . inhabitants of Bodmin ... to bear away upon 
their backs a burden of lop, crop, hook, crook, and 
bag wood. — Bodmin Register ( 1 525). 

He Is off the hooks. Done for, laid on the 
shelf, superseded, dead. The bent pieces of iron 
on which the hinges of a gate rest and turn 
are called hooks. 

Hook, line, and sinker. To swallow a tale 
hook, line, and sinker is to be extremely 
gullible, like the hungry fish that swallows not 
only the baited hook, but the lead weight and 
some of the line as well. 

A hook-up is a radio term for an arrange- 
ment of wiring for extended transmission or 
reception; it is applied to a network of radio 
stations connected for the transmission of the 
same programme. 

Hook it! Take your hook! Sling your hook! 
Be off! Be off about your business! 

On one’s own hook. On one’s own responsi- 
bility or account. An angler’s phrase. 

With a hook at the end. “My assent is given 
with a hook at the end” means that it is given 
with a mental reservation. In some parts it 
is still the custom for a witness when he swears 
falsely to crook his finger into a sort of hook, 
and this is supposed sufficient to annul the 
perjury. It is a crooked oath, an oath “with a 
nook at the end.” Cp . Over the left , under 
Left. 

Hookey Walker. See Walker. 

Hooky. To play hooky is to play truant, 
especially from school. 

Hooligan. A violent young rough. The term 
originated in the last years of the 19th century 
from the name of one of this class. From it is 
derived the substantive hooliganism. 

The original Hooligans were a spirited Irish family 
of that name whose proceedings enlivened the drab 
monotony of life in Southwark towards the end of the 
19th century. The word is younger than the Australian 
larrikin , of doubtful origin, but older than Fr. apache. 
—Ernest Weekley: Romance of Words (1912). 

Hooped Pots. Drinking pots at one time were 
marked with bands, or hoops, set at equal 
distances, so that when two or more drank 
from the same tankard no one should take 
more than his share. Jack Cade promises his 
followers that “seven halfpenny loaves shall 


be sold for a penny; the three-hooped pot 
shall have ten hoops; and I will make it felony 
to drink small beer.” {Henry VI, Pt. If IV, ii.) 

I beleeve hoopes in quart pots were invented to that 
ende, that every man should take his hoope, and no 
more.— Nash: Pierce Pennllesse (1592). 

Hoosegow (hooz' gou), in American slang, a 
gaol. The word comes from the Mexican- 
Spanish juzgado, a court of justice. 

Hoosler (hoo' zh6r). An inhabitant of the State 
of Indiana, the Hoosier State. The origin of 
the name is now unknown, it is doubtless that 
of some forgotten local magnate or character. 

Hop. To hop the twig. Usually, to die; but 
sometimes to run away from one’s creditors, as 
a bird eludes a fowler. 

There are numerous phrases to express the 
cessation of life; for example, “to kick the 
bucket”; “to lay down one’s knife and fork”; 
“to peg out” (from cribbage); “to be snuffed 
out” (like a candle); “to throw up the sponge”; 
“to fall asleep”; “to enter Charon’s boat”; 
“to join the majority”; and “to give up the 
ghost.” 

Hop-o’-my-Thumb. A pygmy or midget. 
The name has been given to several dwarfs, as 
well as being commonly used as a generic 
term. Tom Thumb in the well-known nursery 
tale is quite another character. He was the son 
of peasants, knighted by King Arthur, and 
killed by a spider. 

Plaine friend, Hop-o’-my-Thurab, know you who 
we are ? — Taming of a Shrew (Anon., 1594). 

Hope. See Pandora’s Box. 

Thomas Campbell (1777-1844) was known 
as The Bard of Hope, on account of his poem, 
“The Pleasures of Hope” (1799). 

Hopkinsians (hop kin' zianz). A sect of Inde- 
pendent Calvinists who followed the teaching 
of Samuel Hopkins (1721-1803), a minister at 
Newport, Rhode Island, whose System of 
Divinity was published shortly before his 
death. The particular tenet of the system is that 
true holiness consists in disinterested benevo- 
lence, and that all sin is selfishness. 

Horace. The Roman lyric poet, bom 65 b.c., 
died 8 B.c. 

Horace of England. George, Duke of 
Buckingham, preposterously declared Cowley 
to be the Pindar, Horace, and Virgil of England. 
Ben Jonson was nicknamed Horace by Dekker 
in the so-called “War of the Theatres.” 

Horace of France. Jean Macrinus or Salmon 
1490-1557); and Pierre Jean de Beranger 
1780-1857), also called the French Burns. 

Horace of Spain. The brothers Lupercio 
(1559-1613) and Bartolom6 Argensola (1562- 
1631). 

Horn. Astolpho’s horn. Logistilla gave Astolpho 
at parting a horn that had the virtue of being 
able to appal and put to flight the boldest 
knight or most savage beast. (Ariosto: Orlando 
Furioso , Bk. VIII.) 

Cape Horn. So named by Schouten, a Dutch 
mariner, who first doubled it (1616). He was a 
native of Hoorn, in north Holland, and named 
the cape after his native place. 


Horn 


464 


Horoscope 


The Horn gate. See Dreams, Gates of. 

Horn of fidelity. Morgan le Fay sent a horn 
to King Arthur, which had the following 
“virtue* r : — No lady could drink out of it who 
was not “to her husband true”; all others who 
attempted to drink were sure to spill what it 
contained. This horn was carried to King 
Mark, and “his queene with a hundred ladies 
more” tried the experiment, but only four 
managed to “drinke cleane.” Ariosto’s en- 
chanted cup possessed a similar spell. 

Horn of plenty. Amalthea’s horn (<?.v.), the 
cornucopia, an emblem of plenty. 

Ceres is drawn with a ram’s horn in her left 
arm, filled with fruits and flowers; sometimes 
they are being poured on the earth, and some- 
times they are piled high in the horn as in a 
basket. Diodorus (III, 68) says the horn is one 
from the head of the goat by which Jupiter 
was suckled. 

Horn with horn or horn under horn. The 

promiscuous feeding of bulls and cows, or, 
in fact, all horned beasts that are allowed to 
run together on the same common. 

King Horn. See under King. 

Moses’ Horns. See Moses. 

My horn hath He exalted (I Sam. ii, 10; Ps. 
lxxxix, 24, etc.). He has given me the victory, 
increased my sway. Thus, Lift not up your horn 
on high (Ps. lxxv, 5) means, do not behave 
scornfully, maliciously, or arrogantly. In these 
passages “horn” symbolizes power, and its 
exaltation signifies victory or deliverance. In 
Daniel’s vision (Dan. vii) the “fourth beast, 
dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly,” 
had ten horns, symbolical of its great might. 

The horns of a dilemma. See Dilemma. 

To come (or be squeezed) out at the little end 
of the horn. To come off badly in some affair; 
get the worst of it; fail conspicuously. 

To draw in one’s horns. To retrench, to 
curtail one’s expenditure; to retract, or miti- 
gate, a pronounced opinion; to restrain pride. 
The allusion is to the snail. 

To make horns at. To thrust out the fist with 
the first and fourth fingers extended, the others 
doubled in. This ancient gesture, now more 
common in Latin countries than in England, 
was employed as an insult to the person at 
whom it was directed, as implying that he was a 
cuckold. 

He would have laine withe the Countess of Notting- 
hame, making horns in derision at her husband the 
Lord High Admiral. — Sir E. Peynton: The Divine 
Catastrophe of the . . . House of Stuart , 1652. 

To put to the horn. To denounce as a rebel, 
or pronounce a person an outlaw, for not 
answering to a summons. In Scotland the 
messenger-at-arms used to go to the Cross or 
Edinburgh and give three blasts with a horn 
before he proclaimed judgment of outlawry. 

To show one’s horns. To let one’s evil 
intentions appear. The allusion, like that in 
“to show the cloven hoof,” is to the Devil — 
“Old Hornie.” 

To take the bull by the horns. See Bull. 


To the horns of the altar. Usque ad aras 
amicus. Your friend even to the horns of the 
altar — i.e. through thick and thin. In swearing, 
the ancient Romans held the horns of the altar, 
and one who did so in testimony of friendship 
could not break his oath without calling on 
himself the vengeance of the angry gods. 

The altar in Solomon’s temple had a pro- 
jection at each of the four corners called 
“horns”; these were regarded as specially 
sacred, and probably typified the great might 
of God ( cp . above). 

To wear the horns. To be a cuckold. This old 
term is possibly connected with the chase. In 
the rutting season one stag selects several 
females, who constitute his harem, till another 
stag contests the prize with him. If beaten he 
is without associates till he finds a stag feebler 
than himself, who is made to submit to similar 
terms. As stags are horned, and have their 
mates taken from them by their fellows, the 
application is palpable. 

Another explanation is that it is due 
to the practice formerly prevalent of planting or en- 
grafting the spurs of a castrated cock on the root of 
the excised comb, where they grew and became horns, 
sometimes of several inches long. 

In support of this it is noteworthy that 
Hahnrei . the German equivalent for cuckold , 
originally signified a capon. See Actaeon. 

Auld Hornie. The devil, so called in Scotland. 
The allusion is to the horns with which Satan 
is generally represented. 

O thou! whatever title suits thee, 

Auld Hornie, Satan, Nick, or Clootie. 

Burns: Address to the Deil. 

Hom-book. A thin board of oak about nine 
inches long and five or six wide, on which were 
printed the alphabet, the nine digits, and 
sometimes the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, and 
the Angelic Salutation. Horn-books were in 
use in elementary schools for the poor when 
books were scarce and expensive, and survived 
well into the 18th century. They had a handle, 
and were covered in front with a sheet of thin 
horn; the back was often ornamented with a 
rude sketch of St. George and the Dragon. See 
Chriss-cross Row. 

Death and Doctor Hornbook. In this satire 
by Robert Burns “Doctor Hornbook” stands 
for John Wilson the apothecary, whom the 
poet met at the Tarbolton Masonic Lodge. 

Horner, Little Jack. See Jack. 

Hornpipe. The dance is so called because it 
used to be danced to the pib-corn or hornpipe , 
an instrument consisting of a pipe each end of 
which was made of horn. In his Dictionary 
Johnson mistakenly said that it was “danced 
commonly to a horn .” 

Hornswog^le, To. U.S.A. slang meaning to 
cheat. Variants are honeyfackle , honey foggle. 

Horoscope. The figure or diagram of the 
twelve houses of heaven, showing the positions 
of the planets at a given time. The horoscope is 
used by astrologers for calculating nativities 
and working out the answers to various horary 
questions. See Houses, Astrological. The 
word (Greek) means the “hour-scrutinized,” 
because it is the disposition of the heavens at 
the exact hour of birth which is examined. 




Hors de combat 


465 


Horse 


Hors de combat (or de kom' ba) (Fr. out of 
battle). Incapable of taking any further part 
in the fight. 

He ( l.e . Cobbett) levels his antagonists, he lays his 
friends low, and puts his own party hors de combat . — 
Hazutt: Table Talk. 

Hors d’ceuvre (or dervr) (Fr. outside the work). 
A relish served at the beginning of a dinner as 
a whet to the appetite, not as an integral part 
of the meal. In French the expression is also 
used in architecture for an outbuilding or out- 
work, and as a literary term for a digression or 
interpolated episode. 

Horse. According to classical mythology, 
Poseidon (Neptune) created the horse; and, 
according to Virgil, the first person that drove 
a four-in-hand was Erichthonius. 

A dark horse. A horse whose merits as a 
racer are not known to the general public; 
hence, a person who keeps his true capabilities 
to himself till he can produce them to the best 
advantage. 

A horse of another colour. A different affair 
altogether. 

A horse wins a kingdom. It is said that on the 
death of Smerdis (522 b.c.), the several 
competitors for the throne of Persia agreed 
that he should be king whose horse neighed 
first when they met on the day following. The 
groom of Darius showed his horse a mare on 
the place appointed, and as soon as it arrived 
at the spot on the following day the horse 
began to neigh, and won the crown for its 
master. 

A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse. 

Said of one who is determined not to take a 
hint, or to see a point; also used with the 
contrary meaning, viz. “I grasp your meaning, 
though you speak darkly of what you purpose; 
but mum’s the word.” 

A Trojan horse. A deception, a concealed 
danger. See Wooden Horse of Troy. 

As strong as a horse. Very strong. Horse is 
often used with intensive effect; as, to work , or 
to eat , like a horse. 

Directions for riding and driving. 

Up a hill hurry not, 

Down a hill flurry not. 

On level ground spare him not. 

On a Milestone near Kichmond, Yorks. 

Don’t look a gift-horse in the mouth. See Gift- 
horse. 

Flesh-eating horses. The horses of Diomed, 
tyrant of Thrace (not Diomede, son of Tydeus) 
who fed his horses on the strangers who visited 
his kingdom. Hercules vanquished the tyrant, 
and gave the carcass to the horses to eat. 

Flogging the dead horse. Trying to revive 
interest in a subject that is out of date. 

Hold your horses. Don’t be in such a hurry; 
keep your temper. 

Horse and foot. The cavalry and infantry; 
hence all one’s forces; with all one’s might. 

1 will win the horse or lose the saddle. Neck or 
nothing; double or quits. The story is that a 
man made the bet of a horse that another 


could not say the Lord’s Prayer without a 
wandering thought. The bet was accepted, 
but before half-way through the person who 
accepted the bet looked up and said, “By the 
by, do you mean the saddle also?” 

Light-horse Harry. Nickname of Henry Lee 
(1756-1818), a cavalry officer who defeated the 
British at Paulus Hook in the War of Inde- 
pendence. His son was Robert E. Lee. 

One-horse town. American slang for a very 
small town; a phrase derived from the days 
when a small community would possess only 
one horse. Now used figuratively, and in other 
connexions, “a one-horse show,” “a one- 
horse affair,” etc. 

One man may steal a horse, while another 
may not look over the hedge. Some people are 
specially privileged, and can take liberties, or 
commit crimes, etc., with impunity, while 
others get punished for very trivial offences. An 
old proverb; given by Heywood (1546). 

Riding the wooden horse. Being strapped to a 
wooden contrivance shaped something like a 
horse’s back and flogged. An old form of 
military punishment. 

Straight from the horse’s mouth. Direct from 
the highest authority, which cannot be 
questioned. The only certain way of discover- 
ing the age of a horse is by examining its lower 
jaw. 

The grey mare is the better horse. See Mare. 

The brazen horse. See Cambuscan. 

Hie fifteen points of a good horse — 

A good horse sholde have three propyrtees of a 
man, three of a woman, three of a foxe, three of a hare, 
and three of an asse. 

Of a man. Bolde, prowde, and hafdye. 

Of a woman. Fay re-breasted, fairc of haice, and easy 
to move. 

Of a foxe. A fair taylle, short eers, with a good 
trotte. 

Of a hare . A grate eye, a dry head, and well ren- 
nynge. 

Of an asse. A bygge chynn, a flat legge, and a good 
hoof. — Wynkyn de Worde (1496). 

The Wooden Horse, a nickname for the 
scaffold, as also 

A horse that was foaled of an acorn, as appears 
in Ray’s Proverbs , 1678. 

They cannot draw (or set) horses together. 
They cannot agree together. 

’Tis a good horse that never stumbles. 
Everyone makes mistakes sometimes; Homer 
sometimes nods. 

To back the wrong horse. To make an error 
in judgment, and suffer for it. A phrase from 
the Turf. 

To be on one’s high horse, to ride the high 
horse. To be overbearing and arrogant; to give 
oneself airs. Formerly people of high rank rode 
on tall horses or chargers. 

To ride on the horse with ten toes. To walk; 
to ride on Shanks’s mare ( q.v .). 

To set the cart before the horse. See Cart. 

Vale of White Horse. See White Horse. 



Horse 


466 


Horse 


When the horse is stolen, lock the stable door. 
Said in derision when obvious precautions are 
taken after a loss or disaster. The French say, 
Apris la mort , le medecin. 

White horses. A poetic phrase for the white- 
capped breakers as they roll in from the sea. 

O'Donohue’s white horses. Waves which 
come on a windy day, crested with foam. The 
hero reappears every seventh year on May-day, 
and is seen gliding, to sweet but unearthly 
music, over the lakes of Killarney, on his 
favourite white horse. He is preceded by 
groups of fairies, who fling spring flowers in 
his path. Moore has a poem on the subject 
in his Irish Melodies. 

Working with a dead horse. Doing work 
which has been already paid for. Such work 
is a dead horse, because you can get no more 
out of it. 

You can take a horse to the water but you 
cannot make him drink. There is always some 
point at which it is impossible to get an 
obstinate man to proceed farther in the desired 
direction. The proverb is an old one, and is 
found in Hey wood (1846). 

Famous Horses of Myth and History. 

In classical mythology the names given by 
various poets to the horses of Helios, the Sun, 
are: — 

Actceon (effulgence); AEthon (fiery red); 
Amethea (no loiterer); Bronte (thunder); 
Erythreos (red producer); Lampos (shining like 
a lamp; one of the noontide horses); Phlegon 
(the burning one; noontide); and Purocis (fiery 
hot; also noontide). 

Pluto’s horses were: Abas ter (away from the 
stars); Abatos (inaccessible); Aeton (swift as an 
eagle); and Nonios ; and Aurora’s: Abraxas 
(?.v.), Eoos (dawn), and Phcethon (the shining 
one). 

Alborak . See Borak , below. 

Alfana (“mare”). Gradasso’s horse, in 
Orlando Furioso. 

Aquiline (“like an eagle”). Raymond’s steed, 
bred on the banks of the Tagus. (Tasso: 
Jerusalem Delivered.) 

Arion (“martial”). Hercules’ horse, given to 
Adrastus. The horse of Neptune, brought out 
of the earth by striking it with his trident; its 
right feet were those of a man, it spoke with 
a human voice, and ran with incredible 
swiftness. 

Arundel. The horse of Bevis of Ham town, 
or Southampton. The word means “swift as a 
swallow” (Fr. hirondelle). 

Balios (Gr. “swift”). One of the horses given 
by Neptune to Peleus. It afterwards belonged 
to Achilles. Like Xanthos, its sire was the west 
wind, and its dam Swift-foot the harpy. 

Barbary . See Roan Barbary. 

Bavieca. The Cid’s horse. He survived his 
master two years and a half, during which time 
no one was allowed to mount him; and when 
he died he was buried before the gate of the 
monastery at Valencia, and two elms were 
planted to mark the site. 

Bayard (“bay coloured”). The horse of the 
four sons of Aymon, which grew larger or 


smaller as one or more of the four sons 
mounted it. According to tradition, one of the 
footprints may still be seen in the forest of 
Soignes, and another on a rock near Dinant. 

Bayardo (the same name as Bayard above). 
Rinaldo’s horse, of a bright bay colour, once 
the property of Amadis of Gaul. According 
to tradition it is still alive, but flees at the 
approach of man, so that it can never be 
caught. ( Orlando Furioso.) 

Black Agnes. The palfrey of Mary Queen of 
Scots, given her by her brother Moray, and 
named after Agnes of Dunbar. 

Black Bess. The famous mare ridden by the 
highwayman Dick Turpin, which, tradition 
says, carried him from London to York. 

Black Saladin. Warwick’s famous horse, 
which was coal-black. Its sire was Malech, and 
according to tradition, when the race of 
Malech failed, the race of Warwick would fail 
also. And it was so. 

Borak (AD. The mare which conveyed 
Mohammed from earth to the seventh heaven. 
It was milk-white, had the wings of an eagle, 
and a human face, with horse’s cheeks. Every 
pace she took was equal to the farthest range 
of human sight. The word is Arabic for “the 
lightning.” 

Brigadore or Brigliadore (“golden bridle”). 
Sir Guyon’s horse, in Spenser’s Faerie Queene 
(V, ii, etc.). It had a distinguishing black spot 
in its mouth, like a horseshoe. 

Orlando’s famous charger, second only to 
Bayardo in swiftness and wonderful powers, 
had the same name — Brigliadoro. 

Bucephalus (“ox-head”). The celebrated 
charger of Alexander the Great. Alexander was 
the only person who could mount him, and he 
always knelt down to take up his master. He 
was thirty years old at death, and Alexander 
built a city for his mausoleum, which he called 
Bucephala. 

Carman. The Chevalier Bayard’s horse, given 
him by the Duke of Lorraine. It was a Persian 
horse from Kerman or Carmen (Laristan). 

Celer (“swift”). The horse of the Roman 
Emperor Verus. It was fed on almonds and 
raisins, covered with royal purple, and stalled 
in the imperial palace, 

Cerus. The horse of Adrastus, swifter than 
the wind ( Pausanias ). The word means “fit.” 

Copenhagen. Wellington’s charger at Water- 
loo. It died in 1835 at the age of twenty-seven. 
Cp. Marengo. 

Cyllaros. Named from Cylla. In Troas, a 
celebrated horse of Castor or Pollux. 

Dapple. Sancho Panza’s ass in Don Quixote . 
So called from its colour. 

Dinos (“the marvel”). Diomed’s horse. 

Ethon (“fiery”). One of the horses of Hector. 

Fadda. Mohammed’s white mule. 

Ferrant d'Espagne (“the Spanish traveller”). 
The horse of Oliver, one of Charlemagne’s 
paladins. 

Galathe (“cream-coloured”). One of Hector’s 
horses. 

Grant (“grey-coloured”). Siegfried’s horse, 
of marvellous swiftness. 

Grizzle. Dr. Syntax’s horse, all skin and bone; 
in Combe’s Tour of Dr. Syntax , eto. (1812). 




Horse 


467 


Horse Marines 


Haizum. The horse of the archangel Gabriel. 
(Koran.) 

Harpagus (“one that carries off rapidly”). 
One of the horses of Castor and Pollux. 

Hippocampus. One of Neptune’s horses. It 
had only two legs, the hinder quarter being 
that of a dragon or fish. 

Hrimfaxi. The horse of Night, from whose 
bit fall the “rime-drops” which every night 
bedew the earth. (Scandinavian mythology.) 

Incitatus (“spurred-on”). The horse of the 
Roman Emperor Caligula, made priest and 
consul. It had an ivory manger, and drank wine 
out of a golden pail. 

Kant aka. The white horse of Prince Gaut- 
ama, the Buddha (q.v.). 

Lampon (“the bright one”). One of the 
horses of Diomed. 

Lamri. King Arthur’s mare. The word means 
“the curvettcr.” 

Marengo. The white stallion which Napoleon 
rode at Waterloo. It is represented in Vernet’s 
picture of Napoleon Crossing the Alps . Cp. 
Copenhagen. 

Malecii. See Black Saladin above. 

Morocco . Banks’s performing horse, famous 
in the late Elizabethan period, and frequently 
mentioned by the dramatists. Its shoes were of 
silver, and one of its exploits was to mount 
the steeple of old St. Paul’s. 

The Pale Horse. Death. Rev. vi, 8. 

Pegasus (“born near the pege or source of 
the ocean”). The winged horse of Apollo and 
the Muses. Perseus rode him when he rescued 
Andromeda. 

Phallus (“stallion"). The horse of Hcraclius. 

Phrenicos (“intelligent”). The horse of Micro 
of Syracuse, that won the Olympic prize for 
single horses in the seventy-third Olympiad. 

Podarge (“swift-foot"). One of the horses of 
Hector. 

Roan Barbary. The favourite horse of 
Richard II. 

When Bolingbroke rode on Roan Barbary 
That horse that thou so often hast bestrid. 

Richard II, V,v. 

Rosabel le. The favourite palfrey of Mary 
Queen of Scots. 

Rosinante (“formerly a hack"). Don Quix- 
ote’s horse, all skin and bone. 

Saladin. See Black Saladin above. 

Savoy. The favourite black horse of Charles 
VIII of France; so called from the Duke of 
Savoy who gave it him. It had but one eye, and 
“was mean in stature." 

Shibdiz . The Persian Bucephalus, fleeter than 
the wind. It was the charger of Chosroes II of 
Persia. 

Sleipnir. Odin’s grey horse, which had eight 
legs and could traverse either land or sea. The 
horse typifies the wind which blows over land 
and water from eight principal points. 

Sorrel. The horse of William 111, which 
stumbled by catching his foot in a mole-heap. 
This accident ultimately caused the king’s 
death. Sorrel , like Savoy , was blind of one eye, 
and “mean of stature." 

Strymon. The horse immolated by Xerxes 
before he invaded Greece. Named from the 
river Strymon, in Thrace, from which vicinity 
it came. 

Tachebrune. The horse of Ogier the Dane. 


Trebizond. The grey horse pf Guarino^, one 
of the French knights taken at Roncesvalles. 

Vegliantino (“the little vigilant one”). The 
famous steed of Orlando, called in French 
romance Veillantif y Orlando there appearing 
as Roland. 

White Surrey. The favourite horse of 
Richard III. 

Saddle White Surrey for the field to-morrow. 

Richard III , V, iii. 

Xanthus (“golden-hucd”). One of the horses 
of Achilles, who announced to the hero his 
approaching death when unjustly chidden by 
him. Its sire was Zephyros , and dam Podargb. 

Used emblematically. 

In Christian art, the horse is held to represent 
courage and generosity. It is an attribute of St. 
Martin, St. Maurice, St. George, and St. 
Victor, all of whom arc represented on horse- 
back. St. Leon is represented on horseback, 
in pontifical robes, blessing the people. 

In the catacombs, where the horse is a not 
uncommon emblem, it probably typifies the 
transitoriness of life. Sometimes a palm-wreath 
is placed above its head. 

The inn-sign of The White Horse in its 
various forms comes from the heraldic device 
of the House of Hanover, a white horse 
courant. During the reigns of the two first 
Georges a number of country inns and taverns 
exchanged their Stuart signs of Royal Oak, 
Rose, etc., to emblems better fitting the new 
times and dynasty. 

Horse-chestnut. In his Herball (1597) 
Gcrarde tells us that the tree is so called — 

For that the people of the East countries do with 
the fruit thereof cure their horses of the cough . . . 
and such like diseases. 

Another explanation is that when a slip is 
cut off obliquely close to a joint, it presents a 
miniature of a horse’s hock and foot, shoe and 
nails. (Cp. Horse-vetch.) But the use of horse - 
attributively to denote something that is 
inferior, coarse, or unrefined, is quite common. 

Horse Latitudes. A region of calms between 
30° and 35° North; perhaps so called because 
sailing-ships carrying horses to America or 
the West Indies were often obliged to lighten 
the vessel by casting them overboard when 
becalmed in these latitudes. 

Horse-laugh. A coarse, vulgar laugh. 

Horse-leech. A type of insatiable voracity; 
founded on the blood-sucking habits of the 
worm, and the well-known passage in the 
Bible; — 

The horseleach hath two daughters, crying Give, 
give. — Prov. xxx, 15. 

John Marbeck, the commentator, in 1581, 
explains the “two daughters’’— 
that is, two forks in her tongue, which he heere 
calleth her two daughters, whereby she sucketh the 
bloud, and is never saciate. 

Go and tell that to the horse marines! Said 
in derision to the teller of some unbelievable 
yarn or specially “tall” story. The point of the 
jest is the apparent foolishness of putting a 
seaman on horseback; the Royal Marines are 
confined to artillery and infantry, and naturally 
do not include cavalry. To belong to the 
“Horse Marines” means to be an awkward 
lubberly recruit. It is, however, a historical fact 



Horse-milliner 


468 


Host 


that Horse Marjnes have existed from very 
ancient times as honorary horsed militia at- 
tached to the Cinque Ports, and at the time of 
the Armada they were embarked, on July 19th, 
1588, at Hastings to repel any attempted 
invasion. Cp . Marine. 

Horse-milliner. One who makes up and 
supplies decorations for horses; hence a horse- 
soldier more fit for the toilet than the battle- 
field. The expression was used by Chatterton 
in his Excplent Balade of Charitie (Rowley 
Poems), ana Scott revived it. 

Horse-play. Rough play. 

Horse-power. The standard theoretical unit 
of rate of work, equal to the raising of 33,000 
lb. one foot high in one minute. This was fixed 
by Watt, who, when experimenting to find 
some settled way of indicating the power 
exerted by his steam-engine, found that a 
strong dray horse working at a gin for eight 
hours a day averaged 22,000 foot-pounds per 
minute. He increased this by 50 per cent., and 
this, ever since, has been 1 horse-power. 

Horse sense. Practical common sense; the 
term originated in western U.S.A. 

It is lucky to pick up a horseshoe. This is 
from the old notion that a horseshoe nailed to 
the house door was a protection against 
witches. Lord Nelson had one nailed to the 
mast of the ship Victory. 

The legend is that the devil one day asked 
St. Dunstan, who was noted for his skill in 
shoeing horses, to shoe his “single hoof.” 
Dunstan, knowing who his customer was, tied 
him tightly to the wall and proceeded with his 
job, but purposely put the devil to so much pain 
that he roared for mercy. Dunstan at last 
consented to release his captive on condition 
that he would never enter a place where he saw 
a horseshoe displayed. 

In 1251 Walter le Brun, farrier, in the Strand, 
London, was to have a piece of land in the 
parish of St. Clement’s, to place there a forge, 
for which he was to pay the parish six horse- 
shoes, which rent was paid to the Exchequer 
every year, and was for some centuries ren- 
dered to the Exchequer by the Lord Mayor 
and citizens of London, to whom subsequently 
the piece of ground was granted. 

Horse-vetch. The vetch which has pods 
shaped like a horseshoe; sometimes called the 
“horseshoe vetch.” Cp. Horse Chestnut. 

Horse-wrangler. A western American term 
for a breaker-in and herder of horses. 

Hortus Siccus (hor' tus sik' us) (Lat. a dry 
garden). A collection of plants dried and 
arranged in a book. 

Horus (hor' tis). One of the major gods of the 
ancient Egyptians, a blending of Horus the 
Elder, the sun-god (corresponding to the Greek 
Apollo), and Horus the Child (see Harpo- 
crates), the son of Osiris and Isis. He was 
represented in hieroglyphics by a hawk, which 
bird was sacred to him, or as a hawk-headed 
man; and his emblem was the winged sun-disk. 
In many of the myths he is hardly distinguish- 
able from Ra. 

Hospital (Lat. ho spit ale, hospitium , from 
hospes , a guest). Originally a hospice, or hostel 


for the reception of pilgrims, the word came 
to be applied to a charitable institution for the 
aged and infirm (as in Greenwich Hospital , 
Chelsea Hospital ), to similar institutions for 
the education of the young (as in Christ's 
Hospital ), and so, finally, to its present usual 
sense, a place where the sick and wounded are 
cared for, and where medical students gain 
their experience in the treatment of disease, 
etc. The words hostel and hotel are “doublets” 
of hospital. Another common variation is 
hospice. 

Hospitallers (hos' pit &1 erz). First applied to 
those whose duty it was to provide hospitium 
(lodging and entertainment) for pilgrims. The 
most noted institution of the kind was at 
Jerusalem, which gave its name to an order 
called the Knights Hospitallers, or the Knights 
of St. John at Jerusalem; afterwards they were 
styled the Knights of Rhodes, and then 
Knights of Malta (q.v.), the islands of Rhodes 
and Malta being conferred on them at different 
times. 

The first crusade . , . led to the establishment of the 
Christian kingdom of Jerusalem, in 1099. The chief 
strength of the kingdom lay in the two orders of 
military monks — the Templars and the Hospitallers 
or Knights of St. John. — Freeman: General Sketch , 
ch. xi. 

The Grand Priory of the Order of the Hospital 
of St. John of Jerusalem in the British Realm 
(with headquarters at St. John’s Gate, Clerken- 
well) is not connected with the ancient Order. 
It received a Royal Charter of Incorporation 
in 1888, and a supplemental charter (em- 
powering the Grand Prior to establish 
Priories in any part of the British Dominions) 
in 1907, and it exists for the purpose of carrying 
on ambulance and other charitable work. 

At the beginning of World War II the St. 
John Ambulance Brigade combined with the 
British Red Cross Society to form a war 
organization to carry out the work of both 
bodies in connexion with the war; this did 
not affect the status or independence of either 
body in matters unconnected with hostilities, 
and it ceased with the war. 

Host. The consecrated bread of the Eucharist 
is so called in the Latin Church because it is 
regarded as a real victim consisting of flesh, 
blood, and spirit, offered up in sacrifice; so 
called from hostia , the Latin word for a lamb 
when offered up in sacrifice (a larger animal 
was victima). At the Benediction it is exposed 
for adoration or carried in procession in a 
transparent vessel called a “monstrance.” 

The elevation of the Host. The celebrant 
lifting up the consecrated wafers above his 
head, that the people may see the paten and 
adore the Host while his back is turned to 
the congregation. 

Host as an army, a multitude. At the 
breaking up of the Roman Empire the first 
duty of every subject was to follow his lord 
into the field, and the proclamation was 
bannire in hostem (to order out against the foe), 
which soon came to signify “to order out for 
military service,” and hostem facere came to 
mean “to perform military service.” Hostis 
(military service) next came to mean the army 
that went against the foe, whence this word 




Host 


469 


House 


host. Host , one who entertains guests, is from 
Lat. hospesy a guest. 

To reckon without your host. To reckon from 
your own standpoint only; not to take into 
consideration what the other man may do or 
think. 

Found in few minutes, to his cost, 

He did but count without his host. 

Butler: Hudibras , I, iii, 22. 

Hostler or Ostler (os' ler). The name given to 
the man who looked after the horses of travel- 
lers at an inn, was originally the innkeeper, 
hostelier , keeper of an hostelry, himself. The 
so-called derivation of ostler from oat-stealer 
is merely a joke. 

Hot. Hot air. Empty talk, boasting, threats, 
etc. ; bombast. Hence, a hot-air merchant , one 
whose “vaporizings’* are “full of sound and 
fury, signifying nothing’’; a declamatory wind- 
bag. 

Hot and hot. Hot dishes served in succession 
at a meal. 

Hot cockles. A Christmas game. One blind- 
folded knelt down, and being struck had to 
guess who gave the blow. 

Thus poets passing time away. 

Like children at hot-cockles play. (1653.) 

Hot cross buns. See Bun. 

Hot-foot. With speed; fast. 

Hot Jazz is the term used for jazz music 
when the tone is less pure than in “cool” jazz, 
and when vibrato is prominently employed. 

Hot-pot. A dish of mutton or beef with sliced 
potatoes cooked in an oven in a tight-lidded 
pot. A favourite dish in the North of England. 

Hot stuff. Formerly said of a girl or woman 
who indulged in violent flirtations often carried 
beyond the limits of good behaviour. 

I’ll give it him hot and strong. I’ll rate him 
most soundly and severely. To get it hot , to get 
severe punishment. 

HI make this place too hot to hold him. I’ll 
“show him up,” or otherwise make this so 
unpleasant and disagreeable for him that he 
will not be able to stand it. 

Like hot cakes. Very rapidly; as in “The 
goods sold like hot cakes.” 

Not so hot, a slang phrase meaning not so 
good, not very satisfactory. 

To blow hot and cold. See Blow. 

To get into hot water. To get into difficulties, 
or in a state of trouble and anxiety. 

Hotch-pot. This word is used with the same 
significance as hotch-potch (< 7 .v.), but it also 
has a legal use, which descends from Norman 
times in England, and is, apparently, the earlier. 
It meant the amalgamating of landed property 
that had belonged to a person dying intestate 
for the purpose of dividing the whole between 
the heirs in equal, or legal, shares. 

It was also applied to such cases as the 
following: — 

Suppose a father has advanced money to 
one child; at his death this child receives such 
sum as, added to the loan, will make his share 


equal to that of the other members of the 
family. If not content, he must bring into 
hotch-pot the money that was advanced, and 
the whole is then divided amongst all the 
children according to the terms of the will. 

Hotch-potch (Fr. hochepot; hocher , to shake 
together, and pot). A hodge-podge fa.v.); a 
mixed dish; a confused mixture or jumble; a 
thick broth containing meat and vegetables. 

Hotspur. A fiery person who has no control 
over his temper. Harry Percy (1364-1403), son 
of the first Earl of Northumberland ( see 
Henry IV , Pt. /), was so called. The 14th Earl 
of Derby (1799-1869) several times Prime 
Minister, was sometimes called the “ Hotspur of 
debate ,” though he was more generally known 
as the “Rupert of debate.” 

Hound. To hound a person is to persecute him, 
or rather to set on persons to annoy him, as 
hounds are let from the slips at a hare or stag. 

Hour. A bad quarter of an hour. See Quart 

d’heure. 

At the eleventh hour. Just in time not to be 
too late; only just in time to obtain some 
benefit. The allusion is to the parable of 
labourers hired for the vineyard {Matt. xx). 

My hour is not yet come. The time for action 
has not yet arrived; properly, the hour of my 
death is not yet fully come. The allusion is to 
the belief that the hour of one’s death is pre- 
ordained. 

When Jesus knew that his hour was come. — 
John xiii, 1. 

In an evil hour. Acting under an unfortunate 
impulse. In astrology we have our lucky and 
unlucky hours. 

In the small hours of the morning. One, two, 
and three, after midnight. 

To keep good hours. To return home early 
every night; to go to bed betimes. Also, to be 
punctual in attending to one’s work. 

Houri (hoo' ri). One of the black-eyed damsels 
of the Mohammedan Paradise, possessed of 
perpetual youth and beauty, whose virginity is 
renewable at pleasure; fyence, in English use, 
any dark-eyed and attractive beauty. 

Every believer will have seventy-two of these 
houris in Paradise, and, according to the Koran, 
his intercourse with them will be fruitful or 
otherwise, according to his wish. If an off- 
spring is desired, it will grow to full estate in 
an hour. 

House. A house of call. Some house, frequently 
a public-house, that one makes a point of 
visiting or using regularly; a house where 
workers in a particular trade meet when out 
of employment, and where they may be 
engaged. 

A house of correction. A jail governed by a 
keeper. Originallv it was a place where vagrants 
were made to work, and offenders were kept 
in ward for the correction of small offences. 

House of office. A Stuart term for a privy. 

House to house. Performed at every house, 
one after another; as, “a house-to-house 
canvass.” 


House 


470 


Household Troops 


Like a house afire. Very rapidly. The phrase 
alludes to the rapidity with which the old 
wooden houses with their straw-thatched 
roofs were burned down once they caught 
fire 

The House. A familiar name for Christ 
Church, Oxford, the London Stock Exchange, 
and the deliberative bodies in various forms of 
government : 

House of Lords. Sometimes called the Upper 
House, composed of the temporal hereditary 
peers of the United Kingdom, 26 Spiritual 
English peers, 16 Scottish representative peers, 
four Irish representative peers, lords of appeal 
in ordinary (who are non-hereditary peers) and 
a small number of other life peers. 

House of Commons. Name of the elected 
legislature in Britain and Canada. 

House of Representatives. The lower legisla- 
tive chamber in the U.S.A., Australia, New 
Zealand. 

House of Assembly. The lower legislative 
chamber in the Republic of South Africa. 

The House of . . . denotes a royal or noble 
family with the ancestors and branches, as the 
House of Windsor (the British Royal Family), 
the House of Stuart , the House of Brunswick , 
etc.; also a commercial establishment or firm 
as the House of Tellson , the banking firm in 
Dickens’s Tale of Two Cities , the House of 
Cassell , the publishers, etc. 

The House of God. Not solely a church, or a 
temple made with hands, but any place 
sanctified by God’s presence. Thus, Jacob in 
the wilderness, where he saw the ladder set up 
leading from earth to heaven, said, “This is 
none but the house of God, and this is the gate 
of heaven” (Gen. xxviii, 17). 

The House that Jack built. There are 
numerous similar glomerations. For example, 
the Hebrew parable of The Two Zuzim. The 
summation runs thus: — 

10. Then came the Most Holy, blessed be He, and 
slew 

9. The angel of death who had slain 
8. The slaughterer who had slaughtered 
7. The ox which had drunk 
6. The water which had extinguished 
5. The fire which had burned 
4. The staff which had smitten 
3. The dog which had bitten 
2. The cat which had devoured 
1. The kid which my father had bought for two 
zuzim. 

(Two zuzim was about a halfpenny.) 

To bring down the house. See Bring. 

To cry or proclaim from the house-top. To 
announce something in the most public 
manner possible. Jewish houses had flat roofs. 
Here the ancient Jews used to assemble for 
gossip; here, too, not infrequently, they slept; 
and here some of their festivals were held. 
From the housetops the rising of the sun was 
proclaimed, and public announcements were 
made. 

That which ye have spoken [whispered) in the car 
. . . shall be proclaimed upon the housetops . — Luke 
xii, 3. i 

To eat one out of house and home. See Eat. 


To keep house. To maintain an establish- 
ment. “To go into housekeeping” is to start 
a private establishment. 

To keep a good house. To supply a bountiful 
table. 

To keep open house. To give free entertain- 
ment to all who choose to come. 

To throw the house out of the windows. To 
throw all things into confusion from exuber- 
ance of spirit. 

House-bote. A term in old law denoting the 
amount of wood that a tenant is allowed to 
take from the land for repairs to the dwelling 
and for fuel. Bote is O.E. profit, compensation. 
See Boot. 

House-leek. Grown formerly on house-roofs, 
from the notion that it warded off lightning, 
fever, and evil spirits. Charlemagne made an 
edict that every one of his subjects should 
have house-leek, or “Jove’s beard,” as it is also 
called, on his roof. The words are, Et habet 
quisque supra domum suum Jovis barbam . 

If the herb house-leek or syngreen do grow on the 
housetop, the same house is never stricken with 
lightning or thunder. — T homas Hill: Natural and 
Artificial l Conclusions (16th cent.). 

Houses, Astrological. In judicial astrology 
the whole heaven is divided into twelve 
portions by means of great circles crossing the 
north and south points of the horizon, through 
which the heavenly bodies pass every twenty- 
four hours. Each of these divisions is called a 
house ; and in casting a horoscope (q.v.) the 
whole is divided into two parts (beginning from 
the east), six above and six below the horizon. 
The eastern ones are called the ascendant , be- 
cause they are about to rise; the other six are 
the descendant , because they have already 

assed the zenith. The twelve houses each 

ave their special functions — (1) the house of 
life; (2) fortune and riches; (3) brethren; (4) 
parents and relatives; (5) children: (6) health; 
(7) marriage; (8) death; (9) religion; (10) 
dignities; (11) friends and benefactors; (12) 
enemies. 

Three houses were assigned to each of the 
four ages of the person whose horoscope 
was to be cast, and his lot in life was governed 
by the ascendancy or descendancy of these at 
the various periods, and by the stars which 
ruled in the particular “houses.” 

Household, The. Specifically, the immediate 
members of the Royal Family but more 
particularly the retinue of court officials, 
servants, and attendants attached to the 
sovereign’s and other royal households. The 
principal officials of the sovereign’s Household 
are the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Steward, 
Master of the Horse and Treasurer of the 
Household, all of whom are personally 
appointed. The higher members of tne House- 
hold in Scotland are mostly hereditary. 

Household gods. The Lares and Penates 
( q.v .), who presided over the dwellings and 
domestic concerns of the ancient Romans; 
hence, in modern use, the valued possessions 
of home, all those things that go to endear it 
to one. 

Household Troops. Those troops whose 
special duty it is to attend the sovereign. In 


Housel 


471 


Hugger-mugger 


time of war they can be used overseas with the 
sovereign’s permission. They consist of the 
Household Cavalry (1 and 2 Life Guards, 
c . 1650, Royal Horse Guards or Blues, 1661) 
which in 1939-45 mustered two armoured car 
Regiments, and the Brigade of Guards (five 
Regiments of Foot Guards: Grenadier, 1660, 
Coldstream, 1660, Scots 1641, Irish 1902, and 
Welsh Guards, 1915). 

Housel (hou' zel). To give the Sacrament (O.E. 
husel; connected with Goth, hunsl. sacrifice). 
Cp. Unaneled. 

Children were christened, and men houseled and 
assoyled through all the land, except such as were in 
the bill of excommunication by name expressed. — 
Holinshed : Chronicle. 

Houssain (hu san 7 )- Brother of Prince Ahmed 
in one of the Arabian blights stories. He 
possessed a piece of carpet or tapestry of such 
wonderful power that he had only to sit 
upon it, and it would transport him in a 
moment to any place to which he desired to go. 

Houyhnhnms (whinims, or whinhims). A race of 
horses endowed with reason and all the finer 
characteristics of man, introduced with 
caustically satirical effect by Swift in his 
Gulliver's Travels. The name was the author’s 
invention, coined in imitation of the “whinny” 
of a horse. 

Nay, would kind Jove my organ so dispose 
To hymn harmonious Houyhnhnms through the 
nose 

I’d call thee Houyhnhnm, that high-sounding name; 
Thy children’s noses all should twang the same. 
Pope: Mary Gulliver to Capt. Lemuel Gulliver; an 
Epistle. 

Howard. The female Howard. Mrs Elizabeth 
Fry (1780-1845), the Quaker philanthropist and 
worker in prisons. In 1813 she paid her first 
visit to Newgate Prison; the horror of the 
conditions prevailing there determined her to 
devote herself to improving the lot of the 
prisoners, especially the females. In 1817 she 
formed art association for their improvement, 
and extended her interests to Continental 
prisons. She was called The Female Howard 
in allusion to John Howard (1726-90) who is 
celebrated for his exertions on behalf of prison 
reform and for the success which attended 
his efforts. He visited prisons not only in the 
United Kingdom and Ireland, but all over the 
Continent, and in 1777 published The State of 
Prisons in England and Wales , etc. 

Howdle or Howdy. The Scottish word for a 
midwife. 

Howlcglass. An old form of Owlglass. See 
Eulenspiegel. 

Hoyle. According to Hoyle. According to the 
best usage, or the highest authority. Edmond 
Hoyle, who wrote in 1742 A Short Treatise on 
the Game of Whist , was for many years quoted 
as an authority in all disputes over games of 
whist. 

Hrimfaxi. See Horse. 

Hub. The nave of a wheel; a boss; the centre 
of any form of activity. 

In the U.S.A, The Hub is Boston, Mass. 
Boston State-house is the hub of the solar system. — 
Holmes: Autocrat of the Breakfast Table , ch. vi, p. 143. 


Up to the hub. Fully, entirely, as far as 
ossible. If a cart sinks in the mud up to the 
ub, it can sink no lower; if a man is thrust 
through with a sword up to the hub, the entire 
sword has passed through him; and if a quoit 
strikes the hub, it is not possible to do better. 

Hubba Hubba. An exclamation of enthusiasm 
of American origin which came into wide 
prevalence during World War II. Like all such 
expressions its origin is obscure, though it has 
been ingeniously traced back to an old 
English expression: “Hubba— a cry given to 
warn fishermen of the approach of pilchards.” 

Hubert, St. Patron saint of huntsmen (d. 727). 
He was the son of Bertrand, Due d’Aquitaine, 
and cousin of King Pepin. Hubert was so fond*, 
of the chase that he neglected his religious 
duties for his favourite amusement, till one 
day a stag bearing a crucifix menaced him with 
eternal perdition unless he reformed. Upon 
this he entered the cloister, became in time 
Bishop of Liege, and the apostle of Ardennes 
and Brabant. Those who were descended of 
his race were supposed to possess the power of 
curing the bite of mad does. 

In art he is represented as a bishop with a 
miniature stag resting on the book in his hand, 
or as a huntsman kneeling to the miraculous 
crucifix borne by the stag. His feast day is 
November 3rd. 

Hudibras (hG' di br3s). A satirical poem in 
three parts and nine cantos (published 1663- 
78) by Samuel Butler, so named from its hero, 
who is said to be a caricature of Sir Samuel 
Luke, a patron of Butler. In the form of a 
mock-heroic poem, it lashes the hypocrisy, the 
squabbles and the self-seeking of the Indepen- 
dents and Presbyterians. 

There are two characters of this name in 
Spenser’s Faerie Queene: (1) the lover of 
Elissa (II, ii), typifying rashness, and (2) a 
legendary king of Britain (11, x, 25). 

Hudson, Jeffrey (1619-82). The famous 
dwarf, at one time page to Queen Henrietta 
Maria, who caused him to be served up in a 
pie one day when Charles I was at dinner. 
When he was thirty years old he was 18 in. 
high, but he later reached 3 ft. 6 in. or 3 ft. 9 in. 
He was a captain of horse in the Civil War; 
and afterwards was captured by pirates and 
sold as a slave in Baroary, but managed to 
escape. His portrait by Van Dyck is in the 
National Portrait Gallery, London. 

Hue and Cry. The old legal name for the official 
outcry made when calling for assistance “with 
horn and with voice,” in the pursuit of a 
criminal escaping from justice (O.Fr. huer, to 
shout). Persons failing to respond when the 
“hue and cry” was raised were liable to 
penalties; hence, a clamour or outcry, a cry 
of alarm. 

Hug. To hug the shore. In the case of a ship, to 
keep as close to the shore as is compatible with 
the vessel’s safety. 

To hug the wind. To keep a ship close hauled. 

Hugger-mugger. One of a large class of re- 
duplicated words (/.<?. namby-pamby , skimble- 
skamble, flip-flap, etc.) of uncertain origin, but 


Hugh of Lincoln 


472 


Humble 


probably an extension of hug. Clandestinely, 
secretly; also, in an untidy, disorderly manner. 

The king in Hamlet says of Polonius: “We 
have done but greenly in hugger-mugger to 
inter him” — i.e. to smuggle him into the grave 
clandestinely and without ceremony. 

North, in his Plutarch , says: “Antonius 
thought that his body should be honourably 
buried, and not in hugger-mugger” (clandes- 
tinely). 

In modern speech we say — He lives in a 
hugger-mugger sort of way ; the rooms were all 
hugger-mugger (disorderly). 

Hugh of Lincoln. It was said that the Jews in 
1255 stole a boy of 8 years old named Hugh, 
whom they tortured for ten days and then 
’crucified or drowned in a well. Eighteen of the 
richest Jews of Lincoln were hanged for taking 
part in this affair, and more would have been 
put to death had it not been for the intercession 
of the Franciscans; the boy was buried in state. 
This is the subject of The Prioress's Tale of 
Chaucer, and it is given in Alphonsus of Lincoln 
(1459) r etc. In Rymer’s Foedera are several 
documents relating to this event. Cp. St. 
William of Norwich, under William. 

Huguenot (ho' ge not). The French Protestants 
(Calvinists) of the 16th and 17th centuries. The 
name was first applied to the revolutionaries of 
Geneva by the adherents of the Duke of Savoy, 
about 1560, and is probably an adaptation of 
the Ger. Eidgenossen , confederates. 

Philippe de Mornay (1549-1623), the great 
supporter of the French Protestants, was 
nicknamed “the Huguenot Pope.” 

Huitzilopochtli. See Mexitl. 

Hulda (hor da). The old German goddess of 
marriage and fecundity, who sent bridegrooms 
to maidens and children to the married. The 
name means “the Benignant.” 

Hulda is making her bed. It snows. 

Hulking. A great hulking fellow. A great over- 
grown one. A hulk is a large, unwieldy ship, or 
the body of a superannuated one, that looks 
very clumsy as it lies ashore. Shakespeare says 
— referring to Falstaff : — 

Harry Monmouth’s brawn, the hulk Sir John 
Is prisoner to your son. — Henry IV , Pt. II, I, i. 

Hulks, The, or Ship Prisons were old dismasted 
men-of-war anchored in the Thames and off 
Portsmouth, used to house prisoners awaiting 
transportation. The principal Hulks, stationed 
off Woolwich, were the Warrior , which 
accommodated 480 convicts employed in the 
dockyard, and the Justitia with an equal num- 
ber of men employed in the arsenal. An 
impression of the Hulks is given in the opening 
chapters of Great Expectations. 

Hull, Hell, and Halifax. An old beggars* and 
vagabonds* “prayer,” quoted by Taylor, the 
Water Poet (early 17th cent.), was: 

From Hull, Hell, and Halifax, 

Good Lord, deliver us. 

“Hell” was probably the least feared as 
being farthest from them; Hull was to be 
avoided because it was so well governed that 
beggars had little chance of getting anything 
without doing hard labour for it; and Halifax, 


because anyone caught stealing cloth in that 
town was beheaded without further ado. 

Hullabaloo (hOl a ba loo 7 ). Uproar. The word 
is fairly modern (middle of the 17th cent.); it is 
of uncertain origin, but is probably a re- 
duplicated word formed on holloa! or hullo! 
Cp. Hurly-burly. 

Hulled (U.S.A.). Made a prisoner after 
capitulating, from the surrender of General 
Hull at Detroit, August 16th, 1812. 

Hulsean Lectures (hul' se &n). Instituted by 
the Rev. John Hulse (1708-90), of Cheshire, in 
1777. Some four or six sermons on Christian 
evidences are preached annually at Great St. 
Mary’s, Cambridge, by the Hulsean Lecturer, 
who, till 1860, was entitled the Christian 
Advocate. Hulse also bequeathed estates to 
the University as an endowment for a Hulsean 
Professor of Divinity, and for certain Hulsean 
prizes. 

Hum and Haw, To. To hesitate to give a posi- 
tive answer; to hesitate in making a speech. To 
introduce hum and haw between words which 
ought to follow each other freely. 

Huma (hfl' ma). A fabulous Oriental bird 
which never alights, but is always on the wing. 
It is said that every head which it overshadows 
will wear a crown. The bird suspended over 
the throne of Tippoo Sahib at Seringapatam 
represented this poetical fancy. 

Humanitarians (hQ m£n i t&r' i &nz). A name 
that used to be given to certain Arian heretics 
who believed that Jesus Christ was only man. 
The disciples of St. Simon were so called also, 
because they maintained the perfectibility of 
human nature without the aid of grace. 

Nowadays the term is usually applied to 
philanthropists whose object is the welfare of 
humanity at large. 

Humanities or Humanity Studies. Grammar, 
rhetoric, and poetry, with Greek and Latin 
( literce humaniores ); in contradistinction to 
divinity {literce diviner). 

The humanities ... is used to designate those 
studies which arc considered the most specially 
adapted for training . . . true humanity in every man. 
— Trench: Study of Words, Lect. iii. 

A degree, L.H.D., Litterarum Humaniorum 
Doctor (Doctor of Humane Letters), is given 
at some of the American universities. 

Humanity Martin. Richard Martin (1754- 
1834), one of the founders of the Royal Society 
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He 
secured the passage of several laws making 
cruelty to certain animals illegal. 

Humber. The legendary king of the Huns who 
are fabled to have invaded Britain about 
1000 b.c.; he was defeated in a great battle by 
Locrine, and his body was cast into the river 
Abus, which was forthwith renamed the 
Humber. ( Geoffrey of Monmouth.) 

Their chieftain Humber named was aright 
Unto the mighty streame him to betake. 

Where he an end of battell and of life did make. 

Spenser: Faerie Queene, II, x, 16. 

Humble. Humble bee. A corruption of the 
Ger. Hummel , the buzzing bee. Sometimes 
called the Dumble-dor. Also Bumble-bee, 
from its booming drone. 



Humble cow 


473 


Hundred 


Humble cow. A cow without horns. 

To eat humble pie. To come down from a 
position you have assumed; to be obliged to 
take “a lower room.” Here “humble* is a 
pun on umble , the umbles being the heart, liver, 
and entrails of the deer, the huntsman’s 
perquisites. When the lord and his household 
dined the venison pasty was served on the dais, 
but the umbles were made into a pie for the 
huntsman and his fellows, who took the lower 
scats. 

Humbug. A hoax or imposition; also (as verb) 
to hoax, cajole, impose upon. The word is of 
unknown origin, but was new in the middle of 
the 1 8th century, and the Earl of Orrery, writing 
in the Connoisseur in 1754, called it a — 
New-coined expression, which is only to be found in 
the nonsensical vocabulary and sounds absurd and 
disagreeable whenever it is pronounced. 

Humhum (U.S.A.) A thin cambric material. 

Humming Ale. Strong liquor that froths well, 
and causes a humming in the head of the 
drinker. 

Let us fortify our stomachs with a slice or two of 
hung beef, and a horn or so of humming stingo. — 
Pierce Egan: Tom and Jerry , ch. vii. 

Hummums (hum' umz). The old hotel of this 
name in Covcnt Garden was on the site of an 
old bathing establishment founded there about 
1631; so called from the Pers. humoun (a 
sweating or Turkish bath). For many years 
after the Restoration the Hummums was a 
fashionable resort. In 1708 it was kept by one 
Small; the rates were 5s. for a single person, 
or 4s. each for parties of two or more. 

'‘Now,” says my friend, “we are so near I’ll carry 
you to see the Hummums . . . and if you will pay 
your club towards eight shillings we’ll go in and 
sweat.” — Ned Ward: The London Spy. 

Humour. As good humour, ill or bad humour 

etc. According to an ancient theory, there are 
four principal humours in the body: phlegm, 
blood, choler, and black bile. As any one of 
these predominates it determines the temper of 
the mind and body; hence the expressions san- 
guine, choleric, phlegmatic, and melancholic 
humours. A just balance made a good com- 
pound called “good humour” ; a preponderance 
of any one of the four made a bad compound 
called an ill or evil humour. See Ben Jonson’s 
Every Man Out of His Humour (Prologue). 

Humpback, The. Geronimo Amelunghi, 11 
Gobbo di Pisa , an Italian burlesque poet of the 
mid-16th century. 

Andrea Solario, the Italian painter, Del 
Gobbo (1470-1527). 

Humphrey. To dine with Duke Humphrey. To 
have no dinner to go to. Humphrey, Duke of 
Gloucester, son of Henry IV, the “Good Duke 
Humphrey” (see under Good), was renowned 
for his hospitality. At death it was reported 
that a monument would be erected to him in 
St. Paul’s but his body was interred at St. 
Alban’s. The tomb of Sir John Beauchamp (d. 
1358), on the south side of the nave of old St. 
Paul’s, was popularly supposed to be that of 
the Duke; and when the promenaders left for 
dinner, the poor stay-behinds who had no 
dinner to go to, or who feared to leave the 


precincts of the cathedral because once outside 
they could be arrested for debt, used to say to 
the gay sparks who asked if they were going, 
that they would “dine with Duke Humphrey” 
that day. 

The expression used to be very common; 
and a similar one was To sup with Sir Thomas 
Gresham , the Exchange built by Sir Thomas 
being a common lounge. 

Though little coin thy purseless pocket line. 

Yet with great company thou art taken up; 

For often with Duke Humphrey thou dost dine. 
And often with Sir Thomas Gresham sup. 

Hayman: Quodlibet (Epigram on a Loafer), 1628. 

Humpty Dumpty. A little deformed dwarf, 
“humpty” and “dumpty.” There used to be a 
drink of this name, composed of ale boiled 
with brandy; and it is also applied — in allusion 
to the old nursery rhyme — to an egg, and to 
anything that is, or may be, irretrievably 
shattered. 

Hunch. A colloquial term — originally American 
— for a premonition, a shrewd guess. 

Hundred. An English county division dating 
from pre-Conquest times, and supposed to be 
so called either because it comprised exactly 
one hundred hides of land, or one hundred 
families, grouped together for civil and mili- 
tary purposes, these families being collectively 
responsible to the authorities in case of crime 
within the “hundred.” 

Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmor- 
land, and Durham were divided into “wards” 
(?-v.). 

Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Notts, into 
“wapentakes” (q.v.). Yorkshire has also three 
special divisions called “ridings” (q.v.). 

Kent was divided into five “lathes” (q.v.), 
with subordinate hundreds. 

Sussex into six “rapes” (q.v.), with subordi- 
nate hundreds. 

Great, or long hundreds. Six score, a hundred 
and twenty. 

Hero of the hundred fights. Conn, a legendary 
Irish king, was so called by O’Gnive, the bard 
of O’Niel: “Conn, of the hundred fights, sleeps 
in his grass-grown tomb.” The epithet has also 
been applied to Nelson, Wellington, and other 
famous commanders. 

Hundreds and thousands. A name given by 
sweetstuft-sellers to almost any very tiny 
comfits. 

It will be all the same a hundred years hei$e. 
An exclamation of resignation — it doesn’t md^h 
matter what happens. It is an old saying, and 
occurs in Ray’s Collection , 1742. A similar one 
is: — 

A thousand pounds and a bottle of hay 
Is all one thing at Doom’s-day. — Ray. 

Not a hundred miles off. An indirect way of 
saying in this very neighbourhood, or very spot. 
The phrase is employed when it would be in- 
discreet or dangerous to refer more directly 
to the person or place hinted at. 

The Chiltern Hundreds. See Chiltern. 

The Hundred Days. The days between March 
20th, 1815, when Napoleon reached the Tuil- 
eries, after his escape from Elba and June 28th, 
the date of the second restoration of Louis 


Hundred 


474 


Hurlo-Thnimbo 


XVIII. These hundred days were noted for five 
things: 

The additional Act to the constitutions of the empire, 
April 22: 

The Coalition; 

The Champ de Mai, June 1 ; 

The battle of Waterloo, June 18; 

The second abdication of Napoleon in favour of his 
son, June 22. 

Napoleon left Elba February 26th; landed 
near Cannes March 1st, entered Paris March 
20th, and signed his abdication June 22nd. 

The address of the prefect of Paris to Louis XVIII 
on his second restoration begins: “A hundred days, 
sire, have elapsed since the fatal moment when your 
Majesty was forced to quit your capital in the midst 
of tears.” This is the origin of the phrase. 

The Hundred-eyed. Argus, in Greek and 
Latin fable. Juno appointed him guardian of 
Jo (the cow), but Jupiter caused him to be put 
to death; whereupon Juno transplanted his 
eyes into the tail ol her peacock. 

The Hundred-handed, Three of the sons of 
Uranus, viz. ^Bgseon or Briareus, Cottys, and 
Gyges or Gyes. After the war between Zeus and 
the Titans, when the latter were overcome and 
hurled into Tartarus, the Hundred-handed ones 
were set to keep watch and ward over them. 

Sometimes Cerberus (</.v.) is so called, 
because from his three necks sprang writhing 
snakes instead of hair. 

The Hundred Years’ War. The long series of 
wars between France and England, beginning 
in the reign of Edward HI, 1337, and ending in 
that of Henry VI, 1453. 

The first battle was a naval action off Sluys, 
and the last the fight at Castillon. It originated 
in English claims to the French Crown and 
resulted in the English being expelled from the 
whole of France, except Calais. 

Hungary Water. Made of rosemary flowers and 
spirit, said to be so called because the receipt 
was given by a hermit to a Queen of Hungary. 

Hungry. Hungry dogs will eat dirty puddings. 
See Dog. 

There are many common similes expressive 
of hunger, among which are — hungry as a 
hawk, a hunter, a church mouse (cp. Poor), 
a dog. James Thomson ( Seasons : Winter) has 
“Hungry as the grave,” and Oliver Wendell 
Holmes “Hungry as the chap that said a turkey 
was too much for one, not enough for two.” 

The Hungry Forties. A term applied to the 
iod prior to the repeal of the Corn Laws by 
Robert Peel in 1846, when, owing to the 
high price of food, distress was very common 
among the poor. 

Hunks. An old hunks. A screw, a hard, selfish, 
mean fellow. The term appears in late Eliza- 
bethan times — when it was a name commonly 
given to performing bears — and probably has 
its origin in some unknown person of cross 
(cp. “Cross as a bear”) or miserly character. 

Hunky, Hunky dory (hOng' ki, hung' ki dor' i). 
American slang for all’s right, satisfactory. 

Hunt. Like Hunt’s dog, he would neither go to 
church nor stay at home. A Shropshire saying. 
The story is that one Hunt, a labouring man, 
kept a mastiff, which, on being shut up while 


his master went to church, howled and barked 
so as to disturb the whole congregation; 
whereupon Hunt thought he would take him 
to church the next Sunday, but the dog 
positively refused to enter. The proverb is 
applied to a self-willed person, who will 
neither be led nor driven. 

Hunter, Mr. and Mrs. Leo Hunter. Characters 
in Pickwick Papers who hunt up the celebrities, 
or “lions,” to grace their parties and bring 
them renown and reputation. 

The hunter’s moon. The month or moon 
following the “harvest moon” (q.v.). Hunting 
does not begin until after harvest. 

The mighty hunter. Nimrod is so called 
(Gen. x, 9). The meaning seems to be a con- 
queror. Jeremiah says, “1 [the Lord] will send 
for many hunters [warriors], and they shall 
hunt [chase] them [the Jews] from every 
mountain . . . and out of the holes of the 
rocks” (xvi, 16). 

Proud Nimrod first the bloody chase began — 

A mighty hunter, and his prey was man. 

Pope: Windsor Castle. 

Hunters and Runners of classic renown: — 

Ac astus, who took part in the famous Calydoniun 
hunt (a wild boar). 

Action, the famous huntsman who was transformed 
by Diana into a stag, because he chanced to sec her 
bathing. 

Adonis, beloved by Venus, slain by a wild boar while 
hunting. 

Adrastus, who was saved at the siege of Thebes by 
the speed of his horse Arion, given him by Hercules. 
Atalanta, who promised to marry the man who 
could outstrip her in running. 

Camilla, the swiftest-footed of all the companions of 
Diana. 

Ladas, the swiftest-footed of all the runners of Alex- 
ander the Great. 

Meleager, who took part in the great Calydonian 
boar-hunt. 

Orion, the great and famous hunter, changed into the 
constellation so conspicuous in November. 
Pheidippides, who ran 135 miles in two days. 

He who hunts two hares leaves one and loses 
the other. No one can do well or properly two 
things at once, he “falls between two stools.” 
“No man can serve two masters.” 

Like a man to double business bound, 

I stand in pause where 1 shall first begin 
And both neglect. — Hamlet, III, iii. 

Hunting the gouk, snark, etc. See these words. 
To hunt with the hounds and run with the hare. 
See Hare. 

Huntingdonians. Members of “the Countess of 
Huntingdon’s Connexion,” a sect of Calvinistic 
Methodists founded in 1748 by Selina, widow 
of the ninth Earl of Huntingdon, and George 
Whitefield, who had become her chaplain. The 
churches founded by the Countess, numbering 
some 38, are mostly affiliated with the Con- 
gregational Union. 

Hurdy-gurdy. A stringed musical instrument, 
like a rude guitar, the music of which is pro- 
duced by the friction of a rosined wheel on 
the strings, which are stopped by means of 
keys. It had nothing whatever to do with the 
modern barrel-organ or piano-organ of the 
streets. 

Hurlo-Thrumbo. A ridiculous burlesque, which 
in 1729-30 had an extraordinary run at the 




Hurly-burly 


475 


Hutln 


Haymarket theatre. So great was its popularity 
that a club called “The Hurlo-Thrumbo 
Society” was formed. The author was Samuel 
Johnson (1691-1773), a half-mad dancing 
master, who put this motto on the title-page 
when the burlesque was printed: — 

Yc sons of fire, read my Hurlo-Thrumbo , 

Turn it betwixt your finger and your thumbo, 

And being quite undone, be quite struck dumbo. 
Hurly-burly. Uproar, tumult, especially of 
battle. A reduplication of hurly, Cp. Hulla- 
baloo. 

Now day began to break, and the army to fall again 
into good order, and all the hurly-burly to cease. — 
North's Plutarch , Antonius (1579). 

When the hurly-burly’s done, 

When the battle’s lost and won. 

The Witches, in Macbeth , I, i. 

In the Garden of Eloquence (1577) the word 
is given as a specimen of onomatopoeia. 

Hurra’s Nest (U.S.A.). A mess up, tangle — a 
phrase of nautical origin. 

Hurrah! A later (17th cent.) form of the earlier 
huzza , an imitative sound expressing joy, 
enthusiasm, pleasure at victory, etc. The word 
may be connected with the Low Ger. hurra , in 
which case it was probably introduced by 
soldiers about the time of the Thirty Years’ 
War. 

The Norman battlc-cry was “Ha Rollo!” or 
“Ha Rou!” 

Hurricane (hur'ikan). An 18th-century term 
for a large private party or rout; so called from 
its hurry, bustle, and noise. Cp. Drum. 

There is a squeeze, a fuss, a drum, a rout, and lastly 
a hurricane, when the whole house is full from top to 
bottom. — Mrs . Barbauld ( 1779). 

The word is West Indian, and was introduced 
through Spanish; it means a very violent storm 
of wind. 

Hurry. An imitative word, probably con- 
nected with hurl (as in hurly-burly ), which first 
appears in Shakespeare: — 

She spied the hunted boar. 

Whose frothy mouth . . . 

A second fear through all her sinews spread, 

Which madly hurries her she knows not whither. 

Venus and Adonis , 904. 

Don’t hurry, Hopkins. A satirical reproof to 
those who are not prompt in their payments. 
It is said that one Hopkins, of Kentucky, gave 
a creditor a promissory note on which was this 
memorandum, “The said Hopkins is not to be 
hurried in paying the above.” 

Husband. The word is from O.E. hus, house, 
and Old Norse bondi , a freeholder or yeo- 
man, from bua, to dwell; hence the word is 
literally, a house-owner in his capacity as head 
of the household, and so came to be applied to 
a man joined to a woman in marriage, who was, 
naturally, the head of his household. When Sir 
John Paston, writing to his motherin 1475, said— 
I purpose to leeffe allc heer. and come home to you 
and be your hisbonde and balyff, 
he was proposing to come and manage her 
household for her. We use the word in the 
same sense in such phrases as To husband one’s 
resources. 

Similarly a ship’s husband is an official 
responsible for seeing that all the equipment, 
etc., necessary for going to sea is placed on 
board a ship before sailing, that all the reg*»- 
B.D.— 16 


lations relating to the voyage are fulfilled, and 
that the captain is sufficiently furnished with 
money, etc., for carrying on business when in 
foreign or other ports. 

Husbandry is merely the occupation of the 
(original) husband , i.e. the management of the 
household and what pertains thereto; it be- 
came restricted later to farm-management, and 
the husband became the husbandman. 

I commit into your hands 
The husbandry and manage of my house. 

Merchant of Venice , 111, iv. 

Hush. Hush-hush. A term that came into use in 
World War l to describe very secret operations, 
designs, or inventions. 

Hush-money. Money given as a bribe for 
silence or “hushing” a matter up. 

Hushai (hush' I). In Dryden’s Absalom and 
Achitophel (< q.v .) is Laurence Hyde, Earl of 
Rochester (1641-1711). 

Husking, Husking-bee, Husking-frolic. Corn- 
husking. In N. America in the 18th century 
this was a gathering for husking Indian corn 
which frequently ended in a brawl. 

Husky. In American usage this word is applied 
to a big, burly, strong man. As an abbreviation 
for the word Eskimo it is the name used for an 
Eskimo sledge dog. 

Hussar (hu zar'). An Hungarian word (, huszar ), 
which is ultimately from the same Greek word 
that gives us our corsair. It was applied in the 
time of Matthias Corvinus (mid-15th cent.), 
to a body of light horsemen, and was hence 
adopted in various European armies to denote 
light cavalry. 

Hussites (hus' itz). Followers of John Huss, 
the Bohemian reformer, in the 15th century. 
Cp. Bethlehemites. 

Hussy (huz' i). Nowadays a word of contempt 
implying an ill-behaved girl, a “jade” or 
“minx,” it is no other than the honourable 
appellation housewife (pron. “hussif”). Just 
as wench has come down in the world, so 
has hussy been degraded. 

Hustings (hus' tingz). An Old English word, 
meaning originally the immediate council of 
the king, from hus , house (i.e. the royal house), 
and thing, assembly: the hus-thing was the 
assembly of the house as apart from the 
thing, the general assembly of the people. 
London has still its Court of Hustings , which 
is held by the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, Recorder, 
and Aldermen to consider gifts offered to the 
City; this was formerly the supreme court 
(common pleas, probate, etc.) of the City. 
The hustings of elections were, previous to 
the Ballot Act of 1872, the platforms from 
which candidates made their election addresses, 
etc. ; hence to be beaten at the hustings means 
to lose at an election. 

A realistic impression of the old hustings at 
a Parliamentary election is given in Pickwick 
Papers (xiii). 

Hutin (u' tan). Louis le Hutin. Louis X (1289, 
1314-16) was so nicknamed. It means “the 
quarreller,” “the stubborn or headstrong 
one,” and it is uncertain why the name was 
given to this insignificant king of France. 



Hutkin 


476 


Hypochondria 


Hutkin. A word in some dialects for a cover 
for a sore finger, made by cutting off the 
finger of an old glove; called also, a hut , hutch , 
and hutchkin. 

Huzza! An exclamation of joy or applause; the 
forerunner of Hurrah! ( q.v .). The word has no 
etymology, being merely an extension of an 
involuntary vocable, such as Chut! or Pshaw ! 
Hyacinth (hl'&sinth). According to Greek 
fable, the son of Amyclas, a Spartan king. The 
lad was beloved by Apollo and Zephyr, and 
as he preferred the sun-god, Zephyr drove 
Apollo’s quoit at his head, and killed him. 
The blood became a flower, and the petals are 
inscribed with the signature A 1, meaning woe. 
(Virgil: Eclogues , iii, 106). 

The hyacinth bewrays the doleful “A I,” 

And culls the tribute of Apollo’s sigh. 

Still on its bloom the mournful flower retains 
The lovely blue that dyed the stripling’s veins. 

Camoens: Lusiad, ix. 

Hyades (hi'adez) (Gr. huein, to rain). Seven 
nymphs placed among the stars, in the 
constellation Taurus, which threaten rain 
when they rise with the sun. The fable is that 
they wept the death of their brother Hyas so 
bitterly that Zeus, out of compassion, took 
them to heaven. 

The seaman sees the Hyades 
Gather an army of Cimmerian clouds . . . 
All-fearful folds his sails, and sounds the main. 
Lifting his prayers to the heavens for aid 
Against the terror of the winds and waves. 

Marlowe: Tamburlaine , Pt . /, III, ii. 
Hybla (hib' la). A city and mountain in Sicily 
famous for its honey. Cp. Hymettus. 

Hydra (hi' dra). A monster of the Lernean 
marshes, in Argolis. It has nine heads, and it 
was one of the twelve labours of Hercules to 
kill it. As soon as he struck off one of its heads, 
two shot up in its place; hence hydra-headed 
applies to a difficulty which goes on increasing 
as it is combated. 

Hyena (hi e' na). Held in veneration by the 
ancient Egyptians, because it is fabled that a 
certain stone, called the “hyasnia,” is found in 
the eye of the creature, and Pliny asserts (Nat. 
Hist. y xxxvii, 60) that when placed under the 
tongue it imparts the gift of prophecy. 

The skilful Lapidarists of Germany affirm that this 
beast hath a stone in his eye (or rather his head) 
called Hy®na or HyaeniuS. — Topsell: Four-footed 
Beasts (1607). 

Hygeia (hlje'a). Goddess of health in Greek 
mythology, and the daughter of Aesculapius 
(q.v.). Her symbol was a serpent drinking from 
a cup in her hand. 

Hyksos (hik' sos). A line of six or more foreign 
rulers over Egypt, known as the Shepherd 
Kings, who reigned for about 250 years between 
the Xllth and XVIUth Dynasties, i.e. about 
2000 b.c. It is uncertain whence they came, 
who they were, what they did, or whither they 
went; they left little in the way of records 
or monuments, and practically all that is 
known of them is the (historically speaking) 
very unsatisfactory notice gleaned by Josephus 
from Manetho. 

The exact nationality of the Hyksos is still a matter 
of dispute. All we know for certainty is that they came 
from Asia, and they brought with them in their train 
vast numoers of Semites. — S ayce: Races of the Old 
Testament (1891). 


Hylas (hi' Ids). A boy beloved by Hercules, 
carried off by the nymphs while drawing water 
from a fountain in Mysia. 

Hymen (hr men). Properly, a marriage song 
of the ancient Greeks; later personified as the 
god of marriage, represented as a youth 
carrying a torch and veil — a more mature Eros, 
or Cupid. 

Hymettus (hi met' us). A mountain in Attica, 
famous for its honey. Cp. Hybla. 

There, flowery hill, Hymettus, with the sound 

Of bees’ industrious murmur, oft invites 

To studious musing. 

Milton: Paradise Regained , IV, 247. 

Hymnus Eucharisticus. See Eucharist. 

Hyperbole (hi per' b6 li). The rhetorical figure 
of speech which consists of exaggeration or 
extravagance in statement for the purpose of 
giving effect but not intended to be taken au 
pied dc la lettre — e.g. “the waves were moun- 
tains high.” 

Hyperboles are of two kinds; either such as are em- 
ployed in description, or such as are suggested by the 
warmth of passion. — Lindley Murray: English 
Grammar, 1, p. 510. 

Hyberboreans (hi per bor' i anz). A happy 
people of early Greek legend, who were 
supposed to dwell on the other side of the spot 
where the North Wind has its birth, and there- 
fore to enjoy perpetual warmth and sunshine. 
They were said to be the oldest of the human 
race, the most virtuous, and the most happy; 
to dwell for some thousand years under a 
cloudless sky, in fields yielding double harvests, 
and in the enjoyment of perpetual Spring. 

Later fable held that they had not an atmo- 
sphere like our own, but one consisting wholly 
of feathers. Both Herodotus and Pliny mention 
this fiction, which they say was suggested by 
the quantity of snow observed to fall in those 
regions. ( Herodotus , IV, 31.) 

Hyperion (hi per' ion). In Greek mythology, 
one of the Titans, son of Uranus and Ge, and 
father of Helios, Selene, and Eos (the Sun, 
Moon, and Dawn). The name is sometimes 
given by poets to the sun itself, but not by 
Keats in his wonderful “poetical fragment” of 
this name (1820). 

Hypermnestra (hi perm nes' tra). Wife of 
Lynceus and the only one of the fifty daughters 
of Danaos who did not murder her husband 
on their bridal night. See Danaides. 

Hypnotism (hip' no tizm). The art of producing 
trance-sleep, or the state of being hypnotized. 
Dr. James Braid of Manchester gave it this 
name (1843), after first having called it neuro - 
hypnotism , an inducing to sleep of the nerves 
(Gr.). 

The method, discovered by Mr. Braid, of producing 
this state . . . appropriately designated . . . hyp- 
notism consists in the maintenance of a fixed gaze for 
several minutes ... on a bright object placed some- 
what above [the line of sight], at so short a distance 
(as to produce pain]. — Carpenter: Principles of 
Mental Physiology, ii, i. 

Hypochondria (hi po kon' dri a) (Gr. hypo , 
chrondroSy under the cartilage — i.e . the spaces 
on each side of the epigastric region). A morbid 
depression of spirits for which there is no 
known or defined cause, so called because it 



Hypocrite 


477 


Icarius 


was supposed to be caused by some derange- 
ment in these parts, which were held to be the 
seat of melancholy. 

Hypocrite (hip' 6 krit). Prince of hypocrites. 
Tiberius Caesar (42 b.c., a.d. 14 to 37) was so 
called because he affected a great regard for 
decency, but indulged in the most detestable 
lust and cruelty. 

Abdallah lbn Obba and his partisans were 
called The Hypocrites by Mohammed, because 
they feigned to be friends, but were in reality 
foes. 

Hypodorian Mode. See jColian. 

Hypostatic Union (hi po stat' ik). The union of 
the three Persons in the Trinity; also the union 
of the Divine and Human in Christ, in which 
the two elements, although inseparably united, 
each retain their distinctness. The hypostasis 
(Gr. hypo , under; stasis , standing; hence 
foundation, essence) is the personal existence as 
distinguished from both nature and substance . 

Hyson (hr son). One of the varieties of 
Chinese green tea; so called from hei-ch'un, 
bright spring. Young hyson , a still better 
variety, is yu-cKien , before the rains, meaning 
that the leaf is picked before the commence- 
ment of the rainy season. 

Hyssop (his' 6p). David says (Ps. li, 7): “Purge 
me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.” The 
reference is to the custom of ceremonially 
sprinkling the unclean with a bunch of hyssop 
(marjoram or the thorny caper) dipped in water 
in which had been mixed the ashes of a red 
heifer. This was done as they left the Court of 
the Gentiles to enter the Court of the Women 
{Numb, xix, 17, 18). 

Hysteron Proteron (his' ter on pro' t£r on), 
from the Greek meaning “hinder foremost,” 
is a term used in logic and rhetoric to describe 
a figure of speech in which the word that 
should come last is placed first, or the second 
of two consecutive propositions is stated first, 
e.g. “Let us die, and rush into the midst of the 
fray.” 


i 

I. The ninth letter of the alphabet, also of the 
futhorc (q.v.) y representing the Greek iota and 
Semitic yod. The written (and printed) / and j 
were for long interchangeable; it was only in 
the 19th century that in dictionaries, etc., they 
were treated as separate letters (in Johnson’s 
Dictionary, for instance, iambic comes between 
iamb and jangle ), and hence in many series — 
such as the signatures of sheets in a book, hall- 
marks on plate, etc. — either I or J is omitted. 
Cp . U. 

The dot on the small / is not originally part 
of the letter, but was introduced about the 1 1th 
century as a diacritic in cases where two i’s 
came together {e.g. filii ) to distinguish be- 
tween these and u. 

To dot the i’s and cross the t’s. To be 
meticulous, particularly about things of 


apparently little consequence, to clinch an 
agreement. 

Iambic (I &m' bik). An iamb , or iambus , is a 
metrical foot consisting of a short syllable 
followed by a long one, as away, deduce , or an 
unaccented followed by an accented, as begone / 
Iambic verse is verse based on iambs, as, for 
instance, the Alexandrine measure, which 
consists of six iambuses: — 

I think the thoughts you think; and if I have the knack 
Of fitting thoughts to words, you peradventure lack. 
Envy me not the chance, yourselves more fortunate! 

Browning : Fifine at the Fair , lxxvi. 

Father of Iambic verse. Archilochos of Paros 
(fl. c. 700 b.c.). 

Ianthe (I dn' thi). A Cretan girl who, as told 
in Ovid’s Metamorphoses , ix, 5, married Iphis, 
who had been transformed for the purpose 
from a girl into a young man. The Ianthe to 
whom Lord Byron dedicated his C /tilde Harold , 
was Lady Charlotte Harley, bom 1801, and 
only eleven years old at the time. Shelley gave 
the name to his elder daughter. 

Iapetos (1 dp ' t tos). Son of Uranus and Ge, 
father of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and 
Mencetius, and ancestor of the human race, 
hence called genus Iapeti , the progeny of 
Iapetus. 

Iberia (I ber' i d). Spain; the country of the 
Iberus, the ancient name of the river Ebro. The 
Iberians were the prehistoric, non-Aryan 
inhabitants of the peninsula, probably of 
African origin. The Spanish Basques are their 
nearest modern representatives. 

Iberia’s Pilot. Christopher Columbus (1446?- 
1506), who is commonly, but wrongly, sup- 
posed to have been a Spaniard. He was born 
near Genoa, but spent much of his life in Spain. 

Ibid, (ib' id). A contraction of Lat. ibidem , 
in the same place, and often used in footnotes. 

Ibis (i' bis). A sacred bird of the ancient 
Egyptians, specially connected with the god 
Thoth, who in the guise of an ibis escaped the 
pursuit of Typhon. Its white plumage symbo- 
lized the light of the sun, and its black neck the 
shadow of the moon, its body a heart, and its 
legs a triangle. It was said that it drank only 
the purest of water, and that the bird was so 
fond of Egypt that it would pine to death if 
transported elsewhere. The practical reason for 
the protection of the ibis — for it was a crime 
to kill it — was that it devoured crocodiles* eggs, 
serpents and all sorts of noxious reptiles and 
insects. Cp. Ichneumon. 

Iblis. See Eblis. 

Ibn Sina. See Avicenna. 

Ibraham (ib' r& him). The Abraham of the 
Koran. 

Icarius (i kar' i Os). In Greek legend an Athe- 
nian who was taught the cultivation of the vine 
by Dionysus (Bacchus). He was slain by some 
peasants who had become intoxicated with 
wine he had given them, and who thought they 
had been poisoned. They buried the body under 
a tree; his daughter Erigone, searching for her 
father, was directed to the spot by the howling 
of his dog Mcera, and when she discovered the 


Icarus 


478 


Icon 


body she hanged herself for grief. Icarius 
became the constellation Bodies , Erigone the 
constellation Virgo, and Moera the star Pro - 
cyon , which rises in July, a little before the dog- 
star. 

Icarus (ik' k rus). Son of Daedalus (< 7 .v.). He 
flew with his father from Crete; but the sun 
melted the wax with which his wings were 
fastened on, and he fell into the sea. Those 
waters of the /Egean were thenceforward called 
the Icarian Sea. 

Ice. Ice age. There have been several glacial 
epochs, but what is commonly known by that 
name was the earlier part of the existing 
geological period, the Pleistocene, when a 
considerable portion of the northern hemi- 
sphere was overwhelmed by ice caps or ice 
sheets. Ice covered large areas of north- 
western Europe, Canada, and the U.S.A., and 
as it melted the included stones were spread 
out in vast sheets of irregular deposits. Man 
was contemporary with at least the latter 

C eriods of the Ice Age, his remains having 
een found in England and France together 
with the mammoth and reindeer in beds earlier 
than the last glacial deposits. Science has as 
yet found no satisfactory explanation of the 
causes of the Ice Age. 

A sword of ice-brook temper. Of the very 
best quality. The Spaniards used to plunge 
their swords and other weapons, while hot 
from the forge, into the brook Salo (Xalon), 
near Bilbilis, in Celtiberia, to harden them. 
The water of this brook is very cold. 

It is a sword of Spain, the ice-brook’s temper. 

Othello , V, ii. 

Ice Saints or Frost Saints. Those saints whose 
days fall in what is called “the black-thorn 
winter” — that is, the second week in May 
(between 11 and 14). Some give only three 
days, but whether 11, 12, 13 or 12, 13, 14 is 
not agreed. May 1 1th is the day of St. Mamer- 
tus. May 12th of St. Pancras, May 13th of St. 
Servatius, and May 14th of St. Boniface. 

The ice-blink. The name given by mariners 
to a luminous appearance of the sky, caused by 
the reflection of light from ice. If the sky is 
dark or brown, the navigator may be sure that 
there is water; if it is white, rosy, or orange- 
coloured, he may be certain there is ice. The 
former is called a “water sky,” the latter an 
“ice sky.” 

The Danish name for the great ice-cliffs of 
Greenland is “The Ice-blink.” 

To break the ice. To broach a disagreeable 
subject; to open the way, take the first step, 
make the plunge. 

And if you break the ice, and do this feat. . . . 

(We] Will not so graceless be, to be ingrate. 

Taming of the Shrew , I, ii. 

To skate over thin ice. To take unnecessary 
risks, especially in conversation or argument; 
to touch on dangerous subjects very lightly. 

Iceberg. A mass of ice, broken from a 
glacier which ends in the sea, and floated about 
the ocean by the currents. The magnitude of 
some icebergs is considerable. One seen off 
the Cape of Good Hope was two miles in 
circumference, and a hundred and fifty feet 
high. For every cubic foot above water there 


must be at least eight cubic feet below; their 
weight must be enormous, and the danger to 
shipping — witness the Titanic disaster of April, 
1912— is very great. 

Iceland Dogs. Shaggy, white dogs, once great 
favourites as lap-dogs. Shakespeare mentions 
them in Henry V \ where he makes Pistol call 
Nym in contempt a “prick-eared cur of Ice- 
land.” 

Iceland dogges curled and rough all over, which, by 
reason of the length of their heire make showe neither 
of face nor of body. — Fleming: Of English Dogges 
( 1576 ). 

Iceni. See Boadicea. 

Ich Dien (ich den). According to a Welsh 
tradition, Edward I promised to provide Wales 
with a prince “who could speak no word of 
English,” and when his second son Edward 
(afterwards Edward II) was born at Caernarvon 
he presented him to the assembly, saying in 
Welsh Eic/t dyn (behold the man). The words 
are actually German, meaning “l serve,” and 
are erroneously said to have been adopted 
as the Prince of Wales’s motto by the Black 
Prince, together with the three white ostrich 
plumes, from John, King of Bohemia, who 
fell at the Battle of Crecy, 1346. 

Ichabod (ik' a bod). A son of Phinehas, born 
just after the death of his father and grand- 
father (/ Sam. iv, 21). The name (Heb. I-kab- 
hoth) means “Where is the glory?” It is usually 
popularly translated by “The glory has de- 
parted.” 

Ichneumon (ik nu' mon). A weasel-like animal 
(also called “Pharaoh’s rat”) found in Egypt 
and venerated by the ancient Egyptians 
because, like the ibis (<?.v.), it feeds on serpents, 
mice, and other vermin, and is especially fond 
of crocodiles’ eggs. According to legend, it 
steals into the mouths of crocodiles when they 
gape, and eats out their bowels. The name is 
Greek, and means “one who tracks, or traces 
out.” 

Ichor (V kor). In classical mythology, the 
colourless blood of the gods. (Gr. juice.) 

[St. Peter] patter’d with his keys at a great rate, 

And sweated through his apostolic skin: 

Of course his perspiration was but ichor. 

Or some such other spiritual liquor. 

Byron: Vision of Judgment , xxv. 

Ichthys (ik' this) (Gr. ich thus, fish). In primitive 
times the fish was used as a symbol of Christ 
because the word is formed of the initial letters 
/esous C//ristos, 77/e ou Uios, Soter, Jesus 
Christ, Son of God, Saviour. This notarica is 
found on many seals, rings, urns, and tomb- 
stones belonging to the early times of Christi- 
anity, and was supposed to be a “charm” of 
mystical efficacy. 

Icknield Way. A prehistoric track from the 
Wash to the source of the River Kennet in 
Wiltshire, running through Cambridgeshire, 
Letchworth, Tring, over the Thames and the 
Berkshire Downs. The origin of the name is 
unknown. 

Icon or Ikon (!' kon), from the Greek eikon , an 
image or likeness, it a representation in the 
form of painting, low-relief sculpture or mosaic 
of some sacred personage in the Eastern 



Icon 


479 


Ignatius 


Church. Excepting the face and hands, the 
whole is often covered with an embossed metal 

f rtaque representing the figure and drapery, 
cons are greatly venerated by the Russian 
peasantry. 

Icon Basilike. See Eikon Basilik e. 

Iconoclasts (Gr. “image breakers”). Re- 
formers who rose in the Eastern Church m 
the 8th century, and were specially opposed to 
the employment of pictures, statues, emblems, 
and all visible representations of sacred objects. 
The crusade against these things began in 726 
with the Emperor Leo 111 (the lsaurian), and 
continued for one hundred and twenty years 
under Constantine Copronymus, Leo the 
Armenian, Theophilus, and other Byzantine 
Emperors, who are known as the Iconoclast 
Emperors. 

Id, in Freudian psychology, is the whole 
reservoir of impulsive reactions that forms the 
mind, of which the ego is a superficial layer. 
It is the totality of impulses or instincts 
comprising the true unconscious mind. 

Ideal Commonwealths. See Commonwealths. 

Idealism. Absolute idealism, taught by Hegel 
(1770-1831), supposes there is no such thing as 
phenomena; that mind, through the senses, 
creates its own world. In fact, that there is no 
real, but all is ideal. 

Objective idealism, taught by SchelJing 
(1775-1854), supposes that the object (say a 
tree) and the image thereof on the mind are 
distinct from each other. 

Personal idealism, as expounded by William 
James (1842-1910), lays special emphasis on 
the authority of the will and the initiative of 
the self in experience, as opposed to the tend- 
ency of absolute idealism to minimize the 
working of the individual soul. 

Subjective idealism, taught by Fichte (1762 
1814), supposes the tree, and the image of 
it on the mind are one. Or rather, that there is 
no object outside the mental idea. 

Idealists. They may be divided into two 
distinct sections — 

(1) Those who follow Plato, who taught that 
before creation there existed certain types or 
ideal models, of which ideas created objects 
are the visible images; Malebranche, Kant, 
Schelling, Hegel, etc., were of this school. 

(2) Those who maintain that all phenomena 
are only subjective — that is, mental cogniz- 
ances only within ourselves, and what we see 
and what we hear are only brain impressions. 
Of this school were Berkeley, Hume, Fichte, 
and many others. 

Ides (Idz). In the Roman calendar the 15th of 
March, May, July, and October, and the 13th 
of all the other months; always eight days after 
the Nones. 

Beware the Ides of March. Said as a warning 
of impending and certain danger. The allusion 
is the warning received by Julius Caesar before 
his assassination: — 

Furthermore, there was * certain soothsayer that 
had given Caesar warning long time afore, to take heed 
of the day of the Ides of March (which is the fifteenth 
of the monin), for on that day he should be in great 


danger. That day being come, Caesar going into the 
Senate-house and speaking merrily unto the sooth- 
sayer, told him, “The Ides of March be come”; “So 
be they,” softly answered the soothsayer, “but yet are 
they not past.” — Plutarch: Julius Casar {North's 
trans.). 

Idiot. Originally-— in Greece — a private person, 
one not engaged in any public office, hence an 
uneducated, ignorant person. Jeremy Taylor 
says, “Humility is a duty in great ones, as well 
as in idiots” (private persons). The Greeks 
have the expressions, “a priest or an idiot” 
(layman), “a poet or an idiot” (prose-writer). 
In I Cor. xiv, 16. where the Authorized Version 
has “how shall he who occupieth the place of 
the unlearned say Amen . . .?” Wyclif’s version 
reads “. . . who fillith the place of an idyot, 
how schal he seie amen . . . T* 

Idle Bible, The. See Bible, specially named. 

Ido (e' do). An international language invented 
by Louis Couturat in 1907. It was a modifica- 
tion of Esperanto — indeed, the name is 
Esperanto for “offspring” — but was said to be 
simpler and free of many of the defects of that 
language. 

Idonieneus (I dom' in Qs). King of Crete, an 
ally of the Greeks at Troy. After the city was 
burnt he made a vow to sacrifice whatever he 
first encountered, if the gods granted him a 
safe return to his kingdom. It was his own son 
that he first met; he offered him up to fulfil 
his vow, but a plague followed, and the king 
was banished from Crete as a murderer. 
{ Iliad .) Cp . Iphigenia. 

Iduna or Idun (i do' na, i dun'). In Scandin- 
avian mythology, daughter of the dwarf 
Svald. and wife of Bragi. Shi guardian of 
the golden apples which the gods tasted as often 
as they wished to renew their youth. 

lfreet. See Afreet. 

lfs and Ans. 

If ifs and ans 

Were pots and pans 

Where would be the tinker? 

An old-fashioned jingle to describe wishful 
thinking. The “ans” — often erroneously written 
“ands” — is merely the old “an” for “if.” 

Igerna. See Igraine. 

Ignatius, St. (ig na' shus). According to tradi- 
tion, St. Ignatius was the little child whom our 
Saviour set in the midst of His disciples for 
their example. He was a convert of St. John the 
Evangelist, was consecrated Bishop of Antioch 
by St. Peter, and is said to have been thrown 
to the beasts in the amphitheatre by Trajan, 
about 107. He is commemorated on February 
1st, and is represented in art accompanied by 
lions, or chained and exposed to them, in 
allusion to his martyrdom. ; 

Father Ignatius. The Rev. Joseph Leycester 
Lyne (1837-1908), a deacon of the Church of 
England, who founded a pseudo-Benedictine 
monastery at Llanthony, N. Wales. He was an 
eloquent preacher, but his ritualistic practices 
brought him into conflict with his ecclesiastical 
superiors. He was never ordained priest in the 
Anglican Church but secured an irregular 
ordination through a dissident priest of an 
Oriental rite. 



Ignatius 


480 


Illuminated Doctor 


The Rev. the Hon. Geo. Spencer (1799- 
1864), a clergyman of the Church of England 
who joined the Roman communion, and be- 
came Superior of the English province of the 
Congregation of Passionists, was also known 
as “Father Ignatius.” 

St. Ignatius Loyola. See Loyola. 

Ignis Fatuus (ig' nis f&t' 0 us). The “Will o’ the 
wisp” or “Friar’s lanthorn” {q.v.), a flame-like 
phosphorescence flitting over marshy ground 
(due to the spontaneous combustion of gases 
from decaying vegetable matter), and deluding 
people who attempt to follow it: hence, any 
delusive aim or object, or some Utopian 
scheme that is utterly impracticable. The name 
means “a foolish fire”; it is also called “Jack 
o’ Lantern,” “Spunkie,” “Walking Fire,” 
“Fair Maid of Ireland,” “John in the Wad.” 

When thou rannest up Gadshilt in the night to 
catch my horse, if 1 did not think thou hadst been an 
ignis fatuus or a ball of wildfire, there’s no purchase in 
money. — Henry IV, Pt. /, III, iii. 

According to a Russian superstition, these 
wandering fires are the spirits of still-born 
children which flit between heaven and the 
Inferno. 

Ignoramus (ig nor a' mus). One who ignores the 
knowledge of something; one really un- 
acquainted with it. It is an ancient law term. 
The grand jury used to write Ignoramus on the 
back of indictments “not found” or not to be 
sent into court. Hence ignore. 

Ignorantines (ig nor an' tinz). A name given 
to the Brothers of Charity, or Brethren of 
Saint Jean-de-Dieu, an order of Augustinian 
mendicants founded in 1495 in Portugal by 
John of Monte Major (d. 1550) to minister to 
the sick poor, and introduced into France by 
Marie de* Medici. 

It was also given later to a religious associa- 
tion founded by the Abbe de la Salle in 1724 in 
France, for educating gratuitously the children 
of the poor. 

Igraine (i gran). Wife of Gorlois ( q.v .), Duke 
of Tintagel, in Cornwall, and mother of King 
Arthur. His father, Uther Pendragon, married 
Igraine thirteen days after her husband was 
slain. 

Iguanodon (i gw&n' 6 don). One of the dino- 
saurs; a land reptile from 15 ft. to 25 ft. long 
with a small head, heavy jaws set with teeth 
like those of the modern iguana, and flexible 
lips. The creature supported itself on its two 
hind legs and powerful tail, its front limbs 
being comparatively small. 

lhram (i ram). The ceremonial garb of 
Mohammedan pilgrims to Mecca; also, the 
ceremony of assuming it. 

We prepared to perform the ceremony of Al-Ihram 
(assuming the pilgrim garb) ... we donned the attire, 
which is nothing but two new cotton cloths, each six 
feet long by three and a half broad, white with narrow 
red stripes and fringes. . . . One of these sheets, 
technically armed the Rida , is thrown over the back, 
and, exposing the arm and shoulder, is knotted at the 
right side in the style of Wishah. The Izar is wrapped 
round the lotos from waist to knee, and, knotted or 
tucked in at the middle, supports itself. —Burton: 
Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Mecca , xxvi. 

I.H.S. — i.e. the Greek IHE t meaning IHEovs 
(Jesus), the long e (H) being mistaken for a 


capital H, and the dash perverted into a cross. 
The letters being thus obtained, St. Bernardine 
of Siena in 1347 applied them to Jesus 
Hominum Salvator (Jesus, the Saviour of men), 
another application being In hac salus (safety 
in this, i.e. the Cross). 

II Milione. See Milione. 

Iliad (iT i &d) (Gr. I lias, gen. Iliad-os , the land 
of Ilium). The tale of the siege of Troy, or Ilium, 
an epic poem attributed to Homer {q.v.), in 
twenty-four books. Menelaus, King of Sparta, 
received as his guest Paris, a son of Priam. 
King of Troy, who ran away with Helen, wife 
of Menelaus. Menelaus induced the Greeks 
to lay siege to Troy to avenge the perfidy, and 
the siege lasted ten years. The poem begins in 
the tenth year with a quarrel between Agamem- 
non, King of Mycenae and commander-in-chief 
of the allied Greeks, and Achilles, the hero who 
had retired from the army in ill temper. The 
Trojans now prevail, and Achilles sends his 
friend Patroclus to oppose them, but Patroclus 
is slain. Achilles, in a desperate rage, rushes 
into the battle, and slays Hector, the com- 
mander of the Trojan army. The poem ends 
with the funeral rites of Hector. 

An Iliad of woes. A number of evils falling 
one after another; there is scarce a calamity in 
the whole catalogue of human ills that finds 
not mention in the Iliad. 

Demosthenes used the phrase {I lias kakon), 
and it was adopted by Cicero {I lias malorum) 
in his Ad Atticum , viii, 11. 

It opens another Iliad of woes to Europe. 

Burke: On a Regicide Peace , ii. 

The “Iliad” in a nutshell. See Nutshell. 

The French Iliad. The Romance of the Rose 
{see Rose) has been so called. Similarly, the 
Nibelungenlied {q.v.) and the Lusiad {q.v.) have 
been called respectively the German and 
Portuguese Iliad. 

Ilk (O.E. ilea , the same). Only used — correctly 
— in the phrase of that ilk, when the surname of 
the person spoken of is the same as the name of 
his estate; Bethune of that ilk means “Bethunc 
of Bethune.” It is a mistake to use the phrase 
“All that ilk” to signify all of that name or 
family, 

111 May-day. See Evil May-day. 

Ill-starred. Unlucky; fated to be unfortunate. 
Othello says of Desdemona, “O ill-starred 
wench I” The allusion is to the astrological 
dogma that the stars influence the fortunes of 
mankind. 

Illegitimates. An old Australian slang phrase 
applied to early settlers who came to the 
country voluntarily, and not lor “legal” 
reasons — i.e. as convicts. 

Illinois. Originally the name of a confederacy 
of North American Indian tribes who were 
allied to the French. Illini means “man,” and 
the French substituted their plural termination 
-ois for the Indian - uk . 

Illinois nut. The pecan. 

Illuminated Doctor. Raymond Lully (1254- 
1315), the Spanish scholastic philosopher; also 
Johann Tauler (1294-1361), the German 
mystic. 




Illuminati 


481 


Imperial 


Illuminati. The baptised were at one time so 
called, because a lighted candle was given them 
to hold as a symbol that they were illuminated 
by the Holy Ghost. 

The name has been given to, or adopted by, 
several sects and secret societies professing to 
have superior enlightenment, especially to a 
republican society of deists, founded by Adam 
Weishaupt (1748-1830) at Ingoldstadt in 
Bavaria in 1776, having for its object the 
establishment of a religion consistent with 
“sound reason/* 

Among others to whom the name has been 
applied are the Hesychasts; the Alombrados, a 
Spanish sect founded about 1575 by the Car- 
melite, Catherine de Jesus, and John of 
Willelpando, the members of which rejected 
the sacraments; the French Guerinists; the 
Rosicrucians ( q.v .); and in the U.S.A. to the 
Jeffersonians, and (by them) to the Prince- 
tonians and opponents of Freemasonry. 

Illuminator, The. The surname given to St. 
Gregory of Armenia (257-331), the apostle of 
Christianity among the Armenians. 

Illustrious, The. 

Albert V, Duke and second Emperor of 
Austria (1398-1439). 

Nicomedes II of Bithynia (d. 89 b.c.). 

Ptolemy V, King of Egypt, Epiphanes (210, 
205-181 b.c.). 

Jam-shid (Jam the Illustrious), nephew of 
Tah Omurs, fifth king of the Paisdadian 
dynasty of Persia (c. 840-800 b.c.). 

Kien-long, fourth of the Manchu dynasty of 
China (1709-99). 

Ilokano (e 16 ka' no). An Indonesian language 
spoken in Luzon; but the term is also in use 
since World War II to describe a sort of 
lingua franca composed of Malay, English, 
and Spanish, common in the Philippines and 
adjacent islands of Malaysia. 

Image -breakers, The. See Iconoclasts. 

Imaglsm. A school of poetry founded by Ezra 
Pound (b. 1885), derived from the concepts of 
the philosopher T. E. Hulme (1883-1917). The 
imagist poets were in revolt against excessive 
romanticism, and proclaimed that poetry 
should use the language of common speech, 
create new rhythms, be uninhibited in choice 
of subject, and present an image. 

Imaum or Imam (i' mSm, i mam'). A member 
of the priestly body of the Mohammedans. 
He recites the prayers and leads the devotions 
of the congregation. The Sultan of Turkey as 
“head of the Moslems” was an Imaum, and the 
title is also given to the Sultan of Muscat and 
to the heads of the four orthodox Moslem sects. 
The word means teacher or guide. Cp. Ulema. 

Imbrocata (im bro ka' ta) (Ital.). An old fenc- 
ing term for a thrust over the arm. 

If your enemie bee cunning and skilful!, never stand 
about giving any foine or imbrocata, but this thrust or 
stoccata alone, neither it ulso [never attempt] unlesse 
you be sure to hit him. — Saviolo: Practise of the 
Duello (1595). 

Imbroglio (im brd lyo) (Ital.). A complicated 
plot; a misunderstanding of a complicated 
nature. 


Immaculate Conception. This dpgma, that the 
Virgin Mary was conceived without original 
sin, was first b-oached by St. Bernard, was 
stoutly maintained by Duns Scotus and his 
disciples, but was not declared by the Roman 
Catholic Church to be an article of faith till 
1854. It was proclaimed by Pius IX in the bull 
Ineffabilis Dens in these words : — 

That the most blessed Virgin Mary, in the first 
moment of her conception, by a special grace and 
privilege of Almighty God, in virtue of the merits of 
Christ, was preserved immaculate from all stain of 
original sin. 

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is 
celebrated on December 8th, and is a holiday 
of obligation {q.v.). 

Immolate (im' 6 lat). To sacrifice; literally, 
“put meal on one” (Lat. immolare , to sprinkle 
with meal). The reference is to the ancient 
Roman custom of sprinkling wine and frag- 
ments of the sacred cake {mola salsa ) on the 
head of a victim to be offered in sacrifice. 
Immortal. The Immortal. Yong-Tching (1723- 
36), third of the Manchu dynasty of China, 
assumed the title. 

The Immortal Tinker. John Bunyan (1628- 
88), a tinker by trade. 

The Immortals. The forty members of the 
French Academy; also the name given to a 
body of 10,000 foot-soldiers, which constituted 
the bodyguard of the ancient Persian kings, 
and to other highly trained troops. 

In the British Army the 76th Foot were 
called “The Immortals,” because so many were 
wounded, but not killed, in India (1788-1806). 
This regiment, with the old 33rd, now forms 
the two battalions of the West Riding regiment. 

Imp. A graft (O.E. impian ), a shoot; hence 
offspring, and a child. In hawking, “to imp a 
feather” was to engraft or add a new feather 
for a broken one. The needles employed for the 
purpose were called “imping needles.” 

The noun “imp,” child, did not formerly 
connote mischievousness as it now does; 
Thomas Cromwell, writing to Henry VIII, 
speaks of “that noble imp your son.” 

Let us pray for . . . the king’s most excellent 
majesty and for . . . his beloved son Edward, our 
prince, that most angelic imp. — Pathway to prayer. 

Milton calls the serpent “fittest imp of 
fraud” {Paradise Lost, IX, 89). 

Lincoln Imp. See Lincoln. 

Impanation (im pa na' shon). The Lutheran 
dogma that the body and soul of Christ are 
infused into the eucharistic elements after 
consecration; and that the bread and wine are 
united with the body and soul of Christ in 
much the same way as the body and soul of 
man are united. The word means putting into 
the bread. 

Imperial. From the Lat. imperialism imperium , 
the word really means anything to do with an 
empire or emperor. Following are some of its 
special and particular applications: — 

A standard size of printing paper measuring 
between 22 x 30 in. and 22 x 32 in. Also of 
writing paper measuring 22 x 30 in. 

In Russia there used to be current a gold 
coin, value 15 roubles, called an “imperial.” 

A tuft of hair on the chin, all the rest of the 



Imperial 


482 


In partibus 


beard and all the whiskers being shaved off. So 
called from the Emperor Napoleon III (1808- 
73), who set the fashion. 

Imperial Conference. The origin of this goes 
back to Queen Victoria’s Jubilee (1887) when 
the prime ministers of the various dominions 
were in London and met together to confer. 
Similar conferences were held in 1897, 1902, 
1907 and 1911, and since World War I it has 
met every few years in London or elsewhere. 
Since World War II the meetings have usually 
been referred to as Commonwealth Prime 
Ministers’ Conferences. 

Imperial Institute. A building erected in S. 
Kensington to commemorate the jubilee of 
Queen Victoria (1887) and opened in 1893. 
The name was also used for the Society which 
has its headquarters therein, the object of 
which is to assist in the development of the 
resources of the British Empire by arranging 
exhibitions and disseminating information 
until 1958, when the name was changed to 
Commonwealth Institute. In 1962 the Institute 
moved to new premises in Kensington High 
Street. 

The Imperial Service Order was instituted by 
Edward VII in 1902 for Civil Servants with 
long and meritorious records. 

Imperialism, coming from the Latin imperium, 
is applied in modern times to the belief in the 
expansion and development of an empire, 
more especially the British Empire. It came 
into use in the latter part of the 19th century, 
since when the word has gradually come to 
acquire a somewhat derogatory meaning, 
suggestive of jingoism. 

Imposition. A task given in schools, etc., as a 
punishment. The word is taken from the verb 
impose , as the task is imposed. In the sense 
of a deception it means to “put a trick on a 
person,” hence, the expression “to put on 
one,” etc. 

Imposition of hands. The bishop laying his 
hands on persons confirmed or ordained ( Acts 
vi, viii, xix). See To Lay Hands on under Hand. 

Impossibilities (phrases). 

Gathering grapes from thistles. 

Fetching water in a sieve. 

Washing a blackamoor white. 

Catching wind in cabbage nets. 

Flaying eels by the tail. 

Making cheese of chalk. 

Squaring the circle. 

Turning base metal into gold. 

Making a silk purse of a sow’s ear. 

(And hundreds more). 

Impressionist. An important school in the 
history of painting. As the name implies, it 
desired to capture the impression of colour of 
transitory and volatile nature rather than its 
form. The first phase — the study of light — was 
headed by Edouard Manet (1832-83); the 
second, which specialized in “ peinture claire ” 
— an endeavour to eliminate grey and black 
from the palette and achieve the effects of light 
by dabs of pure juxtaposed colour — by Claude 
Monet (1840-1926). 

Imprimatur (im pri ma' ttir). An official licence 
to print a book, especially a licence from the 
ecclesiastical authorities of the Roman Catholic 


Church, or — where censorship exists — from 
the official censor. The word is the 3rd sing, 
pres. subj. passive of Lat. imprimere , “let it be 
printed.” 

Impropriation. Profits of ecclesiastical property 
in the hands of a layman, who is called the 
impropriator. Appropriation is the term used 
when the profits of a benefice are in the hands 
of a college or spiritual corporation. 

In Cana Domini (in cha' na dom' i ni) (Lat. 
at the Lord’s Supper). The papal bull pub- 
lished annually on Maundy Thursday (the 
Feast of the Lord’s Supper) from the 14th 
century to 1770, fulminating curses and ex- 
communications against all heretics and 
against all temporal powers and others who 
wronged the Church by taxing the clergy, 
levying on ecclesiastical lands, appealing to a 
general council, etc. It was added to and 
altered from time to time, and its ecclesiastical, 
as apart from its political, anathemas are 
included in the Apostolic ce Sedis , issued by 
Pius IX in 1869. 

In commendam (in kom en' dam) (Lat. in 
trust). The holding of church preferment for a 
time, on the recommendation of the Crown, 
till a suitable person can be provided. Thus a 
benefice-holder who has become a bishop and 
is allowed to hold his living for a time is said 
to hold it in commendam. 

In esse (in es' i). In actual existence (Lat. esse, 
to be), as opposed to in posse , in potentiality. 
Thus a living child is “in esse,” but before birth 
is only “in posse.” 

In extenso (in eks ten' so) (Lat.). At full 
length, word for word, without abridgment. 

In extremis (in eks tre' mis) (Lat.). At the very 
point of death; in articulo mortis. 

In flagrante delicto (in fla gran' te de lik' to). 
Red-handed; in the very act (Lat. while the 
offence is flagrant). 

In forma pauperis (in for'ma paw'pSris) 
(Lat.). In the character of a pauper. For many 
centuries in England persons without money 
or the means of obtaining it have been allowed 
to sue in the courts in forma pauperis , when the 
fees are remitted and the suitor is supplied 
gratis with the necessary legal advice, counsel, 
etc. 

In gremio legis (in gre'miS le'jis) (Lat.). Under 
the protection of (literally, in the bosom of) 
the law. 

In loco parentis (in 16' ko pa ren' tis) (Lat.). In 
the position of being in a parent’s place. 

In medias res (in me' di as rez) (Lat.). In the 
middle of the subject. In novels and epic poetry, 
the author generally begins in medias res , and 
explains the preceding events as the tale un- 
folds. In history, on the other hand, the author 
begins ab ovo ( q.v .). 

In memoriam (in me mor' i Sm) (Lat.). In 
memory of. 

In partibus (in par' ti bus) (Lat.). A “bishop 
in partibus ” was a bishop in any country, 
Christian or otherwise, whose title was from 
some old see fallen away from the Catholic 
faith. The full phrase was in partibus infidelium , 
in the regions of infidels, and the title was 



In petto 


483 


Independence Day 


generally conferred on a Church dignitary 
without an actual see. Many of the sees haying 
now again a considerable Christian population, 
Pope Leo XIII, in 1882, abolished the designa- 
tion and substituted that of “titular” bishop or 
see. 

In petto (in pet' 6) (Ital.). Held in reserve, kept 
back, something done privately, and not 
announced to the general public. (Lat. in 
pectore, in the breast.) 

Cardinals in petto. Cardinals chosen by the 
Pope, but not yet publicly announced. Their 
names are in pec tore (of the Pope). 

In posse. See In esse. 

In propria persona (in prop' ri a per so' na) 
(Lat.). Personally, and not by deputy or agents. 

In re (in re) (Lat.). In the matter of; on the 
subject of; as In re Jones v. Robinson. But in 
rem, against the property or thing referred to. 

In situ (in si' tu) (Lat.). In its original place. 

I at first mistook it for a rock in situ , and took out 
my compass to observe the direction of its cleavage. — 
Darwin : Voyage in the Beagle , ix. 

In statu quo (in stSt' 0 kwo) or In statu quo ante 
(Lat.). In the condition things were before the 
change took place. Thus, two nations arming 
for war may agree to lay down arms on 
condition that all things be restored to the 
same state as they were before they took up 
arms. 

In toto (in to' td) (Lat.). Entirely, altogether. 

In vacuo (in v2k' G 6) (Lat.). In a vacuum— 
/.e. in a space from which nominally all, and 
really almost all, the air has been taken away. 

In vino verltas (Lat.). See Vino. 

ln-and-In. A game for three, played with four 
dice, once extremely common, and frequently 
alluded to. “In” is a throw of doubles, “in-and- 
in” a throw of double doubles, which sweeps 
the board. 

I have seen . . . three persons sit down at twelve- 
penny In and In, and each draw forty shillings a-piece. 
— Nicker Nicked (1668: Hart. Misc., II). 

Inaugurate. To install into some office with 
appropriate ceremonies, to open or introduce 
formally. From Lat. inaugur are, which meant 
first to take omens from the flight of birds by 
augury (?.v.), and then to consecrate or install 
after taking such omens. 

Inbread. See Baker’s Dozen. 

Inca (ing' k&). A king or royal prince of the 
ancient Peruvians. Of this dynasty Manco 
Capac was the founder (c. a.d. 1240) and 
Atahualpa, murdered by the Spaniards in 1533, 
the last. The Inca Empire covered a wide area 
extending from Quito southwards into northern 
Chile, and from the Pacific seaboard to beyond 
the Andes, a region over 2,000 miles long and 
500 miles wide, with its capital at Cuzco. The 
Incas were skilful agriculturists, and main- 
tained an enlightened social and economic 
regime that has not* been seen in S. America 
since their time. „ 

The Inca was a war-chief, elected by the Council to 
carry out its decision. — Biunton: The American Race 
(South American Tribes), pt. I, ch. ii, p. 2c 1. 

16* 


Inchcapc Rock. A rocky reef (also known as 
the Bell Rock) about 12 miles from Arbroath 
in the North Sea <Jnch or Innis means island ). 
It is dangerous for navigators, and therefore 
the abbot of Arbroath, or “Aberbrothok,” 
fixed a bell on a float, which gave notice to 
sailors of its whereabouts. Southey’s ballad 
tells how Ralph the Rover, a sea pirate, cut 
the bell from the float, and was wrecked on his 
return home on the very rock. 

A similar tale is told of St. Goven's bell, in Pem- 
brokeshire. In the chapel was a silver bell, which was 
stolen one summer evening by pirates, but no sooner 
had the boat put to sea than it was wrecked. The silver 
bell was carried by sea-nymphs to the brink of a well, 
and whenever the stone of that well is struck the bell 
is heard to moan. 


Incog. — i.e. Incognito (in kog' ni to) (Ital.). 
Under an assumed name or title. When a 
royal person travels, and does not wish to be 
treated with royal ceremony, he assumes some 
inferior title for the nonce, and travels incog . 


Income Tax. From the days of the Revolution 
of 1688 English statesmen have taken steps in 
one direction or another to introduce a tax on 
incomes. The first workable tax of this nature 
was devised by William Pitt, in 1799, to finance 
the war with France. A tax of 10 per cent, was 
put on all incomes over £200, with a modified 
charge for those between that sum and £60, 
beneath which all were exempt. This tax was 
dropped in 1802 but the next year a new 
Income Tax was introduced on practically the 
same system of schedules, etc., as is still in 
force. Though aiming at only 5 per cent, of the 
income, this tax yielded as much as the earlier 
tax. The new tax was dropped in 1815, but it 
was renewed by Peel in 1842, with an exemp- 
tion limit of £150 (in 1853 lowered to£100) at a 
rate varying between 6d. and 8d. in the £. 
In 1874-75 this sank so low as 2d. in the £. In 
the South African war the Income Tax rose 
to Is.; in World War I to 6s. and in World 
War II to 10s. Since World War I a surtax 
has been charged in addition to the standard 
rate of Income Tax on incomes over £2,000. 
In 1961 surtax was charged on incomes of 
£5,000 and over. 

In 1944 a system of Pay As You Earn 
(P.A.Y.E.) (q.v.) was introduced. 

Incorruptible, The. Robespierre. See Sea- 
green. 

Incubus (ing' kQ bus). A nightmare, anything 
that weighs heavily on the mind. In mediaeval 
times it denoted an evil spirit who was 
supposed to consort with women in their sleep. 
(Lat. incubo , nightmare; from incubare, to lie 

Merlin was the son of no mortal father, but of an 
Incubus; one of a class of beinra not absolutely 
wicked, but far from good, who inhabit the regions ot 
the air. — Bulfinch: Age of Chivalry r pt. I, cn. u*. 


Indenture (in den' chur). A written contract, 
especially one between an apprentice and ms 
master; so called because the identical docu- 
ments held by each party had their edges 
indented in such a manner that they would fit 
precisely into each other. 

Independence Day. July 4th, which is kept as* 
national holiday hi the United States of 



Index 


484 


Indulgence 


America, because the declaration by the 
American States, declaring the colonies free 
and independent and absolved from all allegi- 
ance to Great Britain, was signed on that day 
(1776). 

Index, The (Index Librorum Prohibitorum). 
The “List of Prohibited Books” of the Roman 
Catholic Church, an official list of books that 
Roman Catholics are forbidden to read except 
in special circumstances. The prohibition of 
books in the Church goes back to 484, when 
Pope Gelasius issued a list of forbidden 
apocryphal works. The first Index, however, 
was made by the Inquisition in 1557. In 1571 
Pius V set up a Congregation of the Index to 
take charge of and revise the list, and in 1917 
the duties were taken over by the Holy Office 
(see Inquisition). In addition to the Index 
roper, there is an Index Expurgatorius of 
ooks that may be read after passages not in 
keeping with the doctrinal or moral teachings 
of the Church have been removed. Latterly the 
Index has been less prominent, many books 
that would formerly have been prohibited are 
no longer so, because since 1 897 the diocesan 
bishops have been granted greater responsi- 
bility in the control of literature. 

All translations of the Bible not authorized 
by the Church, all books contrary to faith and 
morals, including obscene books except those 
by ancient and modern classical authors 
possessing elegance of diction, are placed on 
the Index. Among English authors wholly or 
partly prohibited are Addison, Bacon, 
Chaucer, Gibbon, Goldsmith, Locke, and 
Milton; among French, Descartes, Dumas, 
Fdnelon, Hugo, Montaigne, Pascal, Renan, 
and Voltaire; and among Italian, Croce. 
D’Annunzio, Savonarola, and Sismondi. 
Galen, Dante, and Copernicus, for long on the 
Index, have been removed. 

India. The independence of India was created 
by a Bill introduced on July 4th, 1947 and given 
the Royal Assent on the 19th of the same 
month. On August 15th British India became 
two dominions — India and Pakistan, the first 
mainly Hindu and the second almost entirely 
Moslem. Each has its own legislature and 
head of state. Each independent state was 
left to decide for itself to which of the two 
dominions it would belong. 

India is so named from Indus (the river), in 
Sanskrit Sindhu, in Persic Hindu (the water). 
Hindustan is the stan or “country” of the river 
Hindus. 

India paper. A creamy-coloured printing- 
paper originally made in China and Japan from 
vegetable fibre, and used for taking off the 
finest proofs of engraved plates; hence India 
proof, the proof of an engraving on India 
paper, before lettering. 

The India paper (or Oxford India paper ) used 
for printing Bibles and high-class “thin paper” 
and “pocket” editions, is a very thin, tough, 
and opaque imitation of this. 

Indian. American Indians. When Columbus 
landed on one of the Bahamas he thought that 
he had reached India, and in this belief gave 
the natives the name of Indians. Nowadays, in 


order to avoid ambiguity, the American 
Indians are known by ethnologists as Amerinds. 

Indian Congress Party. This was founded in 
1885 by A. O. Hume, with the object of 
consolidating union between England and 
India. It split on points of principle in 1907 and 
in 1920 became a vehicle for the dissemination 
of Gandhi’s views and teachings. In 1927 
Congress demanded independence as the goal 
of India, and to this end it strove until the goal 
was reached. 

Indian drug or weed, The. Tobacco. Here 
the reference is, of course, to the West Indies . 

His breath compounded of strong English beere. 

And th’ Indian drug, would suffer none come neere. 

Taylor, the Water Poet (1630). 

Indian file. One after the other, singly. The 
American Indians, when they go on an 
expedition, march one by one. The one behind 
carefully steps in the footprints of the one 
before, and the last man of the,file is supposed 
to obliterate the footprints. Thus, neither the 
track nor the number of invaders can be 
traced. 

Indian sugar. West Indian maple sugar. 

Indian summer. The autumnal summer, 
occurring as a rule in the early part of October. 
It is often the finest and mildest part of the 
whole year, especially in North America. 

Indirect Taxation is the levying of a tax on 
commercial goods, etc., in such a way that the 
consumer pays both for the article and the tax. 

Indo-European. A term invented by Thomas 
Young the Egyptologist in 1813 and later 
adopted by scientists to describe the race and 
language from which the main Indian and 
European peoples sprang. Anthropologists 
have devoted to the subject much study as yet 
inconclusive; philologists have classified the 
Indo-European languages in such broad 
groups: Indo-Iranian, Greek, Italic, Celtic, 
Germanic, etc., and each group has its sub- 
divisions. 

Indonesia (in do ne' zha). The name adopted 
by the former Netherlands East Indies when 
they attained independence in 1949. 

Induction (Lat. the act of leading in). When a 
clergyman is inducted to a living he is led to 
the church door, and the ring which forms the 
handle is placed in his hand. The door being 
opened, he is next led into the church, and the 
fact is announced to the parish by tolling the 
bell. 

Indulgence. In Catholic theology the remission 
before God of the temporal punishment due 
for those sins of which the guilt has been for- 
given in the sacrament of Penance. The com- 
petent ecclesiastical authority grants such 
indulgences out of the Treasury of the Church 
(<?.v.); they are either plenary or partial; partial 
remitting a part only of such punishment due 
for sin at any given moment, the proportion 
being expressed in terms of time ( e.g . thirty 
days, seven years). The precise meaning of 
these terms has never been defined, but they 
date back to the ancient penitential discipline 
of the Church. In the Middle Ages indulgences 
were of high commercial value, and it was the 



Indulgence 


485 


Inkhorn terms 


sale of them that first roused the ire of Luther 
and prepared the way for the Reformation. 

The Declaration of Indulgence. The procla- 
mation of James II in 1687 which annulled 
religious tests and the penal laws against 
Roman Catholics and Dissenters. The refusal 
of certain ecclesiastics to read this in their 
churches led to the Trial of the Seven Bishops. 
Industrial Revolution is the term applied to the 
social and economic changes that took place 
in Britain from the late 18th to the mid- 19th 
century, when the introduction of machinery 
in manufacture and railways for transport 
entirely revolutionized the methods of living 
and the location of industries throughout the 
country. 

Ineffable. See Affable. 

Inexpressibles. A euphemism for trousers — 
also known as unmentionables — in use in the 
19th century. This absurdity is attributed to 
the satirical poet Peter Pindar, the pen-name 
of John Wolcot (1738-1819) who used it in a 
biting lampoon on the dandy Prince Regent 
(George IV). 

Infallibility. The doctrine that the Pope, when 
speaking ex cathedra (<7.v.) on a question of 
faith or morals, is free from error did not be- 
come an accepted dogma of the Church until 
the Vatican Council of 1870. The promulgation 
of the dogma, after having been agreed to by 
the council (many members dissenting or ab- 
staining from voting), was publicly read by 
Pius IX at St. Peter’s. 

Infallibility does not involve inspiration or 
universal inerrability; the Pope does not 
originate new doctrines infallibly, his infalli- 
bility preserves him from making errors in 
defining truths of doctrines or morals. 

Infant. Literally, one who is unable to speak 
(Lat. infans ; ultimately from in, negative, and 
fari , to speak). Used as a synonym of “childe,” 
as in Childe Harold (q.v.), meaning a knight or 
youth of gentle birth, the word was once of 
common occurrence. Thus, as in the following 
passage, Spenser frequently refers to Prince 
Arthur in this way: — 

The Infant harkened wisely to her tale, 

And wondered much at Cupid’s judg’ment wise. 

Faerie Queene , VI, viii, 25. 

Infanta. Any princess of the blood royal, 
except an heiress of the crown, was so called 
in Spain and in Portugal. 

Infante. All the sons of the sovereigns of 
Spain bore this title, as did those of Portugal, 
except the crown prince, who was called in 
Spain the Prince of the Asturias. 

Infantry. Foot soldiers. This is the same word 
as infant (q.v.); it is the Italian infanteria , a 
foot soldier, from infante , a youth; hence, one 
who is too inexperienced to serve in the 
cavalry. 

Inferiority Complex. A psycho-analytical term 
for a complex resulting from a sense of 
inferiority dating from childhood. Over- 
compensation for that feeling produces, it is 
suggested, an exaggerated or even abnormal 
desire for success* power, and accomplishment, 
and frequently* a conceited and pushing 
attitude. 


Infernal Column. So the corps of Latour 
d’ Auvergne (1743-1800) — “the First Grenadier 
of France” — was called, from its terrible 
charges with the bayonet. 

The same name — Colonnes infernales — was 
given, because of their brutality, to the twelve 
bodies of republican troops which “pacified” 
La Vendee in 1793, under General Turreau. 

Inferno (in f£r' no). We have Dante’s notion 
of the infernal regions in his Inferno ; Homer’s 
in the Odyssey , Bk. XI; Virgil’s in the AEneid, 
Bk. VI; Spenser’s in the Faerie Queene , Bk. II, 
canto vii; Ariosto’s in Orlando Furioso , Bk. 
XVII ; Tasso’s in Jerusalem Delivered , Bk. IV.; 
Milton’s in Paradise Lost ; F6nelon*s in 
Telemaque , Bk. XVIII; and Beckford’s in his 
romance oi'Vathek . See Hell; Hades. 

Informer. Readers of Pickwick Papers and 
other novels of the period will find references 
to police informers. Before the organization 
of the police and detective forces a thriving 
trade used to be driven by a certain class of 
persons who frequented the streets and public 
places on the look-out for anyone committing 
minor illegal acts, which they reported to the 
authorities for a small fee. 

Infra dig. Not befitting one’s position and 
public character. Short for Lat. infra dig - 
nitatem , beneath (one’s) dignity. 

Infralapsarian. The same as a Sublapsarian 
(q.v.). 

Ingoldsby (ing' goldz bi). The pseudonym of 
the Rev. Richard Harris Barham (1788-1845), 
as author of the Ingoldsby Legends , which 
appeared in Bentley’s Miscellany and the New 
Monthly Magazine , and later (1840 and 1847) 
in book form. 

Ingrain Colours. See Knave in Grain, under 
Grain. 

Inhibition, in psychology, is an unconscious 
force forbidding what would otherwise be an 
impulse or urge. 

Injunction. A writ forbidding a person to en- 
croach on another’s privileges; as, to sell a 
book which is only a colourable copy of 
another author’s book; or to infringe a patent: 
or to perform a play based on a novel without 
permission of the novelist; or to publish a book 
the rights of which are reserved. Injunctions 
are of two sorts — temporary and perpetual. 
The first is limited “till the coming on of the 
defendant’s answer”; the latter is based on the 
merits of the case, and is of perpetual force. 

Ink. From Lat. encaustum (Gr. enkaustos . 
burnt in), the name given to the purple fluid 
used by the Roman emperors for writing with. 

Inkhorn terms. A common term in Eliza- 
bethan times for pedantic expressions which 
smell of the lamp. The inkhorn was the 
receptacle for ink which pedants and peda- 
gogues wore fastened to the clothing. 

1 know them that thinke rhetorique to stand wholie 
upon darke wordes, and hee that can catch an ynke 
home terme by the taile, him they coumpt to be a fine 
Englishman.— Wilson: Arte of Rhetorique (1553). 

Shakespeare uses the phrase, an “Inkhorn 
mate” (Henry VI, Ft. /, III, i.). 


Inn 


486 


Instructions 


Ink-slinger (U.S.A., ink-jerker). A contemp- 
tuous name for a writer, especially for a news- 
paper journalist. 

l nn. The word is Old English and meant 
originally an ordinary dwelling-house, resi- 
dence, or lodging. Hence Clifford’s Inn, once 
the mansion of De Clifford; Lincoln’s Inn, the 
abode of the Earls of Lincoln; Gray’s Inn, 
that of the Lords Gray, etc. 

Now, whenas Phoebus, with his fiery waine. 

Unto his inne began to draw apace. 

Spenser: Faerie Queene, VI, iii, 29. 

Inns of Court. The four voluntary societies 
which have the exclusive right of calling to the 
English Bar. They are all in London, and are 
the Inner Temple, the Middle Temple, 
Lincoln’s Inn, and Gray’s Inn. Each is governed 
by a board of benchers. See Bar; Bencher. 

Innings. He has had a long, or a good innings. 
A good long run of luck. An innings in cricket 
is the time that the eleven or an individual is 
having its turn batting at the wicket. 

Inniskillings. The 5th and 6th Dragoons. 
The former was raised by the 12th Earl of 
Shrewsbury for James II in 1685. The latter 
was raised by Sir Albert Conyngham for the 
defence of Enniskillen in the cause of William 
III; it was named the 6th Dragoons in 1751. 
In 1922 the two regiments were amalgamated 
as the 5th, and granted the title “Royal” in 
commemoration of George V’s silver jubilee 
(1935). 

This cavalry regiment must not be con- 
founded with the Inniskillings or Old 27th 
Foot, now called the “1st battalion of the 
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers,” which is a foot 
regiment. 

Innocent. An. An idiot or born fool was 
formerly so called. Cp. Bf.net. 

Although he be in body deformed, in minde foolish, 
an innocent borne, a begger by misfortune, yet doth 
he deserve a better than thy selfe. — L yly: Euphues 
0579). 

The Feast of the Holy Innocents. The 28th 
December, to commemorate Herod’s massacre 
of the children of Bethlehem under two years 
old, with the design of cutting off the infant 
Jesus {Matt, ii, 16). It used to be the custom on 
Holy Innocents’ Day, or Childermas, to whip 
the children — and even adults — “that the 
memory of Herod’s murder of the Innocents 
might stick the closer,” and this practice forms 
the plot of several old tales in the Decameron 
and elsewhere. 

The massacre of the innocents. The name 
facetiously given in parliamentary circles 
(with an allusion to the above) to Bills that 
are left over at the end of a session for lack of 
time to deal with them. 

Innuendo (in G en' do). An implied or covert 
hint of blame, a suggestion that one dare not 
make openly, so it is made indirectly, as by a 
nod; originally a law term, meaning the person 
nodded to or indirectly referred to (Lat. in - 
mo, to nod to). 

l no. See Leucothea. 

Inoculation. Originally, the horticultural prac- 
tice of grafting a bud (Lat. oculus ) into an 
inferior plant, in order to produce flowers or 


fruits of better quality; hence, introducing into 
the body infectious matter which produces a 
mild form of the disease against which this 
treatment is counted on to render one immune. 

Inquisition, The. An institution of the Roman 
Catholic Church for the prosecution of heresy 
by special ecclesiastical courts. In the earlier 
days of the Church excommunication ( q.v .) 
was the normal punishment. When heresy 
began to spread in the later 12th and early 13th 
centuries, the Church changed its attitude and 
sought secular aid in extirpating heresy. The 
idea of the Inquisition was nrst promulgated at 
the synod of Toulouse in 1229, and established 
by the Emperor Frederick II, who entrusted 
the seeking out of heretics to state officials. 
Pope Gregory IX, distrusting the Emperor’s 
ambitions, claimed the Inquisition as the 
prerogative of the Church, and appointed 
inquisitors mainly from the Dominican and 
Franciscan Orders. Torture as a means of 
breaking the will of very obstinate heretics 
was first authorized by Pope Innocent IV in 
1252. Those found guilty were handed over to 
the secular authorities, and suffered according 
to secular law. In 1542 the Congregation of 
the Inquisition was established as the final 
court of appeal in trials for heresy, and its 
title was changed to the Holy Office in 1908. 

The famous Spanish Inquisition established 
in 1478 was more closely bound up with the 
state, and was originally set up to deal with 
Jews and Moslems, who outwardly conformed 
to Christianity to avoid persecution, but 
secretly practised their own religion. Its 
famous first Grand Inquisitor was Torque- 
mada (1420-98), and the number of heretics 
burned during his term of office is estimated at 
about 2,000. The Spanish Inquisition was 
abolished in 1808, reintroduced in 1814 and 
finally abolished 1820. In France it was 
abolished in 1772. 

Insane Root, The. A plant which is not 
positively identified but which was probably 
henbane or hemlock, supposed to deprive 
of his senses anyone who took it. Banquo says 
of the witches: — 

Were such things here as we do speak about? 

Or have we eaten on the insane root 

That takes the reason prisoner? 

Macbeth, I, iii. 

There were many plants to which similar 
properties were, rightly or wrongly, attributed, 
such as the mandrake, belladonna (deadly 
nightshade), poppy, etc.; and cp. Moly. 

Inscription {on coins). See Legend. 

Inspired Idiot, The. Oliver Goldsmith (1728- 
1774) was so called by Horace Walpole. 

Institutes. A digest of the elements of a subject, 
especially of law. The most celebrated is the 
Institutes of Justinian, completed in a.d. 533 at 
the order of the Emperor. It was based on the 
earlier Institutes of Gaius , and was intended as 
an introduction to the Pandects {q.v.). Other 
Institutes are those of Florentius, Callistratus, 
Paulus, Ulpian, and Marcian. 

Instructions to the Committee. A means em- 
powering a Committee of the House of 




Insulin 


487 


Invalides 


Commons to do what it would not otherwise 
be empowered to do. 

An “Instruction” must be supplementary and aux- 
iliary to the Bill under consideration. 

It must fall within the general scope and framework 
of the Bill in question. 

It must not form the substance of a distinct meas- 
ure. 

Insulin (in' sQ lin). A specific discovered by 
Sir F. G. Banting (1891-1941). It is extracted 
from the pancreatic glands of oxen and its 
function is to reduce the sugar in the blood; for 
this reason it is used in the treatment of 
diabetes. 

Insult. Literally, to leap on (the prostrate 
body of a foe); hence, to treat with contumely 
(Lat. insultare ; saltus. a leap). Terence says, 
Insultare fores calcibus (EunucJi us, II. ii, 54). It 
will be remembered that the priests of Baal, to 
show their indignation against their gods, 
“leaped upon the altar which they had made” 
(I Kings xviii, 26). Cp. Desultory. 

Intaglio (in ta' lyo) (Ital.). A design cut into 
a gem, like a crest or initials in a stamp. The 
design does not stand out in relief, as in a 
cameo (q.v.), but is hollowed in. 

Intelligence Quotient, commonly abbreviated 
to I.Q., is the ratio, expressed as a percentage, 
of a person’s mental age to his actual age, the 
former being the age for which he scores 100 
per cent, when tested by the Binet or some 
similar system. The Binet Tests consist in 
testing a child’s intelligence by asking standard 
questions adapted to the intelligence of a 
normal child of that age. 

Intelligentsia (in tel i jen' si a). A Russian term 
for the educated and cultured classes, which 
has acquired in English a somewhat derogatory 
sense. 

Inter alia (in' ter a iya) (Lat.). Among other 
things or matters. 

Intercalary (in t6r kal' a ri) (Lat. inter , between ; 
calare , to proclaim solemnly). An intercalary 
day is a day thrust in between two others, as 
February 29th in leap year; so called because, 
among the Romans, this was a subject for 
solemn proclamation. Cp. Calends. 

Interdict (in' ter dikt). In the Roman Catholic 
Church an Interdict is a sentence of excom- 
munication directed against a place and/or its 
inhabitants; if the place only is under the 
interdict the sacraments cannot be adminis- 
tered there, burials with religious ceremonies 
are prohibited, and all church communion is in 
abeyance. The most remarkable instances 
are ; — 

586. The Bishop of Bayeux laid an interdict 
on all the churches of Rouen, in consequence 
of the murder of the Bishop Pr6textat. 

1081. Poland was laid under an interdict 
by Gregory VII, because Boleslas II had 
murdered Stanislaus at the altar. 

1180. Scotland was put under a similar ban 
by Pope Alexander III. 

1200. France was interdicted by Innocent 
III, because Philippe Auguste refused to marry 
Ingelburge, who nad been betrothed to him. 

1209. England was under similar sentence 
for six years (Innocent III), in the reign of King 
John. 


Interest (Lat. interesse , to be a concern to). 
The interest on money is the sum which a 
borrower agrees to pay a lender for its use. 
Simple interest is interest on the principal, or 
money lent, only; compound interest is interest 
on the principal plus the interest as it accrues. 

In an interesting condition. Said of a woman 
who is expecting to become a mother. The 
phrase came into use in the 18th century. 

Interim of Augsburg. See Augsburg, 

Interlard (Fr.). Originally to “lard” meat, i.e. 
to put strips of fat between layers of lean meat; 
hence, metaphorically, to mix irrelevant matter 
with the solid part of a discourse. Thus we say, 
“To interlard with oaths,” “to interlard with 
compliments,” etc. 

They interlard their native drinks with choice 
Of strongest brandy. Philips: Cyder , II. 

Interloper. One who “runs” between traders 
and upsets their business by interfering with 
their actual or supposed rights. The word came 
into English through the Dutch trade in the 
16th century, and the lope is a dialect form of 
leap confused with Dut. loopen , to run (as in 
elope). 

Interpellation. The equivalent in the French 
Chamber to “moving the adjournment” in our 
House of Commons. It is an interruption to 
the order of the day by asking a Minister some 
question of importance the subject of which 
would come under his department. From Lat. 
interpellare , to interrupt by speaking, literally, 
to drive between. 

Interpreter, Mr. The Holy Spirit personified 
in Bunyan’s Pilgrim's Progress. 

Interrex (in' ter reks) (Lat.). A person ap- 
pointed to hold the office of king during a 
temporary vacancy. 

Intrigue (in treg ). From the Latin trieae, 
trifles, whence the verb intrico , to entangle. In 
its more common use the word means an 
underhand plot, a piece of crafty manoeuvring, 
or a liaison. Within the 20th century, however, 
it has come to be used as a transitive verb 
meaning to rouse the interest of, to awaken 
curiosity; as one may talk of an intriguing play, 
or a situation that intrigued one. In the 17th 
and 18th centuries this connotation was not at 
all rare. 

Introvert. The psychological term for an intro- 
spective person who instinctively seeks to alter 
his conception of external realities to make them 
correspond more closely with his own desires. 
An introvert is interested mainly in his own 
mentat processes and in the way in which he is 
regarded by others; he is thus retiring in 
manner and usually shy. 

Invalides (an' va led). Hdtel des Invalides . The 
great institution founded by Louis XIV at Paris 
in 1670 for disabled and superannuated 
soldiers. It contains large numbers of military 
trophies, statues, paintings, etc., and a museum 
of artillery and mediaeval and renaissance 

The central feature of the church of the 
Invalides is the tomb of Napoleon, whose body 



Inventions 


488 


Inventors 


was brought hither from St. Helena in 1840. 
Close by are the tombs of his son, the Duke 
of Reichstadt (L’Aiglon) and Marshal Foch 
(1851-1929). Others buried there are Marshal 
Turenne (1611-75); General Bertrand (1773- 
1844); Marshals Duroc (1772-1813) and 
Grouchy (1766-1847); General Kleber (1753- 
1800); Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples 
and Spain (1768-1844); and Jerome Bonaparte, 
King of Westphalia (1784-1860). 

Inventions. The following are some of the most 
important inventions in the history of civilized 
man. No date can be given to the most useful 
invention of all, that of the wheel (involving 
the use of rollers and pulleys) for in Europe 
and Asia Minor it dates back to prehistoric 
times. Yet in America and in early Egypt the 
pulley was unknown. 

Lever and screw: Archimedes (c. 287-212 b.c.) 
Printing: from movable type, China, 13th 
century; in Europe, c. 1440. 

Gunpowder (in the Western world): the monk 
Berthold Schwartz, 1313. 

Logarithms: J. Napier, 1614; J. Burgi, 1620. 
Steam engine: Piston, Newcomen, 1698. 

Condenser, Watt, 1769. 
Locomotive, Trevithick, 1804. 
Turbine, Parsons, 1884. 
Spinning jenny: Arkwright, 1769. 

Gas illumination: Murdoch, 1792. 

Electricity: Leyden Jar, 1745 

Electro-magnetic induction, Fara- 
day, 1831. 

Steel: Bessemer process, 1856. 

Anesthetics: Humphrey Davy, 1799. 

Chloroform, Simpson, 1847. 
Wireless: receiving and transmitting apparatus, 
Marconi, 1895. 

Internal combustion engine: Gottlieb, 1883. 
Aeroplane: Sir George Cayley, 1804. 
Radiography : Rontgen Rays, 1895. 
Photography: J. N. Niepce, 1817; Daguerre, 
1839. 

Atomic energy: splitting of the atom by Cock- 
croft and Walton, 1932. 

Invention of the Cross. See Cross. 

Inventors. A curious instance of the sin of 
invention is mentioned in the Bridge of Allan 
Reporter , February, 1 803 : — 

It is told of Mr. Ferguson’s grandfather, that he in- 
vented a pair of fanners for cleaning grain, and for 
this proof of superior ingenuity he was summoned be- 
fore the Kirk Session, and reproved for trying to place 
the handiwork of man above the time-honoured 
practice of cleaning the grain on windy days, when the 
current was blowing briskly through the open doors 
of the bam. 

It is extraordinary how many inventors have 
been “hoist with their own petard” ; the follow- 
ing list — in which some entries will no doubt 
be found that belong to the realm of fable — is 
by no means complete: — 

Bastille. Hugues Aubriot, Provost of Paris, 
who built the Bastille, was the first person 
confined therein. The charge against him was 
heresy. 

Brazen Bull. Perillos of Athens made a 
brazen bull for Phalaris, Tyrant of Agrigentum, 
intended for the execution of criminals, who 
were shut up in the bull, fires being lighted 
below the belly. Phalaris admired the in- 


vention, and tested it on Perillos himself, 
who was the first person baked to death in the 
horrible monster. 

Cannon. Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of 
Salisbury was the first to use cannon, and was 
the first Englishman killed by a cannon ball, 
at Tourelles, 1428. 

Catherine Wheel. The inventor of St. 
Catherine’s Wheel, a diabolical machine 
consisting of four wheels turning different ways, 
and each wheel armed with saws, knives, and 
teeth, was killed by his own machine; for 
when St. Catherine was bound on the wheel, 
she fell off, and the machine flew to pieces. 
One of the pieces struck the inventor, ana other 
pieces struck several of the men employed to 
work it, all of whom were killed. ( Meta - 
phrastes.) 

Eddy stone. Henry Winstanley erected the 
first Eddystone lighthouse. It was a wooden 
polygon, 100 feet high, on a stone base; but 
it was washed away by a storm in 1703, and 
the architect perished in his own edifice. 

Gallows and Gibbet. We are told in the book 
of Esther that Haman devised a gallows 50 
cubits high on which to hang Mordecai, by 
way of commencing the extirpation of the Jews ; 
but the favourite of Ahasuerus was himself 
hanged thereon. We have a repetition of this 
incident in the case of Enguerrand de Marigni, 
Minister of Finance to Philippe the Fair, who 
was hung on the gibbet which he had caused 
to be erected at Montfaucon for the execution 
of certain felons; and four of his successors in 
office underwent the same fate. 

Guillotine. J. B. V. Guillotin, M.D., of 
Lyons, was guillotined, but it is an error to 
credit him with the invention of the instrument. 
The inventor was Dr. Joseph Agnace Guillotin. 

Iron Cage. The Bishop of Verdun, who in- 
vented the Iron Cage, too small to allow the 
person confined in it to stand upright or 
lie at full length, was the first to be shut up in 
one; and Cardinal La Balue, who recommended 
them to Louis XI, was himself confined in one 
for ten years. 

Iron Shroud. Ludovico Sforza, who invented 
the Iron Shroud, was the first to suffer death 
by this horrible torture. 

Maiden. The Regent Morton of Scotland, 
invented the Maiden (q.w). 

Ostracism. Clisthencs introduced the custom 
of Ostracism (q.v.), and was the first to be 
banished thereby. 

The Perriere was a piece of mediaeval artillery 
for throwing stones of 3,000 lb. in weight; 
and the inventor fell a victim to his own 
invention by the accidental discharge of a 
perriere against a wall. 

Sanctuary . Eutropius induced the Emperor 
Arcadius to abolish the benefit of sanctuary; 
but a few days afterwards he committed some 
offence and fled for safety to the nearest church. 
St. Chrysostom told him he had fallen into 
his own net, and he was put to death. (Life of 
St. Chrysostom .) 

Turret-ship. Cowper Coles, inventor of the 
Turret-ship, perished in the Captain off 
Finisterre September 7th, 1870. 

Witch-finding . Matthew Hopkins, the witch- 
finder, was himself tried by his own tests, and 
put to death as a wizard in 1647. 



Investiture 


489 


Ipso facto 


Investiture. The ceremonial clothing (Lat. 
vestire, to clothe) or investing of an official, 
dignitary, sovereign, etc., with the special 
robes or insignia of his office. Thus, a pair of 
gloves is given to a Freemason in France; a 
cap is given to a graduate; a crown, etc., to a 
sovereign, etc.; and a crosier and ring are 
among the insignia delivered to a bishop of 
the Roman Catholic Church at his consecra- 
tion. 

In the 11th and 12th centuries the kings of 
Europe and the popes were perpetually at 
variance about the right of investiture; the 
question was, did the right of appointing to 
vacant bishoprics and other ecclesiastical 
dignities belong to the spiritual or to the 
temporal power, the pope or the king? The 
Emperor Henry V relinquished his claim in 
1111, but his action was not followed by the 
other European sovereigns. 

Invincible Doctor. William of Occam (d. 1347), 
or Ockham (a village in Surrey), Franciscan 
friar and scholastic philosopher. He was also 
called Doctor Singulars , and Princeps Nomin- 
alium, for he was the reviver of nominalism. 

Invincibles, The Irish. A Fenian secret 
society founded in Dublin in 1881 with the 
object of doing away with the English 
“tyranny** and killing the “tyrants.” Members 
of this society were responsible for the Phoenix 
Park murders in 1882. 

Invisible Empire. See Ku Klux Klan. 

Invisibility, according to fable, might be 
obtained in a multitude of ways. For ex- 
ample: — 

Alberich's cloak , “Tarnkappe,** which Sieg- 
fried got possession of, rendered him invisible. 
(Nib el u ng enlied.) 

A dead hand. It was believed that a candle 
placed in a dead man’s hand gives no light 
to any but those who use it. See Hand. 

The helmet of Perseus and the helmet that 
Pluto gave to the Cyclops ( Orci Galea) both 
rendered the wearers invisible. 

Jack the Giant-killer had a cloak of in- 
visibility as well as a cap of knowledge. 

Otnit's ring. The ring of Otnit, King of 
Lombardy, according to the Heldenbuch, 
possessed a similar charm. 

Reynard's wonderful ring had three colours, 
one of which (green) caused the wearer to 
become invisible. ( Reynard the Fox , q.v.) 

See also Fern Seed; Gyges* Ring; Helio- 
trope. 

The Druids were supposed to possess the 
power of making themselves invisible by 
producing a magic mist; and this spell, the 
faeth fiadha , appears in the stories of St. 
Patrick and other early British saints. 
Invulnerability. There are many fabulous 
instances of this having been acquired. 
According to ancient Greek legend, a dip in 
the river Styx rendered Achilles invulnerable, 
and Medea rendered Jason, with whom she 
had fallen in love, proof against wounds and 
fire by anointing him with the Promethean 
unguent. 

Siegfried was rendered invulnerable by 
anointing his body with dragon’s blood. 
(Nibelungenlied.) 


Ionian Mode (i o' ni in). A species of mediaeval 
church music in the key of C major, in imitation 
of the ancient Greek mode so called. It was the 
last of the “authentic” church modes, and 
corresponded to the modern major diatonic 
scale. Cp. Gregorian. 

Ionic (i on' ik). Ionic Architecture. So called 
from Ionia, where it took its rise. The capitals 
are decorated with volutes, and the cornice 
with dentils. The shaft is fluted; the entablature 
either plain or embellished. 

The people of Ionia formed their order of architec- 
ture on the model of a young woman dressed in her 
hair, and of an easy, elegant shape; whereas the Doric 
had been formed on the model of a robust, strong 
man. — Vitruvius. 

Ionic School. The school of philosophy that 
arose in Ionia in the 6th century b.c., and which 
formed the starting-point of the whole of 
Greek philosophy. It included Thales, Anaxi- 
mander, Anaximenes, Heraclitus, and Anaxag- 
oras; and the great advance they made was the 
recognition that matter, motion, and physical 
causation were themselves manifestations of 
the Absolute Reality. They also tried to show 
that all created things spring from one uni- 
versal physical cause; Thales said it was water, 
Anaximenes thought it was air, Anaxagoras 
that it was atoms, Heraclitus maintained that 
it was lire or caloric while Anaximander 
insisted that the elements of all things are 
eternal, for ex nihilo nihil Jit. 

Iota. See I ; Jot. 

IOU, i.e. “I owe you.” The memorandum of a 
debt given by the borrower to the lender. It 
requires no stamp unless it specifies a day of 
payment, when it becomes a bill, and must be 
stamped. 

Iphigenia (if i jen e' a, if i je ni' a). In classical 
legend, the daughter of Agamemnon and 
Clytemnestra. One account says that her 
father, having offended Artemis by killing her 
favourite stag, vowed to sacrifice to the angry 
goddess the most beautiful thing that came 
into his possession in the next twelve months; 
this was an infant daughter. The father 
deferred the sacrifice till the fleet of the com- 
bined Greeks that was proceeding to Troy 
reached Aulis and Iphigenia had grown to 
womanhood. Then Calchas told him that the 
fleet would be wind-bound till he had fulfilled 
his vow; accordingly the king prepared to 
sacrifice his daughter, but Artemis at the last 
moment snatched her from the altar and carried 
her to heaven, substituting a hind in her place. 
Euripides, yEschylus, and Sophocles all wrote 
tragedies on Iphigenia. Cp. Idomeneus. 

lose dixit (ip' se diks' it) (Lat. he himself said 
so). A mere assertion, wholly unsupported. 
“It is his ipse dixit," implies that there is no 
guarantee that what he says is so. 

Ipso facto (Lat., bv the very fact). Irrespec- 
tive of all external considerations of right or 
wrong; absolutely. It sometimes means the act 
itself carries the consequences (as excom- 
munication without the actual sentence being 
pronounced). 

By burning the Pope’s bull, Luther ipso facto 
[by the very deed itself] denied the Pope’s 


I.R.A. 


490 


Iron 


supremacy. Heresy carries excommunication 
ipso facto. 

I.R.A. The Irish Republican Army, which 
opposed the Crown forces, the Royal Irish 
Constabulary, the “Black and Tans,” etc., in 
the rebellion that preceded the grant of domin- 
ion status in 1921. 

Irak, Iraq (e rak'). The name given at dif- 
ferent times to varying portions of Mesopo- 
tamia (q.v.), Babylonia, and the surrounding 
country. It is now the official name of that 
portion of the country ruled from Bagdad. 

Irani (e ramO. An enchanted garden of old 
Persian legend, planted by the mythological 
king Shaddad, and for centuries sunk deep in 
the sands of Arabia. See Jamshid. 

Iran (e ran"). Since March, 1935, the official 
Persian name of modern Persia, though in 1949 
it was announced that foreigners might use the 
name of Persia. The Iranian languages, in- 
cluding Zend and Old Persian, form a branch 
of the great Indo-European family. 

I.R.B. Irish Republican Brotherhood, the 
Fenians of the 1860s, etc. 

Ireland. Called by the natives Erin, i.e. Erin - 
nis y or Iar-innis (west island). 

By the Welsh, Yver-den (west valley). 

By Apuleius, Hibernia, which is Ierniay a 
corruption of Iar-inni-a. 

By Juvenal (ii, 260), Juverna or Juberna, 
the same as Ierna or Iernia. 

By Claudian, Ouernia, the same. 

By moderns, Ireland, which is Iar-en-land 
(land of the west). 

After many struggles throughout the 19th 
century Ireland was given Home Rule {q.v.) in 
1914, though the Act was not put into opera- 
tion until 1920. After much unrest the country 
was divided into Eire and Northern Ireland in 
1921, the former being a sovereign democratic 
State with a constitution (remodelled in 1937), 
while Northern Ireland, consisting of the 
counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Ferman- 
agh, Londonderry and Tyrone, and the 
boroughs of Belfast and Londonderry, is a 
political division of the United Kingdom of 
Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with a 
parliament of its own, returning 12 members 
to the House of Commons in Westminster. 
Eire or the Republic of Ireland, left the British 
Commonwealth in 1949. 

The fair maid of Ireland. A popular name for 
the Ignis fatuus (« q.v .). 

The three great saints of Ireland. St. Patrick, 
St. Columba, and St. Bridget. 

Ireland Scholarships. Four scholarships of 
£30 a year in the University of Oxford, 
founded by Dr. John Ireland (1761-1842), 
Dean of Westminster, in 1825, for Latin and 
Greek. They are tenable for four years. He also 
founded an “Exegetical Professorship” of 
£800 a year. 

Iris (I' ris). Goddess of the rainbow, or the 
rainbow itself. In classical mythology she is 
called the messenger of the gods when they 
intended discord , and the rainbow is the bridge 
or road let down from heaven for her accom- 


modation. When the gods meant peace they 
sent Mercury. 

I’ll have an Iris that shall find thee out. 

Henry VI, Pi. II, ///, ii. 

Besides being poetically applied to the rain- 
bow the name, in English, is given to the 
coloured membrane surrounding the pupil of 
the eye, and to a family of plants (Iridaceae) 
having large, bright-coloured flowers and 
tuberous roots. 

Iron. The Iron Age. An archaeological term 
denoting the cultural phase conditioned by the 
discovery of the use of iron for edged tools, 
weapons, etc. Iron was known as a curiosity 
by the builders of the pyramids, but it was not 
until 1000 b.c. that iron-working became 
general in the Mediterranean basin. Its gradual 
development from the bronze age precursors 
is traceable at Hallstatt, and its fuller develop- 
ment at La T&ne; these places give their names 
to the first and second periods of the early 
Iron Age. 

The era between the death of Charlemagne 
and the close of the Carlovingian dynasty (728- 
987) is sometimes so called from its almost 
ceaseless wars. It is sometimes called the 
leaden age for its worthlessness, and the dark 
age for its barrenness of learned men. See also 
Age. 

Iron-arm. Francois de la Noue (1531-91), 
the Huguenot soldier. Bras de Fer , was so 
called. Fierabras {q.v.) is another form of the 
same. 

Iron Chancellor, the name given to Prince 
Bismarck (1815-98), the great statesman who 
created the German Empire. 

The Iron Cross. A Prussian military decora- 
tion (an iron Maltese cross, edged with silver). 
It was instituted by Frederick William III in 
1813 during the struggle against Napoleon, 
and was remodelled by William I in 1870, with 
three grades, in civil and military divisions. In 
World War I some 3,000,000 Iron Crosses 
were awarded; there are no figures for World 
Warll. 

The Iron Crown of Lombardy. See Crown. 

Iron Curtain. A phrase used to describe the 
almost impenetrable secrecy with which all 
happenings in the U.S.S.R. or countries 
dominated by Russia are concealed from the 
rest of the world. The phrase was first used 
by Count Schwerin von Krosigk, the German 
statesman, in 1945. 

The Iron Duke. The Duke of Wellington 
(1769-1852) was so called from his iron will. 

The iron entered into his soul. When anguish 
or annoyance is felt most keenly. The phrase 
arose in a mistranslation from the Hebrew of 
Psalm cv, 18, which appeared in the Vulgate 
and was copied in some of the earlier English 
translations, and is perpetuated in the Prayer 
Book version, though it was corrected in the 
Authorized Version. The Hebrew says “his 
person entered into the iron” {i.e. he was laid 
in irons); but Coverdale and some others — 
following the Vulgate — have “They hurte his 
fete in the stockes, the yron pearsed his herte.” 

Iron-hand or the Iron-handed. Goetz von 
Berlichingen (c. 1480-1562), a German baron, 




Iron Gates 491 


who lost his right hand and had one made of 
iron to supply its place. Some accounts say 
that it was lost at the seige of Landshut, 
others that it was struck off in consequence 
of his having disregarded a law prohibiting 
duels. 

Iron Gates. The narrowing of the Danube 
between Orsova and Turnu Severin in S.W. 
Rumania. It is about 2 miles long, with great 
rapids and an island in mid-stream. Between 
1890 and 1900 a navigable way was made. 

Iron Guard. The title adopted by the Fascist 
party in Rumania. 

The iron horse. The railway locomotive. 

The Iron Maiden of Nuremberg. A mediaeval 
instrument of torture used in Germany for 
“heretics,” traitors, parricides, etc. It was a 
box big enough to admit a man, with folding 
doors, the whole studded with sharp iron 
spikes. When the doors were closed on him 
these spikes were forced into the body of the 
victim, who was left there to die in horrible 
torture. 

Iron-man. An American colloquialism for 
a dollar. 

Iron Mask, The Man in the. A mysterious 
person held for over forty years as a state 
prisoner in the reign of Louis XIV, first in 
Pignerol and then in various prisons until 
finally dying in the Bastille on November 19, 
1703. When travelling from prison to prison 
he always wore a mask of black velvet, not 
iron. His name was never revealed, and when 
buried he was registered under the name of 
“M. de Marchiel”. Many conjectures have 
been made about his identity, one of them 
being that he was the Duke of Vermandois, 
an illegitimate son of Louis XIV. Dumas, in 
his romantic novel on the subject, adopted 
Voltaire’s suggestion that he was an illegiti- 
mate elder brother of Louis XIV with Cardinal 
Mazarin for his father. The most plausible 
conjecture is that of the historians Lord Acton 
and Funck-Brentano, who suggested a 
minister of the Duke of Mantua (Count 
Mattioli, b. 1640), who in his negotiations 
with Louis XIV was discovered to be treach- 
erous and conveyed to prison at Pignerol. 

Iron rations. Bully beef; tinned meat. Also 
emergency rations. 

Shooting-iron. Slang for a small firearm, 
especially a pistol or revolver. 

Strike while the iron is hot. Don’t miss a good 
opportunity; seize time by the forelock; make 
hay while the sun shines. 

To rule with a rod of iron. To rule tyranni- 
cally. 

Ironside. Edmund II ( c . 989-1016), King 
of the West Saxons from April to November, 
1016, was so called, from his iron armour. 

Nestor Ironside. Sir Richard Steele assumed 
the name in The Guardian. 

Ironsides. The soldiers that served under 
Cromwell were so called, especially after the 
battle of Marston Moor (1644), where they 
displayed an iron resolution. The name had 


Irvingftes 


first been applied only to a special regiment of 
stalwarts. 

Iron-tooth. Frederick II, Elector of Branden- 
burg (1440-1470). 

Too many irons in the fire. More affairs in 
hand than you can properly attend to. The 
allusion is to a smithy where the smith has a 
number of irons heating to red heat. 

In irons. In fetters. A square-rigged sailing 
vessel is said to be in irons when the yards are 
so braced that, some sails being full of wind 
and others aback, the vessel is temporarily 
unmanageable. 

Irony (V ron i). A dissembling (Gr. eiron, a 
dissembler, eironeia ); hence, subtle sarcasm, 
language having a meaning different from the 
ostensible one but understood correctly by 
the initiated. Socratic irony is an assumption 
of ignorance, as a means of leading on and 
eventually confuting an opponent. 

The irony of fate. A strange fatality which 
has brought about something quite the reverse 
of what might have been expected. 

By the irony of fate the Ten Hours Bill was carried 
in the very session when Lord Ashley, having changed 
his views on the Corn Laws, felt it his duty to resign 
his seat in Parliament. — The Leisure Hour , 1887. 

Iroquois (ir' 6 kwa). The name given by the 
French to the five (later six) confederate tribes 
of North American Indians, viz. the Mohawks, 
Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, and 
sixth the Tuscaroras, added in 1712, forming 
“The Six Nations of the Iroquois Confed- 
eracy.” 

Irredentism (ir r£ dent' izm). The name of a 
movement in Italy which aimed at delivering 
all Italian-speaking peoples from foreign rule. 
The party cry was “Italia Irredenta” (un- 
redeemed Italy), and the party came into 
existence soon after the formation of the king- 
dom of Italy in 1 860, when Venetia, Rome, and 
certain other territories were still under 
foreign rule. By 1920 most of the Irredentist 
demands had been met. 

Irrefragable Doctor. Alexander of Hales (d. 
1245). an English Franciscan, author of 
Summa Theologice. 

Irresistible. Alexander the Great went to 
consult the Delphic oracle before he started 
on his expedition against Persia. He chanced, 
however, to arrive on a day when no responses 
were made. Nothing daunted, he went in 
search of the Pythia, and when she refused to 
attend, took her to the temple by force. “Son,” 
said the priestess, “thou art irresistible.” 
“Enough,” cried Alexander; “I accept your 
words as an answer.” 

Irus (I' rus). The beggar of gigantic stature, 
who waited on the suitors of Penelope. Ulysses, 
on his return, felled him to the ground with a 
single blow, and flung his corpse out of doors. 

Poorer than Irus. A Greek proverb, adopted 
by the Romans and the French, alluding to 
the beggar referred to above. 

Irvingites. Members of the Catholic Apostolic 
Church founded about 1829 by Edward Irving, 
a Presbyterian minister and a friend of the 



Isaac 


492 


Isocrates 


Carlyles. Irving claimed to revive the college 
of the Apostles, and established a complex 
hierarchy with such symbolical titles as 
“Angel,” “Prophet,” etc. In their early days 
they claimed to have manifested the gift of 
tongues. 

Isaac. A hedge-sparrow; a dialect form of 
haysugge , or hay suck, an obsolete name for the 
bird (used by Chaucer). The name meant a 
sucker (small thing) that lived in a hay or 
hedge; a corruption of Chaucer’s word, 
heisuagge. 

Isabelle. The colour so called is the yellow of 
soiled calico. A yellow-dun horse is, in France, 
un cheval isabelle. According to Isaac D’lsraeli 
(Curiosities of Literature ) Isabel of Austria, 
daughter of Philip II, at the siege of Ostend 
vowed not to change her linen till the place was 
taken. As the siege lasted three years, we may 
suppose that it was somewhat soiled by three 
years’ wear. 

Another story, equally unwarranted, attaches 
it to Isabella of Castile, who, we are told, made 
a vow to the Virgin not to change her linen 
till Granada fell into her hands. 

There is, however, no reason for accepting 
these very fanciful derivations. The word 
appears in an extant list of Queen Elizabeth I’s 
clothes of July, 1600 (“one rounde gowne of 
Isabella-colour satten’’). 

Isaiah (i zi' &). Great controversy has raged 
round the ascribed author of this book. It 
seems certain that he was a man of rank and 
influence, between 735 b.c. and the invasion of 
Sennacherib in 701. His great task was to 
warn the Hebrews of the impending Assyrian 
invasion and recall them to the true worship 
of Jahveh. In its English version the book of 
Isaiah contains some of the finest writing in 
the language. 

Isenbras or Isumbras, Sir (i' zen bras). A hero 
of mediaeval romance (including, as usual, 
visits to the Holy Land and the slaughter of 
thousands of “Saracens”), first proud and 
presumptuous, when he was visited by all sorts 
of punishments; afterwards, penitent and 
humble, his afflictions were turned into bless- 
ings. It was in this latter stage that he one day 
carried on his horse two children of a poor 
woodman across a ford. 

Iseult. See Ysolde. 

Ishbosheth (ish bo' sheth), in Dryden’s Absalom 
and Achitophel, is meant for Richard Cromwell. 
His father, Oliver, is Saul. 

The actual Ishbosheth (man of shame) was 
the son of Saul, who was proclaimed King of 
Israel at his father’s death (see II Sam . iv), and 
was almost immediately superseded by David. 

Ishtar (ish' tar). The Babylonian goddess of 
love and war (Gr. Astarte ), corresponding 
to the Phoenician Ashtoreth (q.v.), except 
that while the latter was identified with tne 
moon Ishtar was more frequently identified 
with the planet Venus. She was the wife of Bel. 

Isiac Tablet (i.e. tablet of Isis). A spurious 
Egyptian monument sold by a soldier to 
Cardinal Bembo in 1527, and preserved at 
Turin. It is of copper, and on it are represented 


most of the Egyptian deities in the mysteries of 
Isis. It was said to have been found at the siege 
of Rome in 1525. 

Isidorian Decretals. See Decretals. 

Isinglass (!' zing glas). A corruption of the 
Dutch huyzenblas , a sturgeon’s bladder (Ger. 
Hausen , sturgeon): it is prepared from the 
bladders and sounds of sturgeon, and was 
introduced from Holland in the 16th century. 

Isis (!' sis). The principal goddess of ancient 
Egypt, sister and wife of Osiris, and mother of 
Horus. She was identified with the moon 
(Osiris being a sun-god), and the cow was 
sacred to her, its horns representing the cres- 
cent moon. 

Her chief temples were at Abydos, Busiris, 
and Philae ; she is represented as a queen, her 
head being surmounted by horns and the solar 
disk or by the double crown. Proclus mentions 
a statue of her which bore the inscription — 

I am that which is, has been, and shall be. My veil 
no one has lifted. The fruit I bore was the Sun — 
hence to lift the veil of Isis is to pierce to the 
heart of a great mystery. 

She was identified with lo, Aphrodite, and 
others by the Greeks; with Selene, Ceres, 
Venus, Juno, etc., by the Romans; and the 
Phoenicians confused her with Ashtoreth. Her 
worship as a nature goddess was very popular 
among the later Greeks and with the Romans 
of republican times. Milton, in Paradise Lost 
(I, 478), places her among the fallen angels. 

Isis, River. See Thames. 

Islam (iz lamO. The Mohammedan religion, 
the whole body of Mohammedans, the true 
Mohammedan faith. The Moslems say every 
child is born in Islam, and would continue in 
the true faith if not led astray. The word means 
resignation or submission to the will of God. 

Islam consists of five duties: — 

(1) Bearing witness that there is but one God. 

(2) Reciting daily prayers. 

(3) Giving the appointed and legal alms. 

(43 Observing the Ramadan (a month’s fast). 

(5) Making a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a 
lifetime. 

Islands of the Blest. See Fortunate Islands. 

Isle of Dogs. A peninsula on the left bank 
of the Thames between the Limehousc and 
Blackwall reaches, opposite Greenwich. It is 
said to be so called because it was here that 
Edward III kept his greyhounds; another 
explanation is that it is a corruption of Isle of 
Ducks , from the number of wild fowl anciently 
inhabiting the marshes, but the origin of the 
name is not known. 

Ismene. In Greek legend, daughter of CEdipus 
and Jocasta. Antigone was buried alive by the 
order of King Creon, for burying her brother 
Polynices, slain in combat by his brother 
Eteocles. Ismene declared that she had aided 
her sister, and requested to be allowed to share 
the same punishment. 

Isocrates (I sok' r£ tez), was one of the great 
orators of Athens and was distinguished as a 
teacher of eloquence. He died 338 b.c. 

The French Isocrates. Esprit Ftechier (1632- 
1710), Bishop of Nfmes, specially famous for 
his funeral orations, 




Isolationism 


493 


Itch 


Isolationism. A nationalistic philosophy op- 
posed to political co-operation with any 
other nation or group of nations; the term is 
especially applied to a school of thought in 
the U.S.A. which flourished between the first 
and second world wars, and which repudiated 
any foreign alliances, friendships, connexions 
or commitments. 

Israel (iz'ral), in Dryden’s Absalom and 
Achitophel (q.v.) t stands for England. 

Israfel (is' r& fel). The angel of music of the 
Mohammedans. He possesses the most 
melodious voice of all God’s creatures, and is 
to sound the Resurrection Trump which will 
ravish the ears of the saints in paradise. 
Israfel, Gabriel, and Michael were the three 
angels that, according to the Koran, warned 
Abraham of Sodom’s destruction. 

In Heaven a spirit doth dwell 
Whose heart-strings are a lute; 

None sing so wildly well 
As the angel Israfel, 

And the giddy Stars (so legends tell), 

Ceasing their hymns, attend the spell 

Of his voice, all mute. E. A. Poe: Israfel . 

Issachar (is' k kar), in Dryden’s satire of Ab- 
salom and Achitophel (</.v.), means Thomas 
Thynne (1648-82), of Longleat, known as 
“Tom of Ten Thousand.” 

Issachar’s ears. Ass’s ears. The allusion is 
to Gen. xlix, 14: “Issachar is a strong ass 
couching down between two burdens.” 

1s t possible that you, whose ears 
Are of the tribe of Issachar’s . . . 

Should yet be deaf against a noise 
So roaring as the public voice? 

Samuel Butler: Hudibras to Sidrophel. 

Issei (e' sa). A Japanese word meaning “first 
born” or “first generation,” applied to a person 
of Japanese ancestry, born in Japan, but taking 
up residence in U.S.A. , though retaining 
allegiance to Japan. A Japanese born in U.S.A. 
and loyal to that country is called a Nisei. 

Issue. The point of law in debate or in question. 
“At issue, under dispute. 

To join issue. To take opposite views of a 
question, or opposite sides in a suit. 

To join issues. To leave a suit to the decision 
of the court because the parties interested 
cannot agree. 

Istanbul (is tdn bul') The name by which old 
Constantinople, until 1923 the capital of the 
Turkish Empire, is now known. 

Istar. See Ishtar. 

Isthmian Games (is' mi &n). Games consisting 
of chariot races, running, wrestling, boxing, 
etc., held by the ancient Greeks in the Isthmus 
of Corinth every alternate spring, the first 
and third of each Olympiad. Epsom races, and 
other big sporting events, have been called our 
“Isthmian games*’ in allusion to these. 

Isumbras. See Isenbras. 

It. I’m it! I’m a person of some importance. 

In for it. About “to catch it*’; on the point 
of being in trouble. 


In such phrases as this, and as to come it 
strong, to rough it, etc., it is the definite object 
of the transitive or intransitive verb. 

It. A humorous synonym for sex appeal, 
popularized by the novelist Elinor Glyn 
(1927), though Kipling had used the word 
earlier in the same sense in his story Mrs . 
Bathurst (1904). “It” is in slang usage in the 
U.S.A., meaning a simpleton or a stupid fel- 
low, e.g . “You big it.” 

Its. One of the words by the use of which 
Chatterton betrayed his forgeries. He wrote in 
a poem purporting to be the work of a 15th- 
century priest, “Life and its goods I scorn,” 
but the word was not in use till more than two 
centuries later than his supposed time, it (hit) 
and his being the possessive case. 

For love and devocioun towards god also hath it 
infancie and it hath it comyng forewarde in groweth 
of ag e.—U dal's Erasmus: Lukc y vii (1548). 

Learning hath his infancy, when it is but beginning 
and almost childish; then his youth . . . then his 
strength of yeares . . . and lastly, his old age. — B acon: 
Essays; Of Vicissitude of Things (1625). 

Its does not occur in any play of Shakespeare 
published in his lifetime, but there is one 
instance in the First Folio of 1623 ( Measure for 
Measure , l, ii), as well as nine instances of it's. 
Nor does its occur in the Authorized Version 
of the Bible (1611), the one instance of it in 
modern editions (Lev. xxv, 5) having been 
substituted for it in the Bible printed for Hills 
and Field in 1660. 

Italian hand. I see his fine Italian hand in this 

may be said of a picture in which the beholder 
can discern the work of a particular artist 
through certain characteristics of his which 
appear. Or it may be remarked of an intrigue, 
in which the characteristics of a particular 
plotter are apparent. The Italian hand was 
originally the cancelleresca type of hand- 
writing, used by the Apostolic Secretaries, and 
distinguishable by its grace and fineness from 
the Gothic styles of Northern Europe. 

Italic. Pertaining to Italy, especially ancient 
Italy and the parts other than Rome. 

Italic School of Philosophy. The Pythagorean 
(6th cent, b.c.), so called because Pythagoras 
taught in Italy. 

Italic type or italics (the type in which the 
letters, instead of being erect — as in roman — 
slope from left to right, thus) was first used by 
Aldo Manuzio in 1501 in an edition of Virgil, 
and was dedicated by him to Italy — hence its 
name. It has been said that italic type was based 
on the beautiful handwriting of the poet 
Petrarch. Francesco of Bologna cast it. 

The words italicized in the Bible have no 
corresponding words in the original. The 
translators supplied these words to render the 
sense of the passage more full and clear. 

Italic version. An early Latin version of the 
Bible, prepared from the Septuagint. It pre- 
ceded the Vulgate, or the version by St. Jerome. 

Itch, To. Properly, to have an irritation of the 
skin which gives one a desire to scratch the 
part affected; hence, figuratively, to feel a 
constant teasing desire for something. The 
figure of speech enters into many phrases; as. 


Itch 


494 


Jachin 


to itch or to have an itch for gold , to have a 
longing desire for wealth; an itching palm 
means the same: — 

Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself 

Are much condemned to have an itching palm. 

Julius Ceesar , IV, iii. 

Similarly, to have itching ears, is to be very 
desirous for news or novelty : — 

The time will come when they will not endure the 
sound doctrine; but, having itching ears, will heap to 
themselves teachers after their own lusts. — II Tim. iv, 
3 (R.V.). 

To have an itching foot is to have a craving 
for travel. 

And My fingers itch to be at him means, “I 
am longing to give him a sound thrashing.” 

It was formerly a popular idea that the 
itching of various parts foretold various 
occurrences; for instance, if your right palm 
itched you were going to receive money, the 
itching of the left eye betokened grief, and of 
the right pleasure: — 

My right eye itches now, so I shall see 
My love. Theocritus , i, 37. 

Itching of the lips of course foretold that 
they were shortly to kiss or be kissed; of the 
nose, that strangers were at hand : — 

We shall ha’ guests to-day 
. . My nose itcheth so. 

Dekker: Honest Whore . 
And the thumb, that evil approaches: — 

By the pricking of my thumbs. 

Something wicked this way comes. 

Shakespeare: Macbeth , IV, i. 

Ithuriel (ith O' ri 61). The angel who, with 
Zephon was, in Milton’s Paradise Lost t 
commissioned by Gabriel to search for Satan, 
after he had effected his entrance into Paradise. 
The name is Rabbinical, and means ‘‘the 
discovery of God.” 

Ithuriel and Zephon, with winged speed 

Search through this garden ; leave unsearched no nook. 

Paradise Lost , IV, 788. 

He was armed with a spear, the slightest 
touch of which exposed deceit. 

Him [i.e. Satanl, thus intent Ithuriel with his spear 
Touched lightly; for no falsehood can endure 
Touch of celestial temper, but returns 
Of force to its own likeness. Paradise Lost , IV, 810. 

Itinerary. The account of a route followed by a 
traveller. The Itinerary of Antoninus marks 
out all the main roads of the Roman Empire, 
and the stations of the Roman army. The 
Itinerary of Peutinger ( Tabula Peutingeriana ) 
is also an invaluable document of ancient 
geography, executed a.d. 383, in the reign of 
Theodosius the Great, and hence called 
sometimes the Theodosian Table. 

ITMA (Initials of “It’s That Man Again”). 
The most famous and popular of all radio 
features in Britain, and one that did much to 
maintain cheerfulness during the darkest 
hours of World War II. It was devised and 
sustained by the comedian Tommy Handley 
(1896-1949); the script was by Ted Kavanagh 
and the production by T. C. Worsley. It ran 
from July 1939 until September 1949, when 
Handley died. Many of its catch phrases and 
characters became part of the common speech 
and life of the time. 

Ivan (I'v&n). The Russian form of John, 
called Juan m Spain, Giovanni in Italian. 


Ivan Ivanovitch (e van ' 6 vich). The national 
impersonation of the Russians as a people, as 
John Bull is of the English. 

Ivan the Terrible. Ivan IV of Russia (1530, 
1533-84), infamous for his cruelties, but a man 
of great energy. He first adopted the title of 
Tsar. 

Ivanhoe (T van ho). Sir Walter Scott took the 
name of his hero from the village of Ivanhoe, 
or Ivinghoe, in Bucks; a line in an old rhymed 
proverb — “Tring, Wing, and Ivanhoe” — 
attracted his attention. 

Ivory. Ivory Gate. See Dreams, Gates of. 

Ivory shoulder. See Pelops. 

Ivory tower. A place of refuge from the 
world and its strivings and posturings. The 
phrase is a symbol first used by Sainte-Beuve 
as un tour d'i voire. 

Ivories. Teeth; also dice, keys of the piano, 
billiard balls, dominoes, etc. 

Ivy (O.E. iftg). Dedicated to Bacchus from 
the notion that it is a preventive of drunken- 
ness. But whether the Dionysian ivy is the 
same plant as that which we call ivy is doubt- 
ful, as it was famous for its golden berries, 
and was termed chryso-carpos. An ivy wreath 
was the prize of the Isthmian games, until it was 
superseded by a pine garland. 

In Christian symbolism ivy typifies the 
everlasting life, from its remaining continually 
green. 

Like an owl in an ivy-bush. See Owl. 

I.W.W. Initials of Industrial Workers of the 
World, an international industrial union 
founded in Chicago in 1905. After World War 
1 it fell to pieces. 

Ixion. In Greek legend, a king of the Lapithae 
who was bound to a revolving wheel of fire in 
the Infernal regions, either for his impious 
presumption in trying to imitate the thunder 
of heaven, or for boasting of the favours of 
Hera, Zeus having sent a cloud to him in the 
form of Hera, and the cloud having become 
by him the mother of the Centaurs (g.v.). 


j 

J. The tenth letter of the alphabet; a modern 
letter, only differentiated from / ( q.v .), the 
consonantal functions of which it took, in the 
17th century, and not completely separated till 
the 19th. There is no roman J or j in the 1611 
Authorized Version of the Bible. In the Roman 
system of numeration it was (and in medical 
rescriptions still is) used in place of i as the 
nal figure in a series — iij, vij, etc., for iii, vii. 

Jabberwocky (j&b' er wok' i). The eponymous 
central figure of a strange, almost gibberish 
poem in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking- 
glass. It contains many significant ‘‘portman- 
teau words,” as subsequently explained to 
Alice by Humpty Dumpty. 

Jachin and Boaz Ga' kin, b6' &z). The two 
great bronze pillars set up by Solomon at the 
entrance of his Temple — Jachin being the 



Jack 


495 


Jack 


right-handed (southern) pillar, and the name 
robably expressing permanence, immova- 
ility, and Boat being the left-hand (northern) 
pillar, typifying the Lord of all strength. See I 
Kings vii, 21 ; Ezek . xl, 49. 

Jack. A personal name, probably a diminutive 
of John , but confused with the French Jacques 
(i q.v .). Jack is also the slang term in Australia 
for a policeman. 

Before you can say Jack Robinson. Immedi- 
ately. Grose says that the saying had its birth 
from a very volatile gentleman of that name, 
who used to pay flying visits to his neighbours, 
and was no sooner announced than he was off 
again; Halliwell says ( Archaic Dictionary, 
1 846) : — 

The following lines from “an old play” are else- 
where given as the original phrase — 

A warke it ys as easie to be done 
As tys to saye Jacke ! robys on. 

But the “old play** has never been identified, 
and both these accounts are palpably ben 
trovato . The phrase was in use in the 18th 
century, and is to be found in Fanny Burney’s 
Evelina (1778), II, xxxvii. 

“Before you could say Jack Robinson’* was 
the refrain of an immensely popular song sung 
by Thomas Hudson at the Cyder Cellars in the 
early 19th century. 

Jack Adams. A fool. 

Jack Amend-All. One of the nicknames given 
to Jack Cade (killed 1450), the leader of “Cade’s 
Rebellion.*’ He promised to remedy all abuses. 

Jack-a-Napes. The nickname of William de 
la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, who was beheaded 
at sea (off Dover), possibly at the instigation 
of the Duke of York (1450). The name was 
given to him on account of his device, the clog 
and chain of an ape, which was also the cause 
of another of his names — “Ape-clogge.** See 
Jackanapes. 

Jack and the Beanstalk. A nursery tale found 
among all sorts of races from Icelanders to 
Zulus. 

Jack and Jill. It has been suggested that the 
well-known nursery rhyme is a relic of a Norse 
myth: the two children are said to have been 
kidnapped by the moon while drawing water, 
and they are still to be seen with the bucket 
hanging from a pole resting on their shoulders. 

An otherwise unknown comedy Jack and 
Jill is mentioned in the Revels Accounts as 
having been played at court in 1567-8. Jill, or 
Gill, is an abbreviation of Gillian , for Juliana. 

Jack Brag. See Brag. 

Jack Drum. See Drum. 

Jack Drum’s Entertainment. See Drum. 

Jack Frost. The personification of frost or 
frosty weather. 

Jack the Giant-killer. The hero of this old 
nursery tale owed much of his success to his 
four marvellous possessions — an invisible 
coat, a cap of wisdom, shoes of swiftness, and 
a resistless sword. When he put on his coat 
no eye could see him; when he had his shoes on 
no one could overtake him; his swprd would 
cut through everything; and when his cap was 


on he knew everything he required to know. 
The story is given by Walter Map (and later 
by Geoffrey of Monmouth), who obtained it 
in the early 13th century from a French 
chronicle. 

Jack Horner. A very fanciful explana- 
tion of the old nursery rhyme “Little Jack 
Horner** is that Jack was steward to the Abbot 
of Glastonbury at the time of the Dissolution 
of the Monasteries, and that he, by a subter- 
fuge, became possessed of the deeds of the 
Manor of Mells, which is in the neighbourhood 
and which is still owned by his descendants of 
the same name. Some say that these deeds, with 
others, were sent to Henry VIII concealed, for 
safety, in a pasty; that “Jack Horner’* was the 
bearer; and that on the way, he lifted the crust 
and extracted this “plum.** 

Jack Ketch. A hangman and executioner, 
notorious for his barbarity, who was appointed 
about 1663 and died in 1686. He was the 
executioner of William, Lord Russell, for 
his share in the Rye House Plot (1683) and of 
Monmouth (1685). In 1686 he was turned out 
of office for insulting one of the sheriffs, and 
was succeeded by a butcher named Rose. Rose, 
however, was himself hanged within four 
months, whereupon Ketch was reinstated. As 
early as 1 678 his name had appeared in a ballad, 
and by 1702 it was associated with the Punch 
and Judy puppet-play, which had recently 
been introduced from Italy. As Macaulay said, 
his name has “been vulgarly given to all who 
have succeeded him in his odious office.’* 

Jack of Newbury. John Winchcombe alias 
Smallwood (d. 1520), a wealthy clothier in 
the reign of Henry VIII. He was the hero of 
many chap-books, and is said to have kept 
100 looms in his own house at Newbury, while 
legend relates that he equipped at his own 
expense 100 to 200 of his men to aid the king 
against the Scots in Flodden Field. 

Jack Pudding. A buffoon, a mountebank; 
perhaps originally one who performed tricks, 
such as swallowing a certain number of yards 
of black pudding. 

Jack Rice. An Australian race-horse once 
noted for his performance over the hurdles; 
hence to have a roll Jack Rice couldn’t jump 
over is to have a lot of money. 

Jack the Ripper. An unknown person who 
committed a series of murders on prostitutes in 
the East End of London in 1888-89. He gave 
himself the name, and the mystery surrounding 
his crimes made it very widely known. 

In British rhyming slang “Jack the Ripper,” 
stands for a kipper. 

Jack Sprat. A dwarf; as if sprats were 
dwarf mackerels. Children, by a similar 
metaphor, are called small fry. 

Jack Straw. The name (or nickname) of one 
of the leaders in the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. 
There is an allusion to him in Chaucer’s Nun's 
Prologue (1386), and the name soon came to 
signify a man of straw, a worthless sort of 
person. 

It shall be but the weight of a strawe, or the weight 
of Jack Strawe more.— Thos. Nash: Nashe*s Lenten 
Stuffe (1598). 


Jack 


496 


Jack 


Jack Tar. A common sailor, whose hands 
and clothes are tarred by the ship’s tackling. 

A good Jack makes a good Jill. A good hus- 
band makes a good wife, a good master makes 
a good servant. Jack, a generic name for man, 
husband, or master; and Jill for a woman. See 
Jackeroo. 

Cheap jack. See Cheap. 

Cousin Jack. See Cousin. 

Every Jack shall have his Jill. Every man 
shall have a wife of his own. 

Jack shall have his Jill, 

Nought shall go ill; 

The man shall have his mare again, and all shall be 
well. Midsummer Night's Dream, III, ii. 

Every man Jack of them. All without ex- 
ception, even the most insignificant. Shake- 
speare uses the word in the same sense in 
Cymbeline . II, i. — “Every Jack-slave hath his 
bellyful of fighting.” 

To play the Jack. To play the rogue, the 
knave. To deceive or lead astray like Jack-o’- 
lantern, or ignis fatuus. 

your fairy, which you say, is a harmless fairy, 

ha9 done little better than played the Jack with us. — 
Tempest , IV, i. 

Yellow jack. The yellow fever. 

Jack-a-dandy. A term of endearment for a 
smart, bright little fellow; 

Smart she is, and handy, O! 

Sweet as sugar-candy, O ! . . . 

And I’m her Jack-a-dandy, O! 

Jack-a-dandy is also rhyming-slang for 
brandy. 

Jack-a-dreams. See John-a-dreams. 

Jack-a-Lent. A kind of Aunt Sally which 
was thrown at in Lent; hence, a puppet, a 
sheepish booby. Shakespeare says: “You little 
Jack-a-Lent, have you been true to us?” 
( Merry Wives , II, iii). 

Jack among the maids. A favourite with the 
ladies; a ladies’ man. 

Jack-at-a-pinch. One who lends a hand in 
an emergency; a clergyman, for instance, who 
has no cure, but officiates for a fee in any 
church where his assistance is required. 

Jack-in-the-basket. The cap or basket on the 
top of a pole to indicate the place of a sand- 
bank at sea, etc. 

Jack-in-the-box. A toy consisting of a box 
out of which, when the lid is raised, a figure 
springs. 

Jack in the cellar. Old slang for an unborn 
child: a translation of the Dutch expression 
for the same Hans in kelder. 

Jack-in-the-green. A youth or boy who 
moves about concealed by a wicker framework 
covered with leaves and boughs as part of the 
chimney-sweeps’ revels on May Day. An old 
English custom now dead. 

Jack-in-office. A conceited official or up- 
start, who presumes on his appointment to 
give himself airs. 

Jack-knife. Phrases from the similitude of a 


jack-knife in which the big blade doubles up 
into the handle. 

(i) In logging, where two logs jam end to 
end and hold up the rest; 

(ii) In swimming, a form of fancy dive. 

Jack o’ the bowl. The brownie or house spirit 

of Switzerland; so called from the custom of 
placing for him every night on the roof of the 
cowhouse a bowl of fresh sweet cream. The 
contents are sure to disappear before morning. 

Jack-o ’-the clock or clock-house. The figure 
which, in some old public clocks, comes out 
to strike the hours on the bell. 

Strike like Jack o* the clock-house, never but in 
season. — W m. Strode: Floating Island (1655). 

King Richard: Well, but what’s o’clock? 

Buckingham: Upon the stroke of ten. 

K.R. : Well, let it strike. 

B.: Why let it strike? 

K.R. : Because that, like a jack, thou keep’st the 
stroke 

Betwixt thy begging and my meditation. 

Richard ///, IV, ii. 

Jack-o'-lantern. A will-o’-the-wisp. See 
Ignis Fatuus. 

Jack of all trades and master of none. One 
who can turn his hand to anything is not 
usually an expert in any one branch. Jack of all 
trades is a contemptuous expression — more 
grandiloquently he is a sciolist. 

Jack of both sides. One who tries to favour 
two antagonistic parties, either from fear or 
for profit. 

Jack of cards. The knave or servant of the 
king and queen of the same suit. 

Jack of Dover. Some unidentified eatable 
mentioned by Chaucer in the Cook's Prologue. 
“Our host,” addressing the cook, says: — 

Now telle on, Roger, loke that it be good; 

For many a pastee hastow laten blood. 

And many a Jakke of Dover hastow sold 
That hath been twyes hoot and twyes cold. 

Professor Skeat says that this is “probably a 
pie that had been cooked more than once”; 
another suggestion is that it means some sea- 
fish (c/7. John Dory); while another is that it 
is the heel-taps of bottles of wine collected 
into a jack , and, by being served to customers, 
made to “do over” {Dover) again! 

Jack out of office. One no longer in office; 
one dismissed from his employment. 

i am left out; for me nothing remains. 

But long I will not be Jack-out-of-office. 

Henry VI , Pt. /, I, i. 

Jack-pot. In poker, a pot which cannot be 
opened until a player has a pair of jacks, or 
better. 

Jack-sauce. An insolent sauce-box, “the 
worst Jack of the pack.” 

Jack-snip. A botching tailor. 

Jack’s as good as his master. An old proverb 
(like “When Adam delv’d and Eve span”; see 
Adam) indicating the equality of man. It was 
the wise Agur (see Proverbs xxx, 22) who 
placed “a servant when he reigneth” as the 
first of the four things that the earth cannot 
bear. 

Jack is applied to animals and plants : usually 
with reference to the male sex, smallness, or 
interiority. 



Jack 


497 


Jacksonian Professor 


Jackass, Jack-baker (a kind of owl), Jack 
or dog fox, Jack hare ? Jack rat, Jack shark, 
Jack snipe; a young pike is called a Jack , so 
also were the male birds used in falconry. 

Jack-curlew. The whimbrel, a small species 
of curlew. 

Jack-in-a-bottle. The long-tailed tit-mouse, 
or bottle-tit; so called from the shape of its 
nest. 

Jack-in-the-hedge, Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon, 
Jack- jump-a bout, and Jack-in-the-bush, are 
names of various common wild flowers. Jack- 
in-the-pulpit, a North American woodland 
plant, Arisaema triphyllum , with an upright 
club-shaped spike, or spadix within an over- 
arching green or purple sheath. 

Jack-rabbit. A large prairie-hare of North 
America; shortened from Jackass-rabbit, a 
name given to it on account of its very long 
ears and legs. 

The Jack is also applied to the small flag 
flown at the bow in ships {cp. Union Jack); 
a small drinking vessel made of waxed leather, 
the large one being called a black jack ( q.v .), 
and to an inferior kind of armour consisting of 
a leather surcoat worn over the hauberk, from 
the 14th to the 17th century. It was formed by 
overlapping pieces of steel fastened by one edge 
upon canvas, coated over with cloth or velvet, 
and was worn by the peasantry of the English 
borders in their skirmishes with moss-troopers, 
etc. North, in his translation of Plutarch (1579; 
Life of Crassus ), applies the word to the armour 
of the Parthians: — 

For himself [i.e. Crassus] and his men with weak 
and light staves, brake upon them that were armed 
with curaces of steel, or stiff leather jacks. 

And the “jack” at bowls is so called because 
it is very small in comparison with the bowls 
themselves. 

To be upon their jacks. To have the advantage 
over one. The reference is to the jack, or 
jerkin, a coat of mail quilted with stout leather. 

To make one’s jack. To be successful. The 
allusion is to the jack in games, such as bowls. 

Jack rafter. A rafter in a hipped roof, 
shorter than a full-sized one. 

Jack rib. An inferior rib in an arch, being 
shorter than the rest. 

Jack timbers. Timbers in a building shorter 
than the rest. 

A very large number of appliances and parts 
of appliances are called by this name; such as 
the jack, bottle-jack, or roasting-jack, used for 
turning the meat when roasting before an open 
fire; the jack used for lifting heavy weights; the 
rough stool or wooden horse used for sawing 
timber on; etc. Other instances of this use 
are: — 

Boot-jack. An instrument for drawing off 
boots. 

Lifting-jack. A machine for lifting the axle- 
tree of a vehicle when the wheels are cleaned 
or the tires require attention. 

Smoke-jack. An apparatus in a chimney- 


flue for turning a spit. It is made to revolve by 
the upward current of smoke and air. 

Jack-block. A block attached to the top- 
gallant-tie of a ship. 

Jack-roll. The cylinder round which the rope 
of a well coils. 

Jack-screw. A large screw rotating in a 
threaded socket, used for lifting heavy weights. 

A Jack and a half-jack. Counters resembling 
a sovereign and a half-sovereign; used at 
gaming-tables. 

Jack boots. Cumbrous boots of thick 
leather worn by fishermen, cavalrymen, etc. 

Jack plane, Jack saw. A plane or saw to do 
rough work before the finer instruments are 
used. 

Jack towel. A long towel hung on a roller. 

Jackal. A toady. One who does the dirty work 
pf another. It was once thought that the 
jackals hunted in troops to provide the lion 
with prey, hence they were called the “lion’s 
providers.” No doubt the lion will at times 
avail himself of the jackal’s assistance by 
appropriating prey started by these “hunters,” 
but it would be folly to suppose that the jackal 
acted on the principle of vos non vobis. See 
Lion’s Provider. 

Jackanapes. A pert, vulgar, apish little fellow; 
a prig. Jackanapes must, however, have 
been in use before it became a nickname, 
and it is uncertain whether the - napes is 
connected originally with ape or with Naples , 
Jackanapes being a Jack (monkey) of (im- 
ported from) Naples , just as fustian-a-rtapes 
was fustian from Naples. There is an early 
15th-century record of monkeys being sent 
to England from Italy; and by the 16th 
century, at all events, Jackanapes was in use 
as a proper name for a tame ape. 

I will teach a scurvy jackanape priest to meddle or 
make . — Merry Wives of Windsor, I, iv. 

Jackass. An unmitigated fool. 

Jackdaw. A prating nuisance. 

Jackeroo. A name used in Australia in the first 
half of the 19th century to describe a young 
Englishman newly arrived to learn farming. It 
was said by some to be derived from the 
Queensland tchaceroo , the shrike, noted for 
its garrulity. Later the name was applied simply 
to a station hand. Jilleroo, a feminine adapta- 
tion of Jackeroo, used for land girls in 
Australia during World War II. 

Jacket. Diminutive of jack , a surcoat (whence 
the armour). 

The skin of a potato is called its “jacket.” 
Potatoes brought to table unpeeled are said to 
be “with their jackets on.” 

To dust one’s jacket, or to give one a good 
jacketing. See Dust. 

Jackey. A monkey. Cp . Jackanapes above . 

Jacksonian Professor. The professor of natural 
and experimental philosophy at Cambridge. 
The professorship was founded in 1782 by 
the Rev. Richard Jackson (1700-82), a fellow 
of Trinity. 


Jackstones 


498 


Jalopy 


ttyckstones, A game played with six small 
stones or specially shaped pieces of metal, and 
a rubber ball. 

Jackstraws. The American name for the 
game of spillikins. 

Jacky Howe (Austr.). A short-sleeved shirt 
worn by shearers, called after Jack Howe, 
whose 320 sheep sheared in eight hours — a 
feat performed in Queensland about 1900-^ 
still holds the world’s record. 

Jacob* Japob’s ladder. The ladder seen by 
the patriarch Jacob in a vision (Gen. xxviii, 12). 
Jacob is, on this account, a cant name for a 
ladder, and steep and high flights of steps 
going up cliffs, etc., are often called Jacob's 
ladders , as is a flaw in a stocking where only 
the weft threads are left, giving a ladder-like 
appearance. There is a garden flower also so 
called 

Jacobi staff. A pilgrim’s staff; from the 
Apostle James (Lat. Jacobus ), who is usually 
represented with a staff and scallop shell. 

As he had travelled many a summer’s day 
Through boiling sands of Arabie and Ynd; 

And in his hand a Jacob’s staff to stay 
His weary limbs upon. 

Spenser: Faerie Queene, Bk. I, canto vi, 32-35. 

Also the name of an obsolete Instrument for 
taking heights and distances. 

Reach then a soaring quill, that I may write 
As with a Jacob’s staff to take her height. 

Cleveland: The Hecatomb to his Mistress . 

Jacob’s stone. The Coronation Stone (see 
Scone) is sometimes so called, because of the 
legend that it was on this stone that Jacob’s 
head rested when he had the vision of the 
angels ascending and descending the ladder 
(Gen. xxviii, 1 1). 

Jacobins. The Dominicans were so called in 
France from the “Rue St. Jacques,’’ Paris, 
where they first established themselves in 1219; 
and the French Revolutionary club (known as 
the “Society of Friends of tne Constitution” 
when founded at Versailles in 1789) took the 
name because, on their removal to Paris, they 
met in the hall of an ex-convent of Jacobins, 
in the Rue St. Honore. The Jacobins were at 
first constitutional monarchists, with Mirabeau 
as one of their leading members. After the 
king’s flight to Varennes in 1791 there was a 
schism in the party and the main body became 
extreme republicans, swayed by Robespierre, 
St. Just, Marat, and Couthon. During the 
Terror they had unrivalled power, but the fall 
of Robespierre in 1794 brought their reign to an 
end and in November of that year the club was 
suppressed. Their badge was the Phrygian Cap 
of Liberty. 

Jacobites (j£k' 6 bltz). The supporters of the 
right of James II and his descendants to the 
throne of Great Britain and Ireland. They 
came into existence after the flight of James II 
jn 108,8, and were strong in Scotland and the 
North of England. They were responsible for 
two risings, in 171.5 and 1745, the latter 
marking the virtual end of Jacobitism as a 
political force. The last male descendant of 
James II. Henry, Cardinal of York, died in 
1807; a certain number of sentimental ad- 
herent 8 to the lost cause are still to be found 
here and there. 


Jacobites. An Oriental sect of Monophysites, 
so called from Jacobus Baradaus, Bishop ot 
Edessa, in Syria, in the 6th century. The Jaco- 
bite Church comprises three Patriarchates, viz,, 
those of Alexandria, Antioch, and Armenia. 

Jacobus (j& kd' bus). The unofficial name of a 
gold coin of the value of from 20s. to 24s., 
struck in the reign of James I. 

Jacquard Loom (j&k' ard). So called from Jos. 
Marie Jacquard (1752-1834), of Lyons, its 
inventor. It is a machine for weaving figures 
upon silks and muslins. 

Jacques (zhak) (Fr.). A generic name for the 
poor artisan class in France (see Jacquerie, 
La, below), so called from the jaque , a rough 
kind of waistcoat, sleeved, and coming almost 
to the knees, that they used to wear. 

Jacques, il me faut troublcr ton somme; 

Dans le village, un gros huissier 
Rude et court, suivi du messier: 

C’est pour l’impdt, las! mon pauvre homoie, 
L&ve-toi, Jacques, 16ve-toi, 

Voici venir l’huissier du roi. 

Beranger (1831). 

Jacquerie, La (zhak' e re). An insurrection of 
the peasantry of France in 1358, excited by 
the oppressions of the privileged classes and 
Charles the Bad of Navarre, while King John 
II was a prisoner in England; so called from 
Jacques, or Jacques Bonhomme, the generic 
name given to the French peasantry. They 
banded together, fortified themselves and 
declared war to the death against every 

f entleman in France, but in six weeks some 
2,000 of the insurgents were cut down, and 
the rebellion suppressed with the greatest 
determination. 

Jactitation of Marriage. A false assertion by a 
person of being married to another. This is 
actionable. Jactitation means literally “a 
throwing out,” and here means “to utter,” i.e. 
“to throw out publicly.” The term comes from 
the old Canon Law. 

Jade. The fact that in mediaeval times this 
ornamental stone was supposed, if applied to 
the side, to act as a preservative against colic 
is enshrined in its name, for jade is from the 
Spanish piedra de ijada , stone of the side; and 
its other name, nephrite , is from Gr. nephros , 
kidney. Among the North American Indians 
it is still worn as an amulet against the bite of 
venomous snakes, and to cure the gravel, 
epilepsy, etc. 

Jade. A worthless horse. An old woman 
(used in contempt). A young woman (not 
necessarily contemptuous). 

Jagganath. See Juggernaut. 

Jahveh. See Jehovah. 

Jains. A sect of dissenters from Hinduism of 
great antiquity, its known history going back 
beyond 477 b.c. Its differences from Hinduism 
are theological and too abstruse for expression 
in brief. Jains being largely traders the sect is 
wealthy though comparatively small in size 
and influence. 

Jalopy (j&ld'pi or ja lop' i). An American 
colloquial term for an old, decrepit auto- 
mobile. 




Jam 


499 


January 


Jam. Used in a slang way for something really 
nice, especially if unexpected; something 
delightful, tip-top. 

There must have been a charming climate in Para- 
dise and [the] connubial bliss [there] . . . was real 
jam. — Sam Slick : Human Nature . 

Money for jam. Money (or money’s worth) 
for nothing; an unexpected bit of luck. 

Jam session. A meeting of jazz musicians 
improvising spontaneously, without rehearsal. 
Jamboree (jam b6 re'). Originally meaning a 
noisy merry-making, this word is now more 
usually applied to a large rally of Boy Scouts, 
usually of an international scope. 

James. A sovereign; a jacobus (q.v.); also 
called a “jimmy.” Half a jimmy is half a 
sovereign. 

James, Jesse (1847-82) was one of the most 
notorious of the American bandits of his time. 
In 1867 he organized a band of bank and train 
robbers who perpetrated a number of in- 
famous murders and crimes of the most 
daring nature. A reward of $10,000 was put 
on his head and two members of his own band 
shot him in his home at St. Joseph, Missouri. 

St. James. The Apostle St. James the Great 
is the patron saint of Spain. Legend states that 
after his death in Palestine his body was 
placed in a boat with sails set, and that next 
day it reached the Spanish coast; at Padron, 
near Compostela, they used to show a huge 
stone as the veritable boat. According to 
another legend, it was the relics of St. James 
that were miraculously conveyed to Spain in a 
ship of marble from Jerusalem, where he was 
bishop. A knight saw the ship sailing into port, 
his horse took fright, and plunged with its 
rider into the sea. The knight saved himself 
by “boarding the marble vessel,” but his 
clothes were found to be entirely covered with 
scallop shells. 

The saint’s body was discovered in 840 by 
divine revelation to Bishop Theodomirus, and a 
church was built at Compostela for its shrine. 

St. James is commemorated on July 25th, 
and is represented in art sometimes with the 
sword by which he was beheaded, and some- 
times attired as a pilgrim, with his cloak cov- 
ered with shells. 

St. James the Less, or “James the Little’*, 
who has been identified both with the apostle, 
James the son of Alphaeus and with James 
the brother of the Lord, is commemmorated 
with St. Philip on May 1st. 

The Court of St. James’s. The British court, 
to which foreign ambassadors are officially 
accredited. St. James’s Palace, Pall Mall, 
stands on the site of a 12th-century leper 
hospital dedicated to St. James the Less. The 
Palace was a royal residence from 1698 until 
1837, and since then has been used for levees 
and drawing-rooms. 

Jameson Raid. A coup d’6tat attempted in S. 
Africa by Dr. L. S. Jameson in 1895. With the 
connivance of Cecil Rhodes he organized a 
force of some 500 men to invade the Transvaal 
simultaneously with a rising of Uitlanders in 
Johannesburg. Jameson crossed the Bechuana- 
land border but was met by a Boer force at 


Doornkop and compelled to surrender. The 
Boers handed the invaders over to the British 
authorities and Jameson and others were tried 
for treason and sentenced to various terms of 
imprisonment. 

Jamshid (j&m shid'). In Persian legend, the 
fourth king of the Pishdadian Dynasty, 
i.e. the earliest, who is fabled to have reigned 
for 700 years and to have had the Deevs, or 
Genii, as his slaves. He possessed a seven- 
ringed golden cup, typical of the seven heavens, 
the seven planets, the seven seas, etc., which 
was full of the elixir of life; it was hidden by 
the genii and was said to have been discovered 
while digging the foundations of Persepolis. 

Jane. A small Genoese silver coin; so called 
from Fr. G£nes, Genoa. 

Because I could not give her many a jane. 

Spfnser: Faerie Queene , III, vii, 58. 

In American slang a jane is a derogatory term 
for a woman. 

Janissaries or Janizaries (icin' i s&r iz) (Turk. 
yeni-tscheri , new corps). A celebrated militia 
of the Ottoman Empire, raised by Orchan in 
1326; originally, and for some centuries, 
compulsorily recruited from the Christian 
subjects of the Sultan. It was blessed by Hadji 
Becktash, a saint, who cut off a sleeve of his 
fur mantle and gave it to the captain. The 
captain put the sleeve on his head, and from 
this circumstance arose the fur cap worn by 
these foot-guards. In 1826, having become too 
formidable to the state, they were abolished 
after a massacre in which many thousands of 
the Janissaries perished. 

Jannes and Jambres (jan' ez, jam' brez). The 
names under which St. Paul (II Tim. iii, 8) 
referred to the two magicians of Pharaoh who 
imitated some of the miracles of Moses ( Exod . 
vii). The names are not mentioned in the Old 
Testament, but they appear in the Targums 
and other rabbinical writings, where tradition 
has it that they were sons of Balaam, and that 
they perished either in the crossing of the Red 
Sea, or in the tumult after the worship of the 
golden calf. 

Jansenists (jan' sen ists). A sect of Christians, 
who held the doctrines of Cornelius Jansen 
(1585-1638), Bishop of Ypres. Jansen professed 
to have formulated the teaching of Augustine, 
which resembled Calvinism in many respects. 
He taught the doctrines of “irresistible grace,” 
“original sin,” and the “utter helplessness of 
the natural man to turn to God.” Louis XIV 
took part against them, and they were put 
down by Pope Clement XI, in 1705, in the 
famous bull Unigenitus (<?.v.). 

Januarius, St. (jSn Q ar' i 0s). The patron saint 
of Naples, a bishop of Benevento who was 
martyred during the Diocletian persecution, 
304. He is commemorated on September 19th, 
and his head and two vials of his blood are pre- 
served in the cathedral at Naples. This congealed 
blood is said to liquefy several times a year. 

January. The month dedicated by the Romans 
to Janus (< 7 .v.), who presided over the entrance 
to the year and, having two faces, could look 
back to the year past and forward on the 
current year. 




January 


500 


Je ne sals quoi 


The Dutch used to call this month Lauw-maand 
(frosty-month); the Saxons, Wulf-monath , because 
wolves were very troublesome then from the great 
scarcity of food. After the introduction of Christianity, 
the name was changed to Se ceftera geola (the after- 
yule); it was also called Forma monath (first month). 
In the French Republican calendar it was called 
Nivdse (snow-month, December 20th to January 20th). 

It’s a case of January and May. Said when 
an old man marries a young girl. The allusion 
is to the Merchant’s Talc in Chaucer’s Canter- 
bury Tales , in which May, a lovely girl, married 
January, a Lombard baron sixty years of age. 

Janus (ja' ntis). The ancient Roman deity 
who kept the gate of heaven; hence the guard- 
ian of gates and doors. He was represented 
with two faces, one in front and one behind, 
and the doors of his temple in Rome were 
thrown open in times of war and closed in 
times of peace. The name is used allusively 
both with reference to the double-facedness 
and to war. Thus Milton says of the Cheru- 
bim ; — 

Four faces each 
Had, like a double Janus. 

Paradise Lost, XI, 129. 

And Tennyson — 

State-policy and church-policy are conjoint. 

But Janus-taces looking diverse ways. 

Queen Mary , III, ii. 

While Dante says of the Roman eagle that it — 
composed the world to such a peace, 

That of his temple Janus barr’d the door. 

Paradiso, vi, 83 (Cary's tr.). 

Japanese Vellum. An extremely costly hand- 
beaten Japanese paper manufactured from the 
inner bark of the mulberry tree. 

Japhetic. An adjective sometimes applied to 
the Aryan family. 

The Indo-European family of languages as known 
by various designations. Some style it Japhetic , as it 
it appertained to the descendants of the patriarch 
Japheth [son of Noah]; as the Semitic tongues 
(appertain] to the descendants of Shem. — Whitney: 
Languages , etc., lect. v. 

Jarkman. Sixteenth-century slang for an 
Abram-man (<?.v.), especially one who was able 
to forge passes, licences, etc. Jark was rogues’ 
cant for a seal, whence also a licence of the 
Bethlehem Hospital to beg. 

Jaraac. Coup de Jarnac. A treacherous and 
unexpected attack; so called from Guy Chabot, 
Sieur de Jarnac, who, in a duel with La Cha- 
teigneraie, on July 10th, 1547, in the presence 
of Henri II, first “hamstrung” his opponent 
and then, when he was helpless, slew him. 

Jarndyce v. Jamdyce (jam dls'). An inter- 
minable Chancery suit, in Bleak House. 
Dickens probably founded his story on the 
long drawn-out Chancery suit of Jennens v. 
Jennens, which related to property in Nacton, 
Suffolk, belonging to an intestate miser who 
died in 1798. The case was only finally con- 
cluded more than eighty years after its start. 

Jarvey. Old slang for a hackney-coach driver; 
from the personal name Jarvis , with a possible 
allusion to St. Gervaise, whose symbol in art 
is a whip. 

I pity them ere Jarvies a sitting on their boxes all 
night and waiting for the nobs what is dancing. — 
Disraeli: Sybil, V, vii (1845). 


Jason (ja' s6n). The hero of Greek legend who 
led the Argonauts (q.v.) in the quest for the 
Golden Fleece. He was the son of JE son, king 
of Ioclus, was brought up by the centaur, 
Chiron, and when he demanded his kingdom 
from his half-brothei, Pelias, who had de- 
prived him of it, was told he could have it in 
return for the Golden Fleece. Jason thereupon 
gathered together the chief heroes of Greece 
and set sail in the Argo. After many tests and 
trials he, through the help of Medea (q.v.) y was 
successful. He married Medea, but later 
deserted her, and, according to one account, 
he killed himself with grief, according to 
another was crushed to death by the keel of his 
old ship, Argo , while resting beneath it. 

Jaundice (Fr. jaune , yellow). A jaundiced eye. 
A prejudiced eye which sees only faults. It 
was a popular belief that to the eye of a person 
who had the jaundice everything looked of a 
yellow tinge. 

All seems infected that th’ infected spy. 

As all seems yellow to the jaundiced eye. 

Pope: Essay on Criticism, ii, 359 

Javan (ja' van). In the Bible the collective 
name of the Greeks (Is. lxvi, 19, and Ezek. 
xxvii, 13 and elsewhere), who were supposed 
to be descended from Javan, the son of Japheth 
(Gen. x, 2). 

Jaw. To jaw, to annoy with words, to jabber, 
wrangle, or abuse. 

A break-jaw word; a jaw-breaker. A very 
long word, or one hard to pronounce. 

Pi jaw. A contemptuous term for />/ous talk, 
or for an ostentatiously pious or goody-goody 
person. 

Jay. Okl slang for a frivolous person, a wanton. 

This jay of Italy . . . hath betrayed him. — Cym- 
beline. III, iv. 

Jay hawker. In older American slang, a 
bandit. 

Jaywalker. One who crosses a street regard- 
less of traffic regulations. 

Jazey. A wig; a corruption of Jersey, and so 
called because they used to be made of Jersey 
flax and fine wool. 

Jazz (j&z). The folk-music of the American 
Negro. Originating in the cotton-fields, it was 
developed in New Orleans and thence spread 
up the Mississippi in the river boats to Chicago. 
Now world-wide, this type of music, originally 
and sometimes still the expression of a natur- 
ally musical people, is too often confused with 
insipid dance tunes. 

Buddy Bolden, one of the greatest trumpet- 
players, was playing in New Orleans in 
the 1880s. The music started up the river in 
1915, and in March, 1916, Bert Kelly’s “Jazz 
Band” (the first to be so called) was engaged 
by the Boosters’ Club, of Chicago, scored an 
immediate success, and started jazz on its 
conquering career. 

In spite of many conjectures, it is impossible 
to ascertain the origin of the name. 

Je ne sais quoi (zhe ne sa kwa) (Fr. I know not 
what). An indescribable something; as “There 
was a je ne sais quoi about him which made us 
dislike him at first sight.” 




Jeames 


501 


Jeremiad 


Jeames (jemz). A flunkey. The Morning Post 
used sometimes to be so called, because of its 
never failing solicitude for the flunkey- 
employing classes and its supposed sub- 
servience towards them. 

Thackeray wrote Jeames' s Diary (published 
in Punch), of which Jeames de la Pluche — a 
“super” flunkey — was the hero. 

Jean Crapaud. A Frenchman. See Crapaud, 
also Frog 

Jedwood Justice. Putting an obnoxious person 
lo death first, and trying him afterwards. This 
sort of justice was dealt to moss-troopers. 
Same as Jedburgh justice , Jeddart justice. We 
have also “Cupar justice”(<y.i>.) and “Abingdon 
law.” 

Jeep (jep). A small all-purpose car developed 
by the U.S.A. during World War II, and 
known as G.P., i.e. General Purposes vehicle, 
hence the name. Its 4-wheel drive and high 
and low gear-boxes gave it astonishing cross- 
country performances. Its value to the Allied 
armed forces was inestimable. The experi- 
mental models were called Beeps, Peeps and 
Blitz Buggies, but the name Jeep had been 
coined and stuck by early 1941. 

Jehovah (je ho' va). The name Jehovah itself is 
an instance of the extreme sanctity with which 
the name of God was invested, for this is a 
disguised form of the name. This word jhvh, 
the sacred tetragrammaton ( q.v .), was too 
sacred to use, so the scribes added the vowels 
of Adonai , thereby indicating that the reader 
was to say Adonai instead of jhvh. At the time 
of the Renaissance these vowels and conson- 
ants were taken for the sacred name itself and 
hence Jehovah or Yah we. 

Jehovah's Witnesses. A religious movement 
founded in 1872 by Charles Taze Russell in 
Philadelphia. Its doctrine is based on the Bible, 
but it does not ascribe divinity to Jesus Christ, 
regarding him as the perfect man and agent of 
God. 

Recognition of Jehovah as their sole 
authority involves the Witnesses in refusal to 
salute a national flag or to do military service. 

The Witnesses do a great deal of house-to- 
house visiting in order to make personal con- 
tacts and sell their publicatibns. 

Jehovistic. See Elohistic. 

Jehu (je' hu). A coachman, especially one who 
drives at a rattling pace. 

The watchman told, saying, . . . The driving is 
like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he 
driveth furiously. — II Kings ix, 20. 

Jekyll (jek' il). Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Two 
phases of one man. Jekyll is the “would do 
good,” Hyde is “the evil that is present.” The 
phrase comes from R. L. Stevenson's The 
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , first 
published in 1886. 

Jellyby, Mrs. (jel' i bi). The type of the en- 
thusiastic, unthinking philanthropist who for- 
gets that charity should begin at home. 
(Dickens: Bleak House). 

Jemmy (the diminutive or pet form of James). 
Slang for a number of different things, as a 
burglar's crowbar; a sheep’s head, boiled or 
baked, said to be so called from the tradition 


that James IV of Scotland breakfasted on a 
sheep’s head just before the battle of Flodden 
Field (September 9th, 1513); also, a greatcoat; 
and — as an adjective — spruce, dandified. See 
Jemmy Jessamy. 

Jemmy Dawson. See Dawson. 

Jemmy Jessamy. A Jack-a-dandy; a lady’s 
fondling, “sweet as sugar-candy.” 

This was very different language to that she had been 
in the habit of hearing from her Jemmy Jessamy 
adorers.— Thackeray: Barry Lyndon , ch. xiii. f 

Jemmy O ’Goblin. Slang for a sovereign. Cp. 
James. 

Jemmy Twitcher. See T witcher. 

Jenkins’s Ear. The name given to an incident 
that helped largely to bring about the war 
between England and Spain in 1739 that 
eventually developed into the War of the 
Austrian Succession. Captain Robert Jenkins, 
skipper of the brig Rebecca , was homeward 
bound from the West Indies when he was 
attacked by a Spanish guarda costa off Havana 
on 9th April, 1731. The Spaniards plundered 
his ship and ended by cutting off one of 
Jenkins’s ears. On reaching London Jenkins 
carried his complaint (and his severed ear in 
a leather case) to the king and demanded 
reparation. At the time little notice was taken 
of the incident, but some years later, in 1738, 
the matter was brought up again, Jenkins and 
his ear were examined by a committee of the 
House of Commons and his case became an 
added grievance to the many others that 
culminated in war. 

Jenny Wren. The sweetheart of Robin Red- 
breast in the old nursery rlwne. 

Robin promised Jenny, if she would be his 
wife, she should “feed on cherry-pie and drink 
currant-wine”; and he says: — 

“I'll dress you like a goldfinch. 

Or any peacock gay; 

So, dearest Jen, if you’ll be mine. 

Let us appoint the day.” 

Jenny replies: — 

“Cherry-pie is very nice, 

And so is currant wine; 

But I must wear my plain brown gown 
And never go too fine.” 

It was the nickname of the doll’s dress- 
maker, Fanny Cleaver, in Dickens’s Our 
Mutual Friend. 

Jeofail (jo' fal). The old legal term for an error, 
omission, or oversight in proceedings at law 
The word is the Anglo-Fr. jeo fail , O.Fr. je 
faille , I am at fault. There were several 
statutes of Jeofail for the remedy of slips or 
mistakes. 

Jeopardy (jep' ar di). Hazard, danger. It 
originally signified an even chance, hence an 
uncertain chance, something hazardous. It has 
since been extended to mean exposure to the 
risk of death, loss, or injury. The word is 
French in derivation —jeu, game; parti, 
divided. 

Jeremiah (jer e ml' i). The British Jeremiah. 
Gibbon so calls Gildas (fl. 6th cent.), author of 
Lamentations over the Destruction of Britain . 

Jeremiad Ger e mi' id). A pitiful tale, a tale 
of woe to produce compassion; so called 
from the “Lamentations'* of the prophet 
Jeremiah. 




Jericho 


502 


Jesse 


Jericho (jer 7 i kd). Used in a number of 
phrases for the sake of giving verbal definition 
to some altogether indefinite place. The reason 
for fixing on this particular town is possibly to 
be found in II Sam. x, 5, and I Chron . xix, 5. 

Go to Jericho. A euphemistic turn of phrase 
for “Go and hang yourself,” or something 
more offensive still. 

Gone to Jericho. No one knows where. 

f wish you were at Jericho. Anywhere out of 
my way. 

Jerked Beef. “Jerked” is here a corruption 
of Peruvian charqui , meat cut into strips and 
dried in the sun. 

Jerkin. A short coat or jacket, formerly made 
of leather; a close waistcoat. 

A plague of opinion, one may wear it on both sides, 
like a leather jerkin. — Troilus and Cressida , III, iii. 

Jerkwater. An early American term for a 
small train on a branch railway line. 

Jeroboam (jer 6 bo' am). A very large wine 
bottle or flagon, so called in allusion to the 
“mighty map of valour” who “made Israel to 
sin” (l Kings x i, 28, xiv, 16). Its capacity is not 
very definite; some say it is from ten to twelve 
quarts, but the more usual allowance is eight. 
A magnum ~ 2 quart bottles; a tappit hen — 2 
magnums; a Jeroboam = 2 tappit hens; and a 
rehoboam *= 2 jeroboams or 16 quart bottles. 
See these names , and cp. Jorum. 

Jerome, St. (jer' om). A father of the Western 
Church, and translator of the Vulgate (q.v.). 
He was bom about 340, and died at Bethlehem 
in 420. He is generally represented as an aged 
man in a cardinal’s dress, writing or studying, 
with a lion seated beside him. His feast is 
kept on September 30th. 

Jeronimo (je ron' imo). The chief character in 
the Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd (acted 
about 1590). On finding his application to the 
king ill-timed, he says to himself, “Go by, 
Jeronimo,” which tickled the fancy of the 
audience so that it became for a time a street 
jest, and was introduced into many contem- 
porary plays, as in Shakespeare’s Taming of 
the Shrew ( Induction ), Jonson’s Every Man in 
his Humour (I, v), Dekker’s Shoemaker's 
Holiday (II, i), etc. See also Geronimo. 

Jerrican. (World War II). A 4^-gallon petrol 
or water container which would stand rough 
handling and stack easily, developed by the 
Germans for the Afrika Korps. Borrowed by 
the British in Libya (hence its name), it became 
the standard unit of fuel replenishment 
throughout the Allied armies. 

Jerry. In World War I this was an army nick- 
name for a German, or Germans collectively. 

Jerry-built. Unsubstantial. A “jerry-builder” 
is a speculative builder who runs up cheap, 
unsubstantial houses, using materials of the 
commonest kind. The name is probably in 
some way connected with Jeremiah. 

Jerry Diddler. See Diddle. 

Jerry-shop, or Tom and Jerry shop. A low- 
class beerhouse. Probably the Tom and Jerry 


was a public-house sign when Pierce Egan's 
Life in London (1821), in which these are 
leading characters, was popular. 

Jerrymander. See Gerrymander. 

Jersey is Caesar’s-ey — i.e. Caesar’s island, so 
called in honour of Julius Caesar. In U.S.A. 
Jersey is often used to indicate the State of 
New Jersey. 

Jerusalem. Julian the Apostate, the Roman 
Emperor (d. 363), with the intention of pleasing 
the Jews and humbling the Christians, said 
that he would rebuild the temple and city, 
but was mortally wounded before the founda- 
tion was laid, and his work set at naught by 
“an earthquake, a whirlwind, or a fiery 
eruption” (see Gibbon’s Decline and Fall , ch. 
xxiii). 

Much has been made of this by early 
Christian writers, who dwell on the prohibition 
and curse pronounced against those who 
should attempt to rebuild the city, and the fate 
of Julian is pointed out as an example of 
Divine wrath. 

Jerusalem, in Dryden’s Absalom and Ac/ti - 
tophel ( q.v .), means London (Pt. I, v, 86, etc.). 

The New Jerusalem. The paradise of 
Christians, in allusion to Rev. xxi. 

Jerusalem artichoke. Jerusalem is here a 
corruption of Ital. girasole. Girasole is the 
sunflower, which this vegetable resembles 
both in leaf and stem. 

Jerusalem Chamber. The Chapter-house of 
Westminster Abbey. Henry IV died there, 
March 20th, 1413. 

It hath been prophesied to me many years, 

I should not die but in Jerusalem. 

Henry IV, Pt. II, iv, v. 

Pope Silvester II was told the same thing, 
and he died as he was saying Mass in a church 
so called. (Bacon: Tusculum.) 

The Lower House of Convocation usually 
meets in the Jerusalem Chamber. 

Jerusalem Cross. A cross potent. See Potent. 

Jerusalem Delivered. An Italian epic poem 
in twenty books, by Torquato Tasso (1544-95). 
It was published in 1581, and was translated 
into English by Edward Fairfax in 1600. It 
tells the story of the First Crusade and the 
capture of Jerusalem by Godfrey of Bouillon, 
1099. 

Jess (through Fr. from Lat. jactus , a cast, 
throw). A short strap of leather tied about the 
legs of a hawk to hold it on the fist. Hence, 
metaphorically, a bond of affection, etc. 

If I prove her haggard, 

Though that her jesses were my dear heart-strings. 

I’d whistle her off. Othello , III, iii. 

Jessamy Bride. The fancy name given by 
Goldsmith to Mary Horneck when he fell in 
love with her in 1769. Cp. Jemmy Jessamy. 

Jesse, or Jesse Tree (jes' i). A genealogical 
tree, usually represented as a vine or as a large 
brass candlestick with many branches, tracing 
the ancestry of Christ, called a “rod out of the 
stem of Jesse” (Is. xi, 1). Jesse is himself 
sometimes represented in a recumbent 
position with the vine rising out of his loins; 




Jesters 


503 


Jezreelites 


hence a stained-glass window representing him 
thus with a tree shooting from him containing 
the pedigree of Jesus is called a Jesse window . 

Jesters. See Court Fools, under Fools. 

Jesuit (jez' 0 it). The popular name of mem- 
bers of the Society of Jesus, founded by St. 
Ignatius Loyola in 1533, who, when asked 
what name he would give his order, replied, 
“We are a little battalion of Jesus.” The order 
was founded to combat the Reformation and 
to propagate the faith among the heathen, but 
through its discipline, organization, and 
methods of secrecy, it acquired such political 
power that it came into conflict with both the 
civil and religious authorities; it was driven 
from France m 1594, from England in 1579, 
from Venice in 1607, from Spain in 1767, 
from Naples in 1768; in 1773 it was altogether 
suppressed by Pope Clement XIV, but was 
revived in 1814. 

Owing to the casuistical principles main- 
tained by many of its leaders and attributed to 
the order as a whole the name Jesuit has 
acquired a very opprobrious signification in 
both Protestant and Roman Catholic coun- 
tries, and a Jesuit , or Jesuitical person means 
(secondarily) a deceiver, prevaricator, one 
who “lies like truth,” or palters in a double 
sense, that “keeps the word of promise to our 
ear, and breaks it to our hope.” 

Jesuit’s bark. See Peruvian. 

Jesus Paper. Paper of large size (about 28£ in. 
by 21 1) chiefly used for engravings. Originally 
it was stamped with the initials I.H.S. 

Jetsam or Jetson (jet' sam). Goods cast into 
the sea to lighten a ship (Fr .jeter, to cast out). 
See Flotsam; Lagan. 

Jettatura (yet a too' ra). The Italian phrase for 
the evil eye, a superstition that certain persons 
have the power, by looking at one, to cast a 
malevolent spell. This can be countered only 
by various gestures, chief among which is the 
extending of the clenched fist with the index 
and little fingers stuck out like horns. The 
superstition and all connected with it is of 
extreme antiquity. 

Jeu d’esprit (je des pre) (Fr.). A witticism. 

Jeu de mots (je de mo) (Fr.). A pun; a play 
on some word or phrase. 

Jeunesse Dorde (je nes' dor a) (Fr.). The 
“gilded youth” of a nation; that is, the rich 
and fashionable young unmarried men. 

Jew. In Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel (<?.v.) 
the Jews stand for those English who were 
loyal to Charles II, called David. 

Jews born with tails. See Tailed Men. 

Jew’s ear. A fungus that grows on the 
Judas-tree (q.v.)\ its name is due to a mis- 
translation of its Latin name. Auricula Judee , 
i.e. Judas’s ear. 

Jew’s harp. It is not known how or why this 
very simple musical instrument got its name 
(known from the 16th cent.); it has no special 
connexion with the Jews, and is not like a harp. 
The implication is that it is cheaper than the 
proper harp. 


It was called by Bacon jeutrompe , by Beaumont 
and Fletcher, jew- trump, and in Hakluyt’s 
Voyages (159 5), Jew's harp. 

Jew’s myrtle. Butcher’s broom is so called, 
from the popular notion that it formed the 
crown of thorns placed by the Jews on the 
Saviour’s head. 

Worth a Jew’s eye. According to fable, this 
expression arose from the custom of torturing 
Jews to extort money from them. The ex- 
pedient of King John is well known; he de- 
manded 10,000 marks of a rich Jew of Bristol; 
the Hebrew resisted, but the tyrant ordered 
that one of his teeth should be tugged out every 
day till the money was forthcoming. In seven 
days the sufferer gave in, and John jestingly 
observed, “A Jew’s eye may be a quick ransom, 
but Jew’s teeth give the richer harvest.” 

Launcelot, in the Merchant of Venice , II, 
v, puns upon this phrase when he says to 
Jessica : — 

There will come a Christian by 
Will be worth a Jewess* eye. 

Jewels have (or had) in the popular belief 
special significations in various ways. For 
instance, each month was supposed to be under 
the influence of some precious stone — 

January . . Garnet . . . . Constancy. 

February . . Amethyst . . Sincerity. 

March . . Bloodstone . . Courage. 

April . . . . Diamond . . Innocence. 

May .. .. Emerald .. Success in love. 

June .. .. Agate .. .. Health and long life. 

July . . . . Cornelian . . Content. 

August . . Sardonyx . . Conjugal fidelity. 

September .. Sapphire .. Antidote to madness. 

October . . Opal . . . . Hope. 

November . . Topaz . . . . Fidelity. 

December . . Turquoise . . Prosperity. 

The signs of the zodiac were represented 
by— 

Aries . . Ruby. Libra . . . . Jacinth. 

Taurus . . Topaz. Scorpio .. . . Agate. 

Gemini . . Carbuncle. Sagittarius . . Amethyst. 
Cancer . . Emerald. Capricornus . . Beryl. 

Leo . . Sapphire. Aquarius . . Onyx. 

Virgo . . Diamond. Pisces . . . . Jasper. 

And among heralds and astrologists jewels 
represented special tinctures or planets, as the 
topaz, “or” (gold), and Sol, the sun; the pearl 
or crystal, “argent” (silver) and the moon; 
the ruby, “gules” (red), and the planet Mars; 
the sapphire, “azure” (blue), and Jupiter; the 
diamond, “sable” (black), and Saturn; the 
emerald, “vert” (green), and Venus; the ame- 
thyst, “purpure” (purple ), and Mercury. 

These are my jewels! See Treasure. 

Jezebel (jez' 6 b61). A painted Jezebel. A 
flaunting woman of bold spirit but loose 
morals; so called from Jezebel, wife of Ahab, 
King of Israel (see II Kings ix, 31). 

Jezreelites (jez' re litz). A smalt sect which had 
headq uarters at Gillingham, Kent ; its belief was 
that Christ redeemed only souls, and that the 
body is saved by belief in the Law. It was 
founded in 1876 by James White (1840-85), who 
had been a private in the Army, and took the 
name James Jershom Jezreel. They were also 
called the “New and Later House of Israel,” 
their object being to be numbered among the 
144,000 (see Rev . vii, 4) who at the Last Judg- 
ment will be endowed with immortal bodies. 


Jib 


504 


Jitney 


Jib. A triangular sail borne in front of the 
foremast. It has the bowsprit for a base in 
small vessels, and the jib-boom in larger ones, 
and exerts an important effect, when the wind is 
abeam, in throwing the ship’s head to leeward. 
The jib-boom is an extension of the bowsprit 
by the addition of a spar projecting beyond it. 
Sometimes the boom is further extended by 
another spar called the flying jib-boom. The 
jib-topsail is a light sail flying from the extreme 
forward end of the flying jib-boom, and set 
about half-way between the mast and the boom. 

The cut of his jib. A sailor’s phrase, meaning 
the expression of a personas face. Sailors 
recognize vessels at sea by the cut of the jibs, 
and in certain dialects the jib means the lower 
lip. Thus, to hang the jib is to look ill-tempered, 
or annoyed. 

To Hb. To start aside, to back out; a “jibbing 
hor$e T * is one that is easily startled. It is 
prooably from the sea-term, to gybe, i.e. to 
change tacks by bearing away before the wind. 

Jiffy. In a jiffy. In a minute; in a brace of 
shakes; before you can say “Jack Robinson.” 
The origin of the word is unknown, but it is 
met with as early as the late 18th century. 

Jig* from gigue. A short piece of music much 
in vogue in olden times, of a very lively 
character, either six-eight or twelve-eight time, 
and used for dance-tunes. It consists of two 
parts, each of eight bars. Also the dance itself. 

You jig, you amble, and you lisp. — Hamlet , III, i. 

The jig is up. Your trickery is discovered. 
“Jig” was old slang for a joke or trick. 

Jiggery. An American slang term for a 
dance-hall. 

Jiggery-pokery. Fraud, “wangling” of 
accounts, etc. 

Jigot (jig' ot). A Scots term for a leg of mutton 
or lamb. It is the French gigot , and is one of 
the Scots words arising from the close con- 
nexion between the two countries in the 16th 
and 17th centuries. 

Jill. A generic name for a lass, a sweetheart. 
See Jack and Jill, under Jack. 

Jilleroo. See Jackaroo. 

Jim Crow. A popular Negro song and dance 
of last century; introduced by T. D. Rice, the 
original “nigger minstrel,” at Washington in 
1835, and brought to the Adelphi, London, in 
the following year. A renegade or turncoat was 
called a “Jim Crow,” from the burden of the 
song: — 

Wheel about and turn about 
And do jis so, 

Ebry time I wheel about 
I jump Jim Crow. 

Jim Crow cars. Railway coaches set apart 
for the sole use of Negroes. 

Jim Crow regulations. Any rules which 
prohibit Negroes from associating with or 
enjoying the same privileges as white people. 

Jimmie’s or the St. James’s (later the Piccadilly 
Hotel) was a famous, rowdy, fast-going 
restaurant in the last half of the 19th century; 
it figures in many society and London novels 


and memoirs. In it was to be found any night 
of the week everything that was blas6, bella- 
donna’ed and often beautiful in the lower 
strata of female Bohemianism. Its proximity 
to Vine Street police station was not in- 
frequently a matter of congratulation to the 
authorities. 

Jimmy Warder is an habitual drunk who goes 
about cadging drinks where he can. 

Jimmy Woodser (Austr.). A solitary drinker. 
In Victoria a solitary drinker goes Ballarat. 

Jingo (jing' go). A word from the unmeaning 
jargon of the 17th-century conjurers ( cp . 
Hocus-pocus), probably substituted for God , 
in the same way as Gosh, Golly etc., are. In 
Motteux’s translation of Rabelais (1694), where 
the original reads par Dieu (Bk. IV, Ivi), the 
English rendering is “By jingo”; but there is a 
possibility that the word is Basque Jinko or 
Jainko, God, and was introduced by sailors. 

Hey, Jingo! What the de’il’s the matter? 

Do mermaids swim in Dartford water? 

Swift: Actceon or The Original Horn Fair. 

The modern meaning of the word, a bluster- 
ing so-called “patriot” who is itching to go to 
war on the slightest provocation — a Chauvinist 
in France — is from a music-hall song by G. W. 
Hunt, which was popular in 1878 when the 
country was supposed to be on the verge of 
intervening in the Russo-Turkish War on be- 
half of the Turks: — 

We don’t want to fight; but, by Jingo, if we do, 

We’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men, and got the 

money too. 

The Russophobes became known as the 
Jingoes, and a noisy, war-mongering policy 
has been labelled Jingoism ever since. 

Jinks (jingks). High jinks. The present use of 
the phrase expresses the idea of pranks, fun, 
and jollity. 

The frolicsome company had begun to practise the 
ancient and now forgotten pastime of High Jinks. The 
game was played in several different ways. Most fre- 
quently the dice were thrown by the company, and 
those upon whom the lot fell were obliged to assume 
and maintain for a time a certain fictitious character, 
or to repeat a certain number of fescennine verses in a 
particular order. If they departed from the character 
assigned . . . they incurred forfeits, which were com- 
pounded for by swallowing an additional bumper. — 
Scott: Guy Mannering , xxxvi. 

Jinn (jin). Demons of Arabian mythology, 
according to fable created from fire two 
thousand years before Adam was made of 
earth, and said to be governed by a race of 
kings named Suleyman, one of whom “built 
the pyramids.” Their chief abode is the 
mountain Kaf, and they assume the forms of 
serpents, dogs, cats, monsters, or even human 
beings, and become invisible at pleasure. The 
evil jinn are hideously ugly, but the good are 
exquisitely beautiful. The word is plural; its 
singular is jinnee. 

Jinx (jingks). A colloquial term in U.S.A. for 
a person or thing supposed to bring ill luck. 

Jitney (jit' ni). An American term for an auto- 
mobile plying for hire or hired to carry 
passengers. The name comes from the slang 
word for a five-cent piece — a jitney — as this 
was the fare originally charged for each 
passenger. 




Jitters 


505 


Joey 


Jitters. An American phrase for nervousness, 
apprehensiveness; hence jittery is nervous, 
jumpy. 

Jitterbug is one whose responses to the 
rhythm of swing music take the form of violent 
and unexpected dance movements, making him 
(or her) dance in an unpredictable, often 
acrobatic fashion. 

Jiujitsu, Jujitsu (joo jit' soo). The Japanese 
art of self-defence. It is based on leverage 
applied to the assailant's limbs which are 
forced into unnatural positions, called locks, 
to which there is no key; the victim must either 
give in or have the limb broken. The neck, 
body and hip joints are all susceptible to such 
attack, the spine can be injured and the hips 
dislocated. 

Jive. A canting name for the livelier and de- 
based forms of jazz music, largely accomplished 
by uninspired improvisations of short phrases. 
The adepts have developed a vocabulary of 
their own, known as jive-talk. 

Joachim, St. (jo' a kim). The father of the 
Virgin Mary. Generally represented as an old 
man carrying in a basket two turtledoves, in 
allusion to the offering made for the purifica- 
tion of his daughter. His wife was St. Anne. 

Joan, Pope. A mythical female pope first 
mentioned in the 13th century by the Domini- 
can chronicler Jean de Mailly; the story was 
widely believed in the Middle Ages. For cen- 
turies many writers related the story in dif- 
ferent versions. She was supposed to have been 
born in England and educated at Cologne, 
passing under the name of Joannes Anglicus, 
and to have occupied the papal chair as John 
VIII about 855. The ecclesiastical historian 
David Blondel exposed the myth in 1647, and 
in 1863 J. J. I. Dollinger explained that it 
arose from an ancient folk-tale. 

Job (job). The personification of poverty and 
atience, in allusion to the patriarch whose 
istory is given in the Bible. 

I am as poor as Job, my lord, but not so patient. — 
Henry IV, Pt. II, I, ii. 

In the Koran Job’s wife is said to have been 
either Rahmeh, daughter of Ephraim, son of 
Joseph, or Makhir, daughter of Manasses; 
and the tradition is recorded that Job, at the 
command of God, struck the earth with his 
foot from the dunghill where he lay, and 
instantly there welled up a spring of water with 
which his wife washed his sores, and they were 
miraculously healed. 

Job’s comforter. One who means to sympa- 
thize with you in your grief, but says that you 
brought it on yourself; thus in reality adding 
weight to your sorrow. 

Job’s post. A bringer of bad news. 

Job’s pound. Bridewell; prison. 

As poor as Job’s turkey. An expression 
invented by “Sam Slick” (Thomas Chandler 
Haliburton), an early 19th-century American 
humorous writer, to denote someone even 
poorer than Job. 

Jobation. A scolding; so called from the 
patriarch Job. 


Jobation . . . means a long, dreary homily, and 
has reference to the teoious rebukes inflicted on the 
patriarch Job by his too obliging friends. — G. A. 
Sala: (Echoes), Sept. 6th, 1884. 

Job (job). Paid employment; a piece of chance 
work ; a public work or office not for the public 
benefit, but for the profit of the person em- 
ployed ; a misfortune, an untoward event; a 
4 jab”; also, among printers, all kinds of work 
not included in the term “book-work” or 
newspapers. 

A bad job. An unfortunate happening; a bad 
speculation. 

A job lot. A lot of miscellaneous goods. 

A ministerial job. Sheridan says: — “When- 
ever any emolument, profit, salary, or honour 
is conferred on any person not deserving it — 
that is a job; if from private friendship, 
personal attachment, or any view except the 
interest of the public, anyone is appointed to 
any public office . . . that is a job.” 

Jobber. One who does small jobs; one who 
buys from merchants to sell to retailers; a 
middle-man. A “stock-jobber” is a member of 
the Stock Exchange who acts as an intermedi- 
ary between buying and selling stockbrokers; 
only a jobber can actually buy and sell shares 
in the Stock Exchange itself. The relationship 
between the jobber and the broker is much the 
same as that between the wholesaler and the 
retailer in trade. 

Jock. Popular nickname for a Scotsman. 

Jockey. Properly, “a little Jack” (q.v.). So in 
Scot, “Ilka Jeanie has her Jockie.” 

All fellows, Jockey and the laird (man and 

master). (Scots proverb .) 

To jockey. To deceive in trade; to cheat; to 
indulge in sharp practice. 

Jockey of Norfolk. Sir John Howard (c. 
1430-85), the first Howard to be Duke of 
Norfolk, and a firm adherent of Richard III. 
On the night before the battle of Bosworth, 
where he was slain, he found in his tent the 
warning couplet: 

Jockey of Norfolk, be not too bold. 

For Dickon thy master is bought and sold. 

Joe. American slang for water closet and bath- 
room; also for the man in the street, and as a 
form of address for someone whose name is 
unknown. G.I. Joe has been used as a name 
for the American soldier, but G.I. ( q.v .) is 
more general. 

Joe in Australian usage was formerly a 
term of the greatest insult. Charles Joseph 
Latrobe was governor of Victoria in 1851 and 
set the police to checking up every gold-miner 
to see that he had a licence. Hence “Joe!” was 
a warning cry at the approach of the Law. 

Joe Miller. See Miller. 

Joey. A groat; so called from Joseph Hume 
(1777-1855), M.P. for Kilkenny at the time, 
who, about 1835, strongly recommended the 
coinage of groats for the sake of paying short 
cab-fares, etc. . „ . . 

In Australia a young kangaroo is called a joey. 


Jog 


506 


John Doe 


Jog. Jog away; jog off; jog on. Get away ; be off; 
keep moving. Shakespeare uses the word shog 
in the same sense — as, “Will you shog off?” 
( Henrv V % II, i); and again in the same play, 
“Shall we shog?” (II, iii). Beaumont and 
Fletcher use the same expression in The Cox- 
comb — “Come, prithee, let us shog off.” In 
the Morte d' Arthur we have another variety — 
“He shokkes in sharpely” (rushes in). The 
words are connected with shock , and shake. 
Jog on a little faster, pri’thee, 

I’ll take a nap and then be wi’ thee. 

R. Lloyd: The Hare and the Tortoise. 

Give his memory a jog. Remind him of 
something. 

Jog-trot. A slow but regular pace. 

Joggis or Jogges. See Jougs. 

John. The 'English form of Lat. and Gr. 
Johannes , from Heb. Jochanan , meaning “God 
is gracious.” The feminine form, Johanna , or 
Joanna , is nearer the original. The French 
equivalent of “John” is Jean (formerly Jehan ), 
the Italian Giovanni , Russian Ivan , Gaelic Ian , 
Irish Sean or Shaun , German Johann or 
Johannes , which is contracted to Jan , Jahn , and 
Hans. 

For many centuries John has been one of the 
most popular of masculine names in England 
— probably because it is that of St. John the 
Evangelist, St. John the Baptist and many 
other saints. 

The name John has been used by Popes 
more than any other, its last holder being 
John XXIII. The most famous “Johns” of 
history are probably King John of England 
(c. 1167, 1199-1216); John of Gaunt (1340-99), 
the fourth son of Edward III ; and Don John of 
Austria (1547-78), illegitimate son of the 
Emperor Charles V, celebrated as a military 
leader, for his naval victory over the Turks at 
Lepanto (1571), and as Governor of the 
Netherlands. 

The principal Saints of the name are: — 

St. John the Evangelist or the Divine. His 
day is December 27th, and he is usually 
represented bearing a chalice from which a 
serpent issues, in allusion to his driving the 
poison from a cup presented to him to drink. 
Tradition says that he took the Virgin Mary 
to Ephesus after the Crucifixion, that in the 
persecution of Domitian (96) he was plunged 
into a cauldron of boiling oil, but was delivered 
unharmed, and was afterwards banished to the 
isle of Patmos (where he is said to have written 
the Book of Revelation), but shortly returned 
to Ephesus, where he died. 

St. John the Baptist. The forerunner of 
Jesus, who was sent “to prepare the way 
of the Lord.” His day is June 24th, and he is 
represented in a coat of sheepskin (in allusion 
to his life in the desert), either holding a rude 
wooden cross, with a pennon bearing the 
words, Ecce Agnus Dei , or with a book on 
which a lamb is seated; or holding in his right 
hand a lamb surrounded by a halo, and bearing 
a cross on the right foot. 

St. John of Beverley. Bishop of Hexham, and 
later of York (d. 721), his name formed the 


war-cry of the English in the border warfare 
of the Middle Ages. It was he who ordained 
the Venerable Bede. He was canonized in 
1037. He is commemorated on May 7th. 

St. John Chrysostom, who was bishop of 
Constantinople from 398 till he was deposed 
by the Arians in 403. Four years later he was 
slain by his enemies in Pontus. His day is 
January 27th. 

St. John of the Cross. Founder of the Dis- 
eased Carmelites (1568). A friend and co- 
worker with St. Teresa in the reform of the 
Carmelites, he is now better known for his 
mystical writings, The Dark Night of the Soul , 
Spiritual Canticles , etc. St. John of the Cross 
was one of the greatest mystics the Christian 
Church has known. He died in 1591 and was 
canonized in 1726, his feast day being Novem- 
ber 24th. 

St. John Damascene. One of the Fathers of 
the Church. He was born at Damascus, 
opposed the Iconoclasts Oy.v.), and died about 
770. He is commemorated on March 27th. 

St. John of Nepumuk. Patron Saint of 
Bohemia, a priest who was drowned in 1393 
by order of the brutal Wenceslaus IV, allegedly 
because he tried to restrain the licentiousness 
of the king, or because he refused to reveal 
to him the confessions of the queen. Nepumuk 
or Nepomuk is the French ne . born, and Pomuk , 
the village of his birth. His day is May 16th. 

General John. A nickname for the first Duke 
of Marlborough. 

John Anderson, my Jo. Burns’s well-known 
poem is founded on an 18th-century song 
which, in its turn, was a parody of a mid-16th 
century anti-Roman Catholic song in ridicule 
of the Sacraments of the Church. The whole 
is given in the Percy Folio MS. The first verse 
is: — 

John Anderson, my Jo, cum in as ye gae by, 

And ye sail get a sheip’s heid weel baken in a pyc; 

Weel baken in a pye, and the haggis in a pat: 

John Anderson, my Jo, cum in, and ye’s get that. 

Jo is an old Scottish word for a sweetheart. 

John Audley. See Audley. 

John Brown (1800-59). An American 
abolitionist who led a body of men to free 
Negro slaves at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, 
October 16th, 1859. The famous Union song 
of the Civil War, “John Brown’s Body,” made 
him a legend. 

John Bull. The nickname for an English- 
man or Englishmen collectively. The name 
was used in Dr. John Arbuthnot’s satire, Law 
is a Bottomless Pit (1712), republished as The 
History of John Bull , but it is not known if 
Arbuthnot invented the name or popularized 
an existing one. After this the first appearance 
of the nam^m print is not until 1772. 

John Chinaman. A Chinaman or the Chinese 
as a people. 

John Doe. See Doe. 



John Drum’s Entertainment 


507 JoBy 


John Drum’s Entertainment. See Drum. 

John Hancock. American slang for one’s 
own signature, derived from the fact that John 
Hancock (1737-93), the first of the signatories 
of the Declaration of Independence, had an 
especially large and clear signature. 

John o’ Groat’s. The story is that John o’ 
Groat (or Jan Groot) came with his two 
brothers from Holland in the reign of James IV 
of Scotland, and purchased lands oa, the ex- 
treme north-eastern coast of Scotland. In 
time the o’ Groats increased, and there came to 
be eight families of the name. They met regu- 
larly once a year in the house built by the 
founder, but on one occasion a auestion of 
precedency arose, and John o’ Groat promised 
them the next time they came he would con- 
trive to satisfy them all. Accordingly he built 
an cight-sidea room, with a door to each side, 
and placed an octagonal table therein. This 
building went ever after with the name of 
John o' Groat's House ; its site is the Berubium 
of Ptolemy, in the vicinity of Duncansby Head. 

From John o’ Groat’s to the Land’s End. 
From Dan to Beersheba, from one end of 
Great Britain to the other. 

John Roberts. Obsolete slang for a very 
large tankard, supposed to hold enough drink 
for any ordinary drinker to last through 
Saturday and Sunday. This measure was 
introduced into Wales in 1886 to compensate 
topers for the Sunday closing, and derived its 
name from John Roberts, M.P., author of the 
Sunday Closing Act. 

John with the Leaden Sword. John of 
Lancaster, Duke of Bedford (1389-1435), third 
son of Henry IV, who acted as .regent in 
France from 1422 to 1429, was so called by 
Earl Douglas. 

John-a-Dr earns. A stupid, dreamy fellow, 
always in a brown study and half asleep. 

Yet I, 

A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak, 

Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause. 
And can say nothing. Hamlet, II, ii. 

John-a-Droynes. An Elizabethan term for a 
country bumpkin. There is a foolish character 
in Whetstone’s Promos and Cassandra (1578), 
who, being seized by informers, stands dazed, 
and suffers himself to be quietly cheated out of 
his money, in Superbia Flagellum , by John 
Taylor, the Water Poet (1621), we read of 
“Jack and Jill, and John a Drones his issue,” 
the meaning evidently being “the rag, tag, and 
bobtail.” 

John-a-Nokes and John-a-Sdles. Names 
formerly given, instead of the very impersonal 
“A and B, to fictitious persons in an imaginary 
action at law: hence either name may stand 
for “just anybody.” Cp. Doe. 

Poet| gyve names to men they write of, which 
argueth a conceite of an actuall truth, and so, not be- 
ing true, prooves a falshood. And doth the Lawyer lye 
then, when under the names of John a stile and John 
a noakes , hee puts his case? — Sir Philip *>ipney: An 
Apologle for Poe trie (1 595). v *7 

John Company. The old Honourable East 
India Company. It is said that “John” is a 
perversion of ll Hon.”; no doubt Hon.* like 
Hans t may be equal to John , but probably 

B.D.— 17 


“John Company” is allied to the familiar 
“John Bull.” 

By 1765 the Company had become the 
official administrators of Bengal. Pitt’s India 
Act of 1784 instituted a dual control between 
the Company and Parliament, but after the 
Indian Mutiny of 1857 the government of 
India was transferred to the Crown, and the 
East India Company was abolished in 1858. 

John dory (dor 'i). A golden yellow fish, the 
Zeus faber , common in the Mediterranean 
and round the south-western coasts of England. 
Its name was dory (Fr. dori, golden) long 
before the John was added; this was probably 
a humorous amplification — -from the name of 
some real or imaginary person— with, perhaps, 
a side allusion to Fr. jaune y yellow. 

There is a tradition that it was from this fish 
(but see Haddock) that St. Peter took the 
stater or shekel. Hence it is called in French 
le poisson de St. Pierre , and in Gascon, the 
golden or sacred cock , meaning St. Peter’s cock. 
Like the haddock, it has an oval black ’fepot 
on each side, said to be the finger-marks of St. 
Peter, when he held the fish to extract the coin. 

John in the Wad. Another name for the 
will-o’-the-wisp. See Ignis Fatuus. 

To wait for John Long, the carrier. To wait 
a long time; to wait for John, who keeps us a 
long time. 

John Tamson’s man. A henpecked husband; 
one ordered here, there, and everywhere. 
Tamson — i.e. spiritless, a Tame-son. 

Johnny. A superfine, dandified youth, was 
known as a Johnny in the latter part of last 
century, but from earlier times it has been 
applied indiscriminately to the British bour- 
geois. Byron, February 23rd, 1824, writes to 
Murray his publisher respecting an earth- 
quake: — 

If you had but seen the English Johnnies , who had 
never been out of a cockney workshop before . . . 
[running away . . 

Johnny-cake. An American name for a cake 
made of maize-meal, formerly much esteemed 
as a delicacy. It is said to be a corruption of 
journey- cake. 

Johnny Raw. A nervous novice, a newly 
enlisted soldier; an adult apprentice in the 
ship trade. 

Johnny Reb. In the American Civil War a 
Federal name for a Confederate soldier — from 
the Northern point of view, a rebel. 

Joint, in U.S. A. slang originally meant a sordid 
place where illicit spirits could be bought and 
drunk, opium smoked, etc. From that it has 
come to be applied, disparagingly, to any 
place of common resort, restaurant, etc. 

To case a joint. To inspect a place with a 
view to committing robbery there. 

Jolly. A sailor’s nickname for a marine, a 
militiaman being a tame jolly. 

To stand and be still to the Birken’ead drill is a damn 
tough bullet to chew. , , . 

An' they done it, the Jollies,— ’Er Majesty’s Jollies— 
soldier an’ sailor too! 

Kipling : Soldier an ’ Sailor Too . 

The noun is also slang for a man who bids 
at auction with no intention of buying, but 
merely to force up the price. 


Jolly-boat 


508 


As an adjective and adverb, jolly fre^u^ntly 
has an interiSive, approving, or ironical 
effect: — 

All was jolly quiet at Ephesus before St. Paul. came 
thither. — J ohn Trapp: Commentary (1656). ■ 

Tis likely ybu’ll prove a jolly surly groom. 

Tamfng of the Shrew , III, ii. ' 

Jolly-boat. A small bdat usually hoisted at 
the stern of a ship. Jolly here is probably 
connected with the Danish jollc, Dut. joh and 
our yawl . 

A jolly dog. A bon vivant ; a jovial fellow. 

The jolly god. Bacchus. The Bible speaks of 
wine which “maketh glad the heart of man.’* 

A jolly good fellow. A very social and popular 

erson. When toasts are drunk “with musical 

onours” the chorus usually is — 

For he's a jolly good fellow [three times], 

Ana so say a 11 of us. 

With a hip, hip, hip, hooray! 

The Jolly Roger. See Roger. 

Jonathan. See Brother Jonathan. 

Jonathan’s. A noted coffee-house in Change 
Alley, described in the Tatler as the general 
mart of stock-jobbers. 

Yesterday the brokers and others . . . came to a 
resolution that [the new building] instead of being 
called “New Jonathan’s,” should be called ‘‘The 
Stock Exchange,” . . . The brokers then collected 
sixpence each, and christened the house with punch. — 
Newspaper par. (July 15, 1773). 

Jonathan’s arrows. They were shot to give 
warning, and not to hurt. (I Sam. xx, 36.) 

Jones, Davy, See Davy. 

Joneses, keeping up with the. See tinder Keep. 

Jongleur (zhong' gler). A mediaeval minstrel 
who recited verses, while accompanying him- 
self on a musical instrument. Jongleurs formed 
a branch of the Troubadours — a force which 
permeated culture throughout Europe. Pet- 
rarch compared the function of the Jongleur 
in the spread of literature and education to that 
of the book-publisher. 

Jordan (jor' dan). A name anciently given to 
a pot used by alchemists and doctors, then 
transferred to a chamber-pot. The word is 
thought to have been originally Jordan-bottle , 
i.e. a bottle in which pilgrims and crusaders 
brought back water from the River Jordan. 

Why, they will allow us ne’er a jordan, and then we 
leak in the chimney; and your chamber-lie breeds 
fleas like a loach . — Henry IV, Pt . /, II, i. 

Jordan almond. Here Jordan has nothing to 
do with the river (cp. Jerusalem artichoke), 
but is a corruption of Fr. jardin , garden. The 
Jordan almond is a fine variety which comes 
chiefly from Malaga. 

Jordan passed. Death over. The Jordan 
separated the wilderness [of the world] from 
the Promised Land, and thus came to be 
regarded almost as the Christian “Styx” 
(tf.v.). 

Jorum, A large drinking-bowl, intended 
specially for punch. The name is thought to be 
connected with King Joram (cp. Jeroboam), 
who “ brought with him vessels of silver, and 
vessels of gold, and vessels of brass” (II Sam. 
viii, 10). 


Josaphat. An Indian prince converted by the 
hermit Barlaam. See Barlaam and Josaphat. 

Joseph. One not to be seduced from his 
continency by the severest temptation is 
sometimes so called. The reference is to Joseph 
in Potiphar’s house (Gen. xxxix). Cp. Beller- 
ophon. 

A great-coat used to be known by the same 
name, in allusion to Joseph, who left his gar- 
ment, or upper coat, behind him. 

Jo&eph, St. Husband of the Virgin Mary, and 
the lawful father of Jesus. He is patron saint 
of carpenters, because he was of that craft. 

In art Joseph is represented as an aged man 
with a budding staff in his hand. His day is 
March 19th. 

Joseph of Arimathea. The rich Jew, probably 
a member of the Sanhedrin, who believed in 
Christ but feared to confess it, and, after the 
Crucifixion, begged the body of the Saviour 
and deposited it in his own tomb (see Matt. 
xxvii, 57-60; Mark xv, 42). Legend relates that 
he was imprisoned for 42 years, during which 
time he was kept alive miraculously by the 
Holy Grail (see Grail), and that on his 
release by Vespasian, about 63 a.d., he brought 
the Grail and the spear with which Longinus 
wounded the crucified Saviour, to Britain, and 
there founded the abbey of Glastonbury (</.v.), 
whence he commenced the conversion of 
Britain. 

The origin of these legends is to be found in 
a group of apocryphal writings of which the 
Evangeliitm Nicodemi is the chief; these were 
worked upon at Glastonbury between the 8th 
and 11th centuries, were further embellished 
by Robert de Borron in the 1 3th, the latter 
version (by way of Walter Map) being woven 
by Malory into his Morte d' Arthur, 

Josh. An American slang term meaning to 
chaff, to banter or tease. 

Joshua tree. The Yucca brevifolia , a spiky- 
leaved tree growing in the desert areas of 
the south-western regions of the U.S.A. and 
in Mexico. 

Joss. An idol or house-god of the Chinese; 
every family has its joss. A temple is called a 
joss-house, and a joss-stick is a stick of scented 
wood which is burnt as incense in a joss-house. 

Jot. A very little, the least quantity possible. 
The iota [i] (see 1) is the smallest letter of the 
Greek alphabet, called the Lacedemonian 
letter. 

Heven and ertbe shal soner passe away then one 
Iote of goddis worde shal passe unfulfilled. — G eo. 
Joy: An Apology to W. Tindale (1535). 

This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood. 

Merchant of Venice , IV, i. 

Jot or tittle. A tiny amount. The jot is i or 
iota, and the tittle, from Lat. tit ulus , is the 
mark, or dot over the i. 

Jotunheim (id' tun him). Giant land. The home 
or region of the Scandinavian giants or Jotumi. 
Jougs (joqgz). The Scottish pillory, or, more 
properly, an iron ring or collar fastened by a 
short chain to a wall, and used as a pillory. 
Jamieson says, “They punish delinquents, 
making them stand in ‘jogges,* as they call 
their pillories.” 



Jourdain 


509 


Judas 


Jourdain, Monsieur. The type of the bourgeois 
placed by wealth in the ranks of gentlemen, 
who makes himself ridiculous by his endeav- 
ours to acquire their accomplishments. He is 
chiefly remembered from the delight he felt 
when he discovered that wlerdas some men 
wrote poetry, he had been speaking prose all 
his life without knowing If. The character is 
from Molidre’s comedy Le Bourgeois GentiU 
homme (1670). , 

Journal (O.Fr., from Lat. diurnal is, diurnal; 
dies, a day). 

Applied to newspapers, the word strictly 
ngeans a daily paper; but the extension of the 
term to weekly and other periodicals is 
sanctioned by custom. 

Journey-weight. The weight of certain parcels 
of gold an&silver in the mint. A journey of gold 
is fifteen pounds troy, which was coined into 701 
sovereigns, or double that number of half- 
sovereigns. A journey of silver is sixty pounds 
troy, which, before the alteration in the silver 
coinage (1920), was coined into 3,960 shillings. 
So called because this weight of coin was at 
one time esteemed a day’s mintage (Fr. 
journee ). 

Jove Gov). Another name of Jupiter (g.v.), the 
latter being Jovis pater , father Jove. Tne titans 
made war against Jove, and tried to dethrone 
him. 

Milton, in Paradise Lost , makes Jove one of 
the fallen angels (I, 512). 

Jovial (jo 7 vi al). Merry and sociable, like those 
born under the planet ..Jupiter, which astrolo- 
gers considered the happiest of the natal stars. 

Our jovial star reigned at his birth. 

Cymbeline , V, iv. 

Joy. The seven joys of the Virgin. See Mary. 

Joy-ride. A ride in a motor-car, especially 
when it is driven fast and somewhat recklessly 
and more particularly still when it is done 
without the owner's knowledge or permission. 

Joy stick. The control column of an 
aeroplane or glider, which is linked to the 
elevators and ailerons to contrdl them. 

Joyeuse (zhwa' yerz). A name given to more 
than one sword famous in romance, but 
especially to Charlemagne’s, which bore the 
inscription Decern prceceptorum custos Carolus , 
and was buried with him. 

Joyeuse Entr£e« The name given to the 
constitution granted to Brabant by Philip II of 
Spain in 1564. It curbed the power of the 
Church and checked the encroachments of 
foreigners. It was so highly esteemed in the 
Netherlands that mothers came to the pro- 
vince to bear their children, so that they might 
enjoy its privileges as a birthright. 

Joyeuse Garde or Garde- Joyeuse. The 
estate given by King Arthur to Sir Launcelot 
of the Lake for defending the Queen’s honour 
against Sir Mador. It is supposed to have been 
at Berwick-on-Tweed, but the Arthurian 
topography is all very indefinite. * 

Juan FernAndez. See Robinson Crusoe. 

Jubilate (joo bi la 7 ti). (Latin for Cry aloud), 
is the name given to two Psalms which begin 


with this word in the Vulgate version. In the 
Eifglish psalter they are Psajms lxvi and c; 
in the Vulgate Ixv and xeix respectively. 

*$abilate Sunday is the third Sunday after 
Easter, when the introit begins with two verses 
of the former of the above psalms. 

Jubilee. In Jewish history the year of jubilee 
was every fiftieth year, which was held sacred 
in commemoration of the deliverance from 
Egypt. In this year the fields were allowed to 
lie fallow, land that had passed out of the 
ossession of those to whom it originally 
elonged was restored to them, and all who 
had been obliged to let themselves out for hire 
were released from bondage. The year of 
jubilee was proclaimed with trumpets of ram’s 
horn, and takes its name from jobil , a ram’s 
horn. (See Lev . xxv, 11-34, 39-54; and xxvii, 
16-24). 

Hence any fiftieth anniversary, especially 
one kept with great rejoicings, is called a 
Jubilee , and the name has been applied to other 
outbursts of joy or seasons of festivity, such as 
the Shakespeare Jubilee , which was held at 
Stratford-on-Avon in September, 1769, and 
the Protestant Jubilee , celebrated in Germany 
in 1617 at the centenary of the Reformation. 

King George III held a Jubilee on October 
25th, 1809, that being the day before he 
commenced the fiftieth year of his reign ; and 
Queen Victoria celebrated hers on June 21st, 
1887, two days after she had completed her 
fiftieth year on the throne. Ten years later 
Queen Victoria kept her Diamond Jubilee as a 
thanksgiving for sixty years of queenhood, and 
a reign the length of which exceeded that of 
any of her predecessors. The only other 
English monarchs to have Jubilees were Henry 
111 (who reigned for 56 years and 6 weeks), and 
Edward III (51 years and nearly 5 months). 
On May 6th, 1935, George V celebrated the 
Silver Jubilee (twenty-five years) of his acces- 
sion to the throne. 

In the Roman Catholic Church Pope Boni- 
face VIII instituted a Jubilee or Holy Year in 
1300 for the purpose of granting indulgences, 
and ordered it to be observed every hundred 
years. Clement VI reduced the interval to fifty 
years, Urban IV to thirty, Sixtus IV to the 
present interval of twenty-five. There was a 
Jubilee in 1950. It is only on the occasion of a 
Jubilee that the Porta Santa (Holy Door) in St. 
Peter’s, Rome, is opened. 

Jubilee Juggins. A nickname given to 
Ernest Benzon, a foolish and wealthy young 
man about Town who squandered a fortune 
on horse-racing about the time of Queen 
Victoria’s Jubilee (1887). 

Judas. Judas Iscariot, who betifeyed his 
Master. 

Judas kiss. A deceitful act of courtesy or 
simulated affection. Judas betrayed his Master 
with a kiss (Matt, xxvi, 49). 

So Judas kissed his Master, 

And cried, “All hail!” whenas he meant aU harm. 

Henry VI , Pt. Ill , V, vil. 

Judas slits or holes. The peep-holes in a 
prison door, through which the guard looks 
into the cell to see if all is right; when not in 
use, the holes are covered up. 


510 


Julian 


Judas 


Judas tree. A leguminous t*ee of south&rn 
Europe (Cercis* siliquastrum) which flowers 
before the leaves appear, so called because of 
a Greek tradition that it was upon one of these 
trees that Judas Iscariot hanged himself. But 
see Elder-treb, which is also sometimes called 
by the same name. 

Judas-coloured hair. Fiery red. In the 
Middle Ages Judas Iscariot was represented 
with red hair and beard, as also was Cain. 

His very hair is of the dissembling colour, something 
browner than Judas's . — As You Like It, II. iv. 

Jude, St. Represented in art with a club or 
staff, and a carpenter’s square, in allusion to 
his trade. His day is celebrated with that of St. 
Simon on October 28 th. 

Judge. Judge’s black cap. See Black Cap. 

Judges* robes. In the criminal courts, where 
the judges represent the sovereign, they appear 
in full court dress, and wear a scarlet robe; but 
in nisi prius courts the judge sits merely to 
balance the law between civilians, and there- 
fore appears in his judicial undress, or violet 
gown. 

Judge Lynch. See Lynch Law. 

Judica Sunday (joo' di k&). The fifth Sunday 
in Lent (a&o known as Passion Sunday) is 
so called from the first word of the Introit, 
Judica me , Deus, Judge me, O Lord ( Ps . xliii). 

Judicial Committee. A committee of the Privy 
Council and the final court of appeal in the 
British Commonwealth, except in Great Bri- 
tain itself. Constituted by an Act of 1833, it 
hears appeals from the courts of law throughout 
the Commonwealth; the members being the 
Lord Chancellor and persons who hold or have 
held high judicial office in Great Britain or the 
Commonwealth. They do not deliver a judg- 
ment but state that they will advise the sove- 
reign to allow or disallow an appeal.However, 
most members of the Commonwealth have 
now abolished appeal to the Privy Council. 

Judicium Crucls (jfi dis # i um kroo' sis). A form 
of ordeal which consisted in stretching out the 
arms before a cross, till one party could hold 
out no longer, and lost his cause. It is said that 
a bishop of Paris and abbot of St. Denis 
appealed to this judgment in a dispute they 
had about the patronage of a monastery; each 
of the disputants selected a representative 
and the man selected by the bishop gave in, 
so that the award was given in favour of the 
abbot. 

Jug or Stone Jug. A prison. It is curious that 
Gr. keramos , potter’s earth and anything 
made w\th it, as a jug, also meant a prison or 
dungeoti? See Joucs. 

Jug-band. A jazz band in the Deep South, 
in which one of the players blew a trombone or 
cornet into a large whiskey jug, so producing 
a deep resonant beat. 

Jugged hare. Hare stewed in a jug otj^r. 

To be jugged. To be put in prison. 

Juggernaut or Jagganath. A Hindu god, ’’Lord 
of the World,” having his temple at Puri, in 
Orissa. The legend, as told in the Ayeen - 
Akbery> is that a learned Brahman was sent 


to look out a site for a temple. The Brahman 
wandered about for many days, and then saw 
a crow dive into the water; he then washed and 
made obeisance to the element. This was 
selected as the site of the temple. While the 
temple was a-building the king, Indica 
Dhumna, was told in a dream that the true 
form of Vishnu should be ijevealed to him in the 
morning. When the king went to see the 
temple he beheld a log ot wood in the water, 
and this log he accepted as the realization 
of his dream, enshrining it in the temple. 

Jagganath is regarded as the remover of sin. 
His image is on view three days in the year: 
the first day is the Bathing Festival, when the 
god is washed; he is then supposed to have a 
cold for ten days, at the end of which he is again 
brought out and taken in his car to the nearest 
temple; a week later the car is pulled back 
amid the rejoicings of the multitude at his 
recovery. It was on the final day that fanatical 
devotees used to throw themselves to be 
crushed beneath the wheels of the enormous, 
decorated machine, in the idea that they would 
thus obtain immediate admission to Paradise. 
Hence the phrase the car of Juggernaut is used 
of customs, institutions, etc., beneath which 
people are ruthlessly and unnecessarily 
crushed. 

Juggins. See Jubilee Juggins. 

Juggler (Lat .joculator, a player). In the Middle 
Ages, jugglers accompanied the minstrels and 
troubadours, and added to their musical 
talents sleight of hand, antics, and feats of 
prowess to amuse the company assembled. In 
time the music was dropped, and tricks became 
the staple of wandering performers. 

Juke Box. An American term for a gramo- 
phone or automatic musical box that plays a 
selection of pieces when a coin is inserted. 

Julep. A long drink flavoured with mint; a 
great favourite in the Southern States of the 
U.S.A. 

Julian. Pertaining to Julius Caesar (100-44 B.c.), 
particularly with reference to the Calendar (i.e. 
the “Old Style”) instituted by him in 46 b.c. 
(the Julian Year consisting of 365J days), 
which was in general use in Western Europe 
until it was corrected by Gregory XIII in 1582, 
in England until 1752, and until 1918 in use in 
Russia. To allow for the odd quarter day Caesar 
ordained that every fourth year should contain 
366 days, the additional day being introduced 
after the 6th of the calends of March, i.e. 
February 24th. Caesar also divided the months 
into the number of days they at present con- 
tain, and July (q.v.) is named in his honour. 

Julian, St. Patron saint of travellers and of 
hospitality, looked upon in the Middle Ages 
as the epicure of saints. Thus, after telling us 
that theFrankleyn was “Epicurus owne sone.” 
Chaucer says: — 

An householdere, and that a greet was he; 

Seint Julian he was in his contree. 

Canterbury Tales: Prologue , 339. 

In art he is represented as accompanied by 
a stag in allusion to his early career as a hunter; 
and either receiving the poor and afflicted, or 
ferrying travellers across a river. 



Julium Sidus 


511 


Junket 


Julium Sidus (joe/ li um sl'dus). The comet 
which appeared at the death of Julius Caesar, 
and which in court flattery was called the 
apotheosis of the murdered man. 

Jullien’s Concerts were features of the London 
season from 1840 until the middle 50s. Louis 
Antoine Jullien (1812-60) came to London 
from Paris in 1840 afid began a series of summer 
concerts at Drury Lane, and two years later 
winter concerts at which the best artists were 
engaged to perform and sing classical music. 
He invented the promenade concert, and 
though much derided for his eccentric methods 
of conducting and his often garish ways of 
advertising, he undoubtedly raised the level of 
musical appreciation in London. 

July. The seventh month, named by Mark 
Antony, in honour of Julius Caesar, who was 
born in it. It was previously called Quintilis , 
as it was the fifth month of the Roman year; 
its Old English name was lit ha se cef terra 
(lithe, mild). 

The old Dutch name for it was Hooy-maand (hay- 
month); the old Saxon, Mctdd-monath (because the 
cattle were turned into the meadows to feed), and 
Lida aftevr (the second mild or genial month). In the 
French Republican calendar it was called Messidor 
(harvest-month, June 19th to July 18th). 

Until the late 18th century, July was 
accented on the first syllable; why the change 
took place no one seems to know. 

And even as late as 1798 Wordsworth wrote: — 
In March, December, and in July, 

'Tis all the same with Harry Gill; 

The neighbours tell, and tell you truly, 

His teeth they chatter, chatter still. 

Goody Blake and Harry Gill. 
Jumbo. The name of an exceptionally large 
African elephant which, after giving rides to 
many thousands of children in the London 
Zoo, was sold, in 1882, to Barnum’s Greatest 
Show on Earth. He weighed 6£ tons. He was 
accidentally killed by a railway engine in 1885. 
His name is still synonymous with the idea 
of an elephant in children's minds. 

Jump. To fit or unite with like a graft; as, our 
inventions meet and jump in one. Hence exactly, 
precisely. 

Good advice is easily followed when it jumps with 
our own . . . inclinations. — L ockhart: Sir Walter 
Scott , ch. x. 

In jazz when the music is of an exciting and 
lively tempo it is said to jump. 

To jump a claim. An expression from the 
miners* camps, meaning to seize somebody 
else’s “claim,” i.e. his diggings, in his absence 
and work it oneself; or, to take his mine by 
force; hence, to annex property by stealing a 
march on the owner. 

To jump at an offer. To accept eagerly. 

To jump over the broomstick. To marry in an 
informal way. A “brom” is the bit of a bridle; 
to “jump the brom” is to skip over the marriage 
restraint, and “broomstick* is a mere corrup- 
tion. 

To jump the gun. To start ahead of time, as a 
nervous competitor in a race, who starts 
before the gun is fired. 

Jumping-off place. The edge of the earth, 
from which one leaped into nothingness. 
Applied by American pioneers to any remote, 
desolate spot. 


^ounter-jumper* See Counter. 

Jumper. Originally a coarse canvas or hard- 
material sort of shirt reaching to the hips, and 
worm by sailors and other heavy labourers. 
The use of the word for the woollen garment 
worn by women is of fairly recent growth. It 
is from the obsolete jump , a short coat worn 
by men two hundred years ago, connected 
with Fr. jupe , and jupon , a petticoat. 

June. The sixth month, named from the 
Roman Junius gens. Ovid says, Junius a 
juvenum nomine diet us. ( Fasti , v, 78.) • 

The old Dutch name was Zomcr-maand (summer- 
month); the old Saxon, Sere-monath (dry-month), and 
Lida-arra (joy time). In the French Republican 
calendar the month was called Prairial (meadow- 
month, May 20th to June 18th). 

June marriages lucky. “Good to, the man 
and happy to the maid.” This is an old Roman 
superstition. The festival of Juno moneta was 
held on the calends of June, and Juno was 
the great guardian of women from birth to 
death. 

Junius (joo' ni us). The Letters of Junius are a 
series of anonymous letters, the authorship of 
which has never been finally settled, which 
appeared in the London Public Advertiser from 
November 21st, 1768, to January 21st, 1772, 
and were directed against Sir William Draper, 
the Duke of Grafton, and the Ministers 
generally. The author himself said, “I am the 
sole depositary of my secret, and it shall die 
with me**; they were probably by Sir Philip 
Francis (1740-1818). Mr. Pitt told Lord 
Aberdeen that he knew who wrote them, and 
that it was not Francis; and Edmund Burke, 
his brother William, Earl Temple, Charles 
Lloyd, and John Roberts (clerks at the Treas- 
ury), John Wilkes, Dr. Butler, Bishop of 
Hereford, Lord George Sackville, and even 
Gibbon are among those to whom they have 
been credited. The following extract from 
Letter Ixvii, addressed to the Duke of Grafton, 
may be taken as a specimen of the literary and 
vitrolic excellence of the Letters of Junius: 

The unhappy baronet [Sir Jas. Lowther) has no 
friends even among those who resemble him. You, 
my Lord, are not yet reduced to so deplorable a state 
of dereliction. Every villain in the kingdom is your 
friend : and, in compliment to such amity, I think you 
should suffer your dismal countenance to cle^r up. 
Besides, my Lord, I am a little anxious for the con- 
sistency of your character, You violate your own 
rules of decorum, when you do not insult the man 
whom you have betrayed. 

Junk. Salt meat supplied to vessels for long 
voyages ( cp . Harness Cask), so called because 
it is hard and tough as old rope-ends, which 
may have got the name junk from the rush-like 
shore plant, Juncus maritimus. Jun|e is often 
called “salt hofse.” The word is more usually 
applied to cast-off broken things, valueless 
odds and ends of lumber. 

Junk shop. A shop where such stuff is sold. 
Junk<# (yung' ker). A landowner of East 
Prussia. The junker families provided the 
greatest proportion of regular army officers, 
and hence the name has become identified with 
the worst elements of German militarism. 
Junket (jung / ket). Curdled cream with spice, 
etc.; any dainty. So called because it was 


Junketing 


512 


K 


is 

originally made in a rush basket (Ital. giuncata; 
from Lat .jurtcus, a rush). 

You know there wants no junkets at the feast. 

Taming of the Shrew, II, ii. 

Junketing. Feasting, merrymaking. 

But great is song 
Used to great ends ... for song 
Is duer unto freedom, force and growth 
Of spirit than to junketing and love. 

Tennyson: Princess , Pt. IV. 

Juno (joo' nd). In Roman mythology the 
“venerable ox-eyed” wife of Jupiter, and queen 
of heaven. She is identified with the Greek 
Hera, was the special protectress of marriage 
and of woman, and was represented as a war 
goddess. 

Junonian Bird. The peacock, dedicated to the 
goddess-queen. 

Junta (jOn' t&). In Spain a council or legis- 
lative assembly other than the Cortes ( q.v .), 
which may be summoned either for the whole 
country, for one of its separate parts, or for 
some special object only. The most famous was 
that called together by Napoleon in 1808. 

I had also audience of the King, to whom I deliver’d 
two Memorials since, in His Majesty’s name of Great 
Britain, that a particular Junta of some of the Council 
of State and War might be appointed to determine 
the business. — HoweWs Letters , Bk. I, sect, iii, 10 
{Madrid, Jan. 5th, 1622). 

Junto. In English history, the name given to a 
faction that included Wharton, Russell, Lord- 
Keeper Somers, Charles Montague, and 
several other men of mark, who ruled the 
Whigs in the reign of William III and exercised 
a very great influence over the nation. The 
word is a corruption of junta (q.v.), and is 
used to describe a clique or faction. 

Jupiter (joo ' pi ter). The supreme deity of 
Roman mythology, corresponding to the 
Greek Zeus (see Jove), son of Cronos, or 
Saturn (whom he dethroned) and Rhea. He 
was the special protector of Rome, and as 
Jupiter Capitolinus — his temple being on the 
Capitoline Hill — presided over the Roman 
games. He determined the course of all human 
affairs and made known the future to man 
through signs in the heavens, the flight of 
birds (see Augury), etc. 

As Jupiter was lord of heaven and prince of 
light, white was the colour sacred to him; 
hence among the mediaeval alchemists Jupiter 
designated tin. In heraldry Jupiter stands for 
azure , the blue of the heavens. 

His statue by Phidias (taken to Constanti- 
nople by Theodosius I and there destroyed by 
fire in a.d. 475) was one of the Seven Wonders 
of the World. 

<K, 

Jupiter Scapin. A nickname of Napoleon 
Bonaparte, given him by the Abbe de Pradt. 
Scapin is a valet famous for his knavish 
tricks, in Molifcre’s comedy of Les Fourberies 
de Scapin . 

Jupiter tonans (the thundering Jupiter). 
A complimentary nickname given to the 
London Times about the middle of the 19th 
century. 

Jupiter’s beard. House leek. Supposed to be 
a charm against evil spirits ana lightning. 


Hence grown at one time very generally on 
the thatch of houses. 

Jurassic Rocks (joo ras' ik). The group of lime- 
stone rocks embracing the strata between the 
top of the Rhaetic Beds and the base of the 
Purbeckian Rocks, thus including the Lias 
and Oolites. So named from the Swiss Jura , 
where they are typically developed. 

Jury mast. A temporary mast, a spar used 
for the nonce when the mast has been carried 
away. The origin of the term is unknown; it 
has been in use for certainly over three hundred 
years. 

“Jury” has been humorously tacked on to 
other nouns, giving to the word a makeshift 
or temporary significance, e.g. Jury-leg, a 
wooden leg. 

Jus. Latin for law. 

Jus civile (Lat.). Civil law. 

Jus divinum (Lat.). Divine law. 

Jus gentium (Lat.). International law. 

Jus mariti (Lat.). The right of the husband 
to the wife’s property. 

Just, The. Among rulers and others who have 
been given this surname are: — 

Aristides, the Athenian (d. 468 b.c.). 
Baharam, styled Shah Endeb , fifth of the 
Sassanidce (276-96). 

Casimir 11, King of Poland (1117, 1177-94). 
Ferdinand 1, King of Aragon (1373, 1412- 
lb). 

Haroun al-Raschid. The most renowned of 
the Abbassid califs, and the hero of several 
of the Arabian Nights stories (765, 786-808). 
James II, King of Aragon (1261-1327). 
Khosru or Chosroes I of Persia (531-79), 
called by the Arabs Malk al Adel (the Just 
King). 

Pedro I of Portugal (1320, 1357-67). 

Juste milieu (zhust me lye) (Fr.). The golden 
mean. 

Justice. See Jedwood Justice. 

Justices in Eyre. See Eyre. 

Poetic justice. That ideal justice which poets 
exercise in making the good happy, and the bad 
unsuccessful in their evil schemes. 

Juvenal (joo' ve nal) (Lat., from juvenis). A 
youth; common in Shakespeare, thus: — 

The juvenal, the prince your master, whose chin is 
not yet fledged . — Henry IV, Pt. II, I, ii. 

Juveniles. In theatrical parlance, those actors 
who play young men’s parts; in the journalistic 
and book-trade, periodicals or books intended 
for the young. 


K 

K. The eleventh letter of the alphabet, repre- 
senting the Greek kappa 7 and Hebrew kaph. 
The Egyptian hieroglyphic for k was a bowl. 
The Romans, after the C was given the K 
sound, gave up the use of the letter, except in 
abbreviated forms of a few words from Greek; 
thus, false accusers were branded on the fore- 
head with a K ( kalumnia ), and the Carians, 



Ka me 


513 


Kami 


Cretans, and Cilicians were known as the three 
bad K*s . 

K is the recognized abbreviation of Knight 
in a large number of British Orders (but the 
abbreviation of “Knight” per se is Kt.). 

In order of precedence these are: 

K.G. Knight of the Garter. 

K.T.y K.P. Knight of the Thistle. Knight of St. Patrick. 
K.C.B. Knight Commander of the Bath. 


K.C.S.I. 

k.c.m.g. ;, ;; 

K.C.T.E. „ 

K.C.V.O. „ 

K.B.E. „ 

Kt. Knight Bachelor. 


Star of India. 

St. Michael & St. 

George. 

Indian Empire. 
Victorian Order. 
British Empire. 


Ka me, ka thee. You scratch my back and 
I’ll scratch yours; one good turn deserves 
another; do me a service, and I will give you a 
helping hand when you require one. It is an 
old proverb, and appears in Heywood’s 
collection (1546). 


Kaaba (ka' M) (Arab. kabah y a cube). A shrine 
of Mecca, said to have been built by Ishmael 
and Abraham on the spot where Adam first 
worshipped after his expulsion from Paradise. 
The building which stands in the centre of the 
court is about 50 ft. high; its peculiar sanctity 
is due to the Black Stone (q.v.) y which is built 
into the E. corner. The present Kaaba was 
built in 1626; it is covered with a cloth of 
black brocade that is replaced with consider- 
able ceremony every year. 

Kabbalah. See Cabbala. 


Kaf, Mount. The huge mountain in the middle 
of which, according to Mohammedan myth, 
the earth is sunk, as a night light is placed in a 
cup. Its foundation is the emerald Sakhrat , the 
reflection of which gives the hue to the sky. 

Kaffir (k&r ir) (Arab. Kafir , an infidel). A 
name formerly given to Hottentots who re- 
jected the Moslem faith, also to the natives of 
Kafiristan (“the country of the infidels”), in 
northern Afghanistan; but now restricted to 
the Bantu races of South Africa, especially the 
Xosa tribe. 


Kaffirs, Kaffir market. The Stock Exchange 
names for shares in South African mines, and 
for the market in which they are dealt. 

Kailyard School. A school of writers, who took 
their subjects from Scottish humble life; it 
flourished in the ’nineties of last century, and 
included lan Maclaren, J. J. Bell, S. R. 
Crockett, and J. M. Barrie. The name is due 
to the motto — “There grows a bonnie brier 
bush in our kailyard” — used by Ian Maclaren 
for his Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush (1894). 

Kaintuck. Louisiana French corruption of 
Kentucky. It was a term of opprobrium 
applied in the late 18th and early 19th cen- 
turies to Kentuckians in particular and to 
inhabitants of the American States in general; 
New Orleans dreaded the incursions of bar- 
barous traders and riverboat crews who 
swarmed into the city to drink and fight and 

f enerally disrupt the life of peaceful citizens. 

oday the phrase has lost its bite and can be 
used as a term of affection. 


Kaiser (ki'zer). The German form of Caesar; 
the title formerly used by the head of the Holy 
Roman Empire, and by the Emperors of 
Germany and Austria. It was Diocletian who 
(c. 284) ordained that Caesar should be the 
title of the Emperor of the West, and it is 
thence that the modern Kaiser takes its rise. 

Kalevala (k4 le va' 14). The national epic of the 
Finns, compiled from popular songs and oral 
tradition by the Swedish philologist, Elias 
Lonnrott (1802-1884), who published his first 
edition of 12,000 verses in 1835, and a second, 
containing some 22,900 verses, in 1849. 

The hero is a great magician, Wainarnoinen, 
and a large part of the action turns on Sampo, 
an object that gives one all one’s wishes. 

The epic is influenced by, but by no means 
dependent upon, Teutonic and Scandinavian 
mythology, and, to a lesser extent, by Chris- 
tianity. It is written in unrhymed alliterative 
trochaic verse, and is the prototype, both in 
form and content, of Longfellow*s Hiawatha. 

Kali (ka 7 le). The Hindu goddess after whom 
Calcutta receives its name, Kali-ghat, the steps 
of Kali, i.e. those by which her worshippers 
descended from the bank to the waters of the 
Ganges. She was the wife of Siva (q.v.), was the 
acme of bloodthirstiness, many human 
sacrifices being made to her, and it was to her 
that the Thugs sacrificed their victims. Her 
idol is black, besmeared with blood; she has 
red eyes, four arms with blood-stained hands, 
matted hair, huge fang-like teeth, and a 
protruding tongue that drips with blood. She 
wears a necklace of skulls, ear-rings of corpses, 
and is girdled with serpents. 

Kalki. See Avatar. 

Kalmar. The Union of Kalmar. A treaty made 
on July 12th, 1397, uniting the kingdoms of 
Norway, Sweden and Denmark. This union 
lasted till it was dissolved by Gustavus Vasa in 
1523. 

Kalmucks — i.e. Khalmuiku (apostates) from 
Buddhism. A race of nomadic Mongols, 
extending from western China to the valley of 
the Volga, and adhering to a debased form of 
Buddhism. 

Kalyb (ka' lib). The “Lady of the Woods,” 
who stole St. George from his nurse, brought 
him up as her own child, and endowed him 
with gifts. St. George enclosed her in a rock, 
where she was torn to pieces by spirits. ( Seven 
Champions of Christendom , Pt. I.) 

Kam. Crooked; a Celtic word. Clean kam, 
perverted into kim kam, means wholly awry, 
clean from the purpose. 

This is clean kam — merely awry. 

Coriolanus , III, i. 

Kamerad (ka' mS rad) (Ger. comrade, mate). 
A word used by the Germans in World War I 
as an appeal for quarter. It is now used in 
English with the meaning “I surrender.” 

Kami (ka' me). A god or divinity in Shinto , the 
native religion of Japan; also the title given 
to daimios and governors, about equal to our 
“lord.” 


Kamikaze 


514 


Keep 


Kamikaze (kami kazi) (World War II). Jap- 
anese word meaning “divine wind” and applied 
to suicide squadrons and suicide resistance. 

Katnsin (k&m'sin). A simoom or hot, dry, 
southerly wind, which prevails in Egypt and 
the deserts of Africa from about the middle of 
March to the first week in May. 

Kansa. See Krishna. 

Karma (kar' mb) (Sans, action, fate). In 
Buddhist philosophy, the name given to the 
results of action, especially the cumulative 
results of a person’s deeds in one stage of his 
existence as controlling his destiny in the next. 

Among Theosophists the word has a rather 
wider meaning, viz. the unbroken sequence of 
cause and effect; each effect being, in its turn, 
the cause of a subsequent efTect. It is a San- 
skrit word, meaning “action” or “sequence.” 

Karmathians (kar ma 'thi knz). A Moham- 
medan sect which rose in Iraq in the 9th cen- 
tury. Its founder was Karmat, a labourer who 
professed to be a prophet; they were com- 
munistic pantheists and rejected tne forms and 
ceremonies of the Koran, which they regarded 
as a purely allegorical work. 

Karttikeya (kar ti ke' ya). The Hindu Mars, 
and god of war. He is shown riding on a pea- 
cock, with a bow in one hand and an arrow 
in the other, and is known also as Skanda and 
Kumar a. 

Kaswa, A1 (k&s' w&). Mohammed’s favourite 
camel, which fell on its knees in adoration 
when the prophet delivered the last clause of 
the Koran to the assembled multitude at 
Mecca. 

Katerfelto (kit er fel' to). A generic name for a 
quack or charlatan. Gustavus Katerfelto was 
a celebrated quack who became famous during 
the influenza epidemic of 1782, when he 
exhibited in London his solar microscope and 
created immense excitement by showing the 
infusoria of muddy water. The doctor used to 
aver that he was the greatest philosopher since 
the time of Sir Isaac Newton. He was a tall 
man, dressed in a long, black gown and square 
cap, and died in 1799. 

Katerfelto with his hair on end, 

At his own wonders wondering for his bread. 
Cowper: The Task; The Winter Evening {m2), 

Kathay. China. See Cathay. 

Kay, Sir. In Arthurian romance, son of Sir 
Ector and foster-brother of King Arthur, who 
made him his seneschal. 

Keblah (keb 7 la). The point towards which 
Mohammedans turn when they worship, i.e. 
the Kaaba (q.v.) at Mecca; also the niche or 
slab (called the mihrab ) on the interior wall of 
a mosque indicating this direction. 

Kedar’s Tents (ke 7 d&). This world. Kedar was 
a son of Ishmael (Gen. xxv, 15), and was the 
ancestor of an important tribe of nomadic 
Arabs. The phrase means houses in the wilder- 
ness of this world, and comes from Ps. cxx, 5: 
“Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I 
dwell in the tents of Kedar.” 


Kedgeree (kej' er 6) (Hindi khichrl). In India 
a stew oft rice, vegetables, eggs, butter, etc.; 
but in England a dish of re-cooked fish with 
boiled rice, eggs, sauce, etc., is so called. 

Keel. Keel-hauling or -haling. Metaphorically, 
a long, troublesome,* and vexatious examina- 
tion or repetition of annoyances from one in 
authority. The term comes from a practice that 
was formerly common in the Dutch and many 
other navies of tying delinquents to a yardarm 
with weights on their feet, and dragging them 
by a rope under the keel of a ship, in at one 
side and out at the other. The result was often 
fatal. 

Keelson or Kelson. A beam running length- 
wise above the keel of a ship, and bolted to the 
middle of the floor-frames, in order to stiffen 
the vessel. 

Keening. A weird lamentation for the dead, 
common iri Galway. The coflin is carried to 
the burying place, and while it is carried three 
times round, the mourners go to the graves 
of their nearest kinsfolk and “keen.” The word 
is Ir. caeoine , from caoinim , to weep. 

Keep. One’s keep is the amount that it takes 
to maintain one; heard in such phrases as 
You’re not worth your keep. The keep of a 
mediaeval castle was the main tower or strong- 
hold, the donjon. 

Keep your breath to cool your porridge. Look 
after your own affairs, and do not put your 
spoke in another person’s wheel. 

Keep your hair on! See Hair. 

Keep your powder dry. Keep prepared for 
action; keep your courage up. The phrase 
comes from a story told of Oliver Cromwell. 
During his campaign in Ireland he concluded 
an address to his troops, who were about to 
cross a river before attacking, with the words — 
“Put your trust in God; but be sure to keep 
your powder dry.” 

To keep a stiff* upper lip. To preserve a 
resolute appearance; not to give way to grief. 

To keep at arm’s length. To prevent another 
from being too familiar. 

To keep body and soul together. See Body. 

To keep company with. A phrase formerly 
commonly used to describe a friendship 
preliminary to courtship. 

To keep down. To prevent another from 
rising to an independent position; to keep in 
subjection; also to keep expenses low. 

To keep good hours. See Hour. 

To keep house, open house, etc. See House. 

To keep in. To repress, to restrain; also, to 
confine boys in the classroom after school 
hours as a punishment. 

To keep in with. To continue to maintain 
friendly relations with. 

To keep it dark. See Dark. 

To keep one’s countenance. See Counten- 
ance. 

To keep one’s terms. To reside in college, 
attend the Inns of Court, etc., during the 
recognized term times. 



Keep 


5l5 


Kent’* Cavern 


To keep the pot a-boiling. See Pot., 

To keep tab, to keep tabs on. To keep a record 
or note of. 

To keep up. To continue, as, “to keep up a 
discussion”; to maintain, as, “to keep up one’s 
courage,” “to keep up ^appearances”; to 
continue pari passu , as “keep up with the 
rest.” 

Keeping up with the Joneses. Trying to keep 
up to the social level of your neighbours. The 
phrase was invented by Arthur R. (“Pop”) 
Momand, the comic-strip artist, for a series 
which began in the New York Globe in 1913, 
and ran in that and other papers for twenty- 
eight years. It was originally based on the 
artist’s own attempts to keep up with his 
neighbours. 

Keeping-room. In 18th-centurjf American 
parlance, the second-best room in the house. 

Kells, The Book of. Kells is an ancient Irish 
town in county Meath, once the residence of 
the kings of Ireland and the see of a bishop 
until 1300. Among its antiquities, but now 
reserved in Trinity- College, Dublin, is the 
nest extant early Irish illuminated MS. of the 
Gospels, dating from the 8th century. 

Kelly. As game as Ned Kelly. An Australian 
hrase referring to a noted desperado, who 
ecame something of a folk-hero. Ned Kelly 
(1854-80), after enormous depredations, was 
captured in a suit of armour made by himself, 
and hanged at Melbourne. 

Kelmscott Press was a private printing press 
founded in 1890 by William Morris in a 
cottage adjoining his residence, Kelmscott 
House, Hammersmith, with the assistance of 
Emery Walker and Sidney Cockerell. The 
object was to return to the finest principles of 
printing in the 15th century. 

Kelpie or Kelpy. A spirit of the waters in the 
form of a horse, in Scottish fairy-lore. It was 
supposed to take a delight in the drowning of 
travellers, but also occasionally helped millers 
by keeping the mill-wheel going at night. 

Every lake has its Kelpie or Water-horse, often seen 
by the shepherd sitting upon the brow of a rock, 
dashing along the surface of the deep, or browsing 
upon the pasture on its vergo. — Graham; Sketches of 
Perthshire. 

Kendal Green. Green cloth for foresters; so 
called from Kendal, Westmorland, famous at 
one time for this manufacture. Kendal green 
was the livery of Robin Hood and his followers. 
In Rymer’s Faedera (II, lxxxiii) is a letter of pro- 
tection, dated 1331, and granted by Edward III 
to John Kempe of Flanders, who established 
cloth-weaving in the borough. Lincoln was 
also famous at one time for dyeing green. 
Keneim, St. An English saint, son of Kenwulf, 
King of Mercia in the early 9th century. He 
was only seven years old when, by his sister’s 
order, he was murdered at Clent, Worcester- 
shire. The murder, says Roger of Wendover, 
was miraculusly notified at Rome by a white 
dove, which alighted on the altar of St. Peter’s, 
bearing in its beak a scroll with these 
words; — 

In Clent cow pasture, under a thorn. 

Of head bereft, lies Keneim king-born. 

17 * 


St. Kenelm’s feast day is July 17th. 

Kenne. A stone that by mediaeval naturalists 
was fabled to be formed in the eye of the stag. 
It was used as an antidote to poison. Cp . 
Hyena. 

Kennel. A dog’s shelter; from Lat. cants (a tlog), 
ltal. canile ; but kennel , a gutter, is, like channel 
and canal , from Lat. canalis t a pipe (our cane) 
through which water was conveyed. 

Kenno (ken' 6). The dialect name of a large 
rich cheese, made by the women of the family, 
with a great affectation of secrecy, for the 
refreshment of the gossips who were in the 
house at the birth of a child. After all had eaten 
their fill what was left was divided among the 
gossips and taken home. The Kenno is 
supposed to be a relic of the secret rites of the 
Bona Dea. 

Kent (Lat. Cant turn). The origin of the name 
cannot be explained, but may derive from 
Celtic canto (rim, border), a word probably 
identical with Welsh caint (plain, open country). 
In the reign of Queen Elizabeth I Kent was 
so notorious for highway robbery that the 
word signified a “nest of thieves.” 

Some bookes are arrogant and impudent; 

So are most thieves in Christendome and Kent. 

Taylor, the Water Poet (1630). 

“Kent” and “Christendom” have been 
verbally associated from very early times, 
partly, no doubt, because of the alliteration, 
partly, perhaps, because it was to Kent that St. 
Augustine brought Christianity, 

A man of Kent. One born east of the Med- 
way. These men went out with green boughs to 
meet the Conqueror, and obtained in conse- 
quence a confirmation of their ancient privi- 
leges from the new king. They call themselves 
the invicti. 

A Kentish man. A resident of West Kent. 

The Fair Maid of Kent. See Fair. 

The Holy Maid of Kent. See Holy. 

Kent cap. A standard size of brown paper 
measuring 22 by 18 in. 

Kentish Fire. Rapturous applause, or three 
times three and one more. The expression 
originated with the protracted cheers given in 
Kent to the No-Popery orators in 1828-29. 
Lord Winch ilsea, who proposed the health of 
the Earl of Roden on August 15th, 1834. said: 
“Let it be given with the ‘Kentish Fire.* * 

Kentish Knock, Battle of the. A naval battle 
fought off the North Foreland in 1652, when 
the English under Robert Blake defeated the 
Dutch under De Witt and De Ruyter. 

Kentish Rag. The name for the building 
stone (calcareous sandstone) found on the 
Kent coast. 

Kentishmen’s Tails. See Tailed men. 

Kent’s Cavern, a mile or so out of Torquay, 
is a limestone cave in which a great number of 
bones and flint implements nave been dis* 
covered. There appear to have been two 
different periods of occupation in prehistoric 
times, and the objects found in the cave throw 
important light on the civilization of those ages. 


Kentigern 


516 


Key 


Kentigern, St. (kent' i jern). The patron saint 
of Glasgow, born of royal parents about 510. 
He is said to have founded the cathedral at 
Glasgow, where he died in 601. He is repre- 
sented with his episcopal cross in one hand, 
and in the other a salmon and a ring, in 
allusion to the well-known legend : — 

Queen Langoureth had been false to her husband, 
King Roderich, and had given her lover a ring. The 
king, aware of the fact, stole upon the knight in sleep, 
abstracted the ring, threw it into the Clyde, and then 
asked the queen for it. The queen, in alarm, applied to 
St. Kentigern, who after praying, went to the Clyde, 
caught a salmon with the ring in its mouth, handed it 
to the queen and was thus the means of restoring 
peace to the royal couple. 

The Glasgow arms includfe the salmon with 
the ring in its mouth, and also an oak tree, a 
bell hanging on one of the branches, a bird at 
the top of tne tree: — 

The tree that never gr.iw. 

The bird that never flew. 

The fish that never swam. 

The bell that never rang. 

The oak and bell are in allusion to the story 
that St. Kentigern hung a bell upon an oak 
to summon the wild natives to worship. 

St. Kentigern is also known as “St. Mungo,” 
for Mungho (i.e. dearest) was the name by 
which St. Servan, his first preceptor, called him. 
His day is January 13th. 

Kentucky Derby. One of the classic races in 
U.S.A., run since 1875 at Churchill Downs, 
Louisville, Ky. It is a mile and a half, for 
three-year-olds. 

Kentucky Pill. A bullet. 

Kepler’s Laws. Astronomical laws first 
enunciated by Johann Kepler (1571-1630). 
They formed the basis of Newton’s work, and 
are the starting-point of modern astronomy. 
They are: — 

(1) That the orbit of a planet is an ellipse, 
the sun being in one of the foci. 

(2) That every planet so moves that the line 
drawn from it to the sun describes equal areas 
in equal times. 

(3) That the squares of the times of the 
planetary revolutions are as the cubes of their 
mean distances from the sun. 

Kermess (ker mesO. Several of the Dutch and 
Flemish painters depicted scenes of a kermess. 
This was an annual fair or festival popular 
in most towns of the Low Countries and the 
occasion for open-air sports and games often 
of a somewhat riotous nature. The kermess 
(kirk mass, church mass) was usually held on 
the anniversary of the dedication of the parish 
church. 

Kernel. The kernel of the matter. Its gist, true 
import; the core or central part of it. The word 
is the O.E. cyrnel, diminutive of corn . 

Kersey. A coarse cloth, usually ribbed, and 
woven from long wool; said to be so named 
from Kersey, in Suffolk, where it was originally 
made. Shakespeare uses the word figuratively 
(“russet yeas and honest kersey noes,” Love's 
Labour's Lost , V, ii), with the meaning plain 
or homely. 

Kerseymere. A twilled fine woollen cloth of a 
particular make, formerly called cassimere , a 
variation of cashmere . its present name being 


due to confusion with kersey ( see above). 
Cashmere , a fine woollen material, is so called 
because it is made from hair of the goats of 
Kashmir . 

Kerton. See Exter. 

Kestrel. A hawk t>f a base breed, hence a 
worthless fellow. 

No thought of honour ever did assay 
His baser brest; but in his kestrell kynd 
A pleasant veine of glory he did find . . . 

Spenser: Faerie Queene , II, iii, 4. 

Ketch. See Jack Ketch, under Jack. 

Ketchup. A sauce made from mushrooms, 
tomatoes, etc., which originally, with its name, 
came from the Far East. 

Soy comes in Tubbs from Jappan, and the best 
ketchup from Tonquin; yet good of both sorts are 
made and sold very cheap in China. — Lockyer: 
Trade with India (1711). 

The word is from Chinese, through Malay, 
kechap. 

Kettle. Old thieves’ slang for a watch; a tin 
kettle is a silver watch and a red kettle a gold 
one. 

A kettle of fish. An old Border name for a 
kind of fete champ# tre , or picnic by the river- 
side in which newly caught salmon is the chief 
dish. Having thickened some water with salt to 
the consistency of brine, the salmon is put 
therein and boiled; and when fit for eating, the 
company partake in gipsy fashion. The dis- 
comfort of this sort of picnic probably gave 
rise to the phrase “A pretty kettle of fish,” 
meaning an awkward state of affairs, a mess, a 
muddle. 

Kettledrum. A drum made of a thin hemi- 
spherical shell of brass or copper with a 
parchment top. 

Also, an obsolete name for an afternoon tea- 
party, so called because it was on a somewhat 
smaller scale than the regular “drum” O7.V.), 
and also in playful allusion to the presence of 
the tea kettle. 

Kevin, St. (kev' in). An Irish saint of the 6th 
century, of whom legend relates that, like St. 
Senanus, he retired to an island where he 
vowed no woman should ever land. A girl 
named Kathleen followed him, but the saint 
hurled her from a rock, and her ghost never 
left the place while he lived. A rock at Glenda- 
lough (Wicklow) is shown as the bed of St. 
Kevin. Moore has a poem on this tradition 
( Irish Melodies , iv). 

Kex. The dry, hollow stem of umbelliferous 
plants, like the hemlock. Tennyson says in The 
Princess , “Though the rough kex break the 
starred mosaic.” Nothing breaks a pavement 
like the growth of grass or lichen through it. 

Key. Metaphorically, that which explains or 
solves some difficulty, problem, etc., as the 
key to a cipher , the means of interpreting it, 
the key to a “ roman d clef ” the list showing 
whom the fictional characters represent in 
actual life. Also, a place which commands a 
large area of land or sea, as Gibraltar is the 
key to the Mediterranean, and, in the Penin- 
sular War, Ciudad Rodrigo (taken by Welling- 
ton, 1812) was known as the key to Spain. 



Key 


517 


Khedive 


In music the lowest note of a scale is the 
keynote, and gives its name to the scale, or key, 
itself : hence the figurative phrases in key, out 
of key , in or out of harmony with. 

St. Peter’s keys. The cross-keys on the papal 
arms symbolizing: 

The power of the keys. The supreme ecclesi- 
astical authority claimed by the pope as 
successor of St. Peter. The phrase is derived 
from St. Matt, xvi, 19: — 

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of 
heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall 
be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt 
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 

The Cross Keys as a public-house sign has an 
ecclesiastical origin (see St. Peter’s Keys, 
above). St. Peter is always represented in art 
with two keys in his hand; they are conse- 
quently the insignia of the papacy, and are 
borne saltire-wise, one of gold and the other of 
silver. They also form the arms of the Arch- 
bishop of York; the Bishop of Winchester bears 
two keys and sword in saltire, and the bishops 
of St. Asaph, Gloucester, Exeter, and Peter- 
borough bear two keys in saltire. The cross-keys 
are also the emblem of St. Servatius, St. Hip- 
polytus, St. Genevieve, St. Petronilla, St. 
Osyth, St. Martha, and St. Germanus of Paris. 

The Gold Key. The office of Groom of the 
Stole (see Stole), the holder of which had a 
golden key as his emblem. 

The queen’s keys. An old legal phrase for the 
crowbars, hammers, etc., used to force an 
entrance so that a warrant could be executed. 

At the ceremony of locking up the Tower of 
London at night, the keys are brought to the 
main guard house, where the sentry demands, 
“Who goes there?” “Keys,” is the answer. 
“Whose keys?” “Queen Elizabeth’s keys.” 
“Advance Queen Elizabeth’s keys, and all’s 
well.” 

To have the key of the street. 'To be locked 
out of doors; to be turned out of one’s home. 

Keys of stables and cowhouses are not 
infrequently, even at the present day, attached 
to a stone with a hole through it with a piece of 
horn attached to the handle. This is a relic of an 
ancient superstition. The halig, or holy stone, 
was looked upon as a talisman which kept 
off the fiendish Mara (nightmare) ; and the horn 
was supposed to ensure the protection of the 
god Pan. 

Key and Bible. Formerly employed as a 
method of divination. The Bible is opened 
either at Ruth, ch. i, or at Psalm li, and a door- 
key is placed inside the Bible, so that the 
handle projects beyond the book. The Bible is 
then tied with a piece of string and held by the 
fourth fingers of the accuser and defendant, 
who must repeat the words touched by the 
wards of the key. The key was then supposed 
to turn towards the guilty person, and the 
Bible fall to the ground. 

The key shall be upon his shoulder. He shall 
have the dominion, shall be in authority, have 
the keeping of something. It is said of Eliakim 
that God would lay upon his shoulder .the key 
of the house of David (Is. xxii, 22). The 


chamberlain of the court used to bear a key 
as his insignia, and on public occasions the 
steward slung his key over his shoulder, as our 
mace-bearers carry their mace. 

Key-cold. Deadly cold, lifeless. A key. on 
account of its coldness, is still sometimes 
employed to stop bleeding at the nose. 

Poor key-cold figure of a holy king! 

Pale ashes of the house of Lancaster! 

Thou bloodless remnant of that royal blood 
Richard III , I, ii. 

Keys, The House of. The representative 
branch of the Legislature, or Tynwald, of the 
Isle of Man, which consists of two branches, 
viz. the Governor and Council, and this House. 
Since 1866 the twenty-four members of the 
House of Keys have been popularly elected 
every seven years; previous to that date the 
House was self-elected, vacancies being filled 
by the House presenting to the governor 
“two of the eldest and worthiest men of the 
isle,” one of which the governor nominated. 

The governor and his council consists of the 
governor, the bishop, the attorney-general, 
two deemsters (or judges), members appointed 
by the governor and four members appointed 
by the House of Keys. 

The Keystone State. Pennsylvania; so called 
from its position and importance. 

Keystone Comedies. Early film comedies at 
Hollywood made between 1916 and about 1926 
by the Keystone Company, featuring Mack 
Sennett. 

Keyne, St. (kan). A Celtic saint, daughter of 
Brychan, King of Brecknock in the 5th 
century. Concerning her well, near Liskeard, 
Cornwall, it is said that if a bridegroom drinks 
therefrom before his bride, he will be master of 
his house; but if the bride gets the first draught, 
the grey mare will be the better horse. 

Khaki (ka' ki). A Hindu word, meaning dusty , 
or dust-colour edy from khak , dust. Khaki was 
first used by British troops at the time of the 
Indian Mutiny, when it was adopted as the 
uniform for an irregular corps of Guides, 
raised at Meerut, hence called the Khaki 
Risala (Risala = squadron). In 1882 the War 
Office discussed the question of adopting it as 
the general active service uniform, but. though 
certain regiments wore it then, and in the 
Omdurman campaign in Egypt sixteen years 
later, on the North-West Frontier, etc., it was 
not generally introduced until the Boer War 
of 1899-1902. 

Khalifa (ka le' fa). An Arabic word meaning 
“successor” and the title adopted by Abdullah 
el Tashi, the successor in 1885 of the Mahdi 
(#.v.). Much was heard of the Khalifa in late 
Victorian days, for it was against him that the 
British expedition went under Lord Kitchener 
in 1898, when his power was broken at the 
battle of Omdurman. 

Khamsin. See Kamsin. 

Khedive (kedevO. The title by which, from 
1867 to 1914, the ruler of Egypt, as viceroy of 
the Sultan of Turkey, was known. The word 
is Turkish (from Persian) and means a prince, 
or viceroy. 



Kibitzer 


518 


Kfll 


In 1914 Egypt wa9 a semi-independent 
tributary state of Turkey, occupied by British 
troops. The then Khedive, Abbas II, joined 
the Central Powers, and was deposed, a 
British Protectorate being declared. The title 
then disappeared, and the new ruler, Hussein 
Kamil, became King of Egypt. 

Kibitzer (kib' it z6r). An American colloquial 
term to describe, originally, a spectator at a 
card game who looks over the players' shoul- 
ders and as often as not gives unwanted advice. 
The word is of Yiddish-German derivation. 
Kiblab. See Kbblah. 

Kibosh (kr bosh). To put the kibosh on. To put 
an end to; dispose of. Mr. Charles Funk 
received the following explanation of its origin 
from Mr. P^drpic Colum: “ ‘Kibosh,’ I be- 
lieve, means *th£ cap of death* and it is always 
used in that sense — ‘He put the kibosh on it.’ 
In Irish it could be written ‘cie bais' — the last 
word pronounced ‘bosh,’ the genitive of ‘bas,’ 
death. 

Kick. Slang for a sixpence, but only in com- 
pounds. “Two-and-a-kick” is two shillings and 
sixpence. 

He’s not got a kick left in him. He’s done for, 
“down and out.’’ The phrase is from pugilism. 

More kicks than ha'pence. More abuse than 
profit. Called “monkey’s allowance’’ in 
allusion to monkeys led about to collect 
ha’pence by exhibiting “their parts.” The poor 
brutes get the kicks if they do their parts in an 
unsatisfactory manner, but the master gets the 
ha’pence collected. 

Quite the kick. Quite a dandy. The Italians 
call a dandy a chic. The French chic means 
knack, as avoir le chic , to have the knack of 
doing a thing smartly. 

I cocked my hat and twirled my stick, 

And the girls they called me quite the kick. 

George Colman the Younger. 

To get the kick out. To be summarily dis- 
missed; given the sack or “the Order of the 
Boot.” 

To kick against the pricks. To protest when 
all the odds are against one; to struggle 
against overwhelming opposition. See Acts ix, 
5, and xxvi, 14, where the reference is to an ox 
kicking when goaded, or a horse when 

F ricked with the rowels of a spur. Cp. also 
Sam. ii, 29 — “Wherefore kick ye at my 
sacrifice and at mine offering?” why do you 
protest against them ? 

To kick one’s heels. See Heel. 

To kick over the traces. Not to follow the 
leader, but to act independently; as a horse 
reftising to run in harness kicks over the traces. 

To kick the beam. To be of light weight; to 
be of inferior consequence. When one pan of a 
pair of scales is lighter than the other, it flies 
upwards and “kicks the beam” of the scales. 

To kick the bucket. See Bucket, 

To kick up a dust, a row, etc. To create a 
disturbance. The phrase “to kick up the dust” 
explains the other phrases. 

Kick-off. In football, the start or resumption 
of a game by kicking the ball from the centre 
of the field. 


Kickshaw*, Made dishes,* odds and ends, and 
dainty trifles of small value. Formerly written 
“kickshose.” (Fr. quelque chose.) 

Some pigeons, ftavy, a couple of short-legged hens, 
joint of mutton, and fcny pretty little tiny kickshaws. 
— Henry IV , Pt. //, V, i. 

Kicksy-wicksy. Full of whims and fancies, 
uncertain; hence, figuratively, a wife. Taylor, 
the water poet, calls it kicksie-winsie , but 
Shakespeare spell* it kicky -wicky . 

Kid. A faggot or bundle of firewood. To kid is 
to bind up faggots. In the parish register of 
Kneesal church there is the following item: 
“Leading kids to church, 2s. 6d.,” that is, 
carting faggots to church. 

Kid, A young child; in allusion to kid, the 
young of the goat, a very playful and frisky 
little animal. 

The verb to kid, means to make a fool of. 

Kiddies, The. See Regimental Nicknames. 

Kidnapping is a slang word imported into the 
language in the 17th century. “Nabbing” a 
“kid,” or a child was the popular term for the 
abominable offence of stealing young children 
and selling them to sea captains and others 
who bore them off to work on the plantations 
in America. The most notorious instance of 
kidnapping in modern times was the stealing 
and murder of Colonel Lindbergh’s infant son 
in 1932. 

Kidd, Captain. A famous pirate about whom 
many stones and legends have arisen. Origin- 
ally commissioned with letters of marque, he 
was disowned by his employers and turned 
pirate. He was hanged at Execution Dock, 
Wapping, in 1701. 

Kidney. Temperament, disposition; stamp. 

Men of another kidney or of the same kidney. 
The reins or kidneys were formerly supposed 
to be the seat of the affections. 

Kildare’s Holy Fane. Famous for the “Fire 
of St. Bridget,” which was inextinguishable, 
because the nuns never allowed it to go out. 
Every twentieth night St. Bridget was fabled 
to return to tend the fire. Part of the chapel 
still remains, and is called “The Firehouse. 

Kill. To kill two birds with one stone. See Bird. 

Killed by Kindness. It is said that Draco, 
the Athenian legislator, met with his death 
from his popularity, being smothered in the 
theatre of >£gina by the number of caps and 
cloaks showered on him by the spectators (590 
B.c.). Thomas Heywood wrote a play called 
A Woman Killed with Kindness (1603). 

Killing. Irresistible, overpowering, fascin- 
ating, or bewitching; so as to compel admira- 
tion and notice. 

A killing pace. Too hot or strong to last; 
exceptionally great; exhausting. 

Killing no murder. A pamphlet published in 
Holland and sent over to England in 1657 
advising the assassination of Oliver Cromwell. 
It purported to be by one William Allen, a 
Jesuit, and has frequently been attributed to 
Silas Titus (later made a colonel and Groom of 



Kliroy 


519 


King’s Crag 


the Bedchamber by^Charles II), but it was 
actually by Col. Edward Sexby, a Leveller, 
who had gone over to the Royalists, and who, 
in 1657, narrowly failed in 'an attempt to 
murder Cromwell. a ■ 

Kilroy. (World War II.) The phrase “Kilroy 
was here” was found written up wherever the 
Americans (particularly Air Transport Com- 
mand) had been, somewhat like “Chad” (q.v.) 
in Britain. Various theories ftave been put for- 
ward as to its origin — one being that a certain 
Kilroy was inspector in a shipyard at Quincy, 
Mass., and wrote the words in chalk on equip- 
ment to indicate that he had inspected it — but 
it seems more likely that the phrase grew by 
accident. Imitations such as tf Clem” did not 
become so fashionable. 

Kilter. Out of kilter. Out of order. 

Kin, Kind. 

King: But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son — 

Ham.: A little more than kin, and less than kind. 

Hamlet , I, ii. 

Kin or kinsman is a relative by marriage or 
blood more distant than father and son. 

Kind means of the same sort of genus, as 
man-kind or man-genus. 

Hamlet says he is more than kin to Claudius 
(as he was stepson), but still he is not of the 
same kind , the same class. He is not a bird of 
the same feather as thfc king. 

Kindhart. A jocular name for a tooth- 
drawer in the time of Queen Elizabeth I. 
Kindhart, the dentist, is mentioned by Row- 
land in his Letting of Humours- Blood. in the 
Bead-vainc (1600); and in Rowley’s New 
Wonder. 

Mistake me not, Kindhart ... 

He calls you tooth-drawer. Act I, i. 

The dedication in Chcttle's Kind-heartes 
Dreame (which contains a reference to Shake- 
speare and was published in 1592) begins: — 

Gentlemen and good-fellowes, (whose^ kindnes 
having christened mee with the name of kind-heart, 
bindes me in all kind course I can to deserve the con- 
tinuance of your love) let it not seeme strange (I 
beseech ye) that he that all dayes of his life hath beene 
famous for drawing teeth, should now in drooping 
age hazard contemptible infamie by drawing himselfe 
into print. 

Kindergarten (kin 7 d6r gar 7 ten), meaning in 
German a children's garden, is the term 
applied to schools in which very young 
children are taught by the use of objects, 
games and songs. The system was initiated in 
Germany by Friederich Froebel (1782-1852) 
in 1840. 

King. The O.E. cyning , from cyn % a nation or 
people, and the suffix -mg, meaning “of,” as 
“son of,” “chief of,” etc. In Anglo-Saxon 
times the king was elected by the Witena- 
gemot, and was therefore the choice of the 
nation. 

King Alfred, H.M.S. The name given to 
the shore station at which officers of the 
Royal Navy are trained. 

King Franconl. Joachim Murat (1767-1815) 
was so called because of his resemblance to 
the mountebank Franconi. 


King of Kings. In the Prayer Book the term, 
of course, refers to the Deity, but it has been 
^sumed by many Eastern rulers, especially by 
the sovereigns or Abyssinia. 

King of the King. Cardinal Richelieu tl 585- 
1642) was so called, because of his influence 
over Louis XIII of France. 

The Factory King. Richard Oastler, of 
Bradford (1789-1861), the successful advocate 
of the Ten Hours Bill. 

The King of Bath. See Bath. 

The King of the Beggars. See Beggars. 

The King of the Border. A nickname of 
Adam Scott of Tushielaw (executed 1529), a 
famous border outlaw and chief. 


The King of Dunces. In his first version of 
the Dunciad (1712), Pope gave»4his place of 
honour to Lewis Theobald (1688-1744); but 
in the edition of 1742 Colley Cibber (1671- 
1757) was put in his stead. 

The King of Men. A title given both to Zeus 
and Agamemnon. 

The King of Painters. A title assumed by 
Parrhasius, the painter, a contemporary of 
Zeuxis (400 b.c.). Plutarch says he wore a 
purple robe and a golden crown. 

The King of Rome. A title conferred by 
Napoleon I on his son Francois Charles Joseph 
Napoleon, Duke of Reichstadt (1811-32), on 
the day of his birth. He was called L'Aiglon 
(the young eagle) by Edmond Rostand in his 
play. 

The King of Waters. The river Amazon, in 
South America. Although not as long as the 
Mississippi-Missouri (the longest river in the 
world), it discharges a greater volume of 
water. 


The King of the World. The title (in Hindi 
Shah Jehan ) assumed by Khorrum Shah, third 
son of Selim Jehan Ghir, and fifth of the Mogul 
emperors of Delhi (reigned 1628-58). 

The King over the water. The name given by 
Jacobites to James II after his flight to France: 
to his son the Old Pretender (James III), and 
to his grandsons Charles Edward thtf Young 
Pretender (Charles III), and Henry, Cardinal 
of York (Henry IX). 

My father so far compromised his loyalty as to 
announce merely “The king,” as his first toast after 
dinner, instead of the emphatic “King George.’* . . . * 
Our guest made a motion with his glass, so as to pass 
it over the water-decanter which stood beside him, 
and added, “Over the water.”— Scott: Redgauntlet , 
letter v. 


King’s Cave. Opposite to Campbeltown: so 
called because it was here that King Robert 
Bruce and his retinue are said to have lodged 
when they landed on the mainland from the 
Isle of Arran. 

King’s Crag. Fife, in Scotland. So called 
because Alexander III of Scotland was killed 


:here (1286). ^ , . 

As he was riding in the dusk of the evening along the 
tea -coast of Fife, betwixt Burnt-island and Kinp-hora. 
i© approached too near th© brink of th© precipice, and 
iis horse starting or stumbling, ho wa9 thrown over 
he rock and killed on the spot. . . . The people of the 
country still point out the very spot where it hap- 
pened, and which is called 'The Kings Crag. — 
Jeon: Tales of a Grandfather , vi. 



king 


520 


King 


A cat may look at a king. See Cat. 

King of Arms. The official title of the chief 
heralds. In England there are three kings of 
arms, Carter, Clarenceux, and Norroy and 
Ulster; in Scotland there is the Lord Lyon 
King of Arms. The Order of the Bath has its 
own Bath King of Arms, instituted in 1725. 
In Ireland the office of Ulster King of Arms 
is now associated with the Norroy King of 
Arms in England. 

A king’s bad bargain. Said of a soldier (or 
sailor) who turns out a malingerer or to be of 
no use; in allusion to the shilling formerly 
given by the recruiting sergeant to a soldier on 
enlistment. 

A king of shreds and patches. In the old 

mysteries Vice used to be dressed as a mimic 
king in a parti-coloured suit ( Hamlet , III, iv). 
The phrase has been applied to hacks who 
compile books for publishers but supply no 
originality of thought or matter. 

A king should die standing. The reputed 
dying saying of Louis X VIII. 

King Charles’s head. A phrase applied to an 
obsession, a fixed fancy. It comes from Mr. 
Dick, the harmless half-wit in David Copper- 
field , who, whatever he wrote or said always 
got round to the subject of King Charles’s 
head, about which he was composing a 
memorial — he could not keep it out of his 
thoughts. 

King Charles’s Spaniel. A small black-and- 
tan spaniel with a rounded head, short muzzle, 
full, rather protruding eyes. This variety came 
into favour at the Restoration, but the colour 
of the dogs at that time was liver and white. 

King Cotton. Cotton, the staple of the 
Southern States of America, and one of the 
chief articles of manufacture in England. The 
expression was first used by James H. Ham- 
mond in the United States Senate in 1858. 

King’s County in the province of Leinster in 
Eire is now called Offaly, and Queen’s County 
is now Leix. 

King’s Cup Air Race was instituted in 1922 
for a cup presented by George V. It is a handi- 
cap air race open only to British and Empire 
pilots flying British or Dominion aeroplanes. 
The winner in 1961 was Sqdn. Ldr. H. B. lies. 

King James’s Bible. See Bible, the English. 

King Log and King Stork. See Log. 

King’s (or Queen’s) Messenger. See under 
Queen. 

King of Misrule. In mediaeval and Tudor 
times, the director of the Christmas-time 
horseplay and festivities, called also the 
Abbot , or Lord , of Misrule , and in Scotland 
the Master of Unreason. At Oxford and 
Cambridge one of the Masters of Arts superin- 
tended both the Christmas and Candlemas 
sports, for which he was allowed a fee of 40s. 
A similar “lord” was appointed by the lord 
mayor of London, the sheriffs, and the chief 
nobility. Stubbs tells us that these mock 
dignitaries had from twenty to sixty officers 
under them, and were furnished with hobby- 


horses, dragons, and musicians. They first 
went to church with such a confused noise that 
no one could hear his own voice. Polydore 
Vergil says of the Feast of Misrule that it was 
“derived from the Roman Saturnalia,” held 
in December for five days (17th to 22nd). The 
Feast of Misrule lasted twelve days. 

If we compare our Bacchanalian Christmases and 
New Year-tides with these Saturnalia and Feasts of 
Janus, we shall finde such near affinitye between them 
. . . that wee must needs conclude the one to be the 
very ape or issue of the other. — Prynne: Histrlo- 
Mastix (1632). 

King-maker, The. Richard Neville, Earl of 
Warwick (1420-71); so called because, when 
he sided with Henry VI, Henry was king, but 
when he sided with Edward IV, Henry was 
deposed and Edward crowned. He was killed 
at the battle of Barnet. He was first called 
“the king-maker” by John Major in his 
History of Greater Britain , England and Scot - 
land , 1521. 

King’s Champion. See Champion of Eng- 
land. 

King’s (or Queen’s) Bench. See under Queen. 

King-pin. In skittles, etc., the pin in the 
centre when all the pins are in place, or the pin 
at the front apex. Figuratively the word is 
used to describe the principal person in a 
company, cast, etc. 

King’s (or Queen’s) Counsel. See under 

Queen. 

King’s (or Queen’s) Remembrancer. See 
under Queen. 

The King’s (or Queen’s) Speech. See under 

Queen. 

King of the Bean. See Bean-king. 

King of Yvetot. See Yvetot. 

King P£taud. See P£taud. 

Kings are above grammar. See Grammar. 

Kings have long hands. Do not quarrel with 
a king, as his power and authority reach to the 
end of his dominions. The Latin proverb is, 
An nescis longas regibus esse ntanus (Ovid, 
Heroides . xvii, 166). 

There's such divinity doth hedge a king. 

That treason can but peep to what it would. 

Hamlet , IV, v. 

King’s (or Queen’s) evidence. See Evidence. 

King Horn. The hero of a French metrical 
romance of the 13th century, and the original 
of our Horne Childe , generally called The Geste 
of Kyng Horn. The nominal author is a certain 
Mestre Thomas. 

Like a king. When Porus, the Indian prince, 
was taken prisoner, Alexander asked him how 
he expected to be treated. “Like a king,” he 
replied; and Alexander made him his friend. 

Pray aid of the king (or queen). When some- 
one, under the belief that he has a right to the 
land, claims rent of the king’s tenants, they 
appeal to the sovereign, or “pray aid of the 
king.” 

The books of the four kings. A pack of cards. 

After supper were brought in the books of the four 
kings. — Rabelais: Gargantua and Pantagruel, I, xxii. 


King 


521 


Kiss 


The king of beasts. The lion. 

The King of Spain’s trumpeter. A donkey. 
A pun on the word don , a Spanish magnate. 

The King of Terrors. Death. 

The king of the forest. The oak, which not 
only braves the storm, but fosters the growth 
of tender parasites under its arms. 

The king’s cheese goes half in paring. A 
king’s income is half consumed by the 
numerous calls on his purse. 


The King’s English. See English. 

The King’s Oak. The oak under which 
Henry VIII sat, in Epping Forest, while Anne 
(Boleyn) was being executed. 

The King’s (or Queen’s) picture. Money; so 
called because coin is stamped with “the 
image” of the reigning sovereign. 

The Three Kings of Cologne. The Magi (q.v.). 

King’s Evil. Scrofula; so called from a 
notion which prevailed from the reign of 
Edward the Confessor to that of Queen Anne 
that it could be cured by the royal touch. The 
Jacobites considered that the power did not 
descend to William III and Anne because the 
“divine” hereditary right was not fully pos- 
sessed by them, but the office remained in our 
Prayer-Book till 1719. Prince Charles Edward, 
when he claimed to be Prince of Wales, 
touched a female child for the disease in 1745. 
One of the last persons touched in England 
was Dr. Johnson, in 1712, when less than three 
years old, by Queen Anne. The practice 
was introduced by Henry VII of presenting 
the person “touched” with a small gold or 
silver coin, called a touchpiece. The one 
presented to Dr. Johnson has St. George and 
the Dragon on one side and a ship on the other; 
the legend of the former is Soli deo gloria , and 
of the latter Anna D: G.M.B.R.F: ET.H.REG. 
(Anne, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, 
France, and Ireland Queen). 

We are told that Charles II touched 92,107 
persons. The smallest number in one year was 
2,983, in 1669; and the largest number was in 
1684, when many were trampled to death. (See 
Macaulay’s History of England , ch. xiv.) John 
Brown, a royal surgeon, had to superintend 
the ceremony. 

The French kings laid claim to the same 
divine power from the time of Clovis, a.d. 481, 
and on Easter Sunday, 1686, Louis XIV 
touched 1,600 persons, using these words: Le 
roy te touche , Dieu te guirisse. 


Days fatal to Kings. Much foolish super- 
stition has been circulated respecting certain 
days supposed to be “fatal” to the crowned 
heads of Great Britain. The following notes 
will help the reader to discriminate truth from 
fiction: — 

Of the sovereigns who have died since 1066 
Sunday has been the last day of the reign of 
seven, Monday , Tuesday and Thursday that of 
six each, Friday and Wednesday of five, and 
Saturday of four. _ 

Sunday : Henry I, Edward III, Henry VI, James I, 
William III, Anne, George 1. .. 

Monday : Stephen, Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V 
Richard III, George V. 


Tuesday: Richard I, Edward II, Charles I, James II, 
William IV, Victoria. 

Wednesday: John, Henry HI, Edward IV, Edward V, 
George VI. 

Thursday: William I, William II, Henry II, Edward 
VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I. 

Friday: Edward I, Henry VIII, Charles II, Mary II, 
Edward VII. 

Saturday: Henry VII, George II, George HI, 
George IV. 

Kingdom Come. Death, the grave, execution, 
the next world. 

And forty pounds be theirs, a pretty sum. 

For sending such a rogue to kingdom come. 

Peter Pindar: Subjects for Painters. 


Kingsale. The premier baron of Ireland, Lord 
Kingsale, is one of the two British subjects who 
claim the right of wearing a hat in the presence 
of royalty. See Hat. 

Kingston Bridge. A card bent so that when the 
pack is cut it is cut at this card. 

Kinless Loons. The judges whom Cromwell 
sent into Scotland were so termed, because 
they had no relations in the country and so 
were free from temptation to nepotism. They 
tried the accused on the merits of the case. 

Kirk of Skulls. Gamrie Church, in Banffshire; 
so called because the skulls and other bones 
of the Norsemen who fell in the neighbouring 
field, the Bloody Pots , were built into its walls. 

Kirke’s Lambs. See Regimental Nicknames. 


Kismet (kis' met). Fate, destiny; or the ful- 
filment of destiny ; from Turk, quismat , portion, 
lot ( qasama , to divide). 

Kiss (O.E. cyssan ). A very ancient and widely 
spread mode of salutation, frequently men- 
tioned in the Bible, both as an expression of 
reverence and adoration and as a greeting or 
farewell between friends. Esau embraced Jacob, 
“fell on his neck and kissed him” (Gen. xxxiii, 
4), the repentant woman kissed the feet of 
Christ (Luke vii, 45), and the disciples from 
Ephesus “fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him 
(Acts xx, 37). But kissing between the sexes was 
unknown among the ancient Hebrews, and 
while the cheeks, forehead, beard, hands, and 
feet might be kissed the lips might not, the pas- 
sage in the Bible (Prov. xxiv, 26, see marginal 
note in Revised Version) that seems to contra- 
dict this being a mistranslation. “Kiss the Son, 
lest He be angry” (Ps. ii, 12), means worship the 
Son of God. This is the only reference in the 
Bible to the Kiss of Homage. . . . . „ 

The old custom of “kissing the bride 
comes from the Salisbury rubric concerning 

^IrTbil hards' (and also bowls) a kiss is a very 
slight touch of one moving ball on another, 
especially a second touch, accidental or 
designed; and the name also used. to be given 
to a little drop of sealing-wax accidentally let 
fall beside the seal. 

Kiss-behind-the-garden-gate. A country name 
for a pansy. 

Kiss the place to make It well. Said to be a 
relic of the custom of sucking poison from 
wounds. St. Martin of Tours, when he was in 
Paris, observed at the city gates a leper full of 
crn*p^ • and going up to him, he kissed the 
sores’ whereupon the leper was instantly made 




522 


Kiwi 


whole (Sulpicfus Severus: Dialogues ). Similar 
stories are told of St. Mayeul, and quite a 
number of saints. 

Who ran to help me, when I fell, 

And would some pretty story tell, 

Or kiss the place to make it well? 

Ann Taylor: My Mother. 

Kissing the Pope's toe. Matthew of West- 
minster says it was customary formerly to kiss 
the hand of his Holiness; but that a certain 
woman, in the 8th century, not only kissed the 
Pope's hand, but “squeezed it." The Church 
magnate, seeing the danger to which he was 
exposed, cut off his hand, and was compelled 
in future to offer his foot. In reality, the Pope’s 
foot (i.e. the cross embroidered on his right 
shoe) may be kissed by the visitor; bishops kiss 
his knee as well. This sign of respect was 
formerly given to other patriarchs and even to 
temporal sovereigns and, needless to say, 
implies no servility. It is customary to bend 
the knee and kiss the ring of a cardinal, bishop, 
or abbot* * 

To the book. To kiss the Bible, or the 
New Testament, after taking an oath; the kiss 
of confirmation or promise to act in accordance 
with the words of the oath and a public 
acknowledgment that you adore and fear to 
offend, by breaking your oath, the God whose 
book you reverence. 

In the English Courts, the Houses of Parlia- 
ment, etc., non-Christians and others who have 
scruples are now permitted to affirm without 
going through this ceremony. 

To kiss or lick the dust. To be completely 
overwhelmed or humiliated; to be slain. In 
Ps. lxxii, 9, it is said, “his enemies shall lick the 
dust." 

To kiss the gunner’s daughter. See Gunner. 

To kiss hands. To kiss the hand of the 
sovereign either on accepting or retiring from 
office. 

Kissing the hand of, or one’s own hand to, 
an idol was a usual form of adoration; if the 
statue was low enough the devotee kissed its 
hand; if not, kissed his own hand and waved 
it to the image. God said he had in Israel 
seven thousand persons who had not bowed 
unto Baal, “every mouth which hath not 
kissed him" (I Kings xix, 18). 

To kiss the hare’s foot. See Hare. 

To kiss the rod. See Rod. 

Kissing-comfit. The candied root of the Sea 
Holly ( Eryngium maritimum ) prepared as a 
lozenge, to perfume the breath. 

Kisslng-crust The crust where the lower 
lump of a cottage loaf kisses the upper. In 
French, baisure de pain . 

Klst of Whistles. A church-organ (Scots). 
Kist is the same word as cist (<?.v.), a chest. 

Kit. From Dut. kitte , a wooden receptacle made 
of hooped staves; hence that which contains 
the necessaries, tools, etc., of a workman; and 
hence the articles themselves collectively. 

A soldier’s kit. His outfit. 

A small three-stringed fiddle, formerly used 
by dancing masters, was called a kit. The word 
is from the obsolete gitterne (Fr. quitterne ), a 
sort of guitar. 


Kit-cat Club. A club formed about the 
beginning of the 18th century by the leading 
Whigs of the day, and held in the house of 
Christopher Catt, a pastrycook of Shire Lane, 
which used to run north from Temple Bar to 
Carey Street (its site is now covered by the Law 
Courts). Christopher Catt’s mutton pies, which 
were eaten at the club, were also called kit* 
cats , and in the Spectator (No. ix) we are told 
that it was from these the club got its name. 

Steele, Addison, Congreve, Garth, Vanbrugh, 
Manwaring, Stepney, Walpole, and Pulteney were of 
it; so was Lord Dorset and the present Duke. Man- 
waring . . . was the ruling man in all conversation 
. . . Lord Stanhope and the Earl of Essex were also 
members. . . . Each member gave his (picture], — 
Pope to Spence. 

Sir Godfrey Kneller painted forty-two 
portraits of the club members for Jacob 
Tonson, the secretary, whose villa was at Barn 
Elms, where latterly the club was held, in 
order to accommodate the paintings to the 
height of the club-room, he was obliged to 
make them three-quarter lengths (28 in. by 
36 in.), hence a three-quarter portrait is still 
called a kit-cat. The set of portraits is now 
in the National Portrait Gallery, London. 

Kit’s Coty House. A great cromlech, m. 
N.W. of Maidstone on the Rochester road, 
consisting of a vast block of sandstone resting 
on three other blocks. It is near the ancient 
battlefield of Aylesford, where the Saxons 
under Hengist and Horsa fought the Britons, 
whose chieftain was, according to the Chron- 
icles, named Catigern, and some authorities 
derive the name from him. The dolmen is 
undoubtedly much older than his day, and the 
name may be British for “the tomb in the 
woods" (Wei. coed , a wood). 

Kitchen. An old term, still used in some parts 
of rural Scotland, for a cooked relish as 
toasted cheese, eggs, sausages, bacon, etc. 

Kitchen-middens. Prehistoric mounds (re- 
ferred to the Neolithic Age) composed of sea- 
shells, bones, kitchen refuse, rude stone 
implements, and other relics of early man. 
They were first noticed on the coast of Den- 
mark, but have since been found in the 
British Isles, North America, etc. 

Kite. In lawyer’s slang, a' junior counsel who 
is allotted at an assize court to advocate the 
cause of a prisoner who is without other 
defence. 

In R.A.F. slang, any aircraft. 

In Stock Exchange slang, a worthless bill. 

To fly the kite. To “raise the wind" by 
questionable methods, such as by sending 
begging letters to persons of charitable 
reputation or by means of worthless bills. 

Kiwanis (ki wa' nis). An organization founded 
in U.S.A. in 1915 aiming to improve business 
ethics and provide leadership for raising the 
level of business and professional ideals. There 
are many Kiwanis clubs in U.S.A. and 
Canada. 

Kiwi (ke' we). A New Zealand bird incapable 
of flight. In flying circles the word is applied to 
a man of the ground staff at an aerodrome. In 
Australia it is often used to denote a N$w 
Zealander. 


Klepts 


523 


Knight of Grace 


Klepts or Klephts (Gr. robbers). The name given 
to those Greeks who, after the conquest of their 
country by the Turks in the 15th century, 
refused to submit and maintained their 
independence in the mountains. They degen- 
erated — especially after the War of Independ- 
ence (1821-28) — into brigands, hence the word 
is often used for a lawless bandit or brigand. 

Klondike (klon' dfk). A river and district of 
Yukon Territory in Canada. In 1896 placer 
cold was discovered in the creeks that flow 
into the river and for some years much gold 
was produced. The famous Gold Rush took 
place 1897-98. 

Knave (O.E. cnafa ; Ger. Knabe). Originally 
merely a boy or male-child, then a male 
servant or one in low condition and finally — its 
present sense — an unprincipled and dis- 
honourable rascal. 

The tyme is come, a knave-child she ber: 

Mauricius at the font-stoon they him calle. 

Chaucer: Man of Lowe's Tale, 722. 

And sche bare a knave child that was to reulynge 
alle folkis in an yrun gherde ( Auth . Ver. — And she 
brought forth a man child, who was to rule all 
nations with a rod of iron). — Wyellf's Bible: Rev. 
xii, 5. 

In cards the knave (or jack), the lowest court 
card of each suit, is the common soldier or 
servant of the royalties. 

He lived like a knave, and died like a fool. 

Said by Warburton of Henry Rich, first Earl 
of Holland (1590-1649), the turncoat. He went 
to the scaffold dressed in white satin, trimmed 
with silver. 

Knave of hearts. A flirt. 

Knee. Knee tribute. Adoration or reverence, by 
prostration or bending the knee. Cp. Lip- 
SHRVICE. 

Coming to receive from us 
Knee-tribute yet unpaid, prostration vile. 

Milton: Paradise Lost, V, 782. 

Weak-kneed. Irresolute, not thorough; as, 
a weak-kneed Christian , a Laodicean, neither 
hot nor cold. 

Kneph. Another name of the Egyptian god 
Amen-Ra (tf.v.). 

Knickerbockers, or Knickers. Loose-fitting 
breeches, gathered in below the knee, and worn 
by boys, Cyclists, sportsmen, etc., and formerly 
by women as an undergarment. So named from 
George Cruikshank’s illustrations of Knicker - 
bocker % s history of New York, a burlesque 
published in 1809 by Washington Irving, 
where the Dutch worthies are drawn with very 
loose knee-breeches. The name Knickerbocker 
is found among the old Dutch inhabitants of 
New York a century and more earlier; it 
probably signified a baker of knickers , i.e. 
clay marbles. 

Knife. The emblem of St. Agatha, St. Albert, 
and St. Christina. 

The flaying knife is the emblem of St. 
Bartholomew, because he was flayed. 

He is a capital knife-and-fork. He has a good 
appetite. 

War to the knife, Deadly strife. 


Knifeboard. The long, back-to-back benches 
that used to run longitudinally down the 
middle of the roof of the old horse omnibuses. 
In the* ’nineties of last century transverse 

garden seats” gradually took their place. The 
allusion is to the board covered with knife- 
owder on which steel table knives were made 
right, 

Knight (O.E. cniht). Originally meaning merely 
a boy or servant, the word came to denote a 
man of gentle birth who, after serving at court 
or in the retinue of some lord as a page and 
esquire, was admitted with appropriate 
ceremonies to an honourable degree of 
military rank and given the right to bear arms. 

The Knight, or Knight Bachelor, of to-day 
is a commoner who is the possessor of a 
personal and non-hereditary dignity conferred 
by the sovereign, carrying with ft the title 
“Sir” and a place in the Table of Precedence 
next above County Court Judges and next 
below Knight Commanders of the Order of 
the British Empire. The wife of a’" JChight is 
usually entitled “Lady” or “Dame, but this, 
as in the case of Baronets, is a matter of 
courtesy only, not of right. 

There are nine British Orders of Knighthood 
in existence, viz. (in the following order of 
precedence) the Garter, the Thistle. St. 
Patrick, the Bath, the Star of India, St. Michael 
and St. George, the Indian Empire, the Royal 
Victorian Order, and the British Empire. After 
these come the Knights Bachelor, who are 
members of no Order and who do not con- 
stitute an Order. Bachelor here is Fr. bas 
chevalier , signifying “lower than the Knight 
of an order.” 

The word knight is used in various slang or 
jocular phrases denoting a member of some 
trade or profession, follower of some calling or 
occupation, etc. Thus we have Knight of the 
blade , a roystering bully, Knight of the cleaver , 
a butcher, Knight of the cue , a billiard player, 
Knight of the needle , a tailor, Knight of the 
pestle , a druggist, Knight of the road , a footpad, 
Knight of the spigot , a tapster, Knight of the 
wheel , a cyclist, etc., etc. 

Cross-legged Knights. See Cross-legged. 

Knight Bachelor. See Knight, above. 

Knight Banneret. See Banneret. 

Knight Baronet. The title originally given to 
Baronets (q.v.) when the degree was instituted 
by James 1 in 161 1. 

Knights of Columbus. A Roman Catholic 
fraternal and philanthropic society in U.S.A., 
founded in 1882 with the aim of uniting lay- 
men of the Church in corporate religious and 
civic unity and usefulness. 

Knight errant. A medieval knight, especially 
a hero of those long romances satirized by 
Cervantes in Don Quixote , who wandered 
about the world in quest of adventure and in 
search of opportunities of rescuing damsels in 
distress and performing other chivalrous deeds. 

Knight Marshal. See Marshalsba. 

Knight of Grace. A member of the lower 
order of the Knights of Malta. See Malta. 


Knight of industry 


524 


Knock 


Knight of industiy. Slang for a sharper; one 
who lives on his wits. 

Knights of Labour. An organization of 
working men, founded at Philadelphia in 1869. 
At first secret, it later emerged to play an 
important part in the American Trade Union 
movement. Its objects were to regulate wages, 
hours of work, etc., and to control strikes. It 
secured the establishment of Labour Day ( q.v .) 
as a national holiday. In the early 20th century 
it ceased to exist, being unable to compete with 
the more powerful American Federation of 
Labour (founded 1886). 

Knight of the post. A man who had stood in 
the pillory or had been flogged at the whipping- 
post was so called; hence, one who haunted the 

urlieus of the courts, ready to be hired for a 

ribe to give false witness, go bail for a debtor 
for pay, etc. 

“A knight of the post,” quoth he, “for so I am 
termed; a fellow that will sweare you anything for 
twelve p^nce,” — Nash: Pierce Penilesse (1592). 

Knights of the Round Table, See Round 
Table. 

The Knight of the Rueful Countenance. Don 
Quixote (<?.v.). 

Knight of the Shire. The old name for one of 
the two gentlemen of the rank of knight who 
represented a county or shire in the English 
Parliament; a member elected by a county, in 
contradistinction to a borough member. 

Knight of the square flag. A knight banneret, 
in allusion to cutting off the points of his 
pennon when he was raised to this rank on the 
battlefield. 

The Knight of the Swan. Lohengrin ( q.v .). 

Knights Templar. See Templars. 

Knights of Windsor. A small Order of knights, 
originally founded by Edward 111 in 1349 as 
the “Poor Knights of the Order of the Garter.” 
It was at first formed of 26 veterans, but since 
the time of Charles I the numbers have been 
fixed at 13 for the Royal Foundation and 5 
for the Lower (since abolished) with a 
Governor. The members are retired meritori- 
ous military officers. They are granted apart- 
ments in Windsor Castle and pensions ranging 
from £50 |o £130 a year. They must be in 
residence for at least nine months in the year, 
must attend St. George’s Chapel on saints’ 
days, and occasionally act as guards of 
honour. Their present uniform was assigned 
by William IV, who made their title the 
“Military Knights of Windsor”; and their 
early connexion with the Order of the Garter 
is still retained in many ways, as, for instance, 
every K.G. on appointment has to give a sum 
of money for distribution among them, and 
the Sovereign appoints members in his capacity 
as head of the Order of the Garter. 

Knight service. The tenure of land, under the 
feudal system, on the condition of rendering 
military service to the Crown. 

Knight’s fee. The amount of land for which, 
under the feudal system, the services of a 


knight were due to the Crown. There was no 
fixed unit, some were larger than others; 
William the Conqueror created 60,000 such 
fees when he came to England, and in his 
time all who had £20 a year in lands or in- 
come were compelled to be knights. 

Knightenguild. The Guild of thirteen “cnihts” 
(probably youthful scions of noble houses 
attached to the court) to which King Edgar, 
or, according to other accounts, Canute, gave 
that easternmost portion of the City of London 
now called Portsoken Word , on the following 
conditions: (1) Each knight was to be victori- 
ous in three combats — one on the earth, and 
one under, and one in the water; and (2) each 
was, on a given day, to run with spears against 
all comers in East Smithlield. William the 
Conqueror confirmed the same unto the heirs 
of these knights, whose descendants, in 1125, 
gave all the property and their rights to the 
newly founded Priory of Holy Trinity. 

Knipperdollings (nip er doE ingz). A sect of 
16th-century German Anabaptists, so called 
from their leader, Bernard Knipperdolling, 
who was active about 1530-35, and was one 
of the leaders of the insurrection of Munster. 

Knock, To. Slang for to create a great im- 
pression, to be irresistible; as in Albert 
Chevalier’s song, “Knocked ’em in the Old 
Kent Road” (1892), i.e. astonished the inhabi- 
tants, filled them with admiration. 

To knock about or around. To wander about 
town “seeing life” and enjoying oneself. 

A knock-about turn. A music-hall term for a 
noisy, boisterous act in which (usually) a 
couple of red-nosed comedians indulge in 
violent horseplay. 

Knock-kneed. With the knees turned inwards 
so that they knock together in walking. 

To be knocked info a cocked hat, or into the 
middle of next week. To be thoroughly beaten. 
See Cocked. 

To get the knock (or the nasty knock). To 
have a blow (actual or figurative) that finishes 
one off. 

To knock out of time. To settle one’s hash 
for him, double him up. The phrase is from 
pugilism, and refers to disabling an opponent 
so that he is unable to respond when the 
referee calls “Time.” 

To knock spots off someone or something. To 
beat him soundly, get the better of it, do the 
job thoroughly. The allusion is probably to 
pistol-shooting at a playing-card, when a good 
shot will knock out the pips or spots. 

To knock the bottom or the stuffing out of 
anything. To confound, bring to naught, 
especially to show that some argument or 
theory is invalid and “won’t hold water.” 

To knock under. To acknowledge oneself 
defeated, in argument or otherwise, to knuckle 
under. Perhaps from the old custom of a 
disputant who gets the worst of it tapping the 



Knock-out 


525 


Kohl 


under side of the table or from the habit, in 
hard-drinking days, of subsiding under the 
table. 

He that flinches his Glass, and to Drink is not able, 

Let him quarrel no more, but knock under the table. 

Gentleman's Journal: March , 1691-2. 

Knock-out. Primarily, a disabling blow, 
especially (in pugilism) one out of guard on 
the point of the chin, which puts the receiver 
to sleep and so finishes the fight. Hence, a 
complete surprise is “a fair knock-out.” 

In the auction room a knock-out is a sale 
at which a ring of dealers combine to keep 
prices artificially low, so that they obtain the 
goods and afterwards sell them among them- 
selves, dividing the profits. 

Knockers. Goblins, or kobolds ( q.v .), who dwell 
in mines, and indicate rich veins of ore by 
their presence. In Cardiganshire and elsewhere 
miners attribute the strange noises so fre- 
quently heard in mines to these spirits. 

Knot. (Lat. nodus , Fr. nceud t Dan. knude , Dut. 
knot , O.E. cnotta , allied to knit.) 

Gordian knot. See Gordian. 

He has tied a knot with his tongue he cannot 
untie with his teeth. He has got married. He has 
tied the marriage-knot {q.v.) by saying, “I take 
thee for my wedded wife,” etc., but it is not to 
be untied so easily. 

Knots of May. See Nut. 

She was making 15 knots. The measurement 
of speed for ocean-going vessels is the knot, 
i.e. the speed of one mile in one hour; 1 5 knots 
is therefore the rate of 15 nautical miles an 
hour. The log-line is divided into lengths by 
knots, and is run out while a sand-glass runs 
for either 28 or 30 seconds. 

True lovers’ knot. Sir Thomas Browne 
thinks the knot owes its origin to the nodus 
HerculanuSy a snaky complication in the 
caduceus or rod of Mercury, in which form 
the woollen girdle of the Greek brides was 
fastened ( Pseudodoxia Epidemic a , V, xxii). 

To seek for a knot in a rush. Seeking for 
something that does not exist. Not a very wise 
phrase, seeing there are jointed rushes, prob- 
ably not known when the proverb was first 
current. 

Knotgrass. This grass, Polygonum aviculare f 
was formerly supposed, if taken in an infusion, 
to stop growth. 

Get you gone, you dwarf; 

You minimus, of hindering knotgrass made. 

Midsummer Night's Dream , III, ii. 

Knout (Russ, knut , probably connected with 
knot). A long, hard leather thong or a knotted 
bunch of thongs formerly used in Russia for 
corporal punishment on prisoners; hence, a 
symbol or supremely autocratic rule. 

Know Nothings. An American Party which, in 
1856, ruled New Orleans in an era of despotic 
corruption. They were opposed to the Roman 
Catholic Church and to the absorption of 
foreigners into the American body politic. 
Their name came from their stock reply to any 
awkward question: “I know nothing in our 
principles contrary to the Constitution.” 


Know Thyself. The admonition of the oracle of 
Apollo at Delphi; also attributed (by Dio- 
genes Laertius, I, >1) to Thales, also to Solon 
the Athenian lawgiver, Socrates, Pythagoras, 
and others. 

Knuckle. To knuckle under. To acknowledge 
oneself beaten, to sue for pardon; in allusion 
to the old custom of striking the under side of 
a table with the knuckles when defeated in an 
argument. Cp. To Knock under. 

To knuckle down to. To submit to. 

To knuckle down to it. To work away at it, 
heart and soul; to do one’s best. 

Knuckle-duster. A brass sheath fitting over 
the knuckles. Its origin goes back to the times 
of Roman pugilism, but to-day its use is 
confined to tnugs the world over. 

Knurr and Spell (ner, spel). A game resembling 
trapball, and played with a wooden ball (the 
knurr) which is released by means of a spring 
from a little brass cup at the end of a tongue of 
steel called a spell or spill . After the player 
has touched the spring, the ball flies into the 
air, and is struck with a bat. 

Knut. See Nut. 

Kobold (kob' old). A house-spirit in German 
superstition; similar to our Robin Goodfellow, 
and the Scots brownie. Also a gnome who 
works in the mines and forests Cp. Knockers. 

Kochlani (kok la' ni). Arabian horses of royal 
stock, of which genealogies have been pre- 
served for more than 2,000 years. It is said that 
they are the offspring of Solomon’s stud. 
{Niebuhr.) 

Koheleth. See Ecclesiastes. 

Koh-i-Nur (ko i nor) (Pers. mountain of light). 
A large diamond which, since 1849, has been 
among the British Crown Jewels. It is said to 
have been known 2,000 years ago, but its 
authentic history starts in 1304, when it was 
wrested by the Sultan, Al-eddin, from the 
Rajah of Malwa. From his line it passed in 
1526 to Humaiun, the son of Sultan Baber, 
and thence to Aurungzebe (d. 1707), the 
Mogul Emperor, who used it for the eye of a 
peacock in his famous peacock throne at Delhi. 
In 1739 it passed into the hands of Nadir Shah, 
who called it the Koh-i-nur. It next went to 
the monarchs of Afghanistan, and when Shah 
Sujah was deposed he gave it to Runjit 
Singh, of the Punjab, as the price of his* 
assistance towards the recovery of the throne 
of Cabul. After Runjit’s death (1839) it was 
kept in the treasury at Lahore, and when the 
Punjab was annexed to the British Crown, in 
1849, it was, by stipulation, presented to Queen 
Victoria. At this time it weighed 186^ carats, 
but after its acquisition it was cut down to 
106^ carats. There is a tradition that it always 
brings ill luck to its possessor. 

Kohl or Kohol (kol). Finely powdered anti- 
mony, used by women in Persia and the East 
to blacken the inside of their eyelids. 

And others mix the Kohol's jetty dye 

To give that long, dark languish to the eye. 

Thomas Moore; Lalla Rookh t Pt. I. 


Konx Ompax 


526 


Ku Klux Khm 


Konx Ompax (kongks om' paks). The words of 
dismissal in the Eleusiniah Mysteries. Konx is 
the sound made by a pebble as it falls |pto the 
voting urn; ompax is a compound of two 
words meaning like or resembling, and the 
Latin pax (Ital. basta) an exclamation of 
dismissal, signifying that the proceedings have 
come to an end. 

Kfipenick is a suburb of Berlin and the scene 
of a famous imposture. On October 16th, 1906, 
a cobbler named Wilhelm Voigt donned the 
uniform of a captain of a Guards regiment and, 
accompanied by two privates, entered the 
burgomaster’s office at Kopenick, appro- 
priated all the cash that happened to be there, 
and sent the burgomaster, terrified at having 
committed some unspecified crime, to the 
guard-house at Berlin in charge of the grena- 
dier guardsman. The discovery of the hoax 
caused a great sensation, chiefly because of the 
effrontery of anyone daring to make fun of the 
all-powerful Army. 

Koppa. An ancient Greek letter, disused as a 
letter in classical Greek, but retained as the 
sign for the numeral 90. 

Korah. See Asaph. 

Koran (ko ran'), or, with the article, AI Koran. 
The bible or sacred book of the Moham- 
medans, containing the religious, social, civil, 
commercial, military, and legal code of Islam. 
The Koran, which contains 114 chapters, or 
Surahs , is^said to have been communicated to 
the prophet at Mecca and Medina by the angel 
Gabriel, with the sound of bells. It is written 
in Arabic and was compiled from Moham- 
med’s own lips. 

Korrigans (kor' i g&nz). Nine fays of Breton 
folklore, who can predict future events, assume 
any shape they like, move quick as thought 
from place to place, and cure diseases or 
wounds. 

Kosher (kd' sher). A Hebrew word denoting 
that which is permitted by, or fulfils the 
requirements of, the law; applied usually to 
food — especially to meat which has been 
slaughtered and prepared in the prescribed 
manner. 

Kraken (kra' ken). A sea-monster of vast size, 
supposed |o have been seen off the coast of 
Norway attd on the North American coasts, 
and probably founded on a hurried observa- 
tion of one of the gigantic squids or cuttle- 
fish. It was first described (1752) by Pontop- 
pidan in his History of Norway. Pliny speaks of 
a sea-monster in the Straits of Gibraltar, which 
blocked the entrance of ships. 

The shoal called the Shambles at the 
entrance of Portland Roads was very danger- 
ous before the breakwater was constructed. 
According to local legend, at the bottom of 
the gigantic shaft are the wrecks of ships seized 
and sunk by the huge spider Kraken , called 
also the fish-mountain . 

Kralitz Bible, The. See Bible, specially 

NAMED. 

KratinL The dog of the Seven Sleepers. More 
correctly called Ratmir or Ketmir. 


Kremlin, The, A gigantic pile of buildings in 
Moscow of every style of architecture: 
Arabesque, Gothic, Greek, Italian, Chinese, 
etc., enclosed by battlemented and many- 
towered w$ls H miles in circuit. It contains 
palaces aria cathedrals, churches, convents, 
museums and barracks, arcades and shops, 
the great bell, and, before the Revolution, the 
Russian treasury, government offices, the 
ancient palace of the patriarch, a throne-room, 
etc. It was built by two Italians, Marco and 
Pietro Antonio, for Ivan III in 1485 to 1495, 
but the Great Palace, as well as many other 
buildings, dates only from the middle of the 
19th century, previous palaces, etc., having 
been destroyed at various times. There had 
been previously a wooden fortress on the spot. 
As the seat of government of the U.S.S.R. 
the word “Kremlin” is often used symbolically 
of that government, just as the Vatican is for 
the Papacy. 

The name is from Russ, kreml , a citadel, 
and other towns beside Moscow possess 
kremlins, but none on this scale. 

Kreuzer (kroit' zer). A small copper coin in 
Southern Germany and Austria, formerly of 
silver and marked with a cross (Ger. Kreuz\ 
Lat. crux). 

Krieg-spiel. See War Game. 

Kricmhild (k re in' hild). The legendary heroine 
of the Nibclungenlicd (q.v.), a woman of 
unrivalled beauty, daughter of the Burgundian, 
King Gibich, and sister of Gunther, Gcrnot, 
and Giselher. She first married Siegfried (q.v), 
and next Etzel (Attila), king of the Huns. 

Krishna (krish' n&) (the black one). One of the 
greatest of the Hindu deities, the god of fire, 
lightning, storms, the heavens, and the sun, 
usually regarded as the eighth avatar ( a.v .) of 
Vishnu. One story relates that Kansa, demon- 
king of Mathura, having committed great 
ravages, Brahma prayed to Vishnu to relieve 
the world of its distress; whereupon Vishnu 
plucked off two hairs, one white and the other 
black, and promised they should revenge the 
wrongs of the demon-king. The black hair 
became Krishna. 

Another myth says that Krishna was the son 
of Vasudeva and Dcvaki, and when he was 
born among the Yadavas at Mathura, between 
Delhi and Agra, his uncle, King Kansa, who 
had been warned by heaven that this nephew 
was to slay him, sought to kill Krishna, who 
was, however, smuggled away. He was brought 
up by shepherds, and later killed his uncle and 
became King of the Yadavas in his stead. He 
was the Apollo of India and the idol of women. 
His story is told in the Bhagavadgita and 
Bhagavatapurana. 

Kronos or Cronus (kro' nos). One of the Titans 
of Greek mythology, son of Uranus and Ge, 
father (by Rhea) of Hcstia, Demcter, Hera, 
Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. He dethroned his 
father as ruler of the world, and was in turn 
dethroned by his son, Zeus. By the Romans 
he was identified with Saturn (q.v.). 

Ku Klux Klan (ko kinks kian). A secret society 
in the southern U.S.A. that was founded in 
Pulaski, Tenn., in 1865, at the close of the 




Kudos 


527 


L.S.T. 


Civil War. It was originally a social club with 
a fanciful ritual and uniform that easily 
terrified the Negroes. The organization rapidly 
increased in numbers and, together with a 
similar society known as the White Cameiias 
(1867) it overawed the whole black population 
of the South until 1870. Its policy for securing 
white supremacy was carried to the most 
extreme lengths and its murders and terrorism 
grew so numerous and formidable that in 1871 
an Act of Congress was passed suppressing it. 

The Ku Klux Klan was fully organized, the 
whole of the South forming its Invisible 
Empire under a Grand Wizard. Each State 
was a Realm under a Grand Dragon ; a number 
of counties made a Dominion ruled by a Grand 
Titan; each county was a Province under a 
Grand Giant, the Provinces themselves being 
divided into Dens, each under a Grand 
Cyclops. Private members were called Ghouls 
and the minor officials had fantastic titles such 
as Furies, Goblins, Night Hawks, etc. 

In 1915 the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan 
came into existence at Atlanta, Georgia, and in 
the hysteria following World War I the 
movement swept the South. It admitted to 
membership only native-born, white, Gentile, 
Protestant Americans and rom 1922 until 1925 
it controlled elections and politics in several 
of the Southern States. But its violent views 
defeated its own ends and by 1927 the society 
was moribund. 

Kudos (kG' dos) (Gr. renown). A slang or 
colloquial phrase for credit, fame, glory. 

Kufic (ku' fik). Ancient Arabic letters; so called 
from Kufa, a town in the pashalic of Bagdad, 
noted for expert copyists of the ancient 
Arabic MSS. 

Kufic coins. Mohammedan coins with Kufic 
or ancient Arabic characters. The first were 
struck in the eighteenth year of the Hegira 
(a.d. 639-40). 

Kultur (kul tur'). The German system of 
intellectual, moral, aesthetic, economic, and 
political progress, which is characterized by 
the subordination of the individual to the State, 
and through the power of which it was hoped 
that“ Kultur” would be imposed on the rest 
of the world. 

It does not mean the same as English 
culture , which is translated by Bildung. 

Kulturkampf. In German history, the long 
and bitter struggle (Ger. Kampf) which took 
place in the ’seventies of last century between 
Bismarck and the Vatican, with the idea of 
ensuring the unity of the new Empire and 
protecting the authority of its government 
against outside interference. Many laws were 
assed against the Roman Catholic hierarchy, 
ut political complications very soon brought 
about the repeal of the more oppressive, and 
the Catholics were left practically in their old 
position. 

Kuomintang (kwo min t&ng). A Chinese 
political party formed by Sun Yat-sen in 1912 
on the foundation of the Chinese Republic. A 
combination of several political groups, it 
came into power in 1927 under the leadership 


of General Chiang Kai-shek. The three 
Chinese words mean “nation,’* “people,” 
“party” and may be translated as “National 
Party.” 

Kurma. See Avatar. 

Kursaal (kur' sal) (Ger. Kur, cure; Saal t room). 
A public room or building for the use of 
visitors, especially at German watering places 
and health resorts. 

Kuru (koo' roo). A noted legendary hero of 
India, the contests of whose descendants form 
the subject of two Indian epics. He was a 
prince of the lunar race, reigning over the 
country round Delhi. 

Kyle (kll). The central district of Ayrshire. 
Kyle for a man, Carrick for a coo [cow], 
Cunningham for butter, Galloway for woo* [wool]. 
Kyle, a strong corn-growing soil; Carrick, a 
wild hilly portion, only fit for feeding cattle; 
and Cunningham, a rich dairy land. 

Kyrfe Eleison (ki ri & e l!' son) (Gr. “Lord have 
mercy”). The short petition used in the 
liturgies of the Eastern and Western Churches, 
as a response at the beginning of the Mass and 
in the Anglican Communion Service. Also, 
the musical setting for this. 

Kyrle Society, The (kerl). Founded 1877 
for decorating the walls of hospitals, school- 
rooms, mission-rooms, cottages, etc.; for the 
cultivation of small open spaces, window 
gardening, the love of flowers, etc.; and 
improving the artistic taste of the poorer 
classes. It was named in memory of John Kyrle 
(1637-1724), the “Man of Ross.” See Ross. 


L 

L. This letter, the twelfth of the alphabet, in 
Phoenician and Hebrew represents an ox-goad, 
lamed , and in the Egyptian hieroglyphic a 
lioness. 

L, for a pound sterling, is the Lat. libra , a 
pound. In the Roman notation it stands for 
50, and with a line drawn above the letter, for 
50,000. 4 

LL.D. Doctor of Laws — i.e. both civil and 
canon. The double L is the plural, as in MSS., 
the plural of MS. (manuscript), pp., pages, etc. 

L.S. Lat. locus sigilli , that is, the place for the 
seal. 

L. S. D. Lat. libra (a pound) ; solidus (a shilling); 
and denarius (a penny); introduced by the 
Lombard merchants, from whom also we 
have Cr. (creditor), Dr. (debtor), bankrupt , do. 
or ditto , etc. 

L.S.T. Landing Ship Tank. A form of vessel 
developed in World War II which was of 
sufficiently shallow draught to carry its cargo 
of tanks near enough inshore for them to drive 
out of the bows, which opened, and get ashore 
under their own power. 


La Belle Sauvage 


528 


Lackadaisical 


La Belle Sauvage (la bel s6 vazhO. The site on 
the north side of Ludgate Hill occupied by 
the House of Cassell from 1852 until May 1 1th, 
1941, when the whole area was demolished 
in an air raid. It took its name from the inn 
that stood there, noted for the dramatic per- 
formances that took place in its courtyard in 
the 16th and early 17th centuries, and as the 
starting-place for coaches to the eastern 
counties in the 18th century, and until the 
advent of railways. As early as 1530 it appears 
as ‘The Belle Savage,” and in 1555 as “ ‘la 
Bell Savage* otherwise ‘le Bell Savoy.’ ” The 
inn would seem to have been originally called 
“The Bell,” or “The Bell on the Hoop” (the 
latter was common as part of inn names) and, 
at some early date, to have been owned by one 
“Savage”; for, in a deed enrolled in the Close 
Rolls of 1453 John Frensh confirms to his 
mother Joan Frensh 

all that tenement or inn with its appurtenance called 
Savages ynn, alias vocat “le Belle on the Hope,” in the 
parish of St. Bridget in Fleet Street. 

(Fleet Street at that time extended up Ludgate 
Hill as far as the Old Bailey.) 

La Mancha, the Knight of (la man' cha). Don 
Quixote de la Mancha, the hero of Cervantes’ 
romance Don Quixote. La Mancha, an old 
province of Spain, is now a part of Ciudad Real. 

La-di-da (la' d6 da'). A yea-nay sort of fellow, 
with no backbone; an affected fop with a 
drawl in his* voice. Also used adjectivally, as 
“in a la-di-da” sort of way. 

The phrase was popularized by a song sung 
by the once-famous Arthur Lloyd, the refrain 
of which was : — 

La-di-da, la-di-do. I’m the pet of all the ladies, 

The darlings like to flirt with Captain La-di-da-di-do. 

Labarum (l&b' & rum). The standard borne be- 
fore the Roman emperors. It consisted of a 
gilded spear, with an eagle on the top, while 
from a cross^staff hung a splendid purple 
streamer, with a gold Fringe, adorned with 
precious stones. Constantine substituted a 
crown for the eagle, and inscribed in the midst 
the mysterious monogram. See Cross. 

Labour Party. One of the great political parties 
of Great Britain. It was founded in 1900 for 
the express purpbse of securing the representa- 
tion of the working classes in Parliament. At 
the General Election of 1906, 29 out of 50 
candidates were successful; in 1924 the first 
Labour Government was formed under Ram- 
say MacDonald, though it lasted only 9 months. 
In 1929 Labour came once again into power. 
The decision of some of its leaders to head 
the National Government called for in the 
economic crisis of 1931 led to the alienation of 
the majority of their followers. A small num- 
ber of Labour Ministers nevertheless took 
office in the Conservative-dominated National 
Government formed after the General Elec- 
tion of 1935. The Labour Party gave its full 
support to Mr. Churchill’s wartime coalition, 
in which its leaders held high office from 1940 
to 1945. After World War II Labour swept the 
country in the General Election of 1945, was 
returned again in 1950 with a small majority 
over all the other parties and gave way to a 
Conservative Government in October 1951. 


Labour Day is a legal holiday in the U.S.A. 
and some provinces of Canada. It is held on 
the first Monday in September “in honour of 
the labouring class.” 

The labourer is worthy of his hire ( Luke x, 7). 
In Latin : Dtgna cams pabulo. “The dog must be 
bad indeed that is not worth a bone.” Hence 
the Mosaic law, “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox 
that treadeth out the com.” 

The Statute of Labourers. An attempt made 
in 1349 to fix the rate of wages at which 
labourers should be compelled to work. It 
followed the “Black Death,” and decreed that 
the men must work for their former employers, 
and at the old wages. 

Labyrinth (lab' i rinth). A Greek word of un- 
known (but probably Egyptian) origin, 
denoting a mass of buildings or garden walks, 
so complicated as to puzzle strangers to 
extricate themselves; a maze. The maze at 
Hampton Court, formed of high hedges, is a 
labyrinth on a small scale. The chief labyrinths 
of antiquity are : — 

(1) The Egyptian, by Petesuchis or Tithoes, near 
the Lake Maeris. It had 3,000 apartments, half of 
which were underground (1800 b.c.). — Pliny, xxxvi, 
13; and Pomponius Mela , I, ix. 

(2) The Cretan, by Dtedalus, for imprisoning the 
Minotaur. The only means of finding a wav out of it 
was by help of a skein of thread. (See Virgil: /Eneid , 
V.) 

(3) The Cretan conduit, which had 1,000 branches 
or turnings. 

(4) The Lemnian, by the architects Smilis, Rholus, 
and Theodorus. It had 150 columns, so nicely ad- 
justed that a child could turn them. Vestiges of this 
labyrinth were still in existence in the time of Pliny. 

(5) The labyrinth of Clusium, made by Lars Por- 
sena. King of Etruria, for his tomb. 

(6) The Samian, by Theodorus (540 b.c.). Referred 
to by Plinv; by Herodotus, II, 145; by Strabo, X; and 
by Diodorus Siculus. I. 

(7) The labyrinth at Woodstock, built by Henry II 
to protect Fair Rosamond. 

Lac of Rupees. One hundred thousand rupees. 
The nominal value of the Indian rupee is Is. 6d., 
and at this rate of exchange a lac of rupees is 
equivalent to £7,500. Its value varies, how- 
ever, according to the market value of silver. 
Lace. I’ll lace your jacket for you, beat you, flog 
you severely. Perhaps a play on the word lash. 

Laced Mutton. See Mutton. 

Tea or coffee laced with spirits. A cup of tea 
or coffee qualified with brandy or whisky. 

Deacon Bearclilf . . . had his pipe and his teacup, 
the latter being laced with a little spirits. — Scott: 
Guy Manner ing, ch. xi. 

Lacedaemonians, The. See Regimental Nick- 
names. 

Lacedaemonian Letter. The Greek i (iota), 
the smallest of the letters. See Jot. 

Laches (l&sh' iz). A legal term, from the Old 
French laschesse , meaning negligence, especi- 
ally any inexcusable delay in making a claim. 
Lachesis (l&k' e sis). The Fate who spins life’s 
thread, working into the woof the events 
destined to occur. See Fate. 

Lackadaisical. Affectedly languid, pensive, 
sentimental. The word is an extension of the 
old lackadaisy , which, in its turn, is an ex- 
tended form of lackaday! or alackaday! an 
exclamation of regret, sorrow, or grief. 




Lack-learning Parliament 


529 


Lostrygones 


Lack-learning or Unlearned Parliament was the 
name given to the Parliament which met at 
Coventry in 1404. It was so called because 
Edward III, in 1372, had directed that no 
lawyers should be returned to Parliament as 
members. 

Laconic (la con' ik). Pertaining to Laconia or 
Sparta; hence very concise and pithy, for the 
Spartans were noted for their brusque and 
sententious speech. When Philip of Macedon 
wrote to the Spartan magistrates, “If I enter 
Laconia, I will level Lacedaemon to the 
ground,” the ephors sent back the single word, 
“If.” Caesar’s dispatch “Veni, vidi, vici” ( q.v .) 
and Sir Charles Napier’s apocryphal “Peccavi” 
(q.v.) are well-known examples of laconicisms. 

Lacrosse (la kros). A ball game originally 
played by N. American Indians and now the 
national game of Canada. The ball is of rubber; 
it is caught in a net-like racket and thrown 
through a goal. The playing space between the 
goals varies from 100 to 150 yards; the goal 
osts at either end are 6 ft. apart and 6 ft. 
igh. There are twelve players on a side, and 
the object of the game is to score goals by 
kicking, striking or carrying the ball on the 
crosse, in which lies the great art of the game. 
Ladas (la' das). Alexander’s messenger, noted 
for his swiftness of foot, mentioned by Catullus, 
Martial, and others. 

Ladon (la 7 don). The name of the dragon which 
guarded the apples of the Hesperidcs ( q.v.) t 
also of one of the dogs of Action. 

Ladrones (la' dronz). The island of thieves; 
so called, in 1519, by Magellan, on account of 
the thievish habits of the aborigines. 

Lady. Literally “the bread-maker,” as lord 
(q.v.) is “the bread-guarder.” O.E. hlcefdige , 
from hlaf y loaf, and a supposed nouu dige, a 
kneader, connected with Gothic deigan , to 
knead. The original meaning was simply the 
female head of the family, the “house-wife.” 

Dark Lady of the Sonnets. The woman about 
whom Shakespeare wrote the sonnets num- 
bered cxxvii-clii. It has been conjectured by 
some, without very strong evidence, that she 
was Mary Fitton, a maid of honour to 
Elizabeth I. 

Naked Lady. See Naked. 

Ladybird, Ladyfly, or Ladycow. The small 
red coleopterous insect with black spots, 
Coccinella septempunctata , called also Bishop 
Barnabee ( q.v .), and, in Yorkshire, the Cush- 
cow Lady. The name means bird (or beetle) of 
Our Lady, and so called because of the wonder- 
ful service it performs by feeding exclusively 
on greenfly, one of the worst plant pests. 

Lady Bountiful. The original character comes 
from Farquhar’s Beaux' Stratagem (1707), 
and about a century later the term acquired 
the generic application in use today. 

Lady Chapel. The small chapel east of the 
altar, or behind the screen of the high altar, 
dedicated to the Virgin Mary. 

Lady Day. March 25th, to commemorate 
the Annunciation of Our Lady, the Virgin 
Mary. It used to be called “St. Mary’s Day in 
Lent” to distinguish it from other festivals in 


honour of the Virgin^ which were also, 

E roperly speaking, “Lady Days.” Until 1752 
ady Day was the legal beginning of the year, 
and dates between January 1st and that day 
were shown with the two years, e.g. January 
29th, 1648/9, i.e. January 29th, 1649. 

Lady-killer. A male flirt; a great favourite 
with the ladies or one who devotes himself 
to their conquest. 

Lady Margaret Professor. The holder of the 
Chair of Divinity, founded in 1502, at Cam- 
bridge by Lady Margaret Beaufort (1443- 
1509), the mother of Henry VII, who also 
founded Christ’s (1505) and St. John’s Colleges 
(1508). 

The Lady of England and Normandy. The 
Empress Maud, or Matilda (1 102-67), daughter 
of Henry I of England, and wife of the 
Emperor Henry V of Germany. The title of 
Domina Anglorum was conferred upon her by 
the Council of Winchester, April 7th, 1141. 
(Rymer: Fcedera , i.) 

Charlotte M. Tucker (1823-93), a writer for 
children, used the signature “A.L.O.E.,” 
meaning “A Lady of England.” 

The Lady of the Lake. In the Arthurian 
legends, Vivien, the mistress of Merlin. She 
lived in the midst of an imaginary lake sur- 
rounded by knights and damsels. See Lance- 
lot. 

In Scott’s poem of this name (1810) the lady 
is Ellen Douglas, who lived with her father 
near Loch Katrine. 

The Lady of the Lamp. A name given to 
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) because she 
went the rounds of the hospital wards in Scutari 
during the Crimean war, carrying a lighted 
lamp. 

Our Lady of Mercy. A Spanish order of 
knighthood, instituted in 1218 by James I of 
Aragon, for the deliverance of Christian 
captives amongst the Moors. Within the first 
six years, as many as 400 captives were 
rescued by these knights. 

Our Lady of the Rock. A miraculous image 
of the Virgin found bv the wayside between 
Salamanca and Ciudad Rodrigo in 1409. 

The Lady of Shalott. See SkALOTT. 

Our Lady of the Snows. A fanciful name, 
given by Kipling in The Five Nation# (1903) to 
Canada. 

Lady’s Mantle. See Alchemilla. 

Lady’s Smock. A common name for the 
Cuckoo-flower or garden cress ( Cardamine 
pratensis ); also sometimes applied to the 
convolvulus, Canterbury bells, and Other 
flowers. So-called because the flowers are sup- 
posed to resemble linen exposed to bleach on 
the grass. 

The Ladies’ Mile. A stretch of the road on 
the north side of the Serpentine, Hyde Park, 
much favoured in Victorian days by “equest- 
riennes.” The Coaching and Four-in-Hand 
Clubs held their meets there in spring. 

Ladies’ Plate. Formerly, a horse-race in 
which the riders were women. 

Lsestrygones. See Lestrioons. 


Ltttare Sunday 


530 


Lambert) Daniel 


Lietare Sunday (le ta' ri) ( i.e . Rejoice Sunday, 
Lat.). The fourth Sunday in Lent, so called 
from the first word of the Introit, which is from 
If, Ixvi, 10: “ Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and 
be glad with her, all ye that love her.” It is on 
this day that the Pope blesses the Golden Rose. 

It is also known as Mothering Sunday, from 
the indulgence granted by Mother Church at 
mid-Lent, or to the old custom of visiting the 
cathedral or mother church on that day. 

Lag. An old English slang term for a convict, 
especially one under sentence of transporta- 
tion. An old lag was a phrase used in Australia 
to describe a convict who had served his 
sentence, or a ticket-of-leave man. 

Lagado (Id ga' do). In Swift’s Gulliver's Travels , 
the capital of Balnibarbi, celebrated for its 
grand academy of projectors, where the 
scholars spend their time in such projects as 
making pincushions from softened rocks, ex- 
tracting sunbeams from cucumbers, and con- 
verting ice into gunpowder. 

Lagan, or Ligan (ldg' dn, lig' an). Goods 
thrown overboard, but marked by a buoy in 
order to be found again. An Anglo-Fr. word, 
probably connected with Icel. lagnir , a sea-net. 

Lagniappe (ldn yap"). A phrase from the 
Southern States of U.S.A. meaning a sort of 
token gift given to a customer with his pur- 
chase, by way of compliment or as good 
measure, j The word comes from the Am.- 
Spanish & uapa , the gift. 

Laid. The term used in the paper trade for the 
ribbed appearance in papers, due to manu- 
facture on a mould or by a dandy on which the 
wires are laid side by side instead of being 
woven transversely. 

Lais (la' is). The name of two celebrated Greek 
courtesans; the earlier was the most beautiful 
woman of Corinth, and lived at the time of the 
Peloponnesian War. The beauty of Lais the 
Second so excited the jealousy of the Thessa- 
Ionian women that they pricked her to death 
with th£ir bodkins. She was the contemporary 
and rival of Phryne and sat to Apelles as a 
model. Demosthenes tells us that Lais sold her 
favours for 10,000 (Attic) drachmae (about 
£300). 

Laissez jaire (la si far) (Fr. let alone). The 
principle pf allowing things to look after 
themselves, especially the policy of non- 
interference by Government in commercial 
affairs. The phrase comes from the motto of 
the mid- 18th century “Physiocratic” school of 
French economists, Laissez faire , laissez passer 
(leL us alone, let us have free circulation for 
our goods), who wished to have all customs 
duties abolished and thus anticipated the later 
Free-traders. 

Lake Dwellings. Prehistoric human dwellings 
on certain lakes in Switzerland, Ireland, etc., 
built on piles at their shallow edges. The 
remains found in various examples show 
that tpost of them are indeed prehistoric; but 
there are also some of mediaeval origin. 

Lake School, The. The name applied in 
derision by the Edinburgh Review to Words- 
worth, Coleridge, and Southey, who resided 


in the Lake District of England, and sought 
inspiration in the simplicity of nature; it was 
also applied to the writers who followed them. 
Charles Lamb, Charles Lloyd, and “Christ- 
opher North” (John Wilson) are sometimes 
placed among the “Lake Poets” or “Lakers.” 

Lakh. See Lac. 

Lakin. By’rjakin. An oath, meaning “By our 
Ladykin,” or Little Lady, where little does not 
refer to size, but is equivalent to dear. 

ByT lakin, a parlous [perilous) fear. — A Midsummer 
Night's Dream , III, i. 

Laksnii or Lakshnii. One of the consorts of 
the Hindu god Vishnu, and mother of Kama. 
She is the goddess of beauty, wealth, and 
pleasure, and the Ramayana describes her as 
springing from the foam of the sea. 

Lama. The Tibetan word blama ( b silent) for a 
Buddhist priest or monk. The Grand Lama or 
Dalai Lama (the Sacred Lama) was the ruler 
of Tibet, under the more or less nominal 
suzerainty of China. The present Dalai Lama 
has been living in exile in India since the 
establishment of the Chinese Communist 
regime in Tibet. The Teshu, or Tashi, Lama 
is the chief lama of Mongolia. The religion 
of both Mongolia and Tibet is called Lamaism 
and is a corrupt form of Buddhism. The priests 
are housed in great monasteries known as 
lamaseries. 

Lamb. In Christian art, an emblem of the 
Redeemer, in allusion to John i, 29, “Behold 
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin 
of the world.” 

It is also the attribute of St. Agnes, St. 
Genevieve, St. Catherine, and St. Regina. 
John the Baptist either carries a lamb or is 
accompanied by one. It is also introduced 
symbolically to represent any of the “types” 
of Christ; as Abraham, Moses, and so on. 

Lamb-ale. The “ale,” or merry-making 
formerly given by the farmer when his lambing 
was over. Cp. Church-ale. 

Lamb’s wool. A beverage consisting of the 
juice of apples roasted with spiced ale. 

The pulpe of the roasted apples, in number foure or 
five . . . mixed in a wine quart of faire water, laboured 
together untill it come to be as apples, and ale, which 
we call lambes wool. — Johnson's Gerard , p. 1460. 

The Vegetable, Tartarian, or Scythian Lamb. 
The woolly rootstalk of a polypodiaceous fern 
(Dicksonia barometz ), found in the Far East, 
and supposed in mediaeval times to be a kind 
of hybrid animal and vegetable. The down is 
used in India for staunching wounds. 

And there groweth a maner of Fruyt, as thoughe it 
weren Gowrdes; and whan thei ben rype, men kutten 
hem a to, and men fynden with inne a lytylle Best, in 
Flessche, in Bon and Blode, as though it were a lytylle 
Lomb, withouten Wollc. And men eten bothe the Frut 
and the Best; and that is a gret Marveylle. — Travels oj 
Sir John Mandeville, Kt. (Mid-14th cent.). 

Lambert, Daniel (1770-1809). Lambert was 
the most corpulent man of whom there is any 
record. In the year 1793 when he was 23 years 
of age, he weighed thirty-two stone, and at his 
death no less than fifty-two and three-quarters 
stone. From 1791 until 1805 he was keeper of 
Leicester Gaol, after which he came to London, 
where he exhibited himself “to select com- 
pany.” 




Lambert’s Day 


531 


Lance 


Lambert’s Day, St. September 17th. St. 
Lambert, a native of Maestricht, lived in the 
7th century. 

Be ready, as your lives shall answer it. 

At Coventry, upon St. Lambert’s day. 

Ricfprd //, I, i. 

Lambeth. A metropolitan borough of London 
on the South side of the River. 

Lambeth degrees in divinity,.- arts, law, 
medicine, and music are degrees conferred by 
the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was so 
empowered by an Act of Parliament of 1534. 

Lambeth Palace. The official residence of the 
archbishops of Canterbury since 1197. The 
palace was built by Hubert Walter, Archbishop 
of Canterbury, 1193-1205. The followers of 
Wat Tyler raided the palace on June 14th, 
1381, destroyed many valuable books and 
papers and ended by beheading the archbishop, 
Simon of Sudbury. The library and chapel were 
damaged in an air-raid in 1941. 

Lambeth Walk is a thoroughfare in Lambeth 
leading from Broad Street to the Lambeth 
Road. It gave its name to a Cockney dance that 
became immensely popular in the early 1940s, 
introduced by Lupino Lane in a show entitled 
“Me and my Gal.” 

Lamia (la' mi a). A female phantom, whose 
name was used by the Greeks and Romans as 
a bugbear to children. She was a Libyan queen 
beloved by Jupiter, but robbed of her offspring 
by the jealous Juno; and in consequence she 
vowed vengeance against all children, whom 
she delighted to entice and devour. 

... a troop of nice wantons, fair women, that like to 
Lamias had faces like angels, eies like stars, brestes 
like the golden front in the Hesperides, but from the 
middle downwards their shapes like serpents. — 
Greene: A Quip for an Upstart Courtier (1592). 

Witches in the Middle Ages were called 
Lamia, and Keats’s poem Lamia (1820), which 
relates how a bride when recognized returned 
to her original serpent form, represents one 
of the many superstitions connected with the 
race. Keats’s story came (through Burton) from 
Philostratus’ De Vita Apollonii, Bk. IV. In 
Burton’s rendering, the sage Apollonius, on 
the wedding night — 

found her out to be a serpent, a lamia . . . When she 
saw herself descried, she wept, and desired Apollonius 
to be silent, but he would not be moved, and there- 
upon she, plate, house, and all that was in it, vanished 
in an instant; many thousands took notice of this fact, 
for it was done in the midst of Greec c.—Anatomy of 
Melancholy , Pt. Ill, sect, ii, mernb. i, subsect. i. 

Lammas Day (lam' as). August 1st; one of the 
regular quarter days in Scotland, and in 
England the day on which, in Anglo-Saxon 
times, the first-fruits were offered. So called 
from O.E. hlafmoesse , the loaf-mass. See also 
Llbw Llaw Gyffes. 

At latter Lammas. A humorous way of say- 
ing “Never.” 

Lamourette’s Kiss (la moo ret'). A term used in 
France ( baiser Lamourette ) to denote an in- 
sincere or ephemeral reconciliation. On July 
7th, 1792, the Abb6 Lamourette induced the 
different factions of the Legislative Assembly 
to lay aside their differences and give the kiss 
of peace; but the reconciliation was unsound 
ana very short-lived. 


Lamp. The Lamp of Heaven. The moon. Milton 

calls the stars “lamps.” ’ 

Why shouldst thou ... * 

In thy dark lantern thus close up the stars, 

That Nature hung in heaven, and filled their lamps 

With everlasting oil, to give due light 

To the misled and lonely traveller? 

Comus , 200-204. 

The Lamp of Phcebus. The sun. Phoebus is 
the mythological personification of the sun. 

The Lamp of the Law. Irnerius the Italian 
jurist was so called. He was the first to lecture 
on the Pandects of Justinian after their 
discovery at Amalfi in 1137. 

Sepulchral lamps. The Romans are said to 
have preserved lamps in some of their sepul- 
chres for centuries, and many legends are told 
of their never dying, in the papacy of Paul III 
(1534-40) one was found in the tomb of Tullia 
(Cicero’s daughter), which had been shut up 
for 1,550 years, and at the dissolution of the 
monasteries a lamp was found which is said 
to have been burning 1,200 years. Two are 
preserved in Leyden museum. 

It smells of the lamp. Said of a literary 
composition that bears manifest signs of mid- 
night study; one that is over-laboured. In Lat. 
olet lucer/iam. 

Lampadion (ISm pa' di on). The received name 
of a lively, petulant courtesan, in the later 
Greek comedy. 

Lampoon. A sarcastic or scurrilous 'personal 
satire, fco called from Fr. tampons , let us drink, 
which formed part of the refrain of a 17th- 
century French drinking song. 

These personal and scandalous libels, carried 
to excess in the reign of Charles II, acquired 
the name of lampoons from the burden sung 
to them: “Lampone, lampone, * cditierada 
lampone” — Guzzler, guzzler, njy felldw guz- 
zler* *4' f 

Lampos and Pha*ton (l&m' pos, fa' ton). The 
two steeds of Aurora. One of Actaeoti’s dogs 
was also called Lampos. ] 

Lancastcrian (lan kas ter' i an). Of or pertain- 
ing to Joseph Lancaster (1778-1838), an 
educational reformer who introduced the 
monitorial system into schools. 

Lancastrian (l&n kas' tri an). An adherent of 
the Lancastrian line of kings, or orft^bf these 
kings (Henry IV, V, VI), who were descended 
from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, 
third son of Edward 111, as opposed to 
the Yorkists , who sprang from Edmund, 
Duke of York, Edward Ill’s fourth son. The 
Lancastrian badge was the red rose and the 
Yorkist the white. * 

Lance. An attribute in Christian art of St. 
Matthew and St. Thomas, the apostles; also 
of St. Longinus, St. George, St. Adalbert, St. 
Barbara, St. Michael, and several others. 

A free lance. One who acts on his own judg- 
ment, and not from party motives; a journalist, 
musician, etc. who is not definiteljfatta^Jiedto, 
or on the salaried staff of, any one organization. 

The reference is to the Free Companies of 
the Middle Ages, called in Italy condo t fieri 
and in France compagnies grandes, which were 


Lance-corporal 


532 


Language 


free and willing to sell themselves to any 
master and any cause, good or bad. 

Lance-corporal. # A private soldier acting as a 
corporal, usually as a first step to being pro- 
moted to that rank. Similarly, a lance-sergeant 
is a corporal who performs the duties of a 
sergeant on probation. 

Lance-knight. An old term for a foot- 
soldier; a corruption of lansquenet or lance - 
quenet, a German foot-soldier. 

Lancers. The dance so called, an amplified 
kind of quadrille, was introduced by Laborde 
from Paris in 1836. It is in imitation of military 
evolutions in which men used lances. 

Lancelot du Lac. One of the earliest romances 
of the Round Table (1494). 

Sir Lancelot was the son of King Ban of 
Brittany, but was stolen in infancy by Vivien, 
the Lady of the Lake (</.v.); she plunged with 
the babe into the lake (whence the cognomen 
of du Lac), and when her protest was grown 
into man’s estate, presented him to King 
Arthur. Sir Lancelot went in search of the 
Grail (tf.v.), and twice caught sight of it. 
Though always represented in the Arthurian 
romances as> the model of chivalry, bravery, 
and fidelity. Sir Lancelot was the adulterous 
lover of Guinevere, wife of King Arthur, his 
friend, and it was through this love that the 
war, which resulted in the disruption of the 
Round Table and the death of Arthur, took 
place. ^ , 

Land. The Land of Beulah (Is. lxii, 4). In 
Pilgrim's Progress it is that land of heavenly 
joy where the pilgrims tarry till they are 
summoned to enter the Celestial City. 

The Land of Cakes. See Cake. 

Land/ of Enchantment. A name given to 
Mexico#* 1 * 

Land of Nod. This was the land to which 
Cain was exiled after he had slain Abel (Gen. 
iv, 16). Swift, in A Complete Collection o f 
Genteehand Ingenious Conversation , said that 
he wa% *%)ing into the land of Nod,” and 
meant that he was going to sleep, which 
meaning it has retained ever since. 

The Land o’ the Leal. The land of the faithful 
or blessed; a Scotticism for a Happy Land or 
Heaven, as in Lady Nairn’s song — 

I’m wearin’ awa’ 

* * To the land o’ the leal. 

Land of the Midnight Sun. Norway. In the 
Arctic and Antarctic during summer the sun 
shines at midnight, a phenomenon observable 
from several countries within the high latitudes 
of t^e Arctic Circle. The name has been applied 
only to Norway because there it has been 
observed by visitors more than in any other 
country. 

The Land of Promise, or the Promised Land. 
Canaan, which God promised to give to 
Abraham for his obedience. See Ex. xii, 25, 
Dept . ix, 28, etc. 

The Land of Steady Habits. A name given 
to xhe*State of Connecticut, which was the 
original stronghold of Presbyterianism in 
America and the home of the notorious Blue 
Laws ( q.v .). 


See how the land lies. See whether things are 
propitious or otherwise; see in what state the 
land is that we have to travel over. 

Land-damn. A term of uncertain meaning 
and origin used (possibly inadvertently) by 
Shakespeare and, apparently, by no one else. 

You are abus’d, and by some putter-on 

That will be damn’d for't; would I knew the villain, 

I would land-damn him. Winter's Tale, II, i. 

Land-hunger. A craving for the ownership 
of land; also the state in which the progress of 
a community is retarded because it has not 
sufficient land with which to support, itself. 

Land League. An association of Irish 
extremists formed in Ireland in 1879 to agitate 
for the reduction, or abolition, of rent, 
introduction of peasant proprietorship, and 
the settlement of the land question generally. 

Land-loupers. Vagrants. Louper is from the 
Dutch looper , to run. Persons who fly the 
country for crime or debt. Louper, loper, 
loafer, and luffer are varieties of the German 
Laufer, a vagrant, a runner. 

Land-lubber. An awkward or inexpert sailor 
on board ship. 

Land Office Business. The U.S. government 
in the last century set up offices for the allot- 
ment of Government land. The rush of citizens 
to clairp land at these offices led to the use of 
the above phrase, meaning a tremendous 
amount of business, or a rush of business. 

Land-slide. Used metaphorically of a 
crushing defeat at the polls, or of a complete 
reversal of the votes. 

Landau (lan do). A four-wheeled carriage, the 
top of which may be thrown back; first made 
at Landau, in Bavaria, in the 18th century. 

Landscape. A country scene, or a picture 
representing this. The word comes from Dutch 
scape being connected with our shape , and the 
O.E. scap-an , to shape, to give a form to. The 
old word in English was Landskip. 

Father of landscape gardening. Andre Le- 
notre (1613-1700). 

Landwehr (land' var). In Germany and Switzer- 
land, troops composed of men in civil life who 
have had an army training and are liable to be 
called to the colours in times of national 
emergency. 

Lane. ’Tis a long lane that has no turning. 

Every calamity has an ending. 

Lang Syne (Scot, long since). In the olden 
time, in days gone by. 

Auld Lang Syne, usually attributed to 
Robert Burns, is really a new version by him 
of a very much older song: in Watson’s 
Collection (1711) it is attributed to Francis 
Sempill (d. 1682M>ut it is probably even older. 
Burns says in a letter to Thomson, “It is the 
old song of the olden times, which has never 
been in print. ... I took it down from an old 
man’s singing,” and in another letter, “Light 
be the turf on the heaven-inspired poet who 
composed this glorious fragment.” 

Language. Language was given to men to con- 
ceal their thoughts. See Speech. 




Language 


533 


Larder 


The three primitive languages. The Persians 
say that Arabic, Persian, and Turkish are three 
primitive languages. Legend has it that the 
serpent that seduced Eve spoke Arabic, the 
most suasive language in the world; that Adam 
and Eve spoke Persian, the most poetic of all 
languages: and that the angel Gabriel spoke 
Turkish, the most menacing. 

Langue d’oc ; langue d’oll (lang dok ; lang do il). 
The former is the old Provencal language, 
spoken on the south of the River Loire; the 
latter Northern French, spoken in the Middle 
Ages on the north of that river, the original of 
modern French. So called because our “yes’* 
was in Provencal oc and in the northern speech 
oil, which later became oui (from Lat. hoc illud). 

Lansquenet. See Lance-knight. 

Lantedo. See Adelantado. 

Lantern. In Christian art, the attribute of St. 
Gudule and St. Hugh. 

A la lanterne! Hang him from the lamp-post! 
A cry and custom introduced into Paris during 
the French revolution. Many of the street 
lamps in old Paris were hung from iron 
brackets very suitable for the purpose. 

The feast of lanterns. A popular Chinese 
festival, celebrated at the first full moon of 
each year. Tradition says that the daughter of 
a famous mandarin one evening fell into a lake. 
The father and his neighbours went with 
lanterns to look for her, and happily she was 
rescued. In commemoration thereof a festival 
was ordained, and it grew in time to be the 
celebrated “feast of lanterns.” 

Lantern jaws. Cheeks so thin and hollow 
that one may almost see daylight through them, 
as light shows through the horn of a lantern. 

Lantern Land. The land of literary charla- 
tans, pedantic graduates in arts, doctors, 
professors, prelates, and so on ridiculed as 
“Lanterns” by Rabelais (with a side allusion to 
the divines assembled in conference at the 
Council of Trent) in his Pantagruel , v, 33. Cp . 
City of Lanterns. 

Laocoon (la ok' 6 on). A son of Priam and 
priest of Apollo of Troy, famous for the tragic 
fate of himself and his two sons, who were 
crushed to death by serpents while he was 
sacrificing to Poseidon, in consequence of his 
having offended Apollo. The group represent- 
ing these three in their death agony, now in the 
Vatican, was discovered in 1506, on the 
Esquiline Hill (Rome). It is a single block of 
marble, and is attributed to Agesandrus, 
Athenodorus, and Polydorus of the School of 
Rhodes in the 2nd century b.c. It has been 
restored. 

Lessing called his treatise on the limits of 
poetry and the plastic arts, (1766) Laocoon 
because he uses the famous group as the peg 
on which to hang his dissertation. 

Since I have, as it were, set out from the Laocoon, 
and several times return to it, I have wished to give it 
a share also in the title. — Preface. 

Laodamia (la 6 dim V i). The wife of Protes- 
ilaus, who was slain before Troy. She begged 
to be allowed to converse with her dead 
husband for only three hours, and her request 
was granted; when the respite was over, she 


voluntarily accompanied the dead hero to the 
shades. Wordsworth has a poem on the 
subject (1815). * 

Laodicean (la 6 di se' an). One indifferent to 
religion, caring little or nothing about the 
matter, like the Christians of that church, 
mentioned in the book of Revelation (iii, 14-18). 
Lapithae (lap' i the). A 5 people of Thessaly, 
noted in Greek legend for their defeat of the 
Centaurs at the marriage-feast of Hippodamia, 
when the latter were driven out of Pelion. The 
contest was represented on the Parthenon, the 
Theseum at Athens, the Temple of Appllo at 
Basso, and on numberless vases. \ 

Lapsus Linguae (lap' sus ling' gwe) (Lat.). A 
slip of the tongue, a mistake in uttering a word, 
an imprudent word inadvertently spoken. 

We have also adopted the Latin phrases 
lapsus calami (a slip of the pen), and lapsus 
memorice (a slip of the memory). 

Laputa (la pQ' ta). The flying island inhabited 
by scientific quacks, and visited by Gulliver in 
his “travels”. These dreamy philosophers were 
so absorbed in their speculations that they em- 
ployed attendants called “flappers,” to flap 
them on the mouth and ears with a blown 
bladder when their attention was to be called 
off from “high things” to vulgar mundane 
matters. 

Lapwing. Shakespeare refers to two peculiar- 
ities of this bird: (1) to allure persons from its 
nest, it flies away and cries loudest when 
farthest from its nest; and (2) the young birds 
run from their shells with part thereof still 
sticking to their heads. 

Far from her nest the lapwing cries away. 

Comedy of Errors, IV, li. 

This lapwing runs away with the shell pn his head. 
— Hamlet , V, ii. ^ w> 

The first peculiarity, referred to dn Ray’s 
Proverbs , as well as by other dramatists and 
also by Shakespeare himself in other passages, 
made the lapwing a symbol of insincerity; and 
the second that of a forward person, ope who 
is scarcely hatched. 

Lar. See Lares. r 

Larboard. See Starboard and Larboard. 

Larder. A place for keeping bacon (Lat. 
laridum ), from O.Fr. lardier or lardoir , a 
storeroom for bacon. This shows t^at' swine 
were the chief animals salted and preserved 
in olden times. 

The Douglas Larder. The English garrison 
and all its provisions in Douglas Castle, 
Lanark, seized by “the Good” Lord James 
Douglas, in 1307. 

He caused all the barrels containing flour, rifeat, 
wheat, and malt to be knocked in pieces, and their 
contents mixed on the floor; then he staved the great 
hogsheads of wine and ale, and mixed the liquor with 
the stores; and last of all, he killed the prisoners, and 
flung the dead bodies among thif disgusting heap, 
which his men called, in derision of the English, “The 
Douglas Larder.”— Scott: Tales of a Grandfather ix. 

Robin Hood’s Larder. See Oaks. * 

Wallace’s Larder is very similar to»DQllfe- 
las’s. It consisted of the dead bodies of the 
garrison of Ardrossan, in Ayrshire, cast into 
the dungeon keep. The castle was surprised 
by Wallace in the reign of Edward I. 



Lares and Penates 


534 


Last 


Lares and Penates. Used as a collective ex- 
ression for home, and for those^ personal 
elongings that make home homely and 
individual. In ancient Romfc the lares (sing. 
lar) were the household gods, usually deified 
ancestors or heroes: the penates were also 
guardian deities of the household (and the 
State), but were more in the nature of personi- 
fications of the natural powers, their duty 
being to bring wealth and plenty rather than 
to protect and ward off danger. The Lar 
familiaris was the spirit of the founder of the 
house, which never left it, but accompanied 
his descendants in all their changes. 

w 

Large. A vulgarism for excess, as That’s all 
very fine and large, that’s a trifle steep, “coming 
it a bit thick,” etc.; To talk large , to brag, 
“swank” in conversation, talk big; a large 
order> an exaggerated claim or statement, a 
difficult undertaking. 

To sail large. A nautical phrase for to sail 
with the wind not straight astern, but “abaft 
the beam.” 

Set at large. At liberty. It is a French 
phrase; prendre la large is to stand out to sea, 
or occupy the main ocean, so as to be free to 
move. Similarly, to be set at large is to be 
placed free in the wide world. 

Lark. A spree or frolic. The word is a modern 
adaptation (c. 1800) of the dialectal lake , 
sport, from M.E. laik, play, and O.E. lac , 
contest. Skylark , as in skylarking about, etc., 
is a still more modern extension. Hood plays 
on the two words-— for the name of the bird, 
the old laverock , O.E. laferce , is in no way 
connected with this — in his well-known lines: 

So, Pallas, take thine owl away 

An4 let us have a lark instead! 

When the sky falls we shall catch larks. See 
Sky. 


Last. Last Light. See First Light. 

Last Man, The. Charles I was so called by 
the Parliamentarians, meaning that he would 
be the last king of Great Britain. His son, 
Charles 11, was called The Son of the Last Man. 

Last Supper. Leonardo da Vinci’s famous 
picture of this was painted on a wall of the 
refectory of the convent of Santa Maria delle 
Grazie, Milan, in 1494-97. The artist varied 
the normal tempera with a formula of his own 
which was not a success, hence the painting 
wore badly with time. Although the refectory 
was reduced to ruins by Allied bombs in 
August, 1943, the wall on which the Last 
Supper is painted remained practically un- 
harmed — the picture itself quite undamaged. 
It is now hermetically sealed behind glass 
and thermostatically controlled to prevent 
further deterioration. 

Last Words. See Dying Sayings. 

Last of file Barons, The. Another name given 
to Warwick, the King-maker (r/.v.). 

Last of the Dandies. A title given to Count 
Afred D’Orsay (1801-52). 

Last of the English. Hcreward the Wake 
(fl. 1070-1) who headed the rising of the 
English at Ely against William the Conqueror. 

Last of the Fathers, The. St. Bernard (1091- 
1153), Abbot of Clairvaux. 

Last of the Goths, The. Roderick, who was 
the last of the kings of the Visigoths in Spain, 
and died in 711. Southey has a tale in blank 
verse on him. 

Last of the Greeks, The. The general, 
Philopoemen of Arcadia (253-183 b.c.) 

Last of the Knights, The. The Emperor 
Maximilian I (1459-1519). 


Larrikin (IS' ri kin). An Australian term dating 
from the early 19th century used to describe 
a yourijg, ruffian given to brutal lawlessness. 
These lads formed a recognized stratum of 
society in the country. They flourished 
particularly in the 1880s, had their own 
language and their own style of dress which, 
oddly enough, was recognizable by its exces- 
sive neatness and severe colours. Larrikins 
still exist*; they are obviously distant relatives 
of the Glasgow comer-boy who spends all his 
money on dress and carries a razor in his 
pocket. They are also known as pushers , and 
currency lads. 

La me. A name among the ancient Romans 
forrnalignant spirits and ghosts. The larva or 
ghost of Caligula was often seen (according to 
Suetonius) in his palace. 

[Fear] sometimes representeth strange apparitions, 
as their fathers an$ grandfathers ghosts, risen out of 
their graves, and in their winding-sheets: and to others 
it sometimes sheweth Larves, Hobgoblins, Robbin- 
godfefellowes, and such other Bug-beares and 
Clweraes. — Florto f s Montaigne, I, xvii. 

Lafear. An East Indian sailor employed on 
European vessels. The natives of the East 
Indies call camp-followers lascars. (Hindu lash- 
kar , a soldier.) 


Last of the Romans. A title, or sobriquet, 
given to a number of historical characters, 
among whom are — 

Marcus Junius Brutus (85-42 b.c.), one of 
the murderers of Caesar. 

Caius Cassius Longinus (d. 42 b.c.), so 
called by Brutus. 

Stilicho, the Roman general under Theo- 
dosius. 

Aetius, the general who defended the Gauls 
against the Franks and other barbarians, and 
defeated Attila near Chalons in 451. So called 
by Procopius. 

Francois Joseph Terrasse Desbillons (1711- 
89), a French Jesuit; so called from the elegance 
and purity of his Latin. 

Pope called Congreve Ultimus Romanorum , 
and the same title was conferred on Dr. 
Johnson, Horace Walpole, and C. J. Fox. 

Last of the Saxons, The. King Harold 
(1022-66), who was defeated and slain at the 
Battle of Hastings. 

Last of the Tribunes, The. Cola di Rienzi 
(1314-54), who led the Roman people against 
the barons. 

Last of the Troubadours, The. Jacques 
Jasmin, of Gascony (1798-1864). 




LaTfcne 


535 


Latria 


La Tine (la tan), or The Shallows is a site at 
the eastern end of the Lake of Neuchatel, 
Switzerland, where extensive remains of the 
Second Iron Age have been found. It was 
discovered when the level of the lake was 
lowered, and a number of weapons, ornaments, 
pieces of jewellery, etc., from about 550 b.c. 
until the Christian era were brought to light. 


Lateran (l&t' e r&n). The ancient palace of the 
Laterani, which was appropriated by Nero 
and later given by the Emperor Constantine 
to the popes. Fable derives the name from 
lateo , to hide, and rcma> a frog, and accounts 
for it by saying that Nero once vomited a frog 
covered with blood, which he believed to be 
his own progeny, and had it hidden in a vault. 
The palace built on its site was called the 
“Lateran,” or the palace of the hidden frog. 

Lateran Council. Name given to each of the 
five oecumenical councils held in the Lateran 
Church at Rome. They are (1) 1123, held under 
Calixtus II; it confirmed the Concordat o* 
Worms; (2) 1139, when Innocent ILcondemned 
Anacletus II and Arnold of Brescia; (3) 1179, 
under Alexander III; it was concerned with 
the election of popes; (4) 1215, when Innocent 
III condemned the Albigenses; and (5) 1512-17, 
under Julius II and Leo X, when the Canons 
of the Council of Pisa were abrogated. 

The locality in Rome so called contains the 
Lateran palace, the Piazza, and the Basilica of 
St. John Lateran. The Basilica is the Pope’s 
cathedral church. The palace (once a residence 
of the popes) is now a museum. 

Lateran Treaty. A treaty concluded between 
the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy 
in 1929, granting the Pope jurisdiction 
over territory on the right bank of the Tiber, 
to be known as Vatican City. Thus ended the 
sixty-years’ quarrels between the Papacy and 
the State, and the “Roman Question” was 
finally settled. 

St. John Lateran is called the Mother and 
Head of all Churches. It occupies part of the 
site of the palace, which was escheated to 
the Crown through treason, and given to the 
Church by the Emperor Constantine. 


Lathe. An old division of a county, con- 
taining a number of hundreds. The term is 
now confined to Kent, which is divided into 
five lathes. In Sussex similar county divisions 
are called rapes. 

Spenser, in his Description of Ireland (1596), 
uses lathe or lath for the division of a 

hundred: — , „ , . . 

If all that tything failed, then all that lath was 
that tything; and if the lath failed, then 


...at tything; ana u tne iam ianeu, uicu 
all that hundred was demanded for them [i.e. turbulent 
- * ~ the hundred, then the shire. 


charged for that 
all that hundred u— 
fellows], and if the 1 

Latin. The language spqken by the ancient 
inhabitants of Latium, in Italy, and by the 
ancient Romans. Alba Longa was head of the 
Latin League, and, as Rome was a colony ot 
Alba Longa, it is plain to see how the Roman 
tongue was Latin. . 

The tale is that the name Latium is from 
lateo , I lie hid, and was so called because 
Saturn lay hid there, when he was driven out 
of heaven by the gods. 

According to Roman tradition the Latini 


were the abprigiqes, and Romulus and Remus 
were descended from Lavinia, daughter of 
their king, Latinus (. q.v .). , \ 

The earliest known specimen of the Latin 
language is an inscriptioh on the Praeneste 
fibula (gold brooch) foupd in 1886, and dates 
probably from the 7th Century b.c. 

Classical Latin. The Latin of the best authors 
of the Golden or Augustan Age ( c . 75 B.c. 
to a.d. 145), as Livy, Tacitus, and Cicero 
(prose), Horace, Virgil, and Ovid (poets). 

Dog Latin. See Dog -Latin. 

Late Latini The period which followed the 
Augustan Age, to about a.d* 600; it includes 
the Church Fathers. 

Low Latin. Mediaeval Latin, mainly early 
French, Italian, Spanish, and so on. 

Middle, or Mediaeval, Latin. Latin from the 
6th to the 16th century, both inclusive. In this 
Latin, prepositions frequently supply the cases 
of nouns. 

Thieves' Latin. Cant or jargon employed as 
a secret language by rogues and vagabonds. 

The Latin Church. The Western Church, in 
contradistinction to the Greek or Eastern 
Church. 

The Latin cross. Formed thus : f. ThaXjreek 
cross has four equal arms, thus: 4*. 

The Latin races. The peoples the basis of 
whose language is Latin; i.e. the Italians, 
Spanish, Portuguese, French, Rumanians, 
etc. * 

Latinus (1& ti' nus). Legendary king of the 
Latini, the ancient inhabitants of Latium. See 
Latin. According to Virgil, he opposed ^neas 
op his first landing, but subsequently formed 
ah alliance with him, and gave him his 
daughter, Lavinia, in marriage. Turnus, King 
of the Rutuli, declared that Lavinia had been 
betrothed to him; the issue was decided by 
single combat, and >Eneas being victor, 
obtained Lavinia for his wife and became by 
her the ancestor of Romulus, the mythical 
founder of Rome. 

Latitudinarians (lat i tfl di nfir' i anz). A Church 
of England party in the time of Charles II, 
opposed both to the High Church party and to 
the Puritans. The term is now applied to those 
persons who attach little importance to dogma 
and what are called orthodox doctrines. 


Latium. See Latin. 

Latona (14 to' na). The Roman name of the 
Greek Leto, mother by Jupiter of Apollo alia 
Diana. Milton, in one of his sonnets, refers to 
the legend that when she knelt with her infants 
in arms by a fountain in Delos to quench her 
thirst, some Lycian clowns ippulted her and 

were turned into frogs. 

As when those hinds that were transformed to trass 
Railed at Latona’s twin-born progeny, 

Which after held the sun and moon in fee. , * # 


.atria and Dulia (lat'Tia, da' li a). ureoic 
vords adopted by the Roman Catholics; uie 
ormer to express that supreme reverence and 
idoration which is offered to God alone; and 



Latter-day Saints 


536 


Lavolta 


the latter, fhat secondary reverence qpd adora- 
tion which is offered tp sam<£. Latria«'\s from 
the Greek suffix*d#treiaf worship, as in our 
idolatry', dulia is the reverend of a doulos or 
slave. Hyperdulia fs'the special reverence paid 
to the Virgin Mary. 

Latter-day Saints. See Mormonism. 

Lattice. See Red-Lattice Phrases. 

Laugh. He laughs best that laughs last. A 
game’s not finished till it’s won. In Ray’s 
Collection (1742) is “Better the last smile 
than t&e first laughter,” and the French have 
the proverb Rira bien qui rira le dernier. 

Laugh and gfofr'fat. An old saw, expressive 
of the wisdom of keeping a cheerful mind. 
One of the woYks of Taylor, the Water Poet, 
has the title Laugh and be Fat (c. 1625), and 
in Trapp’s Commentaries (1647), on II Thess. 
iii, 1 1, he says, “Whose whole life is to eat and 
drink . . . and laugh themselves fat.” 

To have the laugh on one. To be able to make 
merry at another’s expense, generally to that 
other’s surprise and confusion. 

To laugh in one’s sleeve. See Sleeve. 

To laugh on the wrong, or the other side of 
one’s mouth. To be made to feel vexation and 
annoyance after mirth or satisfaction; to be 
bitterly disappointed; to cry. 

To laugh out of court. To cover with ridicule 
and so treat as not worth considering. 

To laugh to scorn. To treat with the utmost 
contempt. 

All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot 
out the lip, they shake the head.— Ps. xxii, 7. 

Laughing Murderer of Verdun. Friedrich 
Wilhelm, son of the Kaiser and Crown Prince 
of Germany, who commanded the armies that 
tried to capture Verdun in World War I. He is 
said to have taken lightly the enormous 
casualties sustained by both sides, hence his 
nickname. 

Laughing Philosopher. Democritus of Abdera 
(5th cent, b.c.), who viewed with supreme 
contempt the feeble powers of man. Cp. 
Weeping Philosopher. 

Laughing-stock. A butt for jokes. 

Launcelot. See Lancelot. 

Launfal, Sir (lawn' fal). One of the Knights of 
the Round Table. His story is told in a metrical 
romance written by Thomas Chestre in the 
reign of Henry VI. 

Labra. The girl of this name immortalized by 
Petrarch is generally held to have been Laure 
de Noves, who was born at Avignon in 1308, 
was married in 1325 to Hugues de Sede, and 
died of the plagtte inT348, the mother of eleven 
children. It waSPetrarch’s first sight of her, in 
the church of St. Glara, Avignon, on April 6th, 
,|9fe7 (exactly 21 year* before her death) that, 
todays,* made him a poet 

fjhuf§ (Gr. laura^ an alley). An aggregation of 
separate cells under the control of a superior. 
Iiffcnonasteries the monks live under one roof; 
in lauras they live each in his own cell apart; 


but on certain occasions they assemble and 
meet together, sometimes for a meal, and 
sometimes for a religious service. 

Laureate, Poet. See Poet Laureate. 

Laurel. The Greeks gave a wreath of laurels 
to the victor in the Pythian games, but the 
victor in the Olympic games had a wreath of 
wild olives, in the Nemean games a wreath of 
green parsley, and in the Isthmian games a 
wreath of dry parsley or green pine-leaves. 

The ancients believed that laurel communi- 
cated the spirit of prophecy and poetry. Hence 
the custom of crowning the pythoness and 
poets, and of putting laurel leaves under one’s 
pillow to acquire inspiration. Another super- 
stition was that the bay laurel was antagonistic 
to the stroke of lightning; but Sir Thomas 
Browne, in his Vulgar Errors , tells us that Vico- 
mereatus proves from personal knowledge 
that this is by no means true. 

Laurel, in modern times, is a symbol of 
victory and peace, and of excellence in litera- 
ture and the arts. St. Gudule, in Christian art, 
carries a laurel crown. 

Laurentian Library. A library founded by 
Cosimo de’ Medici in 1444, noted for its 
collection of Greek and Latin MSS. 

Laurin (law' rin). The dwarf-king in the Ger- 
man folk-legend Laurin, or Der Kleine 
Rosengarten. He possesses a magic ring, girdle, 
and cap, and is attacked in his rose-garden, 
which no one may enter on pain of death, by 
Dietrich of Bern. The poem belongs to the late 
13th century, and is attributed to Heinrich von 
Offerdingen. 

Lavender. The earliest form of the word is 
Med. Lat. livendula , and it is probably, like 
our livid , from livere , to make bluish; as, 
however, the plant has for centuries been used 
by laundresses for scenting linen, and in 
connexion with the bath, later forms of the 
word are associated with lavare , to wash. The 
modern botanical name is Lavandula. It is a 
token of affection. 

He from his lass him lavender hath sent. 

Showing her love and doth requital crave. 

Drayton: Eclogue . 

Laid up in lavender. Taken great care of, laid 
away. 

The poore gentleman paies so deere for the lavender 
it is laid up in, that if it lies long at the broker’s house 
he seems to buy his apparel twice. — Greene: A Quip 
for an Upstart Courtier (1592). 

Lavinia (l&v in' i &). Daughter of Latinus (<?.v.), 
betrothed to Turnus, King of the Rutuli. When 
;4Zneas landed in Italy, Latinus made an 
alliance with the Trojan hero, and promised 
to give him Lavinia to wife. This brought on a 
war between Turnus and >4Eneas, which was 
decided by single combat, in which iEneas was 
victor (Virgil: /Eneid , VI). 

Shakespeare gives the name to the daughter 
of Titus Andronicus in the play of that name. 

Lavolta (la vol' ti) (Ital. the turn). A lively 
dance, in which was a good deal of jumping or 
capering, whence its name. Troilus says, “I 
cannot sing, nor heel the high lavolt” ( Troilus 
and Cressida , IV, iv). It originated in the 16th 




Law 


537 


Lazar House 


century in Provence or Italy, and is thus 
described: — 

A lofty jumping or a leaping round, 

Where arm in arm two dancers are entwined, 

And whirl themselves with strict embracements bound, 
And still their feet an anapest do sound. 

Sir John Davies: The Orchestra (1594). 

Law. In-laws. A way of referring to one’s 
relations by marriage — mother-in-law, sisters- 
in-law, etc. Jn-law is short for in Canon law , 
the reference being to the degrees of affinity 
within which marriage is allowed or prohibited. 

Law-calf. A bookseller’s term for a special 
kind of binding in plain sheep or calf used 
largely for law-books. 

Gentlemen who had no briefs to show carried under 
their arms goodly octavos, with a red label behind, 
and that underdone-pie-crust-coloured cover, which 
is technically known as “law calf.” — Dickens: Pick- 
wick Papers , ch. xxxiv. 

Law Latin. The debased Latin used in legal 
documents. Cp. Dog-Latin. 

Law Lords. Members of the House of Lords 
who are qualified to deal with the judicial 
business of the House, i.e. the Lord 
Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice, the Master 
of the Rolls, the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, 
and such peers as are holding or have held 
high judicial office. 

Law’s Bubble. See Mississippi Bubble. 

Possession is nine points of the law. See Nine. 

Quips of the law. See Cepola. 

The laws of the Medes and Persians. Un- 
alterable laws. 

Now, O king . . . sign the writing, that it be not 
changed, according to the law of the Medes and 
Persians which altereth not, — Dan. vi, 8. 

To give one law. A sporting term, “law” 
meaning the chance of saving oneself. Thus a 
hare or a stag is allowed “law” — i.e. a certain 
start before any hound is permitted to attack 
it; and a tradesman allowed “law” is one to 
whom time is given to “find his legs.” 

To have the law of one. To take legal 
proceedings against him. 

To lay down the law. To speak in a dictatorial 
manner; to give directions or order in an 
offensive and high-handed way. 

To take the law into one’s own hands. To try 
to secure satisfaction by force; to punish, 
reward, etc., entirely on one’s own responsi- 
bility without obtaining the necessary authority. 

Lawn. Fine, thin cambric, used for the 
rochets of Anglican bishops, ladies* handker- 
chiefs, etc. So called from Laon (O.Fr. Lan), 
a town in the Aisne department of France, 
which used to be famous for its linen factories. 

Man of lawn. A bishop. 

Lawn-market. The higher end of the High 
Street, Edinburgh, and the old place for 
executions; hence, to go up the Lawn-market, 
in Scots parlance, means to go to be hanged. 
Up the Lawn-market, down the West Bow, 

Up the lang ladder, down the short low. 

Schoolboy Rhyme {Scotland). 

Lawn tennis. See Tennis. 


Lawrence, St. The patron saint bf curriers, 
who was broil&Jaq, death on a gridiron. He 
was deacon to Sixtus f antf was charged with 
the care of thd popr, ttjp .orphans, and the 
widows. In the persecution of Valerian (258), 
being summoned to deliver up the treasures of 
the church, he produced the poor, etc., under 
his charge, and said to the praetor, “These are 
the church’s treasures/ 1 He is generally 
represented as holding a gridiron, and is 
commemorated on August 10th. 

The phrase Lazy as Lawrence is said to take 
its origin from the story that when being 
roasted over a slow fire he asked to be,Jumed, 
“for,” said he, “that side is quite done.” This 
expression of Christian fortitude was inter- 
preted by his torturers as evidence of the height 
of laziness, the martyr being too indolent even 
to wriggle. 

St. Lawrence’s tears or The fiery tears of St. 
Lawrence. See Shooting Stars. 

Lawyers’ Bags. Some red, some blue. In the 
Common Law, red bags are reserved for Q.C.s; 
but a stuffgownsman may carry one “if pre- 
sented with it by a silk.” Only ra/bags may be 
taken into Common Law Courts, blue must 
be carried no farther than the robing-room. 
In Chancery Courts the etiquette is not so 
strict. 

Lay. Pertaining to the people, or laity^ifLat. 
laic us) as distinguished from the clergy. Thus, 
a lay brother is one who, though not in holy 
orders, is received into a monastery and is 
bound by its vows. 

A layman is, properly speaking, anyone not 
in holy orders; but the term is also used by 

f )rofessional men — especially doctors and 
awyers — to denote one not of their particular 
profession. ; 

Lay figures. Wooden figures with free joints, 
used by artists chiefly for the study of how 
drapery falls. The word was earlier layman , 
from Dut. lee man, a contraction of ledenmatt , 
i.e. led (now lid), a joint, and man , man. Horace 
Walpole uses layman (1762), but lay figure had 
taken its place by the end of the 18th century. 

Lay (the verb). To lay abouHme. To strike out 
lustily on all sides. 

He’ll lay about him to-day. — Troilus and Cressida , 
I, ii. 

To lay it on thick. To flatter or over-praise. 

To lay out. (a) To disburse. 

( b ) To display goods; place in convenient 
order what is required for wear. 

(c) To prepare a corpse for the coffin, by 
lacing the limbs in order, and dressing 4he 
ody in its grave-clothes. ? 

To lay to one’s charge. To attribute an 
offence to a person. 

And he [Stephen] kneeled down;; and cried with a 
loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin Jo their charge.— 
Acts, vii* ; j60. The phrase occurs again in the Bible, 
e.g. Deut.xxi, 8; Rom. viii, 33, etc. j - .. ^ 

Laylock. Ancient rustic name fpr lijac. * % 

Lazar House or Lazaretto. A house forJ&zarc, 
or *poor persons affected with contagious 
diseases. So called from the beggar Lazarus 



Lazarillo de Tormes 


538 


League 


Lazarillo de Tonnes* (laz a ril' yo de torm' ez). 
A romance, something in the Gil Bias style, 
satirizing all clashes of Society. Lazarillo, a 
light, jovial, audadfbus manservant, sees his 
masters in their undress, and exposes their 
foibles. It was by Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, 
general and statesman of Spain, and was 
published in 1553. 

Lazarus (15z' a rus)l Any poor beggar; so 
called from the Lazarus of the parable, who 
was laid daily at the rich man’s gate ( Luke xvi). 

Lazy. Lazy as Ludlam’s dog, which leaned his 
head against the wall to bark. Fable has it that 
Ludlam was a sorceress who lived in a cave 
near Farnham, Surrey. Her dog was so lazy 
that when the 1 rustics came to consult her it 
would hardly condescend to give notice of their 
approach, even with the ghost of a bark. (Ray: 
Proverbs.) 

Lazy as Lawrence’s dog is a similar old 
saying. See Lawrence. 

Lazy-bones. A lazy fellow, a regular idler. 
The expression is some hundreds of years old. 

Go tell the Labourers, that the lazie bones 

That will not worke, must seeke the beggars gaincs. 

Nicholas Breton: PasquH*s Madcap (1600). 

Lazy man’s load. One too heavy to be 
carried; so called because lazy people, to save 
themselves the trouble of coming a second 
time, We apt to overload themselves. 

Lazzarone (l&ts & ro ni) (Ital.). Originally ap- 
plied to Neapolitan vagrants who lived in the 
streets and idled about, begging, now and then 
doing odd jobs. So called from the hospital of 
St. Lazarus, which served as a refuge for the 
destitute of Naples. Every year they elected a 
chief, called the Capo Lazzarb. Masanicllo, in 
1647, with these vagabonds accomplished a 
revolution, and in 1798 Michele Sforza, at 
the head of the Lazzaroni, successfully resisted 
Championnet, the French general. 

L’6tat, e’est moi (la ta sa mwa) (Fr. I am the 
State). The reply traditionally ascribed to 
Louis XIV when the President of the Parlement 
of Paris offered objections “in the interests of 
the State” to the King’s fiscal demands. This 
was in 1655, when Louis was only 17 years of 
age; on this principle he acted with tolerable 
consistency throughout his long reign. 

Le roy (La reyne) le veult (Fr. The king 
(queen) wills it). The form of royal assent to 
Bills submitted to the Crown. The dissent is 
expressed by Le roy ( La reyne ) s'avisera (the 
king (queen) will give it consideration). 

Leach. See Leech. 

Leqd (led) was, by the ancient alchemists, 
calfed Saturn. 

The lead , or blacklead , of a lead pencil con- 
tains no lead at all, but is composed of 
plumbago or graphite, an almost pure carbon 
with a touch of iron. It was so n&foed in the 
16th century, when it was thought to$>e or tq 
contain the metal. 

/Swjgtginjg the lead. Navy and army slang for 
concocting a plausible yam to enablf one to 
monger. " ' *. , 

To strike lead. To make a good hit. 


Leads, The. Famous prison in Venice, in 
which Casanova was incarcerated and from 
which he escaped. 

Lead (led) (the verb.) (O.E. Itedari). 

To lead apes in hell. See Ape. 

To lead by the nose. See Nose. 

To lead one a pretty dance. See Dance. 

Leader. The first violin of an orchestra, the 
first cornet of a military band, etc., is called the 
leader. 

Leading article, or Leader. A newspaper 
article by the editor or a special writer. So 
called because it takes the lead or chief place 
in the summary of current topics, ana ex- 
presses the policy of the paper. 

Leading case. A lawsuit that forms a prece- 
dent in deciding others of a similar kind. 

Leading counsel in a case, the senior counsel 
on a circuit. 

Leading lady or man. The actress or actor 
who takes the chief role in a play. 

Leading note (music). The seventh of the 
diatonic scale, which leads to the octave, only 
half a tone higher. 

Leading question. A question so worded as 
to suggest an answer. “Was he not dressed in 
a black coat?” leads to the answer “Yes.” In 
cross-examining a witness, leading questions 
are permitted, because the chief object of a 
cross-examination is to obtain contradictions. 

Men of light and leading. Men capable of 
illuminating the way and guiding the steps of 
others. The phrase is Burke’s: — 

The men of England, the men, I mean, of light and 
leading in England, . . . would be ashamed ... to 
profess any religion in name, which, by their proceed- 
ings, they appear to contemn. — Reflections on the 
Revolution in France. 

But he seems to have derived it from Milton, 
who, in his Address to the Parliament , prefixed 
to his notes on the Judgment of Martin Bucer 
Concerning Divorce , says: — 

I owe no light, or leading received from any man in 
the discovery of this truth, what time I first undertook 
it in “the Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce.” 

To be in leading-strings is to be under the con- 
trol of another. Leading-stringsarethosestrines 
used for holding up infants just learning to walk. 

Leaf. Before the invention of paper one of the 
substances employed for writing upon was the 
leaves of certain plants. The reverse and ob- 
verse pages of a book are still called leaves; 
and the double page of a ledger is termed a 
“folio,” from folium , a leaf. Cp. the derivation 
of paper itself, from papyrus , and book, from 
hoc , a beech-tree. There are still extant many 
ancient MSS. written on palm or other leaves. 

To take a leaf out of my book. To imitate me; 
to do as I do. The allusion is to literary 
plagiarisms. 

To turn over a new leaf. To amend one’s 

ways, to start afresh. 

League. The Holy League. Several leagues are 
so denominated. The three following are the 
most important: 1511, by Pope Julius II; 
Ferdinand the Catholic, Henry VIII, the 




League 


539 


Leather 


Venetians, and the Swiss against Louis XU; 
and that of 1576, founded at Peronne for 
the maintenance of the Catholic Faith and 
the exclusion of Protestant princes from the 
throne of France. This league was organized 
by the Guises to keep Henri IV from the 
throne. The struggle that ensued formed the 
subject of Voltaire’s epic known first as La Ligue 
and subsequently as La Henriadc , 1724. 

The League of Nations. A league, having 
headquarters at Geneva, formed after the 
close of World War I, largely through the 
exertions of Woodrow Wilson, President 
of the United States 1913-21, whose action 
was, however, repudiated by the United 
States. At one time or another some 44 
nations were members of the League. The 
League was founded on a Covenant and a 
Charter of XXVI Articles, the High Con- 
tracting Parties agreeing to the Covenant in 
order to promote International Co-operation 
and to achieve International Peace and 
Security, by the acceptance of obligations not 
to resort to War. The final session of the 
League was on April 18th, 1946, the United 
Nations having come into existence on the 
24th October, 1945. 

Leak. To leak out. To come clandestinely to 
public knowledge. As a liquid leaks out of an 
unsound vessel, so the secret oozes out un- 
awares. 

To spring a leak. Said of ships, etc., that 
open or crack so as to admit the water. 

Leal. Anglo-Fr. and O.Fr. led, our loyal; 
trusty, law-abiding; now practically confined 
to Scotland. 

Land o’ the leal. See Land. 

Leander. See HrRO and Leander. 

Leaning Tower. The campanile or bell-tower 
of the cathedral of Pisa stands apart from the 
cathedral itself. It is 181 ft. high, 57£ ft. in 
diameter at the base, and leans about 14 ft. 
from the perpendicular. It was begun in 1174 
and the sinking commenced during construc- 
tion. Galileo availed himself of the over- 
hanging tower to make his experiments in 
gravitation. At Caerphilly, Glamorganshire, 
there is a tower which leans lift, in 80. This 
was caused by an attempt to blow it up with 
gunpowder during the Civil Wars. 

The Leaning Tower of Pisa continues to stand 
because the vertical line drawn through its centre of 
gravity passes within its base. — Ganot: Physics. 

Leap Year. A year of 366 days, a bissextile 
year (q.v.); i.e. in the Julian and Gregorian 
calendars any year whose date is exactly 
divisible by four except those which are 
divisible by 100 but not by 400. Thus 1900 
(though exactly divisible by 4) was not a leap 
year, but 2000 will be. 

In ordinary years the day of the month 
which falls on Monday this year will fall on 
Tuesday next year, and Wednesday the year 
after; but the fourth year will leap over 
Thursday to Friday. This is because a day is 
added to February, the reason being that the 
astronomical year (i.e. the time that it takes 
the earth to go round the sun) is approxi- 
mately 365i days (365*2422), the difference 

b.d. — 18 


between -25 and *2422 being righted by the 
loss of the three days in 400 years. 

It is an old Saying that during leap year the 
ladies may propose, and, if not accepted, claim 
a silk gown. The origin of this cannot now be 
traced; there is, however, an Act of the 
Scottish parliament, passed in 1288, which 
says “it is statut and ordaint that during the 
rem of hir maist blissit Megeste, for ilke year 
known as lepe yeare, oik mayden ladye of 
bothe highe and lowe estait shall hae liberte 
to bespeke ye man she like, albeit he refuses to 
taik hir to be his lawful wyfe, he shall be 
mulcted in ye sum of ane pundis or less, as his 
estait may be; except and awis gif he can make 
it appeare that he is betrothit ane ither woman 
he then shall be free.” A few years later than 
this a somewhat similar law was passed in 
France. In the 15th century the custom was 
legalized in both Genoa and Florence. 

Lear, King. A legendary king of Britain whose 
story is told by Shakespeare. In his old age he 
divided his kingdom between Goneril and 
Regan, two of his daughters, who professed 
great love for him. These two daughters drove 
the old man mad by their unnatural conduct, 
while the third, Cordelia (q.v.), who had been 
left portionless, succoured him and came with 
an army to dethrone her two sisters, but was 
captured and slain in prison. King Lear died 
over her body. 

Camden tells a similar story of Ina, King 
of the West Saxons. The story of King Lear is 
given in the Gesta Romanorum (of a Roman 
emperor), in the old romance of Perceforest , 
and by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Chroni- 
cles, whence Holinshed, Shakespeare’s im- 
mediate source, transcribed it. Spenser 
introduced the same story into his Faerie 
Queene (II, x). See Lir. 

Learn. To learn a person a thing, or to do 
something is now a provincialism, but was 
formerly quite good English. Thus, in the 
Prayer Book version of the Psalms we have 
“Lead me forth in thy truth and learn me,” 
and “such as are gentle them shall he learn his 
way” (xxv, 4, 8); and other examples of this 
use of learn as an active verb wijl be found at 
Ps. cxix, 66 and cxxxii, 13. 

The red plague rid you 

For learning me your language. 

Tempest , I, ii. 

Learned (16m' ed). Colman, king of Hun- 
gary (1095-1114), was called The Learned. Cp . 
Beauclerc. 

The learned Blacksmith. Elihu Burritt 
(1811-79), the American linguist, who was at 
one time a blacksmith. 

The learned Painter. Charles Lebrun (1619- 
90), so called from the great accuracy of his 
costumes. 

The leaned Tailor. Henry Wild, of Norwich 
(1684-1734), who mastered, while he worked 
at his trade, the Greek, Latin, Hebrew, 
Chaldaic, Syriac, Persian, and Arabic lan- 
guages. f 

Leather^Nothing like leather. The story is that 
a town in danger of a siege called together a 
council of the chief inhabitants to know what 




Leather 


540 


Left 


defence they recommended. A mason sug- 
gested a strong wall, a shipbuilder advised 
“wooden walls,” and when others had spoken, 
a currier arose and said, “There’s nothing like 
leather.” 

Another version is, “Nothing like leather to 
administer a thrashing.’’ 

It Is all leather or prunella. Nothing of any 
moment, all rubbish; through a misunder- 
standing of the lines by Pope, who was drawing 
a distinction between the work of a cobbler 
and that of a parson. 

Worth makes the man, and want o fit the fellow; 

The rest is all but leather or prunella. 

Pope: Essay on Man. 

Prunella is a worsted stuff, formerly used 
for clergymen’s gowns, etc., and for the uppers 
of ladies’ boots* and is probably so called 
because it was the colour of a prune. 

Leather medal. A U.S.A. colloquial term for 
a booby prize. 

To give one a leathering. To beat him with a 
leather belt; hence, to give him a drubbing. 

Leatherneck. A nickname in the U.S.A. 
forces for a Marine. 

Leatherstocking Novels. The novels by 
Fenimore Cooper in which Natty Bumpo, 
nicknamed Leatherstocking and Hawk eye , is a 
leading character. They are The Pioneers ( 1 823), 
The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Prairie 
(1826), The Pathfinder (1840), and The Deer- 
slayer (1841). “Lcatherstocking” was a hardy 
backwoodsman, a type of North American 
pioneer. 

Leave in the lurch. See Lurch. 

Lebensraum (la b£nz roum'). A German phrase 
(room for living) somewhat akin to Land 
Hunger ( q.v .). It is applied especially to the 
additional territory required by a nation for 
the expansion of its trade and the settle- 
ment of a population growing too numerous 
to be sustained in the mother country. 

Leda. In Greek mythology, the mother by 
Zeus (who is fabled to have come to her in 
the shape of a swan) of two eggs, from one of 
which came Castor and Clytemnestra, and 
from the other Pollux and Helen. 

Leda Bible, The. See Bible, specially 
named. 

Lee. In nautical language, the side or quarter 
opposite to that against which the wind blows; 
the sheltered side, the side away from the 
windward or weather side. From O.E. hleo , 
Meow, a covering or shelter. 

Lee shore. The shore under the lee of a ship, 
or that towards which the wind blows. 

Lee side. See Leeward. 

Lee tide. A tide running in the same direc- 
tion as the wind blows; if in ttye opposite 
direction it is called a tide under the lee . 

Take care of the lee hatch. A warning to the 
helmsman to beware lest the ship goes to the 
leeward of her course — i.e. the part towards 
which the wind blows. 

To lay a ship by the lee. An obsolete phrase 
for to heave to ; i.e. to arrange the sails of a ship 


flat against the mas& and shrouds so that the 
wind strikes tfffe vessel broadside and thus 
causes her to make little or no headway. 

Under the lee of the land. Under the shelter 
of the cliffs which break the force of the winds. 

Under the lee of a ship. On the side opposite 
to the wind, so that the ship shelters or wards 
it off. 

Leeward (loo' ard). Toward the lee (q.v.), or 
that part towards which the wind blows; 
windward is in the opposite direction, viz., in 
the teeth of the wind. See A-weather; Lee. 

Leech. One skilled in medicine or “leech- 
craft”; the word, which is now obsolete, is the 
O.E. lace, one who relieves pain, fiom lacniati , 
to heal. The blood-sucking worm, the leech , 
gets its name probably from the same word, 
the healer. 

And straightway sent, with carefull diligence, 

To fetch a leach the which had great insight 

In that disease. 

Spenser: Faerie Queenc , 1, x, 23. 

Leech-finger. See Medicinal Finger. 

Leek. The national emblem of Wales. The 
story is that St. David, patron saint of the 
Welsh, on one occasion caused his country- 
men under King Cadwallader to distinguish 
themselves from their Saxon foes by wearing a 
leek in their caps. 

Shakespeare makes out that the Welsh 
wore leeks at the battle of Poitiers, for Fluellen 
says: — 

If your majesty is remembered of it, the Welsh- 
men did goot service in a garden where leeks grow, 
wearing leeks in their Monmouth caps, which, your 
majesty know, to this hour is an honourable padge of 
the service; and 1 do believe your majesty takes no 
scorn to wear the leek upon St. Tavy’s Day. — Henry 
V, IV, vii. 

To eat the leek. To be compelled to eat your 
own words, or retract what you have said. 
Fluellen (in Henry V) is taunted by Pistol for 
wearing a leek in his hat. “Hence,” says Pistol, 
“I am qualmish at the smell of leek.” Fluellen 
replies, “1 beseech you ... at my desire . . . 
to eat this leek.” The ancient answers, “Not 
for Cadwallader and all his goats.” Then the 
peppery Welshman beats him, nor desists till 
Pistol has swallowed the entire abhorrence. 

Lees. There are lees to every wine. The best 
things have some defect. A French proverb. 

Doubt is the lees of thought. 

Boker : Doubt , etc. , i, 1 1 . 

Settling on the lees. Making the best of a bad 
job; settling down on what is left, after having 
squandered the main part of one’s fortune. 
Leet or Court-leet. A manor court for petty 
offences, held once a year; the day on which it 
was held. The word is probably connected 
with O.E. lathe (q.v.), a division of a county. 

Who has a breast so pure, 

But some uncleanly apprehensions 
Keep leets and law-days and in session sit 
With meditations lawful? 

Othello, III, iii. 

Left. The left side of anything is frequently 
considered to be unlucky, of bad omen ( cp . 
Augury; Sinister), the right the reverse. 

In politics the left is the opposition, the party 
which, in a legislative assembly, sits on the 




541 


Legion 


Leg 


left of the Speaker or Resident. The left wing 
of a party is composed of*its extremists, the 
“irreconcilables.” The term leftist has been 
used since c. 1930 to denote a person of 
Socialist or Communist tendencies. 

A left-handed compliment. A compliment 
which insinuates a reproach. 

A left-handed marriage. A morganatic 
marriage (q.v.) y in which the husband gave his 
left hand to the bride instead of the right, when 
saying, “1 take thee for my wedded wife.” 

A left-handed oath. An oath not intended to 
be binding. 

Over the left. In early Victorian time a way 
of expressing disbelief, incredulity, or a 
negative. 

Each gentleman pointed with his right thumb over 
his left shoulder. This action, imperfectly described in 
words by the very feeble term of “over the left”, when 
performed by any number of ladies or gentlemen who 
are accustomed to act in unison, has a very graceful 
and airy effect; its expression is one of light and play- 
ful sarcasm. — Dickens: Pickwick Papers. 

Leg. In many phrases, e.g. “to find one’s legs,’* 
“to put one’s best leg foremost,” leg is inter- 
changeable with foot (< q.v .). 

Leg and leg. Equal, or nearly so, in a race, 
game, etc. Cp. Neck and neck. 

On its last legs. Moribund; obsolete; ready 
to fall out of cognisance. 

Show a leg, there! Jump out of bed and be 
sharp about it! A phrase from the Navy. 

To give a leg up. To render timely assistance, 
“to help a lame dog over a stile.” Originally 
from horsemanship — to help one into the 
saddle. 

To have good sea legs. To be a good sailor; 
to be able to stand the motion of the ship 
without getting sea sick. 

To make a leg. To make a bow, especially 
an old-fashioned obeisance, drawing one’s leg 
backward. 

The pursuivant smiled at their simplicitye. 

And making many leggs, tooke their reward. 

The King and Miller of Mansfield. 

To set on his legs. So to provide for a man 
that he is able to earn his living without 
further help. 

To stand on one’s own legs. To be independ- 
ent, to be earning one’s own living. Of course, 
the allusion is to being nursed, and standing 
“alone.” 

Without a leg to stand on. Having no excuse; 
divested of all support; with no chance of 
success. 

Leg-bail. A runaway. To give leg-bail, to 
abscond, make a “get-away.” 

Leg-pulling, in England, means teasing or 
chaffing (see Pull); in U.S.A. it means 
toadying, intriguing, or blackmailing. 

Leg bye. In cricket, a run scored from a ball 
which has glanced off any part of a batsman’s 
person except his hand. 

Legal tender. Money which, by the law of the 
particular country, a creditor is bound to 
accept in discharge of a debt. In England the 


tender of gold, Treasury notes, and Bank of 
England notes (except for £10 and upwards) 
is legal up to any amount, with the one 
exception that a creditor of the Bank of 
England cannot be compelled to receive 
his money in Bank of England notes. Silver is 
not legal tender for sums over forty shillings, 
nor bronze for sums over one shilling. 

Legem Pone (le' jem po ne). Old slang for 
money paid down on the nail, ready money; 
from the opening words of the first of the 
psalms appointed to be read on the twenty- 
fifth morning of the month— Legem pone mini , 
Domine , viam justificationum tuarum (Teach 
me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes, Ps. cxix, 
33). March 25th is the first pay-day of the year, 
and thus the phrase became associated with 
cash down. 

Use legem pone to pay at thy day. 

But use not oremus for often delay. 

Tusser: Good Husbandry (1557). 

Oremus (let us pray) occurs frequently in the 
Roman Catholic liturgy. Its application to a 
debtor who is suing for further time is obvious. 

Legend. Literally and originally, “something 
to be read” (Lat. legenaa ; from legere, to read); 
hence the narratives of the lives of saints and 
martyrs were so termed from their being read, 
especially at matins, and after dinner in the 
refectories. Exaggeration and a love for the 
wonderful so predominated in these readings, 
that the word came to signify a traditional 
story, especially one popularly regarded as 
true, a fable, a myth. 

In Numismatics the legend is the inscription 
impressed in letters on a coin or medal. 
Formerly the words on the obverse only (i.e. 
round the head of the sovereign) were called 
the legend, the words on the reverse being the 
inscription; but this distinction is no longer 
recognized by numismatists. It is also properly 
applied to the title on a map or under a picture. 

Legenda Aurea. See Golden Legend, 

Leger. See St. Leger Sweepstakes. 

Legion. My name is Legion: for we are many 
(Mark v, 9). A proverbial expression some- 
what similar to hydra-headed. Thus, we say of 
a plague of rats, “Their name is Legion.” 

Foreign Legion. A body of highly-trained 
mercenaries of any nationality; the French 
and Spanish armies have included such bodies. 

The Thundering Legion. See Thundering. 

Legion of Honour. An order of distinction 
and reward instituted by Napoleon in 1802, 
for either military or civil merit. 

It was, at the outset, limited to 15 cohortes, 
each composed of 7 grands officiers , 20 com- 
mandants , 30 officiers , and 350 legionnaires, 
making in all 6,105 members; it was reorgan- 
ized by Louis XVIII in 1814, and again bv 
Napoleon III in 1852, and now comprises 80 
grands-croiXy 200 grands officiers, 1,000 com - 
mandeurs, 4,000 officiers , with chevaliers to 
whose creation there is no fixed limit. 

The badge is a five-branched cross with a 
medallion bearing a symbolical figure of the 
republic and round it the legend, “Ripublique 


Legien-girth 


Lent 


542 
x 


Frangaise, 1870.** This is crowned by a laurel 
wreath and the ribbon is of red watered silk. 

The order holds considerable property, out 
of which it distributes pensions to members 
and maintains schools for their daughters. 

Legien-girth. To cast a legien-girth. To have 
made a faux pas , particularly by having an 
illegitimate child; to have one’s reputation 
blown upon. Leglen is Scottish for a milk-pail, 
and a legien-girth is its lowest hoop. 

Leicester. The town gets its name from Lat, 
Legionis castra, the camp of the legion, it 
having been the headquarters of a legion 
during the Roman occupation of Britain. 
Caerleon , in Wales, Ledn, Spain, and Ledjuiu 
in Palestine, owe their names to the same cause. 

Leicester Square {London). So called from 
the family mansion of the Sydneys, Earls of 
Leicester, which stood on the north-east side 
in the 17th century. 

Leipzig Fairs. These were sample fairs to 
which commercial agents used to flock from 
all parts.of the world. The Spring Fair opened 
the first week in March, the Autumn Fair the 
last week in August, and each lasted three 
weeks. All sorts of wares including pottery, 
textiles, glass, machinery, books, etc., were on 
sale. 

Leitmotiv (lit' mo tef'). This is a German word 
meaning the leading motive, and is applied in 
music to a theme associated with a personage, 
etc., in an opera or similar work which is 
quoted at appropriate times and worked up 
symphonically. The term has got into general 
usage to describe any phrase or turn of thought 
or speech that continually recurs with a certain 
association. 

Lemmings are one of the curiosities of nature, 
and their blind instinct is the origin of several 
fables. The lemming is a mouse-like rodent, 
some five inches long, that lives in the grass 
and bushes in the higher lands of the great 
mountain ranges of Scandinavia. Lemmings 
multiply at such a rate that every three or four 
years they make a vast migration, coming 
down the mountain slopes, swimming rivers 
and lakes, but always descending. As they pass 
on their way, devastating the countryside, 
they are harassed by man, birds of prey and 
beasts, but undeterred they push in their 
millions ever onwards and downwards until 
they reach the sea, into which they plunge and 
are drowned. 

Various theories have been advanced to 
account for their behaviour. It would seem that 
lemmings are obeying a blind instinct, in- 
herited maybe from Miocene days when the 
Baltic and North Sea were dry land which 
could offer a refuge for their overcrowded, 
teeming hosts. 

Lemnos. The island where Vulcan fell when 
Jupiter flung him out of heaven. One myth 
connected with Lemnos tells how the women 
of the island, in revenge for their ill-treatment, 
murdered all the men. The Argonauts (q.v.) 
were received with great favour by the women, 
and as a result of their few months* stay the 
island was repopulated ; the queen, Hypsipyle, 
became the mother of twins by Jason. 


Lemnian earth. A. ftind of bole, or clayey 
earth, of a reddisn or yellowish grey colour, 
found in the island of Lemnos, said to cure 
the bites of serpents and other wounds. It was 
made into cakes, and was called terra slgillata , 
because these were sealed by a priest before 
being vended. 

Lemon. Lemon, Salts of. See Misnomers. 

Lemon sole. The name of the flat-fish has 
nothing to do with the fruit but is from limande , 
a dab or flat-fish. This may be connected with 
O.Fr. limande , a flat board, but may also be 
from Lat. limits, mud, the fish being essentially 
a bottom fish. 

The answer’s a lemon. A senseless and 
ridiculous repartee; used as a form of reply 
to some particularly silly or unanswerable 
conundrum. 

Lemures (lem' u rez). The name given by the 
Romans to the spirits of the dead, especially 
spectres which wandered about at night-time 
to terrify the living. Cp. Larvae. (Ovid: Fasti , 
V.) 

The lars and lemures moan with midnight plaint. 

Milton: Ode on the Nativity. 

Lcmuria (le mU' ri a). The name given to a lost 
land that is supposed to have connected 
Madagascar with India and Sumatra in pre- 
historic times. See W. Scott Elliott’s The Lost 
Lemur ia (1904). Cp. Atlantis. 

Lend Lease. On March 11th, 1941, President 
Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act whereby 
U.S.A. was committed to lend or lease military 
equipment, stores, food, etc., to the govern- 
ments of the powers fighting Fascism in the 
name of democracy. Fifteen powers in addition 
to the twenty Latin-American Republics bene- 
fited by Lend-Lease, and over £1,000,000,000 
was expended by U.S.A. It was ended 
by President Truman on the conclusion of 
hostilities in 1945. 

Leningrad (len' in gr5d). The present name of 
what was once known as St. Petersburg, the 
capital city of Tsarist Russia. It was founded 
by Peter the Great in 1703; the name was 
changed to Petrograd in 1914, and to Lenin- 
grad m 1924. 

Lens (Lat. a lentil or bean). Glasses used in 
optical instruments are so called because the 
double convex one, which may be termed the 
perfect lens, is of a bean shape. 

Lent (O.E. lencten ). Lenctentid (spring tide) 
was the Saxon name for March, because in this 
month there is a manifest lengthening of the 
days. As the chief part of the great fast, from 
Ash Wednesday to Easter, falls in March, this 
period received the name of the Lencten - 
fees ten, or Lent. 

The fast of thirty-six days was introduced 
in the 4th century. Felix III (483-492) added 
four days in 487, to make it correspond with 
Our Lord’s fast in the wilderness. 

Galeazzo’s Lent. A form of torture devised 
by Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, 1395- 
1402, calculated to prolong the unfortunate 
victim’s life for forty days. 

Lent lily. The daffodil, which blooms in Lent, 



Lenten 


543 


Letter 


Lenten. Frugal, Stinted, as food in Lent. 
Shakespeare has ttleriten entertainment” 
( Hamlet , II, ii)- “a lenten answer” ( Twelfth 
Night , I, v) ; “a lenten pye” ( Romeo and Juliet , 
II, iv). 

Leonard, St. A Frank at the court of Clovis in 
the 6th century. He founded the monastery of 
Noblac, and is the patron saint of prisoners, 
Clovis having given him permission to release 
all whom he visited. He is usually represented 
as a deacon, and holding chains or broken 
fetters in his hand. His feast day is November 
6th. 

Leonidas of Modern Greece (le on' i d&s). 
Marco Bozzaris, who with 1,200 men put to 
rout 4,000 Turco-Albanians at Kerpenisi, but 
was killed in the attack (1823). He was buried 
at Missolonghi. 

Leonine (le' 6 nln). Lion-like; also, relating to 
one of the popes named Leo, as the Leonine 
City, the part of Rome surrounding the Vati- 
can, which was fortified by Leo IV in the 9th 
century. 

Leonine contract. A one-sided agreement; so 
called in allusion to the fable of The Lion and 
his Fellow-Hunters. Cp . Glaucus Swop, under 
Glaucus. 

Leonine verses. Latin hexameters, or 
alternate hexameters and pentameters, rhyming 
at the middle and end of each respective line. 
These fancies were common in the 12th 
century, and are said to have been popularized 
by and so called from Leoninus, a canon of the 
church of St. Victor, in Paris; but there are 
many such lines in the classic poets, particu- 
larly Ovid. In English verse, any metre which 
rhymes middle and end may be called Leonine 
verse. 

Leopard. So called because it was thought in 
medieval times to be a cross between the 
lion ( leo ), or lioness, and the pard> which was 
the name given to a panther that had no white 
specks on it. 

References to the impossibility of a leopard 
changing its spots are frequent; the allusion is 
to Jeremiah xiii, 23. 

K. Rich.: Lions make leopards tame. 

Nor/.: Yea, but not change his spots. 

Richard IT, I, i. 

In Christian art the leopard represents that 
beast spoken of in Revelation xiii, 1-8, with 
seven heads and ten horns; six of the heads 
bear a nimbus, but the seventh, being ‘‘woun- 
ded to death,” lost its power, and consequently 
is bare. 

And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, 
and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth 
as the mouth of a lion. — Rev. xiii, 2. 

The lions in the coat of arms of England. 
See Lion. 

The leopard’s head, or King’s Mark, on 
silver is really a lion’s head. It is called a 
leopard, because the O.Fr. heraldic term 
Leopart means a lion passant guardant. 

Leopolita Bible. See Bible, specially named. 

Leprechaun (lep 'r& kawn). The fairy shoe- 
maker of Ireland; so called because he is 
always seen working at a single shoe (leith, 
half; brog, a shoe or brogue). Another of his 


peculiarities is that he has a purse that never 
contains more than a single shilling. 

Do you not catch the tiny clamour. 

Busy click of an elfin hammer. 

Voice of the Leprechaun singing shrill, 

As he merrily plies his trade? 

W. B. Yeats: Fairy and Folk Tales. 

He is also called lubrican, cluricaune fa.v.), 
etc. In Dekker and Middleton’s Honest Whore 
(PL II. HI. 0 Hippolito speaks of Bryan, the 
Irish footman, as ‘‘your Irish lubrican/’ 

Lesbian (lez' by &n). Pertaining to Lesbos, one 
of the islands of the Greek Archipelago, or to 
Sappho, the famous poetess of Lesbos, and 
to the homosexual practices attributed to her. 

The Lesbian Poets. Tcrpander, Alcaeus, 
Arion, and Sappho, all of Lesbos. 

The Lesbian rule. A flexible rule used by 
ancient Greek masons for measuring curved 
mouldings, etc.; hence, figuratively, a pliant 
and accommodating principle or rule of con- 
duct. 

L£se-majest6 (lez maj' es ti). High treason, a 
crime against the sovereign (Lat. Icesa majestas, 
hurt or violated majesty). 

Lestrigons (les' tri gonz). A fabulous race of 
cannibal giants who lived in Sicily. Ulysses 
( Odyss.y x) sent two of his men to request that 
he might land, but the king of the place ate 
one for dinner and the other fled. The Lestri- 
gons assembled on the coast and threw stones 
against Ulysses and his crew; they fled with all 
speed, but many men were lost. Cp. Poly- 
phemus. 

Let, to permit, is the O.E. Icet-an , to suffer or 
permit; but let , to hinder, now obsolete or 
archaic, is the verb lett-an. From this comes a 
let in ball games such as lawn-tennis, where a 
oint is played again because there has been a 
indrancc. 

Oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, but was 
let hitherto. — Rom. i, 13. 

Lethe (le' thi). In Greek mythology, one of the 
rivers of Hades, which the souls of all the dead 
are obliged to taste, that they may forget 
everything said and done when alive. (Gr. 
let ho , latheo, lanthano , to cause persons not 
to know.) 

Here, in a dusky vale where Lethe rolls 
Old Bavius sits, to dip poetic souls, 

And blunt the sense. 

Pope: Dtmciad , III, 23. 

Letter. The name of a character used to repre- 
sent a sound, and of a missive or written 
message. Through O.Fr. lettre , from Lat. 
littcra , a letter of the alphabet, the plural of 
which {littera) denoted an epistle. The plural, 
with the meaning literature, learning, erudition 
(as in man of letters , republic of letters , etc.), 
dates in English from at least the time of King 
Alfred, and is seen in Cicero’s otium literatum> 
lettered ease. 

The number of letters in the English alpha- 
bet is 26, but in a fount of type over 200 
characters are required; these are made up of 
Roman lower case ( i.e . small letters), capitals, 
and small capitals; included are the diph- 
thongs etc.) and ligatures (ff, fi, fl, ffi, 

ifl), the remaining characters being the 


Letter-gae 


544 


Levee 


accented letters, i.e. those with the grave ('), 
acute O, circumflex O, diaeresis ("), or tilde 
C), and the “cedilla c” (9). To these characters 
must be added the figures, fractions, points 
(, !, etc.), brackets, reference marks (*, §, etc.), 
and commercial and mathematical signs (£, %, 
*f , etc.) in common use. Cp. Typographical 
Signs; Font. 

The proportionate use of the letters of the 
alphabet is given as follows: — 


E 

.. 1,000 H . 

540 F 

. . 236 K . . 

88 

T 

. . 770 R . 

528 W 

. . 190 J .. 

55 

A 

.. 728 D . 

392 Y 

. . 184 Q .. 

50 

1 

. . 704 L . 

360 P 

. . 168 X .. 

46 

S 

. . 680 U . 

296 G 

. . 168 Z .. 

22 

O 

. . 672 C . 

280 B 

. . 158 


N 

. . 670 M . 

272 V 

. . 120 



Consonants, 5,977. Vowels, 3,400. 


Another “fount-scheme” gives a rather 
different order, viz. e, t, a, o, i, n, s, r, h, d, 1, u, 
c, m, f, w, y, p, g, b, v, k, j, q, x, fi, ff, fl, z, ffi, 
m. “e” accounts for 7.83 per cent, of the fount, 
"z” for 0.17, and the first twelve characters 
here given for 50 per cent, of the whole. The 
least wanted character is the italic capital (7, 
of which it has been calculated that only five 
are necessary for a million tyoe. 

As initials the order of frequency is very 
different, the proportion being: — 

S .. 1,194 M.. 439 W.. 272 Q .. 58 


C .. 

937 F 

. . 388 G 

. . 266 K . . 

47 

P .. 

804 I 

.. 377 U 

. . 228 Y . . 

23 

A .. 

574 E 

. . 340 O 

. . 206 Z 

18 

T .. 

571 H 

.. 308 V 

.. 172 X .. 

4 

D .. 

505 L 

. . 298 N 

.. 153 


B .. 

463 R 

. . 291 J 

.. 69 



See also Type; Font. 


Letter-Gae. A jocular Scottish name (after 
Allan Ramsay, 1686-1758) for the precentor of 
a kirk, he who leads otf the singing, and lets go. 

There were no sae mony hairs on the warlock’s face 
as there’s on Letter-gae’s ain at this moment. — Scott: 
Guy Mannering , ch. xi. 

Letter-lock. A lock that cannot be opened 
unless letters on exterior movable rings are 
arranged in a certain order. 

A strange lock that opens with AMEN. 

Beaumont and Fletcher: Noble Gentleman. 

Letter of Bellerophoo. See Bellerophon. 

Letter of Credit. A letter written by a 
merchant or banker to another, requesting 
him to credit the bearer with certain sums of 
money. Circular Notes are letters of credit 
carried by travellers. 

Letter of Licence. An instrument in writing 
made by a creditor, allowing a debtor longer 
time for the payment of his debt. 

Letter of Marque. A commission authorizing 
a privateer to make reprisals on a hostile 
nation till satisfaction for injury has been duly 
made. Marque is from Provencal mar car, Med. 
Lat. mar care, to seize as a pledge. 

Letter of Safe Conduct. A writ under the 
Great Seal, guaranteeing safety to and fro to 
the person named in the passport. 

Letter of Slains. In old Scottish law a 
petition to the Crown from the relatives of a 
murdered person, declaring that they have 
received satisfaction (assythment), and asking 
pardon for the murderer. 


Letter of Uriah. See Ur)ah. 

Letters Missive. An brder from the Lord 
Chancellor to a peer to put in an appearance 
to a bill filed in chancery. 

Letters Patent, or Overt. See Patent. 

Letters of Administration. The legal instru- 
ment granted by the Probate Court to a person 
appointed administrator to one who has died 
intestate. 

Letters of credence, or letters credential, 
formal documents with which a diplomatic 
agent is furnished accrediting him on his 
appointment to a post at the seat of a foreign 
government. 

Letters of Horning. In Scottish history, 
signed orders putting rebels to the horn. See 
Horn. 

Letters of Junius. See Junius. 

Lettres de Cachet. See Cachet. 

Leucadia or Leucas (la ka' di a). One of the 
Ionian Islands, now known as Santa Maura. 
Here is the promontory from which Sappho 
threw herself into the sea when she found her 
love for Phaon was in vain. 

Leucothea (IQ koth' e a) (The White Goddess). 
So Ino, the mortal daughter of Cadmus and 
wife of Athamas, was called after she became 
a sea goddess. Athamas in a fit of madness slew 
one of her sons; she threw herself into the sea 
with the other, imploring assistance of the 
gods, who deified both of them. Her son, 
Melicertcs, then renamed Paliemon, was called 
by the Romans Portunus, or Portunmus, and 
became the protecting genius of harbours. 

Levant (le vant'). He has levanted — i.e. made 
off, decamped. A levanter is an absconder, 
especially one who makes a bet, and runs away 
without paying his bet if he loses. From Span. 
levantar el campo, or la casa , to break up the 
camp or house. 

Levant and Ponent Winds. The east wind is 
the Levant, and the west wind the Ponent. 
The former is from Lat. levare , to raise (sun- 
rise), and the latter from potiere, to set 
(sunset). 

Forth rush the Levant and the Ponent winds. 

Milton: Paradise Lost , X, 704. 

Levant, the region, strictly speaking, means the 
eastern shore of the Mediterranean; but is often 
applied to the whole East. 

Levant and Couchant (lev' &nt, kou' chant). 
Applied in legal phraseology to cattle which 
have strayed into another’s field, and have 
been there long enough to lie down and sleep. 
The owner of the field can demand compensa- 
tion for such intrusion. (Lat. levantes et 
Cuban tes, rising up and going to bed.) 

Levee (Ie' vi) (Fr. lit ; a rising, i.e. from bed). 
An official reception of men only by the 
sovereign or his representative, held usually in 
the afternoon. 

It was customary for the queens of France 
to receive at the hour of their levee — i.e. while 
making their toilet — the visits of certain 
noblemen. The court physicians, messengers 
from the king, the queen’s secretary, and some 
few others demanded admission as a right, so 




Lev6e 


545 


Liar 


ten or more persons were often in the dressing- 
room while the queen was making her toilet 
and sipping her coffee. 

In the Southern U.S.A. the word levee is 
used for an earth or masonry embankment for 
preventing the overflowing of a river. 

Lev6e en masse (Fr.). A patriotic rising of a 
whole nation to defend their country. 

Level. Level-headed. Shrewd, business-like, 
characterized by common sense; said of one 
who “has his head screwed on the right way.” 

To do one’s level best. To exert oneself to 
the utmost. This term, and that above, were 
originally American slang, and came from the 
gold-diggings of California. 

To find one’s own level. Said of a person who, 
after making an unsuccessful start, arrives at 
the position in society, business, etc., for which 
his gifts or attainments qualify him. 

To level up, or down. To bring whatever is 
being spoken of — as the state of some class of 
society, the standard of wages, and so on — up 
or down to the level of some similar thing. 

Your levellers wish to level down as far as them- 
selves; but they cannot bear levelling up to themselves. 
— Dr. Johnson: Remark to Boswell , 1 763. 

On the level. Honest and sincere in whatever 
one is doing or saying. A term from Free- 
masonry. 

Levellers. In English history, a body of 
ultra-Republicans in the time of Charles I and 
the Commonwealth, who wanted all men to be 
placed on a level, particularly with respect to 
their eligibility to office. John Lilburne was 
one of the leaders of the sect, which was 
active from 1647 to 1649, when it was sub- 
pressed. 

In Irish history the name was given to the 
18th century agrarian agitators, afterwards 
called Whiteboys (g. v.). Their first offences were 
levelling the hedges of enclosed commons; but 
their programme developed into a demand for 
the general redress of all agrarian grievances. 

Lever de Rideau (lev' a de re' do) (Fr. curtain- 
raiser). A short sketch performed on the stage 
before drawing up the curtain on the real play 
of the evening. 

Leviathan (le vi' & thin). The name (Hebrew 
for “that which gathers itself together in 
folds,” Cp. Is. xxvii, 1) given in the Bible to a 
sea-serpent, though in Job xli, 1, it is possible 
that the reference is to the crocodile. Cp. 
Behemoth. 

The name is applied to a ship of great size 
from the reference in Ps. civ, 25, 26 — 

This great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping 
Innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go 
the ships; there is that leviathan, whom thou hast 
made to play therein. 

But this is a mistranslation of the Hebrew, 
the correct rendering being — according to Dr. 
Cheyne — 

. . . There dragons move along; (yea), Leviathan 
whom thou didst appoint ruler therein. 

Hobbes took the name as the title for his 
treatise on “the Matter, Forme, and Power 


of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil” 
(1651), and applied it to the Commonwealth as 
a political organism. He says: — 

1 have set forth tne nature of man, (whose Pride and 
other Passions have compelled him to submit him- 
selfe to Government;) together with the great power 
of his Governour, whom I compared to Leviathan , 
taking that comparison out of the two last verses of 
the one and fortieth of Job ; where God having set 
forth the great power of Leviathan , calleth him King 
of the Proud. — Leviathan ; Pt. II, ch. xxviii. 

The Leviathan of Literature. Dr. Johnson 
(1709-84). 

Levitation is a term applied to the phenomenon 
of heavy bodies rising and floating in the air. 
It is frequently mentioned in the Hindu 
scriptures and other writings, and it is a not 
uncommon attribute of Roman Catholic saints. 
Joseph of Cupertino (1603-66) was the subject 
of such frequent levitation that he was for- 
bidden by his superiors to attend choir and 
performed his devotions in a special chapel 
where his levitation would cause no distraction 
to other worshippers. D. D. Home was 
alleged by Sir W. Crookes to have had this 
power or gift. Scientific research has not yet 
found an explanation. 

Levites (Ie' vitz). In Dryden’s Absalom and 
Achitophel ( q.v .), the Dissenting clergy who 
were expelled by the Act of Conformity. 

Lewis Machine-gun. Named after an American 
Army officer and inventor, Isaac Newton Lewis 
(1858-1931), whose organizational system still 
dominates the artillery corps. 

Lex. (Lat. law) 

Lex non scripta (leks non skrip' ta) (Lat. un- 
written law). The common law, as distin- 
guished from the statute or written law. 
Common law does not derive its force from 
being recorded, and though its several pro- 
visions have been compiled and printed, the 
compilations are not statutes, but simply 
remembrancers. 

Lex talionis (Lat.). The law of retaliation; 
tit for tat. 

Leyden Jar. A glass vessel partly coated, inside 
and out, with lead foil, and used to accumulate 
electricity; invented by P. van Musschenbroek, 
of Leyden, Holland, in 1745. 

Lia-fail. The Irish name of the Coronation 
Stone, or Stone of Destiny, of the ancient 
Irish kings. See Scone; Tanist Stone. 

Liar. Liars should have good memories. This 
old proverb, which is found in many languages 
and was quoted by St. Jerome in the 4th 
century, has been traced to Quintilian’s 
Mendacem memorem esse oporter. “It is fitting 
that a liar should be a man of good memory" 
( Institutes , IV, ii, 91). It occurs in Taverner’s 
translation of Erasmus’s Proverbs (1539) — 

A Iyer ought not to be forgetfull. 

And Montaigne says ( Essayes , I, ix): — 

It is not without reason, men say, that he who hath 
not a good and readie memorie , should never meddle 
with telling of lies , and feare to become a liar , 


Libel 


546 


Liberty 


Libel (Lat. libellus , a little book). A writing of a 
defamatory nature, one which contains malici- 
ous statements ridiculing someone or calculated 
to bring him into disrepute, etc.; a lampoon, a 
satire. Originally a plaintiff’s statement of his 
case, which usually “defames” the defendant, 
was called a “libel, for it made a “little book.” 

Malicious intention is not necessary to make 
a written or printed statement libellous if it 
reflects on the character of another and is 
published without lawful justification or 
excuse, and the use of the name of a real 
person in a work of fiction has been held to 
constitute a libel. 

In legal phraseology a libel is the written 
statement commencing a suit, containing the 
plaintiff’s allegations. 

The greater the truth, the greater the libel, 
a dictum of Lord Ellenborough (1750-1818), 
who amplified it by the explanation — “if the 
language used were true, the person would 
suffer more than if it were false.” 

Burns, in some lines written at Stirling, 
attributes the saying to the Earl of Mansfield — 
Dost not know that old Mansfield, who writes like the 
Bible, 

Says: “The more *tis a truth, sir, the more ’tis a libel’*? 
Liber (Lat. a book). 

Liber Albus (Lat. the white book). A 
compilation of the laws and customs of the 
City of London, made in 1419, by John 
Carpenter, town clerk. 

Liber Niger. The Black Book of the Ex- 
chequer, compiled by Gervase of Tilbury, in 
the reign of Henry 11. It is a roll of the military 
tenants. 

Libera). A political term introduced in the early 
19th century from Spain and France (where it 
denoted “advanced” or revolutionary poli- 
ticians), and employed in 181 5 by Byron, Leigh 
Hunt, and others as the title of a periodical 
representing their views in politics, religion, 
and literature. It was originally bestowed upon 
the advanced Whigs as a term of reproach, 
but when the moderate Whigs formed a 
coalition with the Tories and the advanced 
Whigs with the Radicals, it was adopted by the 
latter party; it came into general use about 
1831, when the Reform Bill, in Lord Grey’s 
Ministry, gave it prominence. 

Influenced in a great degree by the philosophy and 
the politics of the Continent, they [the Whigs] en- 
deavoured to substitute cosmopolitan for national 
principles, and they baptized the new scheme of 
politics with the plausible name of “Liberalism.” — 
Disraeli, June 24, 1872. 

Liberal Unionists. Those Liberals who 
united, in 1886, with Lord Salisbury and the 
Conservative party to oppose Home Rule for 
Ireland. Lord Hartington, afterwards Duke of 
Devonshire, and Joseph Chamberlain were 
the chiefs of the party. 

Liberate. At a press conference in May, 1944, 
President Roosevelt said that the Allied 
campaigns in Europe were a liberation, not an 
invasion. This gave rise to a sarcastic use of 
the verb “to liberate” as a synonym for “to 
loot.” 


Liberator, The. The Peruvians so call Simon 
Bolivar (1783-1830), who established the 
independence of Peru. Daniel O’Connell 
(1775-1847) was also so called, because he led 
the agitation which resulted in the repeal of the 
Penal Laws and the Emancipation of the Irish 
Roman Catholics. 

Liberator was the name associated with a 
famous financial crash at the close of last 
century. In 1868 Jabez Balfour promoted the 
Liberator Building Society in which a great 
number of small investors embarked their 
entire capital. The crash came in 1892, owing 
to the systematic fraud whereby Balfour had 
applied the funds to all manner of wild 
speculation. Balfour, at the time M.P. for 
Burnley, was sentenced to 14 years’ penal 
servitude. 

Liberator of the World. So Benjamin 
Franklin (1706-90) has been called. 
Libertarians. See Agent. 

Libertine. A debauchee, a dissolute person; 
one who puts no restraint on his personal 
indulgence. 

A libertine, in earlier use, was a speculative free- 
thinker in matters of religion and in the theory of 
morals . . . but [it has come] to signify a profligate. — 
Trench: On the Study of Words , lecture iii. 

In the New Testament the word is used to 
mean a freedman (Lat. Libertinus). 

Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is 
called the synagogue of the Libertines, . . . disputing 
with Stephen. — Acts vi, 9. 

There was a sect of heretics in Holland, about 
1525, who maintained that nothing is sinful 
but to those who think it sinful, and that 
perfect innocence is to live without doubt. 
Liberty means “to do what one likes.” (Lat. 
liber , free.) 

Civil liberty. The liberty of a subject to 
conduct his own affairs as he thinks proper, 
provided he neither infringes on the equal 
liberty of others, nor offends against the good 
morals or laws under which he is living. 

Moral liberty. Such freedom as is essential 
to render a person responsible for what he 
does, or what he omits to do. 

Natural liberty. Unrestricted freedom to 
exercise all natural functions in their proper 

f daces; the state of being subject only to the 
aws of nature. 

Political liberty. The freedom of a nation 
from any unjust abridgment of its rights and 
independence; the right to participate in 
political elections and civil offices, and to have 
a voice in the administration of the laws under 
which one lives. 

The price of liberty Is eternal vigilance, or 
sometimes quoted as “eternal vigilance is the 
price of liberty.” The concept has been attri- 
buted to several people, but comes from a 
speech made in 1790 by the Irish judge and 
orator John Philpot Curran (1750-1817), in 
which he said that “The condition upon 
which God hath given liberty to man is eternal 
vigilance.” The phrase “eternal vigilance is the 
price of liberty was apparently first used by 
Wendell Phillips (1811-84), the American 
reformer, in a speech in 1852. 




Liberty 


547 


Library 


Religious liberty. Freedom in religious 
opinions, and in both private and public 
worship, provided such freedom in no wise 
interferes with the equal liberty of others. 

The liberty of the press. The right to publish 
what one pleases, subject only to penalty if 
the publication is mischievous, hurtful, or 
libellous to the state or individuals. 

Cap of Liberty. See Cap. 

Liberty Enlightening the World. The colossal 
statue standing on Bedloe’s (or Liberty) Island, 
at the entrance of New York Harbour, 
presented to the American people by France 
in commemoration of the centenary of the 
American Declaration of Independence, and 
inaugurated in 1886. It is of bronze, 155 ft. in 
height (standing on a pedestal 135 ft. high), 
and represents a woman, draped, and holding 
a lighted torch in her upraised hand. It is the 
work of the Alsatian sculptor, Auguste 
Bartholdi (1834-1904). 

The statue of Liberty, placed over the 
entrance of the Palais Royal, Paris, was 
modelled from Mmc Tallien. 

The liberties of the Fleet. The district 
immediately surrounding the Fleet, the old 
debtors* prison in the City of London, in 
which prisoners were sometimes allowed to 
reside, and beyond which they were not allowed 
to go. They included the north side of Ludgate 
Hill and the Old Bailey to Fleet Lane, down 
the lane to the market, and on the east side 
along by the prison wall to the foot of Ludgate 
Hill. 

The word liberty was also used to denote 
the areas belonging to the City of London, but 
lying immediately without the City walls which, 
in course of time, were attached to the nearest 
ward within the walls, and to the surroundings 
of the Tower of Lonaon. See Tower Liberty. 

Liberty horses. Circus horses that perform 
evolutions without riders. 

Liberty-man. A seaman on shore leave. 

Liberty Ship. A vessel of about 10,000 tons 
much used by the U.S.A. during World War 
II for the transport of military personnel and 
supplies to oversea bases. 

In the Royal Navy it is the name given to 
the boat taking men oft' a warship for shore 
leave. 

Liberty Tree, or Pole (U.S.A.). The first so 
called was an elm on Boston Common. A pole 
inscribed “To his Gracious Majesty George 
III, Mr. Pitt, and Liberty*’ was set up in New 
York in 1766. It was cut down by the British 
four times, but the fifth remained for ten years. 

Libido (li be' do). A term used by Freud to 
designate “the energy of those instincts which 
have to do with all that may be comprised 
under the word ‘Love’.’* Mqre simply, it is 
applied to the innate impelling force of sex 
urge. 

Libitina (libiti'n*). The goddess who, in 
ancient Italy, presided over funerals. She was 
identified by the Romans with Proserpina, 
and her name was frequently used as a syno- 
nym for death itself. 

18 * 


Libra (Lat. the balance). The seventh sign of 
the Zodiac (and the name of one of the 
ancient constellations), which the sun enters 
about September 22nd and leaves about 
October 22nd. At this time the day and night 
being weighed would be found equal. 

Library. Before the invention of paper the thin 
rind between the solid wood and the outside 
bark of certain trees was used for writing on; 
this was in Lat. called liber , which came in 
time to signify also a “book.” Hence our 
library , the place for books; librarian , the 
keeper of books; and the French livre, a book. 


Famous libraries. Strabo says that Aristotle 
was the first person to own a private library. 
From an uncertain date there were public 
libraries m Athens, and these were known to 
Demetrius of Phalerum, writer and statesman 
(b. c. 350 b.c.), who suggested to Ptolemy 1 (c. 
367-283 or 282 b.c.) the founding of a library 
at Alexandria. The library was greatly in- 
creased by Ptolemy II, who has perhaps a bet- 
ter claim to be its real founder. Alexandria 
became the great literary centre of the Greek 
world. Its library was damaged when Julius 
Caesar besieged Alexandria, but it was re- 
formed, and destroyed by order of the Caliph 
Omar in a.d. 642 when the Moslems con- 
quered the city. By far the most important 
library of the ancient world, it was the largest 
collection of books before the invention of 
printing, and is variously computed to have 
contained from 100,000 to 700,000 volumes. 
France. Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Its 
origins were in the Petite Librairie of Louis XI 
(reigned 1461-83). 4,000,000 volumes. 
Germany . Prussian State Library. After the 
division of Germany following World War 11 
it was divided between the Deutsche Staats- 
bibliothek, Berlin, and the Westdeutsche 
Bibliothek, Marburg. 2,850,000 volumes. 
Hungary . Matthew Corvinus Library. 1 ,000,000 
volumes. 


Ireland , Republic of. Trinity College, Dublin, 
founded 1601. Possesses many valuable manu- 
scripts. 

Italy. Vatican Library, the oldest in Italy, and 
its foundation goes back to mediaeval times. 
The present building was built by Pope Sixtus 
V. 700,000 volumes and 60,000 manuscripts. 
Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurenziana, Florence, 
opened to the public in 1571, and particularly 
notable for a great collection of some of the 
most precious classical manuscripts in exis- 
tence. Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Vittorio 
Emanuele, founded 1875, and possessing 
nearly 2,000,000 volumes. 

Spain. Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid, formerly 
the Royal Library, founded 1712; 1,500,000 
volumes. 

United Kingdom. British Museum Library, 
founded 1753; the greatest research library in 
the world; 5,500,000 volumes. Bodleian 
Library, Oxford, founded 1598, and includes 
thepriginal University Library based on the 
collection of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester 
(d 1447); 2,000,000 volumes and a large col- 
lection of manuscripts. Cambridge University 
Library, founded 1475; 1,500,000 volumes, 



Libya 


548 


Lie 


225.000 maps and over 10,000 manuscripts. St. 
Andrews University Library, founded 1456, 
the oldest library in Scotland. National 
Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, founded as 
the Advocates’ Library in 1682. John Rylands 
Library, Manchester, founded 1888; has a 
notable collection of manuscripts. 

United States. Harvard University Library, 
founded 1638, the oldest library in the U.S.A.; 
4,000,000 volumes. Library of Congress, 
founded in 1800; 12,300,000 books and 
pamphlets and many manuscripts. New York 
Public Library, founded in 1839 and given its 
present organization in 1895; 6,950,000 

volumes and 9,000,000 manuscript letters and 
documents. Henry E. Huntington Library and 
Art Gallery, San Marino, California, noted 
for rare books, especially of the 16th century, 
manuscripts, and paintings. Pierpont Morgan 
Library, New York, noted for incunabula and 
manuscripts; endowed in 1924. Folger 
Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C., with 

250.000 volumes, has the largest collection of 
Shakespeareana in the world. 

A circulating library. A library from which 
the books may be borrowed and taken by 
readers to their homes. 

Libya. The north of Africa between Egypt and 
Algeria. It was the Greek name for Africa 
in general. The Romans used the word 
sometimes as synonymous with Africa, and 
sometimes for the fringe containing Carthage. 

Libya was occupied by the Italians in 1911- 
12, and by the Treaty of Ouchy (1912) the 
sovereignty of the province was transferred 
from Turkey to Italy. The Italians began its 
colonization, and so late as 1938 some 16,000 
emigrants left Genoa for the province. In 
1942-43 the Germans and Italians were driven 
from Libya in the British advance from El 
Alamein. In 1949 the General Assembly of the 
United Nations decreed that Libya should 
become an independent state by January 1st, 
1952. On this date Libya became a kingdom 
under Sayed Mohammed Idris. 

Llch. A dead body (O.E. lie ; Ger. Leiche). 

Lich-fowls. Birds that feed on carrion, as 
night-ravens, etc. 

Lich-gate. The shed or covered place at the 
entrance of churchyards, intended to atford 
shelter to the coffin and mourners, while they 
wait for the clergyman to conduct the cortege 
into the church. 

Lich-owl. The screech-owl, superstitiously 
supposed to foretell death. 

Lich-wake or Lyke-wake. The funeral feast 
or the waking of a corpse, i.e. watching it all 
night. 

In a pastoral written by jElfric in 998 for 
Wilfsige, Bishop of Sherborne, the attendance 
of the clergy at lyke-wakes is forbidden. 

Lich-way. The path by which a funeral is 
conveyed to church, which not infrequently 
deviates from the ordinary road. It was long 
supposed that wherever a dead body passed 
became a public thoroughfare. 

Lick. I licked him. I flogged or beat him. A 
licking is a thrashing, or — in games — a defeat, 
as / gave him a good licking at billiards . 


A lick and a promise. To give a lick and a 
promise to a piece of work is to do it in a hasty 
and superficial way — as a cat might give its 
dirty face one quick lick of its tongue with a 
promise of more cleaning later. 

To go at a great lick. To run, ride, etc., at 
great speed ; to put on a spurt. 

To lick a man’s shoes. To be humble or ab- 
jectly servile towards him. Cp. Lickspittle. 

To lick one’s lips. To give evident signs of 
the enjoyment of anticipation. 

To lick into shape. To make presentable; 
to bring children up well, etc. Derived from 
the belief widespread in mediaeval times and 
later that the cubs of bears are born shapeless, 
and have to be licked into shape by their 
mothers. The story gained currency apparently 
from the Arab physician Avicenna (980-1037), 
who tells it in his encyclopaedia. 

To lick the dust or the ground. See To kiss 
the dust , under Kiss. 

Lickpenny. Something or someone that 
makes the money go — that “licks up” the 
pennies. Lydgate ( c . 1425) wrote a humor- 
ous poem called London Lyckpenny in which 
he shows that life in London makes the money 

fly- 

Lickspittle. A toady, the meanest of 
sycophants. 

Lictors. Binders (Lat. ligo , I bind or tie). 
These Roman officers were so called because 
they bound the hands and feet of criminals 
before they executed the sentence of the law. 

Lidice (lid' i si). Once a mining village in 
Czechoslovakia. In 1942 the German authori- 
ties asserted that the inhabitants had helped 
the patriots who had assassinated the atrocious 
Reinhard Heydrich, Nazi governor of Bohemia. 
All the adult inhabitants of Lidice were shot 
and the children taken away none have ever 
known where; the village was then utterly 
razed to the ground. This example of German 
ferocity aroused such indignation throughout 
the civilized world that in U.S.A., Mexico, 
and elsewhere a number of towns and villages 
were renamed Lidice in its memory. 

Lido (le' do). An outdoor bathing-pool, 
usually with a place for sunbathing and often 
with accommodation for concerts or other 
amusements. The name is taken from the 
sandy island called the Lido, facing the 
Adriatic outside Venice, and a fashionable 
bathing resort. 

Lie. A falsehood (O.E. lyge; from leogan , to 
lie). 

A lie hath no feet. Because it cannot stand 
alone. In fact, a lie wants twenty others to 
support it, and even then is in constant danger 
of tripping. Cp. Liar ( Liars should have good 
memories). 

A white lie. A conventional lie, such as 
telling a caller that Mrs. A. or Mrs. B. is not at 
home, meaning not “at home” to that particu- 
lar caller. 

It is said that Dean Swift called on a friend, 
and was told “Master is not at home.” The 
friend called on the dean, and Swift, opening 



Lie 


549 


Lifting 


the windows shouted, “Not at home.” When 
the friend expostulated, Swift said, “I believed 
your footman when he said his master was not 
at home; surely you can believe the master 
himself when he tells you he is not at home.” 

Lie detector. An American invention which 
records the heart-beats of a man under 
questioning. It has been found that a human 
being cannot tell a lie without the pulse of his 
heart increasing, and this increase of pulsation 
is recorded. In some States of the Union the 
findings of this machine are accepted as legal 
evidence. 

The Father of lies. Satan (John viii, 44). 

The greatest lie. In Heywood’s Four P's, 
an interlude of about 1543, a Palmer, a Par- 
doner, a Poticary, and a Pedlar disputed as to 
which could tell the greatest lie. The Palmer 
said he had never seen a woman out of patience ; 
whereupon the other three P’s threw up the 
sponge, saying such a falsehood could not 
possibly be outdone. 

The lie circumstantial, direct, etc. See 
Countercheck; Quarrelsome. 

To give one the lie. To accuse him to his face 
of telling a falsehood. 

To give the lie to. To show that such and 
such a statement is false; to belie. 

Lie (O.E. licgan , to bide or rest). 

To lie at the catch. In Bunyan’s Pilgrim's 
Progress Talkative says to Faithful, “You lie 
at the catch, I perceive.” To which Faithful 
replies, “No, not 1; I am only for setting 
things right.” To lie at or on the catch is to lie 
in wait or to lay a trap to catch one. 

To lie in. To be confined in childbirth. 

To lie in state. Said of a corpse of a royal or 
distinguished person that is displayed to the 
general public. 

To lie low. To conceal oneself or one’s 
intentions. 

All this while Brer Rabbit lay low. — Joel Chandler 
Harris: Uncle Remus. 

To lie over. To be deferred; as, this question 
must lie over till next sessions. 

To lie to. To stop the progress of a vessel 
at sea by reducing the sails and counter- 
bracing the yards; hence, to cease from doing 
something. 

We now ran plump into a fog, and were obliged to 
lie to. — Lord Dufferin: Letters from High Latitudes. 

To lie to one’s work. To work energetically. 

To lie up. To refrain from work, especially 
on account of ill health; to rest. 

To lie with one’s fathers. To be buried in 
one’s native place. 

I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me 
out of Egypt. — Gen , xlvii, 30. 

Liege (lej). The word means one bound, 
a bondsman (O.Fr. lige , connected with O.H.- 
Ger. ledig, free); hence, vassals were called 
liege-men — i.e* men bound to serve their lord, 
or liege lord. 


Lieutenant (in the British Navy and Army, 
• u ten r A mer ican usage, loo ten' &nt), 
is the Latin locum-tenens , through the French. 
^ Lteutenant-Colonel is the colonel’s deputy. 
The Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland was the rep- 
resentative of the Crown in that country. 

Life (O.E. lif). Drawn from life. Drawn or 
described from some existing person or 
object. 

For life. As long as life continues. 

•r ^ or ffl c of me • True as I am alive. Even 

if my life depended on it. A strong assevera- 
tion, originally “under pain of losing my life.” 

Nor could I, for the life of me, see how the creation 
of the world had anything to do with what 1 was 
talking about.— Goldsmith: Vicar of Wakefield. 

Large as life. Of the same size as the object 
represented. 

On my life. I will answer for it by my life. 

People of high life. The upper ten, the haut 

monde. 


To bear a charmed life. To escape accidents 
in a marvellous manner. 

To know life. To be well versed in the 
niceties of social intercourse, good breeding, 
manners, etc.; to be up to all the dodges by 
which one may be imposed upon. 

To see life. To “knock about” town, where 
life may be seen at its fullest; to move in smart 
or fast society. 

To the life. In exact imitation. “Done to the 
life.” 


Life Guards. The two senior cavalry 
regiments of the Household Troops fa.v.), the 
members of which are not less than six feet 
tall; hence, a fine, tall, manly fellow is called 
“a regular Life Guardsman.” 

Life preserver. A buoyant jacket, belt, or 
other appliance, to support the human body 
in water; also a loaded staff or knuckle-duster 
for self-defence. 


Lift. To have one at a lift is to have one in your 
power. When a wrestler has his antagonist in 
his hands and lifts him from the ground, he has 
him “at a lift,” or in his power. 

“Sirra,” says he, “I have you at a lift. 

Now you are come unto your latest shift.” 

Percy: Reliques; Guy and Amarant. 


Air-lift. Organized manoeuvre to transport 
a quantity of troops or stores to a destination 
by air. The Berlin air-lift , to victual the British 
and American zones of the city after the 
Russian embargo on all land transport, be- 
gan June 28th, 1948 and ended May 12th, 
1949, having made in all 195,530 flights and 
carried 1,414,000 tons of food, coal and other 
stores. 


Lifter. A thief. We still call one who 
blunders shops a “shop-lifter.” 

Is he so young a man, and so old a lifter? 

Tmiluc nnsl C . rpsxida . I. It. 


Lifting. In Scotland, the raising of the coffin 
on to the shoulders of the bearers. Certain 
ceremonies preceded the funeral. 

At the first service were offered meat and 
ale; at the second, shortbread and whisky; at 



Lifting 


550 


Liguria 


the third, seed-cake and wine; at the fourth, 
currant-bun and rum; at the last, sugar- 
biscuits and brandy. 

Lifting the little finger. See Finger. 

Ligan. See Lagan. 

Light. The O.E. of this word in both senses, i.e. 
illumination and smallness of weight, is 
leoht, but in the former sense it is connected 
with Gtt.Licht . Lat./«jc,and Gr .leukos (white), 
and in the latter with Ger. leicht , Gr. elachus 
(not heavy), and Sansk. laghu. The verb to 
light, to dismount, to settle after flight, is O.E. 
lihtan , from the last mentioned leoht, originally 
meaning to lighten, or relieve of a burden. 

According to his lights. According to his 
information or knowledge of the matter; or, 
according to the capacity he has for forming 
opinions on it. 

Ancient lights. A sign put up on a building 
to show the owner thereof has a right to the 
light coming from adjacent property, and 
consequently, no building may be erected 
there without his consent, if it would interfere 
with his light. By the Prescription Act of 1832 
a light is ancient if it has been uninterrupted 
for a period of twenty years. 

Before the lights. In theatrical parlance, on 
the stage, i.e. before the foot-lights. 

Light and leading. See Leading. 

Light comedian. One who takes humorous, 
but not low, parts. Orlando, in As You Like It , 
might be taken for a “light comedian”; Tony 
Lumpkin (She Stoops to Conquer ), and Paul 
Pry (in Poole’s comedy of that name, 1825) are 
parts for a “low comedian.” 

Light-fingered. See Finger. 

Light gains make a heavy purse. Small 
profits and a quick return, is the best way of 
gaining wealth. 

Light Infantry. In the British Army, infantry 
carrying less equipment than normal and 
trained to move at high speed in manoeuvring 
round the flanks of an enemy. They were 
introduced into the British Army by Sir John 
Moore (1761-1809). The regiments so desig- 
nated still march at a high speed, with short 
paces and with arms trailed instead of carried 
at the slope. ^ 

Light o’ love. An inconstant or loose- 
principled woman; a harlot. 

Light troops. A term formerly applied to 
light cavaliy, i.e. lancers and hussars, who are 
neither such large men as the “Heavies,” nor 
yet so heavily equipped. 

Lighthouse of the Mediterranean. The name 
given to the volcano Stromboli, one of the 
Lipari Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea. 

The light of the age. Maimonides or Rabbi 
Moses ben Maimon, of Cordova (1135-1204). 

The light of Thy countenance. God’s smile 
of approbation and love. 

Lift up the light of Thy countenance on us. — Ps. iv, 6. 

To bring to light. To discover and expose. 

The duke yet would have dark deeds darkly 
answered; he would never bring them to light; would 
he were returned! — Measure for Measure, III, ii. 


To light upon. To discover by accident; to 
come across by a lucky chance. Thus, Dr. 
Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale “How did you 
light on your specifick for the tooth-ach?” 

To make light of. To treat as of no impor- 
tance; to take little notice of. 

Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and 
my fatiings are killed, and all things are ready; come 
unto the marriage. 

But they made light of it, and went their ways, one 
to his farm, another to his merchandise. — Matt, xxii, 
4, 5. 

To put out one’s light. To kill him, “send 
him into the outer darkness.” Othello says, 
“ Put out the light and then put out the light,” 
meaning first the light in the room and then 
Desdemone’s light (life). 

To stand in one’s own light. To act in such a 
way as to hinder advancement. 

To throw or shed light upon. To elucidate, 
to explain. 

Lighthouse. See Pharos. 

Light year. This is a term used by scientists 
as a unit in measuring stellar distances. Light 
travels at the rate of 186,000 miles a second; 
a light year, or the distance travelled by light 
in a year, is, therefore, 5,876,068,880,000 
miles. 

Lightning. Hamilcar (d. 228 B.c.), the Cartha- 
ginian general, was called “Barca,” the 
Phoenician for “lightning” (Heb. Barak), both 
on account of the rapidity of his march and 
for the severity of his attacks. 

Chain lightning. Two or more flashes of 
lightning repeated without intermission. 

Forked lightning. Zig-zag lightning. 

Globular lightning. A meteoric ball (of fire), 
which sometimes falls on the earth and flies 
ofT with an explosion. 

Lightning conductor. A metal rod raised 
above a building with one end in the earth, to 
carry off the lightning and prevent its injuring 
the building. 

Lightning preservers. The most approved 
classical preservatives against lightning were 
the eagle, the sea-calf, and the laurel. Jupiter 
chose the first, Augustus Caesar the second, and 
Tiberius the third. (Columella, x; Suetonius, in 
Vit. Aug., xc.; ditto in Vit. Tib., Ixix). Cp. 
House-leek. 

Bodies scathed and persons struck dead by 
lightning were said to be incorruptible; and 
anyone so distinguished was held by the 
ancients in great honour. (J. C. Bullenger: De 
Terrae Motu, etc., v, 11.) 

Liguria (li gQ' ri ft). The ancient name of a 
part of Cisalpine Gaul, including the modern 
Genoa, Piedmont, some of Savoy, etc. In 
1797 Napoleon founded a “Ligurian Re- 
public,” with Genoa as its capital, and em- 
bracing also Venetia and a part of Sardinia, 
It was annexed to France in 1805. 

The Ligurian Sage. Aulus Persius Flaccus 
(a.d. 34-62), born at Volaterrse, in Etrurig, 
famous for his Satires. 


Like Billyo 


551 


Limbo 


Like Billyo (or BiJIio). Slang term meaning 
with great gusto or enthusiasm. Various sug- 
gestions have been made about the origin. A 
Joseph Billio, rector of Wickham Bishops, 
who was ejected for nonconformity, and be- 
came the first Nonconformist minister of 
Maldon in 1696, was noted for his energy and 
enthusiasm. One of Garibaldi’s lieutenants 
was a Nino Biglio, a swashbuckler who used to 
dash enthusiastically into action shouting “I 
am Biglio! Follow me, you rascals, and fight 
like Biglio !” The term is said also to derive 
from George Stephenson’s locomotive “Puf- 
fing Billy,” and that “Puffing like Billy-o” and 
“Running like Billy-o” were once common 
sayings; and there are other suggested origins. 

Lilburne. If no one else were alive, John would 
quarrel with Lilburne. John Lilburne (1614-57) 
was a contentious Leveller (q.v.) in the 
Commonwealth; so rancorous against rank 
that he could never satisfy himself that any 
two persons were exactly on the same level. 

Is John departed? and is Lilburne gone? 

Farewell to both — to Lilburne and to John. 

Yet, being gone, take this advice from me. 

Let them not both in one grave buried be. 

Here lay ye John, lay Lilburne thereabout; 

For if they both should meet, they would fall out. 

Epigrammatic Epitaph. 

Lilith (liL ith). A Semitic (in origin probably 
Babylonian) demon supposed to haunt 
wildernesses in stormy weather, and to be 
specially dangerous to children and pregnant 
women. She is referred to in Is. xxxiv, 14, as 
the “screech-owl” (Revised Version, “night 
monster,” and in margin “Lilith”); and the 
Talmudists give the name to a wife that Adam 
is fabled to have had before Eve, who, refusing 
to submit to him, left Paradise for a region of 
the air, and still haunts the night. Superstitious 
Jews put in the chamber occupied by their wife 
four coins inscribed with the names of Adam 
and Eve and the words “Avaunt thee, Lilith!” 
Goethe introduced her in his Faust , and 
Rossetti in his Eden Bower adapted the 
Adamitic story, making the Serpent the 
instrument of Lilith’s vengeance. See The 
Devil and his dam, under Devil, and Cp. 
Lamia. 

Lilli-Burlero (liT i bSr ler' 6). Said to have been 
the watchword of the Irish Roman Catholics 
in their massacres of the Protestants in 1641, 
the words were adopted as the refrain of a 
piece of political doggerel (written by Lord 
Wharton) satirizing James II, which con- 
tributed not a little to the success of the great 
revolution of 1688. Burnet says, “It made an 
impression on the (king’s) army that cannot be 
imagined. . . . The whole army, and at last 
the people, both in city and country, were 
singing it perpetually . . . never had so slight 
a thing so great an effect.” 

The song is referred to in Tristram Shanay , 
and is given in Percy’s Reliques (Series II, Bk. 
III). Chappell attributes the air to Henry 
Purcell. 

Wharton afterwards boasted that he had sung a 
king out of three kingdoms. But in truth, the success 
of Lilliburlero was tne effect, not the cause, of that 
excited state of public feeling which produced the 
Revolution. — Macaulay: History. 


In World War II the tune of Lilliburlero was 
revived in certain official broadcasts on military 
matters. 

Lilli Marlene. A song (based on an old air of 
ou i a P e . Dutch) composed by Norbert 
Schultze in 1938, and sung by the Swedish 
singer Lala Anderson. It was broadcast by the 
German radio on the capture of Belgrade, 
Ar t’ became a favourite song of the 
Airika Korps. From them it was caught up 
by the British 8th Army. In 1944 a document- 
ary film. The True Story of Lilli Marlene 
appeared, featuring Lala Anderson herself. 

Lilliput. The country of pigmies (“Lilli- 
putians”) to whom Captain Lemuel Gulliver 
was a giant. (Swift: Gulliver's Travels.) 

Lily, The. There is a tradition that the lily 
sprang from the repentant tears of Eve as she 
went forth from Paradise. 

In Christian art, the lily is an emblem of 
chastity, innocence, and purity. In pictures 
of the Annunciation, Gabriel is sometimes 
represented as carrying a lily-branch, while a 
vase containing a lily stands before the Virgin, 
who is kneeling in prayer. St. Joseph holds a 
lily-branch in his hand, indicating that his wife 
Mary was a virgin. 

Lily of France. The device of Clovis was 
three black toads ( see Crapaud); but the 
story goes that an aged hermit of Joye-en-valle 
saw a miraculous light stream one night into 
his cell, and an angel appeared to him holding 
an azure shield of wonderful beauty, em- 
blazoned with three gold lilies that shone like 
stars, which the hermit was commanded to 
give to Queen Clotilde; she gave it to her royal 
husband, whose arms were everywhere 
victorious, and the device was thereupon 
adopted as the emblem of France. (See Les 
Petits Bollandistes . vol. VI, p. 426.). It is said 
the people were commonly called Liharts , and 
the kingdom Lilium in the time of Philippe le 
Bel, Charles VIII, and Louis XII. See Fleur- 
de-lys. 

Florence is “The City of Lilies.” 

By “the lily in the field” in Matt, vi, 28, 
which is said to surpass Solomon in all his 
glory, is meant simply the wild lily, probably a 
species of iris. Our “lily of the valley” — with 
which this is sometimes confused — ls one of 
the genus Convallaria , a very different plant. 

To paint the lily. See Paint. 

Limb. Slang for a mischievous rascal, a young 
imp; it is short for the older Limb of the devil , 
where the word implies “agent” or “scion.” 
Dryden called Fletcher “a limb of Shake- 
speare.” 

Limb of the law. A clerk articled to a lawyer, 
a sheriff’s officer, a policeman, or other legal 
assistant. Just as the limbs of the body do 
what the head directs, so these obey the 
commands of the head of the office. 

Limbo (Lat. border, fringe, edge). The borders 
of hell; the portion assigned by the Schoolmen 
to those departed spirits to whom the benefits 
of redemption did not apply through no fault 
of* their own. 



Limbo 


552 


Line 


The Paradise of Fools. As fools or idiots are 
not responsible for their works, the old School- 
men held that they are not punished in purga- 
tory and cannot be received into heaven, so 
they go to a special ‘‘Paradise of Fools.” 

Then might you see 

Cowls, hoods, and habits, with their wearers tossed 

And fluttered into rags; then relics, beads. 

Indulgences, dispenses, pardons, bulls. 

The sport of winds. All these, upwhirled aloft. 

Into a Limbo large and broad, since called 

The Paradise of Fools. 

Milton: Paradise Lost, III, 489. 

Cp. Fool’s Paradise, under Fool. 

Limbo of the Fathers. The half-way house 
between earth and heaven, where the patriarchs 
and prophets who died before the death of 
the Redeemer await the Last Day, when they 
will be received into heaven. Some hold that 
this is the “hell” into which Christ descended 
after He gave up the ghost on the cross. 

Shakespeare uses limbo patrum for “quod,” 
jail, confinement. 

I have some of them in limbo patrum, and there 
they are like to dance these three days . — Henry VIII, 
V, iv. 

The Limbo of Children. For children who die 
before they are baptized or arc responsible for 
their actions. 

Limbus of the Moon. See Moon. 

Limehouse, or limehousing. At one time des- 
criptive of violent abuse of one’s political 
opponents: so called out of compliment to a 
speech by Lloyd George at Limehouse, Lon- 
don, on July 30th, 1909, when he poured forth 
scorn and abuse on dukes, landlords, financial 
magnates, etc. 

Lime-light. A vivid light, giving off little heat, 
roduced by the combustion of oxygen and 
ydrogen on a surface of lime. It is also called 
Drummond Light, after Thomas Drummond 
(1797-1840), who invented it in 1826. It was 
tried at the South Foreland lighthouse in 1861. 
But its main use developed in the theatre, 
where it could be used to throw a powerful 
beam upon one player to the exclusion of 
others on the stage. Hence the phrase to be in 
the lime-light, to be in the full glare of public 
attention. 

Limerick. A "nonsense verse in the metre, 
popularized by Edward Lear in his Book of 
Nonsense (1846), of which the following is an 
example : — 

There was a young lady of Wilts, 

Who walked up to Scotland on stilts; 

When they said it was shocking 
To show so much stocking. 

She answered, “Then what about kilts?’* 

The name was not given till much later, and 
comes from the chorus, ‘‘We’ll all come up, 
come up to Limerick,” which was interposed 
after each verse as it was improvised and sung 
by a convivial party. 

Limey (H' mi). In American and Australian 
slang this means a British sailor or ship, or 
just a Briton. It comes from the old system of 
taking steps to prevent scurvy by making the 
crew take lime juice. 

• 5 * 


Limp. A word formed of the initials of Louis 
(XIV), James (II), his wife Mary of Modena, 
and the Prince (of Wales), and used as a 
Jacobite toast in the time of William III. Cp . 
Notarikon. 

Lincoln. A hybrid Celtic and Latin name, 
Lindumcolonia , Lindum , the name of the old 
British town, meaning ‘‘the hill fort on the 
pool.” 

Lincoln green. Lincoln, at one time, was 
noted for its light green, as was Coventry for 
its blue, and Yorkshire for its grey cloth. Cp. 
Kendal Green. 

Lincoln College (Oxford). Founded by 
Richard Fleming, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1427, 
and completed by Thomas Rotherham, 
Bishop of Lincoln (afterwards Archbishop of 
York and Lord Chancellor), in 1479. 

Lincoln Imp. A grotesque carving, having 
long ears and only one leg, in the Angel Choir 
of Lincoln Cathedral. 

The devil looking over Lincoln. See Devil. 

Lincoln’s Inn. One of the four Inns of Court 
(tf.v.), in London. Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, 
built a mansion here in the 14th century on 
ground which had belonged to the Black 
Friars, but was granted to him by Edward I. 
A Bishop of Chichester, in the reign of Henry 
VII, granted leases here to certain students of 
law. 

Lindabrides (lin da bri' dez). A heroine in 
The Mirror of Knighthood , whose name at one 
time was a synonym for a kept mistress. 

Linden. The German name (largely used in 
England) for lime trees. Unter den Linden 
(‘‘under the limes”) is the name of the principal 
street in Berlin. It is about 1,100 yd. in length. 

Baucis (see Philemon) was converted into a 
linden tree. 

Lindor. One of the conventional names given 
by the classical poets to a rustic swain, a lover 
en bergtre. 

Line. AH along the line. In every particular, as 

in such phrases as — 

The accuracy of the statement is contested all along 
the line by persons on the spot. 

Crossing the line. Sailing across the Equator. 
Advantage is usually taken of this for all sorts 
of sports aboard ship, playing great practical 
iokes on those who have never crossed the 
Line before. The custom was at its prime in 
the old sailing-ship days. A sailor crudely 
dressed as Father Neptune, accompanied by a 
yet cruder Amphitrite, appeared over the ship’s 
side, followed by yet others, naked to the waist 
and painted with red ochre or the like. The 
neophytes were then seized, lathered with some 
horrible compound and while still struggling 
were forcibly shaved with a piece of rusty hoop 
iron. This was the usual procedure, accom- 
panied by much horseplay and licence. 

The line. In the British Army all regular 
infantry regiments except the Foot Guards, 
the Rifle Brigade, and the Marines are line 
regiments. 



Line 553 


Line of battle. The order of troops in the old 
set-piece battle, drawn up so as to present 
a battle-front. There were three lines — the van, 
the main body, and the rear. A fleet drawn up 
in line of battle is so arranged that the ships are 
ahead and astern of each other at stated 
distances. 

To break the enemy’s line is to derange his 
order of battle, and so put him to confusion. 

Hard lines. Hard luck, a hard lot. Here 
lines means an allotment measured out. 

Line of beauty. According to Hogarth, a 
curve thus ^ . 

Line of direction. The line in which a body 
moves, a force acts, or motion is communi- 
cated. In order that a body may stand without 
falling, a line let down from the centre of 
gravity must fall within the base on which 
the object stands. Thus the leaning tower of 
Pisa does not fall, because this rule is pre- 
served. 

Line of life. In palmistry, the crease in the 
left hand beginning above the web of the 
thumb, and running towards or up to the wrist. 

The nearer it approaches the wrist the longer will be 
the life, according to palmists. If long and deeply 
marked, it indicates long life with very little trouble; 
if crossed or cut with other marks, it indicates sickness. 

Line upon line. Admonition or instruction 
repeated little by little (a line at a time). 

Line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there 
a little. — Is. xxviii, 10. 

No day without its line. A saying attributed 
by Pliny to the Greek artist Apelles {nulla dies 
sine Jinea), who said he never passed a day 
without doing at least one line, and to this 
steady industry owed his great success. The 
words were adopted as his motto by Anthony 
Trollope. 

On the line. Said of a picture that at the 
Royal Academy is hung in a position that 
places its centre about the level of the specta- 
tor’s eye. 

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places 
( Ps . xvi, 6). The part allotted to me and 
measured off by a measuring line. The allusion 
is to drawing a line to mark out the lot of each 
tribe, hence line became the synonym of lot, 
and lot means position or destiny. 

The thin red line. British infantrymen in 
action. The old 93rd Highlanders were so 
described at the battle of Balaclava by W. H. 
Russell, because they did not take the trouble 
to form into square; their regimental magazine 
is named The Thin Red Line. 

To read between the lines. To discern the 
secret meaning. One method of cryptography 
is to write so that the hidden message is 
revealed only when alternate lines are read. 

To shoot a line. An R.A.F. phrase meaning 
to exaggerate, to tell a tall story, and now in 
general use. 

What line are you in? What trade or pro- 
fession are you of? Commercial travellers use 
the word frequently to signify the sort of goods 
which they nave to dispose of; as, one travels 
“in the hardware line,” another “in the 
drapery line,’* or “grocery line,” etc. 

Line-up. A phrase with a variety of meanings ; 
a parade of persons, especially criminals, 


Lion 


for inspection or recognition; an arrangement 
of players at the start of a game; the deploying 
of opposing forces before a battle. 

Lingo. Talk, language, especially some peculiar 
or technical phraseology; from lingua , tongue. 

Lingua Franca (ling' gwa frying' k&). A species 
of Italian mixed with French, Greek, Arabic, 
etc., spoken on the coasts of the Mediterranean. 
Also, any jumble of different languages. 

Lining of the Pocket. Money. 

My money is spent: Can I be content 
With pockets deprived of their lining? 

The Lady's Decoy , or Man Midwife's Defence , 1738, 
p. 4. 

When the great court tailor wished to 
obtain the patronage of Beau Brummel, he 
made him a present of a dress-coat lined with 
bank-notes. Brummel wrote a letter of thanks, 
stating that he quite approved of the coat, and 
he especially admired the lining. 

Linnxan System (lin e' &n). The system of 
classification adopted by the great Swedish 
naturalist Linnaeus (1707-78), who arranged 
his three kingdoms of animals, vegetables, and 
minerals into classes, orders, genera, species, 
and varieties, according to certain charac- 
teristics. 

Linne, The Heir of (lin). The hero of an old 
ballad, given in Percy’s Reliques , which tells 
how he wasted his substance in riotous living, 
and, having spent all, sold his estates to his 
steward, reserving only a poor lodge in a lonely 
glen. When no one would lend him money, he 
retired to the lodge, where was dangling a rope 
with a running noose. He put it round his neck 
and sprang aloft, but he fell to the ground, 
and when he came to espied two chests of 
beaten gold, and a third full of white money, 
over which was written — 

Once more, my sonne, I sette thee clere; 

Amend thy life and follies past; 

For but thou amend thee of thy life. 

That rope must be thy end at last. 

The heir of Linne now returned to his old hall, 
where he was refused the loan of forty pence 
by his quondam steward; one of the guests 
remarked that he ought to have lent it, as he 
had bought the estate cheap enough. “Cheap 
call you it?” said the steward; “why, he shall 
have it back for 100 marks less.” “Done,” 
said the heir of Linne, and recovered his 
estates. f 

Lion. As an honourable nickname. 

Ali Pasha. called The Lion of Janina. over- 
thrown in 1822 by Ibrahim Pasha. (1741, 
1788-1822.) 

Arioch (fifth of the dynasty of Ninu, the 
Assyrian), called Arioch Ellasar — i.e. Arioch 
Me lech a l Asser, the Lion King of Assyria. 
(1927-1897 b.c.) 

Damelomez , Prince of Haliez, who founded 
Lemberg (Lion City) in 1259. 

Gustavus Adolphus , called The Lion of the 
North. (1594, 1611-32.) 

Hamza, called The Lion of God and His 
Prophet. So Gabriel told Mohammed that his 
uncle was enregistered in heaven. 

Henry , Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, was 
called The Lion for his daring courage. (1129- 
95.) 


Lion 


554 


lion 


Louis VIII of France was called The Lion 
because he was born under the sign Leo. (1187, 
1223-26.) 

Mohammed ihn Daud , nephew of Togrul 
Beg, the Perso-Turkish monarch (reigned 1063- 
72) was surnamed Alp Arslan, the Valiant Lion . 

Richard /. Cceur de Lion {Lion's heart), so 
called for his bravery. (1157, 1189-99.) 

William of Scotland, so called because he 
chose a red lion rampant for his cognizance. 
(Reigned 1165-1214). 

See Lion of God, below . 

A lion is emblem of the tribe of Judah: 
Christ is called “the lion of the tribe of Judah. 

Judah is a lion’s whelp: ... he couched as a lion, 
and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? — Gen. 
xlix, 9. 

Among the titles of the Emperor of Abys- 
sinia are Conquering Lion of the Tribe of 
Judah, Elect of God, King of the Kings of 
Ethiopia. 

The Lion in Story and Legend 

Elsa t the lioness of Kenya. Brought up from 
a cub by George Adamson, a game warden of 
Kenya, and his wife. After returning to the 
jungle, mating and rearing her cubs, she used 
frequently to visit the Adamsons. Her story 
is! told in two books by Mrs. Joy Adamson. 
Elsa died in 1961. 

Cybele is represented as riding in a chariot 
drawn by two tame lions. 

Pracriti , the goddess of nature among the 
Hindus, is represented in a similar manner. 

Hippomenes and Atalanta (fond lovers) were 
metamorphosed into lions by Cybele. 

Hercules is said to have worn over his 
shoulders the hide of the Nemean lion {see 
Nemean), and the personification of Terror is 
also arrayed in a lion’s hide. 

The story of Androcles and the lion {see 
Androcles) has many parallels, the most 
famous of which are those related of St. 
Jerome and St. Gerasimus: — 

While St. Jerome was lecturing one day, a 
lion entered the schoolroom, and lifted up one 
of its paws. All the disciples fled; but Jerome, 
seeing that the paw was wounded, drew out of 
it a thorn and dressed the wound. The lion, out 
of gratitude, showed a wish to stay with its 
benefactor. Hence the saint is represented as 
accompanied by a lion. 

St. Gerasirpus, says the story, saw, on the 
banks of the Jordan, a lion coming to him, 
limping on three feet. When it reached the 
saint it held up to him the right paw, from which 
Gerasimus extracted a large thorn. The grate- 
ful beast attached itself to the saint, and fol- 
lowed him about as a dog. 

Half a score of such tales are told by the 
Bollandists in the Acta Sanctorum ; and in 
more recent times a similar one was told of 
Sir George Davis, an English consul at 
Florence at the beginning of the 19th century. 
One day he went to see the lions of the great 
Duke of Tuscany. There was one which the 
keepers could not tame; but no sooner did Sir 
George appear than it manifested every 
symptom of joy. Sir George entered its cage, 
when the lion leaped on his shoulder, licked 
his face, wagged its tail, and fawned on him 
like a dog. Sir George told the great duke that 


he had brought up the creature; but as it gfew 
older it became dangerous, and he sold it to 
a Barbary captain. The duke said that he had 
bought it of the very same man, and the 
mystery was solved. 

Sir l wain de Galles , a hero of romance, was 
attended by a lion, which, in gratitude to the 
knight who had delivered it from a serpent 
with which it had been engaged in deadly 
combat, ever after became his faithful servant, 
approaching the knight with tears, and rising 
on its hind-feet like a dog. 

Sir Geoffrey de Latour was aided by a lion 
against the Saracens; but the faithful brute 
was drowned in attempting to follow the vessel 
in which the knight had embarked on his 
departure from the Holy Land. 

The lion will not touch the true prince ( Henry 
IV, Pt . /, II, iv). This is an old superstition, 
and has been given a Christian significance, 
the “true prince” being the Messiah. It is 
applied to any prince of blood royal, supposed 
at one time to be hedged around with a sort of 
divinity. 

Fetch the Numidian Hon I brought over; 

If she be sprung from royal blood, the lion 

He’ll do her reverence, else . . . 

He’ll tear her all to pieces. 

Fletcher: The Mad Lover , IV, v. 

The lion in Heraldry 

Ever since 1164, when it was adopted as a 
device by Philip I, Duke of Flanders, the lion 
has figured largely and in an amazing variety 
of positions as an heraldic emblem, and, as a 
consequence, in public-house signs. The 
earliest and most important attitude of the 
heraldic lion is rampant (the device of Scot- 
land), but it is also shown as passant , passant 
gardant (as in the shield of England), salient , 
sejant , etc., and even dormant. For these terms 
see Heraldry. 

The lions in the arms of England. They are 
three lions passant gardant, i.e. walking and 
showing the full face. The first was that of 
Rollo, Duke of Normandy, and the second 
represented the country of Maine, which was 
added to Normandy. These were the two lions 
borne by William the Conqueror and his 
descendants. Henry II added a third lion to 
represent the Duchy of Aquitaine, which 
came to him through his wife Eleanor. Any 
lion not rampant is called a lion leoparde , and 
the French heralds call the lion passant a 
leopard ; accordingly Napoleon said to his 
soldiers, “Let us drive these leopards (the 
English) into the sea.” 

Since 1603 the royal arms have been sup- 
ported as now by (dexter) the English lion and 
(sinister) the Scottish unicorn {see Unicorn); 
but prior to the accession of James I the sinister 
supporter was a family badge. Edward III, 
with whom supporters began, had a lion and 
eagle; Henry IV, an antelope and swan; 
Henry V, a lion and antelope; Edward IV, a 
lion and bull; Richard III, a lion and boar; 
Henry VII, a lion and dragon; Elizabeth I, 
Mary I, and Henry VIII, a lion and greyhound. 

The lion in the arms of Scotland is derived 
from the arms of the ancient Earls of Northum- 
berland and Huntingdon, from whom some 
of the Scottish monarchs were descended. The 
tressure is referred to the reign of Achaius (d. 



Lion 


555 


c, 819), who made a league with Charle- 
magne, “who did augment his arms with a 
double trace formed with Floure-de-lyces, 
signifying thereby that the lion henceforth 
should be defended by the ayde of Frenche- 
men.” (Holinshed: Chronicles .) 

Sir Walter Scott says: — 

William, King of Scotland, having chosen for his 
armorial bearing a Red Lion rampant , acquired the 
name of William the Lion; and this rampant lion still 
constitutes the arms of Scotland; and the president of 
the heraldic court ... is called Lord Lion King-at- 
Arms. — Tales of a Grandfather , iv. 

The lion an emblem of the resurrection. 

According to tradition, the lion’s whelp is 
born dead, and remains so for three days, 
when the father breathes on it and it receives 
life. Another tradition is that the lion is the 
only animal of the cat tribe born with its 
eyes open, and it is said that it sleeps with its 
eyes open. This is not a fact. 

St. Mark the Evangelist is symbolized by a 
lion because he begins his gospel with the 
scenes of St. John the Baptist and Christ in 
the wilderness. See Evangelists. 

A lion at the feet of crusaders or martyrs, in 
effigy, signifies that they died for their cause. 

The Lion of St. Mark , or of Venice. A 
winged lion sejant , holding an open book with 
the inscription Pax tibi, Marce, Evangelista 
Meus. A sword-point rises above the book on 
the dexter side, and the whole is encircled by 
an aureola. 

Among other distinctive lions that appear in 
blazonry and on the signs of inns, etc., may be 
mentioned : — - 

Blue, the badge of the Earl of Mortimer, also 
of Denmark. 

Crowned , the badge of Henry VIII. 

Golden , the badge of Henry I, and also of 
Percy, Duke of Northumberland. 

Rampant , with the tail between its legs and 
turned over its back, the badge of Edward IV 
as Earl of March. 

Red , of Scotland; also the badge of John of 
Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, who assumed this 
badge as a token of his claim to the throne of 
Castile. 

Sleeping , the device of Richard I. 

Statant gardant (i.e. standing and showing a 
full face), the device of the Duke of Norfolk. 

White, the device of the Duke of Norfolk; 
also of the Earl of Surrey, Earl of Mortimer, 
and the Fitz-Hammonds. 

Lion of God. Ali-Ben-Abou-Thaleb (602-61), 
the son-in-law of Mohammed, was so called 
because of his zeal and his great courage. His 
mother called him at birth Al Haidar a, “the 
Rugged Lion.’* 

Lion-hunter. One who hunts up a celebrity 
to adorn or give prestige to a party. Mrs. Leo 
Hunter, in Pickwick , is a good satire on the 
name and character of a lion-hunter. 

Lion of St. Mark. See above . 

Lion Sermon, The. Preached annually in St. 
Katharine Cree Church, Leadenhall Street, 
London, in October, to commemorate “the 
wonderful escape” of Sir John Gayre, about 
300 years ago, from a lion which he met with 


* Lip 

— — — 

on being shipwrecked on the coast of Africa. 
Sir John was Lord Mayor in 164?. 

Sir John Gayre brfqneathed £200 for the relief of the 
poor on condition that a commemorative sermon was 
preached annually at St. Katharine Cree. It is said 
that Sir John was on his knees in prayer when the lion 
came up. smelt about him, prowled round and round 
him, and then stalked off. 

Lions. The lions of a place are sights worth 
seeing, or the celebrities; so called from the 
ancient custom of showing strangers, chief 
of London sights, the lions at the Tower. The 
Tower menagerie was abolished in 1834. 

Lion’s Head. In fountains the water is 
often made to issue from the mouth of a lion. 
This is a very ancient custom. The Egyptians 
thus symbolized the inundation of tne Nile, 
which happens when the sun is in Leo (July 
28th to August -23rd), and the Greeks ana 
Romans adopted the device for their fountains. 

To place one’s head in the lion’s mouth. To 
expose oneself needlessly and foolhardily to 
danger. 

Lion’s Provider. A jackal; a foil to another 
man’s wit, a humble friend who plays into your 
hand to show you to best advantage. The 
jackal (q.v.) feeds on the lion’s leavings, and & 
said to yell to advise the lion that it has 
roused up his prey, serving the lion in much 
the same way as a dog serves a sportsman. 

... the poor jackals are less foul. 

As being the brave lion’s keen providers. 

Than human insects catering for spiders. 

Byron : Don Juan , ix, 27. 

Lion’s share. The larger part: all or nearly 
all. In Assop's Fables , several beasts joined the 
lion in a hunt; but, when the spoil was divided, 
the lion claimed one quarter in right of his 
prerogative, one for his superior courage, one 
for his dam and cubs, “and as for the fourth, 
let who will dispute it with me.” Awed by his 
frown, the other beasts yielded and silently 
withdrew. Cp. Montgomery. 

Lionize a person, To, is either to show him 
the lions, or chief objects of attraction/ Q& to 
make a lion of him by feting him and taatdng 
a fuss about him. The phrase derive^frdm the 
fact that the lions at the Tower of London 
menagerie were considered its main attraction. 

Lip. Lip homage or service. Verbal devotion. 
Honouring with the lips while the heart takes 
no part nor lot in the matter. See Matt . xv, 8; 
Is. xxix, 13. 

To bite one’s lip. To express vexation and 
annoyance, or to Suppress some unwanted 
emotion as laughter or anger. 

To carry a stiff upper lip. To be self-reliant ; 
to bear oneself courageously in face of 
difficulties or danger. 

To curl the lip. To express contempt or 
disgust with the mouth. 

To hang the lip. To drop the under lip in 
sullenness or contempt. Thus in Troilus and 
Cressida (III, i) Helen explains why her bro- 
ther Troilus is not abroad by saying, “He 
hangs the lip at something.” 

A foolish hanging of thy nether lip .-— Henry IK 
Pt . /, I, iv. 


556 


Little Masters 


lip 


*$0 shoot out the lip. To Show scorn. 

All they that see me laugh me to scorn. They shoot 
out the lip; they shake the head ** . — Ps, xxii, 7. 

Liqueur (li ktl' 6r). An aromatic and usually 
sweetened drink combined with various 
flavourings to give a distinctive character. 
Liqueurs generally consist of equal portions of 
alcohol and syrup made from cane sugar mixed 
with essences and herbs. Some of the most 
renowned liqueurs originated in monasteries, 
and th# secret of their recipe has been and still 
is jealously guarded. Among the chief of these 
are the green and yellow Chartreuse, now made 
at Tarragona by paid servants and lay brothers. 
The great profits help to keep up the monas- 
teries and maintain Considerable charities. 
Benedictine, although made on the site of the 
great monastery of Fecamp, has nothing 
whatever to do with the monastic order — it is 
an ordinary commercial product. 

Liquidate. In the sinister slang introduced by 
Fascism, this means tq kill, to get out of the 
way by murder. ■ 

LIr, King. The earliest known original of the 
King in King Lear , an ocean god of early Irish 
and British legend. He figures in the romance 
The Fate of the Children of Lir as the father of 
Fionnuala (q.v.). On the death of Fingula, the 
mother of his daughter, he married the wicked 
Aoife, who, through spite, transformed the 
children of Lir into swans, doomed to float on 
the water till they heard the first mass-bell ring. 

Lir was fabled to be a descendant of Brutus, 
and appears in early Welsh chronicles as 
Lear , or Leyr (the founder of Leicester), 
whence — through Geoffrey of Monmouth, by 
whose time other legends had crystallized 
round him — Shakespeare obtained the frame- 
work of his plot. 

Lisbon. Camoens, in the Lusiad , derives the 
name from Ulyssippo (Ulysses’ polis or city), 
and says that it was founded by Ulysses; but 
it is in fact the old Phoenician Olisippo , the 
walled town. The root Hippo appears as the 
name qf more than one ancient African city, 
alsd^in prippo, Lacippo, and other Spanish 
towng* * 

Lismahago (lis mi ha' go). A proud but poor, 
and very conceited, Scots captain, in 
Smollett’s Humphry Clinker . Fond of disputa- 
tion, jealous of honour, and brimful of 
national pride, he marries Miss Tabitha 
Bramble. 

Lit de Justice (le de zhus tes). Properly the 
seat occupied by the Freqch king when he 
attended the deliberations of his parlement ; 
hence, the session itself, any arbitrary edict. 
As the members derived their power from the 
king, when the king was present their power 
returned to the fountain-head, and the king 
was arbitrary. What he then proposed could 
not bf controverted, and had the force of law. 
The last lit de justice was held by Louis XVI in 
1787 . 

Little. Little by little. Gradually; a little at a 
time. 

Many a little makes a mickle. The real 
Scottish proverb is: “A wheen o’ mickles mak’s 


a muckle,” where mickle means little, and 
muckle much; but the Old English micel or 
mycel means “much,” so that, if the Scots 
proverb is accepted, we must give a forced 
meaning to the word “mickle.” 

Little Britain. The name given in the old 
romances to Armorica, now Brittany; also 
called Benwic. 

A street in the City of London, originally 
Brettone-strete, and going through variations 
of spelling until called Lyttell Bretton in late 
Elizabethan times. The name is almost cer- 
tainly derived from a Robert le Bretoun who 
owned property there in the 13th century. The 
surname Bretoun indicates that he came from 
Brittany. 

Little Corporal, The. Napoleon Bonaparte. 
So called after the battle of Lodi, in 1796, 
from his low stature, youthful age, and 
amazing courage. He was barely 5 ft. 2 in. in 
height. 

Little-endians. See Big-endians , under Big. 

Little Englanders. An opprobrious name 
which became popular about the time of the 
last Boer War for those who upheld the 
doctrine that the English should concern 
themselves with England only, and were 
opposed to any extension of the Empire. 

Little Entente was the name given to some of 
the Near Eastern countries before World War 
II. Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Rumania 
signed formal treaties of alliance in 1920 and 
again in 1929, one of the chief objects being 
to prevent the restoration of the Hapsburgs to 
the throne of Hungary. 

Little Gentleman in Velvet. “The little 
gentleman in velvet,” i.e, the mole, was a 
favourite Jacobite toast in the reign of Queen 
Anne. The reference was to the mole that raised 
the molehill against which the horse of 
William III stumbled at Hampton Court. By 
this accident the king broke his collar-bone, 
and after a severe illness died early in 1702. 

Little go. A preliminary examination at 
Cambridge which all undergraduates must pass 
(unless excused on account of having passed 
certain other exams.) before proceeding to 
take any examination for a degree. The Little 
o is almost invariably taken in or before the 
rst term. The examination at Oxford corres- 
ponding with this is Responsions. 

Little Jack Horner. See Jack. 

Little John. A legendary character in 
the Robin Hood cycle, a big stalwart fellow, 
first named John Little (or John Nailor), who 
encountered Robin Hood, and gave him a 
sound thrashing, after which he was re- 
christened, and Robin stood godfather. 

Little Magician. The nickname of Martin 
van Buren, President of the U.S.A., 1837-41. 

Little Mary. See Mary. 

Little Masters. A name applied to certain 
designers who worked for engravers, etc., in 
the 16th and 17th centuries, because their 
designs were on a small scale, fit for copper or 



Little 


557 


Lloyd’s 


wood. The most famous are Jost Amman, 
Hans Burgmair (who made drawings in wood 
illustrative of the triumph of the Emperor 
Maximilian), Albrecht Altdorfer, and Heinrich 
Aldegraver. Albrecht Durer and Lucas van 
Leyden made the art renowned and popular. 

Little Parliament, The. Another name for the 
Barebones Parliament {q.v.). 

Little Red Rid|nghood. This nursery tale is, 
with slight alterations, common to Sweden, 
Germany, and France. It comes to us fropi the 
French Le Petit Chaperon Rouge , in Charles 
Perrault’s Contes des Temps , and was probably 
derived from Italy. The finale , which tells of 
the arrival of a huntsman who slits open the 
wolf and restores little Red Ridinghood and 
her grandmother to life, is a German addition. 

Little Rhody. The State of Rhode Island, 
U.S.A. 

Liturgy. The Greek word from which this 
comes means public service , or worship of the 
gods , and the arranging of the dancing and 
singing on public festivals, the equipping and 
manning of ships, etc. In the Church of Eng- 
land it means the religious forms prescribed 
in the Book of Common Prayer. 

Liver. The liver was anciently supposed to be 
the seat of love; hence, when Longaville reads 
the verses, Biron says, in an aside, “This is the 
liver-vein, which makes flesh a deity” {Love's 
Labour's Lost, IV, iii); and in The Merry Wives 
of Windsor (II, i) Pistol speaks of Falstaff as 
loving Ford’s wife “with liver burning hot.” 

Another superstition concerning this organ 
was that the liver of a coward contained no 
blood; hence such expressions as white-livered, 
lily-livered, and Sir Toby’s remark in Twelfth 
Night (II, ii) : — 

For Andrew, if he were opened, and you find so 
much blood in his liver as will clog the foot of a flea. 
I’ll eat the rest of the anatomy. 

In the auspices taken by the Greeks and 
Romans before battle, if the liver of the 
animals sacrificed was healthy and blood-red, 
the omen was favourable; but if pale, it 
augured defeat. 

Liverpool. A native of Liverpool is called a 
Liverpudlian or a Dicky Sam. 

Livery. What is delivered. The clothes of a 
manservant delivered to him by his master. 
The stables to which your horse is delivered 
for keep. Splendid dresses were formerly given 
to all the members of royal households; barons 
and knights gave uniforms to their retainers, 
and even a duke’s son, serving as a page, was 
clothed in the livery of the prince he served. 

Wh^t livery is we know well enough; it is the allow- 
ance of horse-meate to keepe horses at livery; the 
which word, I guess, is derived of delivering forth their 
nightly food. — S penser on Ireland. 

The colours of the livery of menservants 
should be those of the field and principal 
charge of the armorial shield; hence the royal 
livery is scarlet trimmed with gold. 

Livery Companies. The modern representa- 
tives in the City of London of the old City 
Guilds {see Guildhall), so called because they 
formerly wore distinctive costumes, or liveries 
C see above ) for special occasions. The names of 


the companies are' not, to-day, any guide to 
the profession or occupation of the/’Bveiyknen” 
(except, perhaps, in a few cases, such as the 
stationers J, but they show the origin of the 
company, and many of the present members 
are descendants of prominent men in the 
particular business. 

'Hie twelve “great” companies, in order of 
civic precedence, with the date of their 
formation or incorporation, are:- 


Mercers (1393). 
Grocers (1345). 
Drapers (1364). 
Fishmongers (1384). 
~ * * ths 


Merchant Jay lo, 
Haberdashers (1 
Salters (1394). 
Ironmongers (1463). 
Vintners (1437). 
Cloth workers (1527). 


>B 26 ). 


Goldsmiths (1327). 

Skinners (1319). 

The Grdcers’ were odginally known as the 
Pepper eirs s and 4 the Haberdashers’ as the Hurrers . 
Samuel Pepys was Master (1677) of the Cloth- 
workers, which was a 16th-century incorpora- 
tion of the Shearfrten and Fullers’ Guild. 

The first twelve of the lesser livery com- 
panies, in order of civic precedence, are: — 


Dyers. Barbers. , $ Tallowchandlers. 

Brewers. Cutlers. Armourers & Braziers. 

Lea therse Hers. Bakers. * Girdlers. 

Pewterers. Waxchandlers. Butchers. 


There are about 90 City companies of old 
standing, nearly all of which contribute 
largely from their funds to charities (especially 
in the matter of education), and about 40 
of which have their own “Halls” in the City. 

Liverymen. The freemen of the London 
livery companies are so called because they 
were entitled to wear the livery of their 
respective companies. 

Livy. Livy of France, The. Juan de Mariana 
(1537-1624). 

Livy of Portugal, The. Joao de Barros, the 
chief of the Portuguese historians (1496-1570). 
Lizard. Supposed, at one time, to be venom- 
ous, and hence a “lizard’s leg” was an 
ingredient of the witches’ cauldron in Macbeth. 

Poison be their drink! . . . 

Their chiefest prospect murdering basilisks! 

Their softest touch as smart as lizard’s stings! 

Henry VI , Pt. II, III, ii. 

Lizard Point (Cornwall). Gaelic, “the«g§tfint 
of the high {ard) fort (/is).’* Ard appears in a 
large number of place names — Ardrossan (the 
little high point), Ardwick (the high town), the 
Ardennes (high valleys), etc., and Lis in Lis- 
more , Liskeard, Ballylesson (the town of the 
little fort), etc. 

Lounge lizard. A phrase current in the 
1920s to describe a young man who spent 
his time, or, often mg.de his living, by dancing 
and waiting upon efdfrly women. 

Llew Llaw Gytfes, or the Lion with the Steady 
Hand, a hero of the type of Hercules, was 
worshipped in ancient Britain apd until the 
19th century in some parts of Wales. His 
death, on the first Sunday in August, was 
celebrated by a feast called Lugh-mqas,3|pme- 
times confounded with Lammas. 

Lloyd’s. An international insurance market 
in the City of London and the world centre of 
shipping intelligence that began in the 17th- 
century coffee house of Edward Lloyd in 
London. Lloyd’s, incorporated by Act of 
Parliament in 1871, was originally a market 



LoadLine 


Lochiel 


558 # 


fo^ marine insurance only. Nowadays all 
typesflof insurance, excepting whole life cover, 
are accepted, and non-marine business repre- 
sents more than half the £320,000';000 which 
is the annual premium income of Lloyd’s 
underwriters. 

h Insurance is accepted at Lloyd’s by indi- 
vidual underwriters, not by Lloyd’s, the Cor- 
poration itself, which provides the premises 
and other underwriting facilities, including 
shipping publications and intelligence. All in- 
surance is placed with Lloyd’s underwriters 
through Lloyd’s brokers. 

A system of Lloyd’s Agents all over the 
world sends to Lloyd’s in London shipping 
information ? which is published in a number 
of publications, including “Lloyd’s List” 
(Lloyd’s own and London’s oldest daily news- 
paper) and “Lloyd’s Shipping Index”, a daily 
publication listing the movements of some 
15,000 ocean-going vessels. 

Load Line is another name for the Plimsoll 
Line (q.v.). 

Loaf. In sacred art a loaf held in the hand is 
an attribute of St. Philip the Apostle, St. 
Osyth, St. Joanna, St. Nicholas, St. Godfrey, 
and of many other saints noted for their 
charity to the poor. 

Half a loaf is better than no bread. An old 
saying; if you can’t get all you want, try to 
be content with what you do get. Heywood 
(1546) says: — 

Throw no gift at the giver’s head; 

Better is half a loaf than no bread. 

Never turn a loaf in the presence of a Men- 
teith. An old Scottish saying. It was Sir John 
Stewart de Menteith who betrayed Wallace 
to the English. When he turned a loaf set on 
the table, his guests were to rush upon the 
patriot and secure him. (Scott: Tales of a 
Grandfather , vii.) 

With an eye to the loaves and fishes. With a 
view to the material benefits to be derived. 
The allusion is to the Gospel story of the crowd 
following Christ, not for the spiritual doctrines 
He taught, but for the loaves and fishes 
distributed by Him amongst them. 

Jesus answered them and saw, Verily, verily, I say 
unto you. Ye seek Me, not because ye saw the miracles, 
but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. — 
John vi, 26. 

Loafer. One who idles away his time, or saun- 
ters about as though he had all his life to do it 
in: a lazy “do-nothing.” The word was 
originally American slang (c. 1830), and was 
probably either a German mispronunciation 
of loyqr, or from lanfen , to run or move. 
LoadUy Lady. A stock "character of the old 
romances who is so hideous that everyone is 
deterred from marrying her. When, however, 
she at last IJnds a husband her ugliness — the 
effect of enchantment — disappears, and she 
becomes a model of beauty. Her story — a very 
comi^m one, in which sometimes the en- 
chanted beauty has to assume the shape of a 
serpent or some hideous monster — is the 
feminine counterpart of that of “Beauty and 
the Beast” fa.v.). 

Lob. Old thieves’ slang for a till. Hence lob - 
sneak , one who robs the till; lob-crawling , on 
the prowl to rob tills. 


Lob’s Pound. Old slang for prison, the 
stobks, or any other place of confinement. 

Lobby. A vestibule or corridor, usually giving 
access to several apartments, from Med. Lat. 
lobia t a word used in the monasteries for (he 
passages (connected with lodge). In the Houses 
of Parliament the name is given to the cor- 
ridors (“Division Lobbies”) to which members 
of the Commons go to vote, and also to the 
large anteroom to which th£ public are ad- 
mitted. The latter gives us the verb to lobby, to 
solicit the vote of a member or to seek to 
influence members, and the noun lobbyist, one 
who does this. 

The Bill will cross the lobbies. Be sent from 
the House of Commons to the House of Lords. 

Loblolly. A sailors’ term for spoon-victuals, 
pap, water-gruel, and so on. 

Loblolly boy. A surgeon’s mate in the Navy, 
a lad not yet out of his spoon-meat. 

Loblolly-boy is a person on board a man-of-war 
who attends the surgeon and his mates, but knows as 
much about the business of a seaman as the author of 
this poem. — The Patent (1776). 

Lobsters. Soldiers used to be popularly called 
lobsters, because they were “turned red” when 
enlisted into the service. But the term was 
originally applied to a troop of horse soldiers 
in the Great Rebellion, clad in armour which 
covered them as a shell. 

Sir William Waller received from London (in 1643) 
a fresh regiment of 500 horse, under the command of 
Sir Arthur Haslerig, which were so prodigiously 
armed that they were called by the king’s party “the 
regiment of lobsters,” because of their bright iron 
shells with which they were covered, being perfect 
cuirassiers, and were the first seen so armed on either 
side. — Clarendon: History of the Rebellion , III, 91. 

Died for want of lobster sauce. Sometimes 
said of one who dies or suffers severely because 
of some trifling disappointment, pique, or 
wounded vanity. At the grand feast given by 
the great Cond6 to Louis XIV, at Chantilly, 
Vatel, the chef was told that the lobsters 
intended for sauce had not arrived, whereupon 
he retired to his private room, and, leaning on 
his sword, ran it through his body, unable to 
survive the disgrace thus brought upon him. 

Local, in colloquial parlance, means the near- 
est or the most frequented public house. 

Local option is the choice allowed to a town, 
county, or other locality to decide what course 
it shall take on a given question, specifically 
the sale of liquor. In 1913 Carlisle was given 
local option in this sense, in each area the 
electors having the decision as to whether or 
not intoxicating liquor should be sold. 

Lochiel (loch eF). The title of the head of the 
clan Cameron. 

The hero of Campbell’s poem, LochleVs 
Warning (1802), is Donald Cameron, known 
as The Gentle Lochiel. He was one of the Young 
Pretender’s staunchest adherents, and escaped 
to France with him after Culloden (1746). He 
took service in the French army, but died two 
years later. 



Lochinvar 


559 


Lodona 


Lochinvar (lok in varO, being in love wjjtlv a 
lady at Nctherby Hall, persuaded her to cfance 
one last dance. She was condemned to marry a 
“laggard in love and a dastard in war,** but 
her young chevalier swung her into his saddle 
and made off with her, before the “bridegroom** 
and his servants could recover from their 
astonishment. (Scott: Marmion.) 

Loch Ness Monster. In April, 1933, a motorist 
driving along the shore of Loch Ness, Scot- 
land, saw at some distance from the land what 
seemed a strange object, subsequently des- 
cribed as being 30 ft. long, with two humps, a 
snake-like head at the end of a long neck, and 
two flippers about the middle of the body. It 
was “seen’* by others, and a brisk tourist 
trade began to centre around its movements. 
Public interest and excitement were worked 
up by newspaper reports, and the question of 
an official investigation was raised in Parlia- 
ment, but negatived. A well-known circus 
roprietor offered £20,000 for the monster, 
ut it resisted all baits and allurements. From 
time to time fresh evidences of its presence 
have been reported, but scientists have found 
few details to arouse their interest. The popular 
theory is that the creature is a diplodoccus or 
some prehistoric survival, but scientists pre- 
serve an open mind on the existence or nature 
of the Loch Ness Monster. 

Lockhart. Legend has it that when the good 
Lord James, on his way to the Holy Land with 
the heart of King Robert Bruce, was slain 
in Spain fighting against the Moors, Sir Simon 
Locard, of Lee, was commissioned to carry 
back to Scotland the heart, which was interred 
in Melrose Abbey. In consequence thereof he 
changed his name to Lock-heart, and adopted 
the device of a heart within a fetterlock , with 
this motto: “ Corda serrata pando ” (Locked 
hearts I open). 

Locksley Hall. Tennyson’s poem of this name 
(1842) deals with an imaginary place and an 
imaginary hero. The Lord of Locksley Hall 
fell in love with his cousin Amy; she married a 
rich clown, and he, indignant at this, declared 
he would wed a savage; he changed his mind, 
however, and decided, “Better fifty years of 
Europe than a cycle of Cathay.’* 

In 1886 Tennyson published Locksley Hall 
Sixty Years After , another dramatic poem. 

Locksmith’s Daughter. A key. 

Lock, Stock, and Barrel. The whole of any- 
thing. The lock, stock, and barrel of a gun is 
the complete firearm. 

Locofoco Ob' ko fd' kd). A trade-name coined 
in America as that of a self-igniting cigar 
(patented in New York, 1834), but quickly 
transferred to lucifer matches, and then to the 
Democratic Party in America, because, at a 
meeting in Tammany Hall (1835). when the 
chairman left his seat, and the lights were 
suddenly extinguished with the hope of break- 
ing up, the turbulent assembly, those of the 
opposition faction drew from their pockets 
their locofocos , re-lighted the gas, and got their 
way. 

Here’s full particulars of the patriotic loco-foco 
movement yesterday, in which the whigs was so 
chawed up. — Dickens: Martin Chuzzlewit (1843). 


~ f" 

Locrine 0ok rlnO- Father of Sabrina* and 
eldest son of the mythical Brutus, Kmg of 
ancient Britain. On the death of his father he 
became king of Loegria. (Geoffrey : Brit . Hist,, 
ii, 5.) 

Virgin daughter of LoCrine. 

Sprung from old Anchises* line. 

Milton : Comus , 942-3. 

An anonymous tragedy, based on Holinshed 
and Geoffrey of Monmouth, was published 
under this name in 1595. As the woras '“Newly 
set foorth, overseene and corrected, By W. S. 
appear on the title-page, it was at one time 
ascribed to Shakespeare. It has also been 
ascribed to Marlowe, Greene, and Peele — the 
weight of evidence being rather in favour of the 
last named. * 

Locum tenens (16' kum te' nens) (Lat.). One 
(especially a doctor) acting temporarily for 
another. 

Locus. Latin for a place. 

Locus delicti. The place where a crime was 
committed. 

Locus in quo (Lat.). The place in question, 
the spot mentioned. 

Locus panitentise (Lat.). Place for repentance 
—that is, the licence of drawing back from a 
bargain, which can be done before any act has 
been committed to confirm it. In the interview 
between ESau and his father Isaac, St. Paul 
says that the former “found no place for 
repentance, though he sought it carefully with 
tears*’ (Heb. xii, 17) — i.e. no means whereby 
Isaac could break his bargain with Jacob. 

Locus sigilli (Lat.). The place where the seal 
is to be set; usually abbreviated in documents 
to “L.S.** 

Locus standi (Lat.). Recognized position, 
acknowledged right or claim, especially in 
courts of law. We say such-and-such a one has 
no locus- standi in society. 

Locusta (16 kCis' t&). A woman who murders 
those she professes tdnurse, or those whonnt is 
her duty to take care of. Locusta lived in the 
early days of the Roman Empire, poisoned 
Claudius and Britannicus, and attempted to 
destroy Nero ; but, being found out, she was 
put to death. 

Lode. Originally a ditch that guides or leads 
water into a river or sewer, from O.E. lad, 
way, course (connected with to lead); hence, in 
mines, the vein that leads or guides to ore. 

Lodestar. The North Star or Pole Star; the 
leading-star by which" mariners are guided 
(see Lode). 

Your eyes are lodestars. — Midsummer Night* s 
Dream , I, i. 

Lodestone, Loadstone, The magnet o? Hone 
that guides. 

Lodona (lo do' n£). The Lodden, an affluent 
of the Thames in Windsor Forest. Pope, in 
Windsor Forest , says it was a nymph, fond of 
the chase, like Diana. It chanced one day that 
Pan saw her, and tried to catch her; but 
Lodona fled from him, imploring Cynthia to 


Loegria 


560 


Lollards 


save her from her persecutor. No sooner had 
she spoken than she became “a silver stream 
which ever keeps its virgin coolness.* * 

Loegria or Logres (lo eg' ri d, 16' gres). Eng- 
land is so called by Geoffrey of Monmouth, 
from Locrine ($.v.). 

His [Brute’s] three sons divide the land by consent; 
Locrine had the middle part, Loegra. — Milton: 
History of England \ Bk. I. 

Tbps. Cambria to her right, what would herself 
.restore, 

And rather than to lose Loegria, looks for more. 

Drayton: Polyolbion , iv. 

Log, Instrument for measuring the velocity of 
a ship in motion. In its simplest form it is a 
flat piece of wood, some six inches in radius, 
in the shape of a quadrant, and made so that 
it will float perpendicularly. To this is fastened 
the log-line, knotted at intervals. See Knot. 

A King Log. A king who rules in peace and 
quietness, but never makes his power felt. In 
allusion to the fable of the frogs asking for a 
king: Jupiter first threw them down a log of 
wood, but they grumbled at so spiritless a 
king. He then sent them a stork, which 
devoured them eagerly. 

Log-book. On board ship, the journal in 
which the “logs” are entered. It contains also 
all general transactions pertaining to the ship 
and its crew, such as the strength and course of 
the winds, everything worthy of note. 

Log-cabin Campaign (U.S.A.). Political 
campaign in 1840, in which Gen. W. H. 
Harrison is said to have lived in a log-cabin 
and subsisted mainly on hard cider. 

Log-rolling. Applied in politics to the “give 
and take” principle, by which one party will 
further certain interests of another in return 
for assistance given in passing their own 
measures; in literary circles it means mutual 
admiration. The mutual admirers are called 
“log-rollers,” and the allusion (originally 
American) is to neighbours who assist a new 
settler to roll away the logs of his “clearing.** 

L3ogs. An early Australian name for prison, 
changed with time and circumstances to The 
Bricks . 

Loganberry. A cross between the raspberry 
ana blackberry; so called from Judge Logan, 
of California, who was the first to cultivate it. 

Logan Stones. Rocking stones; large masses 
of stone so delicately poised by nature that 
they will rock to and fro at a touch. There are 
many logan stones in Cornwall, Derbyshire, 
Yorkshire, and Wales, and some well-known 
specimens in Scotland and Ireland; they were 
formerly used in connexion with Druid ical 
rites. When the Logan Rock (about 70 tons) 
at Land’s End was displaced by a naval 
lieutenant (1824), he was ordered to replace it, 
which he did at a cost of some £2,000. 

Pliny tells of a rock near Harpasa which 
might be moved with a finger. 

Ptolemy says the Gygonian rock might be 
stirred with a stalk of asphodel. 

Half a mile from St. David’s is a Logan 
stone, mounted on divers other stones, which 
may be shaken with one finger. 


In Pembrokeshire is a rocking stone, ren- 
dered immovable by the soldiers of Cromwell, 
who held it to be an encouragement to super- 
stition. 

The stone called Menamber in Sithney 
(Cornwall) was also rendered immovable by 
the soldiers, under the same notion. 

Loggerheads. Fall to loggerheads : to squabbling 
and fisticuffs. The word is used by Shakespeare. 
Logger was the name given to the heavy 
wooden clog fastened to the legs of grazing 
horses to prevent their straying. 

Logres, Logria. See Loegria. 

Logris. Same as Locrine (#.v.). 

Lohengrin (16' en grin). A son of Percival, in 
German legend, attached to the Grail Cycle, 
and Knight of the Swan. He appears at the 
close of Wolfram von Eschcnbach’s Parzival 
(c. 1210), and in other German romances, 
where he is the deliverer of Elsa, Princess of 
Brabant, who has been dispossessed by 
Tetramund and Ortrud. He arrives at Antwerp 
in a skiff drawn by a swan, champions Elsa, and 
becomes her husband on the sole condition 
that she shall not ask his name or lineage. She 
is prevailed upon to do so on the marriage- 
night, and he, by his vows to the Grail, is 
obliged to disclose his identity, but at the same 
time disappears. The swan returns for him, 
and he goes; but not before retransforming the 
swan into Elsa’s brother Gottfried, who, by the 
wiles of the sorceress Ortrud, had been obliged 
to assume that form. Wagner’s opera of this 
name was composed in 1847. 

Loins. Gird up your loins. Brace yourself for 
vigorous action, or energetic endurance. The 
Jews wore loose garments, which they girded 
about their loins when they travelled or worked. 

Gird up the loins of your mind. — I Pet. i, 13. 

My little finger shall be thicker than my 
father’s loins (I Kings xii, 10). My lightest tax 
shall be heavier than the most oppressive tax 
of my predecessor. The arrogant answer of 
Rehoboam to the deputation which waited on 
him to entreat an alleviation of “the yoke” 
laid on them by Solomon. The reply caused 
the revolt of all the tribes, except those of 
Judah and Benjamin. 

Loki (16' ki). The god of strife and spirit of 
evil in Norse mythology, son of the giant 
Firbauti and Laufey, or Nal, the friend of the 
enemy of the pods, and father of the Midgard 
Serpent, Fennr, and Hcl. It was he who art- 
fully contrived the death of Balder ( q.v .). He 
was finally chained to a rock with ten chains, 
and — according to one legend — will so continue 
till the Twilight of the Gods, when he will 
break his bonds; the heavens will disappear, 
the earth be swallowed up by the sea, fire 
shall consume the elements, and even Odin, 
with all his kindred deities, shall perish. 
Another story has it that he was freed at 
Ragnarok, and that he and Heimdall fought 
till both were slain. 

Lollards. The early German reformers and the 
followers of Wyclif were so called. An 
ingenious derivation is given by Bailey, who 
suggests the Latin word lolium (darnel),. 




Lombard 


561 


Long 


because these reformers were deemed “tares 
in God’s wheat-field,” but the name isTrom 
Mid. Dut. lollaerd , a mutterer, one who 
mumbles over prayers and hymns. 

Gregory XI, in one of his bulls against 
Wyclif, urged the clergy to extirpate this 
lolium . 

Lombard. A banker or moneylender, so called 
because the first bankers were from Lombardy, 
and set up in Lombard Street (London), in 
the Middle Ages. 

I am an honcster man than Will Coppersmith, for 
all his great credit among the Lombards. — Steele: 
The Tatler. No. lvii. 

The business of lending money on pawn 
was carried on in England by Italian merchants 
or bankers as early as the reign of Richard I. 
By the 12 Edward I, ,a messuage was con- 
firmed to these traders where Lombard Street 
now stands; they exercised a monopoly in 
pawnbroking till the reign of Queeif Elizabeth I, 
but the trade was first recognized in law by 
James I. Among the richest of the Lombard 
merchant princes were the celebrated Medici 
family, from whose armorial bearings the 
insignia of three golden balls has been derived. 

All Lombard Street to a China orange. An 
old saying, implying very long odds. Lombard 
Street, London, is the centre of great banking 
and mercantile transactions. To stake the 
wealth of London against a common orange 
is to stake what is of untold value against a 
mere trifle. 

“It is Lombard Street to a China orange/* quoth 
Uncle Jack. — Bulwer Lytton: The Caxtons. 

London. The first reference to London in any 
surviving record is to be found in Tacitus* 
Annals (Lib. XIV, ch. xxxiii) written a.d. 115- 
17 and referring to events in a.d. 61. There 
have been many uncritical conjectures about 
the origin of the name. The authorities are 
now more or less agreed that the name 
Londinium used by the Romans was derived 
from a stem londo (wild, bold) which is akin 
to the Old Irish lond (wild). It may therefore 
be a personal or tribal name meaning something 
like “the place of the bold (or wild) person (or 
tribe).” 

London Bridge. The Romans probably had a 
pontoon bridge but there was certainly a bridge 
over the Thames in the 10th century. There was 
a new one of wood in 1014. The stone bridge 
(1176-1209) was by Peter of Colechurch. The 
present London Bridge, constructed of granite, 
was begun in 1824, and finished in seven years. 
It was built some 50 yards west of the old 
bridge, which started from Fish Street Hill. It 
was designed by Sir John Rennie, and cost 
£1,458,000. Till 1750 London Bridge was the 
only bridge crossing the Thames in London. 

London Bridge was built upon woolpacks. An 
old saying commemorating the fact that in 
the reign of Henry II the new stone bridge over 
the Thames was paid for by a tax on wool. 

London Gazette is the official organ of the 
British Government and the appointed medium 
for all official announcements. It dates from 
1665 when Henry Muddiman starteait as a 
daily newsletter or newspaper. It is now pub- 


lished on Tuesdays and Fridays. The* Iris 
Oifigiuil (Dublin), and the Belfast Gazette are 
similar official organs. 

London Group. A society of artists founded 
in 1 9 1 3 by some painters associated with Walter 
Sickert (1860-1940). Its aim was to break away 
from academic tradition and to draw inspira- 
tion from French Post-Impressionism (see 
Post-Impressionism). 

London Pride is the little red-and-white 
Saxifraga umbrosa also called None-so-pretty 
and St. Patrick’s Cabbage. 

London Regiment. This regiment, now dis- 
banded, comprised two regular battalions of 
the City of London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) 
and a number of territorial battalions including 
the London Rifle Brigade* Kensingtons, Artists 
Rifles and London Scottish. 

London Stone. An ancient relic placed in the 
wall of a building opposite Cannon Street 
Station. Its original purpose and age are un- 
known. William Camden the antiquary 
believed it to be the point from which the 
Romans marked distances, and some authori- 
ties conjecture that it may be a Saxon cere- 
monial stone. According to the chronicler 
Holinshed, the rebel Jack Cade struck his 
sword against it when proclaiming himself 
master of the city. 

Londonderry. This Northern Ireland county 
took its prefix of “London” when, in 1609, 
much of the land was made over to the corpora- 
tion of London. The capital city, long known 
as Derry, was besieged for 15 weeks by James 
II in 1689 and its citizens were reduced to 
great distress before the relieving fleet broke 
the boom across the harbour, June 30th, 1689. 

Lone Star State. The state of Texas, U.S.A. 

Long. For Long chalks, dozen, odds, etc., see 
these words. 

So long. Good-bye, till we meet again. 

Longboat. Formerly the largest boat carried 
by a sailing ship, built so as to take a great 
weight. A longboat is often from 30 to 40 feet 
long, having a beam from *29 to *25 of its 
length. It has a heavy flat floor, and is carvel- 
built. 

To draw the longbow. See Bow. 

Long-headed. Clever, sharp-witted. Those 
who believe in the shape and bumps of the 
head think that a long head indicates shrewd- 
ness. 

Long Meg of Westminster. A noted virago 
in the reign of Henry VIII, around whose 
exploits a comedy (siqpe lost) was performed 
in London in 1594. 

Lord Proudly: What d’ye this afternoon? 

Lord Feeslmple : Faith, I have a great mind to see 
Long Meg and The Ship at the Fortune. 

Field: Amends for Ladies , II, i (1618). 
Her name has been given to several articles 
of unusual size. Thus, the large blue-black 
marble in the south cloister of Westminster 
Abbey, over the grave of Gervasius de Blois, is 
called “Long Meg of Westminster.” Fuller 
says the term is applied to things “of hop-pole 
height, wanting breadth proportionable there- 
unto,” and refers to a great gun in the Tower 



562 


Longevity 


Lonfe Meg 


so called, taken to Westminster in troublesome 
times; and in the Edinburgh 3 Antiquarian 
Magazine (September, 1769) we read of Peter 
Branan, aged 104, who was 6 ft. 6 in. high, and 
was commonly called Long Meg of West- 
minster . Cp. MEG. 

Long Meg and her daughters. In the neigh- 
bourhood of Penrith, Cumberland, is a pre- 
historic circle of 64 stones, some of tnem 

10 ft. high, ranged in a circle. Some seventeen 

aces on, on the south side, is a single stone, 

5 ft. high, called Long Meg , the shorter ones 

being called her daughters . 

Long Melford. A long, stocking purse, such 
as was formerly carried by country folk. In 
boxing, according to Isopel Berners, a Long 
Melford was a straight blow with the right 
hand. (Borrow: Lavengro, lxxxv.) 

Long Parliament. The parliament that sat 
12 years and 5 months, from November 2nd, 
1640, to April 20th, 1653, when it was dis- 
solved by Cromwell. A fragment of it, called 
‘The Rump” (</.v.), continued till the Re- 
storation, in 1660. 

Long Range Desert Patrol. A British military 
organization of volunteers in World War II 
who, in N. Africa, penetrated behind the 
enemy’s lines to do as much damage as 
possible. Their most celebrated exploit was the 
raid on Field Marshal Rommel’s head- 
quarters, carried out by a small group under 
Lieut-Col. Keyes, who was posthumously 
awarded the V.C. 

Longsword ( Longespie , Longepie, Lungespde , 
etc.). The surname of* William, the first Duke 
of Normandy (d. 943). He was the great-great- 
grandfather of William the Conqueror. The 
name was also given to William, third Earl 
of Salisbury (d. 1226), a natural son of Henry 

11 and (according to a late tradition) Fair 
Rosamond. He enjoyed many honours and was 
one of those who advised John to seal Magna 
Carta. 

Cut and long tall. One and another, all of 
every description. The phrase had its origin 
in the practice of cutting the tails of certain 
dogs and horses, and leaving others in their 
natural state, so that cut and long tail horses 
or dogs included all the species. Master 
Slender says he will maintain Anne Page like 
a gentlewoman, “Ah l” says he — 

That I will, come cut and long tail under the degree 
of a squire [i.e. as well as any man can who is not a 
squire].— Shakespeare : Merry Wioes of Windsor, III, 
iv. 

How about the long-tailed beggar? A reproof 
given to one who is drawing the longbow too 
freely. The tale is that a boy who had been a 
short voyage pretended on his return to have 
forgotten everything belonging to his home, 
and asked his mother what she called that 
“long-tailed beggar,” meaning the cat. 

Long words. “Honorificabilitudinitatibus,” 
(o.v.) has often been called the longest word in 
the English language; “quadradimensionality” 
is almost as long, and “antidisestablish- 
mentarianism” beats it by one letter. 

While there is some limit to the coining of 


polysyllabic words by the conglomeration of 
prefixes, combining forms, and suffixes (e.g. 
“deanthropomorphization,” “inanthropo- 
morphizability”), there is little to the length to 
which chemists will go in the nomenclature of 
compounds, and none at all to that indulged in 
by facetious romancers like Rabelais, the 
author of Croquemitaine. The chemists furnish 
us with such concatenations (for they are 
scarcely words) as “ nitrophenylenediamine,” 
and “tetramethyldiamidooenzhydrols”: but 
the worst in this sort are far surpassed by the 
nonsense words found in Urquhart and 
Motteux’s translation of Rabelais. The 
following comes from chapter xv of Bk. IV: — 

He was grown quite esperruquanchurelubelouzer- 
ireliced down to his very heel . . . (J. M. Cohen in 
Penguin Classics : . .. bruisedblueandcontused. ..) 

The longest place-name in Britain is that 
of a village in Anglesey, Llanfairp wllgwyngyll- 
go gerveh wyrnd robwll- Handy siliogogogoch 
(usually called Llanfairpwll). In the postal 
directory the first twenty letters only are given 
as a sufficient address for practical purposes, 
but the full name contains 58 letters. The 
meaning is, “The church of St. Mary in a 
hollow of white hazel, near to the rapid whirl- 
pool, and to St. Tisilio church, near to a red 
cave.” 

The longest English surname is said to be 
Feathcrstonehaugh, often pronounced fan’- 
shaw. 

The longest English monosyllables are 
probably “stretched” and “screeched.” 

The German language lends itself to very 
extensive agglomerations of syllables, but the 
following official title of a North Bohemian 
official — “Lebensmittelzuschusseinstellungs- 
kommissionsvorsitzenderstellvertreter,” i.e. 
Deputy-President of the Food-Rationing- 
Winding-up-Commission — would be hard to 
beat. 

Longchamps (longshong). The racecourse at 
the end of the Bois de Boulogne, Paris. An 
abbey formerly stood there, and it was long 
celebrated for the promenade of smartly 
dressed Parisians which took place on the 
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of Holy 
Week. 

The custom dates from the time when all 
who could do so went to the abbey to hear the 
Tenures sung in Holy Week; and it survives 
as an excellent opportunity to display the 
latest spring fashions. 

Longevity (Ion jev' i ti). The oldest man of 
modern times was Thomas Carn, if we may 
rely on the parish register of St. Leonard’s. 
Shoreditch, where it is recorded that he died 
in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, aged 207. 
He was born in 1381, in the reign of Richard 
II, lived in the reigns of twelve sovereigns, and 
died in 1588. Thomas Parr died in 1635 at the 
reputed age of 152. William Wakley (according 
to the register of St. Andrew’s Church, Shifnal, 
Salop), was at least 124 when he died. He was 
baptized at Idsal 1 590, and buried at Adbaston, 
November 28th, 1 7 14, and he lived in the reigns 
of eight sovereigns. Mary Yates, of Lizard 
Common, Shifnal, married her third husband 
at the age of 92, and died in 1776, at the age of 
127. 



Longinus 


563 


Lord 


Longinus, or Longius (lonjl'nus). The tradi- 
tional name of the Roman soldier who smote 
Our Lord with his spear at the Crucifixion. 
The only authority for this is the apocryphal 
Gospel of Nicodemus, dating from the 5th 
century. In the romance of King Arthur, this 
spear was brought by Joseph of Arimathea to 
Listenise, when he visited King Pellam, “who 
was nigh of Joseph’s kin.” Sir Balim the Savage, 
being in want of a weapon, seized this spear, 
with which he wounded King Pellam. “Three 
whole countries were destroyed” by that one 
stroke, and Sir Balim saw “the people thereof 
lying dead on all sides.” 

Longwood. The residence on the island of St. 
Helena where the Emperor Napoleon passed 
the last years of his life in exile, dying there 
May 5th, 1821. 

Look. To look black, blue, daggers, a gift-horse, 

etc., see these words. 

Look before you leap. Consider well before 
you act. 

And look before you ere you leap, 

For, as you sow, you’re like to reap. 

Butler: Hudibras , Pt. II, canto ii, 502. 

To look one way and row another. To aim 
apparently at one thing, but really to be seeking 
something quite different. In Pilgrim's Progress 
Mr. By-ends told Christian and Hopeful, 
“my great-grandfather was but a waterman, 
looking one way and rowing another, and I 
got most of my estate by the same occupation.” 

To look through blue glasses or coloured 
spectacles. To regard actions in a wrong light; 
to view things distorted by prejudice. 

It is unlucky to break a looking-glass. The 
nature of the ill-luck varies; thus, if a maiden, 
she will never marry; if a married woman, it 
betokens a death, etc. This superstition arose 
from the use made of mirrors in former times 
by magicians. If in their operations the mirror 
used was broken, the magician was obliged to 
give over his operation, and the unlucky 
inquirer could receive no answer. 

Looping the Loop. The airman’s term for 
the evolution which consists of describing a 
perpendicular circle in the air; at the top of 
the circle, or “loop,” the airman and the 
aeroplane, are, of course, upside down. The 
term comes from a kind of switchback that 
used to be popular at fairs, etc., in which a 
rapidly moving car or bicycle performed a 
similar evolution on a perpendicular circular 
track. 

Loose. Figuratively — of lax morals; dissolute, 
dissipated. 

A loose fish. See Fish. 

At a loose end. Without employment, or 
uncertain what to do next. 

Having a tile loose. See Tile. 

On the loose. Dissolute (which is dis-solutus ). 
Living on the loose is leading a dissolute life. 

To play fast and loose. See Fast. 

Loose-strife. The name of this plant is an 
instance of erroneous translation. The Greeks 
called it lusimachion from the personal name 


Lusimachos , and this was treated as though it 
were lusi- t from luein, to loose, and mache , 
strife. Pliny refers the name to one of Alex- 
ander’s generals, said to have discovered its 
virtues, but the mistake obtained such currency 
that the author of Flora Domestica tells us that 
the Romans put these flowers under the yokes 
of oxen to keep them from quarrelling with 
each other; for (says he) the plant keeps off 
flies and gnats and thus relieves horses and 
oxen from a great source of irritation. Similarly 
in Fletcher’s Faithful Shepherdess (II, ii), we 
read — 

Yellow Lysimachus, to give sweet rest 
To the faint shepherd, killing, where it comes. 

All busy gnats, and every fly that hums. 

Lope. See Slope. 

Lord. A nobleman, a peer of the realm; 
formerly (and in some connexions still), a 
ruler, a master, the holder of a manor. 

The word is a contraction of O.E. hlaford , 
hlaf loaf, and modern ward, i.e, the bread - 
guardian , or - keeper , the head of the house- 
hold ( cp . Lady); all members of the House of 
Lords are Lords (the Archbishops and Bishops 
being Lords Spiritual, and the lay peers Lords 
Temporal); and the word is given as a courtesy 
title as a prefix to the Christian and surname 
of the younger sons of dukes and marquises, 
and to the eldest sons of earls, prefixed to the 
father’s second title, and as a title of honour 
to certain official personages, as the Lord Chief 
Justice and other Judges, the Lord Mayor, 
Lord Advocate, Lord Rector, etc. A baron is 
called by his title of peerage (either a surname 
or territorial designation), prefixed by the title 
“Lord,” as “Lord Dawson,” “Lord Islington,” 
and it may also be substituted in other than 
strictly ceremonial use for “Marquess,” “Earl,” 
or “Viscount,” the of being dropped, as “Lord 
Salisbury” (for “the Marquess of Salisbury”), 
“Lord Derby” (“The Earl of Derby”), etc.; 
this cannot be done in the case of dukes. 

Drunk as a lord. See Drunk. 

In the Year of our Lord. See Anno Domini. 

Lord Harry. See Harry. 

Lord Mayor. See Alderman. 

Lord Mayor’s Day. November 9th. So 
called because the Lord Mayor of London 
enters office on that day. He inaugurates his 
official dignity with a procession through the 
City to the Royal Courts of Justice, followed 
a few days later by a banquet at the Guildhall 
at which it is the custom for the Prime Minister 
to make a political speech. 

Lord of the Ascendant. See Ascendant. 

Lord of Creation. Man. 

Replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have 
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of 
the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon 
the earth . . . Behold, 1 have given you every herb 
bearing seed . . . and every tree. . . . — Gen, i, 28, 29. 

Lord of the Isles. Donald of Islay, who in 
1346 reduced the Hebrides under his sway. 
The title had been borne by others for cen- 
turies before, and is now borne by the Prince 
of Wales. One of Scott’s metrical romances is 
so called. 


Lord 


564 


Lotus 


Lord of Misrule. See King of Misrule. 

Lords and ladies. The popular name of the 
wild arum, Arum macula turn. 

My Lord* The correct form to usein address- 
ing Judges of the' Supreme Court (usually 
slurred to “M’Lud”), alsb the respectful form 
of address to bishops, noblemen under the rank 
of a Duke, Lord Mayors, Lord Provosts, and 
the Lord Advocate. 

The Lord knows who, what, where, etc. 
Flippant expressions used to denote one’s 
own entire ignorance of the matter. 

Great families of yesterday we show, 

And lords, whose parents were the Lord knows who. 

Defoe: The True-Born Englishman , 374. 

Ask where’s the north? At York, ’tis on the Tweed; 

In Scotland, at the Orcades; and there, 

At Greenland, Zembla, or the Lord knows where. 

Pope: Essay on Man, ii, 217. 

The Lord’s Day. Sunday. 

To live like a lord. To fare luxuriously, live 
like a fighting-cock (q.v.). 

To lord it, or lord it over. To play the lord ; to 
rule tyrannically, to domineer. 

Yon grey towers that still 
Rise , up as if to lord it over air. 

Wordsworth: The Punishment of Death , Sonn. i. 

When our Lord falls in our Lady’s lap. When 
Easter Sunday falls on the same date as Lady 
Day (March 25th). This is said to bode ill for 
England. In the 19th century the combination 
occurred only twice (1883 and 1894); in the 
20th its sole occurrence has been in 1951. 

Lord’s Cricket Ground. The headquarters of 
the Marylebone Cricket Club (M.C.C.) and of 
cricket generally, is at St. John’s Wood, 
London. Its founder, Thomas Lord (1757- 
1832), was groundsman at the White Conduit 
Club, London, in 1780. In 1797 he started a 
cricket ground of his own on the site of what 
is now Dorset Square, moving the turf in 1811 
to a new site near Regent’s Canal whence, in 
1814, he transferred it to the present position. 

Lorel. A worthless person; a rogue or black- 
guard. The word is from loren, the past part, of 
the old verb leese, to lose, and is chiefly 
remembered through “Cock Loreli’’. See 
Cock Lorell’s Bote. 

Here I set before the good Reader the lcud, lousey 
language of these lewtering Luskes and lasy Lorrels, 
wherewith they bye and sell the common people as 
they pas through the countrey. Whych language they 
terme Peddelar’s Frenche. — Harman's Caveat (1567). 

Lorelei (lo 7 r6 li). The name of a steep rock 
on the right bank of the Rhine, near St. Goar, 
some 430 ft. high. It is noted for its remarkable 
echo and is the traditional haunt of a siren who 
lures boatmen to their death. Heine and others 
have written poems on it, and Max Bruch 
made it the subject of an opera ( Die Lorelei ) 
produced in 1864. Mendelssohn began an 
uncompleted opera with the same title in 1 847. 
Loreto (lo re 7 to). The house of Loreto. The 
Santa Casa, the reputed house of the Virgin 
Mary at Nazareth. It was said to have been 
translated to Fiume in Illyria in 1291, thence 
to Recanati in 1294, and finally to a plot 
of land belonging to a certain Lady Lauretta, 
situated in Italy, 3 m. from the Adriatic, 
and about 14 SSE. from Ancona, round 


which the town of Loretto sprang up. The 
chapel contains bas-reliefs showing incidents 
in tne life of the Virgin, and a rough image 
which is traditionally held to have been 
carved by St. Luke. The tradition has been 
approved by many popes and theologians and 
numerous miracles are recorded of the place, 
but the most recent research tends to show that 
the tradition rests on some unexplained mis- 
understanding. 

There is a Loretto in Styria — Mariazel 
( Mary in the Cell), so called from the miracle- 
working image of the Virgin, made of ebony, 
and very ugly; another in Bavaria ( Altdtting ), 
near the river Inn, where there is a shrine of 
the Black Virgin; and one in Switzerland, at 
Einsiedeln, a village containing the shrine of 
the “Black Lady of Switzerland,” a church of 
black marble with an image of ebony. 

Loss. To be at a loss. To be unable to decide. To 
be puzzled or embarrassed. As: “I am at a loss 
for the proper word.” 

Lost Tribes. The term used for that portion 
of the Hebrew race that disappeared from 
North Palestine about 140 years before the 
dispersion of the Jews. This disappearance 
has caused much speculation, especially among 
those who look forward to a restoration of the 
Hebrews as foretold in the O.T. In 1649 John 
Sadler suggested that the English were of 
Israelitish origin. This suggestion was devel- 
oped by Richard Brothers, the half-crazy 
enthusiast who declared himself Prince of the 
Hebrews and Ruler of the World (1792). The 
theory has since been developed by other 
writers. 

Lothair (16 thar). A novel by Benjamin Disraeli 
(Lord Beaconsfield), pubd. 1870. The charac- 
ters are supposed to represent the following 
persons: — 

The Oxford Professor, Goldwin Smith. 

Grandison, Cardinals Manning and Wise- 
man. 

Lothair, Marquis of Bute. 

Catesby, Monsignor Capel. 

The Duke and Duchess, the Duke and 
Duchess of Abercorn. 

The Bishop, Bishop Wilberforce. 

Corisande, one of the Ladies Hamilton. 
Lothario (lo thar' i 6). A gay Lothario. A gay 
libertine, a seducer of women, a debauchee. 
The character is from Rowe’s tragedy The Fair 
Penitent (1703), which is founded on Massin- 
ger’s Fatal Dowry , though Rowe probably got 
the name from Davenant’s Cruel Brother 
(1630), where is a similar character with the 
same name. 

Is this that haughty, gallant, gay Lothario? 

Fair Penitent , V, i. 

Lothian (loth 7 i an) (Scotland). So named, 
according to tradition, from King Lot, or 
Lothus, Llew, the brother-in-law of Arthur, also 
called Lothus. He was the father of Modred, 
leader of the rebellious army that fought at 
Camlan, 537 a.d. 

Lotus (Id 7 tus). A name given to many plants. 
e.g. by the Egyptians to various species of 
water-lily, by the Hindus and Chinese to the 
Nelumbo (a water-bean), their “sacred lotus,” 
and by the Greeks to Zizyphus lotus , a north 




Lotus-eaters 


565 


Lo?e 


African shrub of the natural order Rhamne<e, 
the fruit of which was used for food. 

According to Mohammed a lotus-tree stands 
in the seventh heaven, on the right hand of 
the throne of God, and the Egyptians pictured 
God sitting on a lotus above the watery mud. 
Jamblichus says the leaves and fruit of the 
lotus-tree being round represent “the motion 
of intellect”; its towering up through mud 
symbolizes the eminency of divine intellect 
over matter; and the Deity sitting on it implies 
His intellectual sovereignty. ( Myster . Egypt ., 
sec. vii, cap. ii, p. 151.) 

The classic myth is that Lotis , a daughter of 
Neptune, fleeing from Priapus was changed 
into a tree, which was called Lotus after her, 
while another story goes that Dryope of 
(Echalia was one day carrying her infant son, 
when she plucked a lotus flower for his 
amusement, and was instantaneously trans- 
formed into a lotus. 

Lotus-eaters or Lotophagi, in Homeric 
legend, are a people who ate of the lotus-tree 
(thought to be intended for Zizyphus lotus , 
see above), the effect of which was to make them 
forget their friends and homes, and to lose all 
desire of returning to their native country, 
their only wish being to live in idleness in 
Lotus-land ( Odyssey , XI). Hence, a lotus-eater 
is one living in ease and luxury. One of Tenny- 
son’s greatest poems is The Lotos-Eaters . 
Louis, St. (Louis IX of France, 1215, 1226-70), 
is usually represented as holding the Saviour’s 
crown of thorns and the cross; sometimes, 
however, he is pictured with a pilgrim’s staff, 
and sometimes with the standard of the cross, 
the allusion in all cases being to his crusades. 
He was canonized in 1297, his feast day being 
August 25th. 

Louisctte. See Guillotine. 

Louisiana (loo ez 'i an a). U.S.A. So named 
in compliment to Louis XIV of France. 
The name originally applied to the French 
possessions in the Mississippi Valley. 

The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisi- 
tion by the U.S. Government in 1803 of New 
Orleans and a vast tract of territory extending 
westward from the Mississippi to the Rockies, 
and northward from the Gulf of Mexico to 
the Canadian border, from the French under 
Napoleon (then First Consul) for the sum of 
$15,000,000. 

Lounge Lizard. See Lizard. 

Lourdes (loord). A famous scene of pilgrimage, 
situated in the south-west of France. In 1858 
Bernadette Soubirous, a simple peasant girl, 
claimed that the Virgin Mary had appeared 
to her on eighteen occasions. Investigation 
failed to shake her narrative, and a spring with 
miraculous healing properties that appeared 
at the same time began to draw invalids from 
all parts of the world. Bernadette Soubirous 
was canonised as St. Bernadette in 1933 and 
Lourdes has become the greatest sanctuary in 
Christendom. 

Louver or Louvre. The tower or turret of 
mediaeval buildings, originally designed for a 
sort of chimney to let out thejpmoke by means 
of louvre boards , i.e, narrow sloping and over- 


lapping boards which, while allowing smoke 
to emerge, prevented the entrance of rain. 
Louvre is the old Fr. lover or lovier t probably 
from Old High Ger. Lauba , whence our lodge . 

Louvre (loo 7 vr6). The former royal palace of 
the French kings in Paris. 

Dagobert is said to have built here a hunting- 
seat, but the present buildings were begun by 
Francis I in 1541. Since the French Revolution 
the greater part of the Louvre has been used 
for the national museum and art gallery. 

He’ll make ydtir Paris Louvre shake for it. 

Henry V , II, iv. 

Love. The word is connected with Sanskrit 
lubh, to desire (Lat. lubet, it pleases), and was 
lufu in O.E. 

A labour of love. Work undertaken for the 
love of the thing, without regard to pay. 

Love and lordship never like fellowship. 
Neither lovers nor princes can brook a rival. 

Love in a cottage. A marriage for love with- 
out sufficient means to maintain one’s social 
status. “When poverty comes in at the door, 
love flies out of the window.” 

Love in a hut, with water arid a crust. 

Is — Love, forgive us! — cinders, ashes, dust 
Love in a palace is, perhaps, at last 
More grievous torment than a hermit’s fast. 

Keats: Lamia , ii. 

Love me, love my dog. If you love anyone, 
you will like all that belongs to him. St. 
Bernard quotes this proverb in Latin, Qui me 
a mat, arnat et canem meam. 

Love’s Girdle. See Cestus. 

Not for love or money. Unobtainable, either 
for payment or for entreaties. 

The abode of Love. See Agapemone. 

The family of love. Certain fanatics in the 
16th century, holding tenets not unlike those 
of the Anabaptists. They were founded by 
David Joris (or George), a Dutchman (1501- 
65), and in England formed a sect of the 
Puritans in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. They 
are also known as the “Familists.” 

The god of love. Generally meaning either 
Eros (Gr.) or Cupid (Roman mythology). 
Among the Scandinavians Freyja was the 
goddess of sexual love, and among the Hindus 
Kama more or less takes the place of Eros. 

There is no love lost between so and so. 
The persons referred to have no love for each 
other. Formerly the phrase was used in exactly 
the opposite sense — it was all love between 
them, and none of it went a-missing. In the old 
ballad The Babes in the Wood we have — 

No love between these two was lost, 

Each was to other kind. 

To play for love. To play without stakes, for 
nothing. 

Love-lock. A small curl worn by women, 
lastered to the temples; sometimes called a 
eau or bow catcher . A man’s “love-lock” is 
called a bell-rope. At the latter end of the 16tjh 
century the love-lock was a long lock of hair 
hanging in front of the shoulders, curled and 
decorated with bows and ribbons. 



Love 


566 


Luath 


Love-powders or Potions Were drugs to 
excite fust. Once these love-charms were 
generally believed in; thus, Brabantio accuses 
Othello of having bewitched Desdemona with 
“drugs tq waken motion”; and Lady Grey 
was accused of having bewitched Edward IV 
“by strange potions ahd amorous charms” 
( Fabian , p. 495). 

Love-in-idleness. One of the numerous names 
of the pansy or heartsease (< g.v .). Fable has it 
that it was originally white, but was changed 
to purple by Cupid. 

Yet marked I where the bolt of Cupid fell. 

It fell upon a little Western flower. 

Before, milk-white, now purple with love’s wound; 

The maidens call it Love-in-idleness. 

Midsummer Night's Dream , II, i. 

Loving or Grace Cup. A large cup passed 
round from guest to guest at formal banquets, 
especially at College, Court, and in the City 
of London. Miss Strickland says that Margaret 
Atheling, wife of Malcolm Canmore, in order 
to induce the Scots to remain for grace, 
devised the grace cup, which was filled with the 
choicest wine, and of which each guest was 
allowed tQ> drink od libitum after grace had 
been said. ( Historic Sketches.) 

On the introduction of Christianity, the 
custom of wassailing was not abolished, but it 
assumed a religious aspect. The monks called 
the wassail bowl the poculum caritatis (loving 
cup), a term still retained in the London 
companies, but in the universities the term 
Grace Cup is more general. 

At the Lord Mayor’s or City Companies’ 
banquets the loving-cup is a silver bowl with 
two handles, a napkin being tied to one of 
them. Two persons stand up, one to drink and 
the other to defend the drinker. Having taken 
his draught, the first wipes the cup with the 
napkin, and passes it to nis “defender,” when 
the next person rises to defend the new drinker, 
and so on to the end. 

Lovel, the Dog. See Rat; Cat, etc. 

Lovelace. The principal male character of 
Richardson’s novel Clarissa Harlowe (1748), 
He is a selfish voluptuary, a man of fashion, 
whose sole ambition is to seduce young women, 
and he is — like Lothario (#.v.) — often taken 
as the type of a libertine. Crabbe calls him 
“rich, proud, and crafty; handsome, brave, 
and gay.” 

Low. To lay low is transitive, and means to 
overthrow or to kill; to lie low is intransitive, 
and means to be abased, or dead, and (in slang 
use) to bide one’s time, to do nothing at the 
moment. 

In low water. Financially embarrassed; or, 
in a bad state of health. The phrase comes from 
seafaring men; cp. “stranded,” “left high and 
dry.” 

Low-bell. A bell formerly used in night- 
fowling. The birds were first roused from their 
slumber by its tinkling, and then dazzled by a 
low (Sc. for “a blaze” or “flame”) so as to be 
easily caught. The word low-bell was, however, 
in earlier use for any small bell, such as a 


sheep-bell, without any connexion with lights 
or fowling. 

The sound of the low-bell makes the birds lie close, 
so that they dare not stir whilst you are pitching the 
net: for the sound thereof is dreadful to them; but the 
sight pf the fire, much more terrible, makes them fly 
up, so that they become instantly entangled in the net. 
— - British Sportsman (1792). 

Low Church. The popular name given to the 
evangelical party in the Church of England 
which maintains the essential Protestantism 
of that institution, adheres to the doctrinal and 
devotional formulas of the Book of Common 
Prayer, and regards the Bible as the ultimate 
rule of faith. 

Low Sunday. The Sunday next after Easter. 
So called probably because of the contrast to 
the “high’* feast of Easter Sunday. 

Lower case. The printer’s name for the 
small letters (minuscules) of a fount of type, 
as opposed to the capitals; these are, in a 
type-setter’s “case,” on a lower level than the 
others. 

Lower Empire. The later Roman, especially 
the Western Empire, from about the founda- 
tion of the Eastern Empire in 330 to the fall of 
Constantinople in 1453. 

Lower House, The. The second of any two 
legislative chambers; in England, the House 
of Commons. 

Lower your sail. To. To salute; to confess 
yourself submissive or conquered; to humble 
oneself. A nautical phrase. 

Lowndean Professor. The professor of astron- 
omy and geometry at Cambridge; so called 
from Thomas Lowndes (1692-1748) who 
bequeathed all his property for the founding of 
the chair. 

Loyal. Only one regiment of all the British 
army is so called, and that is the Loyal North 
Lancashire. It was so called in 1793, and 
probably had some allusion to the French 
revolutionists. 

Loyola, St. Ignatius (ig na' shus Ioi o' la) 
(1491-1556). Founder of the Society of Jesus 
(the order of Jesuits), is depicted in art with 
the sacred monogram I.H.S. on his breast, 
or as contemplating it, surrounded by glory 
in the skies, in allusion to his claim that he had 
a miraculous knowledge of the mystery of the 
Trinity vouchsafed to him. He was a son of 
the Spanish ducal house of Loyola, and after 
being severely wounded at the siege of Pam- 
eluna (1521) left the army and dedicated 
imself to the service of the Virgin. The society 
of Jesus {see Jesuits), which he projected in 
1534, was confirmed by Paul III in 1540. 

Luath (loo' ath). The name of Burns’s favour- 
ite dog, and that which he gave to the poor 
man’s dog representing the peasantry in his 
poem The Twa Dogs. Burns got the name from 
Macpherson’s Ossian , where it is borne by 
Cuchullin’s dog. 

A ploughman’s collie, 

A rhyming, ranting, raving billie, 

Wha for his friend and comrade had him, 

And in his freaks had Luath ca’d him 

After some dog in Highland sang 

Was made la$g syne — Lord knows how lang. 

Burns: The Twa Dogs. 



Lubber’s Hole 


567 


Lucus 


Lubber’s Hole. In sailing ships a seaman’s 
name for the vacant space between the head of 
a lower mast and the edge of the top, because 
timid boys, or “lubbers# got through it to 
the top, to avoid the danger and difficulties of 
the “futtock shrouds.” Hence, some means for, 
or method of, wriggling through one’s difficul- 
ties. 

Lubberkin or Lubrican. See Leprechaun. 

Lucasian Professor. A professor of mathe- 
matics at Cambridge. The professorship was 
endowed by a bequest from Henry Lucas (d. 
1663), M.P. for the University. 

Lucasta (10 k5s' t&), to whom Richard Love- 
lace sang (1649), was Lucy Sacheverell, called 
by him lux casta , i.e. Chaste Lucy. 

Luce. The full-grown pike (Esox lucius ), from 
Gr. lukos , a wolf, meaning the wolf of fishes. 

Shakespeare plays upon the words luce and 
louse ( Merry Wives , 1, i) at the expense of 
Justice Shallow. 

Luce was also formerly used as a contrac- 
tion of fleur-de-lys(q.v). The French messenger 
says to the Regent Bedford — 

Cropped are the flower de luces in your arms; 

Of England’s coat one-half is cut away. 

Henry VI, Pt. /, I, i. 

He is referring of course to the loss of France. 

Lucian (loo' si &n). The chief character in the 
Golden Ass of Apuleius (2nd cent, a.d.), a 
work which is in part an imitation of the 
Metamorphoses by Lucian, the Greek satirist 
who lived about 120 to 200. In the Golden Ass 
Lucian, changed into an ass, is the personifica- 
tion of the follies and vices of the age. 

Lucifer (loo' si f£r). Venus, as the morning 
star. When she follows the sun and is an 
evening star, she is called Hesperus. 

Isaiah applied the epithet “Day-star” to the 
king of Babylon who proudly boasted he would 
ascend to the heavens and make himself equal 
to God, but who was fated to be cast down to 
the uttermost recesses of the pit. This epithet 
was translated into “Lucifer” — 

Take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, 
and say, . . . How art thou fallen, from heaven, O 
Lucifer, son of the morning! — Is. xiv, 4, 12. 

By St. Jerome and other Fathers the name was 
applied to Satan. Hence poets feign that Satan, 
before he was driven out of heaven for his 

? ride, was called Lucifer, and Milton, in 
aradise Lost , gives this name to the demon of 
“Sinful Pride, and hence, too, the phrase 
Proud as Lucifer. 

Lucifer-matcb, or Lucifer. The name given 
by the inventor to one of the earliest forms 
(c. 1832) of matches tipped with a com- 
bustible substance and ignited by friction, an 
improvement on the Congreves and Promcth- 
eans (qq.v.)\ hence, any match igniting by 
friction. 

Luciferlans. A sect of the 4th century, who 
refused to hold any communion with the 
Arians, who had renounced their “errors” and 
been readmitted into the Church. So called 
from Lucifer, Bishop of Cagliari, in Sardinia, 
their leader. 


Lucius. One of the mythical kings of Britain, 
laced as the great-great-grandson of Cym- 
eline (<7»v.), and fabled as the first Christian 
king. He is supposed to have died about 192. 
See Pudensi * , f 

Luck. Accidental good fortune. (Dut. luk\ 
Ger. Gluck , verb gliicken , to succeed, to 
prosper.) 

Down on one’s luck. Short of cash and credit. 

Give a man luck and throw him into the sea. 
Meaning that his luck will save him even in 
the greatest extremity. Jonah and Arion were 
cast into the sea, but were carried safely to 
land, the one by a whale and the other by a 
dolphin. 

He has the luck of the devil, or the devil's 
own luck. He is extraordinarily lucky; every- 
thing he attempts is successful. 

Luck or lucky penny. A trifle returned to a 
urchaser for good luck; also a penny with a 
ole in it, supposed to ensure good luck. 

Not in luck’s way. Not unexpectedly pro- 
moted, enriched, or otherwise benefited. 

The Luck of Eden Hall. See Eden Hall. 
There’s luck in odd numbers. See Odd. 

Lucky. In Scotland a term of familiar but 
respectful endearment for any elderly woman; 
often used of the landlady of an ale-house. 

A lucky dip, or bag. A tub or other receptacle 
in which are placed a number of articles 
covered with bran or the like. Much in request 
at bazaars and so on, where the visitors pay 
so much for a “dip” and take what they get. 

A lucky stone. A stone with a natural hole 
through it. Cp. Luck Penny. 

The lucky bone. The small bone of a sheep’s 
head; prized by beggars and tramps, as it is 
supposed to bring luck for the whole day on 
which it is received. 

To cut one’s lucky (old slang). To decamp or 
make off quickly: to “cut one’s stick” (q.v.). 
As luck means chance, the phrase may signify, 
“I must give up my chance and be off.” 

To strike lucky. See Strike. 

Lucullus sups with Lucullus (10k ttl'&s). Said 
of a glutton who gormandizes alone. Lucullus 
was a rich Roman, noted for his magnificence 
and self-indulgence. Sometimes above £1,700 
was expended on a single meal, and Horace 
tells us he had 5,000 rich purple robes in his 
house. On one occasion a very superb supper 
was prepared, and when asked who were to 
be his guests the “rich fool” replied, “Lucullus 
will sup to-night with Lucullus” (1 10-57 B.c.). 

Lucus a non lucendo (lQ' kus a non loo sen' dd). 
An etymological contradiction; a phrase used 
of etymologists who accounted for words by 
deriving them from their opposites. It means 
literally “a grove (catted lucus) from not being 
lucent” (lux, light; luceo , to shine). It was the 
Roman grammarian Honoratus Maurus 
Servius (fl. end of 4th cent, a.d.) who provided 
this famous etymology. In the same way 
ludus> a school, may be said to come from 




Lucy 


568 


Lump 


ludere , to play, and our word linen , from 
lining, because it is used for linings. 

One Tryphiodorus . . . composed an Hpick Poem 
... of four and twenty books, having entirely banished 
the letter A from his first Book, whi^h was called 
Alpha (as Lucus a non Lucendo ) because there was not 
an Alpha in it. — A ddison: Spectator, No. lix. 

Lucy, St. Patron saint for those afflicted in the 
eyes. She is supposed to have lived in Syracuse 
and to have suffered martyrdom there about 
303. One le^nd relates that a nobleman 
wanted to marry her for the beauty of her eyes; 
so she tore them out and gave them to him, 
saying, “Now let me live to God.” Hence she 
is represented in art carrying a palm branch 
and a platter with two eyes on it. Her day is 
December 13 th. 

Lucy Stoner. American colloquialism for a 
married woman who insists on using her 
maiden name; after Lucy Stone, a famous 
U.S. suffragette. 

Lud (lGd). A mythical king of Britain, stated 
by the old chronicles to have been the eighth 
in succession from Brute and to have died in 
862 b.c. He was the father of Bladud, founder 
of Bath. This King Lud must either have 
started as a' deity or have been early euhemer- 
ized, for temples to him are alleged to have 
existed both on the Severn and the Thames 
(Ludgate): but the King Lud whom Geoffrey 
of Monmouth supposes to have founded 
London was a king of the Trinobantes, a 
brother of Cassivelaunus, and is dated about 
66 b.c. 

General Lud. See Luddites. 

Lud’s Town. London; so called from King 
Lud. 

And on the gates of Lud’s town set your heads. 

Shakespeare: Cymbeline , IV, ii. 
Luddites. Discontented workmen who, from 
1811 to 1816, went about the manufacturing 
districts (especially Nottingham) breaking 
machines, under the impression that machinery 
threw men out of work. So called from Ned 
Lud, of Leicestershire, who forced his way into 
a house, and broke two stocking-frames, 
whence the leader of these rioters was called 
General Lud. 

In the winter of 1811 the terrible pressure of this 
transition from handicraft to machinery was seen in 
the Luddite, or machine-breaking, riots which broke 
out over the northern and midland counties ; and which 
were only suppressed by military force. — J. R. Green : 
Short History, x, § iv. 

Ludgate. One of the former western gates of 
the City of London, rebuilt in 1586, and which 
stood until demolished in 1760 half-way up 
Ludgate Hill. Geoffrey of Monmouth’s asser- 
tion that it was built in 66 b.c. by King Lud (a 
legendary figure) is a fable. The name probably 
originates from O.E. ludgeat , a back door or 
postern. The first mention of it in surviving 
records, as Lutgata , is in the early 12th cen- 
tury. For long there was a prison above it. 
The statue of Elizabeth I that used to adorn 
the gate is now on the f^ade of St. Dunstan’s, 
Fleet Street. 

Ludlam. See Lazy. 

Luez. See Luz. 

Luff. The weather-gauge; the part of a vessel 
towards the wind. (Dut. loef, a weather-gauge.) 


Luff! Put the tiller on the lee-side. This is 
done to make the ship sail nearer the wind. 

A ship is said to spring her luff when she 
yields to the helm by sailing nearer the wind. 

# 1 ^ 

Luggftttgg. In Gulliver's Travels, an island where 
people live for ever. Swift shows the evil of 
such a destiny, hnless accompanied with 
eternal youth. See Struldbrugs. 

Lugs. To put on the lugs. 19th-century American 
slang for conceit, swank. 

Luke, St. Patron saint of painters and physi- 
cians. Tradition says he painted a portrait of 
the Virgin Mary. Col. iv, 14 states that he was 
a physician, but the word may have been used 
in a metaphorical sense. His day is October 
18th. 

In art St. Luke is usually represented with 
an ox lying near him, and often with painting 
materials. Sometimes he is pictured as painting 
the Virgin and infant Saviour. Metaphrastus 
mentions his skill in painting, and John of 
Damascus speaks of his portrait of the Virgin 
(cp. Loreto). Many pictures still extant are 
attributed to St. Luke; but the artist was 
probably St. Luke, the Greek hermit; for 
certainly these meagre Byzantine productions 
were not the work of the evangelist. 

St. Luke’s Club or The Virtuosi. An artists’ 
club, established in England by Vandyck about 
1638, and held at the Rose Tavern, Fleet Street. 
There was an academy of St. Luke founded by 
the Paris artists in 1391 ; one at Rome, founded 
in 1593, but based on the “Compagnia di San 
Luca” of Florence, founded in 1345; a similar 
one was established at Siena in 1355. 

St. Luke’s Summer. The latter end of 
autumn, called by the French Vet e de St. 
Martin. 

As light as St. Luke’s bird. Not light at all, 
but quite the contrary. 

Luke’s Iron Crown. A symbol of political 
tyranny. 

The lifted axe, the agonising wheel, 

Luke’s iron crown, and Damien’s bed of steel, 

To men remote from power but rarely known, 

Leave reason, faith, and conscience all our own. 

Goldsmith: The Traveller, 435. 

George and Luke Dosa headed an un- 
successful revolt in Hungary in the early part 
of the 16th century. George underwent the 
torture of the red-hot iron crown, as a punish- 
ment for allowing himself to be proclaimed 
king; Goldsmith slips in attributing the in- 
cident to Luke. 

Lumber. Formerly a pawnbroker’s shop (from 
Lombard, q.v.). Thus Lady Murray ( Lives of 
the Baillies , 1749) writes: “They put all the 
little plate they had in the lumber, which is 
pawning it, till the ships came home.” 

From its use as applied to old broken boards 
and bits of wood tne word was extended to 
mean timber sawn and split, especially when 
the trees have been felled and sawn in situ . 

Lump. If you don’t like it, you may lump it. 

Whether you like to do it or not, no matter; 
you must take .it without choice; it must be 
done. 




Lumpkin 


569 


Lutin 


Lumpkin, Tony (Goldsmith’s She Stoops to 
Conquer). A sheepish, mischievous, idle, 
cunning lout, “with the vices of a man and the 
follies of a boy.” 

Lunar Month. From n£w moon to new moon, 
i.e. the time taken by the moon td‘ revolve 
round the earth, about ,29£ days. Popularly, 
the lunar month is 28 days. In the Jewish and 
Mohammedan calendars, the lunar month 
commences at sunset of the day when the new 
moon is first seen after sunset, and varies in 
length, being sometimes 29 and sometimes 30 
days. Lunar Year. Twelve lunar months, i.e. 
about 354£ days. 

Lunatics. Literally, moon-struck persons. The 
Romans believed that the mind was affected 
by the moon, and that “lunatics” grew more 
and more frenzied as the moon increased to 
its full. 

The various mental derangements . . . which have 
been attributed to the influence of the moon, have 
given to this day the name lunatics to persons suffering 
from serious mental disorders. — Crozier: Popular 
Errors, ch. iv. 

Lunch, Luncheon. Lunch was originally a 
variant of lump, meaning a piece or slice of 
bread, etc. The - eon is a later extension, perhaps 
representing - ing (“Noonings and intermcaliary 
Lunchings,” Brome’s Mad Couple , about 
1650), but affected by the suffix of nuncheon. 
This -eon has now been dropped except as an 
affectation of gentility. 

Luni (loo' ne). The ancient Etruscan town of 
Luna some 70 miles from Genoa. The quarries 
nearby furnish a beautiful white marble which 
takes its name from the place, “marmo luncse,” 
and the whole district is called La Lunigiana. 

Lupercal, The (UV per kdl). In ancient Rome, 
an annual festival held on the spot where 
Romulus and Remus were suckled by the 
wolf (lupus), on February 15th, in honour of 
Lupercus, the Lyca;an Pan (so called because 
he protected the flocks from wolves). It was on 
one of these occasions that Antony thrice 
offered Julius Caesar the crown, and Caesar 
refused, saying, “Jupiter alone is king of 
Rome.” 

You all did see that on the Lupercal, 

I thrice presented him a kingly crown, 

Which he did thrice refuse. 

Julius C cesar , III, ii. 

Lurch. To leave in the lurch. To leave a person 
in a difficulty. In cribbage one is left in the lurch 
when one’s adversary has run out his score of 
sixty-one holes before one has oneself turned 
the corner (or pegged one’s thirty-first) hole. In 
some card-games it is a slam, that is, when one 
side wins the entire game before the other has 
scored a point. 

Lush. Beer and other intoxicating drinks. The 
word is well over a century old, and is of 
uncertain origin. Up to about 1895 there was 
a convivial society of actors called “The City 
of Lushington,” which met in the Harp 
Tavern, Russell Street, and claimed to have 
been in existence for 150 years. Lush may have 
come from the name of this club, though it 
is just as likely that the club took its name From 
the lush — for which it was famous. 


Lusiad, The (loo' si ad). The Portuguese 
national epic, written by Camoens, and 
published in 1572. It relates the stories of 
illustrious actions of the Lusians, or Portuguese, 
of all ages, but deals principally with the 
exploits of Vasco da Gama and Kts comrades 
in their “discovery of India.” Gama sailed three 
times to India (1) with four vessels, in 1497, 
returning to Lisbon in two years and two 
months; (2) in 1502, with twenty ships, when 
he was attacked by the Zamorin or king of 
Calicut, whom he defeated, and returned to 
Lisbon the year following; and (3) when John 
III appointed him viceroy of India. He 
established his government at Cochin, where 
he died in 1525. It is fhe first of these voyages 
which is the groundwork of the epic; but its 
wealth of episode, the constant introduction 
of mythological “machinery,” and the inter- 
vention of Bacchus, Venus, and other deities, 
make it far more than a mere cnronicle of a 
voyage. 

Lusitania (loo si tan' y&). The Cunard liner 
that was torpedoed and sunk by a German 
submarine off the Old Head of Kinsale on 
May 7th, 1915, with the loss of 1 198 lives. The 
sinking of the Lusitania was notorious as the 
first of many subsequent examples of German 
atrocities. The Germans struck a medal to 
celebrate this feat. 

Lustrum (lus' triim). In ancient Rome the 
purificatory sacrifice made by the censors for 
the people once in five years, after the census 
had been taken (from lucre, to wash, to 
purify); hence, a period of five years. 

Lustral (lus' tral). Properly, pertaining to 
the Lustrum (q.v.); hence, purificatoiy, as 
lustral water, the water used in Christian as 
well as many pagan rites for aspersing 
worshippers. In Rpme the priest used a small 
olive or laurel branch for sprinkling infants and 
the people. 

Lusus. Pliny (III, i) tells us that Lusus was the 
companion of Bacchus in his travels, and 
settled a colony in Portugal; whence the 
country was termed Lusitania, and the in- 
habitants Lusians , or the sons of Lusus. 

Lutestring. A glossy silk fabric; the French 
lustrine (from lustre). 

Speaking in lutestring. Flash, highly polished 
oratory. The expression was used more than 
once by Junius. Shakespeare has “taffeta 
phrases and silken terms precise.” We call 
inflated speech “fustian” (q.v.) or “bombast” 
(< 7 .v.); say a man talks stuff', term a book or 
speech made up of other men’s brains, 
shoddy (q.v.)\ sailors call telling a story 
“spinning a yarn,” etc., etc. 

Lutetia (Lat. lutum , mud). The ancient name 
of Paris, which, in Roman times, was merely a 
collection of mud hovels. Caesar called it 
Lutetia Parisiorum (the mud-town of the 
Parisii), which gives the present name Paris. 

Lutin. A goblin in the folklore of Normandy; 
similar to the house-spirits of Germany. The 
name was formerly nctun, and is said to come 
from the Roman sea-god Neptune. When the 
lutin assumes the form of a horse ready 
equipped it is called Le Cheval Bayard. 



Lutin 


570 


Lyre 


To lutin. To twist hair into elf-locks. These 
mischievous urchins are said tb tangle the 
mane of a horse or head of a child so that the 
hair must be cut off. 

Lutine Bell (loo' tSn). H.M.S. Lutine , a French 
warship that had been captured and put into 
service by the British, sailed from Yarmouth 
for Holland on October 9th, 1799, with bullion 
and specie to the value of some £500,000. That 
same night she was wrecked on a sandbank oft* 
the Zuyder Zee* with the loss of every soul 
on board save one, who died as soon as 
rescued. It was a black day for Lloyd’s under- 
writers. In 1858 some £50,000 was salvaged, 
and among other things the Lutine' s bell and 
rudder were brought back to England. The 
latter was niade into the official chair for 
Lloyd’s chairman and a secretary’s desk; the 
bell was hung up at Lloyd’s and is rung once 
whenever a^ total wreck is reported, and twice 
when an overdue ship is reported. 

Luz or Luez (luz). The indestructible bone; 
the nucleus of the resurrection body of 
Rabbinical legend. 

“Hd^ doth a man revive again in the world to 
come?” asked Hadrian; and Joshua Ben Hananiah 
made answer. '‘From luz in the backbone.” He then 
went on to demonstrate this to him ; He took the bone 
luz, and put it into water, but the water had no action 
on it; he put it in the fire, but the fire consumed it not; 
he placed it in a mill, but could not grind it; and laid 
it on an anvil, but the hammer crushed it not. — 
Light foot. 

LXX. See Septuagint. 

Lycanthropy (II k£n' thro pi). The insanity 
afflicting a person who imagines himself to 
be some kind of animal and exhibits the tastes, 
voice, etc., of that animal; formerly the name 
given by the ancients to those who imagined 
themselves to be wolves (Gr. lukos , wolf; 
anthropos , man). The werewolf (q.v.) has 
softtetimes been called a lycanthrope ; and 
lycanthropy was sometimes applied to the form 
of witchcraft by which witches transformed 
themselves into wolves. 

Lycaon (11 ka' on). In classical mythology, 
a king of Arcadia, who, desirous of testing the 
divine knowledge of Jove, served up human 
flesh on his table; for which the god changed 
him into a wolf. His daughter, Callisto, was 
changed into the constellation the Bear, 
which is sometimes called Lycaonis Arctos. 
Lycidas (lis' i das). The name under which 
Milton celebrated the untimely death of 
Edward King, Fellow of Christ’s College, 
Cambridge, who was drowned in his passage 
from Chester to Ireland, August 10th, 1637. 
He was the son of Sir John King, Secretary for 
Ireland. 

Lycopodium (II ko p6' di um). A genus of 
perennial plants comprising the club-mosses, 
so called from their fanciful resemblance to a 
wolf’s foot (Gr. lukos , wolf; pous , podos , foot); 
the powder from the spore-cases of some of 
these is used in surgery as an absorbent and 
also — as it is highly inflammable — for stage- 
lightning. 

Lyddite (lid' It). A high-explosive composed 
mainly of picric acid; so called from Lydd, in 
Kent, where are situated the artillery ranges 
on which it was first tested in 1888. 


Lydford Law, Punish first and try afterwards. 
Lydford, in the county of Devon, was a 
fortified town, where were held the courts 
of the Duchy of Cornwall. Offenders against 
the stannary laws were confined before trial 
in a dupgeon so loathsome and dreary that 
they frequently died before they could be 
brought to trial. Cp . Cupar Justice. 

Lydia (lid' i &). The ancient name of a district 
in the middle of Asia Minor which was an 
important centre of early civilization and 
exerted much influence on Greece. Gyges 
(716 b.c.) was one of its most famous rulers, 
and the Empire flourished until its overthrow 
by the Persians under Cyrus (546 B.c.). 

Lydian Poet, The. Aleman of Lydia (fl. 
670 b.c.). 

Lying for the whetstone. See Whetstone. 
Lykc-wake. See Lich-wake (Lich). 

Lyme-, or Lyam-hound (Um). The bloodhound, 
so called from lyme, or lyam, the leash (Lat. 
ligare, to tie). By mediaeval huntsmen the lyme- 
hound was used for tracking down the wounded 
buck, and the gaze-hound for killing it. 

Lynceus (lin' sQs). One of the Argonauts (q.v.). 
He was so sharp-sighted that he could see 
through the earth, and distinguish objects nine 
miles off. 

Non possis oculo quantum contendere Lynceus. 

Horace; 1 Epistle , i, 28. 

Lynch Law (linch). Mob-law, law adminis- 
tered by private persons. The origin of the 
term is unknown; none of the suggested 
derivations from James Lynch or Justice 
Lynch having any foundation in fact. 

The term is first recorded in 1817, and is 
certainly American in origin, though there is 
an old northern English dialect word linch, 
meaning to beat or maltreat. 

In the U.S.A. the drastic justice of Lynch 
Law — usually true justice, it must be observed 
— was effective where the civil law failed in 
clearing the West of outlaws, cattle-thieves, 
and rogues in general. 

Lynx (lingks). The animal proverbial for its 
piercing eyesight is a fabulous beast, half dog 
and half panther, but not like either in 
character. The cat-like animal now called a 
lynx is not remarkable for keen-sightedness. 
The word is probably related to Gr. lusseiti , to 
see. Cp. Lynceus. 

Lyon King-of-Arms, Lord. The chief heraldic 
officer for Scotland; so called from the lion 
rampant in the Scottish regal escutcheon. See 
Heraldry; also Lion. 

Lyonesse (II on esO. “That sweet land of 
Lyonesse” — a tract of land fabled to stretch 
between the Land’s End and the Scilly Isles, 
now submerged full “forty fathoms under 
water.” Arthur came from this mythical 
country. 

Faery damsels met in forest wide 
By knights of Logres, or of Lyones, 

Lancelot, or Pelleas, or Pellenore. 

Milton; Paradise Regained, II, 359. 

Lyre (Ur). The most ancient of all stringed 
instruments. That of Terpandcr and Olympus 
had only three strings; the Scythian lyre had 



M 571 


five; that of Simonides had eight; and that of 
Timotheus had twelve. It was played either 
with the fingers or 1 with a plectrum. The lyre 
is called by poets a “shell,’ because the cords 
of the lyre used by Orpheus, Amph\on, and 
Apollo were stretched on the shell ofh tortoise. 
Hercules used boxwood. 

Amphion built Thebes" with the music of his 
lyre, for the very stones moved of their own 
accord into walls and houses. 

Arion charmed the dolphins by the music of 
his lyre, and when the bard was thrown over- 
board one of them carried him safely to 
Tsenarus. . , , . , ^ 

Hercules was taught music by Linus. One 
day, being reproved, the strong man broke 
the head of his master with his own lyre. 

Orpheus charmed savage beasts, and even 
the infernal gods, with the music of his lyre, or, 
as some have it, lute. 


M 

M. The thirteenth letter of the English 
alphabet (the twelfth of the ancient Roman, 
and twentieth of the futhorc). M in the 
Phoenician character represented the wavy 
appearance of water, and is called in Hebrew 
mem (water). The Egyptian hieroglyphic 
represented the owl. In English M is always 
sounded, except in words from Greek in 
which it is followed by //, as mnemonics , 
M nason ( Acts xxi, 16). 

In Roman numerals M stands for 1,000 
(Lat. mille): MCMLll - one thousand, nine 
hundred and fifty-two. 

Persons convicted of manslaughter, and 
admitted to the benefit of clergy, used to be 
branded with an M. It was burnt on the 
brawn of the left thumb. 

What is your name? N or M. (Church 
Catechism.) See N. 

M, to represent the human face. Add two dots 
for the eyes, thus, .M. These dots being equal 
to O’s, we get OMO ( homo ), Latin for man. 

Who reads the name. 

For man upon his forehead, there the M 
Had traced most plainly. 

Dante: Purgatory, xxiii. 

ML The first letter of certain Celtic surnames 
( M'Cabe , M'lan, M' Mahon, etc.) represents 
Mac , and should be so pronounced. 

M.B. Waistcoat. A clerical cassock waistcoat 
was so called (c. 1830) when first intro- 
duced by the High Church party. M.B. means 
“mark of the beast.” 

He smiled at the folly which stigmatised an M.B. 
waistcoat. — M rs. Oliphant: Phoebe Junior , II, iii. 

M.P. Member of Parliament. 

MS. (pi. MSS.) Manuscript; applied to literary 
works in handwriting, but erroneously to 
typescript. (Lat. manuscriptum , that which is 
written by the hand.) 

Mab (perhaps>*the Welsh mab , a baby). The 
“fairies* nudyflie” — i.e. employed by the 
fairies as midwife to deliver man’s brain of 
B.D.> — 19 


Maearocrfc 


dreams. Thus when Romeo says, “I dreamed a 
dream to-night,” Mercutio replies, “Oh, then, 
I see Queen Mab hath been with you.” When 
Mab is called “queen,” it does not mean 
sovereign, for Titania as wife of King Oberon 
was Queen of Faery, but simply female. O.E. 
quett or ewen (modern quean) meant neither 
more nor less than woman; so “elf-queen,” and 
the Danish ellequinde , mean female elf, and 
not “queen of the elves.” 

Excellent descriptions of Mab are given by 
Shakespeare ( Romeo and Juliet , I, iv), by Ben 
Jonson, by Herrick, and by Drayton in 
Nymph idea. 

Macaber (or Macabre), the Dance. See Dance 
of Death. * 

Macadamize (ma kad' a miz). A method of 
road-making introduced about 1820 by John 
L. Macadam (1756-1836), consi^ng of layers 
of broken stones of nearly uniform size, each 
layer being separately crushed into position by 
traffic, or (later) by a heavy roller. 

Macaire, Robert (ma karO. The typical vSlain 
of French comedy; from the play of tnis name 
(a sequel to VAuberge des Adrets) by Frederic 
Lemaitre and Benjamin Antier (1834) : Macaire 
is — 

le type de la perversity, de l’impudence, de la fripon- 
nerie audacieuse, le heros fanfaron du vol et de 
1’assassinat. 

“Macaire” was the name of the murderer of 
Aubrey de Montdidier in the old French 
legend; he was brought to justice by the 
sagacity of Aubrey’s dog, the Dog of Mon- 
targis. See Dog. 

Macaroni (mak a ro' ni). A coxcomb (Ital. un 
macc/ierone , see next entry). The word i& 
derived from the Macaroni Club, instituted in 
London about 1760 by a set of flashy men who 
had travelled in Italy, and introduce at 
Almack's subscription table the new-fangled 
Italian food, macaroni. The Macaronies were 
the most exquisite fops; vicious, insolent, fond 
of gambling, drinking, and duelling, they were 
(c. 1773) the curse of Vauxhall Gardens. 

An American regiment raised in Maryland 
during the War of Independence was called The 
Macaronies from its showy uniform. 

Macaronic Latin. Dog-Latin ($.v.), modem 
words with Latin endings, or a mixture of 
Latin and some modern language. From the 
Italian maccheroni (macaroni), a mixture of 
coarse meal, eggs, and cheese. The law 
pleadings of G. Steevens, as Daniel v. Dish- 
clout and Bullum v. Boatum , are excellent 
examples. 

Macaronic verse. Verses in which foreign 
words are ludicrously distorted and jumbled 
together, as in Porson’s lines on the threatened 
invasion of England by Napoleon or J. A. 
Morgan’s “translation” of Canning’s The 
Elderly Gentleman , the first two verses of 
which are — 

Prope ripam fluvii solus 
A senex silently sat 
Super capitum ecce his wig 
Et wig super, ecce his hat. 

Blew Zephyrus alfce, acerbus. 

Dura elderly gentleman sat; 

Et a capite took up quite torve 
Et in rivum projecit his hat. 



Macbeth 


572 


MacGirdie’s Mare 


It seems to have been originated" by Odaxius 
of Padua (b. c. 1450), but was pooularized 
by Jjis pupil, Teofilo Folengo (Merlinus 
Co&ajus), a Mantuan monk of noble family, 
who published a book entitled Liber Macaro - 
nicorum , a poetical rhapsody made up of 
words of different languages, and treating 
of “pleasant matters” in a comical style (1520). 

In England a somewhat similar kind of 
verse was practised rather earlier. Skelton’s 
Phyllyp SparoweX 1512), which £on tains a good 
deal of it, begins — 

Pla ce bo, 

Who is there, who? 

Di le xi % 

Dame Margery. 

and Dunbar’s Testament of Andrew Kennedy 
( 1508 ) — 

I will na priestis for me sing, 

Dies ilia. Dies irce, 

Na yfct na bellis for me ring, 

Sicut semper solet fieri — 

though not true macaronic, is a near approach. 

Cunningham in 1801 published Delectus 
MacardHiqorum Carminum , a history of 
macardnic poetry. 

Macbeth (mac^beth')- King of Scotland, who 
succeeded to ’ the throne in 1040 by killing 
Duncan, basing his claim on his wife Gruach’s 
ancestry. He was killed by Malcolm, Duncan’s 
son, in 1057. According to one chronicler his 
reign was prosperous, and he is alleged to have 
made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Shake- 
speare took the story as related in Holinshed’s 
Chronicles . 

Maccab&us (m&k a be' us). The surname given 
to Judas (the central figure in the struggle for 
Jewish independence, c. 170-160 b.c.), third 
son of Mattathias, the Hasmomean, and 
hence to his family or clan. It has generally 
been supposed that the name is connected with 
Heb> Makkebeth s hammer (Judas being the 
Hammerer of the Syrians just as Charles 
Martel was of the Saracens), but this view is 
open to many weighty objections, and the 
origin of the name is wholly obscure. 

Maccabees, The. The family of Jewish 
heroes, descended from Mattathias the 
Hasmonaean (see above) and his five sons, John, 
Simon, Judas, Eleazar, and Jonathan, which 
delivered its race from the persecutions of the 
Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes (175-164 
b.c.), and established a line of priest-kings 
which lasted till supplanted by Herod in 40 b.c. 
Their exploits are told in the two Books of the 
Maccabees , the last books in the Apocrypha. 
McCoy, the Real, or the Real McKoy, as used 
in the U.S.A., but until more recent times in 
Britain it was the Real Mackay. Various 
stories abouf dn American boxer of the 1890’s 
have been suggested as the origin of the 
phrase, but the origin suggested by Eric 
Partridge in From Sanskrit to Brazil (1952) is 
the most likely to be the true one. Partridge 
says that the phrase dates from the 1880’s and 
originated in Scotland in application to men 
ana things, especially whisky, of the highest 
quality. The whisky to which it specifically 
referred was that of A. & M. MacKay ot 
Glasgow, and it was exported to the U.S.A. 
and Canada, where people of Scottish origin 
kept “both the whisky and the phrase very, 


much alive.” In the 189Cft, however, there is 
no doubt that it was applied to an outstanding 
boxej wftose name happened to be McCoy. 

Macdonald. Lord Macdonald’s breed. Parasites. 
It is said* that a Lord Macdonafh (son of the 
Lord of the Isles) once made afraid on the 
mainland. He and his followers, with other 
plunder, fell on the clothes of the enemy, and 
stripping off their own rags, donned the 
smartest and best they could lay hands on, 
with the result of being overrun with parasites. 
Macduff (mac duf). The thane of Fife in 
Shakespeare’s Macbeth. His castle of Kenno- 
way was surprised by Macbeth, and his wife and 
babes “savagely slaughtered.” Macduff vowed 
vengeance and joined the army of Siward, to 
dethrone the tyrant. On reaching the royal 
castle of Dunsinane they fought, and Macbeth 
was slain. 

Mace. Originally a club armed with iron, and 
used in war; now a staff of office pertaining to 
certain dignitaries, as the Speaker of the 
House of Commons, Lord Mayors and 
Mayors, etc. Both sword and mace are symbols 
of dignity, suited to the times when men 
went about in armour, and sovereigns needed 
champions to vindicate their rights. 

Macedon (mils' e ddn). Macedon is not worthy 
of thee, is what Philip said to his son Alexander, 
after his achievement with the horse Bucephalus, 
which he subdued to his will, though only 
eighteen years of age. 

Macedonia’s Madman. See Madman. 

Macedonians. A religious sect, so named 
from Macedonius, an Arian patriarch of 
Constantinople, in the 4th century. They 
denied the divinity of the Holy Ghost, and that 
the essence of the Son is the same in kind with 
that of the Father. 

MacFarlane’s Geese. The proverb is that 
“MacFarlane’s geese like their play better than 
their meat.” The wild geese of Inch-Tavoe 
(Loch Lomond) used to be called MacFar- 
lane's Geese because the MacFarlanes had a 
house on the island, and it is said that the 
geese never returned after the destruction of 
that house. One day James VI visited the 
chieftain, and was highly amused by the gam- 
bols of the geese, but the one served at table 
was so tough that the king exclaimed, “Mac- 
Farlane’s geese like their play better than their 
meat.” 

MacFlecknoe (m&c flek' n&), in Dryden’s 
famous satire (1682), is Thomas Shadwcll 
(1640-92), poet laureate in succession to his 
attacker (1688) when Dryden, having become 
a Roman Catholic, refused to take the oath. 

The original Flecknoe (Richard, d. c. 1678) 
was an Irish Roman Catholic priest, doggerel 
sonneteer, and playwright. Shadwell, accord- 
ing to Dryden, was his double. 

The rest to some slight meaning make pretence, 

But Shadwell never deviates into sense. 

MacFlecknoe , 19. 

MacGirdie’s Mare used by degrees to cat less 
and less, but just as he had reduced her to a 
straw a day the poor beast died. This is an old 
G|;eek joke, which is well kqdwn to school- 
.boys who have been taugnf* the Analecta 
Minora . 



MacGregor 


573 


Madeka 


MacGregor (m& grep' or). The motto of the 
MacGregors is, “Ijrfen do and spair nocht,” 
said to have beeif given them in the* 12th 
century by a king of Scotland. While the' king 
was hunting Lc was attacked by a wild boar; 
when Sir Malfolm requested permission to en- 
counter the creature, '‘E’en do,” said the king, 
“and spair nocht.” Whereupon the strong 
baronet tore up an oak sapling and dispatched 
the enraged animal. Fof this defence the king 
gave Sir Malcolm permission to use the said 
motto, and, in place of a Scotch fir, to adopt 
for crest an oak-tree eradicate , proper. 

Another motto of the MacGregors is 
Sriogal mo dhream , i.e. “Royal is my tribe.” 

The MacGregors furnish the only instance 
of a race being forbidden to bear its family 
name. It was proscribed by James VI owing to 
the treachery of the family, who then took the 
name of Murray. Charles II restored them to 
their estates and name in 1661, but under 
William and Mary the law of proscription 
again came into force, and it was not till 1822 
that Sir John Murray, as he then was, ob- 
tained by royal licence the right to resume the 
ancient name of his family, MacGregor. 

Rob Roy MacGregor. See Rob Roy. 

Macheath, Captain (m3k hethO. A highway- 
man, hero of The Beggar's Opera by John Gay 
(1685-1732), which was produced as a satire on 
and protest against the fashionable Italian 
opera, based on classical subjects. It took 
London by storm when produced in 1727. 

Machiavelli, NiccoI6 (nik 6 16' ma ky& vel' i) 
(1469-1527). The celebrated Florentine states- 
man, and author of 11 Principe , ap exposition 
of unscrupulous statecraft, whose name has 
long been used as an epithet or synonym for an 
intriguer or for an unscrupulous politician, 
while political cunning and overreaching by 
diplomacy and intrigue are known as Machi- 
avellianism or Machiavellism. The general trend 
of 11 Principe is to show that rulers may resort 
to any treachery and artifice to uphold their 
arbitrary power, and whatever dishonourable 
acts princes may indulge in are fully set off 
by the insubordination of their subjects. 

The Imperial Machiavelli. Tiberius, the 
Roman emperor (42 b.c. to a.d. 37). His 
olitical axiom was: “He who knows not 
ow to dissemble knows not how to reign,” It 
was also the axiom of Louis XI of France. 

Macintosh. Cloth waterproofed with rubber by 
a process patented in 1823 by Charles Mac- 
intosh (1766-1843); also a coat made of this. 

Mackerel Sky. A sky dappled with detached 
rounded masses of white cloud, something 
like the markings of a mackerel. 

To v throw a sprat to catch a mackerel. See 
SPRAt. 

Mackworth’s Inn. See Barnard’s Inn. 

Macmillanites. A religious sect of Scotland, 
who in 1743 seceded from the Cameronians 
because they wished to adhere more strictly 
to the principles of the Reformation in Scot- 
land; so named from John Macmillan (1670- 
1753), their leafier. They called themselves tpe 
‘'Reformed Presbytery.” 


MacPherson (m&c fer' son). Fable has it that 
during the reign of David I of Scotland, a 
younger brother of the chief of the powerful 
clan Chattan became abbot of KingussiefHis 
elder brother died childless, and the chieftain- 
ship devolved on the abbot. He procured the 
needful dispensation from the Pope (a dispen- 
sation, by the way, that no pope would ever 
give), married the daughter of the thane of 
Calder, and a swarm of little “Kingussies” 
was the result. The people of Inverness-shire 
called them the' Mac-phersons, i.e. the sons of 
the parson. 

Macrocosm (Gr. the great world), in opposition 
to the microcosm, the little world. The ancients 
looked upon the universe as a living creature, 
and the followers of Paracelsus considered 
man a miniature representation of the uni- 
verse. The one was termed the Macrocosm, the 
other the Microcosm (q.v.). 

Mad. Mad as a hatter. The original “mad 
hatter” was Robert Crab, who setup at Ches- 
ham in the 17th century; he was eccentric, and 
finally gave all his goods to the poor. Degrees 
of insanity were corhmon in the hat trade 
owing to the effects of mercurio nitrate used 
in treating felt. The phrase is found in 
Thackeray’s Pendennis, ch. x, 1849, and was 
popularized by Lewis Carroll in Alice in 
Wonderland , 1 865. 

Mad as a March hare. See Hare. 

The Mad Cavalier. Prince Rupert (1619-82), 
noted for his rash courage and impatience of 
control. He was a grandson of James I, 
through his mother, Elizabeth, and was 
famous as a cavalry leader on the Royalist side 
during the English Civil War. 

The Mad Parliament. The Parliament which 
assembled at Oxford in 1258, and broke out 
into open rebellion against Henry III. It 
confirmed the Magna Carta, the king was 
declared deposed, and the government was 
vested in the hands of twenty-four councillors, 
with Simon de Montfort at their head. 

The Mad Poet. Nathaniel Lee (c. 1653- 
92), who towards the end of his life lost his 
reason through intemperance and was confined 
for four years in Bedlam. 

Macedonia’s Madman. Alexander the Great 

(356, 336-323 fi.e.). 

The Brilliant Madman or Madman of the 
North. Charles XII of Sweden (1682, 1697- 
1718). 

Heroes are much the same, the point’s agreed 
From Macedonia’s madman to the Swede. 

Pope : Essay on Man , iv. 

Madame. The wife of Philippe Due d’Orldans, 
brother of Louis XIV, was so styled; the title 
was usually reserved for the eldest daughter of 
the king or the dauphin. 

Madame la Duchesse. Wife of Henri Jules 
de Bourbon (1627-93), eldest son of the Prince 
de Cond£. 

Madeka. The day of Malayan Independence. 
The Federation of Malaya, established in 
1948, became an independent state within the 
British Commonwealth on August 31, 1957. 



Mademoiselle 


574 


Maggot 


Mademoiselle. The daughtef of Philippe, Due 
de Chartres, grandson of Philippe, Due 
d’Or&ans, brother of Louis XIV. 

La Grande Mademoiselle. The Duchesse de 
Montpensier, cousin to Louis XIV, and 
daughter of Gaston, Due d’Orleans. 

Madge. A popular name for the bam owl. 

'Sdeins, an I swallow this. I’ll ne’er draw my sword 
in the sight of Fleet-street again while I live; I’ll sit in 
a bam with madge-howlet, and catch mice first. — Ben 
Jonson: Every Man in his Humour , II, i. 

Madoc (mad' ok). A legendary Welsh prince, 
youngest son of Owain Gwyneth, king of 
North Wales, who died in 1169. According to 
tradition he sailed to America, and established 
a colony on the southern branches of the 
Missouri. About the same time the Aztecs 
forsook Aztlan, under the guidance of 
Yuhidthiton, and founded the empire called 
Mexico, in honour of Mexitli, their tutelary 
god. Southey’s poem, Madoc (1805), harmo- 
nizes these two events. 

ftla^onna (Ital. my lady). A title specially 
applied to the Virgin Mary. 

Mieander. See Meander. 

Maecenas (me se' n&s). A patron of letters; so 
called from C. Cilnius Maecenas (d. 8 b.c.), a 
Roman statesman in the reign of Augustus, 
who kept open house for all men of letters, 
and was the special friend and patron of 
Horace and Virgil. Nicholas Rowe so called 
the Earl of Halifax on his installation to the 
Order of the Garter (1714). 

The last English Maecenas. Samuel Rogers 
(1763-1855), poet and banker. 

Maelstrom (mal' strom) (Norw. whirling 
stream). A dangerous whirlpool off the coast 
of Norway, between the islands of Moskenaso 
and Varo (in the Lofoten Islands), where the 
water is pushed and jostle# a good deal, and 
where, when the wind and tide are contrary, 
it is not safe for small boats to venture. 
It was anciently thought that it was a subter- 
ranean abyss, penetrating the globe, and 
communicating with the Gulf of Bothnia. 

The name is given to other whirlpools, and 
also, figuratively, to any turbulent or over- 
whelming situation. 

Mseonides (me on' i dez), or The Mseonian Poet. 
Homer (^.v.), either because h*: was the son 
of Maeon, or because he was bom in Maeonia 
(Asia Minor). 

Msera. The dog of Icarius (q.v.). 

M&?iad. See Baviad. 

Mae West (ma west). The name given by 
flying men in World War II to the inflatable 
life-preserver vest or jacket worn when there 
was a possibility of their being forced into 
the sea. The name was given in compliment to 
the figure and charms of the famous film star. 

Maffick. Extravagant celebration of an event, 
especially an occasion of national rejoicing. 
From the uproarious scenes and unrestrained 
exultation that took place in London on the 
night of May 18th, 1900, when the news of the 
relief of Mafeking (besieged by the Boers since 
the previous November) became known. 


Mafia (ma fe' a). A secret criminal society in 
Sicily.^ 

Mag. A contraction of magpie. What a mag you 
are! You chatter like a magpie. A prating 
person is called “a mag.” ^ 

Not a mag to bless myself withVNot a half- 
penny. 

Maga (ma' g&). A familiar name for Black- 
wood's Magazine. 

Magazine. A place for stores (Arab, makhzan , 
a storehouse). This meaning is still retained 
for military and some other purposes; but the 
word now commonly denotes a periodical 
publication containing contributions by vari- 
ous authors. How this came about is seen from 
the Introduction to the Gentleman's Magazine 
(1731) — the first to use the word in this way; — 

This Consideration has induced several Gentlemen 
to promote a Monthly Collection to treasure up, as in 
a Magazine, the most remarkable Pieces on the 
Subjects above mention’d. 

Magdalene (mag' d ix len). An asylum for the 
reclaiming of prostitutes; so called from Mary 
Magdalene or Mary of Magdala, “out of 
whom He had cast seven devils” ( Mark xvi, 9). 

Magdalen College, Oxford (1458) and 

Magdalene College, Cambridge (1542), are 
pronounced mawd' lin. 

Magdalenian (mSg d6 le' ny&n).The name 
given to a late period of the Stone Age, during 
which the climate was cold and reindeer, bison, 
and wild horses roamed over all Europe. It 
was at this time that the mammoth became 
extinct. Stone Age man attained his highest 
degree of civilization in the Magdalenian 
period, the finest examples of which arc found 
in the district of La Madeleine, Dordogne, 
France. 

Magdeburg Centuries. The first great work of 
Protestant divines on the history of the 
Christian Church. It was begun at Magdeburg 
by Matthias Flacius, in 1552, and published 
at Basle (13 volumes), 1560-74. As each 
century occupies a volume, the thirteen 
volumes complete the history to 1300. 
Magellan, Straits of (m& jel' &n). So called 
after Fern2o de Magelhaes (c. 1480-1521), the 
Portuguese navigator, and first circum- 
navigator of the globe, who discovered them in 
1520. 

Magenta (mi jen' ti). A brilliant red aniline 
dye derived from coal-tar, named in com- 
memoration of the bloody battle of Magenta, 
when the Austrians were defeated by the 
French and Sardinians. This was just before 
the dye was discovered, in 1859. 

Maggot. There was an old idea that whimsical 
or crotchety persons had maggots in their 
brains — 

Arc you not mad, my friend? What time o’ th* moon 
is’t? 

Have not you maggots in your brains? 

Fletcher; Women Pleased , EH, iv. (1620). 

Hence we have the adjective maggoty , 
whimsical, full of fancies. Fanciful dance tunes 
used to be called maggots , as in The Dancing 
Master (1716) there are many such titles as 
“Barker’s maggots,” “Cary’s maggots,” “Dra- 
per’s maggots,” etc., and in 1685 Samuel 




Maggot 575 Magnum opus 


Wesley, father of John and Charles Wesley, 

P ublished a volume with the title Maggdts; or 
oems on Several Subjects, / 

When the. maggot bites. When the fancy 
takes us. Swift, making fun of the notion, says 
that if the bite is hexagonal it produces 
poetry; if circular, eloquence; if conical, 
politics. * 

Instead of maggots the Scots say, “His 
head is full of bees”; the French, 11 a des rats 
dans la tite ( cp . our slang “Rats in the garret’’); 
and in Holland, “He has a mouse’s nest in his 
head.’’ 

Magi (ma'ji) (Lat.; pi. of magus). Literally 
“wise men , specifically, the Three Wise Men 
of the East who brought gifts to the infant 
Saviour. Tradition calls them Melchior, 
Gaspar, and Balthazar, three kings of the East. 
The first offered gold, the emblem of royalty; 
the second, frankincense, in token of divinity; 
and the third, myrrh, in prophetic allusion to 
the persecution unto death which awaited the 
“Man of Sorrows.’’ 

Melchior means “king of light.” 

Caspar, or Caspar, means “the white one.” 
Balthazar means “the lord of treasures.” 
Mediaeval legend calls them the Three 
Kings of Cologne, and the Cathedral there 
claims their relics. They are commemorated on 
January 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, and particularly at 
the Feast of the Epiphany. 

Among the ancient Medes and Persians the 
Magi were members of a priestly caste credited 
with great occult powers, and in Camoens’ 
Litsiad the term denotes the Indian Brahmins. 
Ammianus Marcellinus says that, the Persian 
magi derived their knowledge from the 
Brahmins of India (i, 23), and Arianus 
expressly calls the Brahmins “magi” (i, 7). 

Magic Rings, Wands, etc. See Ring, Wand, 
etc. 

The Great Magician or Wizard of the North. 
Professor Wilson (“Christopher North”) gave 
Sir Walter Scott the name, because of the 
wonderful fascination of his writings. 

Magician of the North. The title assumed by 
Johann Georg Hamann (1730-88), a German 
philosopher and theologian. 

Maginot Line (ma' zhi no). A zone of fortifica- 
tions, mostly of concrete, with impregnable 
gun-positions, shelters, etc., built along the 
eastern frontier of France between 1929 and 
1934, and named after Andre Maginot (1877- 
1932), Minister of War, who was responsible 
for its construction. The line extended from 
the Swiss border to that of Belgium, and for 
long it deluded the French into the belief that 
it would make a German invasion impossible. 
This might have been true, had the Germans 
not entered France through Belgium in 1940, 
turning the Maginot Line, which thus served 
no purpose whatever. 

Magna Carta. The Great Charter of English 
liberty extorted from King John, 1215. 

It contained (in its final form) 37 clauses, 
and is directed principally against abuses of 
the power of the Crown and to guaranteeing 
that no subject should be kept in prison with- 
out trial and judgment by his peers. 


Magnanimous, ifie. Alfonso V of Aragon 
(1385, 1416-58). 

Chosroes or Khosru, King of Persia, 
twenty-first of the Sassanides, surnamed 
Noushirwan (the Magnanimous) (531-579). 

Magnet. The loadstone; so called from 
Magnesia, in Lydia, where the ore was said to 
abound. Milton uses the adjective for the 
substantive in the line “As the magnetic 
hardest iron draws” ( Paradise Regained , II, 
168). 

Magnetic Mountain. A mountain of mediae- 
val legend which drew out all the nails of any 
ship that approached within its influence. It 
is referred to in Mandeville’s Travels and in 
many stories, such as the tale of the Third 
Calender and one of the voyages of Sinbad 
the Sailor in the Arabian Nights. 

Magnificat. The hymn of the Virgin ( Luke i, 
46-55) beginning “My soul doth magnify .the 
Lord” ( Magnificat anima me a Dominum), used 
as part of the daily service of the Church since 
the beginning of the sixth century, and at 
Evening Prayer in England for over 800 years. 

To correct Magnificat before one has learnt 
Te Den m. To try to do that for which one has 
no qualifications; to criticize presumptuously. 

To sing the Magnificat at matins. To do 
things at the wrong time, or out of place. The 
Magnificat belongs to vespers, not to matins. 

Magnificent, The. Chosroes of Persia. See 
Magnanimous. 

Lorenzo de’ Medici (1448-92), II Magnifico , 
Duke of Florence. 

Robert, Duke of Normandy, also called Le 
Diable (1028-35). 

Soliman 1, greatest of the Turkish sultans 
(1490, 1520-66). .k 

C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre. 
A magnificent gesture, but not real warfare. 
Admirable, but not according to rule. The 
comment on the field made by the French 
General Bosquet to A. H. Layard on the charge 
of the Light Brigade at Balaclava. It has 
frequently been attributed to Marshal Can- 
robert. 

Magnolia (mag no' li a). A genus of North 
American flpwering trees so called from Pierre 
Magnol (1638-1715), professor of botany at 
Montpellier. 

Magnum (mag' num). A wine bottle, double 
the size of the ordinary bottle — holding two 
quarts or thereabouts. Cp. Jeroboam. 

Magnum bonum (Lat. “great and good”). A 
name given to certain choice potatoes, and also 
plums. Burns, in the following extract, evi- 
dently meant by it a magnum (see above): — 
And Welsh, who ne’er yet flinch’d his ground, 
High-way’d his magnum-bonum round 
With Cyclopeian fury. 

An Election Ballad: Dumfries Burghs. 

Magnum opus. The chief or most important 
of one's literary works. 

My magnum opus, the “Life of Dr. Johnson” . . . 
is to be published on Monday, 16th May. — Boswell: 
Letter to Rev. W. Temple , 1791. 



Magpie 


576 


Maid of Orleans 


Magpie. Formerly “maggot-pie,” maggot 
representing Margaret ( cp . Robin redbreast, 
7bm-tit, and the old /7iy//yp-sparrow), and 
Die being pied \ in allusion to its white and 
black plumage. 

Augurs and understood relations have 

(By magotpies, and choughs, and rooks) brought forth 

The secret’st man of blood. 

Macbeth , III, iv. 

The magpie has generally been regarded as 
an uncanny bird: in Sweden it is connected 
with witchcraft, in Devonshire if a peasant 
sees one he spits over his shoulder three times 
to avert ill luck, and in Scotland magpies 
flying near the windows of a house foretell 
the early death of one of its inmates. 

The following rhyme about the number of 
magpies seen in the course of a walk is old 
and well known: — 

One’s sorrow, two’s mirth, 

Three’s a wedding, four’s a birth, 

Five’s a christening, six a dearth, 

f Seven’s heaven, eight is hell. 

And nine’s the devil his ane sel*. 

In target-shooting the score made by a shot 
striking the outermost division but one is 
called a magpie because it was customarily 
signalled by a black and white flag; and 
formerly bishops were humorously or deris- 
ively called magpies because of their black and 
white vestments. 

Lawyers, as Vultures, had soared up and down; 

Prelates, like Magpies, in the Air had flown. 
Howell's Letters: Lines to the Knowing Reader (1645). 

Magus. See Simon Magus. 

Magyar (m&jar')- The dominant race in 
Hungary. Magyars are not of Aryan stock but 
of the Finno-Ugrian peoples, who invaded 
Hungary about the end of the 9th century and 
settled there. The Hungarian language is one 
of the most difficult to master in Europe. 

Mahabharata (ma ha ba ra' ta). One of the 
two great epic poems of ancient India (cp. 
Rama-yana), about eight times as long as the 
Iliad and Odyssey together. Its main story is 
the war between descendants of Kuru and 
Pandu, but there are an immense number of 
episodes. 

Maha-pudma. See Tortoise. 

Maharajah (ma ha ra' ja) (Sansk. “great 
king”). The title of certain native rulers of 
India whose territories were very extensive 
before India became independent. The wife of 
a Maharajah is a Maharanee. 

Mah&tma (m& hat' ma) (Sansk. “great soul”). 
Max Muller tells us that: — 

MahAtma is a, well-known Sanskrit word applied to 
men who have retired from the world, who, by means 
of a long ascetic discipline, have subdued the passions 
of the flesh, and gained a reputation for sanctity and 
knowledge. That these men are able to perform most 
startling feats, and to suffer the most terrible tortures, 
is perfectly true. — Nineteenth Century , May, 1893. 

By the Esoteric Buddhists the name is given 
to adepts of the highest order, a community 
of whom is supposed to exist in Tibet, and by 
Theosophists to one who has reached per- 
fection spiritually, intellectually, and physi- 
cally. As his knowledge is perfect he can 
produce effects which, to the ordinary man, 
appear miraculous. 


The title was later associated with Mohandas 
Gandhi, the Hindu leader of revolt against 
British rule in India. A preacher and un- 
ceasing practiser of the doctrine of non- 
violence, by his life of pure simplicity and his 
intercessory fasts — often carried to the verge 
of death — he acquired an immense influence 
over Indians of all creeds and races. Gandhi 
was assassinated by a fanatical Hindu at the 
age of 78, on January 30th, 1948. 

Mahdi (ma' di) (Arab, “the divinely directed 
one”). The expected Messiah of the Moham- 
medans; a title often assumed by leaders of 
insurrection in the Sudan, especially Moham- 
med Ahmed (1843-85) who led the rising of 
1883, and who, say some, is not really dead, 
but sleeps in a cavern near Bagdad, and will 
return to life in the fullness of time to over- 
throw Dejal (anti-Christ). The Shiahs believe 
that the Mahdi has lived (some sects main- 
taining that he is in hiding), but the Sunnis 
hold that he is still to appear. 

Mah-jongg (ma jong'). A Chinese game 
played with dominoes made of ivory and 
bamboo. There are usually four players at a 
table, each acting for himself. The dominoes, 
which number 136, are arranged in three suits, 
and there are four sets of each. One consists 
of three honours — red, white, and green; 
another represents the four winds, north, 
south, east, and west; the third consists of three 
sets of nine dominoes named characters, 
circles, and bamboos. The object of each 
player is to obtain the highest scoring hand, 
known as Mah-jongg. 

Mahomet. See Mohammed. 

Mahoun, Mahound. Names of contempt for 
Mohammed, a Moslem, a Moor, particularly 
in romances of the Crusades. The name is 
sometimes used as a synonym for “the Devil.” 

Oft-times by Termagant and Mahound swore. 

Spenser : Faerie Queene, VI, vii, 47. 

Maid. Maid Marian. A female character in 
the old May games and morris dances, in the 
former usually being Queen of the May. In 
the later Robin Hood ballads she became 
attached to the cycle as the outlaw’s sweet- 
heart, probably through the performance of 
Robin Hood plays at May-day festivities. The 
part of Maid Marian both in the games and 
the dance was frequently taken by a man 
dressed as a woman. 

(The Courtier] must, if the least spot of morphew 
come on his face, have his oyle of tartar, his lac 
virgin is, his camphir dissolved in verjuice, to make 
the foole as faire, for sooth, as if he were to playe 
Maid Marian in a May-game or moris-dance. — 
Greene: Quip for an Upstart Courtier (1592). 

Maid of Athens. The girl immortalized by 
Byron was Theresa Macri. 

Maid of Norway. Margaret (1283-90), 
daughter of Eric II and Margaret of Norway. 
On the death of Alexander III of Scotland 
(1285), her maternal grandfather, she was 
acknowledged Queen of Scotland, and was 
betrothed to Edward, son of Edward I of 
England, but she died on her passage to 
Scotland. 

Maid of Orleans. Joan of Arc (1412-31), who 
raised the siege of Orleans in 1429. She was 
canonized in 1920, her feast day being May 8th. 


Maid of Saragossa 


577 


Majesty 


Maid of Saragossa. Augustina Zaragoza, 
distinguished for herTteroism when Saragossa 
was besieged in 1808 and 1809, and celebrated 
by Byron in his Childe Harold (I, liv-lvi). 

Maiden. A machine resembling the guillotine, 
used in Scotland in the 16th and 17th 
centuries for beheading criminals, and 
introduced there by the Regent Morton for the 

f iurpose of beheading the laird of Pennycuik. 
t was also called “the widow.” 

He who invented the maiden first hanselled it. 

Morton is erroneously said to have been the 
first to suffer by it. Tnomas Scott, one of the 
murderers of Rizzio, was beheaded by it in 
1566, fifteen years before the Regent’s exe- 
cution. 

Maiden Assize. One in which there is no 
person to be brought to trial. We have also the 
expressions maiden tree, one never lopped; 
maiden fortress, one never taken ; maiden speech, 
the first delivered, etc. In a maiden assize, the 
sheriff' of the county presents the judge with a 
pair of white gloves. Maiden conveys the sense 
of unspotted, unpolluted, innocent; thus 
Hubert says to the king — 

This hand of mine 

Is yet a maiden and an innocent hand, 

Not painted with the crimson spots of blood. 

King John, IV, ii. 

Maiden King, The. Malcolm IV of Scotland 
(1141, 1153-65). 

Malcolm . . . son of the brave and generous Prince 
Henry . . . was so kind and gentle in his disposition, 
that he was usually called Malcolm the Maiden. — 
Scott: Tales of a Grandfather, iv. 

Maiden over. A cricket term for an over in 
which no runs are made. 

Maiden or Virgin Queen. Elizabeth I, Queen 
of England, who never married. (1533, 1558- 
1603.) 

Maiden Town. A town never taken by the 
enemy (cp. Maiden Assize, above). Also, 
specifically, Edinburgh, from tradition that the 
maiden daughters of a Pictish king were sent 
there for protection during an intestine war. 

Mail-cart. A small two-wheeled cart, drawn 
by one horse, in which mailbags were brought 
in from outlying districts to be loaded on to 
the main mail coaches in the 18th and early 
19th centuries. The name was later applied to 
small vehicles in which children were taken 
for walks after they grew too large for a 
perambulator ( q.v .). 

Mailed Fist, The. Aggressive military might; 
from a phrase ( gepanzerte Faust ) made use of 
by William II of Germany when bidding adieu 
to Prince Henry of Prussia as he was starting 
on his tour to the Far East (December 16th, 
1897): — 

Should anyone essay to detract from our just rights 
or to injure us, then up and at him with your mailed 
fist. 

Maillotins (ml yo tan). Insurgents in Paris who, 
in 1382, rose against the taxes imposed by the 
Regent, the Due d’Anjou. They seized iron 
mallets (maillotins) from the Arsenal and 
killed the tax collectors. 


Main. To splice the mainbrace. A nautical 
phrase meaning to serve out grog; hence to 
indulge freely in strong drink. Literally, the 
mainbrace is the rope by which the main- 
yard of a ship is set in position, and to splice 
it would be to join the two ends together again 
when broken. 

Main chance, The. Profit or money, 
probably from the game called hazard, in 
which the first throw of the dice is called the 
main, which must be between four and nine, 
the player then throwing his chance , which 
determines the main. 

To have an eye to the main chance. To keep 
in view the money or advantage to be made 
out of an enterprise. 

Main Street. The principal thoroughfare in 
many of the smaller towns and cities of U.S.A. 
The novel of this name, by Sinclair Lewis 
(1920), epitomized the social and cultural life 
of these towns, and gave the phrase a signifi- 
cance of its own. 

Maintenance (Fr. main tenir , to hold in the 
hand, maintain). Means of support or sus- 
tenance: in criminal law, officious 

intermeddling in litigation with which one has 
rightfully nothing whatever to do. Cp. Cham- 
perty. Prosecutions never occur nowadays, 
but maintenance is a misdemeanor, and can be 
punished by fine and imprisonment. 

Cap of Maintenance. See Cap. 

Maitland Club. A club of literary antiquaries, 
instituted at Glasgow in 1828. It published or 
reprinted a number of works of Scottish 
historical and literary interest. 

Maize. American superstition had it that if a 
damsel found a blood-red ear of maize, she 
would have a suitor before the year was over. 

Even the blood-red ear to Evangeline brought not 
her lover. Longfellow: Evangeline. 

Majesty. In mediaeval England it was usual to 
refer to the king as “the Lord King.” Henry 
VIII was the first English sovereign who was 
styled “His Majesty,” though it was not till 
the time of the Stuarts that this form of 
address had become stereotyped, and in the 
Dedication to James I prefixed to the 
Authorized Version of the Bible (1611) the 
King is addressed both in this way and as 
“Your Highness.” 

The Lord of Heaven and earth blesse your Majestie 
with many and happy dayes, that as his Heavenly 
hand hath enriched your Highnesse with many 
singular and extraordinary Graces, etc. 

Henry IV was “His Graced; Henry VI, 
“His Excellent Grace”; Edward IV, “High 
and Mighty Prince”; Henry VII, “His Grace” 
and “His Highness”; Henry VIII, in the 
earlier part of his reign, was styled “His 
Highness.” “His Sacred Majesty” was a title 
assumed by subsequent sovereigns, but was 
afterwards changed to “Most Excellent 
Majesty.” “His Catholic Majesty” was the 
king of Spain, and “His Most Christian 
Majesty” tne king of France. 

In heraldry, an eagle crowned and holding 
a sceptre is said to be an eagle in his majesty. 


Majolica Ware 


578 


Malbrouk 


Majolica Ware. A pottery originally made in 
the island of Majorca or Majolica. See 
Faience. 

Major-General. A , rank (originally Sergeant- 
Major general) in the British Army above 
that of Brigadier and below that of Lieutenant- 
General. The distinguishing badge is a 
crossed sword and baton with one star. 
The rank was first instituted by Cromwell in 
1655, after his quarrel with the Parliament; 
each Major-General was to govern a military 
district with civil and military powers. As such 
the scheme was in force until 1657, when the 
civil side was dropped and the rank became 
purely military. 

Majority. He has joined the majority. He is 
dead. Blair says, in his Grave , “’Tis long since 
Death had the majority.** 

Make. In America this word is much more 
frequently used with the meaning “put ready 
for use’* than it is with us; we have the phrase 
to make the bed ', and Shakespeare has make the 
door {see Door), but in the States such phrases 
as Have you made my room? (i.e. put it tidy) 
are common. To make good , to make one's pile , 
to make a place (i.e. to arrive there), arc among 
the many Americanisms in which this word is 
used. To make a die of it , to die, is another. 

Why, Tom, you don’t mean to make a die of it? — 
R. M. Bird: Nick of the Woods (1837). 

On the make. Looking after one’s own 
personal advantage; intent on the “main 
chance.’’ 

Make and mend. A term used in the Royal 
Navy for a period of time devoted to sewing 
and general repairs on board ship. 

To make it. To succeed in catching a train, 
keeping an appointment, etc. 

To make away with. To put or take out of 
the way, run off with; to squander; ; aJso to 
murder; to make away with oneself ’ is to 
commit suicide. 

To make believe. To pretend; to play a game 
at. 

Make-believe is also used as a noun. 

To make bold. See Bold. 

To make for. To conduce; as, “His actions 
make for peace’’; also to move towards; hence, 
in slang use, to attack. 

To make free with. To take liberties with, 
use as one’s own. 

To make good. To fulfil one’s promises or 
to come up to expectations, to succeed. 

Whether or not the new woman Mayor would 
"make good" was of real interest to the country at 
large. — Evening Post ( New York), Sept. 14th, 1911. 

Also to replace, repair, or compensate for; 
as, “My car was damaged through your 
carelessness, so now you’ll have to make it 
good.” 

To make it up. To become reconciled. 

To make off. To run away, to abscond. 

To make out. To manage, to contrive; to 
assert. 

To make tracks. To hurry away. 


■ 1 - - 

What make you here? What do you want? 
What have you come here for? 

’Twas in Margate last July, I walk’d upon the pier, 

I saw a little vulgar boy — I said, ‘‘What make you 

here?" * 

Ingoldsby Legends: Misadventures at Margate. 

Makeshift. A temporary arrangement during 
an emergency. 

Make-up. The general use of this term as 
noun and verb to describe face cosmetics and 
their application is of theatrical origin, being 
employed to describe the materials used by an 
actor for painting his face and otherwise trans- 
forming his appearance to suit a character on 
the stage; the manner in which he is made up; 
hence, in colloq uial use, the sum of one’s charac- 
teristics, idiosyncrasies, etc. In printing the 
make-up is the arrangement of the printed 
matter in columns, pages, etc. 

Make-weight. A small addition as com- 
pensation or an “extra,” as a piece of meat, 
cheese, bread, etc., thrown into the scale to 
make the weight correct. 

Malagrowthcr, Malachi. The signature of Sir 
Walter Scott to a series of letters contributed 
in 1826 to the Edinburgh Weekly Journal upon 
the lowest limitation of paper money to £5. 
They caused an immense sensation, similar to 
that produced by Drapier's Letters (q.v.) % or 
Burke’s Reflections on the French Revolution. 

Malakoff (maF & koQ. This fortification, which 
was carried by storm by the French, September 
8th, 1855 was named from a drunken Russian 
sailor who lived at Sebastopol, and, being dis- 
missed the dockyards in which he had been 
employed, opened a liquor-shop on the hill 
outside the town. Other houses sprang up 
around it, and “Malakoff,” as it came to be 
called, was ultimately fortified. 

Malaprop, Mrs. (m&r & prop). The famous 
character in Sheridan’s The Rivals. Noted for 
her blunders in the use of words (Fr. mal a 
propos). “As headstrong as an allegory on the 
banks of the Nile” is one of her grotesque mis- 
applications; and she has given us the word 
malapropism to denote such mistakes. 

Malaysia (ma la' zya). The name given to the 
whole Malay Archipelago, in contradistinction 
to Malaya, which is applied to the southern 
portion of the Malay Peninsula. The establish- 
ment of the Federation of Malaysia, com- 
prising Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah 
(formerly known as North Borneo), is planned 
for August 31st, 1963. 

Malbecco (mal bek' 6). A “cankered, crabbed 
carle” in Spenser’s Faerie Queene (III, x), 
wealthy, very miserly, and the personification 
of self-inflicted torments. His young wife, 
Helenore, set fire to his house, and eloped with 
Sir Paridel, whereupon Malbecco cast himself 
from a rock, and his ghost was metamorphosed 
into JeaJouiy. 

Malbrouk btMarlbrough. The old French song. 
“ Malbrouk s'en va-t-en guerre ” (Marlborough 
is off to the \#rs), is said to date from 1709, 
when t|e Duke of Marlborough was winning 
his battles in Flanders, but it did not become 
popular till it was applied to Charles Churchill, 




Male 


579 


Maltese terrier 


3rd Duke of Marlborough, at the time of his 
failure against Cherbourg (1758), and was 
further popularized by its becoming a favourite 
of Marie Antoinette about 1780, and by its 
being introduced by Beaumarchais into Le 
Mariage de Figaro (1784). The air, however 
(the same as our “We won’t go home till 
morning”), is of far older date, was well known 
in Egypt and the East, and is said to have been 
sung by the Crusaders. According to a tradition 
recorded by Chateaubriand, the air came from 
the Arabs, and the tale is a legend of Mambron, 
a crusader. 

Malbrouk s’en va-t-en guerre, 

Mironton, mironton, mirontaine; 

Malbrouk s’en va-t-en guerre, 

Nul sait quand rcviendra. 

II reviendra z'h Paques — 

Mironton, mironton, mirontaine . . . 

Ou k la Trinity. 

Male, Applied in the vegetable kingdom to 
certain plants which were supposed to have 
some masculine property or appearance, as 
the male fern {Nephrodium filix-mas ), the fronds 
of which cluster in a kind of crown; and to 
precious stones — particularly sapphires — that 
are remarkable for their depth or brilliance of 
colour. 

Malebolge (mal 6 bolj'). The eighth circle of 
Dante’s Inferno (Canto xviii), containing ten 
bolgeoT pits. The name is used figuratively of 
any cesspool of filth or iniquity. 

Malice. In addition to its common meaning 
malice is a term in English law to designate 
either actual ill-will formed against another 
in the mind of the person charged with malice 
or the doing of some deliberate act so injurious 
to another that the law will imply evil intent — 
this is commonly known as malice prepense, 
or malice aforethought. Malicious damage is a 
legal term meaning damage done to property 
wilfully and purposely; malicious prosecution 
means the preferring a criminal prosecution 
or the presentation of a bankruptcy petition 
maliciously and without reasonable cause. 

Malignants. A term applied by the Parlia- 
mentarians to the Royalists who fought for 
Charles I and Charles 11. 

Malkin (mol' kin). An old diminutive of 
Matilda; formerly used as a generic term for a 
kitchen-wench or untidy slut; also for a cat 
{see Grimalkin), and for a scarecrow or 
grotesque puppet. 

All longues speak of him . . . 

The kitchen malkin pins 

Her richest lochram ’bout her reechy neck, 

Clambering the walls to eye him. 

Coriolanus , II, i. 

The name was also sometimes given to the 
Queen of the May {see Maid Marian): — 

Put on the shape of order and humanity. 

Or you must marry Malkin, the May lady. 
Beaumont and Fletcher: Monsieur Thomas, II, ii. 

Mall, The (m51). A broad p?em£nade in 
St. James’s Park, London, so Called because 
the game of Pall-mall (t/.v.) used to be played 
there. The mall was the malle^with which the 
ball was struck. & 

Noe persons shall after play carry their mills out of 
St, James's Parke without leave of the said keeper. — 
Order Book of General Monk (1662). 

19 * 


Malmesbury, The Philosopher of (mamz' be ri). 
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), author of 
Leviathan O/.v.), from his birthplace. 

Malmsey Wine (mam' zi) is the wine of Mal- 
vasia, in the Morea, and is the same name as 
Malvoisie. 

George, Duke of Clarence, son of Richard, 
Duke of York, was, according to tradition, 
drowned in a butt of malmsey in 1477-8, by 
order of his brother, who later became 
Richard III. Holinshed says, “finallie the duke 
was cast into the Tower, and therewith adjudged 
for a traitor, and privily drowned in a butt of 
malmesie, the eleventh of March, in the 
beginning of the seventeenth yeare of the kinge’s 
reigne.” See Shakespeare’s Richard III , l, iv. 
Malt. A malt worm. A toper, especially a well- 
soaked beer-drinker. 

I am joined with no foot-landrakers, no long-staff 
sixpenny strikers, none of these mad mustachio- 
purplc-hued malt worms: but with nobility and 
tranquillity . — Henry IV, Pt. I, II, i. 

In meal or in malt. See Meal. 

When the malt gets aboon the meal. When 
persons, after dinner, get more or less fuddled. 

The famous Sermon on Malt is generally 
credited to the Puritan divine John Dod 
(c. 1549-1645), rector of Fawsley North- 
ants, called the Decalogist , from his exposition 
of the Ten Commandments (1604). 

Malta. After a varied and eventful history this 
island became a British possession in 1814, 
since when it has been almost impregnably 
fortified as a naval base, commanding the 
Mediterranean and the approaches to the Suez 
Canal. For its resistance and suffering under 
aerial bombardment the island was awarded 
the George Cross in 1942. 

Malta, Knights of, or Hospitallers of St 
John of Jerusalem. Some time after the first 
crusade (1042), some Neapolitan merchants 
built at Jerusalem a hospital for sick pilgrims 
and a church which they dedicated to St. John; 
these they committed to the charge of certain 
knights, called Hospitallers of St, John. In 
1310 these Hospitallers, having developed into 
a military Order, took the island oi Rhodes, 
and changed their title to Knights of Rhodes . 
In 1522 they were expelled by the Turks, and 
took up their residence in Malta, which was 
ruled by the Grand Master until the island was 
taken by the French in 1798. The Order is now 
extinct as a sovereign body, but maintains a 
lingering existence in Italy, Germany, France, 
etc., ana in Malta, where it still confers titles 
of “Marquis” and “Count.” See Hospitallers. 

Maltese Cross. Made thus: Hh- Originally 
the badge of the Knights of Malta, formed of 
four barbed arrow-heads with their points 
meeting in the centre. In modified and elabor- 
ated forms it is the badge of many well-known 
Orders, etc., as the British Victoria Cross and 
Order of Merit, and the German Iron Cross. 

Maltese terrier. An ancient breed of lap-dog, 
somewhat resembling a Skye terrier though not 
really a terrier at all. In colour it is pure white, 
though occasionally marked with fawn; the 
face and sides are clothed with long, silky hair 
and the highly-plumed tail usually curves over 
the back. 


Malthusian Doctrine 


580 


Man 


Malthusian Doctrine was that population in- 
creases more than the means of subsistence 
does, so that in time, if no check is put upon 
the increase of population, many must starve 
or all be ill fed. It was promulgated by T. R. 
Malthus (1766-1835), especially in his Essay on 
Population (1798). Applied to individual na- 
tions, such as Britain, it intimated that some- 
thing must be done to check the increase of 
population, as all the land would not suffice to 
feed its inhabitants. 

Malum (ma' lum), in Latin, means an apple ; 
and malus, mala , malum means evil. Southey, 
in his Commonplace Book , quotes a witty 
etymon given by Nicolson and Burn, making 
the noun derived from the adjective, in allusion, 
possibly, to the apple eaten by Eve; and there 
is the schoolboy joke showing how rnalo 
repeated four times can be translated into a 
tolerable and fairly lengthy quatrain: — 

Malo, I would rather be 
Malo , Up an apple tree 
Malo, Than a bad man 
Malo , In adversity. 

Malum in se (Lat.). What is of itself wrong, 
and would be so even if no law existed against 
its commission, as lying, murder, theft. 

Malum prohibitum (Lat.). What is wrong 
merely because it is forbidden, as eating a 
particular fruit was wrong in Adam and Eve, 
because they were commanded not to do so. 
Mambrino (mam bre no). A pagan king of old 
romance, introduced by Ariosto into Orlando 
Furioso. He had a helmet of pure gold which 
rendered the wearer invulnerable, and was 
taken possession of by Rinaldo. This is 
frequently referred to in Don Quixote , and we 
read that when the barber was caught in a 
shower and clapped his brazen basin on his 
head, Don Quixote insisted that this was the 
enchanted helmet of the Moorish king. 
Mamelukes (mam 7 e lookz) (Arab, mamluc , a 
slave). The slaves brought from the Caucasus 
to Egypt, and formed into a standing army, 
who, in 1254, raised one of their body to the 
supreme power. They reigned over Egypt till 
1517, when they were overthrown by the 
Turkish Sultan, Selim I. The country, 
though nominally under a Turkish viceroy, was 
subsequently governed by twenty-four Mame- 
luke beys. In 1811 the Pasha of Egypt, 
Mohammed Ali, by a wholesale massacre 
annihilated the Mamelukes. 

Mammet, or Maumet. An idol; hence a 
puppet or doll (as in Romeo and Juliet , III, v, 
and Henry IV , Ft. /, II, iii). The word is a 
corruption of Mahomet. Mohammedanism 
being the most prominent non-Christian 
religion with which Christendom was 
acquainted before the Reformation, it be- 
came a generic word to designate any false 
faith ; even idolatry is called mammetry ; and in 
a 14th-century MS. Bible (first edited by 
A. C. Paues, 1904) I John v, 21 reads — 

My smale children, kepe ye you from mawmetes 
and symulacris. 

Mammon (m&m' on). The god of this world. 
The word in Syriac means riches, and it occurs 
in the Bible (Matt, vi, 24; Luke xvi, 13): “Ye 
cannot serve God and mammon.** Spenser 
C Faerie Queene , II, vii) and Milton (who 


identifies him with Vulcan or Mulciber, 
Paradise Lost , I, 738-51) both make Mammon 
the personification of the evils of wealth and 
miserliness. 

Mammon led them on — 
Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell 
From Heaven; for even in Heaven his looks and 
thoughts 

Were always downward bent, admiring more 
The riches of Heaven’s pavement, trodden gold. 
Than aught divine or holy. 

Milton: Paradise Lost , I, 678. 

The Mammon of Unrighteousness. Money; 

see Luke xvi, 9. 

Sir Epicure Mammon. A worldly sensualist in 
Ben Jonson’s Alchemist. 

Mammoth Cave. In Edmonson county, 
Kentucky; the largest known in the world, 
discovered in 1809. It comprises a large number 
of chambers, with connecting passages said to 
total 150 miles, and covers an area of nearly 
10 miles in diameter. 

Man. Man in the Moon, Man of Blood, Brass, 
December, Sin, Straw, etc. See these words. 

Man about town. A fashionable idler. 

Man Friday. See Friday. 

Man-Mountain. See Quinbus Flestrin. 

Man of letters. An author, a literary scholar. 

Man of the world. One “knowing” in world- 
craft; no greenhorn. Charles Macklin brought 
out a comedy (1704), and Henry Mackenzie 
a novel (1773) with the title. 

Man of war. A warship in the navy of a 
government; though the name is masculine, 
always spoken of as “she.’* Formerly the term 
was used to denote a fighting man (“the Lord 
is a man of war,” Ex. xv, 3). 

The name of the “Man of War Rock,” in 
the Scilly Islands, is a corruption of Cornish 
men (or maen) an vawr , meaning “big rock.” 

The popular name of the marine hydrozoan, 
Physalia pelagica, is the Portuguese man of war, 
or, simply, man of war. 

Man-of-war bird. The frigate-bird. 

Man proposes, but God disposes. So we read 
in the Imitatio Christi ( Homo proponit, sed 
Deus disponit , 1, xix, 2). Herbert (Jacula 
Prudentum) has nearly the same words; as also 
has Montluc: L'homme propose et Dieit dis- 
pose (Co medic de Proverbes, iii, 7). 

The Man in Black. A well-known character 
in Goldsmith’s Citizen of the World ; supposed 
to have been drawn from the author’s father. 

The Man in the Iron Mask. See Iron Mask, 
under Iron. 

Man in the street. The ordinary citizen, the 
man or woman who, in the aggregate, makes 
public opinion. According to Charles Greville 
(1794-1865) this was originally a racing term — 
“ ‘the man in the street,* as we call him at 
Newmarket. * Diary , s.d. March 22nd, 1831. 

The Man of Destiny. Napoleon I (1769- 
1821). He looked on himself as an instrument 
in the hands of destiny. 

G. B. Shaw used the epithet as the title of 
a play about Napoleon. 




Man 


581 


Manes 


The Man of Ross. See Ross. 

The New Man. The regenerated man* In 
Scripture phrase the unregenerated state is 
called the old man. 

The Threefold Man. According to Diogenes 
Laertius, the body was composed of (1) a 
mortal part; (2) a divine and ethereal part, 
called the phren ; and (3) an aerial and vapor- 
ous part, called the thumos. 

According to the Romans, man has a 
threefold soul, which at the dissolution of the 
body resolves itself into (1) the Manes ; (2) the 
Anima or Spirit; (3) the Umbra. The Manes 
went either to Elysium or Tartarus; the Anima 
returned to the gods; but the Umbra hovered 
about the body as unwilling to quit it. 

According to the Jews, man consists of 
body, soul, and spirit. 

Man, Isle of. In ancient times called Monapia 
or Menavia , and with variant forms in the 
middle ages, the name is from the Manx Vannin 
or Mannin , meaning middle. It is midway 
between the coasts of England and Ireland. 
Mancha, La (la man' cha) was a province of 
Spain almost identical with the modern 
province of Ciudad Real. It is celebrated as 
the country of Don Quixote. It is a land of arid 
steppes and wide expanses of heath and waste, 
and is the least populated area of Spain. 
Manchester. The name is formed from the Old 
British Mamucion and ceaster , O.E. form of 
Lat. castra , denoting that it was a walled 
town once in Roman possession. A native of 
Manchester is a Mancunian, from Mancunium , 
the mediaeval Latin name of the city. 

The Manchester Massacre. See Peterloo. 

The Manchester Poet. Charles Swain 
(1803-74). 

The Manchester School. The name given in 
derision by Disraeli to the Cobden-Bright 
group of Free Trade economists in 1848. 
Hence, Free Traders, and Free Trade prin- 
ciples generally. 

Manchukuo (m&n choo kwo'). This was the 
name given to a country formed of Man- 
churia and parts of Inner Mongolia, under 
the control of Japan, incorporated in 1932. In 
1945 it was restored to China under the old 
name of Manchuria. 

Manciple. A purveyor of food, a steward, or 
clerk of the kitchen. Chaucer has a “manciple” 
in his Canterbury Tales. (Lat. manceps , 
mancipis , a buyer, manager.) 

Mancus. An Anglo-Saxon coin worth thirty 
pence. In the reign of Ethelbert, King of Kent, 
money accounts were kept in pounds , mancuses , 
shillings , and pence. Five pence — one shilling, 
30 pence = one mancus. Mancuses were in 
gold and silver also. 

Mandamus (Lat. we command). A writ of 
Queen’s Bench, commanding the person or 
corporation, etc., named to do what the writ 
directs. So called from the opening word. 
Mandarin is not a Chinese word, but one given 
by the Portuguese colonists at Macao to the 
officials called by the natives Kwan. It is from 
Malay and Hindi mantri , counsellor, from 
Sansk. mantra , counsel (mow, to think). 


The word is sometimes used derisively for 
dVe^-pompous officials, as, “The mandarins of 
our Foreign Office.” 

The mandarin orange is probably so called 
from the resemblance of its colour to that of a 
mandarin’s robe. 

The nine ranks of mandarins were distin- 
guished by the button in their cap; — 1, ruby; 2, 
coral; 3, sapphire; 4, an opaque blue stone; 
5, crystal; 6, an opaque white shell; 7, wrought 
gold; 8, plain gold; and 9, silver. 

The whole body of Chinese mandarins consists of 
twenty-seven members. They are appointed for (1) 
imperial birth; (2) long service; (3) illustrious deeds; 
(4) knowledge; (5) ability; (6) zeal; (7) nobility; and 
(8) aristocratic birth. — Gutzlay. 

Mandate (Lat. mandatum ; mandare> to com- 
mand). An authoritative charge or command; 
in law, a contract of bailment by which the 
mandatory undertakes to perform gratuitously 
a duty regarding property committed to him. 
After World War I it was decided by the 
victorious Powers that the former extra- 
European colonies and possessions of Ger- 
many and Turkey should be governed under 
mandate by one or other of the Powers. Thus, 
the German colonies in West Africa and parts 
of the Turkish possessions in Palestine and 
Mesopotamia became mandatory spheres un- 
der Great Britain. 

Mandeville, Sir John. See Maundrel. 

Mandrake. The root of the mandrake, or 
mandragora, often divides in two, and 
presents a rude appearance of a man. In 
ancient times human figures were cut out of 
the root, and wonderful virtues ascribed to 
them, such as the production of fecundity in 
women {Gen. xxx, 14-16). It was also thought 
that mandrakes could not be uprooted without 
producing fatal effects, so a cord used to be 
fixed to the root, and round a dog’s neck, and 
the dog being chased drew out the mandrake 
and died. Another fallacy was that a small dose 
made a person vain of his beauty, and a large 
one made him an idiot; and yet another that 
when the mandrake is uprooted it utters a 
scream, in explanation of which Thomas 
Newton, in his Herball to the Bible , says, “It 
is supposed to be a creature having life, 
engendered under the earth of the seed of 
some dead person put to death for murder.” 
Shrieks like mandrakes, torn out of the earth. 

Romeo and Juliet, IV, iii. 

Mandrakes called love-apples. From the old 
notion that they were aphrodisiacs. Hence 
Venus is called Mandragoritis , and the Emperor 
Julian, in his epistles, tells Calixenes that he 
drank its juice nightly as a love-potion. 

He has eaten mandrake. Said of a very 
indolent and sleepy man, from the narcotic and 
stupefying properties of the plant, well known 
to the ancients. 

Give me to drink mandragora . . . 

That I might sleep out this great gap of time 
My Antony is away. 

Antony and Cleopatra , I, v. 

Manes (m§' nez). To appease his Manes. To 
do when a person is dead what would have 
pleased him or was due to him when alive. 
The spirit or ghost of the dead was by the 
Romans called his Manes , which never slept 


Manfred 


Mantalini 


582 


quietly in the grave so long as survivors left i & » 
wishes unfulfilled. February 19th was the f aa^ 
when all the living sacrificed to the shad& of 
dead relations and friends — a kind of pagan 
All Souls’ Day. 

Manes is probably from the old word inanl J, 
i.e. “bonus,” “quod eos venerantes manes 
vocarent, ut Graeci chrestous .” (See Lucretius , 
III, 52.) 

Manfred. Count Manfred, the hero of Byron’s 
dramatic poem of this name (1817), sold him- 
self to the Prince of Darkness, was wholly 
without human sympathies, and lived in 
splendid solitude among the Alps. He loved 
tne Lady Astarte (q.v.), who died, but 
Manfred went to the hall of Arimanes to see 
her, and was told that he would die the 
following day. The next day the Spirit of his 
Destiny came to summon him; the proud 
count scornfully dismissed it, and died. 

Mani (ma' ne). The moon, in Scandinavian 
mythology, the son of Mundilfceri, taken 
to heaven by the gods to drive the moon-car. 
He is followed by a wolf, which, when time 
shall be no more, will devour both Mani and 
his sister SoL 

Man!, Manes, or Manichseus. The founder of 
Manichaeanism (see below), bom in Persia 
probably about 216, prominent at the court 
of Sapor I (240-72), but crucified by the 
Magians in 277. 

Manichaeans or Manichees. The followers 
of Mani who taught that the universe is 
controlled by two antagonistic powers, viz . 
light or goodness (identified with God), 
and darkness, chaos, or evil. The system 
was the old Babylonian nature-worship 
modified by Christian and Persian influences, 
and its own influence on the Christian religion 
was, even so late as the 13th century, deep and 
widespread. St. Augustine was a member of 
the body for some nine years. One of Mani’s 
claims was that though Christ had been sent 
into the world to restore it to light and banish 
the darkness His apostles had perverted his 
doctrine and he, Mani, was sent as the Paraclete 
to restore it. The headquarters of Manichsean- 
ism were for many centuries at Babylon, and 
later at Samarkand. ' :}> 

Manitou (m^n' i too). The Great Spirit of the 
American Indians. The word is Algonkin, and 
means either the Great Good Spirit or the 
Great Evil Spirit. 

Manna (Ex. xvi, 15), popularly said to be a 
corrupt form of man-hu (What is this?). The 
marginal reading gives — “When the children 
of Israel saw it [the small round thing like 
hoar-frost on the ground], they said to one 
another, What is this? for they wist not what 
it was.” 

And the house of Israel called the name thereof 
manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the 
taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 

The word is more probably the Egyptian 
mennu, a waxy exudation of the tamarisk 
(Tamar ix gallica ). 

Manna of St. Nicholas of Bari. The name 

g iven to a colourless and tasteless poison, sold 
y a notorious female poisoner of 16 th- 


r century Italy named Tofana, who confessed to 
having poisoned six hundred persons by its 
ipeans. Also called Aqua Tofana. 

Manningtree (Essex). Noted for its Whitsun 
fair, where an ox was roasted whole. Shake- 
speare makes Prince Henry call FalstafF “a 
roasted Manningtree ox, with the pudding in 
his belly” ( Henry IV, Pt. /, II, iv). 

Manoa (mi no' &). The fabulous capital of El 
Dorado (q.v.), the houses of which city were 
said to be roofed with gold. 

Manon Lescaut (m& nong les ko). A novel by 
the Abb6 Prevost (1733). It is the history of a 
young man, the Chevalier des Grieux, pos- 
sessed of many brilliant and some estimable 
qualities, who being intoxicated by a fatal 
attachment to Manon, a girl who prefers 
luxury to faithful love, sets his love against the 
claims of society. 

Manor. Demesne (i.e. “domain”) land is that 
near the demesne or dwelling (domus) of the 
lord, and which he kept for his own use. 
Manor land was all that remained (maned), and 
was let to tenants for money or service; 
originally, a barony held by a lord and subject 
to the jurisdiction of his court-baron. 

In some manors there was common land also, i.e. 
land belonging in common to two or more persons, 
to the whole village, or to certain natives of the 
village. 

Lord of the manor. The person or corpora- 
tion in whom the rights of a manor are vested. 
Mansard Roof, also called the curb roof. A 
roof in which the rafters, instead of forming 
a A, are broken on each side into an elbow, 
the lower rafters being nearly vertical and the 
upper much inclined. It was devised by 
Francois Mansard (1598-1666), the French 
architect, to give height to attics. In the U.S.A. 
the same type of roof is called a Gambrel 
Roof, and was introduced into New England 
in the 17th century. 

Mansfield. The Miller of Mansfield. The old 
ballad (given in Percy’s Rcliques) tells how 
Henry II, having lost his way, met a miller, 
who took him home to his cottage. Next 
morning the courtiers tracked the king, and 
the miller discovered the rank of his guest, who, 
in merry mood, knighted his host as “Sir John 
Cockle.” On St. George’s Day, Henry II 
invited the miller, his wile and son, to a royal 
banquet, and after being amused with their 
rustic ways, made Sir John “overseer of 
Sherwood Forest, with a salary of £300 a 
year.” 

Mansion. The Latin mansio (from manere , to 
remain, dwell) was simply a tent pitched on 
the march, hence sometimes a “day*s journey” 
(Pliny, xii, 14). Subsea uently the word was 
applied to a roadside house for the accom- 
modation of strangers (Suetonius, Tit . 10). 

Mansion House, now the name of the 
official residence of a Lord Mayor. It was 
formerly used of anv important dwelling, 
especially the houses of lords of the manor and 
of high ecclesiastics. 

Mantalini, Madame (jn&njh lin' i). A fashion- 
able milliner in Dicixx\$%tfVicholas Nickleby, 
near Cavendish Square. Her husband, whose 




Mantle of Fidelity 5S3 Marching Watch 


original name was “Muntle,” noted for his 
white teeth, minced oaths, and gotgfeous 
morning gown, lives on his wife’s earnings^ apd 
ultimately goes to “the demnition bow-wows.” 
Mantle of Fidelity. The old ballad “The Boy 
and the Mantle,’* in Percy’s Reliques , tells 
how a little boy showed King Arthur a curious 
mantle, “which would become no wife that was 
not leal.” Queen Guinever tried it, but it 
changed from green to red, and red to black, 
and seemed rent into shreds. Sir Kay’s lady 
tried it, but fared no better; others followed, 
but only Sir Cradock’s wife could wear it. 
The theme is a very common one in old story, 
and was used by Spenser in the incident of 
Florimel’s girdle. 

Mantuan Swan, Bard, (mSn r tu £n) etc. Virgil, 
a native of Mantua, in Italy. Besides his great 
Latin epic, he wrote pastorals and Georgies. 
Manu. See Menu. 

Manufacturer. See Surgeon. 

Manumit (m&n' G mit). To set free; properly 
“to send from one’s hand” ( e manu mittere). 
One of the Roman ways of freeing a slave was 
to take him before the chief magistrate and 
say, “I wish this man to be free.” The lictor or 
master then turned the slave round in a circle, 
struck him with a rod across the cheek, and 
let him go. The ancient ceremony subsists to 
this day m the R.C. rite of Confirmation when 
the bishop strikes the confirmand lightly on 
the cheek with the words, “Peace be with thee.” 
Manure (Fr. main-oeuvre ). Literally “hand- 
work,” hence tillage by manual labour, hence 
the dressing applied to lands. Milton uses the 
word in its original sense in Paradise Lost , IV, 
628:— 

You flowery arbours. . . . with branches overgrown 

That mock our scant manuring. 

And in XL 28, says that the repentant tears of 
Adam brought forth better fruits than all the 
trees of Paradise that his hands “manured” in 
the days of innocence. 

Manx cat. A tailless species of cat found in the 
Isle of Man. 

Many a little makes a mickle. Little and often 
fills the purse. Sec Little. 

Many men, many minds, i.e. as many 
opinions as there are persons to give them; an 
adaptation of Terence’s Quot homines tot 
sententice ( Phormio , II, iv, 14). 

Too many for me or One too many for me. 
More than a match. II est trop fort pour moi. 

The Irishman is cunning enough; but we shall be 
too many for him. — Miss Edgeworth. 

Maori (mou' ri). The aboriginal Polynesian 
inhabitants of New Zealand; a native word 
meaning indigenous. 

Maple Leaf. The emblem of Canada. 

Maquis (ma' k£). The thick scrub in Corsica 
to which bandits retire and resist by arms any 
attempt to apprehend them. A bandit so on 
the run is called a maquisard. See also F.F.I. 
Marabou. A large stork or heron of western 
Africa, so called frpm Arab, murabit , a hermit, 
because among the^ralfe these birds were held 
to be sacred. Its feather are used by ladies for 
headgear, neck-wraps, etc. 


Marabouts. A priestly order of Morocco 
(Arab, murabit , a hermit) which, in 1075, 
founded a dynasty and ruled over Morocco 
and part of Spain till it was put an end to by 
the Almohads iq the 12th century. 

Marais, Le. See Plain. 

Maranatha (Syriac, the Lord will come — i.e. to 
execute judgment). A word which, with 
Anathema ( q.v .), occurs in I Cor. xvi, 22, 
and has been erroneously taken as a form of 
anathematizing among the Jews; hence, used 
for a terrible curse. 

Marathon Race (m&r' & thon). A long-distance 
running race, named after the Battle of 
Marathon (490 b.c.) the result of which was 
announced at Athens by a courier, sometimes 
called Pheidippides, who fell dead on his 
arrival. The race, properly of 26 miles, 385 
yards, is one of tne events at the modern 
Olympic games. The record (1962) is held by 
E. 2atopek, of Czechoslovakia, who in 1952 
ran the course in 2 hours, 23 mins., 03-2 secs. 

Maravedi or Marvedie (mar a ve' di). A very 
small Spanish copper coin, worth less than a 
farthing and long obsolete. There are freauent 
references to it in Elizabethan and 17th- 
century literature. In the 11th and 12th 
centuries there was a Portuguese gold coin of 
the same name, equivalent to about 14s. 

Marbles. See Arundellan; Eloin. 

March. The month is so called from “Mars,” 
the Roman war-god and patron deity. 

The old Dutch name for it was Lent-maand 
(lengthening-month), because the days sensibly 
lengthen; the old Saxon name was Hreth-monath 
(rough month, from its boisterous winds); the name 
was subsequently changed to Lcngth-monath (length- 
ening month); it was also called Hlyd-monath 
(boisterous month); In the French Republican 
calendar it was calied Ventose (windy month, 
February 20th to March 20th). 

A bushel of March dust is worth a king’s 
ransom. Because we want plenty of dry, windy 
weather in March to ensure good crops. The 
fine for murder used to be proportioned to the 
rank of the person killed. The lowest was £10, 
and the highest £60; the former was the 
ransom of a cfiorl, and the latter of a king. 

Mad as a March hare. See Hare. 

March borrows three days from April. See 
Borrowed Days. 

March. He may be a rogue, but he’s no fool 
on the march. Though his honesty may be in 
question he is a useful sort of person to have 
about. 

To steal a march on one. See Steal. 

March table. British military term denoting 
a direction setting out the order in which the 
elements of a convoy should proceed, the 
exact minute at which each should pass a given 
starting point, and the average speed at which 
each should proceed. 

Marching Watch. The guard of civilians 
enrolled in London during the Middle Ages to 
keep order in the streets on the Vigils of St. 
Peter and St. John the Baptist during the 
festivities then held; used also of the festivities 



Marches 584 

& . . - — .. . 

themselves. Henry VIII approved of th$ 
pageants, etc., and on one occasion, , 
encourage them, took his queen, Katharine of 
Aragon, to witness the proceedings at *the 
King’s Heade in Cheape.” Th^custom fell into 
abeyance in 1527 on account of the sweating 
sickness, but was revived a few years later. 

Marches. The O.E. mearc , a mark, by way of 
Fr. marche , a frontier. The boundaries between 
England and Wales, and between England and 
Scotland, were called “marches,” and the word 
is the origin of our marquis , the lord of the 
march. 

The word is still applied in the sense that 
a boundary is shared, e.g. Kent marches with 
Sussex, that is, the two counties are contiguous. 

Riding the marches — i.e. beating the bounds 
of the parish (Scots). See Bounds, Beating 
the. 

Marchington (Staffordshire). Famous for a 
crumbling short cake. Hence the saying that 
one of crusty temper is “as short as Marching- 
ton wake-cake.” 

Marchioness, The. The half-starved girl-of-all- 
work in Dickens’s Old Curiosity Shop. As she 
has no name of her own Dick Swiveller gives 
her that of “Sophronia Sphynx,” and eventu- 
ally marries her. 

Marchpane (march' pan). The old name for the 
confection of almonds, sugar, etc., that we call 
marzipan , this being the German form of the 
original Ital. marzapane , and adopted by us in 
the 19th century in preference to our own well- 
established word, because we imported the 
stuff largely from Germany. 

First Serv Away with the joint-stools, remove the 
court-cupboard, look to the plate. Good thou, save 
me a piece of marchpane. — Romeo and Juliet , I, v. 

Marcionites (mar' si on Itz). An ascetic Gnostic 
sect, founded by Marcion of Sinope in the 2nd 
century, and surviving till the 7th or even later. 
They believed in a good God, first revealed by 
Christ (whose incarnation and resurrection 
they rejected), in an evil God, i.e. the Devil, 
and in “Demiurge,” the name they gave to the 
imperfect God of the Jews. 

Marcley Hill. Legend states that this hill in 
Herefordshire, on February 7th, 1571, at six 
o’clock in the evening, “roused itself with a 
roar, and by seven next morning had moved 
40 paces.” It kept on the move for three days, 
carrying all with it; it overthrew Kinnaston 
chapel, and diverted two high roads at least 
200 yards from their former route. Twenty- 
six acres of land are said to have been moved 
400 yards. (Speed : Herefordshire.) 

Marcomgram. A radiogram named after 
Marconi (1874-1937), who invented wireless 
telegraphy. 

Mardi Gras (mar de graO (Fr. “fat Tuesday”). 

The last day of the Lent carnival in France, 
Shrove Tuesday, which is celebrated with all 
sorts of festivities. In Paris a fat ox used to be 
paraded through the principal streets, crowned 
with a fillet, and accompanied by mock 
priests and a band of tin instruments in 
imitation of a Roman sacrificial procession. 


Mare 


Mare. The Cromlech at Gorwell, Dorsetshire, 
is called the White Mare; the barrows near 
H^mbleton, the Grey Mare. 

Away the mare. Off with the blue devils, 
good-bye to care. This mare is the incubus 
called the nightmare. 

Money will make the mare to go. You can do 
anything if only you have the money. 

“Will you lend me your mare to go a mile?” 

“No, she is lame leaping over a stile.” 

“But if you will her to me spare, 

You shall have money for your mare.” 

“Oh, ho! say you so? 

Money will make the mare to go.” 

Old Glees and Catches. 

Shanks’s mare. One’s legs or shanks. 

To cry the mare (Herefordshire and Shrop- 
shire). In harvesting, when the ingathering is 
complete, a few blades of corn left for the 
purpose have their tops tied together. The 
reapers then place themselves at a certain 
distance, and fling their sickles at the “marc.” 
He who succeeds in cutting the knot cries out 
“I have her!” “What have you?” “A mare.” 
“Whose is she?” The name of some farmer 
whose field has been reaped is here mentioned. 
“Where will you send her?” The name of some 
farmer whose corn is not yet harvested is here 
given, and then all the reapers give a final 
shout. 

To find a mare’s nest is to make what you 
suppose to be a great discovery, but which 
turns out to be either no discovery at all or else 
all moonshine. In some parts of Scotland the 
expression is a skate's nest , and in Cornwall 
they say. You have found a wee's nest and are 
laughing over the eggs. In Devon, nonsense is 
called a blind mare's nest. 

To win the mare or lose the halter. To play 
double or quits; all or nothing. 

The grey mare is the better horse. The woman 
is paramount; said of a wife who “bosses” her 
husband. 

As long as we have eyes, or hands, or breath. 

We’ll look, or write, or talk you all to death. 

Yield, or she-Pegasus will gain her course. 

And the grey mare will prove the better horse. 
Prior: Epilogue to Mrs. Manley's "Lucius." 

The grey mare’s tail. A cataract that is made 
by the stream which issues from Lochskene, 
in Scotland, so called from its appearance. 

The two-legged mare. The gallows. 

Whose mare’s dead? What’s the matter? 
Thus, in Henry IV, Pt. If when Sir John Falstaff 
sees Mistress Quickly with the sheriff’s officers, 
evidently in a state of great discomposure, he 
cries. 

How now? Whose mare’s dead? What’s the matter? 
—II, i. 

Mare (mar' i). The Latin word for sea. Mare 
clausum is a sea that is closed by a certain 
Power or Powers to the unrestricted trade of 
other nations. Mare liberum is a free and open 
sea. In 1635 John Selden (1584-1654) published 
a treatise entitled Mare Clausum. Mare 
nostrum , “our sea” was a term applied by 
Italian Fascists to the Mediterranean at the 
height of their imperial ambitions. 




Marforlo 


585 


Marivaudage 


Marforio. See Pasquinade. 

Margaret. A country name for the magpie 
(q.v.)\ also for the daisy, or marguerite, so 
called from its pearly whiteness, marguerite 
being Old French for a pearl. 

Lady Margaret Professor. A professor of 
divinity both at Oxford and Cambridge, the 
professorship being founded in 1502 by Lady 
Margaret Beaufort (1443-1509), mother of 
Henry VII, who also endowed Christ’s and St. 
John’s College at Cambridge. These lectures 
are given for the “voluntary theological 
examination,” and treat upon the Fathers , the 
Liturgy , and the priestly duties. Cp. Norrisian. 

Laay Margaret Hall, a college for women 
at Oxford, was founded in her memory in 1878. 

Margaret, St. The chosen type of female 
innocence and meekness, represented as a 
young woman of great beauty, bearing the 
martyr’s palm and crown, or with the dragon 
as an attribute. Sometimes she is delineated as 
coming from the dragon’s mouth, for legend 
says that the monster swallowed her, but on 
her making the sign of the cross he suffered her 
to quit his maw. 

Another legend has it that Olybrius, 
governor of Antioch captivated by her beauty, 
wanted to marry her, and, as she rejected him 
with scorn, threw her into a dungeon, where 
the devil came to her in the form of a dragon. 
She held up the cross, and the dragon fled. 

St. Margaret, whose feast is held on July 
20th, is the patron saint of the ancient borough 
of King’s Lynn, and on the corporation seal she 
is represented as standing on a dragon and 
wounding it with the cross. The inscription is 
“SVB . MARGARET A . TERITUR . DRACO . STAT . 
CRUCE . LifcTA.” 

St. Margaret of Scotland, whose feast is kept 
on June 10th in the Western Church except 
in Scotland where it is observed on November 
16th, was the daughter of Edmund Ironside, 
King of England, and the wife of Malcolm 111 
of Scotland. She died in 1093 and was canon- 
ized in 1250. 

Margarine (there arc two pronunciations oi 
this: mar' i& ren, mar' ga ren). It is a well- 
known butter substitute made of a great 
variety of vegetable and animal fats and oils. 
It takes its name from the Greek margaron y a 
pearl. 

Margin. In many old books a commentary 
was printed in the margin (as in our Bible of 
the present day); hence the word was often 
used for a commentary itself, as in Shake- 
speare’s — 

His face's own margent did quote such amazes. 

Love's Labour's Lost % II, i. 

I knew you must be edified by the margent. 

Hamlet , V, il 

Marguerite des Marguerites (the pearl of 
pearls). So Francis called his sister, Mar- 
guerite de Valois (1492-1549), authoress of the 
Heptameron. She married twice; first, the Due 
d’Alengon, and then Henri d’Albret, king of 
Navarre, and was known for her Protestant 
leanings. 


Sylvius de la Haye published (1547^ a 
collection of hef poems with the title Mar- 
guerites de la marguerite des princesses , etc. 

Marian Year. The method of reckoning March 
25th, the Feast of the Annunciation of Our 
Lady, as the first day of the year. This was 
employed until the reform of the calendar in 
1752, and still exists as more or less the begin- 
ning of the financial year. 

Marigold. The plant Calendula officinalis and 
its bright yellow flower are so called in honour 
of the Virgin Mary. 

This riddle, Cuddy, if thou canst, explain . . . 

What flower is that which bears the Virgin’s name, 

The richest metal added to the same? 

Gay: Pastoral. 

In 17th-century slang a marigold (or 
“marygold”) meant a sovereign. 

Marimba (m& rim' ba). A musical instrument 
formed of strips of wood struck by hammers or 
sticks. It is of African origin but it has been 
improved upon and popularized in Central 
America, where it got its present name. 

Marine. The female Marine. Hannah Snell, of 
Worcester (1723-92), who (according to 
tradition), passing herself off as a Marine, took 
part in the attack on Pondicherry. It is said 
that she ultimately opened a public-house in 
Wapping, but retained her male attire. 

Tell that to the Marines. See Horse Mariner 
In nautical parlance a greenhorn or a land- 
lubber afloat is often called “a marine” in 
contempt. See Jolly. 

Empty bottles were at one time called 
“marines,” because the Royal Marines were 
looked down upon by the regular seamen, who 
considered them useless. A marine officer was 
once dining at a mess-table, when the Duke 
of York said to the man in waiting, “Here, 
take away these marines.” The officer de- 
manded an explanation, when the duke 
replied, “They have done their duty, and are 
prepared to do it again.” 

Mariner’s compass. Traditionally claimed 
by the Chinese to have been in use as early as 
2364 b.c., but first recorded as being used for 
sea travel by a Chinese writer of about 
a.d. 800. It was introduced to Europe by 
Marco Polo, but it is probable that it was 
known — as the result of independent discovery 
— in the 12th century. See Fleur-de-lis. 
Marinism. Excessive literary ornateness and 
affectation. So named from Giambattista 
Marini (1569-1625), the Neapolitan poet, 
famous for his whimsical comparisons, pom- 
pous and overwrought descriptions. 

Marino Faliero (ma re' no f51 yer' 6). The 
forty-ninth doge of Venice, elected 1354. He 
joined a conspiracy to overthrow the republic, 
but was betrayed by Bertram, one of the con- 
spirators, and was beheaded. A different story 
is told in Byron’s tragedy of this name (1820). 

Maritimes. A contraction for the Maritime 
Provinces of Canada: Nova Scotia, New 
Brunswick, Price Edward Island. 

Marivaudage (ma re v6 daj). An imitation of 
the style of Marivaux (1688-1763), author 


Marjoram 


586 


Marmion 


- r — : 

of several comedies and novejs. li tombe sou- 
vent dans une mitaphysique alambiquee (far- 
fetched, over-strained) pour laquelle on a crdd 
le nom de marivaudage. , 

Ce qui consume le mai ivaudage, c’est une recherche 
affect^e dans le style, une grande %ubtilit6 dans les 
sentiments, et une grande complication d’intrigucs. — 
BouIllet: Diet, bniversel, etc. 

Marjoram (mar' jor dm). As a pig loves mar- 
joram. Not at all. “How did you like so-and- 
so?** “Well, as a pig loves marjoram.” 
Lucretius tells us (VI, 974), Amaricinum fugitat 
sus , swine shun marjoram; but it is not at all 
certain that the Latin amaracus is identical 
with our marjoram . 

Mark. A man of mark. A notable or famous 
man; one who has “made his mark” in some 
walk of life. 

Beside the mark. Not to the point; a phrase 
from archery, in which the mark was the target. 

God bless or save the mark! An ejaculation 
of contempt or scorn. Hotspur, apologizing to 
the king for not sending the prisoners accord- 
ing to command (Shakespeare: Henry IV, Pt. /, 
I, iii), says the messenger was a “popinjay,” 
who made him mad with his unmanly ways, 
and who talked 

“So like a waiting-gentlewoman 
Of guns and drums and wounds, — God save the 
t mark !” 

»d in Othello (I, i) Iago says he was “God 
bless the mark! his Moorship’s ancient,” 
expressive of derision and contempt. 

Sometimes the phrase is used to avert ill 
fortune or an evil omen, as in — 

To be ruled by my conscience, I should stay with 
the Jew my master, who, God bless the mark ! is a kind 
of devil. — Merchant of Venice , II, ii. 

And sometimes it refers simply to the per- 
verted natural order of things, as “travelling 
by night and resting (save the mark!) by day." 

Its origin is unknown, and there is no 
evidence for the widely quoted assumption 
that it arose from archery. It seems to have 
been originally a formula used for averting evil 
omens, and was in early use by midwives at 
the delivery of a child with a “birth-mark.” 

Mark time! Move the feet alternately as in 
marching, but without advancing or retreating 
from the spot. 

The mark of the beast. To set the “mark 
of the beast’* on an object or pursuit (such, for 
instance, as dancing, theatres, gambling, etc.) 
is to denounce it, to run it down as unortho- 
dox. The allusion is to Rev. xvi, 2; xix, 20. 

A certain kind of clerical waistcoat that used 
to be considered “Popish” in the 60s and 
70s of last century was known as the “Mark 
' of the Beast,” or “M.B.” waistcoat. 

To make one’s mark. To distinguish oneself. 
To write one’s name (or make one’s mark) on 
the page of history. 

In olden times persons who could not write 
“made their mark” as they do now, but we 
find in ancient documents words such as 
these: “This (grant) is signed with the sign 
of the cross for its greater assurance (or) 
greater inviolability,” and after the sign 
follows the name of the donor. 


To toe the mark. To line up abreast of the 
others; so*; to “fall in” and do one’s duty. 

Up to 8ie mark. Generally used in the 
negative; as, “Not quite up to the mark,” not 
good enough, not up to the standard fixed by 
the assay office for gold and silver articles; not 
quite well. 

Mark is also a British military term denoting 
a version or issue of a piece of equipment. The 
first issue of a new weapon, for example, 
is Mark I, which continues until any alteration 
or improvement, however small, is made in 
the design. Subsequent issues are known as 
Mark II until any further alteration is made, 
and so on. 

Marks of gold and silver. See Hall Mark. 

Marks in printing. See Typographical 
Signs. 

Mark, as a name. 

Mark Banco. See Banco. 

Mark Twain. The pseudonym of the 
American novelist and humorist, Samuel L. 
Clemens (1835-1910) who adopted it from the 
Mississippi river pilots’ cry, “Mark twain!” 
when taking soundings. 

Mark, King. A king of Cornwall in the 
Arthurian romances. Sir Tristram’s uncle. He 
lived at Tintagel, and is principally remembered 
for his treachery and cowardice, and as the 
husband of Isolde the Fair, who was passion- 
ately enamoured of his nephew, Tristram 
(tf.v.). 

Mark, St., in art, is represented as being in 
the prime of life; sometimes habited as a 
bishop, and, as the historian of the resurrec- 
tion, accompanied by a winged lion. He holds 
in his right hand a pen, and in his left the 
Gospel. His day is April 25th. 

St. Mark’s Eve. An old custom in North- 
country villages is for people to sit in the church 
porch on this day (April 24th) from 1 1 at night 
to 1 in the morning for three years running, and 
the third time they will see the ghosts of those 
who are to die that year pass into the church. 

Poor Robin's Almanack for 1770 refers to 
another superstition: — 

On St. Mark’s Eve, at twelve o’clock, 

The fair maid will watch her smock. 

To find her husband in the dark, 

By praying unto good St. Maik. 

Keats has an unfinished poem on the 
subject, and he also refers to it in Cap and 
Bells (lvi). 

Market-penny. A toll surreptitiously exacted 
by servants sent out to buy goods for their 
master; secret commission on goods obtained 
for an employer. 

Marlborough (mawl' br6). Statutes of Marl- 
borough. Laws passed in 1267 by a parliament 
held in Marlborough Castle. They reaffirmed 
in more formal fashion the Provisions of 
Westminster of a few years earlier. 

Marmion (mar' mi 6n). A romantic poem by 
Scott (pubd. 1808), telling the story of Lord 
Marmion, an entirely fictional character, who 
lived in the Border Country in the time of 
Henry VII 1 and James IV of Scotland. He was 
slain at the battle of Flodden. 


Mono 


587 


Marry! 


Maro (m^rio). Virgil (70-19 B.c.), whose fbll 
name was Publius Virgilius Maro; born on 
the banks of the river Mincio, at tffe village 
of Andes, near Mantua. 

Marocco or Morocco. The name of Baifks’s 
horse (<?.v.). 

Maronites (mar' 6 nltz). A nation and Church 
of Arabic-speaking Syrian Christians, now a 
religious community of the Lebanese republic, 
in communion with the Roman Catholic 
Church but still retaining the Syriac liturgy and 
many of their peculiarities. They descend from 
a sect of Monothelites of the 8th century, and 
are so called from their chief seat, the monastery 
of Maron, on the slopes of Lebanon, which was 
named from Maron (Svriac, “my lord,’* or 
“master”), Patriarch of Antioch in the 6th 
century. 

Maroon (m& roon'). To set a person on an in- 
hospitable shore and leave him there (a 
practice common with pirates and buccaneers) ; 
a corruption of Cimarrdn , a word applied by 
Spaniards to anything unruly, whether man or 
beast. As a noun the word denotes runaway 
slaves or their descendants who live in the 
wilds of Dutch Guiana, Brazil, etc. Those of 
Jamaica are the offspring of runaways from 
the old plantations or from Cuba, to whom, in 
1738, the British Government granted a tract 
of land, on which they built two towns. 

Maroon , the firework that explodes like a 
cannon going off, is so called from Fr, marron , 
a chestnut, probably with reference to the 
popping of chestnuts when being roasted. 

In World War I air-raid warnings and all- 
clear signals were made by means of maroons. 

In the U.S.A. the term was also applied to a 
hunting or fishing expedition in the form of a 
prolonged picnic lasting several days. 

Marplot. An officious person who defeats 
some design by gratuitous meddling. The name 
is given to a silly, cowardly, inquisitive Paul 
Pry, in The Busybody (1710), by Mrs. Centlivre. 
Similarly we have Shakespeare’s “Sir Olivet 
Mar-text" the clergyman in As You Like It y 
and “Sir Martin Mar-All , the hero of the 
Duke of Newcastle’s comedy of that name, 
which was founded on Moliere’s L'Etourdi. 

Marprelate Controversy. The name given to 
the vituperative paper war of about 1589, in 
which the Puritan pamphleteers attacked the 
Church of England under the pseudonym 
“Martin Marprelate.” Thomas Cooper, Bishop 
of Winchester, defended the Church, and the 
chief of the “Martinists” were probably 
Udall, Throckmorton, Penry, and Barrow. 
Udall died in prison (1592); Penry and Barrow 
were executed in 1593. Some thirty pamphlets 
are known to have been published in this 
controversy. 

Marque. See under Letter. 

Marquess or Marquis (O.Fr. marchis , warden 
of the marches). A title of nobility, in England 
ranking next below that of Duke (^.v.). It 
was first conferred on Richard ll’s favourite, 
Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, who was 
created Marquess of Dublin in 1385. A 
marquess is addressed as “The Most Honour- 
able the Marquess of — his younger sons 


and daughters bear the courtesy titles of Lord 
John ana LjMSy Mary . 

Marriage. Marriage knot. The. The bond of 
marriage *enected^ by the legal marriage 
service. The Latin phrase is nodus Herculeus , 
and part of the marriage service was for the 
bridegroom to loosen ( solvere ) the bride’s 
girdle, not to tie it. In the Hindu marriage 
ceremony the bridegroom hangs a ribbon on 
the bride’s neck and ties it in a knot. Before the 
knot is tied the bride’s father may refuse 
consent unless better terms are offered, but 
immediately the knot is tied the marriage is 
indissoluble. The Parsecs bind the hands of 
the bridegroom with a sevenfold cord, seven 
being a sacred number. The ancient Cartha- 
ginians tied the thumbs of the betrothed with 
a leather lace. 

The practice of throwing rice (see Rice) is 
also Indian. 


Marriages are made in heaven. This does 
not mean that persons in heaven “marry and 
are given in marriage,” but that the partners 
joined in marriage on earth were foreordained 
to be so united. E. Hall (1499-1547) says, 
“Consider the old proverbe to be true that 
saieth: Marriage is destinie.” Cp. Hanging 
and Wiving, etc. under Hang. 


Married women take their husband’s sur- 
name. This was a Roman custom. Thus Julia, 
Octavia, etc., married to Pompey, Cicero, etc., ’ 
would be called Julia of Pompey, Octavia of 
Cicero. Our married women are named in the 
same way, omitting “of.” 


Marrow. A Scots and North-country word 
(obsolete except in dialect) for a mate or 
companion, hence a husband or wife, and (of 
things) an article that makes a pair with an- 
other. The origin of the word is unknown. 

Busk ye busk ye, my bonnie bonnie bride. 

Busk ye, busk ye, my winsome marrow. 

\V. Hamilton: The Braes of Yarrow (1774). 


Down on your marrow-bones! Down on your 
knees! A humorous way of telling a person 
he had better beg pardon. 

The marrow-bone stage. Walking. The leg- 
bone is the marrow-bone of beef and mutton, 
and the play is on Marylebone (London), 
formerly pronounced “Marrybun.” 

Marrow Controversy. A memorable struggle 
in Scotland about 1719 to 1722, between 
Puritanism and Presbyterianism; so called 
from Edward Fisher’s Marrow of Modern 
Divinity , a book of ultra-evangelical tendency 
(pubd. 1644), which was condemned by the 
General Assembly in 1720. 

Abelli, Bishop of Rhodes (d. 1691), wrote > 
the Medulla Theologica . 

Marrow-men. The twelve ministers who 
signed the remonstrance to the General 
Assembly for condemning the evangelical 
doctrines of the “Marrow” (see above ); the 
chief were Thomas Boston and Ralph and 
Ebenezer Erskine. 


Marry! An oath, meaning by Mai% the 
Virgin. 



Marry come up! 


588 


Martha 


Marry come up! An exclamation of dis- 
approval or incredulity. May* Mary come up to 
my assistance, or to your discbmfort! 

Marry come up, you saifcy jade! 

Mar’s Year. The year 17J± noted for the 
Jacobite rebellion of the Earl of Mar on behalf 
of the Old Pretender. 

Auld uncle John wha wedlock’s joys 
Sin Mar’s year did desire. 

Burns: Hallowe'en , 27. 

Mars. The Roman god of war; identified in 
certain aspects with the Greek Ares. He was 
also the patron of husbandmen. 

The planet of this name was so called from 
early times because of its reddish tinge, and 
under it, says the Compost of Ptholomeus , “is 
borne theves and robbers . . . nyght walkers 
and quarell pykers, bosters, mockers, and 
skoffers; and these men of Mars causeth warre, 
and murther, and batayle. They wyll be gladly 
smythes or workers of yron . . . lyers, gret 
swerers. ... He is red and angry ... a great 
walker, and a maker of swordes and knyves, 
and a sheder of mannes blode . . . and good to 
be a barboure and a blode letter, and to drawe 
tethe.” 

Among the alchemists Mars designated iron, 
and in Camoens’ Lusiad typified divine 
fortitude. As Bacchus, the evil demon, is the 
guardian power of Mohammedanism, so Mars 
is the guardian of Christianity. 

The Mars of Portugal. Alfonso de Albuquer- 
que, Viceroy of India (1452-1515). 

See also Martians. 

Marseillaise {Eng. mar se laz'; Fr. mar sa yazO. 
The hymn of the French revolution. Claude 
Joseph Rougct de Lisle (1760-1835), an artil- 
lery officer in garrison at Strasbourg, composed 
both the words and the music (April 24th, 
1792). On July 30th, 1792, the Marseilles 
volunteers entered Paris singing the song; and 
the Parisians, enchanted with it, called it the 
Hymne des Marseillais. 

Marshal (O.E. mere> mare, sccalc , servant; 
O.Fr. mareschal). Originally one who tended 
horses, either as a groom or farrier; now the 
title of high officials about the Court, in the 
armed forces, etc. In the Army Field-Marshal 
(q.y.) is the highest rank; in the Royal Air 
Force Marshal of the R.A.F., Air Chief 
Marshal, Air Marshal, and Air Vice-Marshal, 
correspond to Field-Marshal, General, Lieu- 
tenant-General, and Major-General respect- 
ively. The military rank of Marshal of France 
was revived by Napoleon I, who gave the baton 
to a number of his most able generals. No 
Marshals were created after 1870 until 1916 
when the title was given to General Joflfre 
(1852-1931). Generals Foch (1851-1929), 
Lyautey (1854-1934), and Pctain (1856-1951) 
were also Marshals of France. 

Marshal Vorwarts (Ger. forward). Bliicher; 
so called first by the Russian troops under his 
command, and then for his persistence in 
attacking and pursuing the French during the 
campaign of 1815. 

Marshal of the Army of God, and of Holy 
Church. The Baron Robert Fitzwalter, 
appointed by his brother barons to lead their 


forces In 1215 to obtain from King John 
redress ot grievances. Magna Carta was the 
result. •? 

Marshall Plan. This was a plan for aiding the 
stricken European states after World War II. 
On June 5th, 1947, G. C. Marshall, Secretary 
of State for the U.S.A., called upon the 
countries of Europe to work out a programme 
of reconstruction for which he promised 
American assistance “so far as it may be 
practicable.” After consultation together most 
of the powers concerned, with the exception of 
Russia and the eastern European states under 
her tutelage, agreed to participate and on 
April 3rd, 1948, the scheme came into force by 
Congress passing a Foreign Aid Bill of 
$3,800,000,000. Britain ceased to receive 
Marshall Aid in 1950. 

Marshalsea Prison. An old prison in South- 
wark, London (demolished in 1849), so called 
because it was formerly governed by a Knight 
Marshal , i.e. an official of the Royal House- 
hold who took cognizance of offences com- 
mitted within the royal verge and who 
presided over the Marshalsea Court (amal- 
gamated with the Queen’s Bench in 1842). It 
was the Marshal of this prison who was 
beheaded by the rebels under Wat Tyler in 
1381. 

Marsyas (mar' si as). The Phrygian flute- 
player who challenged Apollo to a contest of 
skill, and, being beaten by the god, was 
flayed alive for his presumption. From his 
blood arose the river so called. The flute on 
which Marsyas played was one Athene had 
thrown away, and, being filled with the breath 
of the goddess, discoursed most excellent music. 
The interpretation of this fable is as follows: 
A contest long existed between the lutists and 
the flautists as to the superiority of their 
respective instruments. The Dorian mode, 
employed in the worship of Apollo, was per- 
formed on lutes; and the Phrygian mode, 
employed in the rites of Cybele, was executed 
by flutes, the reeds of which grew on the banks 
of the river Marsyas. As the Dorian mode was 
preferred by the Greeks, they said that 
Apollo beat the flute-player. 

Martel (mar' tel). The surname given to 
Charles, son of P6pin d’H6ristal (c. 690- 
791), probably because of his victory over the 
Saracens, who had invaded France under 
Abd-el-Rahman in 732. It is said that Charles 
“knocked down the foe, and crushed them 
beneath his axe, as a martel or hammer 
crushes what it strikes.” 

Martello Towers. Round towers about forty 
feet in height, of great strength, and situated 
on a coast or river-bank. Many of them were 
built on the south-eastern coasts of England 
about 1804, to repel the threatened Napoleonic 
invasion; and they took their name from 
Mortella (Corsica), where a tower from which 
these were designed had proved, in 1794, 
extremely difficult to capture. 

Mar-text. See Marplot. 

Martha, St., patron saint of good housewives, 
is represented in art in homely costume, 
bearing at her girdle a bunch of keys, ana 




Martha’s Vineyard 


589 


Martyr 


hiding a ladle or pot of water in her hand. 
Like St. Margaret, she is accompanied by a 
dragon bound, for she is said to have destroyed 
one that ravaged the neighbourhood of 
Marseilles, but she has not the palm and crown 
of martyrdom. She is commemorated on July 
29th, and is patron of Tarascon. 

Martha’s Vineyard. An island, some 100 sq. 
miles in area, off the S.E. coast of Massa- 
chusetts. It was discovered in 1602 by Bartholo- 
mew Gosnold, the discoverer of Cape Cod and 
the adjacent coasts, and so named by him. 
Martha’s Vineyard is now a popular summer 
resort with a population, in 1960, of over 
5,000. 

Martian Laws. Laws traditionally said to have 
been compiled by Martia, wife of Guithelin, 
great-grandson of Mulmutius, who established 
in England the Mulmutine Laws (</.v.). Alfred 
translated both these codes into Saxon English. 
Guynteline . . . whose queen, ... to show her up- 
right mind, 

To wise Mulmutius* laws her Martian first did frame. 

Drayton: Polyolbion , viii. 

Martians (mar' shanz). The hypothetical 
inhabitants of the planet Mars. This planet 
has an atmosphere of much less density than 
that of the earth, but it has clouds and seasonal 
changes which have led some observers to 
presume that there is vegetation of a sort. 
From this it was an easy step to imagine life 
on its surface and in 1898 H. G. Wells wrote 
The War of the Worlds in which he recounted 
the adventures and horrors of a war between 
the fabulous men of Mars and the dwellers on 
Earth. 

Martin. One of the swallow tribe; probably 
so called from the Christian name Martin (St. 
Martin's bird is the goose), but possibly 
because it appears in England about March 
(the Martian month) and disappears about 
Martinmas. 

In Reynard the Fox iq.v.) Martin is the Ape; 
Rukenaw was his wife, Fubrumpe his son, and 
Byteluys and Hattenctte his two daughters; 
and in Dryden’s Hind and the Panther , an 
allegory, Martin means the Lutheran party; so 
called by a pun on the name of Martin Luther. 

Martin, St. The patron saint of innkeepers 
and drunkards, usually shown in art as a young 
mounted soldier dividing his cloak with a 
beggar. He was born of heathen parents but 
was converted in Rome, and became Bishop 
of Tours in 371, dying at Candes forty years 
later. His day is November 11th, the day of 
the Roman Vinalia , or Feast of Bacchus; 
hence his purely accidental patronage (as 
above), and hence also the phrase Martin 
drunk . 

The usual illustration of St. Martin is in 
allusion to the legend that when he was a 
military tribune stationed at Amiens he once, 
in midwinter, divided his cloak with a naked 
beggar, who craved alms of him before the 
city gates. At night, the story says, Christ 
Himself appeared to the soldier, arrayed in 
this very garment. 

Martin drunk. Very intoxicated indeed; a 
drunken man “sobered” by drinking more. 


Baxter uses the name as a synonym jf,of a 
drunkard:— 

The language of Martin is there (in heaven] a 
stranger.— Saint's Rest . 

St. Martin’s beads, jewellery, lace, rings, 
etc. Cheap, counterfeit articles. When the old 
collegiate church of St. Martin’s le Grand was 
demolished at the Dissolution of the Mon- 
asteries, hucksters established themselves on 
the site and carried on a considerable trade in 
artificial jewels, Brummagem ornaments, and 
cheap ware generally. Hence the use of the 
saint s name in this connexion in Elizabethan 
and 17th-century writings. 

Certayne lyght braynes . . . wyll rather weare a 
Marten chayne, the pryce of viiid, then they woulde be 
unchayned. Becon: Jewel of Joy (c. 1558). 

St. Martin’s bird. The goose, whose blood 
was shed “sacrificially” on November 11th, in 
honour of that saint. See below. 

St. Martin’s goose. November 11th, St. 
Martin’s Day, was at one time the great 
goose feast of France. The legend is that St. 
Martin was annoyed by a goose, which he 
ordered to be killed and served up for dinner. 
He died from the repast, and the goose was 
“sacrificed” to him on each anniversary. 

St. Martin of Bullions. The St. Swithin of 
Scotland. His day is July 4th, and the saying is 
that if it rains then, rain may be expected for 
forty days. 

St. Martin’s running footman. The devil, 
traditionally assigned to St. Martin for such 
duties on a certain occasion. 

Who can tell but St. Martin's running footman may 
still be hatching us some further mischief. — Rabelais: 
Pantagruel, iv, 23. 

St. Martin’s summer. See Summer. 

Martinmas. The feast of St. Martin, 
November 11th. His Martinmas will come , as 
it does to every hog — i.e. all must die. Novem- 
ber was the great slaughtering time of the 
Anglo-Saxons, when oxen, sheep, and hogs, 
whose food was exhausted, were killed and 
salted. Thus the proverb intimates that our 
day of death will come as surely as that of a 
hog at St. Martin’s-tide. 

Martinet. A strict disciplinarian; so called 
from the Marquis de Martinet, colonel com- 
manding Louis XIV’s own regiment of infantry. 
All young noblemen were obliged, by direction 
of the king, to command a platoon in this unit 
before purchasing command of an infantry regi- 
ment, and Martinet’s own system for incul- 
cating in these wild young men the principles 
of military discipline earned him immortal fame. 
He was slain at the siege of Duisburg, in 
1672 (Voltaire, Louis XIV , ch. x). 

Martyr (Gr.) simply means a witness, but is 
applied to one who witnesses a good confession 
with his blood. 

The Martyr King. Charles I of England, 
beheaded January 30th, 1649. 

Martyr to science. A title conferred on 
anyone who loses his health or life through 
his devotion to science; especially Claude Louis, 
Count Berthollet (1748-1822), who tested in 


Martyr 


590 


Mascot 


his <$yn person the effects of carbolic acid on 
the human frame, and died under the experi- 
ment. 

Tolpuddle Martyrs. See Tolpuddle. 
Marvedie. See Maravedi. 

Mary. As the Virgin , she is represented in art 
with flowing hair, emblematical of her 
virginity. 

As Mater Dolorosa , she is represented as 
somewhat elderly, clad in mourning, head 
draped, and weeping over the dead body of 
Christ. 

As Our Lady of Dolours , she is represented 
as seated, her breast being pierced with seven 
swords, emblematic of her seven sorrows. 

As Our Lady of Mercy , she is represented 
with arms extended, spreading out her mantle, 
and gathering sinners beneath it. 

As The glorified Madonna , she is represented 
as bearing a crown and sceptre, or a ball and 
cross, in rich robes and surrounded by angels. 

Her seven joys. The Annunciation, Visitation, 
Nativity, Epiphany, Finding in the Temple, 
Resurrection, Ascension. 

Her seven sorrows. Simeon's Prophecy, the 
Flight into Egypt, Christ Missed, the Betrayal, 
the Crucifixion, the Taking Down from the 
Cross, and the Entombment. 

Little Mary. A euphemism for the stomach; 
from the play of that name by J. M. Barrie 
(1903). 

The four Marys. Mary Beaton (or Bethune ), 
Mary Livingston (or Leuson ), Mary Fleming 
(or Flemyng), and Mary Seaton (or Seyton); 
called the “Queen's Marys," that is, the ladies 
of the same age as Mary, afterwards Queen of 
Scots, and her companions. Mary Carmichael 
was not one of the four, although introduced 
in the well-known ballad. 

Yestre’en the queen had four Marys, 

This night she’ll hae but three: 

There was Mary Beaton, and Mary Seaton, 
Mary Carmichael, and me. 

Mary Ann or Marianne. A slang name for 
the guillotine. See below . 

Mary Anne Associations. Secret republican 
societies in France. The name was adopted by 
the Republican party because Ravailluc was 
instigated to assassinate Henri IV (1610) by 
reading the treatise De Rege et Regia Institu- 
tione , by Mariana. 

The Mary Annes, which are essentially republicans, 
are scattered about all the French provinces. — 
Disraeli: Lothair. 

Mary of Arnhem. Name used by Helen 
Sensburg in Nazi propaganda broadcasts to 
British troops in North-west Europe, 1944-45. 
Her melting voice made her programmes very 
popular with the British, but without the 
results for which she hoped. 

Mary, Highland. See Highland Mary. 

Mary Magdalene, St. Patron saint of 
penitents, being herself the model penitent of 
Gospel history. Her feast is July 22nd. 

In art she is represented either as young and 
beautiful, with a profusion of hair, and holding 
a box of ointment, or as a penitent, in a 
sequestered place, reading before a cross or 
skull. 


Mary Queen of Scots. Shakespeare could 
not openly, without great danger to himself, 
praise the Queen of Scots, but m the Midsum - 
mer Night's Dream (II, i) written about 1595, 
he wrote these exquisite lines: — 

Thou rememberest 

Since once I sat upon a promontory, 

And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back 

Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath 

That the rude sea grew civil at her song; 

And certain stars shot madly from their spheres , 

To hear the sea-maid's music. II, i. 

These have been conjectured to refer to the 
ill-fated queen on the following grounds: — 

Mermaid and sea-maid , Mary; on the 
dolphin s back, she married the Dolphin or 
Dauphin of France; the rude sea grew civil, the 
Scottish rebels; certain stars , the Earl of 
Northumberland, the Earl of Westmoreland, 
and the Duke of Norfolk ; shot madly from their 
spheres , that is, revolted from Queen Elizabeth I, 
bewitched by the sea-maid's sweetness. 

The Queen of Scots’ pillar is a column in the 
Peak Cavern, Derbyshire, as clear as alabaster, 
and so called because on one occasion, when 
oing to throw herself on the mercy of Eliza- 
eth I, the Queen of Scots proceeded thus far, 
and then returned. 

Marybuds. The flower of the marigold (</.v.). 
Like many other flowers, they open at day- 
break and close at sunset. 

And winking marybuds begin 
To ope their golden eyes. 

Cymbeline , II, iii. 

Marygold. See Marigold. 

Maryland (U.S.A.) was so named in 
compliment to Henrietta Maria, Queen of 
Charles I. In the Latin charter it is called Terra 
Marice. 

Marylebone (London) was originally called 
Tyburn (r/.v.), being situated on that little 
river. The name was changed to Marybornc, 
from the church there dedicated to the Virgin, 
apparently through dislike of being associated 
with a name of such ill repute as Tyburn. The 
change to Marylebone is due to popular 
etymology. 

Masaniello (m&s an yeL 6). A corruption of 
TomMASo Aniello, a Neapolitan fisherman, 
who led the revolt of July, 1647. The 
great grievance was heavy taxation, and the 
immediate cause of Masanicllo’s interference 
was the seizure of his property because his wife 
had smuggled flour. He obtained a large 
following, was elected chief of Naples, and 
for nine days ruled with absolute control; but 
he was betrayed by his own people, shot, and 
his body flung into a ditch. It was reclaimed 
and interred with a pomp and ceremony never 
equalled in Naples. 

Auber’s opera La Muette de Portici (1828) 
takes the story for its groundwork. 

Mascot. A person or thing that is supposed 
to bring good luck ( cp . Jettatura). The word 
is French slang (perhaps connected with 
Provcn 9 al niasco , a sorcerer), and was popu- 
larized in England by Audran's opera. La 
Mascotte , 1880, 




Masher 


591 


Mate 


Ces envoy6s du paradis, 

Sont des Mascottes, mes amis, 

Heureux celui que le del dote d’une Mascottc. 

La Mascotte . 

Masher. An old-fashioned term for a “nut” or 
dude ( q.v .); an exquisite; a lardy-dardy swell. 
This sort of thing used to be called “crushing” 
or killing, and, as mashing is crushing, the 
synonym was substituted about 1880. A lady- 
killer, a crusher, a masher, all mean the same 
thing. 

Mask, The Man in the Iron. See under Iron. 

Masochism (m&z' 6 kizm). A psychological 
term for the condition in which sexual 

ratification depends on the subject’s self- 

umiliation and self-inflicted physical pain. It 
takes its name from Leopold von Sacher- 
Masoch (1836-95), the Austrian novelist who 
first described this aberration. 

Mason-Dixon Line. The southern boundary 
line which separated the free state of Penn- 
sylvania from what were at one time the 
slave states of Maryland and Virginia. It 
lies in 39° 43' 26* north latitude, and was fixed 
by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, 
English astronomers and surveyors (1763-67). 

Mass (m&s, mas). The R.C. name for the 
Eucharist. There are several kinds of Mass, the 
principal being High Mass, or Missa solemnis 
in which the celebrant is assisted by a deacon 
and subdeacon — it requires the presence of a 
choir, a number of acolytes or servers, and the 
use of incense; Sung Mass, said and sung by 
the celebrant alone; Low Mass, which is said 
by the celebrant alone in four tones of voice; 
clear, medium, low, and inaudible (secret). 
There is also Pontifical Mass, sung by a 
cardinal, bishop in his own diocese, or abbot 
in his own abbey, with a very full ritual, three 
assistants and at least nine acolytes. 

There are also a number of special masses, 
as the mass of the Beatce , mass of the Holy 
Ghost, mass of the dead , of a saint , of security, 
dry mass , votive mass , holiday mass , Ambrosian 
mass , Gallic mass , mass of the presanctified (for 
Good Friday), etc. 

Pope Celestinus ordained the introit and the gloria 
in excelsis . 

Pope Gregory the Great ordered the kyrie eleison 
to be repeated nine times, and introduced the prayer. 

Pope Gclasius ordained the Epistle and Gospel. 

Pope Damasus introduced the Credo . 

Pope Alexander put into the canon the following 
clause: “ Qui pridie quam pateretur .” 

Pope Sextus introduced the Sanctus. 

Pope Innocent the pax. 

Pope Leo the Orate Fratres , and the words in the 
canon; %% Hostiam sanctam , hostiam immaculatum 
E. Kinesman: Lives of the Saints , p. 187 (1623). 

Mass observation is a British trade-mark 
name for a system of obtaining information as 
to popular sentiment and opinion similar to 
the Gallup Poll (q.v.). 

Massachusetts (m&s & choo' sets) (U.S.A.). So 
called from the tribe of Indians of that name. 
Its origin is not clear; one suggestion is that it 
means “the Blue Mountains,” and another 
that it is massa , great, wadehuash , mountains, 
et, near, i.e . near-the-great-mountain. 

Massacre of the Innocents. The slaughter of the 
male children of Bethlehem “from two years 


old and under,” when Jesus was bom f Matt . 
ii, 16). This was done at the command of Herod 
the Great in order to cut off “the babe” who 
was destined to become “King of the Jews.” 

In parliamentary phraseology, the phrase 
denotes the withdrawal at the close of a 
session of the bills which there has been no time 
to consider and pass. 

Mast. To serve before the mast. To be one of 
the common sailors, whose quarters are in 
the forward part of the ship. In an old sailing- 
ship the half-deck was tne sanctum of the 
second mate, and, in Greenland fishers, of the 
spikeoneer, harpooners, carpenters, coopers, 
boatswains, and all secondary officers. 

Master (derived partly from O.E. magester 
and partly from O.Fr. maistre ; from the Lat. 
mag is ter). 

Little Masters. See Little. 

Old Masters. The great painters (especially 
of Italy and the Low Countries) who worked 
from the 13th century to about the end of the 
16th, or a little later. Also their paintings. 

Master-at-arms. The first-class petty officer 
in the Navy who acts as head of the ship’s 
police. 

Master Mason. A Freemason who has been 
raised to the third degree. 

Master of the Sentences. See Sentences. 
Master of the Rolls. See Rolls. 

Mastic. A kind of chewing-gum made of the 
resin of Pistachio lentiscus , a tree of the Levant 
and other Eastern parts, formerly much used 
in medicine. It was said to promote appetite, 
and therefore only increased the misery of a 
hungry man. 

Like the starved wretch that hungry mastic chews. 
But cheats himself and fosters his disease. 

West: Triumphs of the Gout {Lucian). 
Matador (mat' & dor). In bull-fights he is the 
final actor in the drama, his part being to play 
the bull alone and to kill it. 

In the game of ombre, Spadille (the ace of 
spades), Manille (the seven of trumps), and 
Basto (the ace of clubs) are called “Matadors.” 
Now move to war her sable Matadores . . • 
Spadillo first, unconquerable lord, 

Led off two captive trumps, and t swept the board. 
As many more Manillo forced toi yield. 

And marched a victor from the verdant field. 

Him Basto followed . . .” 

Pope: Rape of the Lock , canto ill. 

In the game of dominoes of this name the 
double-blank and all the “stones” that of 
themselves make seven (6-1, 5-2, and 4-3) are 
“matadors,” and can be played at any time. 
Matamore (m&t' k mor). A poltroon, a swag- 
gerer a Bobadil {q.v.). It is composed of two 
Spanish words, matar-Moros (a slayer of 
Moors). See Moor-slayer. 

Matapan Stew (Austr.). A meal concocted of 
left-overs, and so called from the fact that the 
cooks of H.M.A.S. Perth served a scratch hot 
meal during the Battle of Matapan, March 
28th, 1941. 

Mate. A man does not get his hand%ont of the 
tar by becoming second mate. In long-'past days 
of sailing-ships the second mate was expected 
to put his hands into the tar bucket for tarring 


Mat6 


592 


Maundy Thursday 


the rigging, like the men below him. The first 
mate was exempt from this dirty work. 

MatS (mat' a). Paraguay tea, made from the 
leaves of the Brazilian holly {Ilex paraguay- 
ensis), is so called from the vessel in which it is 
infused, The vessels are generally hollow 
gourds. 

Materialism. The doctrines of a Materialist , 
who maintains that there is nothing in the 
universe but matter, that mind is a phenomenon 
of matter, and that there is no ground for 
assuming a spiritual First Cause; as against 
the orthodox doctrine that the soul is distinct 
from the body, and is a portion of the Divine 
essence breathed into the body. Materialism is 
opposed to Idealism; in the ancient world its 
chief exponents were Epicurus and Lucretius, 
in modern times the 18th-century French 
philosophers Helv6tius, d’Holbach, and 
Lamettrie. 

Materialize. A word used in psychical re- 
search to describe the assumption of bodily 
form of psychical phenomena. The principles 
governing materialization are as yet unknown, 
and little progress has been made in dis- 
covering them. 

Mathew, Father. Theobald Mathew (1790- 
1856), called The Apostle of Temperance. He 
was an Irish priest, and in his native country 
the success of his work on behalf of total 
abstinence was truly remarkable. When the 
centenary of his death was celebrated in Cork 
in 1956, 60,000 people gathered to honour his 
memory. 

Matriculate means to enrol oneself in a society 
(Lat. matricula , a roll or register). The Uni- 
versity is called our alma mater (propitious 
mother). The students are her alumni (foster- 
children). and become so bv being enrolled 
in a register after certain forms and examina- 
tions. 

In common parlance it used to mean to pass 
the entrance examination that permits one to be 
entered as a student at a university. Many, 
however, sat for the matriculation examinations 
who had no intention of proceeding to a 
university. It has now been abolished. 

Matsya. See Avatar. 

Matter-of-fact. Unvarnished truth; prosaic, 
unimaginative, as a “matter-of-fact swain.” 

Matterhorn. The German name of the moun- 
tain in the Pennine Alps known to the French 
as Mont Cervin and to the Italians as Monte 
Silvio; so called from its peak {Horn) and the 
scanty patches of green meadow ( Matter ) 
which hang around its base. Above a glacier- 
line 11,000 feet high, it rises in an almost 
inaccessible obelisk of rock to a total elevation 
of 14,703 feet. It was first scaled in 1865 by 
Edward Whymper (1840-1911), when four 
of his party lost their lives. 

Figuratively any danger, desperate situation 
threatening destruction, or leap in the dark, 
as the matrimonial Matterhorn. 

Matthew, St. Represented in art (1) as an 
evangelist — an old man with long beard — 
an angel generally standing near him dictating 


his Gospel ; (2) As an apostle, in which capacity 
he bears a purse, in reference to his calling 
as a publican; sometimes he carries a spear, 
sometimes a carpenter’s rule or square. His 
symbol is an angel, or a man’s face {see 
Evangelists), and he is commemorated on 
September 21st. 

Legend has it that St. Matthew preached 
for 15 years in Judaea after the Ascension, and 
then carried the Gospel to Ethiopia, where he 
was martyred. 

In the last of Matthew. At the last gasp, on 
one’s last legs. This is a German expression, 
and arose thus: a Roman Catholic priest said in 
his sermon that Protestantism was in the last of 
Matthew, and, being asked what he meant, 
replied, “The last five words of the Gospel 
of St. Matthew are these: The end of this 
dispensation.* ’’ He quoted the Latin version; 
ours is less correctly translated “the end of 
the world.” 

Matthew Parker’s Bible; Matthew’s Bible. 
See Bible, the English. 

Maudlin. Stupidly sentimental. Maudlin drunk 
is the drunkenness which is sentimental and 
inclined to tears. Maudlin slip-slop is senti- 
mental chit-chat. The word is derived from 
Mary Magdalen , who is drawn by ancient 
painters with a lackadaisical face, and eyes 
swollen with weeping. 

Maul of Monks, The. Thomas Cromwell 
(1485-1540), visitor-general of English mon- 
asteries, many of which he summarily sup- 
pressed. 

Maumet, Maumetry. See Mammet. 

Maundrel. A foolish, vapouring gossip. The 
Scots say, “Haud your tongue, maundrel.” 
As a verb it means to babble, to prate, as in 
delirium, in sleep, or intoxication. The term is 
said to be from Sir John Mandeville , 14th- 
century traveller in the Far East, the account 
of whose adventures (earliest MS., 1371) is 
full of strange stories and unverified events. 

Maundy Thursday. The day before Good 
Friday is so called from the first words of the 
antiphon for that day being Mandatum novum 
do vobis , a new commandment I give unto you 
{St. John xiii, 34), with which the ceremony of 
the washing of the feet begins. This is still 
carried out in R.C. cathedral churches and 
monasteries. In the monasteries it was the 
custom to wash the feet of as many poor 
people as there were monks, and for centuries 
in England the sovereign, as a token of 
humility, did the same. Mention is made in the 
Wardrobe Book of Edward I of money being 
given on Easter Eve to thirteen poor people 
whose feet the Queen had washed; the custom 
is said to have been kept up as late as the time 
of James II, but now the distribution of 
money {see Maunds) is all that is left of it. 

The word has been incorrectly derived from 
maund (a basket), because on the day before 
the great fast Roman Catholics brought out 
their broken food in maunds to distribute to the 
poor. This custom in many places gave birth to 
a fair, as the Tombland Fair of Norwich, held 
on the plain before the Cathedral Close. 




Maunds 


593 


May-day 


Maunds, the* Royal, or Maundy Money. 
Gifts in money given by the sovereign on 
Maundy Thursday to the number of aged poor 
persons that corresponds with his age. It used 
to be distributed by the Lord High Almoner; 
but since 1883 the Clerk of the Almonry 
Office has been responsible for the distribution 
which takes place in Westminster Abbey or 
elsewhere, and for which special money (silver 
pennies, four-penny pieces, etc.) is usually 
coined. These amount in value to £50 or £60. 
The custom began in 1368, in the reign of 
Edward III, and is a relic of the “washing of the 
feet*’ (see Maundy Thursday). James 11 was 
the last sovereign to distribute the doles per- 
sonally, until George V did so in 1932. Edward 
VIII distributed the purses also, in 1936. Since 
then the sovereign has been present on most 
occasions at the distribution. 

Maupygernon. A mixture of spiced meats trad- 
itionally presented to the English Sovereign 
on Coronation Day by the Lord of the Manor 
of Addington, Surrey. 

Mauritania (maw ri ta' nya). Morocco and 
Algiers, the land of the ancient Mauri or 
Moors. The kingdom of Mauritania was 
annexed to the Roman Empire in a.d. 42, and 
was finally disintegrated when overrun by the 
Vandals in 429 

The modern Islamic Republic of Mauri- 
tania is situated in the S.W. Sahara. 

Mausoleum. Originally the name of the tomb of 
Mausolus, King of Caria, to whom Artemisia 
(his wife) erected at Halicarnassus a splendid 
sepulchral monument (353 b.c.). Parts of this 
sepulchre, which was one of the Seven Won- 
ders of the World, are now in the British 
Museum. The name is now applied to any 
sepulchral monument of great size or architec- 
tural quality. 

The chief mausoleums are: that of Augustus; 
of Hadrian, i.e. the castle of St. Angelo, at 
Rome; that erected in France to Henry 11 by 
Catherine de Medicis; that of St. Peter the 
Martyr in the church of St. Eustatius in Milan, 
by G. Balduccio in the 14th century. 

Mauthc Dog. A ghostly black spaniel that for 
many years haunted Peel Castle, in the Isle of 
Man. It used to enter the guardroom as soon 
as candles were lighted, and leave it at day- 
break. While this spectre dog was present the 
soldiers forbore all oaths and profane talk. 
One day a drunken trooper entered the guard- 
house alone out of bravado, but lost his 
speech and died in three days. 

Mauther, mawther (maw' ther). An old dialect 
word in East Anglia for a young girl; fre- 
quently altered to Modder, Morther y Mor , etc. 
Its etymology is obscure, but the word does 
not seem to be connected with mother . 

Kastril (to his sister ): Away! you talk like a foolish 
mauther. — Ben Jonson: Alchemist , IV, iv. 

When once a giggling morther you. 

And I a red-faccd chubby boy. 

Sly tricks you played mo not a few, 

For mischief was your greatest joy. 

Bloomfield: Richard and Kate . 

Mauvals, mauvaise (movd, movaz). French, 
bad. 


Mauvais ton. Bad manners. Ill-breeding, 
vulgar ways. 

Mauvaise honte. Bad or silly shame. Bash- 
fulness, sheepishness. 

Mauvaise plaisanterie. A rude or ill-mannered 
jest; a jest in bad taste. 

Maverick. An unbranded animal. Samuel A. 
Maverick, who had a ranch on an island, did 
not bother to brand his cattle; hence the prac- 
tice arose of calling unbranded calves mave- 
ricks, and the use of the term extended to 
other animals. In the U.S.A. it acquired a 
political connotation during the 1880’s on- 
wards, when it came to be applied to politicians 
who did not acknowledge any party leader- 
ship. Kipling names an imaginary regiment 
“The Mavericks.” 

Mavoumin (ma voor' nin). Irish (mo mhurniri) 
for “My darling.” Erin mavoumin — Ireland, 
my darling; Erin go bragh — Ireland for ever! 
Land of my forefathers, Erin go bragh! . . . 

Erin mavoumin, Erin go bragh! 

Campbell: Exile of Erin. 

Maw worm (maw' w6rm). A hypocritical pre- 
tender to sanctity, a pious humoug. From the 
character of this name in Isaac Bickerstaffe’s 
The Hypocrite (1769). 

Maximum and Minimum (Lat.). The greatest 
and the least amount; as, the maximum profits 
or exports and the minimum profits or exports; 
the maximum and minimum price oi corn 
during the year. The terms are also employed 
in mathematics, etc.; a maximum and minimum 
thermometer is one that indicates the highest 
and lowest temperatures during a specified 
period. 

May. The Anglo-Saxons called this month 
thrimilce , because then cows can be milked 
three times a day ; the present name is the Latin 
Maius from Maia, the goddess of growth 
and increase, connected with major. 

The old Dutch name was Blou-maand (blossoming 
month). In the French Republican calendar the month 
was called Florfal (the time of flowers, April 20th to 
May 20th). 

Here we go gathering nuts in May. See Nuts. 

It’s a case of January and M£y. See January. 

May unlucky for weddings. This is a Roman 
superstition, and is referred to by Ovid. In this 
month were held the festivals of Bona Dea 
(the goddess of chastity), and the feasts of the 
dead called Lemuralia. 

Nec viduas taedis eadem, nec virginis apta 
Tempora; quae nupsit, non diutuma full; 

Hacc quoque de causa, si te proverbia tangunt, 
Mente malum Maio nubere vulgus ait. 

Ovid: Fasti, v, 496, etc. 

May meetings. The annual gatherings, 
usually held in London in May and June, of 
religious and charitable societies, to hear the 
annual reports and appeals for continued or 
increased support, etc. 

May-day. Polydore Virgil says that the 
Roman youths used to go into the fields and 
spend the calends of Ma$r in diking and 
singing in honour of Flora, goddess *of fruits 
and flowers. The English consecrated May-day 
to Robin Hood and Maid Marian, because 




May Day 


594 


Mazarinades 


the favourite outlaw died on that day, and 
villagers used to set up Maypoles (q.v.) t and 
spend the day in ^chery, morris dancing, and 
other amusements: 

The old custom of singing the Hymnus 
Eucharist icus on the top of Wolsey’s Tower, 
Oxford* as the clock strikes five on May 
Morning is still kept up by the choristers of 
Magdalen. This is a relic of the requiem mass 
that, before the Reformation, was sung at this 
spot and time for repose of the soul of 
Henry VII. The opening lines of the hymn 
are: — 

Te Deum Patrem colimus, 

Te laudibus prosequimur; 

Qui corpus cibo reficis, 

Coelesti mentem gratia. 

Evil May Day. See Evil. 

Maypole, Queen, etc. Dancing round the 
Maypole ore May Day, “going a-Maying,” 
electing a May Queen, and lighting bonfires, 
are all remnants of nature-worship, and may 
be traced to the most ancient times. The 
chimney-sweeps used to lead about a Jack-i’- 
the-green. and the custom is not yet quite 
extinct, especially in country towns. 

Any very tall, ungainly woman is sometimes 
called a “Maypole,” a term which was 
bestowed as a nickname on the Duchess of 
Kendal, one of George I’s mistresses. 

The Maypole In the Strand. This once 
famous London landmark was erected probably 
in the time of Elizabeth I, on a spot now 
occupied by the church of St. Mary-le-Strand. 
Destroyed by the Puritans in 1644, another 
was set up in 1661, it is said by the blacksmith 
John Clarges to celebrate the marriage of his 
daughter to General Monk. By 1713 this was 
decayed, and another erected which was 
removed in 1717. It was bought by Sir Isaac 
Newton, who sent it to a friend in Wanstead, 
where the pole was erected in the park to 
support one of the largest telescopes in Europe. 

Maya Civilization. The Mayas were an 
American Indian race who possessed an ad- 
vanced civilization at the time of the Spanish 
conquest of Central America. The oldest dated 
monument approximates to a.d. 50, when the 
race centre was in die neighbourhood of 
Yucatan. A general decay in art and the build- 
ing of the great pyramidal temples set in in the 
15th century and the Maya civilization was 
gradually absorbed into the Aztec of§. Mexico. 
However, in Yucatan the Mayak preserve 
their individuality. The Mayan language is still 
spoken, though no longer written. Little 
progress has been made in the decipherment 
of the Maya inscriptions and the history 
and mode of life of this ancient people is still 
largely conjectural. 

Mayduke Cherries. So-called from Medoc, a 
district of France, whence the cherries first 
came to us. 

Mayflower. The name of the ship that took the 
Pilgrim Fathers ( q.v .) from Plymouth to 
Massachusetts inj02O. It was about 180 tons. 
An unautl»tica!'ed theory is that the timbers 
of the ol oPMayflower form part of a barn 
at Jordans, Bucks. 


Mayonnaise. A sauce made with pepper, salt, 
oil, vinegar, and the yolk of an egg beaten up 
together. When the Due de Richelieu captured 
Mahon, Minorca, in 1756, he demanded food 
on landing; in the absence of a prepared meal, 
he himself took whatever he could find and 
beat it up together — hence the original form 
mahonnaise. 

Mayor. The chief magistrate of a city, elected 
by the citizens, and holding office for twelve 
months. 

The chief magistrate of London is The Right 
Hon. the Lord Mayor, a Privy Councillor. 

Since 1389 the magistracy of York has been 
headed J>y a Lord Mayor* and the other Eng- 
lish to^fis in which the chief magistrate is Lord 
Major are Birmingham, Liverpool, Man- 
chester, Leeds, Sheffield, Bristol, Hull, Brad- 
ford and Newcastle-on-Tyne. 

At the Conquest the sovereign appointed 
the chief magistrates of cities. That or London 
was called the Port-Reeve, but Henry II 
changed the word to the Norman ntaire (our 
mayor). John made the office annual; from the 
13th to the mid-16th centuries the term Lord 
Mayor was used intermittently, but after 1545 
it was used regularly. 

The first Lord Mayor’s Show was in 1458, 
when Sir John Norman went by water in state, 
to be sworn in at Westminster; and the cap 
and sword were given by Richard II to Sir 
William Walworth, for killing Wat Tyler. 

Mayor of Garratt. See Garratt. 

Mayor of the Bull-ring (Old Dublin). This 
official and his shcrilTs were elected on May 
Day and St. Peter’s Eve “to be captaine and 
gardian of the batchelers and the unwedded 
youth of the civitie.” For the year the “Mayor” 
had authority to punish those who frequented 
houses of ill-fame. He was termed “Mayor of 
the Bull-ring” because he conducted any 
bachelor who married during his term of office 
to an iron ring that used to hang in the market 
place and to which bulls were tied for baiting, 
and made him kiss it. 

Mayor of the Palace ( Maire du Palais). The 
superintendent of the king’s household, and 
steward of the royal leudes (companies) of 
France, before the accession of the Carloving- 
ian dynasty. 

Mazarin, Cardinal Jules (1602-61), was an 
Italian-born French stateman, trained by and 
successor to Cardinal Richelieu, and minister 
to the Queen-Regent during the minority of 
Louis XIV. 

Mazarin Library. The first public Library in 
Paris. The great Cardinal Mazarin left his 
collectioiuof 40,000 books to the city on his 
death in ft>61, and himself composed the rules 
for its conduct. 

Mazarinades. Pamphlets in prose or verse 
published against Cardinal Mazarin by sup- 
porters of the Fronde, who from 1648 to 1653 
put up armed opposition to Louis XIV, then 
still in his minority. 

Mazarine Bible, The. See Bible, Specially 

NAMED. 




Mazeppa 


595 


Meat 


Mazeppa, Ivai^Xm^ zep' K) (1644-1709). The 
hero of Byrorrs poem was born of a noble 
Polish family in Podolia, became a page in the 
court of John Casimir, King of Poland, but 
intrigued with Theresia, the young wife of a 
Podolian count, who had the young page 
lashed naked to a wild horse, and turned 
adrift. The horse dropped dead in the Ukraine, 
where Mazeppa was released and cared for by 
Cossacks. He became secretary to the hetman, 
and at his death was appointed his successor. 
Peter I created him Prince of the Ukraine, but 
in the wars with Sweden Mazeppa deserted to 
Charles XII and fought against Russia at 
Pultowa. After the toss of this battle, Mazeppa 
fled to Valentia, and then to Bender* where he 
committed suicide. Byron makes Mazeppa tell 
his tale to Charles after the battle of Pultowa. 

Adah Isaacs Menken (1835-68) was famous 
for her equestrian performance in the stage 
version of Mazeppa at Astlcy’s, in 1844. 

Mazer (ma' zer). A large drinking vessel 
originally made of maole-wood, and so called 
from O.Fr. masere , O.H. Ger. Masar , a knot 
in wood, maple wood. 

A mazer wrought of the maple ware. 

Splnser: Shephcard's Calendar (August). 

Mazikeen or Shedeem (maz' i ken). A species 
of beings in Jewish mythology resembling the 
Arabian Jinn (<?.v.), and said to be the agents of 
magic and enchantment. When Adam fell, 
says the Talmud, he was excommunicated for 
130 years, during which time he begat demons 
and spectres, for, it is written “Adam lived 
130 years and (i.e. before he) begat a son in 
his own likeness” (Gen. v, 3). (Rabbi Jeremiah 
ben Eliezar.) 

And the Mazikeen shall not come nigh thy tents. — 
Ps. xci, 5 (Chaldee version). 

Swells out like the Mazikeen ass. The 
allusion is to a Jewish tradition that a servant, 
whose duty it was to rouse the neighbourhood 
to midnight prayer, one night mounted a stray 
ass and neglected his duty. As he rode along 
the ass grew bigger and bigger, till at last jt 
towered as high as the tallest edifice, where it 
left the man, and there next morning he was 
found. 

Meal. In meal or in malt. Directly or indirectly; 
in one way or another. If much money passes 
through the hand, some profit will be sure to 
accrue cither “in meal or in malt,” and a 
certain percentage of one or the other is the 
miller’s perquisite. 

Meal-tub Plot. A pretended conspiracy 
against Protestants, fabricated by Thomas 
Dangerfield (c. 1650-85) in 1679, so called 
because he said that the papers relating to it 
were concealed in a meal-tub in the house of 
Mrs. Elizabeth Cellier, a Roman Catholic. 
She was tried for high treason an<i acquitted, 
while Dangerfield was convicted of libel, 
whipped, and pilloried. 

Mealy-mouthed is the Greek meli-muthos 
(honey-speech), and means velvet-tongued, 
afraid of giving offence, hypocritical, 
“smarmy.” 

Meander (me&n'der). To wind, to saunter 
about at random; so called from the Maeander, 
a winding river of Phrygia. The term is also 


applied to an ornamental pattern of winding 
lines, used as a border on pottery, wall decora- 
tions, etc. v „ 

w 

Means Test. By the 1934 revision of the 
Unemployment Act, the claimant for insurance 
benefit was called upon to und<&fgo an 
inquisition, known as the Means "fest, and 
furnish information as to the total amount of 
money coming into the household from any 
source whatsoever, thu§ laying before the 
officials the private affairs of every member of 
his family. The purpose of this was, of course, 
to safeguard public funds and ensure that the 
minimum relief should be furnished, but its 
application was felt by the unemployed to 
attach an odious stigma to an already un- 
fortunate situation. The Means Test was 
abolished by the Labour Government in the 
National Insurance Act that came into force in 
1948. 

Measure (O.Fr. mesure; Lat. mensura, metiri , 
to measure). Beyond measure, or out of all 
measure. Beyond all reasonable degree; 
exceedingly, excessively. 

Thus out of measure sad. — Much Ado About 
Nothing, I, in. 

To measure one’s length on the ground. To 

fall flat on the ground; to be knocked down. 

If you will measure your lubber’s length, tarry. — 
King Lear , 1, iv. 

To measure other people’s corn by one’s own 
bushel. See Bushel. 

To measure strength. To wrestle together; to 
fight, to contest. 

To measure swords. To try whether or not 
one is strong enough or sufficiently equally 
matched to contend against another. The 
phrase is from duelling, in which the seconds 
measure the swords to see that both are of one 
length. 

So we measured swords and parted. — As You Like 
It, V, iv. 

To take the measure of one’s foot. To 
ascertain how far a person will venture; to 
make a shrewd guess of another’s character. 
The allusion is to “Ex pede Herculem 

Meat, Bread. These vtfbrds tell a tale; for both 
can connote food in general. The Italians and 
Asiatics eat little animal food, and with them 
the word bread stands for food ; so also with 
the poor* whose chief diet it is; but the 
English once consumed meat very plentifully, 
and this word, which simply means food, al- 
most exclusively implies animal food. In the 
banquet given to Joseph’s brethren, the viceroy 
commanded the servants “to set on bread ” 
(Qpn. xliii, 31). In Ps. civ, 27, it is said of 
fishes, creeping things, and crocodiles, that God 
giveth them their meat in due season. 

To carry off meat 4om the graves. To be as 
poor as a church mouse; to be so poor as to 
descend to robbing the tombs of offerings. The 
Greeks and Romans used to make feasts at 
certain seasons, when spirits were supposed to 
return to their graves, arf®|he fi&pnents were 
left on the tombs for the use ^fTthe ghosts. 
Hence the Latin proverb Eteemosynam sepukri 
patris tui (Alms on your father’s grave). 



Mecca 


596 


Medusa 


Mecca. The birthplace of Mohammed in 
Arabia. It is one of the two holy cities, the 
other being Mediqa. Derivatively it means “a 
place one Tongs t<y visit.” 

Mecklenburg Declaration. The first declaration 
of independence in the U.S.A., made at 
Mecklenburg, N. Carolina, on May 20th, 1775. 
Medal of Honor. A U.S.A. medal awarded by 
Congress to soldiers, sailors, and marines who 
have shown conspicuous gallantry in the face 
of the enemy and have risked their lives beyond 
any call that duty may have made upon their 
services. 

M6dard, St. (ma' dar). The French “St. 
Swithin”; his day is June 8th. 

Quand il pleut & la Saint-M^dard 

11 pleut quarante jours plus tard. 

He was Bishop of Noyon and Tournai in 
the 6th century, and founded the Festival 
of the Rose atSalency, which is kept up to this 
day, the most virtuous girl in the parish 
receiving a crown of roses and a purse of 
money. 

Legend says that a sudden shower once fell 
which wetted everyone to the skin except St. 
Medard; he remained dry as toast, for an 
eagle had spread its wings over him, and ever 
after he was termed maitre de la pluie . 

Medea (me de' a). In Greek legend, a sorceress, 
daughter of Aites, King of Colchis. She married 
Jason, the leader of the Argonauts, whom she 
aided to obtain the golden fleece, and was the 
mother of Medus, whom the Greeks regarded 
as the ancestor of the Modes. See Harmonia. 

Medea’s kettle or cauldron. A means of 
restoring lost youth. Medea cut an old ram 
to pieces, threw the pieces into her cauldron, 
and a young lamb came forth. The daughters 
of Pelias thought to restore their father to 
youth in the same way; but Medea refused to 
utter the magic words, and the old man 
ceased to live. 

Get thee Medea’s kettle and be boiled anew. — 
Congreve: Love for Love, IV. 

Medes and Persians. See Law. 

Mediaeval Ages. See Middle Ages. 

Medici (tried' i chi). A great and powerful 
family that ruled in Florence from the 15th to 
the 18th centuries. It was founded by Giovanni 
Medici, a banker, whose son, Cosimo (1389- 
1464), was famous as a patron of art and learn- 
ing. His grandson, Lorenzo the Magnificent 
, (1448-92), was one of the outstanding figures 
of the Renaissance. 

From Lorenzo, brother of Cosimo the 
Elder, came the line of Grand Dukes 
of Tuscany. The first of these, and founder of 
the line, was Lorenzo’s great-grandson Cosimo 
(1519-1574) who was regarded by many as the 
original of Machiavelli’s Prince. The Medici 
family gave three Popes to the Church, Leo X 
(1475-1521; pope 1513-21) in whose reign the 
Reformation began under Martin Luther; Leo 
XI who reigned as Pope only a few months in 
1605; and Clement VII (1478-1534; pope 
1523-34) refuseji to grant Henry VIII a 
divorce from Catherine of Aragon. 

Medicine, f^rom the Lat. medicirta , which 
meant both the physician’s art and his 


laboratory, and also a medic&ment. The al- 
chemists applied the word to trie philosopher’s 
stone, and the elixir of life; hence Shakespeare’s 

How much unlike art thou, Mark Antony! 

Yet, coming from him, that great medicine hath 

With his tinct gilded thee. 

Antony and Cleopatra , I, v. 

And the word was — and is — frequently used in 
a figurative sense, as — 

The miserable have no other medicine 

But only hope. Measure for Measure, III, i. 

Among the North American Indians 
medicine is a spell, charm, or fetish, and some- 
times even Manitou (q.v.) himself, hence 
Medicine-man , a witch-doctor or magician. 

The Father of Medicine. Aretaeus of Cap- 
padocia, who lived at the close of the first and 
beginning of the second centuries, and Hippo- 
crates of Cos (460-377 b.c.) are both so called. 

Medicine ball. A large, leather-covered ball 
— usually of some weight — tossed from one 
person to another as a form of exercise. 

Medicine lodge. A tent or other form of 
structure used by North American Indians for 
ceremonial purposes. 

Medicinal days. In ancient practice the sixth, 
eighth, tenth, twelfth, sixteenth, eighteenth, 
etc., of a disease; so called because, according 
to Hippocrates, no “crisis” (q.v.) occurs on 
these days, and medicine may be safely 
administered. 

Medicinal-finger. Also the leech-finger or 
leechman. The finger next to the little finger, 
the ring finger: so called in mediaeval times 
because of the notion that it contained a vein 
that led direct to the heart. 

Medina (me di' na). In Spenser’s Faerie 
Queene (II, ii) the typification of “the golden 
mean” (Lat. medium). She was step-sister of 
Pcrissa (catcw) and Elissa ( deficiency ), who 
could never agree upon any subject. 

The Arabian city of Medina (mede' na) is 
the second holy city of the Mohammedans, 
called “Yathrib” before Mohammed fled 
thither from Mecca, but afterwards Medina- 
al-Nabi (the city of the prophet), whence its 
present name. In Spain there are four or five 
Medinas, Medina-Sidonia was so called by the 
Moors because it was believed to be on the site 
of the city Asidur, which was founded by 
Phoenicians from Sidon. 

Mediterranean. The midland sea; the sea in 
the middle of the (Roman) earth (Lat. medius, 
middle; terra , land). 

The Key of the Mediterranean. The Rock of 
Gibraltar, which commands the entrance be- 
tween Europe and Africa. It was taken from 
the Spaniards by a combined British and Dutch 
force under Sir George Rooke, July 24th, 1704. 
Spain attempted to retake the Rock in 1705, 
1736, and 1779-83 when it was held throughout 
the lengthy siege by Lord Heathfield (1717-90). 
See also Mare. 

Lighthouse of the Mediterranean. See under 
Light. 

Medusa (me do' z&). The chief of the Gorgons 
(q.v.) of Greek mythology. Legend says that 
she was a beautiful maiden, specially famous 




Meerschaum 


597 


Melitaus 


for her hair; but that she violated the temple of 
Athene, who thereupon transformed her hair 
into serpents and fnade her face so terrible 
that all who looked on it were turned to stone. 
Perseus, assisted by Athene (who lent him her 
shield wherein he looked only on the reflection 
of Medusa during his attack), struck off her 
head, and by its means rescued Andromeda 
(q.v.) from the monster. Medusa was the 
mother by Poseidon of Chrysaor and Pegasus. 
The story of Perseus is well told in Charles 
Kingsley’s Heroes . 

Meerschaum (mer' shawm) (Ger. sea-froth). 
This mineral (used for making tobacco-pipes), 
from having been found on the seashore in 
rounded white lumps, was ignorantly supposed 
to be sea-froth petrified; but it is a compound 
of silica, magnesia, lime, water, and carbonic 
acid. When first dug it lathers like soap, and is 
used as a soap by the Tartars. 

Meg. Formerly slang for a guinea, but now 
signifying a halfpenny. Cp. Mag. 

No, no; Meggs are Guineas; Smelts are half- 
guineas. — Shadwell: Squire of Alsatia , I, i (1688). 

Mons Meg. A great 15th-century piece of 
artillery in Edinburgh Castle, made at Mons, 
in Flanders. It was considered a palladium 
by the Scotch. Cp. Long Mug. 

Roaring Meg. Formerly any large gun that 
made a great noise when let olT was so called, 
as Mons Meg herself and a cannon given by 
the Fishmongers of London, and used in 1689. 
Burton says: “Music is a roaring Meg against 
melancholy.” 

Drowning the noise of their consciences ... by 
ringing their greatest Bells, discharging their roaring- 
megs. — Trapp: Comment on Job (1656). 

Mcgarians. The inhabitants of Megara and its 
territory, Megaris, Greece, proverbial for 
their stupidity; hence the proverb, “Wise as a 
Megarian” — i.e. not wise at all; yet see below. 

Megarian School (me gar 7 i an). A philoso- 
phical school, founded by Euclid, a native of 
Megara, and disciple of Socrates. It combined 
the ethical doctrines of Socrates with the 
metaphysic of the Eleatics (q.v.). 

Megrims (me' grimz). A corruption of the 
Greek he mi- crania (half the skull), through the 
French migraine. A neuralgic affection 
generally confined to one brow, or to one side 
of the forehead; whims, fancies. 

Meinie, or Meiny (ml' ni). A company of 
attendants; a household (from O.Fr. meynt, 
mesnie, from Lat. mansio , mansioncm , a house). 
Our word menial has much the same derivation 
and significance. 

With that the smiling Kriemhild forth stepped a little 
space. 

And Brunhild and her meiny greeted with gentle grace. 

Lettsom's Nibelungenlied, stanza dciv. 

Mein Kampf (min kamf). The political and half 
mystical thesis in which Adolf Hitler embodied 
his social and racial theories; his doctrine 
of anti-Semitism; and his call for revenge for 
the disasters of 1918 and, the revision of the 
Versailles treaty. He wrote A fy Struggle — as the 
title may be translated— while undergoing a 
sentence of imprisonment at Landsberg-am- 
Lech for his part in the abortive “Beer Hall 
Putsch” of 1923; it was published in 1925 and 


as he increased in power so did Mein Kampf 
become increasingly the Na^i bible. 

Meiosis (ml 6' sis). This word, coming from 
the Greek and meaning “lessening” is applied 
to the ironical form of speech in which a 
negative is used for the affirmation of its con- 
trary, as “no small quantity” meaning “a 
considerable quantity, or “not so bad,” 
meaning “quite good.” It is also known as 
litotes. 

Meistersingers (mi' ster sing' erz). Burgher 
poets of Germany, who attempted, in the 14th 
to 16th centuries, to revive the national 
minstrelsy of the Minnesingers (q.v.), which had 
fallen into decay. Hans Sachs, the cobbler 
(1494-1576), was the most celebrated. 

Die Meistersinger von Niirnberg. An opera 
by Wagner (1868) in which he satirized his 
critics. 

Melampod (mel' am pod). Black hellebore; so 
called from Melampus, a famous soothsayer 
and physician of Greek legend, who with it 
cured the daughters of Praetus of their melan- 
choly (Virgil: Georgies , iii, 550). 

My seely sheep, like well below. 

They need not melampode; 

For they been hale enough I trow. 

And liken their abode. 

Spenser: Eclogue , vii. 

Melancholy. Lowness of spirits, supposed at 
one time to arise from a redundance of black 
bile (Gr. melas chole). 

Melancholy Jacques. So Jean Jacques 
Rousseau (1712-78) was called for his morbid 
sensibilities and unhappy spirit. The expression 
is from As You Like It , II, i. 

Melanchthon (me langk' thon) is the Greek 
for Schwarzerde (black earth), the real name of 
this reformer (1497-1560). Similarly, (Ecolam - 
padius is the Greek version of the German 
name Hauschein , and Desiderius Erasmus is 
one Latin and one Greek rendering of the 
name Gheraerd Gheraerd. 

Melba. Peche Melba, a confection of fruit 
(usually peach), cream and ice-cream. Melba 
toast, narrow slices of thin toast. These take 
their name from Dame Nellie Melba (1861- 
1931), the great Australian operatic soprano. 

Meleager (mel e a' ger). A hero of Greek 
legend, son of QEneus of Calydon and Althaea, 
distinguished for throwing the javelin, for 
slaying the Calydonian boar, and as one of 
the Argonauts. It was declared by the Fates 
that he would die as soon as a piece of wood 
then on the fire was burnt up; whereupon his 
mother snatched the log from the fire and 
extinguished it; but after Meleager had slain 
his maternal uncles, his mother threw th% 
brand on the fire again, and Meleager died. 

The death of Meleager was a favourite sub- 
ject in ancient reliefs. The famous picture of 
Charles Le Brun is in the Louvre, Paris. 

Melibceus or Melibe (mel i be' us, mel' i bi). 
The central figure in Chaucer’s p^ose Tale of 
Melibctus ( Canterbury Tales), which is a 
translation of a French rendering of Albertano 
da Brescia’s Latin Liber Consolationis et 
Concilii. Melibceus is a wealthy young man. 



Melibcean 


598 


Memory 


married to Prudens. One day, when gone 
“into the fields to play/* enemies beat 
his wife and left his daughter for dead. 
Melibceus resolved upon vengeance, but his 
wife persuaded him to call together his 
enemies, and he told them he forgave them 
“to this effect and to this ende, that God of 
His endeles mercy wole at the tyme of oure 
deyinge forgive us oure giltes that we have 
trespassed to Him in this wreeched world.** 

Melibcean Dye. A rich purple. Meliboea, in 
Thessaly, was famous for the ostrum, a fish 
used in dyeing purple. 

A military vest of purple flowed, 

Lovelier than Melibcean. 

Milton: Paradise Lost, XI, 242. 

Melicertes (mel i ser' tez). Son of lno, a sea 
deity of Greek legend (see Leucothea). 
Athamas imagined'his wife to be a lioness, and 
her two sons to be lion’s cubs. In his frenzy 
he slew one of the boys, and drove the othet 
(named Melicertes) with his mother into the 
sea. The mother became a sea goddess, and 
the boy the god of harbours. 

Melisande (mer i s&nd). The same as Melusina 

Mell Supper. Harvest supper; in Scotland and 
the northern counties the last sheaf of corn 
cut is called the mell , and when the harvest 
is borne a woman carries a mell- doll, i.e. a 
straw image dressed up like a young girl, on 
top of a pole among the reapers. 

Mellifluous Doctor, The. St. Bernard (1091- 
1153), whose writings were called a “river of 
Paradise.’’ 

Melodrama. Properly (and in the early 19th 
cent.) a drama in which song and music 
were introduced (Gr. me l os, song), an opera. 
These pieces were usually of a sensational 
character, and now — the musical portions 
having been gradually dropped — the word 
denotes a lurid, sensational play, highly 
emotional, and with a happy ending in which 
the villain gets all he so richly deserves. 

Melon. The Mohammedans say that the eating 
of a melon produces a thousand good works. 
There are certain stones on Mount Carmel 
called Stone Melons. The tradition is that Elijah 
saw a peasant carrying melons, and asked him 
for one. The man said they were not melons 
but stones, and Elijah instantly converted them 
into stones. 

A like story is told of St. Elizabeth of 
Hungary. She gave so bountifully to the poor 
as to cripple her own household. One day her 
Jiusband met her with her lap full of something, 
fand demanded of her what she was carrying. 
“Only flowers, my lord,*’ said Elizabeth, and 
to save the lie God converted the loaves into 
flowers. 

Melpomene (mel pom' e ni). The muse of 
tragedy. „ 

Up then, Melpomene, thou moumfullest Muse of 
mine, 

Such cause of mourning never hadst afore. 

Spenser: Shepherd's Calendar , November. 


Melusina, or Mftisande (mel tts' i ni, mel' i 
sand). The most famous of the tees of French 
romance, looked upon by the houses of 
Lusignan, Rohan, Luxembourg, and Sassenaye 
as their ancestor and founder. Having en- 
closed her father in a high mountain for 
offending her mother, she was condemned to 
become every Saturday a serpent from her 
waist downward. She married Raymond, 
Count of Lusignan, and made her husband 
vow never to visit her on a Saturday; but the 
count hid himself on one of the forbidden 
days, and saw his wife’s transformation. 
Melusina was now obliged to quit her husband, 
and was destined to wander about as a spectre 
till the day of doom, though some say that the 
count immured her in the dungeon of his 
castle. Cp. Undine. 

A sudden scream is called mi cri de Melusine , 
in allusion to the scream of despair uttered by 
Melusina when she was discovered by her 
husband; and in Poitou certain gingerbread 
cakes bearing the impress of a beautiful woman 
“ bien coiffee ,’* with a serpent’s tail, made by 
confectioners for the May fair in the neigh- 
bourhood of Lusignan, arc still called 
Melusines. 

Memento mori (me men' to mor' i) (Lat., 
remember you must die). An emblem of 
mortality, such as a skull; something to put 
us in mind of the shortness and uncertainty 
of life. 

I make as good use of it [Bardolph’s face] as many 
a man doth of a death’s head or a memento mori. — 
Henry IV, Pt. 7,111, iii. 

Memnon. The Oriental or Ethiopian prince 
who, in the Trojan War, went to the assistance 
of his uncle Priam and was slain by Achilles. 
His mother Eos (the Dawn) was inconsolable 
for his death, and wept for him every morning. 

The Greeks called the statue of Amenophis 
III, in Thebes, that of Memnon. When first 
struck by the rays of the rising sun it is said 
to have produced a sound like the snapping 
asunder of a cord. Poetically, when Eos 
kissed her son at daybreak, the hero acknow- 
ledged the salutation with a musical murmur. 

Memnon’s sister, in II Penseroso, is perhaps 
the Himera, mentioned by Dictys Cretensis; 
but Milton is supposed to have invented her, 
because it might be presumed that any sister 
of the black out comely Memnon would be 
likewise. 

Black, but such as in esteem 

Prince Memnon’s sister might beseem. 

11 Penseroso , 18. 

Probably all that is meant is this: Black so 
delicate and beautiful that it might beseem a 
sister of Memnon the son of Aurora or the 
early day-dawn. 

The legend given by Dictys Cretensis (Bk. 
VI) is that Himera, on hearing of her brother’s 
death, set out to secure his remains, and 
encountered at Paphos a troop laden with 
booty, and carrying Memnon’s ashes in an urn. 
Pallas, the leader of the troop, offered to give 
her either the urn gr the booty, and she chose 
the urn. 

Memory. The Bard of Memory. Samuel 
Rogers (1763-1855), the banlcer-poet; author 
of The Pleasures oj Memory (1792). 




Memory WoodfaU 


599 


Mephistopheles 


Memory Woodfail. William Woodfall (1746- 
1803), brother of the Woodfall of Junius, and 
editor of the Morning Chronicle , would attend 
a debate, and, without notes, report it 
accurately next morning. 

The ever memorable. John Hales, of Eton 
(1584-1656), scholar and Arminian divine. 

Memorial Day, also known as Decoration 
Day, May 30th, observed in U.S.A. since the 
Civil War to commemorate the soldiers and 
sailors who fell in action. In some of the 
Southern States April 26th, May 10th or June 
3rd is kept as Memorial Day. 

Menah (me' n&). A large stone worshipped by 
certain tribes of Arabia between Mecca and 
Medina. Like most other Arabian idols it was 
demolished in the eighth year of “the flight.** 
it is, in fact, a rude stone brought from Mecca, 
the sacred city, by pilgrims who wished to 
carry away with them some memento of their 
Holy Land. 

Menalcas(me n£l' kas). Any shepherd or rustic. 
The name figures in the Eclogues of Virgil and 
the Idylls of Theocritus. 

Menamber (me n3m' ber). A rocking-stone in 
the parish of Sithney (Cornwall) which at one 
time a little child could move. Cromwell’s 
soldiers thought it fostered superstition, and 
rendered it immovable. 


Mother of Meng. A Chinese expression, 
meaning “an admirable teacher.’* Meng’s 
father died soon after the birth of the sage, 
and he was brought up by his mother. 

Mcnippus (men ip' us), the cynic, was born at 
Gadara, Syria, in the 3rd century b.c. He was 
called by Lucian “the greatest snarler and 
snapper of all the old dogs’’ (cynics). 

Varro wrote the Satyros Menippece , and in 
imitation of it a political pamphlet, in verse 
and prose, designed to expose the perfidious 
intentions of Spain in regard to France, and 
the criminal ambition of the Guise family, 
was published in 1593 as The Menippean 
Satire. The authors were Pierre Leroy (d. 
1593), Pithou (1539-96), Passerat (1534-1602), 
and Rapin, the poet (1540-1608). 

Mennonites. Followers of Simon Menno 
(1492-1559), a native of Friesland, who 
modified the fanatical viewstof the Anabaptists. 
The sect still survives, in the United States as 
well as in Holland and Germany. 

Mensheviks (men' she viks). A Russian word 
for a minority party. After the Russian 
Revolution of November, 1917, the less 
radical socialists who were in opposition to 
the more violent Bolshevik government took 
this name. * 

Menthu. See Bakha. 


Mendelism. The theory of heredity promul- 
gated by Gregor Johann Mendel (1822-84), 
the Austrian scientist and Abbot of Briinn, 
showing that the characters of the parents of 
cross-bred offspring reappear in certain 
proportions in successive generations accord- 
ing to definite laws. Mendel’s Law was dis- 
covered by him in 1865 through experiments 
with peas. 

Mendicant Orders, or Begging Friars. The 
orders of the Franciscans (Grey Friars ), 
Augustines ( Austin Friars), Carmelites (White 
Friars ), and Dominicans (Black Friars). 


Menechmians (me nek' mi &nz). Persons ex- 
actly like each other; so called from the 
Mentechmi of Plautus, the basis of Shake- 
speare’s Comedy of Errors , in which not only 
the two Dromios are exactly like each other, 
but Antipholus of Ephesus is the facsimile of 
his brother, Antipholus of Syracuse. 


Menelaus (men e la' us). Son of Atreus, 
brother of Agamemnon, and husband of Helen, 
through whose desertion of him was brought 
about the Trojan War. He was the King of 
Sparta or of Lacedaemon. 

Menevia (me ne' vi a). A f 9 rm of the old 
name, Mynyw , of St. David’s (Wales). Its 
present name is from Dewi, or David, the 
founder of the episcopal see in the 6th century. 

Meng-tse. The fourth of the sacred books of 
China; so called from the name of its author 
(d. c. 290 B.c.), Latinized into Mencius. 
It was written in the 4th pentury b.c. Con- 
fucius or Kung-fu-tse wrofd the other three; 
viz . Ta-heo (School of Adults) t Chong-yong 
(The Golden Me op), and Lun-yu (or Book of 
Maxims). 


Mention in Dispatches. British term given to a 
reference by name in official dispatches to an 
olficcr who has done well in battle. An officer 
so mentioned is entitled to wear a small 
bronze oak leaf on the left breast or upon the 
medal ribbon for that particular campaign. 

Mentor. A guide, a wise and faithful counsellor; 
so called from Mentor, a friend of Ulysses, 
whose form Minerva assumed when she 
accompanied Telemachos in his search for his 
father. 

Menu or Manu (me' nO). In Hindu philoso- 
phy, one of a class of Demiurges of whom the 
first is identified with Brahma. Brahma divided 
himself into male and female, these produced 
Viraj, from whom sprang the first Menu t a 
kind of secondary creator. He gave rise to ten 
Prajapatis (“lords of all living T ’); from these 
came seven Menus , each presiding over a 
certain period, the seventh of these being 
Menu Vaivasvata (“the sun-born”) who is now 
reigning and who is looked upon as the creator 
of the living races of beings. To him are 
ascribed the Laws of Menu , now called the 
Manavadharmashastra , a section of the Vedas 
containing a code of civil and religious law 
compiled by the Manavans. 

Meo periculo (me 6 per ik' 0 16) (Lat. at my * 
own risk). On my responsibility; I being bona.*J 

Mephibosheth (me fib' 6 sheth), in Dryden’s 
Absalom and Achitophel (q.v.), Pt. II, is meant 
for Samuel Pordage (d. 1691), a poetaster. 

Mephistopheles (mef is tof' b lez). A manu- 
factured name (possibly from three Greek 
words meaning “not loving the light**) of a 
devil or familiar spirit which first appears in 
the late mediaeval Faust legend; he is well 


Mercator’s Projection 


600 


Merlin 


known as the sneering, jeering, leering temp- 
ter in Goethe’s Faust . He is mentioned by 
Shakespeare (Merry Wives , 1, i) and Fletcher 
as Mephostophilus , and in Marlowe’s Faustus 
as Mephostopilis . 

Mercator’s Projection is Mercator’s chart or 
map for nautical purposes. The meridian lines 
are at right angles to the parallels of latitude. 
It is so called because it was devised by Ger- 
hard Kremer (~ merchant, pedlar) (1512-94), 
whose surname Latinized is Mercator. 

Merchant Adventurers were a guild of traders 
originally established in Brabant in 1296. 
Henry VII granted a patent for the Adven- 
turers in England in 1505 and they were 
incorporated in 1564. 

Merchant of Venice. The interwoven stories 
of Shakespeare’s comedy (written 1598, 
published 1600) are drawn from mediaeval 
legends the germs of which are found in the 
Gesta Romanorum . The tale of the bond is 
ch. xlviii, and that of the caskets is ch. xcix. 
Much of the plot is also given in the 14th 
century 11 Pecorone of Ser Giovanni; but 
Shakespeare could not read Italian, there was 
no translation in his day, and it is more than 
doubtful whether he ever saw or was aware 
of it. 

Mercia (m^r' si &). One of the ancient Anglian 
kingdoms of the Heptarchy, founded soon 
after the middle of the 6th century. It flourished 
under Penda in the 7th century; in the 8th, 
under Ethelbald and Offa, it became the 
dominant kingdom in the Heptarchy, but in 
827 was incorporated with Wessex, to be 
revived again as an earldom until the Norman 
Conquest. It embraced a large part of the 
Midlands, stretching from the Humber to the 
Thames, and westward to the Welsh Marches. 

Mercilla. See Soldan. 

Mercury (mer' ku ri). The Roman equivalent 
of the Greek Hermes ( q.v .), son of Maia and 
Jupiter, to whom he acted as messenger. He 
was the god of science and commerce, the 
atron of travellers and also of rogues, vaga- 
onds, and thieves. Hence, the name of the 
god is used to denote both a messenger and a 
thief : — 

My father named me Autolycus; who being, as I 
am, littered under Mercury, was likewise a snapper-up 
of unconsidered trifles. — Winter's Tale , IV, ii. 

Mercury is represented as a young man with 
winged hat and winged sandals ( talaria ), 
bearing the caduceus (< q.v .), and sometimes a 
purse. 

Posts with a marble head of Mercury on 
tjiem used to be erected where two or more 
io^ds met, to point out the way. ( Juvenal , viii, 
$ 3 .) 

In astrology, Mercury “signifieth subtill 
men, ingenious, inconstant: rymers, poets, 
advocates, orators, phylosophers, arithme- 
ticians, and busie fellowes,” and the alchemists 
credited it with great powers and used it for 
a large number of purposes. See Ben Jonson’s 
masque, Mercury Vindicated. 

Mercury fig (Lat. Ficus ad Mer curium). The 
first fig gathered off a fig-tree was by the 


Romans devoted to Mercury. The proverbial 
saying was applied generally to all first fruits 
or first works. 

You cannot make a Mercury of every log. 

Pythagoras said : Non ex quovis ligno Mercurius 
fit. That is, “Not every mind will answer 
eaually well to be trained into a scholar.” 
The proper wood for a statue of Mercury was 
box — vel quod hominis pultorem prat se ferat, 
vel quod materies sit omnium maxime ceterna. 
(Erasmus.) 

Mercurial (mer ku' ri al). Light-hearted, 
gay, volatile; such were supposed by the astro- 
logers to be born under the planet Mercury. 

Mercurial finger. The little finger, which if 
pointed denotes eloquence, if square sound 
judgment. 

The thumb, in chiromancy, we give to Venus, 

The forefinger to Jove, the midst to Saturn, 

The ring to Sol, the least to Mercury. 

Ben Jonson: Alchemist , I, i. 

Mercy. The seven corporal works of mercy 
are: — 

(1) To tend the sick. 

(2) To feed the hungry. 

(3) To give drink to the thirsty. 

(4) To clothe the naked. 

(5) To house the homeless. 

(6) To visit the fatherless and the afflicted. 

(7) To bury the dead. Matt, xxv, 35-40. 

Merciless (or Unmerciful) Parliament, The 
(from February 3rd to June 3rd, 1388). A 
junto of fourteen tools of Thomas, Duke of 
Gloucester, which assumed royal prerogatives, 
and attempted to depose Richard II. 

Meredith, we’re in. A popular catch phrase 
derived from the very successful Fred Kamo 
sketch, The Bailiff \ produced in 1907. It de- 
picted the stratagems of a bailiff and his assist- 
ant Meredith attempting to enter a house for 
purposes of distraint, and the phrase was 
used by the bailiff* each time he thought that 
he was on the verge of success. 

Meridian. Sometimes applied, especially in 
Scotland, to a noonday dram of spirits. 

He received from the hand of the waiter the 
meridian, which was placed ready at the bar. — Scott: 
Redgauntlet , ch. i. 

Merit, Order of. This is a British order for 
distinguished service in all callings. It was 
founded by Edward VII in 1902, with two 
classes, civil and military. The Order is limited 
to 24 members — men and women — and 
confers no precedence; it is designated by the 
letters O.M., following the first class of the 
Order of the Bath and precedes all letters 
designating membership of other Orders. The 
badge is a red and blue cross pau6e, with a 
blue medallion in the centre surrounded by 
a laurel wreath, and bears the words “For 
Merit”; the ribbon is blue and crimson. 
Crossed swords are added to the badge for 
military members. 

Merlin. The historical Merlin was a Welsh 
or British bard, born towards the close of the 
5th century, to whom a number of poems have 
been very doubtfully attributed. He is said to 
have become bard to King Arthur, and to have 
lost his reason and perished on the banks of 




Merlin 


601 


Merry Men of May 


the river after a terrible battle between the 
JJJritons and their Romanized compatriots 
about 570. 

His story has been mingled with that of the 
enchanter Merlin of the Arthurian romances, 
whiqh, however, proceeds on different lines. 
This Prince of Enchanters was the son of a 
damsel seduced by a fiend, but was baptized 
by Blaise, and so rescued from the power of 
Satan. He became an adept in necromancy, but 
was beguiled by the enchantress Nimuc, who 
shut him up in a rock, and later Vivien, the 
Lady of the Lake, entangled him in a thorn- 
bush by means of spells, and there he still 
sleeps, though his voice may sometimes be 
heard. 

He first appears in Nennius (as Ambrosius); 
Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote the Vita Merlini 
( c . 1145); this was worked upon by Wace 
and Robert de Borron, and formed the basis 
of the English prose romance Merlin , and of 
most of the Merlin episodes in the Arthurian 
cycle. See also Spenser’s Faerie Queene (III, 
iii), and Tennyson’s Idylls. 

Now, though a Mechanist, whose skill 
Shames the degenerate grasp of modern science. 
Grave Merlin (and belike the more 
For practising occult and perilous lore) 

Was subject to a freakish will 

That sapped good thoughts, or scared them with 
defiance. Wordsworth : The Egyptian Maid. 

The English Merlin. William Lilly (1602-81), 
the astrologer, who published two tracts under 
the name of “Merlinus Anglicus” and was the 
most famous charlatan of his day. 

Mermaid. The popular stories of the mermaid, 
a fabulous marine creature half woman and 
half fish — allied to the Siren (<?.v.) of classical 
mythology — probably arose from sailors’ 
accounts of the dugong, a cetacean whose head 
has a rude approach to the human outline. 
The mother while suckling her young holds 
it to her breast with one flipper, as a woman 
holds her infant in her arm. If disturbed she 
suddenly dives under water, and tosses up her 
fish-like tail. 

In Elizabethan plays the term is often used 
for a courtesan. See Massinger’s Old Law, IV, i, 
Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors , III, ii, etc. 

The Mermaid Tavern. The famous meeting- 
place (in Bread Street, Cheapsidc) of the wits, 
literary men, and men about town in the early 
17th century. Among those who met there at a 
sort of early club were Ben Jonson, Sir Walter 
Raleigh, Beaumont, Fletcher, John Selden, 
and in all probability Shakespeare. 

What things have we seen 
Done at the Mermaid! Heard words that have been 

So nimble, and so full of subtile flame. 

As if that everyone from whence they came 

Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest. 

Beaumont: Lines to Ben Jonson . 

Mermaid’s glove. The largest of the British 
sponges ( Halichondria pa l mat a), so called 
because its branches resemble fingers. 

Mermaid’s purses. The horny cases of the 
eggs of the ray, skate, or shark, frequently 
cast up by the waves on the sea-beach. 
Merope (mer' 6 pi). One of the Pleiades; 
dimmer than the rest, because, according to 
Greek legend, she married a mortal. She was 
the mother of Glaucus. 


Merops’ Son. One who thinks he can set the 
world to rights, but can’t. Agitators, demo- 
gogues, and Bolsheviks are sons of Merops. 
The allusion is to Phaeton, son of Merops, who 
thought himself able to drive the car of Phoebus, 
but, in the attempt, nearly set the world on 
fire. 

Merovingian Dynasty (mer 6 ving' gi an). The 
dynasty of Merovius, a Latin form of Merwig 
(great warrior), who is said to have ruled over 
tne Franks in the 5th century. The dynasty 
rose to power under Clovis (d. 511), and 
gradually gave way before the Mayors of the 
Palace (<?.v.), until in 751 the Merovingians 
were deposed by Pepin the Short, grandson of 
Pepin of Heristal. 

Merrie England. See Merry. 

Merrow (Irish muirruhgach). A mermaid, 
believed by Irish fishermen to forebode a 
coming storm. 

It was rather annoying to Jack that, though living 
in a place where the merrows were as plenty as 
lobsters, he never could get a right view of one. — 
W. B. Yeats: Fairy and Folk Tales , p. 63. 

Merry. The original meaning i$ pleasing , 
delightful ; hence, giving pleasure ; hence 
mirthful , joyous. 

The old phrase Merrie England ( Merry 
London , etc.) merely signified that these places 
were pleasant and delightful, not necessarily 
bubbling over with merriment; and so with 
the merry month of May. 

The phrase merry men , meaning the com- 
panions at arms of a knight or outlaw (especi- 
ally Robin Hood), is really for merry meinie. 
See Meinie. 

Merry Andrew. A buffoon, jester, or atten- 
dant on a quack doctor at fairs. Said by 
Thomas Hearne (1678-1735) — with no evidence 
— to derive from Andrew Boorde (c. 1490- 
1549), physician to Henry VIII, who to his 
vast learning added great eccentricity. Prior 
has a poem on “Merry Andrew.” Andrew is a 
common name in old plays for a manservant, 
as Abigail is for a waiting-woman. 

Merry as a cricket, grig. See Grig. 

Merry Dancers. The northern lights, so 
called from their undulatory motion. The 
French also call them chivres dansantes 
(dancing goats). 

Merry Dun of Dover. In Scandinavian folk- 
tale, an enormous ship which knocked down 
Calais steeple in passing through the Straits of 
Dover, while the pennant swept a flock of 
sheep off Dover cliffs into the sea. The masts 
were so lofty that a boy who ascended them 
would grow grey before he could reach deck 
again. ^ 

Merry Greek. See Grig. 

Merry Maidens. The ancient stone circle 
(of 19 stones) in St. Buryan parish, 5 miles 
from Penzance, Cornwall. It is 76 ft. in 
diameter. Also called Rosemodris Circle . 

Merry men. See Merry, above* 

Merry Men of May. An expanse of broken 
water which boils like a cauldron in the 
southern side of the Stroma channel, in the 
Pentland Firth. 



Merry Monarch 


602 


Metaphysics 


Merry Monarch. Charles II. 

Merry Monday, An old name for the day 
before Shrove Tuesday. 

Merrythought. The furcula or wishing-bone 
in the breast of a fowl; sometimes broken by 
two persons, when the one who holds the 
larger portion has his wish, as it is said. 

’Tis merry in hall, when beards wag all ( Henry 
IV , Pt. //, V, iii). It is a sure sign of mirth 
when the beards of the guests shake with 
laughter. 

To make merry. To be jovial, festive; to 
make merry.over, to treat with amusement or 
ridicule, to S&ake fun of. 

Merse. The south-easterly part of Berwickshire 
was so called because it was the mere , march , 
or frontier of England and Scotland. It gives 
the second half of the title to the Earl of 
Wemyss and March. 

Merton College. Founded by Walter de 
Merton (d. 1277), Bishop of Rochester, and 
Lord k Higji Chancellor in 1264. He was, 
through thiVfoundation, the originator of the 
collegiate system still maintained in the older 
English Universities. 

Mcru (me' roo). The “Olympus” of the Hindus ; 
a fabulous mountain in the centre of the world, 
80,000 leagues high, the abode of Vishnu, and 
a perfect paradise. 

Merveilleuse (mar va vers) (Fr. marvellous). 
The sword of Doolin of Mayence (q.v.). It 
was so sharp that when placed edge down- 
wards it would cut through a slab of wood 
without the use of force. 

The term is also applied to the dress worn 
by the fops and ladies of the Directory period 
in France, who were noted for their extrava- 
gance and aping of classical Greek modes. 

Mesa. Spanish and Mexican term for grassy 
table-land. 

Meschino. See Guerino Meschino. 

Mesmerism (mez' mer izm). So called from 
Friedrich Anton Mesmer (1733-1815), of 
Meersburg, Baden, who introduced his theory 
of “animal magnetism” into Paris, in 1778. It 
is the basis or forerunner of hypnotism, the 
therapeutic employment of which is being 
increasingly studied by the medical and 
psychiatric professions. 

Mesopotamia (mes 6 pot am' i a) (Gr. the land 
between the rivers, i.e. the Euphrates and 
Tigris). The territory bounded by Kurdistan 
on the N. and NE., the Persian Gulf on the S. 
and SE., Persia on the E., and Syria and the 
Arabian Desert on the W. Since World War I 
— as a consequence of which it was freed from 
Turkish rule and constituted a separate king- 
dom — its name has been changed to Iraq (q$.), 
or Irak . 

The true “Mesopotamia” ring. Something 
high-sounding and pleasing, but wholly past 
comprehension. The allusion is to the story of 
an old woman who told her pastor that she 
“found great support in that blessed word 
Mesopotamia .” 


Mess. The usual meaning to-day is a dirty, 
untidy state of things, a muddle, a difficulty 
{to get into a mess); but the word originally 
signified a portion of food (Lat. missum , 
mittere, to send; cp. Fr. mets , viands, Ital. 
messa, a course of a meal); thence it came to 
mean mixed food — especially for an animal — 
and so a confusion, medley, jumble. 

Another meaning was a small group of 
persons (usually four) who at banquets sat 
together and were served from the same dishes. 
This use gave rise not only to the army and 
navy mess (used also at the Inns of Court), but 
to the Elizabethans using it in place of “four” 
or “a group of four.” Thus, Lyly says, “Foure 
makes a messe, and we have a messe of 
masters.” ( Mother Bombie , II, i), and Shake- 
speare calls the four sons of Henry his “mess 
of sons” ( Henry VL Pt. //, I, iv); and says 
(Love's Labour's Lost * IV, iii), “You three fools 
lacked me ... to make up the mess.” 

Messalina (mes a le' n&). Wife of the Emperor 
Claudius of Rome; she was executed by order 
of her husband in a.d. 48. Her name has 
become a byword for lasciviousness and 
incontinency. Catherine II of Russia (1729- 
96) has sometimes been called The Modern 
Messalina. 

Messiah (me sT a), from the Hebrew mashiach , 
one anointed. It is the title of an expected 
leader of the Jews who shall deliver the nation 
from its enemies and reign in permanent 
triumph and peace. Equivalent to the Greek 
word Christ, it is applied by Christians to 
Jesus. Messiah (incorrectly The Messiah) is 
the title of an oratorio by Handel, first pro- 
duced in Dublin in 1742. 

Mestizo. Spanish-Mexican phrase for a half- 
breed. 

Metals. Metals used to be divided into two 
classes — Noble and Base. The Noble, or 
Perfect , Metals were gold and silver, because 
they were the only two known that could be not 
changed or “destroyed” by fire; the remainder 
were Base, or Imperfect. 

The seven metals in alchemy. 

Gold, Apollo or the sun. 

Silver, Diana or the moon. 

Quicksilver, Mercury. 

Copper, Venus. 

Iron, Mars. 

Tin, Jupiter. 

Lead, Saturn. 

The only metals used in heraldry are or 
(gold) and argent (silver). 

Metamorphic Rocks (met a mor 'fik). Sedi- 
mentary or eruptive rocks whose original 
character has been more or less altered by 
changes beneath the surface of the earth. 
These include gneiss, mica-schist, clay-slate, 
marble, and the like, which have become more 
or less crystalline. 

Metaphysics (met a fiz' iks) (Gr. after-physics, 
so called because the disciples of Aristotle 
held that matter or nature should be studied 
before mind). The science of metaphysics is 
the consideration of things jn the abstract — 
that is, divested of their accidents, relations, 




Metaphysical Poets 


603 


Micawber 


and matter; the philosophy of being and 
knowing; the theoretical principles forming 
the basis of any particular science; the 
philosophy of mind. 

Metaphysical Poets. A term used to describe 
certain poets of the 17th century, notably John 
Donne,, George Herbert, Richard Crashaw, 
Henry Vaughan, and Andrew Marvell. They 
are characterized by subtlety of thought, 
expressed frequently in compressed though 
sometimes far-fetched imagery, and the use of 
complex versification. The word metaphy- 
sical in relation to poetry was first used by 
William Drummond of Hawthornden about 
1630, then applied to this particular group of 
poets by Dryden in 1693, and used derogatively 
of them by Dr. Johnson in 1781. 

Metathesis (met a the' sis). A figure of speech 
in which letters or syllables are transposed, as 
You occupew my pie [ py ], instead of “You 
occupy my pew”; daggle-trail for “draggle- 
tail,” etc.; the same as a Spoonerism (q.v.). 

Methodists. A name given (1729) by a student 
of Christ Church to the brothers Wesley and 
their friends, who used to assemble on given 
evenings for religious conversation, because of 
the methodical way in which they observed 
their principles. The word was in use many 

centuries earlier for those (especially physicians) 

who attached great importance to method, 
and the name was at one time applied to the 
Jesuits, because they were the first to give 
systematic representations of the method of 
polemics. Theophilus Gale (1628-78) speaks of 
a religious sect called “the New Methodists 
( Court of the Gentiles). 

Primitive Methodists. A secession from the 
Methodists, led by Hugh Bourne in 1810. They 
adopted this name because they reverted to 
the original methods of preaching of the 
Wesleys. 

Methuselah (me' tliu ze la). Old as Methuselah. 
Very old indeed, almost incredibly old. He is 
the oldest man mentioned in the Bible, where 
we are told {Gen. v, 27) that he died at the age 
of 969. 

Metonic Cycle, The (me ton' ik). A cycle of 
nineteen years, at the end of which period the 
new moons fall on the same days of the year; 
so-called because discovered by the Greek 
astronomer, Melon, 432 b.c. In 330 a slight 
error in it was put right by Calippus, who, to 
allow for odd hours, laid down that at the end 
of four cycles (76 years) one day was to be 
omitted. 

Metonymy (me ton' i mi). The use of the name 
of one thing for another related to it, as “the 
Bench” for the magistrates of judges sitting in 
court, “a silk” for a Queen’s Counsel, “the 
bottle” for alcoholic liquor. The word is 
Greek, meaning a change of name. 

Metropolitan. A prelate who has suffragan 
bishops subject to nim. The two metropolitans 
of England are the archbishops of Canterbury 
and York, and the two of Ireland the arch- 
bishops of Armagh and Dublin. The word 
does not mean the prelate of the metropolis 
(Gr. meter , mother; polis, city) in a secular 
B.D. — 20 


sense, but the prelate of a “mother city” in an 
ecclesiastical sense — i.e . a city which is the 
mother or ruler of other cities. Thus, the 
Bishop of London is not a metropolitan, but 
the Archbishop of Canterbury is metro - 
politanus et primus totius Anglia , and the, 
Archbishop of York primus et metropolitans 
Anglia . 

In the Greek Church a metropolitan ranks 
next below a patriarch and next above an 
archbishop. 

Meum and tuum (me' um, tu' tihi).That which 
belongs to me and that whidh is another’s. 
Meum is Latin for “what is mine,” and tuum 
is Latin for “what is thine.” If ^man is said 
not to know the difference betwreh meum and 
tuum. it is a another way of saying he is a thief. 

“ Meum est propositum in tuber na mori A 
famous drinking song usually credited to 
Walter Map, who died in 1210. 

Meum est propositum in taberna mori; 

Vinum sit oppositum morientis ori 

Ut dicant cum venerint angelorum chori: 

Deus sit propitius huic potatori (etc.). 

“It is my intention to die in a tavern. May wine be 
placed to my dying lips, that when the choirs of angels 
shall come they may say, God be merciful to this 
drinker.” 

Mews. Stables, but properly a cage for hawks 
when moulting (O.F. mue ; Lat. mtlfare , to 
change). The word has acquired ith present 
meaning because (in the 17th cent.) the royal 
stables were built upon the site (now occupied 
by the National Gallery) where formerly the 
king’s hawks were kept; and the name was 
transferred from the establishment for hawks 
to that of horses. 

MexitI, or Mextli (meks' itl). The principal 
god of the ancient Mexicans (whence the 
name of their country), to whom enormous 
sacrifices, running into many thousands of 
human beings, were offered at a time. Also 
called Huitzilopochtli. 

Mezzotint, or Mezzo tinto (Ital. medium tint). 
A process of engraving in which a copper 
plate is uniformly roughened so as to print a 
deep black, lights and half-lights being then 
produced by scraping away the burr; also a 
print from this, which is usually a good 
imitation of an Indian-ink drawing. 

Micah Rood’s Apples. Apples with a spot of 
red in the heart. The story is that Micah Rood 
was a prosperous farmer at Franklin, Pa. In 
1693 a pedlar with jewellery called at his house, 
and next day was found murdered under an 
apple-tree in Rood’s orchard. The crime was 
never brought home to the farmer, but next 
autumn all the apples of the fatal tree bore 
inside a red blood-spot, called “Micah Rood s 
Curse,” and the farmer died soon afterwards. 

Micawber (mi caw' b&). An incurable optimist; 
from Dickens’s Mr. Wilkins Micawber 
(David Copperfield ), a great speechifier and 
letter-writer, and projector of bubble schemes 
sure to lead to fortune, but always ending in 
grief. Notwithstanding his ill success, he never 
despaired, but felt certain that something 
would “turn up” to make his fortune. Having 
failed in every adventure in the old country, 
he emigijted to Australia, where he became a 
magistrate. 


Merry Monarch 


602 


Metaphysics 


Merry Monarch. Charles II. 

Merry Monday. An old name for the day 
before Shrove Tuesday. 

Merrythought. The furcula or wishing-bone 
in the breast of a fowl; sometimes broken by 
two persons, when the one who holds the 
larger portion has his wish, as it is said. 

*T1$ merry in hall, when beards wag all ( Henry 
IV y Pt. II , V, iii). It is a sure sign of mirth 
when the beards of the guests shake with 
laughter. 

To make merry. To be jovial, festive; to 
make merry^over, to treat with amusement or 
ridicule, to inake fun of. 

Merse. The south-easterly part of Berwickshire 
was so called because it was the men\ march , 
or frontier of England and Scotland. It gives 
the second half of the title to the Earl of 
Wemyss and March. 

Merton College. Founded by Walter de 
Merton (d. 1277), Bishop of Rochester, and 
Lord f’Higji Chancellor in 1264. He was, 
through this foundation, the originator of the 
collegiate system still maintained in the older 
English Universities. 

Meru (me' roo). The “Olympus” of the Hindus ; 
a fabulous mountain in the centre of the world, 
80,000 leagues high, the abode of Vishnu, and 
a perfect paradise. 

Merveilleuse (mar va vers) (Fr. marvellous). 
The sword of Doolin of Mayence (q.v.). It 
was so sharp that when placed edge down- 
wards it would cut through a slab of wood 
without the use of force. 

The term is also applied to the dress worn 
by the fops and ladies of the Directory period 
in France, who were noted for their extrava- 
gance and aping of classical Greek modes. 

Mesa. Spanish and Mexican term for grassy 
table-land. 

Meschino. See Guerino Meschino. 

Mesmerism (mez' mSr izm). So called from 
Friedrich Anton Mesmer (1733-1815), of 
Meersburg, Baden, who introduced his theory 
of “animal magnetism” into Paris, in 1778. It 
is the basis or forerunner of hypnotism, the 
therapeutic employment of which is being 
increasingly studied by the medical and 
psychiatric professions. 

Mesopotamia (mes 6 pot am' i a) (Gr. the land 
between the rivers, i.e. the Euphrates and 
Tigris). The territory bounded by Kurdistan 
on the N. and NE., the Persian Gulf on the S. 
and SE., Persia on the E., and Syria and the 
Arabian Desert on the W. Since World War I 
— as a consequence of which it was freed from 
Turkish rule and constituted a separate king- 
dom — its name has been changed to Iraq (q$J, 
or Irak . 

The true “Mesopotamia” ring. Something 
high-sounding and pleasing, but wholly past 
comprehension. The allusion is to the story of 
an old woman who told her pastor that she 
“found great support in that blessed word 
Mesopotamia .” 


Mess. The usual meaning to-day is a dirty, 
untidy state of things, a muddle, a difficulty 
{to get into a mess); but the word originally 
signified a portion of food (Lat. missum , 
mitterey to send; cp. Fr. mets y viands, Ital. 
messtty a course of a meal); thence it came to 
mean mixed food — especially for an animal — 
and so a confusion, medley, jumble. 

Another meaning was a small group of 
persons (usually four) who at banquets sat 
together and were served from the same dishes. 
This use gave rise not only to the army and 
navy mess (used also at the Inns of Court), but 
to the Elizabethans using it in place of “four” 
or “a group of four.” Thus, Lyly says, “Foure 
makes a messe, and we have a messe of 
masters.” ( Mother Bombie , II, i), and Shake- 
speare calls the four sons of Henry his “mess 
of sons” ( Henry VL Pt. //, I, iv); and says 
(Love's Labour's Lost y IV, iii), “You three fools 
lacked me ... to make up the mess.” 

Messalina (mes a le' na). Wife of the Emperor 
Claudius of Rome; she was executed by order 
of her husband in a.d. 48. Her name has 
become a byword for lasciviousness and 
incontinency. Catherine II of Russia (1729- 
96) has sometimes been called The Modern 
Messalina. 

Messiah (me si' a), from the Hebrew mashiach. 
one anointed. It is the title of an expected 
leader of the Jews who shall deliver the nation 
from its enemies and reign in permanent 
triumph and peace. Equivalent to the Greek 
word Christ, it is applied by Christians to 
Jesus. Messiah (incorrectly The Messiah ) is 
the title of an oratorio by Handel, first pro- 
duced in Dublin in 1742. 

Mestizo. Spanish-Mexican phrase for a half- 
breed. 

Metals. Metals used to be divided into two 
classes — Noble and Base. The Noble y or 
Perfecty Metals were gold and silver, because 
they were the only two known that could be not 
changed or “destroyed” by fire; the remainder 
were Basey or Imperfect. 

The seven metals in alchemy. 

Gold, Apollo or the sun. 

Silver, Diana or the moon. 

Quicksilver, Mercury. 

Copper, Venus. 

Iron, Mars. 

Tin, Jupiter. 

Lead, Saturn. 

The only metals used in heraldry are or 
(gold) and argent (silver). 

Metamorphic Rocks (met a mor 'fik). Sedi- 
mentary or eruptive rocks whose original 
character has been more or less altered by 
changes beneath the surface of the earth. 
These include gneiss, mica-schist, clay-slate, 
marble, and the like, which have become more 
or less crystalline. 

Metaphysics (met & fiz' Iks) (Gr. after-physics, 
so called because the disciples of Aristotle 
held that matter or nature should be studied 
before mind). The science of metaphysics is 
the consideration of things in the abstract — 
that is, divested of their accidents, relations, 




Metaphysical Poets 


603 


Micawber 


and matter; the philosophy of being and 
knowing; the theoretical principles forming 
the basis of any particular science; the 
philosophy of mind. 

Metaphysical Poets. A term used to describe 
certain poets of the 17th century, notably John 
Donne,, George Herbert, Richard Crashaw, 
Henry Vaughan* and Andrew Marvell. They 
are characterized by subtlety of thought, 
expressed frequently in compressed though 
sometimes far-fetched imagery, and the use of 
complex versification. The word metaphy- 
sical in relation to poetry was first used by 
William Drummond of Hawthornden about 
1630, then applied to this particular group of 
poets by Dryden in 1693, and used derogatively 
of them by Dr. Johnson in 1781. 

Metathesis (met & the' sis). A figure of speech 
in which letters or syllables are transposed, as 
You occupew my pie [/?>•], instead of “You 
occupy my pew”; daggle-trail for “draggle- 
tail,” etc.; the same as a Spoonerism ( q.v .). 

Methodists. A name given (1729) by a student 
of Christ Church to the brothers Wesley and 
their friends, who used to assemble on given 
evenings for religious conversation, because of 
the methodical way in which they observed 
their principles. The word was in use many 
centuries earlier for those (especially physicians) 
who attached great importance to method, 
and the name was at one time applied to the 
Jesuits, because they were the first to give 
systematic representations of the method of 
polemics. Theophilus Gale (1628-78) speaks of 
a religious sect called “the New Methodists” 
( Court of the Gentiles). 

Primitive Methodists. A secession from the 
Methodists, led by Hugh Bourne in 1810. They 
adopted this name because they reverted to 
the original methods of preaching of the 
Wesleys. 

Methuselah (me' thfi z£ la). Old as Methuselah. 
Very old indeed, almost incredibly old. He is 
the oldest man mentioned in the Bible, where 
we are told {Gen. v, 27) that he died at the age 
of 969. 

Metonic Cycle, The (me ton' ik). A cycle of 
nineteen years, at the end of which period the 
new moons fall on the same days of the year; 
so-called because discovered by the Greek 
astronomer, Meton, 432 b.c. In 330 a slight 
error in it was put right by Calippus, who, to 
allow for odd hours, laid down that at the end 
of four cycles (76 years) one day was to be 
omitted. 

Metonymy (me ton' i mi). The use of the name 
of one thing for another related to it, as “the 
Bench” for the magistrates of judges sitting in 
court, “a silk” for a Queen’s Counsel, “the 
bottle” for alcoholic liquor. The word is 
Greek, meaning a change of name. 

Metropolitan. A prelate who has suffragan 
bishops subject to him. The two metropolitans 
of England are the archbishops of Canterbury 
and York, and the two of Ireland the arch- 
bishops of Armagh and Dublin. The word 
does not mean jhe prelate of the metropolis 
(Gr. meter , mother; polis, city) in a secular 

B.D.— 20 


sense, but the prelate of a “mother city” in an 
ecclesiastical sense — i.e. a city which is the 
mother or ruler of other cities. Thus, the 
Bishop of London is not a metropolitan, but 
the Archbishop of Canterbury is metro - 
politanus et primus totius Anglia , and the,, 
Archbishop of York primus et metropolitans 
Anglia. 

In the Greek Church a metropolitan ranks 
next below a patriarch and next above an 
archbishop. 

Meum and tuum (me' urn, ta' (ttn).That which 
belongs to me and that which is another’s. 
Meum is Latin for “what is mine,” and tuum 
is Latin for “what is thine.” If a man is said 
not to know the difference between meum and 
tuum , it is a another way of saying he is a thief. 

“ Meum est propositum in taberna mori .” A 
famous drinking song usually credited to 
Walter Map, who died in 1210. 

Meum est propositum in taberna mori; 

Vinum sit oppositum morientis ori 

Ut dicant cum venerint angelorum chori: 

Deus sit propitius huic potatori (etc.). 

“It is my intention to die in a tavern. May wine be 
placed to my dying lips, that when the choirs of angels 
shall come they may say, God be merciful to this 
drinker.” 

Mews. Stables, but properly a cage for hawks 
when moulting (O.F. mite ; Lat. mQfare , to 
change). The word has acquired it$ present 
meaning because (in the 17tn cent.) the royal 
stables were built upon the site (now occupied 
by the National Gallery) where formerly the 
king’s hawks were kept; and the name was 
transferred from the establishment for hawks 
to that of horses. 

Mexitl, or Mextli (meks' itl). The principal 
god of the ancient Mexicans (whence the 
name of their country), to whom enormous 
sacrifices, running into many thousands of 
human beings, were offered at a time. Also 
called Huitzilopochtli. 

Mezzotint, or Mezzo tinto (Ital. medium tint). 
A process of engraving in which a copper 
plate is uniformly roughened so as to print a 
deep black, lights and half-lights being then 
produced by scraping away the burr; also a 
print from this, which is usually a good 
imitation of an Indian-ink drawing. 

Micah Rood’s Apples. Apples with a spot of 
red in the heart. The story is that Micah Rood 
was a prosperous farmer at Franklin, Pa. In 
1693 a pedlar with jewellery called at his house, 
and next day was found murdered under an 
apple-tree in Rood’s orchard. The crime was 
never brought home to the farmer, but next 
autumn all the apples of the fatal tree bore 
inside a red blood-spot, called “Micah Rood’s 
Curse,” and the farmer died soon afterwards. 

Micawber (mi caw' b&). An incurable optimist; 
from Dickens’s Mr. Wilkins Micawber 
{pKivid Copper field) y a great speech ifier and 
letter-writer, and projector of bubble schemes 
sure to lead to fortune, but always ending in 
grief. Notwithstanding his ill success, he never 
despaired, but felt certain that something 
would “turn up” to make his fortune. Having 
failed in every adventure in the old country, 
he emigrated to Australia, where he became a 
magistrate. 


Michael, St 


604 


Micronesia 


Michael, St. The great prince of all the angels 
and leader of the celestial armies. 

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his 
angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon 
fought and his angels, and prevailed not. — Rev . xii, 
7, 8. 

Go, Michael, of celestial armies prince, 

And thou, in military prowess next, 

Gabriel; lead forth to battle these my sons 
Invincible; lead forth my armed Saints 
By thousands arid by millions ranged for fight. 

Milton: Paradise Lost, VI, 44. 

His day (“£t. Michael and All Angels”) 
is Sept. 29th (see Michaelmas), and in the 
Roman Catholic Church he is also commem- 
orated on May 8th, in honour of his apparition 
in 492 to ajierdsman 0 f Monte Gargano. In 
the Middle Ages he was looked on as the 
residing spirit of the planet Mercury, and 
ringer to man of the girt of prudence. 

In art St. Michael is depicted as a beautiful 
young man with severe countenance, winged, 
and clad in either white or armour, bearing a 
lance and shield, with which he combats a 
dragon. In the final judgment he is represented 
with §cales, in which he weighs the souls of 
the risen d£%d. 

St. Michael’s Chair. It is said that any 
woman who sits on St. Michael’s Chair, 
Cornwall, will rule the roost as long as she 
lives. . 

The Order of St. Michael and St. George. 
A British order of knighthood, instituted in 
1818 (enlarged and extended on four occasions 
since), and conferred on natural-born British 
subjects w'ho hold, or have held, high official 
rank in the Colonies, or as a reward for ser- 
vices in relation to the foreign affairs of the 
Empire. It is limited to one hundred Knights 
Grand Cross, three hundred Knights Com- 
manders, and six hundred Companions; and 
its chapel is in St. Paul’s Cathedral. 

Michael Angelo or Michelangelo. The cele- 
brated painter, bom 1474, died 1564. His full 
name was Michelangelo Buonarroti. 

Michel-Ange des Bamboches. Peter van Laar 
(1613-73), the Dutch painter. 

The Michelangelo of battle-scenes. Michel- 
angelo Cerquozzi (1600-60), a native of Rome, 
famous for his battle scenes and shipwrecks. 

Michelangelo of Music. Christoph Willibald 
von Gluck (1714-87), the German musical 
composer. 

Michelangelo of Sculptors. Pierre Puget 
(1622-94), the French sculptor. Also Rene 
Michael Slodtz (1705-64). 

Michaelmas Day. September 29th,/ the 
Festival of St. Michael and All Angels (see 
Michael, above), one of the quarter-days 
when rents are due, and the day when magi- 
strates are elected. 

The custom of eating goose at Michaelmas 
(see also St. Martin’s Goose) is many 
centuries old, and probably arose solely 
because geese were plentiful and in good 
condition at this season, and we are told that 
tenants formerly presented their landlords 
with one to keep m their good graces. The 
popular story, however, is that Queen Eliza- 
beth I, on her way to Tilbury Fort on September 


29th, 1588, dined at the seat of Sir Neville 
Umfreyville, and partook of geese, afterwards 
calling for a bumper of Burgundy, and giving 
as a toast, “Death to the Spanish Armada !“ 
Scarcely had she spoken when a messenger 
announced the destruction of the fleet by a 
storm. The queen demanded a second bumper, 
and said, “Henceforth shall a goose commem- 
orate this great victory.” This tale is marred by 
the awkward circumstances that the fleet was 
dispersed by the winds in July, and the 
thanksgiving sermon for the victory was 
preached at St. Paul’s on August 20th. 
Gascoigne, who died 1577, refers to the custom 
of goose-eating at Michaelmas as common: — 
At Christmas a capon, at Michaelmas a goose. 

And somewhat else at New Yere’s tide, for feare the 
lease flies loose. 

Miching Malicho (mich' ing mal' i ko). 

Oph.: What means this, my lord? 

Ham.: Marry, this is Miching Malicho; it means 
mischief. 

Oph.: Belike this show imports the argument of the 
play. Hamlet , III, ii. 

The meaning of this phrase is not at all 
certain, but it is usually taken that miching is 
“skulking” ( miclte ; from O.Fr. muchier , 
mucier , to hide), and malicho is a form of Span. 
malhecho , a misdeed, mischief; hence skulking 
or sneaking mischief. The form we give is that 
of the First Folio; in the First Quarto the 
words appear as myching Mallico , and in the 
Second Quarto munching Mallico. 

Mickey Finn. A draught or powder slipped 
into liquor to render the drinker unconscious. 
The term comes from a notorious figure in 
19th century Chicago. 

Mickey Mouse. One of the most famous and 
popular characters of Walt Disney’s animated 
cartoons. Steamboat Willie (1928) starring 
Mickey Mouse was the first animated cartoon 
in colours. 

To take the mickey out of a thing is to “de- 
bunk” it, to show what it really is without 
pretences or false claims. 

Mickleton Jury. A corruption of mickle- 
tourn (magntts turnus ), i.e. the jury of court 
leets, which were visited at Easter and Michael- 
mas by the county sheriffs in their tourns. In 
Anglo-Saxon times the great council of the 
kings was known as the Micklemoot (great 
assembly). 

Microcosm (ml kro kozm) (Gr. little world). 
So man is called by Paracelsus. The ancients 
considered the world (see Macrocosm) as a 
living being; the sun and moon being its two 
eyes , the earth its body , the ether its intellect , 
and the sky its wings. When man was looked 
on as the world in miniature, it was thought 
that the movements of the world and of man 
corresponded, and if one could be ascertained, 
the other could be easily inferred; hence arose 
the system of astrology, which professed to 
interpret the events of a man’s life by the 
corresponding movements, etc., of the stars. 

Micronesia (ml kro ne' zha). The name given 
to the groups of small Pacific islands north 
of the Equator and east of the Philippines, 
including the Marianas, the Caroline and the 
Marshall Islands. 




Midas 


605 


Midsummer moon 


Midas (mi' das). A legendary king of Phrygia 
who requested of the gods that everything he 
touched might be turned to gold. His request 
was granted, but as his food became gold the 
moment he touched it, he prayed the gods 
to take their favour back. He was then ordered 
to bathe in the Pactolus, and the river ever 
after rolled over golden sands. 

Another story told of him is, that when 
appointed to judge a musical contest between 
Apollo and Pan, he gave judgment in favour 
of the satyr; whereupon Apollo in contempt 
gave the king a pair of ass’s ears. Midas hid 
them under his Phrygian cap; but his barber 
discovered them, and, not daring to mention 
the matter, dug a hole and relieved his mind 
by whispering in it “Midas has ass’s ears,” 
then covering it up again. Budteus gives a 
different version. He says that Midas kept spies 
to tell him everything that transpired through- 
out his kingdom, and the proverb “kings have 
long arms’* was changed to “Midas has long 
ears.” 

A parallel of this tale is told of Portzmach, 
king of a part of Brittany. He had all the barbers 
of his kindom put to death, least they should 
announce to the public that he had the ears of 
a horse. An intimate friend was found willing 
to shave him, after swearing profound secrecy; 
but not able to contain himself, he confided his 
secret to the sands of a river bank. The reeds of 
this river were used for pan-pipes and haut- 
bois, which repeated the words “Portzmach — 
King Portzmach has horse’s ears.’’ 

Midden. The midden or refuse heaps of pre- 
historic and other ancient encampments have 
yielded a great amount of archaeological 
information as to the habits and state of 
civilization of the people who made them. 

Better marry over the midden than over the 
moor. Better seek a wife among your neigh- 
bours whom you know than among strangers 
of whom you know nothing. 

Ilka cock craws loodest on its ain midden. 
In English, “Every cock crows loudest on his 
own dunghill.” 

Kitchen-midden. See Kitchen. 

Middle. Middle Ages. Formerly considered to 
have begun in 476, when the Western Roman 
Empire collapsed, and ending when Byzantium 
fell to the Turks in 1453. Now it is variously 
defined as beginning with the foundation of the 
Eastern Roman Empire in 330, or from the 
decline of classical culture during the 5th cen- 
tury. or from about the end of the Dark Ages 
(q.v.) in the 11th century. It is certainly not a 
homogeneous period, and for general defini- 
tion can be taken to be the era between classical 
antiquity and the dawn of the Renaissance in 
the 15th century. Of course each country has 
its own ideas of what constituted the Middle 
Ages in its particular history. 

Middle Kingdom is the Chinese term for 
China proper, the eighteen inner provinces; 
anciently for the Chinese Empire as being 
situated in the centre of the world. The Middle 
Empire in Egyptian history is the great period 
from 2200 to 1690 b.c. comprising the XI to 
the XIV Dynasties. 


Middlesex. The territory of the Middle 
Saxons — that is, between Essex, Sussex, and 
Wessex. 

Midgard. In Scandinavian mythology, the 
abode of the first pair, from whom sprang the 
human race. It was made of the eyebrows of 
Ymer, and was joined to Asgard by the rain- 
bow bridge called Bifrost, 

Asgard is the abode of the celestials. 

Utgard is the abode of the giants. 

Midgard is between the two— better than Utgard, 
but inferior to Asgard. 

Mid-Lent Sunday. The fourth Sunday in Lent. 
It is called dominiea refectionis (Refreshment 
Sunday), because the first lesson is the banquet 
given by Joseph to his brethren, and the gospel 
of the day is the miraculous feeding of the five 
thousand. It is the day on which simnel cakes 
(</.v.) are eaten, and it is also called Mothering 
Sunday ( q.v .). 

Midnight Oil. Late hours. 

Burning the midnight oil. Sitting up late, 
especially when engaged on literary work. 

Smells of the midnight oil. S^It SMEJ^ of 
the lamp, under Lamp. 

Midrash (mid' rash). The rabbinical investiga- 
tion into and interpretation of the Old 
Testament writings, which began lyhertf-the 
Temple at Jerusalem was destroyed and was 
committed to writing in a large number of 
commentaries between the 2nd and 11th 
centuries a.d. The three ancient Midrashlm 
( Mechiltha , Sifre, and Sifra — first half of the 
2nd century) contain both the Halachah and 
the Haggadah (q.v.). 

Midsummer. The week or so round about the 
summer solstice (June 21st). Midsummer Day 
is June 24th, St. John the Baptist’s Day, and 
one of the quarter days. 

Midsummer ale. Festivities which used to 
take place in rural districts at this season. 
Here Ale has the same extended meaning as 
in “Church-ale” (q.v.). 

Midsummer madness. Olivia says to Mal- 
volio, “Why, this is very midsummer madness” 
(Twelfth Night , III, iv). The reference is to the 
rabies of dogs, which was supposed to be 
brought on by midsummer heat. People who 
were a bit inclined to be mad used to be said 
to have but a mile to midsummer. 

Midsummer men. Orpine or Live-long, a 
plant of the Sedum tribe; so called because it 
used to be set in pots or shells on midsummer 
eve, and hung up in the house to tell damsels 
whether their sweethearts were true or not. 
If the leaves bent to the right, it was a sign 
of fidelity; if to the left, the “true-love’s heart 
was cold and faithless.” 

Midsummer moon. “ 'Tis midsummer moon 
with you”; you are stark mad. Madness was 
supposed to be affected by the moon, and to be 
aggravated by summer heat; so it naturally 
follows that the full moon at midsummer is the 
time when madness would be most outrageous. 

* What’s this midsummer moon? 

Is all the world gone a-madding? 

Dryden: Amphitryon , IV, L 




Midsummer Night’s Dream 


606 


Milk-run 


Midsummer Night’s Dream, A. Shakespeare’s 
comedy (acted 1595, first printed 1600) is 
indebted to Chaucer’s Knight's Tale for the 
Athenian setting, and to Ovid’s Metamorphoses 
for the Pyramus and Thisbe interlude; but its 
airy grace and the ingenious inter-weaving of 
the four separate threads are all Shakespeare’s 
own. 

Midway Islands are a cluster of islands in the 
North Pacific, about 1200 miles NW. of 
Hawaii and forming part of that Territory. The 
Japanese suffered a heavy naval defeat near 
the islands in June, 1942. 

Midwife (O.E., mid , with; wif \ woman). 
The nurse who is with the mother in her 
labour. 

Midwife of men’s thoughts. So Socrates 
termed himself; and, as Mr. Grote observes, 
“No other man ever struck out of others so 
many sparks to set light to original thought.” 
Out of his intellectual school sprang Plato and 
the Dialectic system; Euclid and the Megaric; 
Aristippus and the Cyrenaic; Antisthenes and 
the Cynic. * 

Mihrab. See Keblah. 

Mikado (mikado) (Jap. m/, exalted; kado , 
cat$ or door). The title of the Emperor of 
Japan (cp. Shogun). 

Mike. To mike, or to do a mike. To idle away 
one’s time, pretending to be waiting for a job, 
or just hanging about and avoiding one. The 
word may be from miche , to skulk ( see 
Miching Malicho). More recently mike has 
become a short name for the microphone. 

Shall the blessed sun of heaven prove a micher 
[truant loiterer ]? — Henry IV ’, Pt. /, II, iv. 

Milan (mi ISnO- The English form of Milano, 
the capital city of Lombardy, in Latin Medio- 
lanum , in the middle of the plain, i.e. the Plain 
of Lombardy. In the Middle Ages Milan was 
famous for its steel, used for making swords, 
chain armour, etc. 

The edict of Milan. Proclaimed by Constan- 
tine, after the conquest of Italy (313), to 
secure to Christians the restitution of their 
civil and religious rights. 

The Milan Decree. A decree made by 
Napoleon, dated “Milan, Dec. 27th, 1807, 
declaring “the whole British Empire to be in a 
state of blockade, and forbidding all countries 
either from trading with Great Britain or from 
even using an article of British manufacture.” 

This decree was killing the goose which laid 
the golden eggs, for England was the best 
customer of the very countries thus restricted 
from dealing with her. 

Milanion. See Atalanta’s Race. 

Mile. A measure of length; in the British 
Empire and the United States, 1,760 yd.; 
so called from Lat. mille, a thousand, the 
Roman lineal measure being 1,000 paces, or 
about 1,680 yds. The old Irish and Scottish 
miles were a good deal longer than the 
standard English, that in Ireland (still in use in 
country parts) being 2,240 yd, the Scottish 
1980 yd. 


The Nautical or Geographical Mile is 
supposed to be one minute of a great circle of* 
the earth; but as the earth is not a true sphere 
the length of a minute is variable, so a mean 
length — 6,080 ft. (2,026 yd. 2 ft.) — has been 
fixed by the British Admiralty. The Geo? 
graphical Mile varies slightly with different 
nations, so there is a further International 
Geographical Mile , which is invariable at one- 
fifteenth of a degree of the earth’s equator, 
equal to about 4-61 statute miles of 5,280 ft. 

Milesian Fables (ml le' zi &n). A Greek collec- 
tion of witty but obscene short stories by 
Antonius Diogenes, and compiled by Aristi- 
des, of Miletus (2nd cent, b.c.), whence the 
name. They were translated into Latin by 
Sidenna about the time of the civil wars of 
Marius and Sulla, and were greedily read by 
the luxurious Sybarites, but are no longer 
extant. Similar stories however, are still 
sometimes called Milesian Tales. 

Milesians. Properly, the inhabitants of 
Miletus; but the name has been given to the 
ancient Irish because of the legend that two 
sons of Milesius, a fabulous king of Spain, 
conquered the country and repeopled it after 
exterminating the Firbolgs — the aborigines. 

My family, by my father’s side, are all the true ould 
Milesians, and related to the O’Flahertys, and 
O’Shaughnesses, and the M’Lauchlins, the O’Don- 
naghans, O’Callaghans, O’Geogaghans, and all the 
thick blood of the nation; and I myself am an 
O’Brallaghan, which is the ouldest of them all.— 
Macklin : Love a la Mode. 

Milione, II. The name given by the Venetians 
to Marco Polo, who when relating his adven- 
tures in the East talked of the great wonders, 
the millions, etc. 

Military Knights of Windsor. See under 
Knight. 

Milk, To. Slang for to get money out of some- 
body in an underhand way; also, to plunder 
one’s creditors, and (in mining) to exhaust the 
veins of ore after selling the mine. 

A land of milk and honey. One abounding in 
all good things, or of extraordinary fertility. 
Joel iii, 18, speaks of “the mountains flowing 
with milk and honey.” Figuratively used to 
denote the blessings of heaven. 

Jerusalem the golden. 

With milk and honey blest. 

Milk and water. Insipid, without energy or 
character, baby-pap (of literature, etc.). 

Milk teeth. The first, temporary, teeth of a 
child. 

The milk of human kindness. Sympathy, 
compassion. The phrase is from Macbeth , I, v: 
.... yet I do fear thy nature. 

It is too full o’ th* milk of human kindness. 

So that accounts for the milk in the coconut! 
Said when a sudden discovery of the reason 
for some action or state of things is made. 

To cry over spilt milk. See Cry. 

Milk-run. R.A.F. and A.A.F. expression 
during World War II for any sortie flown 
regularly day after day, or a sortie against an 
easy target on which inexperienced pilots 
could be used with impunity. 



Milksop 


607 


Milton of Germany 


Milksop. An effeminate person; one without 
energy, one under petticoat government. The 
allusion is to young, helpless children, who are 
fed on pap. 

Milky Way. See Galaxy. 

Mill. To fight, or a fight. It is the same word 
as the mill that grinds flour (from Lat. molere , 
to grind). Grinding was anciently performed 
by pulverizing with a stone or pounding with 
the hand. To mill is to beat with the fist, as 
persons used to beat corn with a stone. 

To mill about is to move aimlessly in a circle, 
like a herd of cattle. 

The mill cannot grind with water that is past. 

An old proverb, given in Herbert’s Collection 
(1639). It implies both that one must not miss 
one’s opportunities and that it is no good 
crying over spilt milk. 

The mills of God grind slowly. Retribution 
may be delayed, but it is sure to overtake the 
wicked. The Adagia of Erasmus puts it, Sero 
molunt deorum mala * , and the sentiment is to 
be found in many authors, ancient and modern. 
The mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceed- 
ing small; 

Though with patience He stands waiting, with exact- 
ness He grinds all. Longfellow: Retribution. 

Millennium (mi len' i um). A thousand years 
(Lat. mi lie, annus). In Rev. xx, 2, it is said that 
an angel bound Satan a thousand years, and 
in verse 4 we are told of certain martyrs who 
will come to life again, and “reign with Christ 
a thousand years.” “This,” says St. John, “is 
the first resurrection”; and this is what is 
meant by the millennium. 

Millenarians, or Chiliasts, is the name 
applied to an early Christian sect who held this 
opinion strongly. In the 19th century belief 
in this doctrine was revived by various sects 
such as the Plymouth Brethren. 

Millennial Church. See Shakers. 

Miller. A Joe Miller. A stale jest. A certain 
John Mottley compiled a book of facetiae in 
1739, which he, without permission, entitled 
Joe Miller's Jests , from Joseph Miller (1684- 
1738), a popular comedian of the day who 
could neither read nor write. A stale jest is 
called a “Joe Miller,” implying that it is 
stolen from Mottley’s compilation. Byron, in 
English Bards and Scotch Reviewers , refers to 
critics Who “take hackney’d jokes from 
Miller.’* 

More water glideth by the mill than wots the 
miller of ( Titus Andronicus , II, i). Many things 
are done in a house which the master and 
mistress never dream of. 

To drown the miller. To put too much water 
into spirits, or tea. The idea is that the supply 
of water is so great that even the miller, who 
uses a water wheel, is drowned with it. 

To give someone to the miller. To engage him 
in conversation till enough people have gathered 
round to set upon the victim with stones, dirt, 
garbage, and all the arms which haste supplies 
a mob with (see Mill). 

Miller’s thumb. A small freshwater fish 
four or five inches long, Cottus gobio y also 
called the Bullhead , from its large head. 


To put the miller’s eye out. To make broth 
or pudding so thin that even a miller’s eye 
would be puzzled to find the flour. 

Lumps of unleavened flour in bread are 
sometimes called miller's eyes . 

Millerites. Followers of William Miller of 
Massachusetts (1782-1849) who in 1831 
preached that the end of the world would 
come in 1843 — now called Adventists. 

Milliner. A corruption of Milaner ; so called 
from Milan, in Italy, which at one time gave 
the law to Europe in all matters of taste, dress, 
and elegance. 

Nowadays one nearly always means a 
woman when one speaks of a milliner, but it 
was not always so, Ben Jonson, in Every Man 
in his Humour , I, iii, speaks of a “milliner’s 
wife,” and the French have still une modiste 
and un modiste. 

Man-Milliner. An effeminate fellow, or one 
who busies himself over trifles. 

The Morning Herald sheds tears of joy over the 
fashionable virtues of the rising generation, and finds 
that we shall make better man-milliners, better 
lacqueys, and better courtiers than ever. — Hazlitt: 
Political Essays (1814). 

Millstone. Hard as the nether millstone. Un- 
feeling, obdurate. The lower or “nether” of 
the two millstones is firmly fixed and very hard; 
the upper stone revolves round it on a shaft, 
and tne corn, running down a tube inserted in 
the upper stone, is ground by the motion of 
the upper stone upon the lower one. 

The millstones of Montisci. They produce 
flour of themselves, whence the proverb, 
“Grace comes from God, but millstones from 
Montisci.” (Boccaccio: Decameron , day viii, 
novel iii.) 

To look (or see) through a millstone. To be 

wonderfully sharpsighted. 

Then . . . since your eies are so sharp that you can 
not only looke through a milstone, but cleane through 
the minde . . . — Lyly: Eu^hues. 

To see through a millstone as well as most 
means that in a complicated problem one can 
see as reasonable a solution as the most 
clear-sighted person, though that may not be 
far. 

To weep millstones. Not weep at all. 

Bid Glos’tcr think on this, and he will weep — 
Aye, millstones as he lessoned us to weep. 

Shakespeare: Richard III , 1, vi. 

Millwood, Sarah. See Barnwell. 

Milo (mi' 16). A celebrated Greek athlete of 
Crotona in the late 6th cent. b.c. It is 
said that he carried through the stadium at 
Olympia a heifer four years old, and ate the 
whole of it afterwards. When old he attempted 
to tear in two an oak-tree, but the parts closed 
upon his hands, and while held fast he was 
devoured by wolves. 

Milton. “Milton,” says Dryden, in the pre- 
face to his Fables , “was the poetical son of 
Spenser. . . . Milton has acknowledged to me 
that Spenser was his original.” 

Milton of Germany. Friedrich G. Klopstock 
(1724-1803), author of The Messiah (1773). 
Coleridge says he is “a very German Milton 
indeed.’ 


608 


Minos 


Mimosa (mi mo' z&). Niebuhr says the Mimosa 
“droops its branches whenever anyone 
approaches it, seeming to salute those who 
retire under its shade.” The name reflects this 
notion, as the plant was thought to mimic 
th& motions of animals, as does the Sensitive 
Plant. 

Mince Pies at Christmas lime are said to have 
been emblematical of the manger in which 
our Saviour was laid. The paste over the 
“offering” was made in form of a cratch or 
hay-rack . Southey speaks of — 

Old bridges dangerously narrow, and angles in 
them like the corners of an English mince-oie, for the 
foot-passengers to take shelter in. — Esprinella's 
Utters , III, 384 (1807). 

Mince pies. Rhyming slang for “the eyes.” 

To make mincemeat of. Utterly to demolish; 
to shatter to pieces. Mincemeat is meat 
minced, i.e. cut up very fine. 

Mincing Lane (London). Called in the 13th 
century Menechinelane , Monechenlane , etc., 
and in the time of Henry VIJI Mynchyn Lane. 
The name is from O.E. mynechenn , a nun (fern, 
of munuc , monk), and the street is probably 
so called froip the tenements held there by the 
nuns of St. Helen’s, in Bishopsgate Street. 
Mincing Lane is the centre of the tea trade, for 
which it is often used as a generic term. 

Mind. Mind your own business ; mind your eye, 
etc. See these words. 

To have a mind for it. To desire to possess it; 
to wish for it. Mind meaning desire, intention, 
is by no means uncommon: “I mind to tell him 
plainly what I think.” ( Henry Vi, Pt. II, IV, i.) 
“I shortly mind to leave you.” ( Henry VI, Pt. 
//, IV, i.) 

Minden Boys. The 20th Foot, now the 
Lancashire Fusiliers; so called from their 
noted bravery at Minden, Prussia, Aug. 1st, 
1759, when the British and Hanoverian army 
under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick de- 
feated the French. 

Minerva (mi ner' va). The Roman goddess of 
wisdom and patroness of the arts and trades, 
fabled to have sprung, with a tremendous 
battle-cry, fully armed from the head of 
Jupiter. She is identified with the Greek 
Athene, and was one of the three chief deities, 
the others being Jupiter and Juno. She is 
represented as grave and majestic, clad in a 
helmet and with drapery over a coat of mail, 
and bearing the aegis on her breast. The most 
famous statue of this goddess was by Phidias, 
and was anciently one of the wonders of the 
world. 

Invita Minerva. Against the grain. Thus, 
Charles Kean acted comedy invita Minerva , 
his forte lying another way. Sir Philip Sidney 
attempted the Horatian metres in English 
verse invita Minerva. The phrase is from 
Horace’s Ars Poetica , i, 385 — Tu nihil invita 
dices faciesve Minerva (Beware of attempting 
anything for which nature has not fitted you). 

The Minerva Press. A printing establish- 
ment in Leadenhall Street, London, famous 
in the late 18th century for its trashy, ultra- 
sentimental novels, which were characterized 
by complicated plots, and the labyrinths of 


difficulties into which the hero and heroine 
got involved before they could be married. 

Miniature. Originally, a rubrication or a small 
painting in an illuminated MS., which was 
done with minium or red lead. Hence, the word 
came to express any small portrait or picture 
on vellum or ivory; but it is in no way con- 
nected with the Latin minor or minimus. 

Minimalist is a term applied in Russian 
politics to a less radical member of the Social 
Revolutionary party. 

Minims (Lat. Fratres Minimi, least of the 
brethren). A term of self-abasement assumed 
by a mendicant order founded by St. Francis 
of Paula, in 1453; they went bare-footed, and 
wore a coarse, black woollen stuff, fastened 
with a woollen girdle, which they never put 
off, day or night. The order of St. Francis of 
Assisi had already engrossed the “humble” 
title of Fratres Minores (inferior brothers). 
The superior of the minims is called corrector . 

Minister. Literally, an inferior person, in 
opposition to magister, a superior. One is 
connected with the Latin minus, and the 
other with magis. Our Lord says, “Who- 
soever will be great among you, let him be 
your minister,” where the antithesis is W'ell 
preserved; and Gibbon mentions — 
a multitude of cooks, and inferior ministers, employed 
in the service of the kitchens . — Decline and Fall, ch. 
xxxi. 

The minister of a church is a man who 
serves the parish or congregation; and a 
minister of the Crown is the sovereign’s or 
state’s servant. 

Florimond de Remond, speaking of Albert 
Babinot, one of the disciples of Calvin, says, 
“He was a student of the Institutes, read at 
the hall of the Equity school in Poitiers, and 
was called la Ministerie .” Calvin, in allusion 
thereto, used to call him “Mr. Minister,” 
whence not only Babinot but all the other 
clergy of the Calvinistic Church were called 
ministers. 

Minnehaha (min e ha' ha) ( Laughing-water ). 
The lovely daughter of the old arrow-maker of 
the Dacotahs, and wife of Hiawatha in Long- 
fellow’s poem. She died of famine. 

Minnesingers (min' e sing erz). Minstrels. The 
lyric poets of 12th- to 14th-century Germany 
were so called, because the subject of their 
lvrics was Minne-sang (lovc-ditty). The chief 
Minnesingers were Heinrich von Ofterdingen, 
Wolfram von Eschenbach, Walther von der 
Vogelweidc, and (the earliest) Heinrich von 
Veldekc. All of them were men of noble birth, 
and they were succeeded by the Meistersingers 
($.v.). 

Minoan. See Minos. 

Minories (min' or iz) (London). So called from 
the Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Mary of 
the Order of St. Clare which, till the Dissolu- 
tion of the Monasteries, stood on the site. 

Minorities, or Minors. See Franciscans. 

Minos (ml' nos). A legendary king and law- 
giver of Crete, made at death supreme judge 
of the lower world, before whom all the dead 
appeared to give an account of their steward- 



Minotaur 


609 


Miseensc&ie 


ship, and to receive the reward of their deeds. 
He was the husband of Pasiphte and the 
owner of the labyrinth constructed by Daedalus. 
From his name we have the adjective Minoan , 
pertaining to Crete: the Minoan period is the 
Cretan bronze age, roughly about 2500-1200 

B.C. 

Minotaur (min' 6 tor). A mythical monster 
with the head of a bull and the body of a man, 
fabled to have been the offspring of Pasiphae 
and a bull that was sent to her by Poseidon. 
Minos kept it in his labyrinth and fed it on 
human flesh, 7 youths and 7 maidens being 
sent as tribute from Athens every year for the 
purpose. Theseus slew this monster. 

Minstrel. Originally, one who had some official 
duty to perform (Lat. ministerialis ), but quite 
early in the Middle Ages restricted to one 
whose duty it was to entertain his employer 
with music, story-telling, juggling, etc.; 
hence a travelling gleeman and entertainer. 

Mint. The name of the herb is from Lat. menth 
(Gr. mint ha), so called from Minthc, daughter 
of Cocytus, and a favourite of Pluto. This 
nymph was metamorphosed by Pluto’s wife 
(Proserpine) out of jealousy, into the herb 
called after her name. The fable means that 
mint is a capital medicine. Minthe was a 
favourite of Pluto, or death, that is, was sick 
and on the point of death; but was changed 
into the herb mint, that is, was cured thereby. 

Could Pluto’s queen, with jealous fury storm 
And Minthe to a fragrant herb transform? Ovid. 

Mint sling. A mixed drink found in the 
U.S.A. as early as 1804. 

The Mint, a place where money is coined, 
gets its name from O.E. my net , representing 
Lat. moneta, money. 

Minute. A minute of time (one-sixtieth part 
of an hour) is so called from the mediaeval 
Latin pars minuta prima , which, in the old 
system of sexagesimal fractions, denoted one- 
sixtieth part of the unit. In the same way, in 
Geometry, etc., a minute is one-sixtieth part 
of a degree. 

A minute of a speech, meeting, etc., is a 
rough draft taken down in minute or small 
writing, to be afterwards engrossed , or written 
larger, it is from the Fr. minute. 

Minute gun. A signal of distress at sea, or a 
pun fired at the death of a distinguished 
individual; so called because a minute elapses 
between the discharges. 

Minute-men. American militiamen who dur- 
ing the War of Independence promised to take 
to arms at a minute’s notice. 

Minute (mi nut'), from the same Latin word, 
describes something very small. 

Miocene (mi' 6 sen). The geological period 
immediately preceding the Pliocene, when the 
mastodon, dinotherium, protohippus and 
other creatures flourished. 

Miramolin. The title in the Middle Ages of the 
Emperor of Morocco. 

Mirror. Alasnam’s mirror, the “touchstone 
of virtue,” showed if the lady beloved was 
chaste as well as beautiful. {Arabian Nights ; 
Prince Zeyn Alasnam.) 


Cambuscan’s mirror. Sent to Cambuscan 
by the King of Araby and Ind; it warned of 
the approach of 41 fortune, and told if love 
was returned. (Chaucer: Canterbury Tales ; 
The Squire's Tale.) 

Lao’s mirror reflected the mind and* its 
thoughts, as an ordinary mirror reflects the 
outward seeming. (Goldsmith: Citizen of the 
World , xlv.) 

Merlin’s magic mirror, given by Merlin to 
King Ryence. It informed the king of treason, 
secret plots, and projected invasions. (Spenser: 
Faerie Queene , 111, ii.) 

Reynard’s wonderful mirror. This mirror 
existed only in the brain of Master Fox; he 
told the queen lion that whoever looked in it 
could see what was done a mile off. The wood 
of the frame was not subject to decay, being 
made of the same block as King Crampart’s 
magic horse. ( Reynard the Fox , ch. xii.) 

Vulcan’s mirror showed the past, the present, 
and the future. Sir John Davies tells us that 
Cupid gave it to Antinous, and Antinous gave 
it to Penelope, who saw therein “the court of 
Queen Elizabeth.” ; 

The Mirror for Magistrates. A large 
collection of poems, published 1555-59, by 
William Baldwin, George Ferrers, and many 
others, with an “Induction” (1563) by Thofnas 
Sackville. It contained in metrical form 
biographical accounts of the Falls of Princes. 
It was much extended in four later editions 
up to 1587. 

The Mirror of Human Salvation. See 

Speculum Humanae Salvationis. 

The Mirror of Knighthood. One of the books 
in Don Quixote’s library, a Spanish romance 
( Cavallero del Febo, “The Knight of the Sun”), 
one of the Amadis group. It was at one time 
very popular. 

The barber taking another book, said, “This is the 
Mirror of Knighthood — Pt. I, bk. I, vi. 

Butler calls Hudibras “the Mirror of 
Knighthood” (bk. I, xv). 

Mirza (mer' za) (Pers. royal prince). The term 
is used in two ways by the Persians; when 
prefixed to a surname it is simply a title of 
honour: but when annexed to the surname, it 
means a prince of the blood royal. ' ^ 

Miscreant means a false believer. (Fr. mi - 
creant.) A term first applied to the Moham- 
medans, who, in return, call Christians 
infidels , and associate with the word all that 
we mean by “miscreants.” 

Misc (mez) (O.Fr. expenses), means an 
honorarium, especially that given by the people 
of Wales to a new Prince of Wales on his 
entrance upon his principality, or by the 
people of the county palatine of Chester on 
change of an Earl (the Prince of Wales is 
Earl of Chester). At Chester a mise-book is 
kept, in which every town and village is rated 
to this honorarium. 

Littleton (Diet.) says the usual sum is £500. 

Mise en sc£ne (Fr. setting on stage). The 
stage setting of a play, including the scenery, 
properties, etc., and the general arrangement 
of the piece. Also used metaphorically. 


MJsfcr* 


610 


Misnomers 


Mlsfrre (mi zar') (Fr. misery, poverty). In 
solo whist and some other card games the 
declaration made when the caller undertakes 
to lose every trick. 

Miserere (miz e re' re). The fifty-first psalm is 
so called because its opening words are 
Miserere met\ Deus (Have me^cy upon me, O 
God. See Neck-verse). One of the evening 
services of Lent is called miserere , because this 
penitential psalm is sung, after which a sermon 
is delivered. The under side of a folding seat 
in choir-stalls is called a miserere , or, more 
properly, a misericord ; when turned up it 
forms a ledge-seat sufficient to rest the aged 
in a standing position. 

Misers. The most renowned are : — 

Baron Aguilar or Ephraim Lopes Pereira 
d^Aguilar (1740-1802), born at Vienna and 
died at Islington, worth £200,000. 

Daniel Dancer (1716-94). His sister lived 
with him, and was a similar character, but 
died before him, and he left his wealth to the 
widow of Sir Henry Tempest, who nursed 
him in his last illness. 

Sir Harvey Elwes, \yho died worth £250,000, 
but never spent more than £110 a year. His 
sister-in-law inherited £100,000, but actually 
starved herself to death, and her son John 
(1714-89), M.P., an eminent brewer in South- 
wark, never bought any clothes, never suffered 
his shoes to be cleaned, and grudged every 
penny spent in food. 

Thomas Guy , founder of Guy’s Hospital 
(<?v.). 

William Jennings (1701-97), a neighbour 
and friend of Elwes, died worth £200,000. 
See Harpagon. 

Mishna (mish' n&) (Heb. repetition or in- 
struction). The collection of moral precepts, 
traditions, etc., forming the basis of the 
Talmud; the second or oral law {see Gemara). 
It is divided into six parts: (1) agriculture; 
(2) Sabbaths, fasts, and festivals; (3) marriage 
and divorce; (4) civil and penal laws; (5) 
sacrifices; (6) holy persons and things. 
Misnomers. In English nomenclature we have 
many words and short phrases that can be 
called “misnomers”; some of these have arisen 
through pure ignorance (and when once a 
useful word has been adopted and taken to 
ourmosoms nothing — not even conviction of 
etymological errors — will eradicate it), some 
through confusion of ideas or the taking of 
one thing for another, and some through the 
changes that time brings about. Catgut , for 
instance, was in all probability, at one time 
made from the intestines of a cat , and now 
that sheep, horses, asses, etc., but never cats , 
are used for the purpose the name still remains. 

A large number of these “misnomers” will 
be found scattered throughout this book {see 
especially Cleopatra’s Needle, German 
Silver, Honeydew, Humble Pif, Indians 
(American), Jerusalem Artichoke, Meer- 
schaum, Mother-of-Pearl, Pompey’s Pillar, 
Sand-blind, Slug-horn, Ventriloquism, 
Wolf’s-bane, and Wormwood); and we give 
a few more below : — 

Black beetles are not beetles; their alterna- 
tive name, cockroach , is from the Span. 
cucaracha. 


Black lead is plumbago or graphite, a form of 
carbon, and has no lead in its composition. 
See under Lead. 

Blind worms are no more blind than moles 
are; they have very quick and brilliant eyes, 
though somewhat small. 

Brazilian grass docs not come from Brazil 
or even grow in Brazil, nor is it a grass. It 
consists of strips of a palm-leaf ( Chamcerops 
argentea ), and is chiefly imported from Cuba. 

Burgundy pitch is not pitch, nor is it manu- 
factured or exported from Burgundy. The best 
is a resinous substance prepared from common 
frankincense, and brought from Hamburg; 
but by far the larger quantity is a mixture of 
resin and palm oil. 

China , as a name for porcelain, gives rise 
to the contradictory expressions British china, 
S6vres china, Dresden china, Dutch china, 
Chelsea china, etc.; like wooden or iron mile- 
.s tones, brass sho c-horns, coppers for our 
bronze coinage, etc. 

Dutch clocks are not of Dutch but German 
( Deutsch ) manufacture. 

Elements. Fire, air, earth, and water, still 
often called “the four elements,” are not 
elements at all. 

Forlorn hope {q.v.) is not etymologically 
connected with hope, though the term is usually 
employed in connexion with almost hopeless 
enterprises. The actual derivation is the Dutch 
verloren ho up , a lost troop. 

Galvanized iron is not galvanized. It is 
simply iron coated with zinc, and this is done 
by dipping the iron into molten zinc. 

Guernsey lily ( Nerine or Imbrofui sarnie ns is) 
is not a native of Guernsey but of Japan and 
South Africa. It was discovered by Kaempfer 
in Japan, and the ship which was bringing 
specimens of the new plant to Europe was 
wrecked on the coast of Guernsey; some of the 
bulbs that were washed ashore took root and 
germinated, hence the misnomer. 

Guinea-pigs iq.v.) have no connexion with 
the pig family, nor do they come from Guinea. 

Honeysuckle. So named because of the old 
but entirely erroneous idea that bees extracted 
honey therefrom. The honeysuckle is useless to 
the bee. 

Indian ink comes from China, not from 
India. 

Portland , Isle of. in Dorset, is a peninsula. 

Rice paper is not made from rice, but from 
the pith of the Formosan plant, Aralia papyri - 
fera, or hollow plant, so called because it is 
hollow when the pith has been pushed out. 

Running the gauntlet ( see Gauntlet) has 
nothing to do with gauntlets (gloves), though 
these may be used in the process. 

Salt of lemon is in reality potassium acid 
oxalate, or potassium quadroxalate. 

Silver paper , in which chocolates, etc., are 
sometimes wrapped, is not, of course, made 
from silver. It is usually composed of tin-foil. 

Slow-worm, Not so called because it is slow; 
the first syllable is corrupted from slay and it 
was called the slay-worm (— serpent) from the 
idea that this perfectly harmless creature was 
venomous. 

Titmouse. Nothing to do with mouse % 
though the erroneous plural titmice has now 



Misprision 


611 


Mistletoe 


probably come to stay. The second syllable 
represents O.E. mase> used of several small 
birds. Tit is Scandinavian, and also implies 
“small,” as in titbit. 

Tonquin beans. A geographical blunder, for 
they are the seeds of Dipteryx odorata , from 
Tonka, in Guiana, not Tonquin, in Asia. 

Turkeys do not come from Turkey, but 
North America, through Spain, or India. The 
French call them “dindon, i.e. dTnde or coq 
d'Inde> a term equally incorrect. 

Turkey rhubarb neither grows in Turkey, nor 
is it imported from Turkey. It grows in the 
great mountain chain between Tartary and 
Siberia, and is a Russian monopoly. 

Turkish baths are not of Turkish origin 
though they were introduced from the Near 
East, popularly associated with Turkish rule 
and customs. The correct name of Hammam 
was commonly used in England in the 17th 
century, and for many years there was a 
Hummum’s Hotel in Covent Garden on the 
site of a 17th-century Turkish Bath. 

Whalebone is no bone at all, nor does 
it possess any properties of bone. It is a sub- 
stance attached to the upper jaw of the whale, 
and serves to strain the algas and small life 
from the water which the creature takes up in 
large mouthfuls. 

Misprision. (Fr. mepris). Concealment, neglect 
of; in law, an offence bordering on a capital 
otfence. 

Misprision of felony. Neglecting to reveal a 
felony when known. 

Misprision of treason. Neglecting to disclose 
or purposely concealing a treasonable design. 

Misrule, Feast of. See King of Misrule. 

Miss, Mistress, Mrs. (masteress, lady-master). 
Miss used to be written Mis, and is the first 
syllable of Mistress; Mrs. is the contraction 
of mistress , called Mis’ess. So late as the reign 
of George II unmarried women used to be 
styled Mrs., as, Mrs. Lepel, Mrs. Bellenden, 
Mrs. Blount, all unmarried women. (See Pope’s 
Letters.) 

Mistress was originally an honourable term 
for a sweetheart or lover — “Mistress mine, 
where you are roaming,” but in the 17th cen- 
tury “Miss” was often used for a paramour, 
e.g. Charles IPs “misses”. It has since come to 
mean a woman who lives with a man as his 
wife but without being so. 

Mistress Roper. The Marines, or any one 
of them; so called by the regular sailors, 
because they handle the ropes as unhandily as 
girls. 

The mistress of the night. The tuberose is so 
called because it emits its strongest fragrance 
after sunset. 

In the language of flowers, the tuberose 
signifies “the pleasures of love.” 

The mistress of the world. Ancient Rome 
was so called, because all the known world 
gave her allegiance. 

To kiss the mistress. To make a good hit, 
to shoot right into the eye of the target; in 
bowls, to graze another bowl with your own; 
the Jack used to be called the “mistress,” 

20 * 


and when one ball just touches another it is 

said “to kiss it.” 

Rub on, and kiss the mistress. — Troilus and Cres - 
slda, III, ii. 

Miss. To fail to hit, or — in such phrases as 
I miss you now you are gone — to lack, to feel 

the want of. 

A miss is as good as a mile. A failure is a 
failure be it ever so little, and is no more be 
it ever so great; a narrow escape is an escape. 
An old form of the phrase was An inch in a miss 
is as good as an ell. 

The missing link. A popular term for that 
stage in the evolution of man when he was 
developing characteristics that differentiated 
him from the other primates with whom he 
shared a common ancestry. Fossil remains 
found in various parts *>f the world have each 
had their protagonists among anthropolo- 
gists as the “missing link”, but no conclusive 
evidence has so far been found. 

Mississippi Bubble. The French “South Sea 
Scheme,” and equally disastrous. It was 
projected by the Scots financier, John Law 
(1671-1729), and had for its object the pay- 
ment of the National Debt of France, which 
amounted to 208 millions sterling, on being 
granted the exclusive trade of Louisiana, on 
the banks of the Mississippi. Inaugurated in 
1717, it was taken up by the French Govern- 
ment, and in 1719 the shares were selling at 
forty times their original value. But in 1720 
the “bubble” burst, France was almost ruined, 
Law fled to Russia, and his estates were con- 
fiscated. 

Missouri (mis oo' ri, miz oo' r&). I’m from 
Missouri is equivalent to “I’m hard-headed 
and you have to show me” or “1 won’t believe 
anything without proof.” First used in a speech 
in 1899 by Willard D. Vandiver, Congressman 
from Missouri. 

Missouri Compromise. An arrangement 
whereby Missouri was in 1820 admitted to the 
Union as a Slave State, but that at the same 
time there should be no slavery in the state 
north of 36° 30'. 

Mistletoe (mis' 61 td) (O.E. mistiltan ; mist , 
being both basil and mistletoe, and Aw, a 
twig). The plant grows as a parasite on various 
trees, especially the apple tree, and was held 
in great veneration by the Druids when found 
on the oak. Shakespeare calls it “the baleful 
mistletoe” (Titus Andronicus , II, iii), perhaps in 
allusion to the Scandinavian legend that it was 
with an arrow made of mistletoe that Balder 
(q.v.) was slain, but probably with reference 
either to the popular but erroneous notion 
that mistletoe berries are poisonous, or to the 
connexion of the plant with the human sacri- 
fices of the Druids. It is in all probability for 
this latter reason that mistletoe is rigorously 
excluded from church decorations. 

Kissing under the mistletoe. An English 
Christmas-time custom, dating back at least 
to the early 17th century. The Correct pro- 
cedure, now rarely observed, is that as the 
young man kisses a girl under the mistletoe he 
should pluck a berry, and that when the last 
berry is gone there should be no more kissing, 


Mistletoe 


612 


Mock 


The Mistletoe Bough. This old song is about 
the daughter of a Lord Lovel who, on her 
wedding-day, was playing at hide and seek, 
and selected an old oak chest for her hiding- 
place. The chest closed with a spring lock, 
and many years later her skeleton was dis- 
covered. 

Marwell Old Hall, once the residence of the 
Seymours and afterwards of the Dacre family, 
has a similar tradition attached to it. 

Mistpoeffers. See Barisal Guns. 

Mistral, The. A violent north-west wind 
blowing down the Gulf of Lyons; felt particu- 
larly in Marseilles and the south-east of France. 

Mistress. See Miss. 

Mithra or Mithras (mith' ra). The god of 
light of the ancient Persians, one of their chief 
deities, and the ruler of the universe. Some- 
times used as a synonym for the sun. The word 
means friend , and this deity is so called because 
he befriends man in this life, and protects 
him against evil spirits after death. He is 
represented as a young man with a Phrygian 
cap, a tunic, a mantle on his left shoulder, and 
plunging a sword into the neck of a bull (see 
Thebaid , I). The Mithraic rites — 
have been maintained by a constant tradition, with 
their penances and tests of the courage of the candi- 
date for admission, through the Secret Societies of 
the Middle Ages and the Rosicrucians, down to the 
modern faint reflex of the latter, the Freemasons. — 
Knight: Symbolical Language . 

Sir Thomas More called the Supreme Being 
of his Utopia “Mithra.” 

Mithridate (mith' ri dat). A confection named 
from Mithridates IV, King of Pontus and 
Bithynia (d. c. 63 b.c.), who is said to have 
made himself immune from poisons by the 
constant use of antidotes. It was supposed to 
be an antidote to poison, and contained 
seventy-two ingredients. 

What brave spirit could be content to sit in his shop 
. . . selling Mithridatum and dragon’s water to in- 
fected houses? — B eaumont and Fletcher: Knight of 
the Burning Pestle (1608). 

Mitre (mi' t£r) (Gr. and Lat. mitra , a head- 
band, turban). The episcopal mitre symbolizes 
the cloven tongues of fire which descended on 
the*apostles on the day of Pentecost ( Acts ii, 
1-12). Dean Stanley tells us that the cleft 
represents the crease made when the mitre is 
folded and carried under the arm, like an 
opera hat. 

The Mitre Tavern. A famous tavern in Fleet 
Street, London, first mentioned in 1603 but 
probably in existence considerably earlier. It 
was a frequent resort of Johnson and Boswell. 
It ceased to be a tavern in 1788. Another Mitre 
Tavern existed in Wood Street off Cheapside, 
mentioned by Ben Jonson and Pepys. 

Mitten. To give one the mitten. To reject a 
sweetheart; to jilt. Possibly with punning 
allusion to Lat. mitto , to send (about your 
business), whence dismissal; to get your 
dismissal. 

There is a young lady I have set my heart on, 
though whether she is going to give me hem, or give 
me the mitten 1 ain't quite satisfied. — S am Slick: 
Human Nature, p. 90. 


Mittimus (mit' i mus) (Lat. we send). A 
command in writing to a jailer, to keep the 
person named in safe custody. Also a writ for 
removing a record from one court to another. 
So called from the first word of the writ. 
Mitton. The Chapter of Mitton. So the battle 
of Mitton was called, because so many priests 
took part therein. It was fought in 1319, and 
the Scots defeated the forces of the Archbishop 
of York. 

Mizentop, maintop, foretop. A “top” is a 
platform fixed bver the head of a lower mast, 
resting on the trestle-trees, to spread the rigging 
of the topmast. The mizenmast is the after- 
most mast of a ship; the foremast is in the 
forward part of a ship; the mainmast is 
between these two. 

Mnemonics (ne mon' iks). The art of improving 
the memory by artificial aids and methods. 
Such methods usually depend on the associa- 
tion of ideas and are chiefly based on the 
principles of localization and analogy. The 
word comes from the Greek mnemonikos , of 
memory. 

Mnemosyne (ne mos' i ni). Goddess of memory 
and mother by Zeus of the nine Muses of 
Greek mythology. She was the daughter of 
Heaven and Earth (Uranus and Ge). 

To the Immortals every one 
A portion was assigned of all that is; 

But chief Mnemosyne did Maia’s son 
Clothe in the light of his loud melodies. 

Shelley: Homer's Hymn to Mercury, lxxiii. 
Moabite Stone, The. An ancient stele , bearing 
the oldest extant Semitic inscription, now in 
the Louvre, Paris. The inscription, consisting 
of thirty-four lines in Hebrew-Phcenician 
characters, gives an account of the war of 
Mcsha, King of Moab, who reigned about 
850 b.c., against Omri, Ahab, and other kings 
of Israel (see II Kings iii). Mesha sacrificed 
his eldest son on the city wall in view of the 
invading Israelites. The stone was discovered 
by F. Klein at Dibhan in 1868, and is 3 ft. 
10 in. high, 2 ft. broad and 14£ in. thick. The 
Arabs resented its removal, and splintered it 
into fragments, but it has been restored. 
Moaning Minnie. World War II term for a six- 
barrelled German mortar, so named from the 
rising shriek it gave when the six projectiles 
were simultaneously released. The name was 
also given popularly to the air-raid warning 
siren. 

Mob. A contraction of the Latin mobile vulgus 
(the fickle crowd). The term was first applied 
to the people by the members of the Green- 
ribbon Club, in the reign of Charles II. 
(Northern Examiner , p. 574.) 

In subsequent years the word was applied 
to an organized criminal gang. 

Mob-cap. A cap worn indoors by women 
and useful for concealing hair that is not yet 
“done.” It was formerly called mab-cap , from 
the old verb mab , to dress untidily. 

Mock. Mock-beggar Hall or Manor. A grand, 
ostentatious house, where no hospitality is 
afforded, neither is any charity given. 

No times observed, nor charitable lawes, 

The poor receive their answer from the dawes 
Who. in their cawing language, call it plaine 
Mock-beggar Manour , for they come in vaine. 

Taylor: The Water Cormorant (1622). 


Mockery 


613 


Mohammed 


Mockery. “It will be a delusion, a mockery, 
and a snare.” Thomas, Lord Denman, ob- 
served this in his judgment on the case of The 
Queen v. O’Connell (f844). 

Mock-up. Phrase originating in World War II 
for a model or any full-size working model. 
(2) American phrase for panels mounted with 
models of aircraft parts used by the A.A.F. 
for instructional purposes. 

Modality, in scholastic philosophy, means the 
mode in which anything exists. Kant divides 
our judgment into three modalities: (1) 
Problematic , touching possible events; (2) 
Assertoric , touching real events; (3) Apodictic , 
touching necessary events. 

Modernism. A movement in the Roman 
Catholic Church which sought to interpret the 
ancient teachings of the Church in the light of 
the scientific knowledge of modern times. It 
was condemned by Pope Pius X in 1907 in the 
encyclical Pascendi , which stigmatized it as the 
“synthesis of all heresies.” 

Modred. One of the Knights of the Round 
Table in Arthurian romance, nephew and 
betrayer of King Arthur. He is represented as 
the treacherous knight. He revolted from the 
king, whose wife he seduced, was mortally 
wounded in the battle of Camlan, in Cornwall, 
and was buried in the island of Avalon. The 
story is told, with a variation, in Tennyson’s 
Guinevere ( Idylls of the King). 

Mods. In Oxford a contracted form of modera- 
tions. The three necessary examinations in 
Oxford arc the Smalls, the Mods, and the 
Great#. No one can take a class till he has 
passed the Mods. 

Modus operand! (Lat.). The mode of operation; 
the way in which a thing is done or should be 
done. Modus vivendi (Lat. way of living). A 
mutual arrangement whereby persons not at 
the time being on friendly terms can be 
induced to live together in harmony. The term 
may be applied to individuals, to societies, or 
to peoples. 

Mofussil (East Indies). The subordinate 
divisions of a district; the rural divisions of a 
district; the rural districts as apart from the 
chief city or seat of government, which is called 
the sudder ; provincial. 

To tell a man that fatal charges have been laid 
against him, and refuse him an opportunity for ex- 
planation, this is not even Mofussil justice . — The 
Times. 

Mogul (mo' gul). The Mogul Empire. The 
Mohammedan-Tartar Empire in India which 
began in 1526 with Baber, great-grandson of 
Timur, or Tamerlane, and split up after the 
death of Aurungzebe in 1707, the power 
passing to the British and the Mahrattas. The 
Emperor was known as the Great or Grand 
Mogul ; besides those mentioned, Akbar, 
Jahangir, and Shah Jehan are the most note- 
worthy. 

Mogul cards. The best-quality playing-cards 
were so called because the wrapper, or the 
“duty-card” (cards are subject to excise duty) 
was decorated with a representation of the 


Great Mogul. Inferior cards were called 
“Harrys.” “Highlanders,” and “Merry An- 
drews” for a similar reason. 

Mohair (mo' har) (Probably the Arabic 
mukhayyar , goat’s-hair cloth). It is the hair of 
the Angora goat, introduced into Spain by 
the Moors, and thence brought into Germany. 

Mohammed, Mahomet (Arab, “the praised 
one”). The name is variously spelled, the most 
correct being Muhammad. The titular name of 
the founder of Islam (q.v.) or Mohammedanism 
(b. at Mecca c. 570, d. at Medina, 632), which 
was adopted by him about the time of the 
Hegira (tf.v.) to apply to himself the Messianic 
prophecies in the Old Testament (Haggai ii, 7, 
and elsewhere). His original name is given 
both as Kotham and Halabi. 

Angel of. When Mohammed was transported 
to heaven, he says: “I saw there an angel, the 
most gigantic of all created beings. It had 
70,000 heads, each had 70,000 faces, each face 
had 70,000 mouths, each mouth had 70,000 
tongues, and each tongue spoke 70,000 
languages; all were employed in singing God’s 
praises.” This must not, of course, be taken as 
a definition of belief, but as a mode of Oriental 
emphasis. 

Banner of. Sanjaksherif, kept in the Eyab 
mosque, at Istanbul. 

Bible of. The Koran. 

Camel (swiftest). Adha. 

Cave. The cave in which Gabriel appeared 
to Mohammed (610) was in the mountain of 
Hira, near Mecca. 

Coffin. Legend used to have it that Moham- 
med’s coffin is suspended in mid-air at Medina 
without any support. 

Sp’ritual men are too transcendent . . . 

To hang, like Mahomet, in the air. 

Or St. Ignatius at his prayer, 

By pure geometry. 

Butler: Hudibras, III, ii, 602. 

Daughter ( favourite ). Fatima. 

Dove . Mohammed had a dove which he fed 
with wheat out of his ear. When it was hungry 
it used to light on the prophet’s shoulder, and 
thrust its bill into his ear to find its meal. 
Mohammed thus induced the Arabs to believe 
that he was divinely inspired. 

Father. Abdallah, of the tribe of Koreish. 
He died a little before or a little after the birth 
of Mohammed. 

Father-in-law (father of Ayesha). Abu-Bekr. 
He succeeded Mohammed and was the first 
calif. 

Flight from Mecca (called the Hegira). 
a.d. 622. He retired to Medina. 

Hegira. See above , Flight. 

Horse. A1 Borak (The Lightning). It conveyed 
the prophet to the seventh heaven. 

Miracles. Several are traditionally men- 
tioned, but many of the True Believers hold 
that he performed no miracle. That of the 
moon is best known. 

Habib the Wise asked Mohammed to prove 
his mission by cleaving the moon in two. 
Mohammed raised his hands towards heaven, 
and in a loud voice summoned the moon to do 
Habib’s bidding. Accordingly, it descended to 
the top of the Kaaba (<?.v.), made seven 
circuits, and, coming to the prophet, entered 


Mohammed 


614 


Molloch 


his right sleeve and came out of the left. It 
then entered the collar of his robe, and des- 
cended to the skirt, clove itself into two plaits, 
one of which appeared in the east of the skies 
and the other m the west; and the two parts 
ultimately reunited and resumed their usual 
form. 

Mother of. Amina, of the tribe of Koreish. 
She died when Mohammed was six years old. 

Paradise of. The ten animals admitted to the 
Moslem’s paradise are : — 

(1) The dog Kratim, which accompanied the 
Seven Sleepers. 

(2) Balaam’s ass, which spoke with the voice 
of a man to reprove the disobedient prophet. 

(3) Solomon’s ant, of which he said, “Go 
to the ant, thou sluggard . . .” 

(A) Jonah’s whale. 

(5) The ram caught in the thicket, and 
offered in sacrifice in lieu of Isaac. 

(6) The calf of Abraham. 

(7) The camel of Saleb. 

18) The cuckoo of Bilkis. 

(9) The ox of Moses. 

(10) Mohammed’s horse, A1 Borak. 

Stepping-stone. The stone upon which the 
prophet placed his foot when he mounted Al 
Borak on his ascent to heaven. It rose as the 
beast rose, but Mohammed, putting his hand 
upon it, forbade it to follow him, whereupon 
it remained suspended in mid-air, where the 
True Believer, if he has faith enough, may still 
behold it. 

Tribe. On both sides, the Koreish. 

Uncle, who took charge of Mohammed at 
the death of his grandfather. Abu Talib. 

Wives. Ten in number, viz. (1) Kadija, a rich 
widow of the tribe of Koreish, who had been 
twice married already, and was forty years of 
age. For twenty-five years she was his only 
wife, but at her death he married nine others, 
all of whom survived him. 

The nine wives. (1) Ayesha, daughter of Abu 
Bekr, only nine years old on her wedding-day. 
This was his youngest and favourite wife. 

(2) Sauda, widow of Sokram, and nurse to 
his daughter Fatima. 

(3) Hafsa, a widow twenty-eight years old, 
who also had a son. She was daughter of 
Omeya. 

(4) Zeinab, wife of Zaid, but divorced in 
order that the prophet might take her to wife. 

(5) Barra, wife of a young Arab and daughter 
of Al Hareth, chief of an Arab tribe. She was 
a captive. 

(6) Rehana, daughter of Simeon, and a 
Jewish captive. 

(7) Safiya, the espoused wife of Kenana. 
Kenana was put to death. Safiya outlived the 
prophet forty years. 

(8) Omm Habiba — i.e. mother of Habiba; 
the widow of Abu Sofian. 

(9) Maimuna, fifty-one years old, and a 
widow, who survived ail his other wives. 

Also ten or fifteen concubines, chief of 
whom was Mariyeh, mother of Ibrahim, the 
prophet’s only son, who died when fifteen 
months old. 

Year of Deputations, a.d. 630, the 8th of the 
Hegira. 

If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, 
Mohammed must go to the mountain. When 


Mohammed introduced his system to the 
Arabs, they asked for miraculous proofs. He 
then ordered Mount Safa to come to him, 
and as it did not move, he said, “God is 
merciful. Had it obeyed my words, it would 
have fallen on us to our destruction. I will 
therefore go to the mountain, and thank God 
that He has had mercy on a stiffnecked genera- 
tion.*’ The phrase is often used of one who, 
not being able to get his own way, bows before 
the inevitable. 

Mohocks (mo' hocks). A 'class of ruffians who 
in the 18th century infested the streets of 
London. So called from the Indian Mohawks. 
One of their “new inventions’’ was to roll 
persons down Snow Hill in a tub; another was 
to overturn coaches on rubbish-heaps. ( See 
Gay; Trivia , III.) 

A vivid picture of the misdoings in the 
streets of London by these and other brawlers 
is given in The Spectator , No. 324. 

Moira. Fate, or Necessity, supreme even over 
the gods of Olympus. 

Molinism (mol' i nizm). The system of grace 
and election taught by Louis Molina, the 
Spanish Jesuit (1535-1600). 

His doctrine was that grace is a free gift to 
all, but that the consent of the will must be 
present before that grace can be effective. 

Moll, Molly. Moll Cutpurse. See Cutpurse. 

Moll. American term for a gunman’s girl 
friend and, less commonly, for a prostitute. 

Take away this bottle, it has Moll Thomson’s 
mark on it. Moll Thomson is M.T. {empty). 

Molly coddle. A pampered creature, afraid 
that the winds of heaven should visit him too 
roughly. 

Molly Maguires. An Irish secret society 
organized in 1843. Stout, active young Irish- 
men dressed up in women’s clothes and 
otherwise disguised themselves to surprise 
those employed to enforce the payment of 
rents. Their victims were ducked in bog-holes, 
and many were beaten most unmercifully. 

A similar secret society in the mining 
districts of Pennsylvania was (c. 1877) known 
by the same name. 

The judge who tried the murderer was elected by 
the Molly Maguires; the jurors who assisted him were 
themselves Molly Maguires. A score of Molly Ma- 
guires came forward to swear that the assassin was 
sixty miles from the spot on which he had been seen 
to fire at William Dunn . . . and the jurors returned 
a verdict of Not Guilty. — W. Hepworth Dixon: 
New America , II, xxviii. 

Molly Mog. This celebrated beauty was an 
innkeeper’s daughter, at Oakingham, Berks. 
She was the toast of the gay sparks of the first 
half of the 18th century, and died unmarried 
in 1766, at the age of sixty-seven. Gay has a 
ballad on this Fair Maid of the Inn , in which 
the “swain*’ alluded to is Mr. Standen, of 
Arborfield, who died in 1730. It is said that 
Molly’s sister Sally was the greater beauty. A 
portrait of Gay still hangs in the ihn. 

Molloch, May, or The Maid of the Hairy 
Arms. An elf of folklore who mingles in 
ordinary sports, and will even direct the master 




Molmurius 


615 


Mongrel Parliament 


of the house how to play dominoes or draughts. 
Like the White Lady of Avenel, May Molloch 
is a sort of banshee. 

Molmutius or Mulmutius. See Mulmutine 
Laws. 

Moloch (mo' lok). Any influence which de- 
mands from us the sacrifice of what we hold 
most dear. Thus, war is a Moloch, king mob 
is a Moloch, the guillotine was the Moloch 
of the French Revolution, etc. The allusion is 
to the god of the Ammonites, to whom children 
were “made to pass through the fire’* in 
sacrifice (see II Kings , xxiii, 10). Milton says 
he was worshipped in Rabba, in.Argob, and 
Basan, to the stream of utmost Arnon. 
( Paradise Lost , I, 392-398.) 

Molotov. The name of Vyacheslav Mikhailo- 
vich Molotov, the Russian diplomat, was 
adopted in World War II in several ways: — 

Molotov breadbasket. A canister of incend- 
iary bombs which, on being launched from 
a plane, opened and showered the bombs over 
a wide area. 

Molotov cocktail. A home-made anti-tank 
bomb, invented and first used by the Finns 
against the Russians (1940) and developed in 
England as one of the weapons of the Home 
Guard. It consisted of a bottle filled with 
inflammable and glutinous liquid, with a slow 
match protruding from the top. When thrown 
at a tank the bottle burst, the liquid ignited 
and spread over the plating of the tank. 

Moly (mo' li). The mythical herb given, 
according to Homer, by Hermes to Ulysses as 
an antidote against the sorceries of Circe. 

Black was the root, but milky white the flower, 

Moly the name, to mortals hard to find. 

Pope's Odyssey , X, 365. 

The name is given to a number of plants, 
especially of the Allium (garlic) family, as the 
wild garlic, the Indian moly, the moly of 
Hungary, serpents moly, the yellow moly, 
Spanish purple moly, Spanish silver-capped 
moly, and Dioscorides’ moly. 

They all flower in May, except “the sweet 
moly of Montpelier,” which blossoms in 
September. 

Momus (md' mils). One who carps at every- 
thing. Momus, the sleepy god of the Greeks, 
son of Nox (Night), was always railing and 
carping. 

Momus, being asked to pass judgment on the 
relative merits of Neptune, Vulcan, and Minerva, 
railed at them all. He said the horns of a bull ought to 
have been placed in the shoulders, where they would 
have been of much greater force; as for man, he said 
Jupiter ought to have made him with a window in his 
breast, whereby his real thoughts might be revealed. 
Hence Byron’s — 

Were Momus’ lattice in our breasts . . . 

Werner , III, i. 

Monday. The second day of the week; called 
by the Anglo-Saxons Monandteg, i.e. the day 
of the Moon. 

That Monday feeling. Disinclination to 
return to work after the week-end break. 

Money. Shortly after the Gallic invasion of 
Rome, in 344 b.c., Lucius Furius (or according 
to other accounts, Camillus), built a temple to 
Juno Moneta (the Monitress) on the spot 


where the house of Manlius Capitolinus stood; 
and to this temple was attached the first 
Roman mint, as to the temple of Saturn was 
attached the aerarium (public treasury). 
Hence the “ases” there coined were called 
moneta , and hence our word money. 

Juno is represented on medals with instru- 
ments of coinage, as the hammer anvil, 
pincers, and die. See Livy , VII, xxviii, and 
Cicero, Be Divinitate , i, 15. 

The oldest coin of Greece bore the impress 
of an ox. Hence a bribe for silence was said 
to be an “ox on the tongue.” Subsequently 
each province had its own impress: — 

Athens , an owl (the bird of wisdom). 

Bceotici , Bacchus (the vineyard of Greece). 

DelphoSy a dolphin. 

Macedonia , a buckler (from its love of war). 

Rhodes , the disc of the sun (the Colossus was an 
image to the sun). 

Rome had a different impress for each 
coin: — 

For the As, the head of Janus on one side, and the 
prow of a ship on the reverse. 

The Semi-as, the head of Jupiter and the letter S. 

The Sextansy the head of Mercury, and two points 
to denote two ounces. 

The TrienSy the head of a woman (? Rome or 
Minerva) and three points to denote three ounces. 

The Quadrans, the head of Hercules, and four points 
to denote four ounces. 

In every country there are familiar phrases 
and words for the more commonly used coins 
and sums of money. The most usual are: — 

A bawbee in Scotland means a halfpenny and is 
applied to money generally. In England: 

Id. A copper. 

4d. When there was a coin for this sum it was often 
called a joey. 

6d. A tanner, a tizzy. 

Is. A bob. 

2s. A florin. 

2s. 6d. Half a crown, half a dollar, two and a kick. 

5s. A crown, a cartwheel. 

20s. A quid, a sovereign (esp. the gold coin), a 
jimmy o'goblin, thick ’un. 

21s. A guinea. 

£5. A liver. 

£10. A tenner. 

£25. A pony. 

£500. A monkey. 

In North America: — 

lc. A penny, a Red Indian. 

5c. A nickel. 

10c. A dime. 

25c. A quarter, two bits. 

50c. Four bits. 

§1.00. A buck. (In silver, a cartwheel, or a 
smacker.) 

§10.00. A sawbuck. 

§100.00. A century. 

§1000,00. A grand; a G. 

Money for old rope, or money for jam. An 
easy job, yielding extravagant reward for very 
little expenditure of effort. 

Money makes the mare to go. See Mare. 

Money of account is a monetary denomina- 
tion used in reckoning and often not employed 
as actual coin. For example, a guinea is in 
Britain money of account, though no coin of 
this value is in circulation. The U.S.A. mill, 
being one-thousandth of a dollar or one-tenth 
of a cent, is money of account. 

Mongrel Parliament. The Parliament that met 
at Oxford in 1681 and passed the Exclusion 
BiU. 


Monism 


616 


Monmouth 


Monism (mo' nizm). The doctrine of the one- 
ness of mind and matter, God and the universe. 
It ignores all that is supernatural, any dualism 
of mind and matter, God and creation; and 
there can be no opposition between God and 
the world, as unity cannot be in opposition 
to itself. Monism teaches that “all are but parts 
of one stupendous whole, whose body nature 
is, and God the soul”; hence, whatever is, only 
conforms to the cosmical laws of the universal 
ALL. 

Haeckel explained it thus in 1866: “Monism 
(the correlative of Dualism) denotes a unitary 
conception, in opposition to a supernatural 
one. Mind can never exist without matter, nor 
matter without mind.” As God is the same 
“yesterday, to-day, and for ever,” creation 
must be the same, or God would not be 
unchangeable. 

Monitor. So the Romans called the nursery 
teacher. The Military Monitor was an officer 
to tell young soldiers of the faults committed 
against the service. The House Monitor was a 
slave to call the family of a morning, etc. 

A shallop-draught ironclad with a flat deck, 
sharp stern, and one or more movable turrets, 
was so called. They were first used in the 
American War of Secession, and were so 
named by the inventor, Captain Ericsson, be- 
cause they were to be “severe monitors” to 
the leaders of the Southern rebellion. 

The word is also used to designate a broad- 
casting official employed to listen in to foreign 
(esp. enemy) radio transmissions in order to 
analyse the news announced and to study 
propaganda. In normal circumstances the 
duties of a monitor include checking the 
quality of transmissions. 

Monk. The word monk is often employed 
loosely and incorrectly for any religious living 
in community or belonging to an order. In the 
Western Church only members of the follow- 
ing orders are monks: Benedictines, Cister- 
cians, Carthusians, and four smaller orders. 
Members of the great orders of Dominicans, 
Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustinians are 
friars. 

In printing, a black smear or blotch made 
'by leaving too much ink on the part. Caxton 
set up his printing-press in the scriptorium of 
Westminster Abbey (see Chapel); and the 
association gave rise to the slang expressions 
monk and friar (q.v.) for black and white 
defects. 

Monk Lewis. Matthew Gregory Lewis 
(1775-1818) is so called from his highly 
coloured “Gothic” novel Ambrosio , or the 
Monk (XlfS). 

Monkey. Slang for £500 or (in America) 8500; 
also for a mortgage (sometimes extended to 
a monkey with a long tail), and among sailors 
the vessel which contains the full allowance of 
grog for one mess. A child, especially an 
active, meddlesome one, is often called “a 
little monkey” — for obvious reasons. 

Monkey’s allowance. More kicks than 
halfpence. The allusion is to the monkeys 
formerly carried about for show; they picked 
up the halfpence, but carried them to the 


master, who kept kicking or ill-treating the 
poor creatures to urge them to incessant tricks. 

Monkey board. In the old-fashioned horsed 
knifeboard omnibuses, the step on which the 
conductor stood, and on which he often 
skipped about like a monkey. 

Monkey jacket. A short coat worn by sea- 
men; so called because it has “no more tail 
than a monkey,” or, more strictly speaking, an 
ape. 

Monkey puzzle. The Chilean pine. Araucaria 
imbricata , whose twisted and prickly branches 
puzzle even a monkey to climb. 

Monkey spoons. Spoons having on the 
handle a heart surmounted by a monkey, at 
one time given in Holland at marriages, 
christenings, and funerals. At weddings they 
were given to some immediate relative of the 
bride; at christenings and funerals to the 
officiating clergyman. Among the Dutch, 
drinking is called “sucking the monkey,” be- 
cause the early morning appetizer of rum and 
salt was taken in a monkey spoon. 

Monkey suit* in the U.S.A. services, is the 
term applied to full dress uniform, also to an 
aviator’s overalls. The phrase is often used for 
men’s formal dress on important occasions. 

Monkey tricks. Mischievous, illnatured, or 
deceitful actions. 

To get one’s monkey up. To be riled or 
enraged; monkeys are extremely irritable and 
easily provoked. 

To monkey with or about. To tamper with or 
play mischievous tricks. To monkey with the 
cards is to try to arrange them so that the deal 
will not be fair; to monkey with the milk is to 
add water to it and then sell it as pure and 
unadulterated. 

To pay in monkey’s money (en monnaie de 
singe) — in goods, in personal work, in mum- 
bling and grimace. In Paris when a monkey 
passed the Petit Pont, if it was for sale four 
deniers’ toll had to be paid; but if it belonged 
to a showman and was not for sale, it sufficed 
if the monkey went through his tricks. 

It was an original by Master Charles Charmois, 
principal painter to King Megistus, paid for in court 
fashion with monkey’s money. — Rabelais, IV, iii. 

To suck the monkey. Sailor’s slang for 
surreptitiously sucking liquor from a cask 
through a straw ( see Monkey, above); and 
when milk has been taken from a coconut, and 
rum has been substituted, “sucking the 
monkey” is drinking this rum. 

What the vulgar call “sucking the monkey” 

Has much less effect on a man when he’s funky. 

Ingoldsby Legends; The Black Mousquetaire. 
Monmouth. The town at the mouth of the 
Monnow, surname of Henry V of England, 
who was born there. 

Monmouth cap. A soldier’s cap. 

The soldiers that the Monmouth wear. 

On castles’ tops their ensigns rear. 

The best caps were formerly made at Monmouth, 
where the cappers’ chapel doth still remain. — Fuller: 
Worthies of Wales , p. 50. 

Monmouth Street (London) is said to take its 
name from the Duke of Monmouth, but is 
more likely to have been named after an Earl 




Monongahela 


617 


Montero 


of Monmouth who died in 1661. It was for- 
merly noted for its second-hand clothes shops; 
hence the expression Monmouth Street finery 
for tawdry, pretentious clothes. 

[At the Venetian carnival] you may put on whate’er 
You like by way of doublet, cape, or cloak, 

Such as in Monmouth-street, or in Rag Fair 
Would rig you out in seriousness or joke. 

Byron : Beppo , v. 

Monongahela (m6 nong' g& he' la). A river 
flowing into the Ohio at Pittsburgh, Pa., near 
which whisky is distilled. The term is some- 
times applied to American whisky generally. 
Monophysites (mo nof' i zitz) (Gr. monos 
phusis , one nature). A religious sect in the 
Levant who maintained that Jesus Christ had 
only one nature, and that divine and human 
were combined in much the same way as the 
body and soul in man. They arose upon the 
condemnation of the Eutychian heresy at the 
Council of Chalcedon, 451, and are still 
represented by the Coptic, Armenian. Abys- 
sinian, Syrian, and Malabar Jacobite Churches. 
Monotheism (mon' 6 the izm) (Gr. monos 
theos , one God). The doctrine that there is but 
one God. 

The only large monotheism known to historic times 
is that of Mahomet. — Gladstone, in Contemporary 
Review , June, 1876. 

Monroe Doctrine (mim roO. The doctrine first 
promulgated in 1823 by James Monroe 
(President of the U.S.A., 1817-25), to the effect 
that the American States are never to entangle 
themselves in the broils of the Old World, nor 
to suffer it to interfere in the affairs of the New; 
and they are to account any attempt on the 
part of the Old World to plant their systems 
of government in any part of North America 
not at the time in European occupation 
dangerous to American peace and safety. The 
capture of Manila and the cession of the 
Philippine Islands to the United States in 1898, 
and still more the part the States took in 
the two World Wars have abrogated a large 
part of this famous Doctrine. 

Mons Meg. See Meg. 

Monsieur. The eldest brother of the king of 
France was formerly so called, especially 
Philippe, Due d’Orleans, brother to Louis 
XIV (1640-1701). 

Monsieur de Paris. The public executioner 
or Jack Ketch of France. 

Riccardo de Albertes was a personal friend of all 
the “Messieurs de Paris/’ who served the Republic. 
He attended all capital executions. — Newspaper Para - 
graph , January 25th, 1893. 

Monsieur le Grand. The Great Equerry of 
France. 

The Peace of Monsieur. The peace that the 
Huguenots, the Politiques, and the Duke 
d’Alen^on (“Monsieur”) obliged Henri III of 
France to sign in 1576. By it the Huguenots 
and the Duke gained great concessions. 
Monsignor (mon se' nyor) (pi. Monsignori ). A 
title pertaining to all prelates in the R.C. 
Church, which includes all prelates of the 
Roman courts active or honorary. Used with 
the surname/ as Monsignor So-and-so it does 
away with the solecism of speaking of Bishop 
So-and-so, which is as incorrect as calling the 
Duke of Marlborough “Duke Churchill.” 


Monsoon (Arab, mausim , time, season). A 
periodical wind; especially that which blows 
off S.W. Asia and the Indian Ocean from the 
south-west from April to October, and from 
the north-east during the rest of the year. 

Mont (Fr. hill). The technical term in palmistry 
for the eminences at the roots of the fingers. 

That at the root of the 

thumb is the Mont de Mars. 
index finger is the Mont de Jupiter. 
long finger is the Mont de Saturne. 
ring finger is the Mont du Soleil. 
little finger is the Mont de V£nus. 

The one between the thumb and index finger is 
called the Mont de Mercure and the one opposite 
the Mont de la Lune. 

Mont de Pi6t6. A pawnshop in France; first 
instituted as monti di pie fa (charity loans) under 
Leo X (reigned 1513-21), at Rome, by 
charitable persons who wished to rescue the 
poor from usurious moneylenders. They ad- 
vanced small sums of money on the security 
of pledges, at a rate of interest barely sufficient 
to cover the working expenses of the institu- 
tion. Both the name and system were in- 
troduced into France and Spain. Public 
granaries for the sale of corn are called in 
Italian Monti frumentarii . “Monte” means 
a public or state loan; hence also a “bank.” 

Montage (mon' tazh). In cinematography the 
final arrangement and assembling of photos to 
make a continuous film; also the art of film- 
cutting. 

Montagnards. See Mountain, The. 

Montanists (mon ta' nists). Heretics of the 2nd 
century; so called from Montanus, a Phrygian, 
who asserted that he had received from the 
Holy Ghost special knowledge that had not 
been vouchsafed to the apostles. They were 
extremely ascetic, believed in the speedy com- 
ing of the Second Advent, and quickly died 
out. 

Monteer Cap. See Montero. 

Monteith (mon teth). A scalloped basin to cool 
and wash glasses in; a sort of punch-bowl, 
made of silver or pewter, with a movable 
rim scalloped at the top; so called, according 
to Anthony Wood, in 1683 from “a fantastical 
Scot called ‘Monsieur Monteigh’ who at that 
time or a little before wore the bottome of his 
coate so notched w w w w.” 

New things produce new names, and thus Monteith 
Has by one vessel saved his name from death. — King. 

Montem (mon' tern). A custom observed every 
three years till 1847 by the boys of Eton 
College, who proceeded on Whit Tuesday ad 
montem (to a mound called Salt Hill), near 
Slough, and exacted a gratuity cdlled salt 
money from all who passed by. Sometimes as 
much as £1,000 was thus collected, and it was 
used to defray expenses of the senior scholar 
at King’s College, Cambridge. 

Montero or Monteer Cap (mon te' ro). So 
called from the headgear worn by the mon - 
teros d'Espinoza (mountaineers), who once 
formed the interior guard of the palace of the 
Spanish king. It had a spherical crown, and 
flaps that could be drawn over the ears, not 
unlike a Victorian shooting-cap. 


Montgomery 


618 


Moon 


Montgomery (mfin gOm' er i). A Norman 
name, not Welsh. The town was founded by 
a Norman named Baldwin, and was in Welsh 
called Trefaldwyn, “house of Baldwin”: in 
1086 it was taken by Roger Montgomery, Earl 
of Shrewsbury, Count of the Marches to 
William the Conqueror, and it was given his 
name — which is a French place-name, the Hill 
of Gomerie. 

Montgomery’s division, all on one side. This 
is a French proverb, and refers to the Free 
Companies of the 16th century, of which a 
Montgomery was a noted chief. The booty he 
took he kept himself. 

Month. One of the twelve portions into which 
the year is divided. Anciently a new month 
started on the day of the new moon, or the day 
after; hence the name (O.E. mo noth ), which is 
connected with moon. See Lunar Month; 
and, for the months themselves see their 
names throughout this Dictionary. 

The old mnemonic for remembering the 
number of days in each month runs — 

Thirty days hath September, 

April, June, and November, 

February eight-and-twenty all alone 
And all the rest have thirty-one, 

Unless that Leap Year doth combine 
And give to February twenty-nine. 

This, with slight variations, is to be found 
in Grafton’s Chronicles (1590), the play The 
Return from Parnassus (1606), etc. In Harrison’s 
Description of England (prefixed to Holinshed’s 
Chronicle , 1577) is the Latin version: — 

Junius, Aprilis, Septemq; Novemq; tricenos, 
Unum plus reliqui, Februs tenet octo vicenos, 

At si bissextus fuerit superadditur unus. 

A month of Sundays. An indefinite long 
time; never. See Never. 

A month’s mind. Properly the Mass, or 
lesser funeral solemnities, that in pre-Refor- 
mation days was said for a deceased person 
on the day one month from his death. The 
term often occurs in old wills in connexion with 
clfarities to be disbursed on that day. 

Shakespeare uses the term figuratively for 
an irresistible longing (for something); a 
great desire: — 

I see you have a month’s mind for them. — Two 
Gentlemen of Verona, I, ii. 

And others; and it has been conjectured that 
here the allusions are to the longings of a 
pregnant woman, which start in the first month 
of pregnancy. 

Montjoie St. Denis. The war-cry of the 
French. Montjoie is a corruption of Mons 
Jovis , as the little mounds were called which 
served a# direction-posts in ancient times; 
hence it was applied to whatever showed or 
indicated the way, as the banner of St. Denis, 
called the Oriflamme. The Burgundians had 
for their war-cry, “Montjoie St. Andre”; the 
dukes of Bourbon, “Montjoie Notre Dame”; 
and the kings of England used to have 
“Montjoie St. George.” 

Montjoie was also the cry of the French 
heralds in the tournaments, and the title of the 
French king of arms. 

Where is Mount joy the herald? speed him hence: 

Let him greet England with our sharp defiance. 

Shakespeare: Henry V , III, v. 


Montpelier. The name is frequent in English 
towns in streets, squares, etc., due to the 
French town being a fashionable resort in the 
19th century. 

Montserrat (mont ser &t0. The Catalonians 
aver that this" mountain was riven and shat- 
tered at the Crucifixion. Every rift is filled with 
evergreens. (Lat. mons ser rat us, the mountain 
jagged like a saw.) The monastery of Mont- 
serrat is famous for its printing-press and for 
its Black Virgin. 

Monument, The. The fluted Roman-Doric 
column of Portland stone (202 ft. high) 
designed by Robert Hooke, the City Surveyor, 
to commemorate the Great Fire of London of 
1666. It stands near the north end of London 
Bridge, near the spot where the fire started. 

The old inscription (effaced in 1831) 
maintained that the fire had been caused— 
by yc treachery and malice of ye popish faction, in 
order to ye carrying on their horrid plott for extirpat- 
ing the Protestant religion and old English liberty, and 
the introducing popery and slavery, 
and it was this that made Pope refer to it as — 
London’s column, pointing at the skies 
Like a tall bully, lifts the head, and lies. 

Moral Essays , III, 339. 

When looking at monuments and effigies, 
etc., in our churches, it may be useful to 
remember the following points which must 
not, however, be taken as invariable rules: — 

Founders of chapels , etc., lie with their 
monument built into the wall. 

Figures with their hands on their breasts, 
and chalices, represent priests. 

Figures with crozier, mitre, and pontificals, 
represent predates. 

Figures with armour represent knights. 

Figures with legs crossed represent either 
crusaders or married men , but those with a 
scallop shell are certainly crusaders. 

Female figures with a mantle and large ring 
represent nuns. 

In the age of chivalry the woman was placed 
on the man’s right hand; but when chivalry 
declined she was placed on his left hand. 

It may usually be taken that inscriptions 
in Latin, cut in capitals, are of the first twelve 
centuries; those in Lombardic capitals and 
French, of the 13th; those in Old English text, 
of the 14th; while those in the English language 
and Roman characters arc subsequent to the 
14th century. 

Tablets against the wall came in with the 
Reformation; and brasses are for the most part 
subsequent to the 13th century. 

Monumental City. Baltimore, Maryland, is 
so called because it abounds in monuments; 
witness the obelisk, the 104 churches, etc. 

Moon. The word is probably connected with 
the Sanskrit root me -, to measure (because 
time was measured by it). It is common to all 
Teutonic languages (Goth, menu; O. Frisian 
mona ; O.Norm. mane ; O.E. mono, etc.), and is 
almost invariably masculine. In the Edda the 
son of Mundilfoeri is Mani (moon), and 
daughter Sol ( sun ); so it is still \*%h the Lithu- 
anians and Arabians, and so was it with the 
ancient Slavs, Mexicans, Hindus, etc., and the 
Germans to this day have Frau Sonne (Mrs, 
Sun) and Herr Mona (Mr. Moon), 




Moon 


619 


Moon 


The Moon is represented in five different 
phases: (1) new; (2) full; (3) crescent or 
descrescent; (4) half; and (5) gibbous, or more 
than half. In pictures of the Assumption it is 
shown as a crescent under Our Lady's feet; 
in the Crucifixion it is eclipsed, and placed 
on one side of the cross, the sun being on the 
other; in the Creation and Last Judgment it 
is also introduced by artists. 

In classical mythology the moon was 
known as Hecate before she had risen and 
after she had set; as Astarte when crescent; as 
Diana or Cynthia (she who “hunts the clouds”) 
when in the open vault of heaven; as Phoebe 
when looked upon as the sister of the sun 
(i.e. Phoebus ); and was personified as Selene or 
Luna, the lover of the sleeping Endymion , i.e . 
moonlight on the fields {see these names). 

The moon is called triform , because it 
presents itself to us either round , or waxing 
with horns towards the east, or waning with 
horns towards the west. 

One legend connected with the moon was 
that there was treasured everything wasted on 
earth, such as misspent time and wealth, 
broken vows, unanswered prayers, fruitless 
tears, abortive attempts, unfulfilled desires and 
intentions, etc. In Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso 
Astolpho found on his visit to the Moon 
(Bk. XVIII and XXXIV, Ixx) that bribes were 
hung on gold and silver hooks; princes’ 
favours were kept in bellows; wasted talent 
was kept in vases, each marked with the proper 
name, etc. ; and in The Rape of the Lock (canto 
v) Pope tells us that when the Lock disap- 
peared — 

Some thought it mounted to the lunar sphere, 
Since all things lost on earth are treasured there, 
There heroes’ wits are kept in pondTous vases, 
And be.iux’ in snuff-boxes and tweezer-cases. 
There broken vows and death-bed alms are found 
And lovers’ hearts with ends of ribbon bound, 

The courtier’s promises, and sick man’s prayers, 
The smiles of harlots, and the tears of heirs. 

Cages for gnats, and chains to yoke a flea. 

Dried butterflies, and tomes of casuistry. 

Hence the phrase, the limbus of the moon. 

I know no more about it than the man in the 
moon. I know nothing at all about the matter. 

It's all moonshine. Bunkum; nonsense. The 
light of the moon was formerly held to have 
very deleterious effects on mental stability. See 
Lunatic. 

Mahomet and the Moon. See Mohammed. 

Minions of the moon. Thieves who rob by 
night (see Henry IV, Pt. I, I, ii). 

Moon-calf. An inanimate, shapeless abortion 
formerly supposed to be produced prematurely 
by the cow owing to the malign influence of the 
moon. 

A false conception, called mola , i.e. moon-calf . . . 
a lump of flesh without shape or life. — H olland: 
Pliny , VII, xv. 

Moon-drop. In Latin, virus lunare , a vapor- 
ous foam supposed in ancient times to be shed 
by the moop on certain herbs and other 
objects, when influenced by incantations. 

Upon the corner of the moon, 

There hangs a vaporous drop profound; 

HI patch it ere it come to ground. 

Macbeth, III, v. 


Cp . Lucan's Pharsalia , vi, 669, Where Erichtho 
is introduced using it: — 

Et virus large lunare miniatrat. 

Moonlight flit. A clandestine removal of 
one’s furniture during the night, to avoid 
paying one’s rent or having the furniture 
seized in payment thereof. 

Moon-rakers. A nickname of people of 
Wiltshire. The absurd story offered to account 
for the name is that in the “good old times” 
they were noted smugglers, and one night, 
seeing the coastguard on the watch, they sank 
some smuggled whisky in the sea. When the 
coast was clear they employed rakes to recover 
their goods, when the coastguard reappeared 
and asked what they were doing. Pointing to 
the reflection of the moon in the water, they 
replied, “We are trying to rake out that cream 
cheese yonder.” 

Moon's men. Thieves and highwaymen who 
ply their trade by night. 

The fortune of us that are but Mood’s-men doth 
ebb and flow like the sea . — Henry IV, Pt. 1, I, ii. 

Moonstone. A variety of feldspar, so called 
on account of the play of light which it 
exhibits. It contains bluish white spots, which, 
when held to the light, present a silvery play of 
colour not unlike that of the moon. 

Once in a blue moon. See Blue Moon. 

The cycle of the moon. See Cycle. 

The Island of the Moon. Madagascar is so 

named by the natives. 

The limbus of the moon. See above. 

The man in the moon. Some say it is a man 
leaning on a fork, on which he is carrying 
a bundle of sticks picked up on a Sunday. The 
origin of this fable is from Numb, xv, 32-36. 
Some add a dog also; thus the Prologue in 
Midsummer Night's Dream says: — 

This man, with lantern, dog, and bush of thorn, 

Presenteth moonshine. 

Chaucer says “ he stole the bush” (Test, of 
Cresseide). Another tradition says that the man 
is Cain, with his dog and thorn bush; the tho||i 
bush being emblematical of the thorns atm 
briars of the fall, and the dog being the “foul 
fiend.” Some poets make out the “man” to be 
Endymion, taken to the moon by Diana. 

The Mountains of the Moon means simply 
White Mountains. The Arabs call a white 
horse “moon-coloured.” 

To aim or level at the moon. To be very 
ambitious; to aim in shooting at the moon. 

To cast beyond the moon. See Cast. 

To cry for the moon. To crave fo& a what is 
wholly beyond one’s reach. The allusion is to 
foolish children who want the moon for a 
plaything. The French say, “He wants to take 
the moon between his teeth” (11 veut prendre la 
lune avec les dents), alluding to the old proverb 
about “the moon,” and a ‘ T green cheese.” 

You have found an elephant in the moon — 
found a mare’s nest. Sir Paul Neal, a conceited 
virtuoso of the 17th century, gave out that he 
had discovered “an elephant in the moon.” It 
turned out that a mouse had crept into his 
telescope, and had been mistaken for an 




Moon 


620 


Morgan le Fay 


elephant in the moon. Samuel Butler has a 
satirical poem on the subject called The 
Elephant in the Moon. 

You would have me believe that the moon is 
made of green cheese — i.e. the most absurd 
thing imaginable. 

You may as soon persuade some Country Peasants, 
that the Moon is made of Green-Cheese (as we say) 
as that ’tis bigger than his Cart-wheel. — Wilkins: 
New World, I (1638). 

Moonlighting. Riding after cattle by night 
in Australia. 

Moonshine. A U.S.A. colloquial term for 
illicitly distilled liquor. In general colloquial 
usage the word means “nonsense.” 

Moor. The word comes from Gr. and Lat. 
Mauros , an inhabitant of Mauritania (q.v.). 
In the Middle Ages, the Europeans called all 
Mohammedans Moors , in the same manner as 
the Eastern nations called all inhabitants of 
Europe Franks. Camoens, in the Lusiad (Bk. 
VIII), gives the name to the Indians. 

Moor-slayer or Mata-nioros. A name given 
to St. James, the patron saint of Spain, 
because, as the legends say, in encounters with 
the Moors he came on his white horse to the 
aid of the Christians. 

Moot. In Anglo-Saxon times, the assembly of 
freemen in a township, tithing, etc. Cp. 
Witenagemot. In legal circles the name is 
given to the students’ debates on supposed 
cases which formerly took place on the halls 
of Inns of Court. The benchers and the 
barristers, as well as the students, took an 
active part. In a few towns, e.g. Aldeburgh, 
Suffolk, the town hall is still called the Moot 
Hall. 

Hence, moot case or moot point, a doubtful 
or unsettled question, a case that is open to 
debate. 

Mop. A statute fair at which servants seek to 
be hired. Carters fasten to their hats a piece of 
whipcord; shepherds, a lock of wool; grooms, 
ajpiece of sponge; and others a broom, pail, 
dr mop , etc. When hired, a cockade with 
streamers is mounted. The origin of the name — 
which was in use in the 17th century — is not 
certain, but is probably an allusion to the 
mops carried by domestics. 

Mop. One of Queen Mab’s attendants. 

All mops and brooms. Intoxicated. 

Mops and mows. Grimaces; here mop is 
connected with the Dutch mopken , to pout. 

Moral. The moral Gower. John Gower ( c . 
1325-140,8). the poet, is so called by Chaucer 
(Troilus k$d Criseyde , V, i, 1856). 

Father of moral philosophy. St. Thomas 
Aquinas (1227-74). 

Moral Rearmament (M.R.A.). A movement 
founded in 1938 by Frank Buchman, who had 
earlier founded the Oxford Group (q.v.). Its 
purpose is to counter the materialism of present- 
day life by persuading people to live according 
to the highest standards of morality and love, 
to obey God, and to unite in a world-wide 
organization to mould the world according to 
these principles. 


Morality Play. An allegorical dramatic form 
in vogue from the 14th to the 16th centuries in 
which the vices and virtues were personified 
and the victory of the last clearly established. 
One of the best known morality plays was 
Everyman , a 15th-century English play trans- 
lated from the Dutch Elkcrlijk. 

Moran’s Collar. In Irish folk-tale, the collar 
of Moran, the wise councillor of Feredach the 
Just, an early king of Ireland, before the 
Christian era, which strangled the wearer if 
he deviated from the strict rules of equity. 

Moratorium (mor & tor' i um) (Lat. morari, to 
delay). A legal permission to defer for a 
stated time the payment of a bond, debt, or 
other obligation. This is done to enable the 
debtor to pull himself round by borrowing 
money, selling effects, or otherwise raising 
funds to satisfy obligations. The device was 
adopted in 1891 in South America during the 
panic caused by the Baring Brothers’ default 
of some twenty millions sterling, and the word 
came into popular use during World War I, 
and afterwards in connexion with the in- 
ability of Germany to pay to date the stated 
amount due as reparations under the Treaty 
of Versailles. 

In Great Britain, on Aug. 6th, 1914, a 
moratorium was proclaimed giving the banks 
power to retain certain sums credited to them 
and putting oft' the payment of Bills of 
Exchange and other debts for a month; this 
was later extended to Oct. 4th, and a partial 
renewal to assist certain interests was allowed 
to Nov. 4th. 

Moravians (mo ra' vi inz). A religious com- 
munity tracing its origin to John Huss 
( see Bohemian Brethren), expelled by 
persecution from Bohemia and Moravia in 
the 17th century. They are often called The 
Bohemian Brethren. 

More. More or less. Approximately; in round 
numbers; as “It is ten miles, more or less, from 
here to there,” i.e. it’s about ten miles. 

The more one has, the more one desires. In 
French, Plus il en a , plus il en veut. In Latin, 
Quo plus habenty eo plus cupiunt. 

My more having would be a source 
To make me hunger more. 

Macbeth, IV, iii. 

The more the merrier, the fewer the better 
cheer, or fare. The proverb is found in Ray’s 
Collection (1742), and in Hcywood’s (1548). 

To be no more. To exist no longer; to be 
dead. 

Cassius is no more. 

Julius Ccesar. 

More of More Hall. See Wantley, 
Dragon of. 

Morgan le Fay (mor' g&n le fa). The fairy 
sister of King Arthur; one of the principal 
characters in Arthurian romance and in 
Celtic legend generally; also known as Mor- 
gaine and (especially in Orlando Furioso) as 
Morgana ( see Fata Morgana). * 

In the Arthurian legends it Nvas Morgan 
le Fay who revealed to the King the intrigues 
of Lancelot and Guinevere. She gave him a 
cup containing a magic draught, and Arthur 




Morganatic Marriage 


621 


Morning 


had no sooner drunk it than his eyes were 
opened to the perfidy of his wife and friend. 

In Orlando Furioso she is represented as 
living at the bottom of a lake, and dispensing 
her treasures to whom she liked; ^nd in 
Orlando Jnnamorato , she first appears as 
“Lady Fortune,” but subsequently assumes 
her witch-like attributes. In Tasso her three 
daughters, Morganetta, Nivetta, and Carvilia, 
are introduced. 

In the romance of Ogier the Dane Morgan 
le Fay receives Ogier in the Isle of Avalon 
when he is over one hundred years old, 
restores him to youth, and becomes his bride. 

Morganatic Marriage (mor g&n at 7 ik). A 
marriage between a man of high (usually 
royal) rank and a woman of inferior station, 
by virtue of which she does not acquire the 
husband’s rank and neither she nor the 
children of the marriage are entitled to inherit 
his title or possessions; often called a “left- 
handed marriage” (g.v.) because the custom 
is for the man to pledge his troth with his left 
hand instead of his right. George William, 
Duke of Zell, married Eleanora d’Esmiers in 
this way, and she took the name and title of 
Lady of Harburg; her daughter was Sophia 
Dorothea, the wile of George I. An instance of 
a morganatic marriage in the British Royal 
Family is that of George, Duke of Cambridge 
(1819-1904), cousin of Queen Victoria, who 
married morganatically in 1840. His children 
took the surname Fitz-George. 

The word comes from the mediaeval Latin 
phrase matrimonium ad morganaticam , the 
last word representing the O.H.Ger. morgan - 
geba y morning-gift, from husband to wife on 
the morning after the consummation of the 
marriage, hence the wife’s only claim to her 
husband’s possessions. 

Morgane; Morganetta. See Morgan le Fay. 

Morgante Maggiore (mor gan' te ma jor' e). A 
serio-comic romance in verse, by Pulci of 
Florence (1485). The characters had appeared 
previously in many of the old romances; 
Morgante is a ferocious giant, converted by 
Orlando (the real hero) to Christianity. After 
performing the most wonderful feats, he dies at 
last from the bite of a crab. 

Pulci was practically the inventor of this 
species of poetry, called by the French 
bernesque , from Bemi, who greatly excelled in it. 

Morgiana (mor ji an' &). The clever, faithful, 
female slave of Ali Baba, who pries into the 
forty jars, and discovers that every jar but one 
contains a man. She takes oil from the only 
one containing it, and, having made it boiling 
hot, pours enough into each jar to kill the thief 
concealed there. At last she kills the captain 
of the gang, and marries her master’s son. 
(Arabian Nights ; Ali Baba and the Forty 
Thieves .) 

Morgue (m6rg). A mortuary, a building, 
especially that in Paris, where the bodies of 
persons found dead are exposed to view so 
that people may come and identify them. The 
origin of the name is unknown; it does not 
seem to be connected in any way with mors , 
death, and is probably the same word as 


morgue , meaning of stately or haughty mien. 
It was formerly, applied to prison vestibules, 
where new criminals were placed to be scrutin- 
ized, that the prison officials might become 
familiar with their faces and gencrar appear- 
ance. 

On me conduit done au petit chastelet, ou du 
guichet estant pass£ dans la morgue, un homme gros, 
court, et carre, vint k moy. — A ssoucy: La Prison de 
M. Dassouch (1674), p. 35. 

Morgue. Endroit ou Fon tient quelque temps ceux 
que Fon 6croue, afin que les guichetiers puissent les 
reconnaltre ensuite. — Fleming and Tibbins , vol. II, p. 
688 . 

Morgue la Faye. The form taken by the name 
Morgan le Fay (q.v.) in Ogier the Dane . 
Morley, Mrs. The name under which Queen 
Anne corresponded with “Mrs. Freeman” 
(Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough). 
Mormonism. The religious and social system 
of the Mormons, or Latter-day Saints; largely 
connected in the minds of most people with the 
practice of polygamy, which became part of 
the Mormon code in 1852, but is now a 
diminishing — if not vanished — quantity. Hence 
the phrase a regular Mormon y for a flighty 
person who cannot keep to one wife or 
sweetheart. 

The fraternity takes its name from The Book 
of Mormon , or Golden Bible , which is alleged 
to have been written on golden plates by the 
angel Mormon, but was possibly abstracted 
from a romance (1811) by the Rev. Solomon 
Spaulding (1761-1816). Joseph Smith (1805- 
44), adapted this and claimed it as a direct 
revelation. Smith was born in Sharon, Windsor 
county, Vermont, and founded the denomina- 
tion in 1830. He was cited thirty-nine times into 
courts of law, and was at last assassinated by 
a gang of ruffians while in prison at Carthage, 
111. His successor was Brigham Young (1801- 
77), a carpenter, who led the “Saints,” driven 
from home by force, to the valley of the Salt 
Lake, 1,500 miles distant, generally called 
Utah, but by the Mormons themselves 
Deseret (Bee-country), the New Jerusalem, 
where they have been settled, despite many 
disputes with the United States Government, 
since 1848. 

The Mormons accept the Bible as well as 
the Book of Mormon as authoritative, they 
hold the doctrines of repentance and faith 
(puttine a curious construction on the latter); 
and they believe in baptism, the Eucharist, the 
physical resurrection of the dead, and in the 
Second Coming, when Christ will have the 
seat of His power in Utah. Marriage may be 
either for time or for eternity; in the latter 
case consummation is unnecessary, for the 
man and the wife or wives he has taken in this 
way will spend the whole of the afterlife 
together; in the former case the rite is gone 
through solely that the community may be 
increased and multiplied. 

Morning. The first glass of whisky drunk by 
Scottish fishermen in salutation to the dawn. 
One fisherman will say to another, “Hae ye 
had your morning, Tam?” 

Morning Star, The. Byron’s name for Mary 
Chaworth, his charming neighbour at New- 
stead, with whom he was in love early in his 
life. 


Morocco 


622 


Morton’s Fork 


Morning Star of the Reformation. John 
Wyclif (1324-84). 

Morocco (md rok' 6). Strong ale made from 
burnt malt, used in the annual feast at Levens 
Hall, Westmorland (the seat of Sir Alan 
Desmond Bagot), on the opening of Miln- 
thorpe Fair. It is put into a large glass of 
unique form, and the person whose turn it is to 
drink is called the “colt.” He has to “drink 
the constable,” i.e. stand on one leg and say 
“Luck to Levens as long as Kent flows,” 
then drain the glass or forfeit one shilling. See 
also Marocco. 

Morocco men. Men who, about the end of 
the 18th century, used to visit public-houses 
touting for illegal lottery insurances. Their 
rendezvous was a tavern in Oxford Market, 
at the Oxford St. end of Great Portland Street. 

Moros. The name of the Moslem inhabitants 
of the island of Mindanao and the Sulu 
Archipelago in the Philippine Islands, applied 
to them by the Spanish conquerors because tf 
their supposed resemblance to Moors. 

Morpheus (mor' fGs). Ovid’s name for the son 
of Sleep, and god of dreams; so called from 
Gr. morphe , form, because he gives these airy 
nothings their form and fashion. Hence the 
name of the narcotic, morphine , or morphia, 
Morrice, Gil (or Childe). The hero of an old 
Scottish ballad, a natural son of an earl and 
the wife of Lord Barnard, and brought up 
“in the gude grene wode.” Lord Barnard, 
thinking the Childe to be his wife’s lover, 
slew him with a broad-sword, and setting his 
head on a spear gave it to “the meanest man 
in a’ his train” to carry to the lady. When she 
saw it she said to the baron, “Wi’ that same 
spear, O pierce my heart, and put me out o’ 
ain”; but the baron replied, “Enouch of 
lood by me’s bin spilt, sair, sair I rew the 
deid,” adding — 

I’ll ay lament for GH Morice, 

As gin he were mine ain; 

1*11 neir forget the dreiry day 
On which the youth was slain, 
f Percy's Reliques , ser. Ill, i. 

Percy says this pathetic tale suggested to 
Home the plot of his tragedy, Douglas . 

Morris Dance. A dance, popular in England 
in the 15th century and later, in which the 
dancers usually represented characters from 
the Robin Hood stories (see Maid Marian). 
Other stock characters were Friar Tuck, 
Bavian the fool, hobby horse and foreigners, 
probably Moors or Moriscos. It was brought 
from Spain in the reign of Edward III, and was 
originally a military dance of the Moors, or 
Morisco8|r-hence its name. 

Morse Code. A system of sending messages by 
telegraph, heliograph, flags, etc., invented in 
1835 by the American S. F. B. Morse (1791- 
1872). Each letter, figure, and punctuation 
mark is represented by dots, dashes, or a 
combination of them; thus dot. dash ( — ) 

stands for a t dash, dot, dot, dot ( ) for 6, 

a single dot for e, four dots and a dash 

(. ) for 4, etc. The first message in Morse 

code was sent May 24th, 1844, from Washing- 
ton to New York, reading, “What hath God 
wrought?” In visual signalling a short flash 


or a rapid dip of the flag corresponds with the 
dot, and a long or slow with the dash. 

Mortal. A mortal sin. A “deadly” sin, one 
which deserves everlasting punishment; op- 
posecfto venial . 

Earth trembled from her entrails, . . . some sad drops 
Wept at completing of the mortal Sin 
Original; while Adam took no thought. 

Milton: Paradise Lost , IX, 1003. 

In slang and colloquial speech the word is 
used to express something very great — as 
“He’s in a mortal funk,” “There was a 
mortal lot of people there,” or as an emphatic 
expletive — “You can do any mortal thing you 
like.” 

Mortar. Originally a short gun with a large 
boie for throwing bombs. Said to have been 
used at Naples in 1435; first made in England 
in 1543. To-day mortars take the form of a 
long smooth-bored pipe which throws a bomb 
with a high trajectory with extreme accuracy. 

Mortar-board. A college cap surmounted by 
a square “board” covered with black cloth. 
The word is possibly connected with Fr. 
mortier , the cap worn by the ancient kings of 
France, and still used officially by the chief 

t ’ustice pr president of the court of justice, 
mt is more likely an allusion to the small 
square board on which a bricklayer carries 
his mortar — frequently balanced on his head. 

Morte d’Arthur, Le (mort dar'thdr) (see 
Arthurian Romances), was written in prison 
by Sir Thomas Malory (c. 1400-77), relying 
largely on French Arthurian romances, but 
making additions of his own. It was printed by 
Caxton, and contains — 

The Prophecies of Merlin. 

The Quest of the St. Graal. 

The Romance of Sir Lancelot of the Lake. 
The History of Sir Tristram ; etc., etc. 
Tennyson’s Morte cVArthur gives a poetic 
version of some of these poems, not always 
following the originals and rarely preserving 
their mediaeval atmosphere. 

Morther. See Mauther. 

Mortimer. Fable has it that this family name 
derives from an ancestor in crusading times, 
noted for his exploits on the shores of the Dead 
Sea (De Mort no Mari). Fact, however, is not 
so romantic. De Mortemer was one of 
William the Conqueror’s knights and is 
mentioned in the Roll of Battle Abbey; he was 
tenant in chief of Mortemer , a township in 
Normandy. 

Mortmain (mort' man) (O.Fr., Lat. mortua 
manusy dead hand). A term applied to land 
that was held inalienably by ecclesiastical or 
other corporations. In the 13th century it was 
common for persons to make over their land to 
the Church and then to receive it back as 
tenants, thus escaping their feudal obligations 
to the king. In 1279 the Statute of Mortmain 
prohibiting grants of land to the “dead hand” 
of the Church was passed. 

Morton’s Fork. John Morton (c. 1420-1500), 
Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury, intro- 
duced a plan for increasing the royal revenues, 
in the time of Henry VII, so arranged that 
nobody should escape. Those who were rich 




Mortstone 


623 


Mother 


were forced to contribute on the ground that 
they could well afford it, those who lived 
without display on the ground that their 
economies must mean that they were saving 
money. ** 

Mortstone. A rock of Morte Point, Devon. 

He may remove Mortstone. A Devonshire 
proverb, said incredulously of husbands who 
pretend to be masters of their wives. It also 
means, “If you have done what you say, you 
can accomplish anything.” 

Morven (m6r' ven). The Scottish mainland 
over the sound from Mull. Much mentioned in 
the Ossian legends. 

Moses. The horns of Moses’ face. Moses is 
conventionally represented with horns, owing 
to a blunder in translation. In Ex. xxxiv, 29, 
30, where we are told that when Moses came 
down from Mount Sinai “the skin of his face 
shone,” the Hebrew for this shining may be 
translated either as “sent forth beams'* or 
“sent forth horns" \ and the Vulgate took 
the latter as correct, rendering the passage — 
quod cornu ta esset facies sua. Cp. Hab. iii, 4, 
“His brightness was as the light; He had 
horns [rays of light] coming out of His hand.” 

Michael Angelo followed the earlier painters 
in depicting Moses with horns. 

Moses boat. U.S.A. A type of boat made at 
Salisbury, Mass., by a famous boat-builder, 
Moses Lowell, in the 18th century. Farther 
south (in the West Indies), it is said to have 
been a boat of sufficient capacity to take a 
hogshead of sugar from shore to ship in one 
trip. 

Moses’ rod. The divining-rod (q.v.) is 
sometimes so called, after the rod with which 
Moses worked wonders before Pharaoh {Ex. 
vii, 9), or the rod with which he smote the 
rock to bring forth water (Ex. xvii, 6). 

Moslem or Muslim (moz' lem, muz' lim). A 
Mohammedan, the pres. part, of Arab. 
aslama , to be safe or at rest, whence Islam (q. v.). 
The Arabic plural Moslemin is sometimes 
used, but Moslems is more common, and in 
English more correct. 

Mosstrooper. A robber, a bandit; applied 
especially to the marauders who infested the 
borders of England and Scotland, who en- 
camped on the mosses (O.E. mos, a bog.) 

Mother. Properly a female parent (Sansk. 
matr; Gr. met£r \ Lat. mater ; O.E. mddor ; Ger. 
Mutter ; Fr. mdre\ etc.); hence, figuratively, the 
source or origin of anything, the head or 
headquarters of a religious or other com- 
munity, etc. 

Mother Ann, Bunch, Goose, Shipton, etc. 
See these names. 

Mother Carey’s Chickens. Sailor’s name for 
stormy petrels, probably derived from mater 
cara or madre cara (“mother dear”, with 
reference to the Virgin Mary). Sailors also call 
falling snow Mother Carey's chickens. See 
Marryat’s Poor Jack , where sailor’s supersti- 
tions on the matter are related. 

Mother Carey’s Goose. The great black 
petrel or fulmar of the Pacific. 


Mother Carey is plucking her goose. It is 
snowing. Cp. HlflLDA. 

Mother Church. The Church considered as 
the central fact, the head, the last court of 
appeal in all matters pertaining to conscience 
or religion. St. John Lateran, at Rome (see 
Lateran), is known as the Mother and Head 
of all Churches. Also, the principal or oldest 
church in a country or district; the cathedral 
of a diocese. 

Mother country. One’s native country; or 
the country whence one’s ancestors have come 
to settle. England is the Mother country of 
Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc. The 
German term is Fatherland. 

Mother’s Day. In U.S.A. the second Sunday 
in May is observed as an occasion for each 
person to remember his mother by some act of 
grateful affection. In schools Mother’s Day 
is observed on the Friday preceding the above 
date. 

Mother Earth. When Junius Brutus (after 
the death of Lucretia) formed one or the 
deputation to Delphi to ask the Oracle which 
of the three would succeed Tarquin, the 
response was, “He who should first kiss his 
mother.” Junius instantly threw himself on 
the ground, exclaiming, “Thus, then, I kiss 
thee, Mother Earth,” and he was elected 
consul. 

Mothering Sunday. Mid-Lent Sunday, a 
great holiday, when the Pope blesses the 
golden rose, children go home to their mothers 
to feast on “mothering cakes,” and “simnel 
cakes” (q.v.) are eaten. It is said that the day 
received its appellation from the ancient 
custom of visiting the “mother church” on 
that day; but to school-children it always 
meant a holiday, when they went home to 
spend the day with their mother or parents. 

Mother-of-pearl. The inner iridescent layers 
of the shells of many bivalve molluscs, 
especially that of the pearl oyster. 

Mother-sick. Hysterical. Hysteria in women 
used to be known as “the mother.” 

She [Lady Bountiful] cures rheumatisms, ruptures 
and broken shins in men; green-sickness, obstruc- 
tions, and fits of the mother in women; the king's 
evil, . . . etc. — Farquhar: The Beaux' Stratagem, l, i. 

Mother-wit. Native wit, a ready reply; the 
wit which “our mother gave us.” 

Mothers’ meeting. A meeting of mothers 
held periodically in connexion with some 
church or denomination, at which the women 
can get advice or religious instruction, drink 
tea, gossip, and sometimes do a little* needle- 
work. Hence, applied facetiously to any 
gossiping group of people — men, as well as 
women. 

The Mother of Believers. Among Moham- 
medans, Ayeshah, the second and favourite 
wife of Mohammed, who was called tho 
“Father of Believers.” 

The Mother of Cities (Amu-al-Bulud). Balkh 
is so called. 

Mother of Presidents. The State of Virginia. 


Mother 

Does your mother know you’re out? A 
jeering remark addressed to a presumptuous 
youth or to a simpleton. The phrase is the 
title of a comic poem published in the Mirror, 
April 28th , 1838. It became a catch phrase 
both in England and in America, and occurs 
in the Ingoldsby Legends , “Misadventures at 
Margate .” 

Oh, mother , look at Dick ! Said in derision 
when someone is showing off, or doing 
something easy with the idea of being ap- 
plauded for his skill. 

Tied to one’s mother’s apron-strings. See 
Apron. 

Mother. A stringy, gummy substance, some- 
times called mother of vinegar, which forms on 
the surface of a liquor undergoing acetous 
fermentation, consisting of the bacteria which 
are causing that fermentation. 


’24 Moumival 

sustained a long war against Artaxerxes (vT~ 
and sent to the Lacedaemonians for aid ir- ’ 
Agesilaus went with a contingent, but when'll! 8 
Egyptians saw a little, illdrcssed lame m an fit 
said : Warturiebatmons.-formtdavat Jupiter ■ file 
vero rhurem peper/r." (“The mountain laboured, 

Jupiter stood aghast, and a mouse ran out.”)’ 
Agesilaus replied, “You call me a mouse, but l 
will soon show you I am a /ion.” 

Creech translates Horace, “The travailing 
mountain yields a silly mouse ; and Boileau, 

“ La montagne cn travail enfantc une souris .” 

The Old Man of the Mountains (S/ieikh-al- 
Jebal). Hassan ben Sabbah, the founder of the 
Assassins (q.v.), who made his stronghold in 
the mountain fastnesses of Lebanon. He died 
in 1124, and in 1256 his dynasty, and nearly 
all the Assassins, were exterminated by the 
Tartar prince, Hulaku. 


Motion. The laws of motion, according to 
Galileo and Newton. 

(1) If no force acts on a body in motion, it 
will continue to move uniformly in a straight 
line. 

(2) If force acts on a body, it will produce 
a change of motion proportionate to the force, 
and in the same direction (as that in which 
the force acts). 

(3) When one body exerts force on another, 
that other body reacts on it with equal force. 
Motley. Men of motley. Licensed fools; so 
called because of their dress. 

Motley is the only wear. 

As You Like It, II, vii. 

Motu proprio (mo' tu prop' ri 6) (Lat.). Of 
one’s own motion; of one’s own accord. 
Always applied to a rescript drawn up and 
issued by the pope on his own initiative 
without the advice of others, and signed by 
him. 

Mountain. Mountain ash. See Rowan. 
Mountain-devils. Nickname for the inhabitants 
of Tasmania, Australia, who are also known 
as Tassies and Apple-islanders. 

Mountain dew. Scotch whisky; formerly 
that from illicit stills hidden away in the 
mountains. 

If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, 
etc. See Mohammed. 

The mountain (La Montagne). The extreme 
democratic party in the French Revolution, 
the members of which were known as Les 
Montagnards because they seated themselves 
on the highest benches of the hall in which the 
National Convention met. Their leaders were 
Dantoa and Robespierre, Marat, St. Andre, 
Legendre, Camille Desmoulins, Carnot, St. 
Just, and Collot d’Herbois, the men who 
introduced the “Reign of Terror.” Extreme 
Radicals in France are still called Monta- 
gnards . 

The mountain in labour. A mighty effort 
made for a small effect. The allusion is to the 
celebrated line “ Parturiunt montes , nascetur 
ridiculus mus (Ars Poetica , 139), which Horace 
took from a Greek proverb preserved by 
Athenaeus. 

The story is that the Egyptian King Tachos 


To make mountains of molehills. To make a 
difficulty of trifles. Arcem ex cloaca facere. 
The corresponding French proverb is, Fa ire 
d'une mouche un Elephant. 

Mountebank (mount' c bangk). A vendor of 
quack medicines at fairs, etc., who attracts 
the crowd by doing juggling feats or other 
antics from the tail of a cart or other raised 
platform; hence, any charlatan or self- 
advertising pretender. The bank or bench was 
the counter on which shopkeepers displayed 
their goods, and street-vendors used to mount 
on their bank to patter to the public. The 
Italian word, from which ours comes, is 
montambanco , and the French saltimbanque. 

Mourning (morn' ing). Black. To express the 
privation of light and joy, the midnight gloom 
of sorrow for the loss sustained. The colour 
of mourning in Europe; also in ancient Greece 
and the Roman Empire. 

Black and white striped. To express sorrow 
and hope. The mourning of the South Sea 
Islanders. 

Greyish brown. The colour of the earth, to 
which the dead return; used for mourning in 
Ethiopia. 

Pale brown. The colour of withered leaves. 
The mourning of Persia. 

Sky blue. To express the assured hope that 
the deceased has gone to heaven; used in Syria, 
Armenia, etc. 

Deep blue. The colour of mourning in 
Bokhara, also that of the Romans of the 
Republic. 

Purple and violet. To express royalty, “kings 
and priests to God.” The colour of mourning 
for cardinals and the kings of France; in 
Turkey the colour is violet. 

White. Emblem of* “white-handed hope.” 
Used by the ladies of ancient Rome and Sparta, 
also in Spain till the end of the 15th century. 
Henry VIII wore white for Anne Boleyn. 

Yellow. The sere and yellow leaf. The colour 
of mourning in Egypt and in Burma, where 
also it is the colour of the monastic order. In 
Brittany, widows’ caps among the pay sarnies 
are yellow. Anne Boleyn wore yellow mourning 
for Katharine of Aragon. Some say yellow is in 
token of exaltation. See also Black Cap. 

Moumival. See Gleek. 



Mouse 


625 


Muffins 


Mouse. The soul was often supposed in olden 
times to make its way at death through the 
mouth of man in the form of some animal, 
sometimes a pigeon, sometimes a mouse or rat. 
A red mouse indicated a pure soul; a black 
mouse, a soul blackened by pollution; a 
pigeon or dove, a saintly soul. 

Exorcists used to drive out evil spirits from 
the human body, and Harsnet gives several 
instances of such expulsions in his Popular Im- 
positions (1604). 

Mouse is slang for a black eye, and was 
formerly in common use as a term of endear- 
ment. Similar terms from animals are, bird or 
birdie , duckie , and lamb. “You little monkey” 
is an endearing reproof to a child. Dog and pig 
are used in a bad sense, as “You dirty dog”; 
“You filthy pig.” Brave as a lion, surly as a 
bear, crafty as a fox, proud as a peacock, fleet 
as a hare, and several phrases of a like 
character are in common use. 

“God bless you, mouse,” the bridegroom said, 
And smakt her on the lips. 

Warner: Albion's Eng., p. 17. 

It’s a bold mouse that nestles in the cat’s ear. 
Said of one who is taking an unnecessary risk. 
An old proverb, given by Herbert (1639). 

Poor as a church mouse. See Poor. 

The mouse that hath but one hole is quickly 
taken. Have two strings to your bow. The 
proverb appears in Herbert’s Collection (1639), 
and is found in many European languages. 
In Latin it was Mas non uni Jidit antro , the 
mouse does not trust to one hole. 

When the cat’s away the mice will play. See 
Cat. 

Mouse Tower, The. A mediaeval watch- 
tower on the Rhine, near Bingen, so called 
because of the tradition that Archbishop 
Hatto (<y.v.) was there devoured by mice. The 
tower, however, was built by Bishop Siegfried, 
two hundred years after the death of Hatto, as 
a toll-house for collecting the duties upon all 
goods which passed by. The German Maut 
means “toll, (mouse is Maus ), and the 
similarity of the words together with the great 
unpopularity of the toll on corn gave rise to 
the tradition. 

Mouth. Down in the mouth. See Down. 

His mouth was made. He was trained or 
reduced to obedience, like a horse trained to 
the bit. 

At first, of course, the fireworker showed fight . . . 
but in the end “his mouth was made,” his paces 
formed, and he became a very serviceable and willing 
animal. — L e Fanu: House in the Churchyard , ch. xeix. 

Hold your mouth! A rougher equivalent of 
“hold your tongue!”; keep silent. 

That makes my mouth water. The fragrance 
of appetizing food excites the salivary glands. 
The phrase means — that makes me long for or 
desire it. 

To laugh on the wrong side of one’s mouth. 

See Laugh. 

To mouth one’s words. To talk affectedly or 
pompously; to declaim. 

He mouths a sentence as curs mouth a bone. 

Churchill: The Rose lad, 322. 


To open one’s mouth wide. To name too high 
a price; to strain after too big a prize. 

Moutons (moo 7 tong). Revenons k nos mou- 
tons (Fr.). Literally “Let us come back to our 
sheep,” but used to express “let us return to 
the subject.” The phrase is taken from the 
14th-century French comedy La Farce de 
Maitre Pathelin, or VAvocat Pathelin (line 
1282), in which a woollen-draper charges a 
shepherd with ill-treating his sheep. In telling 
his story he kept for ever running away from 
his subject; and to throw discredit on the 
defendant’s attorney (Pathelin), accused him 
of stealing a piece of cloth. The judge had to 
pull him up every moment, with “ Mais y mon 
ami . revenons d nos moutons .” The phrase is 
frequently quoted by Rabelais. See Enfans 
Sans Souci, under Sans Souci. 

Move. Give me where to stand, and I will move 
the world. So said Archimedes of Syracuse; 
and the instrument he would have used is the 
lever. 


The first movable. See Primum mobile. 


To move the adjournment of the House (i.e. 
the House of Commons). To bring forward a 
motion of adjournment, which can only be 
done in certain special circumstances. This 
is the only method by which the rules of the 
House allow a member to bring up, without 
notice, business which is not on the order 
paper. 

To move the previous question. See Question. 

Mow (mo). The three mows in English are 
altogether different words, though spelt alike. 
Mo w, a heap of hay, etc. (“the barley-mow”) 
is O.E. muga, connected with Icel. miige, a 
swath. Mow, to cut down grass, corn, and so 
on, is O.E. mawan, connected with Ger. molten, 
Gr. amdtty and Eat. melere , to reap; and mow, 
a grimace (in “mops and mows,” #.v.), is Fr. 
mouCy a pout or grimace. 

M.R.A. See Moral Rearmament. 


Much. The miller’s son in the Robin Hood 
stories. In the morris-dances he played the part 
of the Fool, and his great feat was to bang the 
head of the gaping spectators with a bladder of 
peas. 

Much Ado about Nothing. Shakespeare’s 
comedy, named from a proverbial saying of 
the time, and with only the slightest relevance 
to the plot. 

Muckle. Many a mickle makes a muckle. See 

under Little. 


Muff. A person who is awkward at outdoor 
sports, or who is effeminate, dull, or stupid; 
probably so called as a sneering allpsion to 
the use of muffs to keep one’s hands warm. 
The term does not seem to be older than the 
early part of last century, but there is a Sir 
Henry Muff in Dudley’s interlude. The Rival 
Candidates (1774), a stupid, blundering dolt, 
who is not only unsuccessful at the election, 
but finds that his daughter has engaged herself 
during his absence. 


Muffins and Crumpets. Muffins is probably pain* 
moufflet , soft bread. Du Cange describes the 
panis mofletus as bread of a more delicate 


Mufti 


626 


Mulligan 


nature than ordinary, for the use of prebends, 
etc., and says it was made fresh every day. 
Crumpets is a word of ancient but unknown 
origin. Crumpet is also slang for the head — 
/ caught him one on the crumpet — I gave him 
a blow on the head. 

Mufti (mtif' ti). An Arabic word meaning an 
official expounder of the Koran and Moham- 
medan law; but used in English to denote 
civ//, as distinguished from military or official 
costume. Our meaning dates from the early 
19th century, and probably arose from the 
resemblance that the flowered dressing-gown 
and tasselled smoking-cap worn by officers at 
that time when in their quarters off duty bore 
to the stage get-up of an Eastern mufti. 

Mug. This word, used as slang for a face, is of 
obscure origin, possibly coming from the 
gypsy meaning, a simpleton or muff. To mug up, 
meaning to study hard for a specific purpose, 
e.g. to pass an examination, is an old univer- 
sity phrase; it has been suggested that it 
comes from the theatre where an actor, while 
making up his face or “mug,” would hurriedly 
con over his words. 

Mug-house. An ale-house was so called in 
the 18th century where some hundred persons 
assembled in a large tap-room to drink, sing, 
and spout. One of the number was made 
chairman. Ale was served to the guests in 
their own mugs, and the place where the mug 
was to stand was chalked on the table. 

Muggins. Slang for a fool or simpleton — a 
juggins is the same thing; also for a pettifogging 
magnate, a village leader. Muggins is a sur- 
name, and those bearing it sometimes like 
to hear it pronounced mQ' ginz. 

Muggletonian (mfig el to' ni in). A follower of 
Loaovic Muggleton (1609-98), a journeyman 
tailor, who, about 1651, set up for a prophet. 
He was sentenced for blasphemous writings to 
stand in the pillory, and was fined £500. The 
members of the sect — which maintained a sort 
of existence till about 1865 — believed that 
their two founders, Muggleton and John 
Reeve, were the “two witnesses” spoken of in 
Rev. xi, 3. 

Mugwump (mOg' wump). An Algonquin word 
meaning a chief; in Eliot’s Indian Bible the 
word “centurion” in the Acts is rendered 
mugwump . It is now applied in the United 
States to independent members of the Repub- 
lican party, those who refuse to follow the 
dictum of a caucus, and all political Pharisees 
whose party vote cannot be relied on. 

*T suppose I am a political mugwump,’’ said the 
Englishman. “Not yet,” replied Mr. Reed. “You will 
be when you have returned to your allegiance.’* — 
The Liverpool Echo t July 19th, 1886. 

Mulatto (mOl&t'd) (Span.; from mulo } a 
mule). The offspring of a negress by a white 
man; loosely applied to any half breed. Cp . 
Creole. 

Mulberry. Fable has it that the fruit was 
originally white, and became blood-red from 
the blood of Pyramus and Thisbe ( see Py- 
ramus). The botanical name is Morus , from 
the Greek moros (a fool); so called, we are 
told in the Hortus Angltcus, because M it is 


reputed the wisest of all flowers, as it never 
buds till the cold weather is past and gone. 
Ludovic Sforza, who prided himself on his 
prudence, chose a mulberry-tree for his 
device, and was called “7/ Moro .” 

In the Seven Champions (Pt. I, ch. iv) 
Eglantine, daughter of the King of Thessaly, 
was transformed into a mulberry-tree. 

In World War II Mulberry was the code 
name given to the engineering feat of making a 
p re-fabricated port and towing it across to 
the Normandy coast to make possible the 
supply of the Allied armies in France in 1944. 
Submersible sections of concrete formed a 
breakwater and quay alongside which the 
transports were tied up for the stores to be 
unloaded. The name was chosen because at the 
time it was the next in rotation on the British 
Admiralty’s list of names available for war 
ships. 

Here we go round the mulberry bush. An old 
game in which children take hands and dance 
round in a ring, singing a song of which this is 
the refrain. 

Mulciber (mul' si ber). A name of Vulcan 
(q.v.) among the Romans; it means the 
softener , because he softened metals. 

Round about him (Mammon) lay on every side 
Great heaps of gold that never could be spent: 
Of which some were rude ore, not purified 
Of Mulciber’s devouring element. 

Spenser: Faerie Queene , II, vii, 5. 

Mule. The offspring of a male ass and a mare: 
hence, a hybrid between other animals (or 
plants), as a mule canary , a cross between a 
canary and a goldfinch. The offspring of a 
stallion and a she-ass is not, properly speaking, 
a mule, but a hinny. 

Very stubborn or obstinate people are 
sometimes called mules , in allusion to the well- 
known characteristic of the beast; and the 
spinning-mule was so called because it was — 
a kind of mixture of machinery between the warp- 
machine of Mr, Arkwright and the woof-machine or 
hand-jenny of Mr. Hargrave. — Encyc. Britannica , 
1797 . 

To shoe one’s mule. To appropriate moneys 
committed to one’s trust. 

He had the keeping and disposall of the moneys, 
and vet «hod not his own mule. — History of Francion 
( 1655 ). 

Mull. To make a mull of a job is to fail to do it 
properly. It is either a contraction of muddle , 
or from the old verb to mull , to reduce to 
powder. 

Among Anglo-Indians members of the 
service in the Madras Presidency were known 
as Mulls. Here the word stands for mulliga- 
tawny. 

Mulla. The Bard of Mulla’s silver stream. So 
Spenser was called by Shenstone, because at 
one time his home in Ireland was on the banks 
of the Mulla, or Awbeg, a tributary of the 
Blackwater. 

Mulligan. This word has several colloquial or 
slang uses in the U.S.A.: (1) a stew; (2) a 
nickname for an Irishman; (3) underworld 
term for a policemsffi; (4) a second drive, 
allowed by your opponent, on the first tee of 
a round of golf if you miss your first one. 


Mulrautine Laws 


627 


Mumping Day 


Mulmutine Laws (mfir mQ tin). The code of 
Dunvallo Mulmutius, the sixteenth legendary 
King of the Britons ( c . 400 b.c.), son of 
Cloten, King of Cornwall. It is said to have 
been translated by Gildas from British into 
Latin, and to have formed the basis of King 
Alfred’s code, which obtained in England till 
the Conquest. (Holinshed : History of England , 
III, i.) 

Mulmutius made out laws. 

Who was the first of Britain which did put 
His brows within a golden crown, and called 
Himself a king. Cymbeline, III, i. 

Mulready Envelope (mul red' i). An envelope 
resembling a half-sheet of letter-paper, when 
folded, having on the front an ornamental 
design by William Mulready (1786-1863), 
the artist. When the penny postage envelopes 
were first introduced (1840), these were the 
stamped envelopes of the day; they remained 
in circulation tor one year only. They are 
prized by stamp-collectors. 

A set of those odd-looking envelope-things. 

Where Britannia (who seems to be crucified) flings 
To her right and her left, funny people with wings 
Amongst elephants, Quakers, and Catabaw kings, — 
And a taper and wax, and small Queen’s-heads in 
packs. 

Which, when notes are too big you must stick on their 
backs. Ingotdsby Legends. 

Multipliers. So alchemists, who pretended to 
multiply gold and silver, were called. An Act 
was passed (2 Henry IV, c. iv) making the 
“art of multiplication” felony. In the Can- 
terbury Tales , the Canon’s Yeoman (see 
Prologue to his Tale) says he was reduced to 
poverty by alchemy, adding: “Lo, such 
advantage is’t to multiply.” 

Multitude, Nouns of. Dame Juliana Berners, 
in her Booke of St. Albans (1486), says, in 
designating companies we must not use the 
names of multitudes promiscuously, and 
examples her remark thus: — 

“We say a congregaeyon of people, a boost of men, 
a felyshyppynge of yeomen, and a bevy of ladyes; we 
must speak of a herde of dere, swannys, cranys, or 
wrenys, a sege of herons or bytourys, a muster of 
pecockes, a watche of nyghtyngalcs, a jilyghte of doves, 
a elate rynge of choughes, a pryde of lyons, a slew the 
of beeres, a gagle of geys, a skulkc of foxes, a senile 
of frerys, a pontificalitye of prestys, and a superfluyte 
of nonnes. — Booke of St. Albans (I486). 

She adds, that a strict regard to these niceties 
better distinguishes “gentylmen from un- 
gentylmen,” than regard to the rules of 
grammar, or even to the moral law. See 
Assemblage, Nouns of. 

Multum in parvo (mill 'turn in par' vo) (Lat.). 
Much “information” condensed into few words 
or into a small compass. 

Mum. A strong beer made in Brunswick; said 
to be so called from Christian Mumme, by 
whom it was first brewed in the late 15th 
century. 

Mum’s the word. Keep what is told you a 
profound secret. See Mumchance. 

Seal up your lips, and give no words but — mum. 

Henry VI, Pt. II, 1, ii. 

Mumbudget. An old Acclamation meaning 
“Silence, please”; perhaps from a children’s 
game in which silence was occasionally 


necessary. Cp . Budget, Cry; a/h/ Mumchance, 
below. 

Have these bones rattled, and this head 
So often in thy quarrel bled? 

Nor did I ever winch or grudge it, 

For thy dear sake. Quoth she, Mumbudget. 

Butler : Hudibras , I, iii, 208. 

Mumchance. Silence. Mumchance was a 
game of chance with dice, in which silence was 
indispensable. Mum is connected with mumble 
(Ger. mummeln\ Dan. mumle , to mumble). 
Cp . Mumbudget. 

And for “mumchance,” howe’er the chance may fall. 

You must be mum for fear of spoiling all. 

MachiavclVs fjtogg. 

Mumbo Jumbo (mum' bo jtim' bo). The name 
given by Europeans (possibly from some lost 
native word) to a bogy or grotesque idol 
venerated by certain African tribes; hence, any 
object of blind and unreasoning worship. 

Mungo Park in his Travels in Africa says 
that Mumbo Jumbo is not an idol, any more 
than the American Lynch , but merely one 
disguised to punish unruly wives. It not infre- 
quently happens that a house which contains 
many wives becomes unbearable. In such a 
case, either the husband or an agent disguises 
himself as “Mumbo Jumbo” and comes at 
dusk with a following, making the most 
hideous noises possible. When the women 
have been sufficiently scared, “Mumbo” 
seizes the chief offender, ties her to a tree, and 
scourges her, amidst the derision of all present. 

Mummer. A contemptuous name for an actor; 
from the parties that formerly went from house 
to house at Christmas-time mumming , i.e. 
giving a performance of St. George and the 
Dragon and the like, in dumb-show. 

Peel’d, patch’d, and piebald, linsey-woolsey brothers. 
Grave mummers! sleeveless some, and shirtless others. 

Pope: Dunciad , III, 115. 

Mummy is the Arabic mum, wax used for 
embalming; from the custom of anointing the 
body with wax and wrapping it in cerecloth. 

Mummy wheat. Wheat said to have been 
taken from ancient Egyptian tombs, which, 
when sown, fructifies. No seed, however, will 
preserve its vitality for centuries, and what is 
called mummy wheat is a species of corn 
commonly grown on the southern shores of the 
Mediterranean. 

Mumpers. Beggars; from the old slang to 
mump, to cheat or to sponge on others, prob- 
ably from Dutch mompen, to cheat. In Nor- 
wich, Christmas waits used to be called 
“Mumpers.” 

A parcel of wretches hopping about by the assis- 
tance of their crutches, like so many Lincoln’s Inn 
Fields mumpers, drawing into a body to attack the 
coach of some charitable lord. — N ed Ward: The 
London Spy, Pt. V. 

Mumping day. St. Thomas’s Day, December 
21st, is so called in some parts of the country, 
because on this day the poor used to go 
about begging, or, as it was called, “a-gooding/* 
that is, getting gifts to procure good things 
for Christmas. 

In Lincolnshire the name used to be applied 
to Boxing Day fa.v.); in Warwickshire the 
term used was “going a-corning,” i.e. getting 
gifts of com. 


Mumpsimus 


628 


Music 


Mumpsimus. Rbbert Graves, in Impenetra - 
bility, gives this word as an example of the 
practice of making new words by declaration. 
With the meaning, “an erroneous doctrinal 
view obstinately adhered to,” mumpsimus was 
put into currency by Henry VIII in a speech 
from the throne in 1545. He remarked, “Some 
be too stiff in their old mumpsimus, others be 
too busy and curious in their sumpsimus.” He 
referred to a familiar story in the jest-books of 
a priest who always read in the Mass “quod 
in ore mumpsimus” instead of “sumpsimus,” 
as his Missal was incorrectly copied. When his 
mistake was pointed out, he said that he had 
read it with an m for forty years, “and I will 
not change my old mumpsimus for your new 
sumpsimus.” The word no longer has its 
doctrinal meaning, and is now used to mean 
“an established manuscript-reading that, 
though obviously incorrect, is retained 
blindly by old-fashioned scholars.” 

Munchausen, Baron, (mun' chou zen). Karl 
Friedrich Hieronymus, Baron Munchausen 
(1720-97) served in the Russian army against 
the Turks, and after his retirement told extra- 
ordinary stories of his war adventures. Rudolf 
Erich Raspe (1737-94), a German scientist, 
antiquarian and writer, collected these tales, 
and when living in England as a mining 
engineer published them in 1785 as Baron 
Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous 
Travels and Campaigns in Russia. The text of 
Munchausen as reprinted latterly contains Sea 
Adventures , an account of Baron de Tott (a 
character founded on a real French Hussar) 
partly written by Raspe, and much additional 
matter from various sources by other hands. 

Mundane Egg. See Egg. 

Mundungus (mun dung' gus). Bad tobacco; 
originally offal, or refuse, from Span, mon- 
dongo , black pudding. 

In Sterne’s Sentimental Journey (1768) the 
word is used as a name for Samuel Sharp, a 
surgeon, who published Letters from Italy ; 
and Smollett, who published Travels through 
France and Italy (1766), “one continual snarl,” 
was called “Smelfungus.” 

Mungo, St. (mung' go). An alternative name 
for St. Kcntigern {q.v.). 

A superior kind of shoddy, made from 
second-hand woollens, is known as mungo. 
Munich Pact or Agreement. The pact signed by 
Germany, France, Great Britain, and Italy 
on September 29th, 1938, whereby the Sudeten- 
land of Czechoslovakia was ceded to Germany. 
From this unfortunate act of appeasement the 
phrase has come to mean any dishonourable 
appeasement. 

Murderer’s Bible, The. See Bible, specially 
named. 

Murrumbidgee Whaler (mu rQm' bi je). The 
Australian term for a tramp, the origin of 
which is obscure. Many derive the term from 
the fact that tramps camped for long periods by 
rivers such as the Murrumbidgee and then 
told lies about the fish or “whales” they had 
caught. It may be connected more specifically 
with New South Wales where horses exported 
to the Indian Army were called “walers.” 


Muscadins (mils' k& dinz). Parisian exquisites 
who aped those of London about the time of 
the French Revolution. They wore top-boots 
with thick soles, knee-breeches, a dress-coat 
with long tails, and a high stiff collar, and 
carried a thick cudgel called a constitution. It 
was thought “John Bullish” to assume a 
huskiness of voice, a discourtesy of manners, 
and a swaggering vulgarity of speech and 
behaviour. 

Cockneys of London, Muscadins of Paris. 

Byron: Don Juan t viii, 124. 

Muscular Christianity. Hearty or strong- 
minded Christianity, which braces a man to 
fight the battle of life bravely and manfully. 
The term was applied to the teachings of 
Charles Kingsley — somewhat to his annoy- 
ance. 

It is a school of which Mr. Kingsley is the ablest 
doctor; and its doctrine has been described fairly and 
cleverly as “muscular Christianity.” — Edinburgh Re- 
view , Jan., 1858. 

Muses. In Greek mythology the nine daughters 
of Zeus and Mnemosyne; originally goddesses 
of memory only, but later identified with in- 
dividual arts and sciences. The paintings of 
Herculaneum show all nine in their respective 
attributes. They are: — 

Calliope: the chief of the Muses. 

Clio : heroic exploits and history. 

Euterpe: Dionysiac music and the double flute. 

Thalia: gaiety, pastoral life, and comedy. 

Melpomene : song, harmony, and tragedy. 

Terpsichore : Choral dance and song. 

Erato: the lyre and erotic poetry. 

Polvhvmnia: the inspired and stately hymn. 

Urania: celestial phenomena and astronomy. 

See these names. 

Museum. Literally, a home or seat of the 
Muses. The first building to have this name was 
the university erected at Alexandria by Ptolemy 
Soter about 300 b.c. 

Mushroom. Slang for an umbrella, on account 
of the similarity in shape; and as mushrooms 
are of a very rapid growth, applied figuratively 
to almost anything that “springs up in the 
night,” as a new, quickly built suburb, an 
upstart family, and so on. In 1787 Bentham 
said — somewhat unjustly — “Sheffield is an 
oak; Birmingham is a mushroom.” 

To mushroom. To expand into a mushroom 
shape; said especially of certain soft-nosed 
rifle-bullets used in big-game shooting, or of a 
dense cloud of smoke that spreads out high 
in the sky. 

Music. Father of modern music. Mozart (1756- 
91) has been so called. 

Father of Greek music. Terpander (fl. 676 

B.C.). 

The prince of music. Giovanni Pierluigi da 
Palestrina (1524-94). 

Music hath charms, etc. The opening line of 
Congreve’s Mourning Bride . 

Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, 

To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak. 

The allusion is to Orpheus (q.v.) t who — 

With his lujp made trees, 

And the mouhtain tops that freeze. 

Bow themselves when he did sing. 

Henry VfJl, III, i. 




Music 


629 


Myrtle 


The music of the spheres. See Spheres. 

To face the music. See Face. 

Musical Notation. See Doh. 

Musical Small-coal Man. Thomas Britton 
(1654-1714), a coal-dealer of Clerkenwell, who 
established a musical club in a loft over his 
shop in which all the musical celebrities of the 
day took part. The club met every Thursday 
night and was frequented by professional 
musicians such as Handel, talented amateurs 
such as Roger L’Estrange, and lovers of music 
generally. 

Father of musicians. Jubal, “the father of all 
such as handle the harp and organ’’ {Gen. iv, 
21 ). 

Musits or Musets. Gaps in a hedge; places 
through which a hare makes his way to escape 
the hounds. 

The many musits through the which he goes 
Are like a labyrinth to amaze his foes. 

Shakespeare: Venus and Adonis. 

The passing of the hare through these gaps is 
termed musing. The word is from O.Fr. muce, 
a hiding-place. 

Muslim. See Moslem. 

Muslin. So called from Mosul, in Asia, where 
it was first manufactured (Fr. mousse line \ ital. 
mussolina). 

Mustang (U.S.A.). A wild horse. 

Mustard. So called because originally must , 
new wine (Lat. mustus , fresh, new) was used 
in mixing the paste. Fable, however, alleges 
that the name arose because in 1382 Philip the 
Bold, Duke of Burgundy, granted to the 
town of Dijon, noted for its mustard, armorial 
bearings with the motto Moult me tarde 
4 Multum ardeo, I ardently desire*. The arms 
and motto, engraved on the principal gate, 
were adopted as a trade-mark by the mustard 
merchants, and got shortened into Moult- 
tarde (to burn much). 

Mustard, ground and sifted to a flour, is 
said to have been the invention of an old 
Durham woman named Clements, who came 
to London in 1720 with her concoction, which 
pleased the palate of George I and hence 
became popular. 

After meat, mustard. Expressive of the 
sentiment that something that would have been 
welcome a little earlier has arrived too late, I 
have now no longer need of it. C'est de la 
moutarde aprds diner. 

Mussulman. A Mohammedan, a Moslem (?.v.). 
The plural is Mussulmans. 

Mutantur. See Tempora Mutantur. 

Mute, To stand. An old legal term for a 
prisoner who, when arraigned for treason or 
felony, refused to plead or gave irrelevant 
answers. 

Mutton (Fr. mouton , a sheep). In old slang, a 
prostitute, frequently extended to laced mutton. 

Speed: Ay, sir: 1, a lost mutton, gave your letter to 
her, a laced mutton; and she, a laced mutton, gave 
me, a lost mutton, nothing for my labour. — Shake- 
speare: Two Gentlemen of Verona , I, i. 

The old lecher hath gotten holy mutton to him, a 
Nunnc, my lord. — Greene: Friar Bacon. 


It was with this suggestion that Rochester 
wrote his mock epitaph on Charles II: — 

Here lies our mutton-eating king. 

Whose word no man relies on; 

He never said a foolish thing. 

And never did a wise one. 

Come and eat your mutton with me. Come 

and dine with me. 

Dead as mutton. Absolutely dead. 

Mutton fist. A large, coarse, red fist. 

Mutton Lancers. See Regimental Nick- 
names. 

To return to our muttons. To come back to 
the subject. See Moutons. 

Mutual Friends. Can people have mutual 
friends? Strictly speaking not ; but since 
Dickens adopted the solecism in the title of 
his novel. Our Mutual Friend (1864), many 
people have objected to the correct term, com- 
mon friends . Mutual implies reciprocity from 
one to the other (Lat. mutare , to change); the 
friendship between two friends should be 
mutual, but this mutuality cannot be extended 
to a third party. 

A mutual flame was quickly caught, 

Was quickly, too, revealed; 

For neither bosom lodged a thought 
Which virtue keeps concealed. 

Edwin and Emma . 

M.V.D. The initials by which the Russian 
security service, formerly the N.K.V.D. (^.v.), 
is known. 

Mynheer (min herO. The Dutch equivalent for 
“Mr.”; hence, sometimes used for a Dutch- 
man. 

’Tis thus I spend my moments here. 

And wish myself a Dutch mynheer. 

Cowper: To Lady Austin . 

Myrmidons of the Law. Bailiffs, sheriffs* 
officers, and other law servants. Any rough 
fellow employed to annoy another is the 
employer’s myrmidon. 

The Myrmidons were a people of Thessaly 
who followed Achilles to the siege of Troy, 
and were distinguished for their savage 
brutality, rude behaviour, and thirst for rapine. 

Myrrha. The mother of Adonis, in Greek 
legend. She is fabled to have had an unnatural 
love for her own father, and to have been 
changed into a myrtle tree. 

Myrrophores (Gr. myrrh bearers). The three 
Marys who went to see the sepulchre, bearing 
myrrh and spices {see Mark xvi, 1). In 
Christian art they are represented as carrying 
vases of myrrh in their hands. 

Myrtle. If you look at a leaf of myrtle in a 
strong light, you will see that it is pierced with 
innumerable little punctures. According to 
fable, Phasdra, wife of Theseus, fell in love with 
Hippolytus, her stepson; and when Hippolytus 
went to the arena to exercise his norses, 
Phaedra repaired to a myrtle-tree in Trcezen 
to await his return, and beguiled the time by 
piercing the leaves with a hairpin. The punc- 
tures referred to are an abiding memento of 
this legend. 

In Orlando Furtoso Astolpho is changed into 
a myrtle-tree by Acrisia. See also Myrrha 
above . 


Myrtle 


630 


Nag 


The ancient Jews believed that the eating of 
myrtle leaves conferred the power of detecting 
witches; and it was a superstition that if the 
leaves crackled in the hands the person be- 
loved would prove faithful. 

The myrtle which dropped blood. ^Bneas 
(AZneid, Bk. Ill) is represented as tearing up the 
myrtle which dropped blood. Polydorus tells 
us that the barbarous inhabitants of the country 
pierced the myrtle (then a living being) with 
spears and arrows. The body of the myrtle 
took root and grew into the bleeding tree. 

Mysteries of Udolpho. A romance by Mrs Rad- 
cliffe (1764-1823) which was published in 1794 
and founded the so-called “terror school” of 
English romanticism, though Walpole’s Castle 
of Otranto (1764) had broken the ground. 

Mysterium. The letters of this word which, 
until the time of the Reformation, was en- 
graved on the Pope's tiara, are said to make up 
the number 666 (see Number of the Beast). 
See also Rev. xvii, 5. 

Mystery. In English two totally distinct words 
have been confused here: mystery , the archaic 
term for a handicraft, as in the art and mystery 
of printing, is the same as the French metier 
(trade, craft, profession), and is the M.E. 
mist ere, from mediieval Lat. mister ium, 
ministerium, ministry. 

Mystery , meaning something beyond human 
comprehension, is (through French) from the 
Lat. mysterium and Gr. mustes , from muen, to 
close the eyes or lips. It is from this sense that 
the old miracle-plays, mediaeval dramas in 
which the characters and story were drawn 
from sacred history, were called Mysteries, 
though, as they were frequently presented by 
members of some single guild, or mystery in 
the handicraft sense, even hcre^ the words 
were confused and opening madfe for many 
puns. 

The three greater mysteries. In ecclesiastical 
language, the Trinity, Original Sin, and the 
Incarnation. 

N 

N. The fourteenth letter of our alphabet; 
represented in Egyptian hieroglyph by a 
water-line ( — *-). It was called nun (a fish) in 
Phoenician, whence the Greek nu. 

N, a numeral. Gr. v ~ 50, but ,v= 50,000. N 
(Lat.) - 90, or 900, butf N = 90,000, or 
900 , 000 , 

n.The sign ~ (tilde) over an “n” indicates that 
the letter is to be pronounced as though 
followed by a “y,” as canon — canyon. It is used 
thus almost solely in words from Spanish. In 
Portuguese the accent (called til) is placed over 
vowels to indicate that they have a nasal value. 

nth, or nth plus one. The expression is taken 
from the index of a mathematical formula, 
where n stands for any number, and /i-fl, one 
more than any number. Hence, ^dimensional , 
having an indefinite number of dimensions, 
n- tuple (on the analogy of quadruple , quintuple , 
etc.), having an indefinite number of duplica- 
tions. 


n ephelkustic. The Greek nu (v) added for 
euphony to the end of a word that terminates 
with a vowel when the next word in the 
sentence begins with a vowel. 

N or M. The answer given to the first 
question in the Church of England Catechism; 
and it means that here the person being 
catechized gives his or her name or names. Lat. 
nomen vel nomina. The abbreviation for the 
plural nomina was — as usual — the doubled 
initial ( cp . “LL.D.” for Doctor of Laws); and 
this, when printed (as it was in old Prayer 
Books) in black-letter and close together, 
came to be taken for fft. 

In the same way the TV. in the marriage- 
service (“I M. take thee TV. to my wedded 
wife”) merely indicates that the name is to be 
spoken in each case; but the M. and TV. in 
the publication of banns (“I publish the Banns 

of Marriage between M. of and TV. of 

”) stand for maritus , bridegroom, and 

nupta, bride. 

Nab. Colloquial for to seize suddenly, without 
warning. (Cp. Norw. and Swed. nappa; Dan. 
nappe). Hence nab man, a sheriff’s officer or 
police-constable. 

Ay, but so be if a man’s nabbed, you know. 

Goldsmith: The Good-natured Man. 

Nabob (na' bob). Corruption of the Hindu 
nawab, plural of naib, a deputy-governor under 
the Mogul Empire. These men acquired great 
wealth and lived in splendour; hence, Rich as a 
nabob came to be applied to a merchant who 
had attained great wealth in the Indies, and 
returned to live in his native country. 
Nabonassar, Era of (nab on as' ar). An era that 
was in use for centuries by the Chaldean 
astronomers, and was generally followed by 
Hipparchus and Ptolemy. It commenced at 
midday, Wed., Feb. 26th, 747 b.c., the date 
of the accession of Nabonassar (d. 733 
b.c.), as King of Babylonia. The year 
consisted of 12 months of 30 days each, with 5 
complementary days added at the end. As no 
intercalary day was allowed for, the first day 
of the vear fell one day earlier every four years 
than the Julian year; consequently, to trans- 
pose a date from one era to another it is 
necessary to know the exact day and month 
of the Nabonassarian date, and to remember 
that 1460 Julian years are equal to 1461 
Babylonian. 

Naboth’s Vineyard (na' both). The possession 
of another coveted by one able to possess 
himself of it. (I Kings xxi.) 

Nabu. See Nebo. 

Nacelle (na selO. This French word meaning a 
skiff or wherry is applied to the body of an 
aircraft — aeroplane, glider, or airship — which 
holds the crew, load, or motors. 

Nadir (nSd' ir). An Arabic word, signifying 
that point in the heavens which is directly 
opposite to the zenith, i.e. directly under our 
feet; hence, figuratively, the lowest depths 
of degradation. See also Zenith. 

Navius. See Accius N^cvius. 

Nag, Nagging. Constant fault-finding. (O.E. 
gnag-an, to gnaw, bite.) We call a slight but 
constant pain, like a toothache, a nagging pain. 



Nag’s Head Consecration 


631 


Naked 


Nag's Head Consecration. On the passing of 
the second Act of Uniformity in Queen 
Elizabeth I’s reign (1559), fourteen bishops 
vacated their sees, and all the other sees, except 
Llandaff, were at the time vacant. The question 
was how to obtain consecration so as to 
preserve the apostolic succession unbroken, 
as Llandafif refused to officiate at Matthew 
Parker’s consecration as Archbishop of 
Canterbury. In this dilemma (the story runs) 
John Scory, the deposed Bishop of London, 
was sent for, and officiated at the Nag’s Head 
tavern, in Cheapside, thus transmitting the 
succession. This is the story that was circu- 
lated some forty years later by certain Roman 
Catholics. 

Strype refutes it, and so does Dr. Hook. 
We are told that it was not the consecration 
which took place at the Nag’s Head, but only 
that those who took part in it dined there 
subsequently. Bishops Barlow, Scory, Cover- 
dale, and Hodgkins, all officiated at the 
consecration which was properly performed at 
Lambeth Palace on December 17th, 1559. 

Naiad (nl' &d). Nymph of lake, fountain, 
river, or stream in classical mythology. 

You nymphs, call’d Naiads, of the wand’ring brooks. 
With your sedg’d crowns, and ever-harmless looks. 
Leave your crisp channels, and on this green land 
Answer your summons: Juno does command. 

Tempest , IV, i. 

Nail. The nails with which Our Lord was 
fastened to the cross were, in the Middle Ages, 
objects of great reverence. Sir John Mande- 
ville says, “He had two in his hondcs, and two 
in his feet; and of on of theise the emperour 
of Constantynoble made a brydille to his 
hors, to here him in bataylle; and throghe 
vcrtue thereof he overcam his enemyes” (c. 
vii). Fifteen are shown as relics. See Iron 
Crown. 

In ancient Rome a nail was driven into the 
wall of the temple of Jupiter every 13th 
September. This was originally done to tally 
the year, but subsequently it became a religious 
ceremony for warding off calamities and 
plagues from the city. Originally the nail was 
driven by the pro? tor maximus , subsequently 
by one of the consuls, and lastly by the 
dictator {see Livy, VII, iii). 

A somewhat similar ceremony took place 
in Germany in World War 1 when patriotic 
Germans drove nails into a large wooden 
statue of Field-Marshal Hindenburg, buying 
each nail in support of a national fund. 

A nail was formerly a measure of weight 
of 8 lb. It was used for wool, hemp, beef, 
cheese, etc. It was also a measure of length, 
= 2\ in. 

Motto: You shall have ... a dozen beards, to 
stulfe two dozen cushions. 

Lido : Then they be big ones. 

Dello: They be halfc a yard broad, and a nayle, three 
quarters long, and a foote thick. 

Lyly: Midas , V, ii (1589). 

For want of a nail. “For want of a nail, 
the shoe is lost; for want of a shoe, the horse 
is lost; and for want of a horse, the rider is 
lost.” (Herbert : Jacula Prudentum.) 

Hard as nails. Stern, hard-hearted, unsympa- 
thetic; able to stand hard blows like nails. The 


phrase is used with both a physical and a 
figurative sense; a man in perfect training is 
“as hard as nails,** and bigotry, straitlacedness, 
rigid puritanical Pharisaism, make people 
“hard as nails.’’ 

I know I’m as hard as nails already; I don’t want to 
get more so. — Edna Lyall: Donovan , ch. xxiii. 

Hung on the nail. Put in pawn. The custom 
referred to is the old one of hanging each 
pawn on a nail, with a number attached, and 
giving the customer a duplicate thereof. 

I nailed him (or it). I pinned him, meaning 
I secured him. Is. (xxii, 23) says, “I will fasten 
him as a nail in a sure place.’* 

On the nail. Immediately, as in “to pay on 
the nail.*’ One meaning of nail (possibly from 
mediaeval times) meant a shallow vessel 
mounted on a stand, either indoors or out, 
and business was concluded by payment into 
the vessel. It may have been called such from 
the rough resemblance of the stand to a nail’s 
shape. Outside the Corn Exchange at Bristol 
ancient “nails’* can still be seen. Cp . Super- 
naculum. 

To drive a nail into one’s coffin. See Coffin. 

To hit the nail on the head. To come to a 
right conclusion. In Latin, Rem tenes. 

To nail to the counter. To convict and expose 
as false or spurious; as, “I nailed that lie to 
the counter at once.*’ From the custom of 
shopkeepers nailing to the counter false money 
that is passed to them as a warning to others. 

Tooth and nail. See Tooth. 


With colours nailed to the mast. See Colours. 


Nail-paring. Superstitious people are very 
particular as to the day on which they cut 
their nails. The old rhyme is: — 

Cut them on Monday, you cut them for health; 
Cut them on Tuesday, you cut them for wealth; 
Cut them on Wednesday, you cut them for news; 
Cut them on Thursday, a new pair of shoes; 

Cut them on Friday, you cut them for sorrow; 

Cut them on Saturday, you see your true love to- 
morrow; 

Cut them on Sunday, your safety seek. 

The devil will have you the rest of the week. 


Another rhyme conveys an even stronger 
warning on the danger of nail-cutting on a 
Sunday: — 

A man had better ne’er be born 
As have his nails on a Sunday shorn. 

Nain Rouge (nan roozh) (Fr. red dwarf). A 
lutin or house spirit of Normandy, kind to 
fishermen. There is another called Le petit 
homme rouge (the little red man). 


Naked. O.E. nacod , a common Teutonic word, 
connected with Lat. nudus , nude. Destitute of 
covering; hence, figuratively, defenceless, 
exposed; without extraneous assistance, as 
with the naked eye , i.e . without a telescope or 
other optical aid. 


Naked boy, or lady. The meadow saffron 
{Cole hie um autumnale ); so called because, like 
the almond, peach, etc., the flowers come out 
before the leaves. It is poetically called “the 
leafless orphan of the year,” the flowers being 
orphaned or destitute of foliage. 



Napoleon 


Naked 632 


The Naked Boy Courts and Alleys, of which 
there are more than one in the City of London , 
are named from the public-house sign of 
Cupid. 

The naked truth. The plain, unvarnished 
truth; truth without trimmings. The fable says 
that Truth and Falsehood went bathing; 
Falsehood came first out of the water, and 
dressed herself in Truth’s garments. Truth, 
unwilling to take those of Falsehood, went 
naked. 

Namby-pamby. Wishy-washy; insipid, weakly 
sentimental; said especially of authors. It was 
the nickname of Ambrose Philips (1671-1749), 
bestowed upon him by Henry Carey, the 
dramatist, for his verses addressed to Lord 
Carteret’s children, and was adopted by Pope. 
Name. 

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose 

By any other name would smell as sweet. 

Romeo and Juliet , II, ii. 

Give a dog a bad name. See Dog. 

Give it a name. Tell me what it is you would 
like, said when offering a reward, a drink, etc. 

In the name of. In reliance upon; or by the 
authority of. 

Their name liveth for evermore. These 
consolatory words, so often seen on war 
memorials, are from the Apocrypha: — 

Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name 
liveth for evermore. — Ecclus. xliv, 14. 

To call a person names. To blackguard him 
by calling him nicknames, or hurling oppro- 
brious epithets at him. 

Sticks and stones 
May break my bones. 

But names can never hurt me. 

Old Rhyme. 

To name the day. To fix the day of the 
wedding — which is a privilege belonging to 
the bride-to-bp. ; 

To take God’s name in vain. To use it 
profanely, thoughtlessly, or irreverently. 

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God 
in vain. — Exod. xx, 7. 

Among all primitive peoples, and the ancient 
Hebrews were no exception, the name of a deity 
is regarded as his manifestation, and is treated 
with the greatest respect and veneration; and 
among savage tribes there is a widespread 
feeling of the danger of disclosing one’s name, 
because this would enable an enemy by magic 
means to work one some deadly injury; the 
Greeks were particularly careful to disguise or 
reverse uncomplimentary names (see Erinyes; 
Eumenides; Euxine). 

Nancy, Miss. An effeminate, foppish youth. 

The celebrated actress, “Mrs.” Anne 
Oldfield (see Narcissa) was nicknamed “Miss 
Nancy.” 

Nancy Boy is applied to a homosexual. 

Nankeen. So called from Nankin, in China. 
It is the natural yellow colour of Nankin 
cotton. 

Nantes (n&ntz). Edict of Nantes. The decree of 
Henri IV of France, published from Nantes in 
1598, securing freedom of religion to all 
Protestants. Louis XIV revoked it in 1685. 


Nap. The doze or short sleep gets its name 
from O . E hnvppian , to sleep lightly t the sur- 
face of cloth is probably so called from Mid. 
Dutch nappe ; and Nap, the card game, is so 
called in honour of Napoleon III. 

To catch one napping. See Catch. 

To go nap. To set oneself to make five tricks 
(all one can) in the game of Nap; hence, to 
risk all you have on some venture, to back it 
through thick and thin. 

Naphtha (naf'tha). The Greek name for an 
inflammable, bituminous substance coming 
from the ground in certain districts; in the 
Medea legend it is the name of the drug used 
by the witch for anointing the wedding robe of 
Glauce, daughter of King Creon, whereby 
she was burnt to death on the morning of her 
marriage with Jason. 

Napier’s Bones (na' per). The little slips of 
bone or ivory invented in 1615 by John 
Napier of Merchiston (1550-1617). He had, 
the previous year, invented logarithms, and by 
the use of these on his strips of ivory, he 
shortened the labour of trigonometrical 
calculations. By shifting these rods the result 
required is obtained. 

Napoleon Bonaparte. Code Napoleon, the code 
of laws prepared under his direction, which 
forms the substance of the laws of France and 
Belgium and in importance is only second to 
the code of Justinian. Equality in the eyes of 
the Law, justice, and common sense may be 
called its keynotes. 

Napoleon III. Few men have had so many 
nicknames. 

Man of December, so called because his coup d'ttat 
was December 2nd, 1851, and he was made emperor 
December 2nd, 1852. 

Man of Sedan, and, by a pun, M. Sedantaire. It 
was at Sedan he surrendered his sword to William I, 
King of Prussia (1870). 

Man of Silencf, from his great taciturnity. 

Comte d’Arenenberg, the name and title he 
assumed when he escaped from the fortress of Ham. 

Badinguet, the name of the mason who changed 
clothes with him when he escaped from Ham. The 
emperor's partisans were called Badingueux, those of 
the empress were Montijoyeaux. 

Boijstrapa is a compound of Bou[logne], Stra- 
sbourg], and Pa[ris], the places of his noted escapades. 

Raniipole, harum-scarum, half-fool and half- 
madman. 

There are some curious numerical coinci- 
dences connected with Napoleon III and 
Eugenie. The last complete year of their reign 
was 1869. (In 1870 Napoleon was dethroned 
and exiled.) 

Now, if to the year of coronation (1852), you 
add either the birth of Napoleon, or the birth 
of Eugenie, or the capitulation of Paris, or the 
date of marriage, the sum will always be 1869. 
For example: — 
f Coro- ] 

1852< na- } 1852 1852 1852 

(tion. J 

n Birth n Birth D Date D Capit- 

8 l of 8 l of 8 l of 8 l ulat’n 

0 f Napo- 2[ Eug6- 5( mar- 7( of 

8j leon. 6J nie. 3 J riage. lj Paris. 

1869 1869 1869 1869 

And if to the year of marriage (1853) these 
dates are added, they will give 1870, the fatal 
year. 



Napoleon 


633 


National Anthem 


Napoleon of the Ring. James Belcher, the 
pugilist (1781-1811), who was remarkably like 
Napoleon in looks. 

Napoo (na poo')* Soldier slang introduced 
during World War I for something that is of 
no use or does not exist. It represents the 
French phrase il n'y ert a plus , there is no more 
of it. 

Nappy Ale. Strong ale has been so called for 
many centuries, probably because it contains 
a nap or frothy head. 

Naraka (nar' a ka). The hell of Hindu myth- 
ology. It has twenty-eight divisions, in some of 
which the victims are mangled by ravens and 
owls; in others they are doomed to swallow 
cakes boiling hot, or walk over burning sands. 

Narcissa (nar sis' &), in Dr. Young’s Night 
Thoughts , was Elizabeth Lee, the author’s step- 
daughter. 

In Pope’s Moral Essays “Narcissa” stands 
for the actress, Anne Oldfield (1683-1730). 
When she died her remains lay in state attended 
by two noblemen. She was buried in West- 
minster Abbev in a very fine Brussels lacc 
head-dress, a holland shift, with a tucker and 
double- ruffles of the same lace, new kid gloves, 
etc. 

“Odious! In woollen? ’Twould a saint provoke!” 
Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke. 

Pope : Moral Essays , i, 246. 
“In woollen” is an allusion to a law enacted 
for the benefit of the wool trade, that all 
shrouds were to be made of wool. 

Narcissus (nar sis' us). The son of Cephisus in 
Greek mythology; a beautiful youth who saw 
his reflection in a fountain, and thought it 
the presiding nymph of the place. He tried to 
reach it, and jumped into the fountain, where 
he died. The nymphs came to take up the body 
that they might pay it funeral honours, but 
found only a flower, which they called by his 
name. (Ovid’s Metamorphoses , lii, 346, etc.) 

Plutarch says the plant is called Narcissus 
from the Greek narke (numbness), and that it 
is properly narcosis , meaning the plant which 
produces numbness or palsy. 

Echo fell in love with Narcissus. 

Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph that liv’st unseen . . . 
Canst thou not tell me of a gentle pair. 

That likest thy Narcissus are? 

Milton: Contus, 235. 

Narcissism is the psychoanalytical term for 
excessive love and admiration of oneself. 

Nark. A police spy or informer; from a 
Romany word nak, a nose, on the analogy of 
Nosey Parker. 

Narrowdale Noon. To defer a matter till 
Narrowdale noon is to defer it indefinitely. 
Narrowdale is the local name for the narrowest 
part of Dovedale, Derbyshire, in which dwell a 
few cotters, who never see the sun all the 
winter, and when its beams first pierce the dale 
in the spring it is only for a few minutes in the 
afternoon. , 

Nary. U.S.A. colloquial expression for “never” 
or “never a”; as in '‘They take everything, and 
nary dollar do you get.” Nary a red is “never a 
red cent.” 


Nasbys. A generic nickname in the U.S.A. for 
postal officials, particularly postmasters. The 
American humorist David Ross Locke (1833- 
88) wrote a series of satirical articles in the 
form of letters which first appeared in 1861 in 
the Jeffersonian, published in Findlay, Ohio, 
and later in the Blade , published in Toledo, 
Ohio. These Nasby Letters purported to be 
those of a conservative, ignorant, and whisky- 
drinking politician who hated negroes and 
who was determined to be the postmaster of his 
little town. Comically spellea, and full of sly 
humour, the Nasby Letters were very popular, 
and soon gave rise to the generic title. 

Naseby (naz' bi). Fable has it that this town in 
Northamptonshire is so called because it was 
considered the navel (O.F. nafela) or centre of 
England, just as Delphi ( q.v .) was considered 
“the navel of the earth.” Fact, however, 
must destroy tlie illusion : the town’s name in 
Domesday Book appears as Navesberi , show- 
ing that it was the burgh or dwelling of Hnaef, 
a Dane. 

Naso (na' zo). Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso, 
43 b.c.-a.d. 18), the Roman poet, author of 
Metamorphoses . Naso means “nose,” hence 
Holofernes’ pun : “And why, indeed, Naso, but 
for smelling out the odoriferous flowers of 
fancy.” (Shakespeare: Love's Labour's Lost , 
IV, ii.) 

Natheless (nath' les). An archaic form of 
nevertheless. 

Smote on him sore besides, vaulted with fire. 

Natheless he so endured. 

Milton: Paradise Lost , I. 

National Anthem. It is said by some that 
both the words and music of “God save the 
Queen,” the British national anthem, were 
composed by Dr. John Bull (d. 1628), organist 
at Antwerp cathedral 1617-28, where the 
original MS. is still preserved. Others attribute 
them to Henry Carey, authot of Sally in our 
Alley, The words, “Send her victorious,” etc., 
look like a Jacobite song, arid Sir John 
Sinclair tells us he saw that verse cut in an old 
glass tankard, the property of P. Murray 
Threipland, of Fingask Castle, whose pre- 
decessors were staunch Jacobites. 

No doubt the words have often been altered. 
The air and opening words were probably sug- 
gested by the Domine Salvum of the Roman 
Catholic Church. In 1605 the lines, “Frustrate 
their knavish tricks,” etc., were perhaps added 
in reference to Gunpowder Plot; and in 1740 
Henry Carey reset both words and music for 
the Mercers’ Company on the birthday of 
George II. 

The National Anthems or principal patriotic 
songs of the leading nations follow: — 

Argentine: Old, mor tales, el grito sagrado 
Libertad . 

Australia: Advance Australia 

Austria: (Republic) Osterreichische Bundes - 
hymne. 

Belgium: The Brabanconne (q.v.). 

Brazil: Ouviram do Yspiranga as margens 
placidas. 

Canada ; The Maple Leaf Forever; (French) O 
Canada terre de nos ateux. 



National 


634 


N.A.T.O. 


Chile: Duke patria . 

Denmark: The Song of the Danebrog ( see 
Danebrog); Kong Christian stod ved hoien 
Mast , R6g og Damp (King Christian stood 
beside the lofty mast, In mist and smoke). 

France: The Marseillaise ( q.v .). 

Germany: Deutschland iiber alles (Germany 
over all). 

Greece: Se gnorizo apo ten kopsi tu spati'iu 
ten tromere, 

Holland : Wien Neerlandsch bloed in de 
aders vloeit , Van vreemde smetten vrij . . . (Let 
him in whose veins flows the blood of the 
Netherlands, free from an alien strain . . .) 

Italy: Garibaldi’s Hymn. 

Mexico: Mexicanos al grito guerra. 

New Zealand: God defend New Zealand. 

Norway : Ja , vi elsker dette Landet som det 
stiger frem (Yes, we love our country, just as 
it is). 

Peru: Somos lib r os, seamos lo siempre, 

Portugal: Heiros do mar. 

Russia: (1917-44) The Internationale ; 
(since 1944) Gymn Sovietskogo Soiusa . 

Scotland: Scots wha hae wF Wallace bled. 

South Africa: Die Stem van Suid-Afrika. 

Spain : Marcha grande ra. 

Sweden: Du gamla du friska , du fjellltog 
Nord , Du tysta , du glddjerika skotta! (Thou 
ancient, free, and mountainous North! Thou 
silent, joyous, and beautiful North!) 

Switzerland: Rufst du, mein Vaterland. 
Sieh uns mit Herz und Hand, All dir geweiht! 
(Thou call’st, my Fatherland! Behold us, 
heart and hand, all devoted to thee!) 

The United States : The Star-spangled Banner. 
See Stars and Stripes. 

Wales : Mae hen wlad fy nhadau (Land of my 
fathers) ; also Men of Harlech. 

National Colours. (See Flags). 

National Convention. The assembly of 
deputies which assumed the government of 
France on the overthrow of the throne in 1792. 
It succeeded the National Assembly (cp. 
Constituent Assembly). 

National Debt. Money borrowed by a 
Government, on the security of the taxes, 
which are pledged to the lenders for the pay- 
ment of interest. The portion of our National 
Debt which is converted into bonds or 
annuities is known as the Funded Debt , and 
the portion that is repayable at a stated time 
or on demfcnd as the Floating Debt. 

The National Debt in William Ill’s reign was 
£15,730,439. 

At the commencement of the American 
war, £128,583,635; at its close, £249,851,628. 

At the close of the French war, £840,850,49 1 . 

The existence of National Debts is almost 
entirely due to wars, as the following figures 
will show in the case of the British Debt. 

Just before the Revolution of 1688 it stood 
at £664,263; the Revolution added nearly 
£16,000,000; the Marlborough campaigns in 
Queen Anne’s reign added nearly £38,000,000, 
the American Wanjn Qeorge Ill’s, £121,000,- 
000, and the Nsjpjleonic Wars (1793-1816) 
over £600,000,000* bringing the total debt in 
1816 to £900,436,000. At Queen Victoria’s 


accession (1837) this had been reduced to 
£788,000,000; the Crimean War added 
£33,000,000, and thereafter reductions were 
made annually (with only five exceptions) till 
1 899 the year of the outbreak of the Boer War, 
when the Debt stood at £628,021,572. This 
war added over £160,000,000, but from 1904 
to the outbreak of World War I reductions 
were made annually (with one exception), so 
that in 1914 the Debt was £651,270,091. On 
March 31st. 1962, the British National Debt 
stood at £28,669,000,000. 

National Guard. Military forces raised in 
each State but partly trained, equipped and 
quartered by the U.S.A. Federal government. 
When called up by the President the.se forces 
become an integral part of the armed forces. 

Nations, Battle of the. A name given to the 
great battle of Leipzig in the Napoleonic wars 
(Oct. 1 6th- 19th, 1813), when the French under 
Napoleon were defeated by the coalition 
armies, consisting of the Prussians, Russians, 
Austrians, and Swedes. 

Native (Lat. nativus , produced by birth, 
natural). In feudal times, one born a serf. 
After the Conquest, the natives were the serfs 
of the Normans. Wat Tyler said to Richard 11 : 

The first peticion was that he scholde make alle men 
fre thro Ynglonde and quiete, so that there scholde 
not be eny native man after that time. — Higden: 
Polychronicon, viii, 457. 

Legally, a person is a native of the place of 
his parents* domicile, wherever he himself 
may have happened to be born. 

Oysters raised in artificial beds are called 
natives , though they may be, and frequently 
are, imported. This is because artificially 
reared oysters are the best, and for centuries 
the best oysters were those actually taken from 
British waters. It is a case of the transference 
of a convenient name. 

Nativity, The. Christmas Day, the day set 
apart in honour of the Nativity or Birth of 
Christ. 

The Cave of the Nativity. The tradition that 
the rock cave near Constantine’s basilica, S. 
Maria a Praesepio, is the birthplace of the 
Saviour dates irom the time of St. Jerome 
(d. 420), when Bethlehem had been a wood- 
covered wilderness since it was devastated by 
Hadrian three hundred years earlier. The 
chancel of the basilica was subsequently built 
over it. In the recess, a few feet above the 
ground is a stone slab with a star cut in it, to 
mark the supposed spot where Christ was born, 
and near it is a hollow scraped out of the rock, 
said to be the place where the Infant was laid. 

To cast a man’s nativity. The astrologers’ 
term for constructing a plan or map of the 
position, etc., of the twelve “houses” (see 
Houses, Astrological) which belong to him, 
and explaining its significance. 

N.A.T.O. (North Atlantic Treaty Organiza- 
tion). The North Atlantic Treaty (April 4th, 
1949) by which the U.S.A. associated herself 
with Western Europe in security arrangements 
for defence against possible aggression, was 
signed by the U.S.A., Great Britain, Canada, 
France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxem- 
bourg, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, and 




Natter 


635 


Nearside 


Portugal. Greece and Turkey signed the 
Treaty in 1951, and the Federal German 
Republic in 1954. N.A.T.O. was set up in 1952, 
with headquarters in Paris. 

Natter, To. To talk aimlessly, foolishly or 
without sense. It is a Scots word of long stand- 
ing, probably deriving from the Icelandic 
krtetta , to grumble. 

Nature. In a state of nature. Nude or naked. 

Natural. A born idiot; one on whom edu- 
cation can make no impression. As nature 
made him, so he remains. 

A natural child. One not bom in lawful 
wedlock. The Romans called the children of 
concubines na titrates , children according to 
nature, and not according to law. 

Cui pater est populus, pater est sibi nullus omnes; 

Cui pater est populus non habet ille patrem. — O vid. 

In Music a natural is a white key on the 

ianoforte, etc., as distinguished from a black 

ey. In musical notation the sign fcj is em- 
ployed to counteract the following note from 
a sharp or flat in the signature. 

Natural Philosophy. See Experimental. 

Naught, Nought. These are merely variants of 
the same word, naught representing O.E. na 
whil and nought , no whit . In most senses they 
are interchangeable; but nowadays naught is 
the more common form, except for the name 
of the cipher, which is usually nought . 

Naught was formerly applied to things that 
were bad or worthless, as in II Kings ii, 19, 
“The water is naught and the ground barren,** 
and it is with this sense that Jeremiah (xxiv, 2) 
speaks of “naughty figs”: — 

One basket had very good figs, even like the tigs that 
are first ripe. . . . The other basket had very naughty 
figs which could not be eaten. 

The Revised Version did away with the 
old “naughty” and substituted “bad”; and 
in the next verse, where the Authorized calls 
the figs “evil,” the Douai Version has: — 

The good tinges, exceeding good, and the naughtie 
figges, exceeding naught: which can not be eaten 
because they are naught. 

Nausicaa (nawsika' a). The Greek heroine 
whose story is told in the Odyssey. She was the 
daughter of Alcinous, king of the Phaeacians, 
and the shipwrecked Odysseus found her 
playing at ball with her maidens on the shore. 
Pitying his plight she conducted him^to her 
father, by whom he was entertained. 

Nautical Mile. See Mile. 

Navaho (ndv' d ho). The largest tribal group of 
N. American Indians in the U.S.A. Their 
reservations are in New Mexico and Arizona, 
where they retain much of their traditional 
way of life and eschew contact with the white 
men. The Navahos belong to the southern 
division of the Athapascan stock, to which 
belong the Apache tribes. 

Navicert. Contraction of Navigation Certi- 
ficate, issued by the British authorities to 
merchant ships carrying non-contraband 
cargo to facilitate their passage through the 
blockade. First used (at any rate in modern 
times) during the Spanish Civil War, and 
continued during World War II. 

B.D.— -21 


Navvy. A contraction of navigator. One 
employed to make railways. 

Canals were thought of as lines of inland navigation, 
and a tavern built by the side of a canal was called a 
“Navigation Inn.“ Hence it happened that the men 
employed in excavating canals were catted “navi- 
gators,” shortened into navvies. — S pencer; Principles 
of Sociology , vol. I, appendix C, p. 834. 

Nay-word. Password. Slender, in The Merry 
Wives of Windsor , says: — ,%> 

We have a nay-word how to know each other. I 
come to her in white and cry Mum % she cries Budget , 
and by that we know one another. 

Nazareans or Nazarenes (n &z' d rSnz). A sect 
of Jewish Christians, who believed Christ 
to be the Messiah, that He was born of the 
Holy Ghost, and that He possessed a Divine 
nature, but who, nevertheless, conformed to 
the Mosaic rites and ceremonies. 

Nazarene. A native of Nazareth; Our Lord 
is so called ( John xviii, 5, 7; Acts xxiv, 5), 
though He was born in Bethlehem. 

Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? 
(John i, 46). A general insinuation against any 
family or place of ill repute. Can any great 
man come from such an insignificant village as 
Nazareth? 

Nazarite (naz' a rit). (Heb. f nazar, to separate.) 
One separated or set apart to the Lord by a 
vow. They refrained from strong drink, and 
allowed their hair to grow. (See Numb . vi, 1-21.) 

Nazi (nat' zi, naz' i). The shortened form of 
National-Sozialist, the name given to the party 
of Adolf Hitler and its members. 

Ne plus ultra (ne plus fiP tr&) (Lat. nothing 
further, i.e. perfection). The most perfect state 
to which a thing can be brought. See Plus 
ultra. 

Nesera (ne e' ra). Any sweetheart or lady- 
love. She is mentioned by Horace, Virgil, and 
Tibullus. 

To sport with Amaryllis in the shade. 

Or with the tangles of Nea;ra’s hair. 

Milton; Lycidas. 

Neanderthal Man (ni an' der tal). A paleo- 
lithic race inhabiting Europe probably during 
the Mousterian period. It was first revealed by 
the discovery of a human burial in a grotto of 
the Neanderthal ravine near Dusseldorf, in 
1856. Its fossil remains have since been found 
in widely scattered caves. 

Neap Tide. The tide between spring tiefes which 
attains the least height at or near the first 
and last quarters of the moon. The high water 
rises little more than half as high above the 
mean level as it does at spring tide, and. the 
low water sinks about half as little below it 

Near, meaning Mean , is rather a curious play 
on the word close (close-fisted). What is “dose 
by” is near. \ 

Near Side and Off Side. Left side and right 
side. “Near wheel*’ means that to the driver’s 
left hand; and “near horse** (in a pair) means 
that to the left hand of the driver. In a four-in- 
hand the two horses^ on left »de of the 
coachman are the near wpteler and the near 
leader. Those on the right-hand ride are “off” 
horses. This, which seems an anomaly, arose 



Nebo 


636 


Necking 


when the driver walked beside his team. The 
teamster always walks with his right arm 
nearest the hcyse, and therefore, in a pair of 
horses* the horse on the left side is nearer than 
the one on his right. See also Off. 

Nebo (f&'bd). A god of the Babylonians 
(properly, Nabu) mentioned in Is. xlvi, 1, and 
corresponding more or less with the classical 
Hermes. He was the patron of Borsippa, near 
Babylon, and was regarded as the inventor of 
the art of writing, as well as the god of wisdom 
and the herald of the gods. The name occurs in 
many Babylonian royal names (Nebuchadrez- 
zar, Nebushasban [Jer. xxxix, 13], Nebu- 
zaradan [II Kings xxv, 8], etc.), but it is very 
doubtful whether it is present, as has been 
stated, in the place-name Nebo , or the personal 
name Barnabas . 

Nebuchadnezzar (neb a kad nez' ar).Thisname, 
which is now firmly fixed in English, is a mis- 
take, for it is a misrendering in the Hebrew of 
Daniel (and consequently in English and other 
translations) of the Babylonian Nabu-kudur - 
usur , and should be Nebuchadrezzar , as indeed 
it is given in Jer. xxi, 2, etc. The French call 
him Nabuchodonosor , or Nabuchodoroser , 
which are nearer the Greek transliteration. 
The name means Nebo protects the crown. See 
Nebo. 

Nebuchadnezzar was the greatest king of 
Assyria, and reigned for forty-three years (604- 
561 B.c.). He restored his country to its former 
prosperity and importance, practically rebuilt 
Babylon, restored the temple of Bel, erected a 
new palace, embanked the Euphrates, and 
probably built the celebrated Hanging Gar- 
dens. His name became the centre of many 
legends, and of the story related by Daniel (iv, 
29-33) that he was one day walking — 
in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon and said, “Is 
not this great Babylon that I have built ... by the 
might of my power, and for the honour of my 
majesty ?” And “the same hour ... he was driven from 
men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet 
with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like 
eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.” 

This is an allusion to the suspension of his 
interest in public affairs, which lasted, as his 
inscription records, for four years. 

Necessary. The 17th- and 18th-century term for 
a privy. In large houses the emptying and 
cleaning of this was carried out by a servant 
known as the Necessary Woman. 

Necessitarians. See Agent. 

Necessity. Necessity knows no law. These were 
the words used by Dr. von Bethmann-Hollweg, 
the German Imperial Chancellor, in the 
Reichstag on August 4th, 1914, as a justifica- 
tion for the German infringement of Belgian 
neutrality: — 

Gentlemen, we are now in a state of necessity 
( Notwehr ), and necessity (Not) knows no law. Our 
troops nave occupied Luxembourg and perhaps have 
already entered Belgian territory. 

To quote Milton — 

So spakd the Fiend, and with necessity 
The tyrant’s plea excused bis devilish deeds 

Paradise Lost , IV, 393. 

The phrase is, of course, not original. 
Cromwell used it m a speech to Parliament on 


September 12th, 1654, but to very different 
purpose: — 

Necessity hath no law. Feigned necessities, imagin- 
ary necessities, are the greatest cozenage men can put 
upon the Providence of God, and make pretences to 
break known rules by. 

It is common to most languages. Publius 
Syrus has Necessitas dat legem , non ipsa 
accipit (Necessity gives the law, but does not 
herself accept it), and the Latin proverb 
Necessitas non habet legem appears in Piers 
Plowman (14th century) as “Neede hath no 
lawe.” 

To make a virtue of necessity. To “grin and 
bear it”; what can’t be cured must be en- 
dured.” 

Thanne is it wisdom, as it thinketh me 
To maken vertu of necessitce. 

Chaucer: Knight's Tale , 3041. 

Quintilian has laudem virtutis necessitati damus ; St. 
Jerome (epistle liv, section vi), Fac de necessitate 
virtutem. In the Roman de la Rose , line 14058, we find 
S'il ne fait de necessite virtu , and Boccaccio has SI 
come saviafatta della necessitd. 

Neck. Slang for brazen impudence, colossal 
cheek. 

Neck and crop. Entirely. The crop is the 
gorge of a bird; a variant of the phrase is 
neck and heels , as I bundled him out neck and 
heels. There was a punishment formerly in 
vogue which consisted in bringing the chin and 
knees of the culprit forcibly together, and then 
thrusting him into a cage. 

Neck and neck. Very near in merit; very 
close competitors. A phrase used in horse 
races, when two or more horses run each other 
very closely. 

Neck of woods. (U.S.A.). A settlement in 
the forest. 

Neck or nothing. Desperate. A racing 
phrase; to win by a neck or to be nowhere — 
i.e. not counted at all because unworthy of 
notice. 

Oh that the Roman people had but one neck! 

The words of Caligula, the Roman emperor. 
He wished that he could slay them all with one 
stroke. 

Stiff-necked. Obstinate and self-willed. In 
the Psalms we read: “Speak not with a stiff 
neck” (lxxv, 5); and Jer. xvii, 23, “They 
obeyed not, but made their necks stifT”; and 
Isaiah (xlviii, 4) says: “Thy neck is an iron 
sinew.” The allusion is to a wilful horse, ox, 
or ass, which will not answer to the reins. 

To get it in the neck. To be completely 
defeated, thoroughly castigated, soundly rated, 
etc. The phrase is an Americanism, from the 
picturesque expression of one who has just 
been “through it” — I got it where the chicken 
got the axe — which, of course, is “in the neck.” 

To stick one’s neck out. To expose oneself 
to being hurt, as a chicken might stick out its 
neck for the axe. 

Necking. The now common phrase for mild 
amorous play should be distinguished from the 
meaning of the word in the Western States of 
the U.S.A. There necking is to tie a restless 
animal by tbb neck to a tame one in order to 
render it more tractable. 



Neck-tie Party 


637 


Neolithic Age 


Neck-tie party. (U.S.A.). A hanging, 
particularly by lynch law ( q.v .). 

Neck-verse. The first verse of Ps. li. See 
Miserere. “Have mercy upon me, O G6&, 
according to Thy loving-kincjnes^: Recording 
unto the multitude of Thy tender meteics* blot 
out my transgressions.” * 

He [a treacherous Italian interpreter] by a fine 
cunny-catching corrupt translation, made us plainly 
to confesse, and cry Miserere , ere we had need of our 
necke- verse. — Nash: The Unfortunate Traveller (1594). 

This verse was so called because it was the 
trial-verse of those who claimed Benefit of 
Clergy (tf.v.), and if they could read it, the 
ordinary of Newgate said, “ Legit ut clericus ,” 
and the prisoner saved his neck , being only 
burnt in the hand and set at liberty. 

Necklace. A necklace of coral or white 
bryony beads used to be worn by children to 
aid their teething. Necklaces of hyoscyamus 
or henbane-root have been recommended for 
the same purpose. 

Diamond necklace. See Diamond. 

The fatal necklace. Cadmus received on his 
wedding-day the present of a necklace, which 
proved fatal to everyone who possessed it. 
Some say that Vulcan, and others that Europa, 
gave it to him. Harmonia’s necklace (q.v.) was 
a similar fatal gift. 

Necromancy (nek" ro man' si). Prophesying by 
calling up the dead, as the witch of Endor 
called up Samuel (l Sam. xxviii, 7 ff.) (Gr. 
nekros y the dead; manteia y prophecy.) 

Nectar (Gr.). The drink of the gods of classical 
mythology. Like their food. Ambrosia , it 
conferred immortality. Hence the name of the 
nectarine , so called because it is “as sweet as 
nectar.” 

Neddy. An old familiar name for a donkey. 

Needfire. Fire obtained by friction; formerly 
supposed to defeat sorcery, and cure diseases 
ascribed to witchcraft, especially cattle diseases. 
In Henderson’s Agricultural Survey of Caith- 
ness (1812) we are told that as late as 1785 — 
when the stock of any considerable farmer was seized 
with the murrain, he would send for one of the charm 
doctors to superintend the raising of a need-tire. 

Needful, The. Ready money, cash. 

Needham. You are on the high-road to Needham 
— to ruin or poverty. The pun is on the need , 
and there is no reference to Needham in 
Suffolk. Cp. Land of Nod. 

Needle. Looking for a needle, etc. See Bottle. 
The eye of a needle. See Eye. 

To get the needle. To become thoroughly 
vexed, or even enraged, and to show it. A 
variant of the phrase is to get the spike. 

To hit the needle. Hit the right nail on the 
head, to make a perfect hit. A term in archery, 
equal to hitting the bull’s-eye. 

Negative. The answer is in the negative. The 
circumlocutory Parliament way of enouncing 
the monosyllable No. 

Negro. Negro offspring. Whitq^ father and 
negro mother: mulatto. 


White father and mulatto mother : quadroon. 
White father and qi*adroon mother: quin- 
tero. 

White father and quintero'Ynofher: white. 
Negro drunk (U.S.A.). Very drunlojnleed. 

Negus (nc' gus). The drink — port d# sherry, 
with hot water, sugar, and spicesr- fsso called 
from a Colonel Francis Negus (df. 1732), who 
first concocted it. ^ 

The supreme ruler of Abyssinia is entitled the 
Negus y from the native n'gusy meaning crowned. 

Neiges d’Antan, Les (nazh don tan) (Fr.). A 
thing of the past. Literally, “last year’s 
snows,” from the refrain of Villon’s well- 
known Ballade des Dames du Temps Jadis — 
Prince, n’enquerez de semaine 
Ou elles sont, ne de cet an 
Ou’a ce refrain ne vous remaine; 

Mais ou sont les neiges d’antanT' 

(Where are the snows of yester-year?) 

Nemean (ncm' e an). Pertaining to Nemea, the 
ancient name of a valley in Argolis, Greece, 
about 10 m. SW. of Corinth. 

The Nemean Games. One of the four great 
national festivals of Greece, celebrated at 
Nemea every alternate year, the second and 
fourth of each Olympiad. Legend states that 
they were instituted in memory of Arche- 
morus, who died from the bite of a serpent as 
the expedition of the Seven against Thebes 
was passing through the valley. 

The victor’s reward was at first a crown of 
olive leaves, but subsequently a garland of ivy. 
Pindar has eleven odes in honour of victors. 

The Nemean Lion. A terrible lion which kept 
the people of the valley in constant alarm. 
The first of the twelve Labours of Hercules 
was to slay it; he could make no impression 
on the beast with his club, so he caught it in 
his arms and squeezed it to death. Hercules 
ever after wore the skin as a mantle. 

My fate cries out, 

And makes each petty artery in this body 
As hardy as the Nemean lion’s nerve. 

Hamlet, I, iv. 

Nemesis (nem'e sis). The Greek goddess who 
allotted to men their exact share of good, or 
bad fortune, and was responsible for seeing 
that everyone got his due and deserts; the 
personification of divine retribution. Hence, 
retributive justice generally, as the Nemesis of 
nations, the fate which, sooner or later, has 
overtaken every great nation of the ancient 
and modern world. 

And though circuitous and obscure 
The feet of Nemesis how sure! 

Sir William Watson: Europe at the Play . 

Nemine contradicente (usually contracted to 
nem. con.). No one opposing. 

Nemine dissentiente ( nem. diss.). Without a 

dissentient voice. $ 

Nemo me impune lacessit (ne' md me im pd ni 
l&ses'it) (Lat.). No one rnjures me with 
impunity. The motto of the Order of the 
Thistle (< 7 .v.). 

Neolithic Age, The (ne 6 lith' ik)> (Gr. neos> 
new; lithos . a stone). The later Stone Age of 
Europe, the earlier being called the Palaeolithic 
(Gr. palaiosy ancient). Stone implements of the 


Nepenthe 


638 


Net 


Neolithic age are polished, more highly 
finished, and more various than those of the 
Palaeolithic* and are found in kitchen-middens 
and tombs, wifh the remains of recent and 
extinct f animals, and sometimes with bronze 
implements. Neolithic man knew something of 
agripulttfg, kept domestic animals, used boats, 
and caught fish. 

Nepenthe or Nepenthes (ne pen' the) (Gr. ne , 
not; pent/ios , grief). An Egyptian drug men- 
tioned in the Odyssey (IV, 228) that was fabled 
to drive away care and make persons forget 
their woes. Polydamna, wife of Thonis, king 
of Egypt, gave it to Helen, daughter of Jove 
and Leda. 

That nepenthes which the wife of Thone 

In Egypt gave the Jove-born Helena. 

Milton : Comus , 695-6. 

Nephew (Pr. neveu ; Lat. nepos). Both in Latin 
and in archaic English the word means a 
grandchild, or descendant. Hence, in the 
Authorized Version of I Tim. v, 4, we read — 
“If a widow have children or nephews,’* 
but in the Revised “grandchildren.” Propertius 
has it, Me inter seros laudabit Roma nepotes 
(posterity). 

Niece (Lat. neptis) also means a grand- 
daughter or female descendant. See Nepotism. 

Nepman. This is the term applied in the 
U.S.S.R. to a man who engaged in private 
business under the New Economic Policy 
(N.E.P.) This was a programme begun in 1921 
to revive the wage system and private owner- 
ship of certain factories and businesses, at the 
same time relinquishing the requisitions of 
grain. 

Nepomuk. See Sr. John of Nepumuk, under 
John. 

Nepotism (Lat. nepos , a nephew or kinsman). 
An unjustifiable elevation of one’s own 
relations to places of wealth and trust at one’s 
disposal. 

Neptune (nep' tiln). The Roman god of the sea, 
corresponding with the Greek Poseidon (q.v.), 
hence used allusively for the sea itself. Neptune 
is represented as an elderly man of stately mien, 
bearded, carrying a trident, and sometimes 
astride a dolphin or a horse. See Hippocampus. 

Neptunian or Neptunist. The name given to 
certain 18th-century geologists, who held the 
opinion of Werner (1750-1817), that all the 
great rocks of the earth were once held in 
solution in water, and were deposited as 
sediment. The Vulcanists or Plutonians 
ascribed them to the agency of fire. 

Nereus (ne' rQs). A sea-god of Greek jnyth- 
ology, represented as a very old man. He was 
the father of the fifty Nereids ( q.v .), and his 
special dominion was the Aigean Sea. 

Nerem ^vere the sea-nymphs of Greek 
mythology^he fifty daughters of Nereus and 
“grey-eyed** Doris. The best known are 
Amphitrite, Th#s, and Galatea; Milton 
refers to another, Panope — in Lycldas (line 
99 ) — 

The air was calm and on the level brine 

Sleek Panope with all her sisters played. 

And the names of all will be found in Spenser’s 
Faerie Queene , Bk. IV, c. xi, verses 48-57, 


Nerl. See Bianchi. 

Nero, A. Any bloody-minded man, relentless 
tyrant, or evil doer of extraordinary savagery; 
from the 4$P rave d and infamous Roman 
Emperor, C. Claudius Nero (a.d. 54-68), whom 
contemporaries relieved to be the instigator of 
the great fire that destroyed most of Rome in 
a.d. 64, and to have recited his own poetry 
whilst enjoying the spectacle. Many historians 
doubt his complicity; Nero blamed the 
Christians. 

Nero of the North. Christian II of Denmark 
(1481-1559), also called “The Cruel.” He 
massacred the Swedish nobility at Stockholm 
in 1520, and thus prepared the way for Gus- 
tavus Vasa and Swedish freedom. 

Nerthus or Hertha. The name given by Tacitus 
to a German or Scandinavian goddess of 
fertility, or “Mother Earth,” who was wor- 
shipped on the island of Rugen. She roughly 
corresponds with the classical Cybele; and is 
probably confused with the Scandinavian god 
Njorthr or Niordhr , the protector of sailors 
and fishermen. Nerthus and Njorthr alike 
mean “benefactor.” 

Nessus. Shirt of Nessus. A source of mis- 
fortune from which there is no escape; a fatal 
present. The legend is that Hercules ordered 
Nessus (the centaur) to carry his wife Dejanira 
across a river. The centaur attempted to carry 
her off, and Hercules shot him with a poisoned 
arrow. Nessus, in revenge, gave Dejanira his 
tunic, deceitfully telling her that it would 
preserve her husband’s love, and she gave it to 
her husband, who was devoured by the poison 
still remaining in it from his own arrow as 
soon as he put it on. He was at once taken 
with mortal pains; Dejanira hanged herself 
from remorse, and the hero threw himself on 
a funeral pile, and was borne away to Olympus 
by the gods, Cp. Harmonia’s Robe. 

Nest-egg. Money laid by. The allusion is to 
the custom of placing an egg in a hen’s nest to 
induce her to lay her eggs there. If a person has 
saved a little money, it serves as an inducement 
to him to increase his store. 

Nestor. King of Pylos, in Greece; the oldest 
and most experienced of the chieftains who 
went to the siege of Troy. Hence the name is 
frequently applied as an epithet to the oldest 
and wisest man of a class or company. Samuel 
Rogers, for instance, who lived to be 92, was 
called/‘the Nestor of English poets.” 

Nestorians. Followers of Nestorius, Patriarch 
of Constantinople, 428-431. He maintained 
that Christ had two distinct natures, and that 
Mary was the mother of His human nature, 
which was the mere shell or husk of the 
divine. They spread in India and the Far East, 
and remains of the Nestorian Christians, their 
inscriptions, etc., are still found in China, but 
the greater part of their churches were 
destroyed by Timur (Tamerlane) about 1400. 

Net. On the Old Boy net. To arrange some- 
thing through a friend (originally, someone 
known at school^ instead of through the usual 
channels — a, British military expression in 
World War II. 




Neustria 


639 


Newgate Gaol 


Neustria (nu' stria). The western portion of 
the ancient Frankish kingdom, corresponding 
roughly to the northern and north-western 
provinces of France. 

Never. There are numerous locutions to ex- 
press this idea; as — 

At the coming of the Coquecigrues (Rabelais: 
Pantagruel). 

At the Latter Lammas. 

On the Greek Calends. 

In the reign of Queen Dick. 

On St. Tib’s Eve. 

In a month of five Sundays. 

When two Fridays or three Sundays come together. 

When Dover and Calais meet. 

When Dudman and Ramehead meet. 

When the world grows honest. 

When the Yellow River runs clear. 

Never Never Land. Originally a phrase applied 
to the whole of the Australian “Out Back,” 
but since the publication of We of the Never 
Never by Mrs. Aeneas Gunn (1908) restricted 
to the Northern Territory. It was used by 
J. M. Barrie in Peter Pan (1904). 

New. New Deal. The name given to President 
Roosevelt’s policy, announced in his first 
presidential campaign (1932) when he said “we 
are going to think less about the producer and 
more about the consumer . . . and bring about 
a more equitable distribution of the national 
income.” The New Deal took shape in the 
National industrial Recovery Act which em- 
powered the President to lay down codes 
regulating industry, child labour, minimum 
wages and maximum hours. Jn 1935 these 
codes were judged unconstitutional by the U.S. 
Supreme Court. 

Newfangled. Applied to anything of a quite 
new or different fashion; a novelty. The older 
word was newf angle — 

Men loven of propre kinde ncwfangelnesse 
As briddes doon that men in cages fede . . . 

So ncwfangel ben they of hir mete, 

And loven novel rves of propre kinde. 

Chauclr: Squire's Tale, 602, 610. 

M.E. fangel , from O.E. fang, past part, of 
fort, to take, meaning “always ready to take, 
or grasp at, some new thing.” 

New Jersey Tea. The popular name for 
Ceatwtfws americanus , a white-flowered plant 
found in the north-eastern areas of the U.S. A. 
The name derives from the fact that Indians 
and colonists made a kind of tea from the 
plant, the former regarding the drink as 
possessing medicinal properties. According to 
tradition some colonists used this tea to avoid 
the British tax on imported tea. 

New Learning. The name sometimes given 
to the revival of Greek and LatinS classical 
learning during the 15th and 16th centuries. It 
was the chief motive of the Renaissance and 
was at its zenith from the fall of Constantinople 
in 1453 to the sack of Rome in 1527. 

New Lights. See Campbellites. 

New Style. The reformed or Gregorian 
Calendar, adopted in England in 1752. See 
Gregorian Year. 

New Theology. An interpretation of Christian 
teaching based on broader views than that 
of the older fundamental reading of the Bible. 


It was first expounded in 1907 by R. J. 
Campbell, at the time Congregational minister 
at the City Temple. He later entered the 
Church of England. 

New Thought. A general term for a system of 
therapeutics based on the theory; *thaV the 
mental and physical problems of life should be 
met, regulated and controlled by the sug- 
gestion of right thoughts. This system has 
nothing in common with Christian Science, 
auto-suggestion or psycho-therapy. 

New World. America: the Eastern Hemi- 
sphere is called the Old World. 

New Year’s Day. January 1st. The Romans 
began their year in March; hence September , 
October , November, December for the 7tb, 
8th, 9th, and 10th months. Since the introduc- 
tion of the Christian era, Christmas Day, 
Lady Day, Easter Day, March 1st and March 
25th have in turns been considered as New 
Year’s Day; but at the reform of the calendar 
in the 16th century (see Calendar). January 
1st was accepted by practically all Christian 
peoples. 

Jn England the civil and legal year began on 
March 25th till after the alteration of the 
style, in 1752, when it was fixed, like the 
historic year, at January 1st. In Scotland the 
legal year was changed to January 1st as far 
back as 1600. 

New Year’s gifts. The giving of presents at 
this time was a custom among both the Greeks 
and the Romans, the latter calling them 
strence, whence the French term dtrenne (a 
New Year’s gift). Nonius Marcellus says that 
Tatius. King of the Sabines, was presented with 
some branches of trees cut from the forest 
sacred to the goddess Strenia (strength), on 
New Year’s Day and from this incident the 
custom arose. 

Our forefathers used to bribe the magistrates 
with gifts on New Year’s Day — a custom 
abolished by law in 1290, but even down to 
the reign of James II the monarchs received 
their tokens. 

New England. The name given collectively 
to the north-eastern States of the U.S.A. — 
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The 
name was given by Captain John Smith to 
what was then part of “North Virginia,” 
granted to the Plymouth Company by James I, 
in 1606. Between 1643 and 1684 the New 
England Confederation of the colonies of 
Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth. Connecticut, 
and %New Haven ensured a united defence 
against the Dutch and the Indians. 

Newcastle upon Tyne. To carry coals to 
Newcastle. See Coal. 

Newgate. According to Stow t$s was first 
built in the city wall of London in the time of 
Henry I, but excavations ^bave shown , that 
there*was a Roman gate here, about 31 ft. m 
width. It may have fallen into disuse, and have 
been repaired by Henry I, the present name 
being given at the time. 

Newgate Gaol. The first prison mentioned 
in surviving records goes back to the late 12th 


Newgate Calendar 


640 


Nibelungenlied 


century, a small one over the gate. It gradually 
increased in size with various rebuildings, and 
finally ceased to be a prison in 188Q, For 
centuries it was the gaol for the Cit? and 
for the County of Middlesex; it was demol- 
ish^ in 1902, and the Central Criminal Court 
(opined 1905) erected on its site. 

From its prominence, Newgate came to be 
applied as a general name for gaols, and Nash, 
in his Pierce Penilesse (1592) says it is “a 
common name for all prisons, as homo is a 
common name for a man or woman.” 

Newgate Calendar, The/ A biographical 
record of the more notorious criminals con- 
fined at Newgate; begun in 1773 and continued 
at intervals for many years. In 1824-28 A. 
Kpapp and Wm. Baldwin published, in 4 vols.. 
The Newgate Calendar , comprising Memoirs of 
Notor ous Characters , partly compiled by 
George Borrow; and in 1886 C. Pelham 
published his Chronicles of Crime , or the New 
Newgate Calendar (2 vols.). The term is often 
used.as a comprehensive expression embracing 
crime of every sort. 

I also felt that I had committed every crime in the 
Newgate Calendar. — Dickens: Our Mutual friend , 
ch. xiv. 

Newgate fashion. Two by two. Prisoners 
used to be conveyed to Newgate coupled 
together in twos. 

Must we all march? 

Yes, two and two, Newgate fashion. 

Shakespeare: Henry IV , Pt. I, III, iii. 

Newgate fringe. The hair worn under the 
chin, or between the chin and the neck. So 
called because it occupies the position of the 
rope when men are about to be hanged. 

Newgate knocker. A lock of hair twisted 
into a curl, worn by costermongers and persons 
of similar status. So called because it resembles 
a knocker, and the wearers were too often 
inmates of Newgate. 

New Jerusalem. The city of heaven foretold 
in Rev. xxi, “coming down from God out of 
heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her 
husband.” 

The New Jerusalem Church was the name 
chosen by Richard Hindmarsh in 1787 for the 
sect founded by him on the doctrines of 
Emanuel Swedenborg. 

New York. The first settlements here were 
made on Manhattan Island by the Dutch in 
1614. Manhattan Island was bought from the 
Indians for cloth and trinkets to the total value 
of about £5. Under the name of New Amster- 
dam it was held by the Dutch until 1644. In 
that year the whole of the Atlantic seaboard 
was granted by Charles II to his brother James, 
Duke of York. Col. Richard Nicolls sailed 
Jhere at^bnee with four ships and 30 soldiers, 
and overcjpltoing the gallant resistance of the 
Dutch governor, Peter Stuyvesant, captured 
the pjace and renamed it after his patron, New 
York. It has thus no connection with the 
English city of York. 

New Zealander, Macaulay’s. There is 
frequent reference to Macaulay’s prophecy 
that a “New Zealand artist shall, in the midst 
of a vast solitude, take his stand on a broken 
arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of 


St. Paul’s,” but it is nearly always overlooked 
that the original idea came from Mrs. Bar- 
bauld’s poem Eighteen Hundred and Eleven. 
She prophesied that one day a traveller from 
the Antipodes would contemplate the ruins of 
St. PauPs from a broken arch of Blackfriars 
Bridge. Earlier than Macaulay, Shelley had 
also echoed the same idea in the dedication to 
Peter Bell the Third (written 1819, published 
1839): “When London shall be an habitation 
of bitterns; when St. Paul’s and Westminster 
Abbey shall stand, shapeless and nameless 
ruins”, etc. 

N 

News. The letters e w used to be prefixed to 
s 

newspapers to show that they obtained infor- 
mation from the four quarters of the world, 
and the supposition that our word news is 
thence derived is at least ingenious; the old- 
fashioned way of spelling the word, newes , is 
alone fatal to the conceit. Fr. nouvelles is the 
real source. 

News Is conveyed by letter, word or mouth 
And comes to us from North, East, West and South. 

Witt's Recreations. 

The word is now nearly always construed as 
singular (“the news is very good this morning”), 
but it was formerly treated as a plural, and in the 
Letters of Queen Victoria the Queen, and most 
of her correspondents, followed that rule: — 
The news from Austria are very sad, and make one 
very anxious. — To the King of the Belgians , 20 Aug., 
1861. 

Newscast. The American term for the radio 
broadcast of news. 

Newt. See Nicknames. 

Newtonian Philosophy. The astronomical 
system that in the late 17th century displaced 
the Copcrnican {see Copernicanism), together 
with the theory of universal gravitation. So 
called after Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), who 
established the former and discovered the 
latter. 

Nature and Nature’s laws lay hid in night; 

God said “Let Newton be,” and all was light. 

Pope. 

Next of Kin. The legal term for a person’s 
nearest relative, more especially where estate 
is left by an intestate, in English law the next 
of kin in priority is: — 

Husband or wife; children; father or mother 
(equally if both alive); brothers and sisters; 
half brothers and sisters; grandparents; 
uncles and aunts; half uncles and aunts; the 
Crown. 

Next Friend, in law, is an adult who brings 
an action in a court of law on behalf of a 
minor. 

Nibehmgenlied, The (ne be lung' en led). A 
Middle High German poemi the greatest 
monument of early German literature, 
founded on old Scandinavian legends con- 
tained in the Volsunga Saga ana the Ed da, and 
written in its present form by an anonymous 
South German of the early part of the 13th 
century. 

Nibelung: was a mythical king of a race of 
Scandinavian dwarfs dwelling in Nibe/heim 
(i.e. “the home of darkness, or mist”). These 
Nibelungs , or Nibelungers , were the possessors 



Nic Frog 


641 


Nicker 


of the wonderful “Hoard” of gold and precious 
stones guarded by the dwarf Alberich; and 
their name passed to later holders of the 
Hoard, Siegfried’s following and the Burgund- 
ians being in turn called “the Ni£>elungs.” 

Siegfried, the hero of the first part of the 
poem, became possessed of the Hoard and 
gave it to his bride, Kriemhild, as her marriage 
portion. After his murder Kriemhild carried it 
to Worms, where it was seized by her brother 
Gunther and his retainer Hagen. They buried 
it in the Rhine, intending later to enjoy it; but 
they were both slain for refusing to reveal its 
whereabouts, and the Hoard remains for ever 
in the keeping of the Rhine Maidens. The 
second part of the Nibclungcnlied tells of the 
marriage of the widow Kriemhild with King 
Etzel (Attila), the visit of the Burgundians to 
the court of the Hunnish king, and the death 
of all the principal characters, including 
Gunther, Hagen, and Kriemhild. 

Nic Frog. See Frog. 

Nicaea (ni se' a). An ancient city of Asia Minor, 
now known as Isnik. 

This ancient city should be distinguished 
from Nice (nes) on the French Riviera, an old 
port and modern holiday resort that until 1860 
formed part of the kingdom of Sardinia. 

The Council of Nica?a. The first oecumenical 
council of the Christian Church, held under 
Constantine the Great in 325 at Nictea, in 
Bithynia, Asia Minor, to condemn the Arian 
heresy, to affirm the consubstantiality of the 
Son of God, and to deal with points of 
discipline. The seventh oecumenical council 
was also held at Nicaea (787). 

Nicene Creed. The Creed formulated at the 
great Council of Niccea (325). It is used in the 
Holy Communion Service of the Church of 
England, and was first adopted in the Roman 
Church in 1014. In the Eastern Church it was 
first introduced in 471, and still forms part 
of the Baptism Service as well as of the 
Eucharist. 

The Niccne, or more correctly, the Niccno- 
Constantinopolitan Creed, from the solemn sanction 
thus given to it by the great (Ecumenical Councils, 
stands in a position of greater authority than any 
other; and amid their long-standing divisions is a 
blessed bond of union between the three great 
branches of the one Catholic Church — the Eastern, 
the Roman, and the Anglican, of all whose Com- 
munion Offices it forms a part. — J. H. Blunt: 
Annotated Book of Common Prayer. 

Nicholas, St. One of the most popular saints 
in Christendom, especially in the East. He is 
the patron saint of Russia, of Aberdeen, of 
parish clerks, of scholars (who used to be 
called clerks ), of pawnbrokers (because of the 
three bags of gold — transformed to the three 
gold balls — thafche gave to the daughters of a 
poor man to save them from earning their 
dowers in a disreputable way), of little boys 
(because he once restored to life three little 
boys who had been cut up and pickled in a 
salting-tub to serve for bacon), and is invoked 
by sailors (because he allayed a storm during a 
voyage to the Holy Land) and against fire. 
Finally, he is the original 91 Santa Claus (< 7 .v.). 

Little is known of his life, but he is said to 


have been Bishop of Myra (Lycia) in the early 
4th century, and one story relates that he was 
present at the Council of Nice (325) and there 
buffeted Arius on the jaw. His day is December 
6 th, £nd he is represented in episcopal robes 
with either three purses of gold, three gold 
balls, or three small boys, in allusion tojme 
or other of the above legends. 

St. Nicholas’s Bishop. See Boy Bishop. 

St. Nicholas’s Clerks. Old slang for thieves, 
highwaymen. St. Nicholas was the patron saint 
of scholars. 

GadshiU: Sirrah, if they meet not with Saint 
Nicholas’ clerks, I’ll give thee this neck. 

Chamberlain: No, I’ll none of it; I prithee, keep 
that for the hangman; for I know thou worship’st 
Saint Nicholas as truly as a man of falsehood may. 

Shakkspi are: Henry IV, Pt. I, II. i. 

I think there came prancing down the hill a couple 
of St. Nicholas’s clerks. — Rowley: Match at Mid - 
night, 1633. 

Nick. Slang for to pilfer; and, in the 18th 
century, for to break windows by throwing 
coppers at them : — 

His scattered pence the flying Nicker flings, 

And with the copper shower the casement rings. 

Gay: Trivia, III. 

He nicked it. Won, hit, accomplished it. A 
nick is a winning throw of dice in the old game 
of “hazard.” 

In the nick of time. Just at the right moment. 
The allusion is to tallies marked with nicks or 
notches. Cp. Prick of Noon. 

To nick the nick. To hit the exact moment. 
Tallies used to be called “nicksticks.” Hence, 
to make a record of anything is “to nick it 
down,” as publicans nick a score on a tally. 

Old Nick. The Devil. The term was in use in 
the 17th century, and is perhaps connected 
with the German Nickel , a goblin (see Nickel), 
or in some forgotten way with St. Nicholas. 
Butler’s derivation from Niccolo Machiavelli 
is, of course, poetical licence: — 

Nick Machiavel had ne’er a trick 
(Though he gives name to our old Nick) 

But was below the least of these. 

Hudibras, III, i. 

Nicka-Nan Night. The night preceding Shrove 
Tuesday is so called in Cornwall, because 
boys play tricks and practical jokes on that 
night. On the following night they go round 
again from house to house singing — 

Nicka, nicka nan. 

Give me some pancake and then I’ll be gone; 

But if you give me none 

I’ll throw a great stone 

And down ypur doors shall come. 

Nickel. The metal is so called from the Ger- 
man Kupfernickel , the name given to the ore 
from which it was first obtained (1754) by 
Axel F. von Cronstedt. Kupfer means copper, 
and Nickel is the name of a mischievous goblin 
fabled to inhabit mines in Germany; the name 
was given to it because, although it tfa$ copper- 
colourcd, no copper could be got from it, and 
so the Nickel was blamed. j* 

In y.S.A. a nickel is a coin of 5 cents, aiTO 
is so termed from being composed of an alloy 
of nickel and copper. 

Nicker, or Nix. In Scandinavian folklore, a 
water-wraith, or kelpie, inhabiting sea, lake, 
river and waterfall. They are sometimes 


Nickname 


642 


Nil desper&ndum 


represented as half-child, half-horse, the hoofs 
being reversed, and sometimes as old men 
sitting on rocks wringing the water from their 
hair. The female nicker is a nixy. 

Another tribe of water-fairies are the NixeS, who 
frequently assume the appearance of beautiful 
maidens. — D yer: Folk-lore of Plants, ch. vii. 

Niclcname. Originally an eke-name , eke being 
an adverb meaning “also,” O.E. eoc , connected 
with iecan , to supply deficiencies in or to make 
up for. A newt in the same way was originally 
“an eft” or “an evt”; “v” and “u” being 
formerly interchangeable gave us “neut,” or 
“newt. 

The “eke” of a beehive is the piece added to 
the bottom to enlarge the hive. 

National Nicknames: 

For an American of the United States, 
“Brother Jonathan.” For America as a 
national entity, “Uncle Sam.” 

For a Dutchman, “Nie Frog” and “Myn- 
heer Closh.” 

For an Englishman, “John Bull.” 

For a Frenchman, “Crapaud,” “Johnny” or 
“Jean,” “Robert Macaire.” 

For French Canadians, “Jean Baptiste.” 

For French reformers, “Brissotins.” 

For French peasantry, “Jacques Bon- 
homme.” 

For a German, “Cousin Michael” or 
“Michel”; “Hun”; “Jerry”; “Fiitz.” 

For an Irishman, “Paddy.” 

For an Italian, “Antonio,” or “Tony.” 

For a Scot, “Sandy" or “Mac.” 

For a Spaniard or Portuguese, “Dago” 
(Diego). 

For a Welshman, “Taffy.” 

Nickneven (nik' nev en). A gigantic malignant 
hag of Scottish superstition. Dunbar has well 
described this spirit in his Flyting of Dunbar 
and Kennedy . 

Nicodemus, Gospel of (nik 5 de 7 mCis). See 
Gospel. 

Nicodemused into nothing. To have one’s 
prospects in life ruined by a silly name; 
according to the proverb, “Give a dog a bad 
name and hang him.” It is from Sterne’s 
Tristram Shandy (vol. I, 19): — 

How many Csesars and Pompeys ... by mere in- 
spiration of the names have been rendered worthy of 
them; and how many . . . might have done . . . 
well in the world . . . had they not been Nicodemused 
into nothing. 

Nicotine (nik' 6 ten). So named from Nico- 
tiana , the Latin name of th* ! tobacco-plant, 
given to it in honour of Jean Nicot ( c . 1530- 
1600), Lord of Villemain, who was French 
ambassador in Madrid and introduced to- 
bacco into France in 1560. 

Niflheim (nif 7 61 him) (i.e. mist-home). The 
region of endless cold and everlasting night of 
Scandinavian mythology, ruled over by Hela. 
IL consisted of nine worlds, to which were 
consigned those who die of disease or old age; 
it existed “from the beginning” in the North, 
and in its middle was the well Hvergdlmir, 
from which flowed the twelve rivers. 

Nigger. An offensive term for a Negro or any 
member of a dark-skinned race. 


A nigger In the woodpile. Originally a way 
of accounting for the disappearance of fuel, 
this phrase now denotes something under- 
handed or wrong, or a concealed motive. 

Nightcap. A dfink before going to bed. 

Nightingale. The Greek legend is that Tereus, 
King of Thrace, fetched Philomela to visit his 
wife, Procne, who was her sister; but when he 
reached the “solitudes of Heleas” he dis- 
honoured her, and cut out her tongue that she 
might not reveal his conduct. Tereus told his 
wife that Philomela was dead, but Philomela 
made her story known by weaving it into a 
peplus, which she sent to Procne. Procne, in 
revenge, cut up her own son and served it to 
Tereus, and as soon as the king discovered it 
he pursued his wife, who fled to Philomela; 
whereupon the gods changed all three into 
birds; Tereus became the hawk , his wife, the 
swallow , and Philomela the nightingale , which 
is still called Philomel (///. lover of song) by 
the poets. 

Youths and maidens most poetical. . . . 

Full of meek sympathy must heave their sighs 

O’er Philomela’s pity-pleading strains. 

Coir ridge: The Nightingale. 

The Swedish Nightingale. The operatic 
singer, Jenny Lind (1820-87), afterwards Mme. 
Goldschmidt. She was a native of Stockholm. 

Nightmare. A sensation in sleep as if some- 
thing heavy were sitting on one’s breast; 
formerly supposed to be caused by a monster 
(see Incubus) who actually did this; it was not 
unfrequently called the night-hag , or the 
riding of the witch. The second syllable is the 
O.E. mare (old Norse mar a ), an incubus, and 
appears again in the French equivalent 
cauchemar , “the fiend that tramples.” The 
word is now more often employed to describe 
a frightening dream, a night terror. 

Nightmare of Europe, The. Napoleon 
Bonaparte was so called. 

Nihilism (ni 7 hil izm) (Lat. nihil , nothing). An 
extreme form of Socialism, the prelude to 
Bolshevism Uce|BoLSFtEViK), which took form 
in Russia in the 50s of last century, and 
was specially active in the 70s, and later, 
under Bakounin. It aimed at the complete 
overthrow of law, order, and all existing 
institutions, with the idea of re-forming the 
world de novo. 

The name was given by the novelist, Ivan 
TurgeniefF (1818-83). 

Nil admirari (Lat.). To be stolidly indifferent. 
Neither to wonder at anything nor yet to 
admire anything. The tag is from Horace 
(Ep. I, vi, 1): — 

A , Nil admirari prope res est una, Numici, 

'’Solaque, quae possit facere et servare beatum. 

(Not to admire, Numicius, is the best — 

The only way to make and keep men blest.) 

Connington. 

Nil desperandum. Never say die; never give 
up in despair; another tag from Horace 
( Carmen , I, vii, 27); — 

Nil desperandum Teucro duce et auspice Teucro 
(There is naught to be despaired of when we are under 
Teucer’s leadership and auspices). f 




Nile 


643 


Nine 


Nile. The Egyptians used to say that the rising 
of the Nile was caused by the tears of Isis. 
The feast of Isis was celebrated at the anniver- 
sary of the death of Osiris, when Isis was 
supposed to mourn for her husband. 

The hero of the Nile. Horatio, Lord Nelson 
(1758-1805). 

Nimbus (mm' bus) (Lat. a cloud). In Chris- 
tian art a halo of light placed round the head of 
an eminent personage. There are three forms: 
(1) Vesica piscls , or fish form (cp. Ichthus), 
used in representations of Christ and occasion- 
ally of the Virgin Mary, extending round the 
whole figure; (2) a circular halo; (3) radiated 
like a star or sun. The enrichments are: (1) for 
Our Lord, a cross; (2) for the Virgin, a circlet 
of stars; (3) for angels, a circlet of small rays, 
and an outer circle of quatrefoils; (4) the same 
for saints and martyrs, but with the name often 
inscribed round the circumference; (5) for the 
Deity the rays diverge in a triangular direction. 
Nimbi of a square form signify that the persons 
so represented were living when they were 
painted. 

The nimbus wiaS used by heathen nations 
long before painters introduced it into sacred 
pictures of saints, the Trinity, and the Virgin 
Mary. Proserpine was represented with a 
nimbus; the Roman emperors were also decor- 
ated in the same manner, because they were 
divi. 

Nimini-plminl fnim' i ni pirn' i ni). Affected 
simplicity. Lady Emily, in General Bur- 
goyne’s The Heiress , III, ii (1786), tells Miss 
Alscrip to stand before a glass and keep 
pronouncing nimini-pimini — “The lips cannot 
fail to take (he right plie.” 

The conceit was borrowed by Dickens in 
Little Dorrit , where Mrs. General tells Amy 
Dorrit— 

Papa gives a pretty form to the lips. Papa, potatoes, 
poultry „ prunes, and prism are all very good words for 
the lips; especially prunes and prism. 

The form miminy-piminy is also in use:— 

A miminy-piminy, Jc-ne-sais-quoi young mao. — 
W. S. Gttu&RT ; Patience , IE 

Nimrod (ninT rod). Any daring or outstanding 
hunter; from the “mighty hunter before the 
Lord” {Gen. x, 9), which the Targum says 
means a “sinful hunting of the sons of men.” 
Pope says of him, he was “a mighty hunter, 
ana his prey was man" ( Windsor Forest , 62); 
so also Milton interprets the phrase C Paradise 
Lost XII 24 etc.). 

The legend is that the tomb of Nimrod still 
exists in Damascus, and that no dew ever falls 
upon it, even though all its surroundings are 
saturated. 

C. J. Apperley (1779-1843), a weU-knpwn 
sporting vyrjfer, used Nimrod as his pseudonym 
in widely-read books and essays on racing. 

Nincompoop (pin' k£m poop). A poor thing 
of a man. Said td be a corruption of the 
Latin non compos (mentis), but of this there 
is no evidence.. The last syllable is probably 
connected with Dut. poep, a fool. 

Ntn% Nine, and three are mystical 

numbers — thd diapason (<?.v.). diapente, and 

n* 


diatrion of the Greeks. Nine consists of a 
trinity of trinities. According to the Pythag- 
oreans man is a full chord, or eight notes, and 
Dejty comes next. Three, being the trinity, 
represents a perfect unity ; twice three is the 
perfect dual ; and thrice three is the perfect 
plural. This explains why nine is a mystical 
number, T 

From the earliest times the number nine 
has been regarded as of peculiar significance. 
Deucalion’s ark, made by the advice of 
Prometheus, was tossed about fipr nine day6, 
when it stranded on the top of Mount Par- 
nassus, There were the nine Muses (q.v.), 
frequently referred to as merely ‘The Nine”— 
Descend, ye Ninel Descend and sing. 

The breathing instruments inspire. 

Pope; Ode on St, Cecilia's Pay. 
There were nine Gallicen# or virgin priestesses 
of the ancient Gallic oracle; and Lars Porsena 
swore by the nine gods— 

Lflrs Porsena of Clusium 
By the nine gods he swore 
That the great house of Tarquip 
Should suffer wrong no more. 
Macaulay: Lays of Ancient Rome ( Horatius , i). 
who were Juno, Minerva, and Tinia (the three 
chief), Vulcan, Mars, Saturn, Hercules, 
Summanus, and Vedius; while the nine of the 
Sabines were Hercules, Romulus, Esculapjus, 
Bacchus, AEneas, Vesta, Santa, Fortune, and 
Fides. 

Niobe’s children lay nine days in their blood 
before they were buried; the Hydra had nine 
heads; at the Lemuria , held by the Romans on 
May 9th, 11th, and 13th, persons haunted 
threw black beans over their heads, pronounc- 
ing nine times the words : “Avaunt, ye spectres, 
from this house!” and the exorcism was 
complete (see Ovid’s Fastt). 

There were nine rivers of hell, or, according 
to some accounts the Styx encompassed the 
infernal regions in nine circles; and Milton 
makes the gates of hell “thrice three-fold; three 
folds are brass, three iron, three of adamantine 
rock.'’ They had nine folds, nine plate*, and 
nine linings ( Paradise Lost, IT, 645). 

Vulcan, when kicked from Olympus, was 
nine days falling to the island of Lemnos; and 
when the fallen angels were cast out of heaven, 
Milton says “ Nine days they fell” (Paradise 
Lost, VI, 87J). 

In the early Ptolemaic system of astronomy, 
before the Primum Mobile (q.v.) was added, 
there were nine spheres; hence Milton, in his 
Arcades , speaks of «, 

The celestial siren’s harmony. 

That sit upbn the nine enfolded spheres. 

They were those of the Moon, Mercury , Venus, 
the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and die 
Firmament or that of the fixed stars, and the 
Crystalline Sphere. In Scandinavian mythology 
there were nine earths, He! being the 

goddess of the ninth; there were nine world* in 
Niflheira, and Odin’s ring dropped eight other 
tings (nine rings pf mystical import) every 
ninth night. . H 

ln« folk-lore nine appears many times. The 
Abracadabra was worn nine days, and then 
flung into a river; in order to see the fairies one 
is directed to put "nine grains of wheat jhj a 
four-leaved clover”; nine knots arc made m 
black wool as a charm for a sprained ankle; 


Nine days 9 Queen 


644 


Nirvana 


if a servant finds nine green peas in a peascod, 
she lays it on the lintel of the kitchen door, and 
the first man that enters in is to be her cavalier; 
to see nine magpies is most unlucky; a cat has 
nine lives (see also Cat o’ Nine Tails); and 
the nine of Diamonds is known as the Curse of 
Scotland 

The weird sisters in Macbeth sang, as they 
danced round the cauldron, “Thrice to thine, 
and thrice to mine, and thrice again to make 
up nine ”; and then declared “the charm 
wound up”; and we drink a Three-times-three 
to those most highly honoured. 

Leases are sometimes granted for 999 years, 
that is three times three-three-three . Even now 
they run for ninety-nine years, the dual of a 
trinity of trinities. 

See also the Nine Points of the Law, in 
Phrases, below , and the Nine Worthies, under 
Worthies. 

There are nine orders of angels (see Angels); 
in Heraldry there are nine marks of cadency 
and nine different crowns recognized; and 
among ecclesiastical architects there are nine 
crosses, viz . altar, processional, roods on lofts, 
reliquary crosses, consecration, marking, 
pectoral, spire crosses, and crosses pendent 
over altars. 

Nine days’ Queen. Lady Jane Grey. 

A nine days* wonder. Something that causes 
a great sensation for a few days, and then 
passes into the limbo of things forgotten. An 
old proverb is: “A wonder lasts nine days, 
and then the puppy’s eyes are open,’’ alluding 
to dogs which, like cats, arc born blind. As 
much as to say, the eyes of the public are blind 
in astonishment for nine days, but then their 
eyes are open, and they see too much to wonder 
any longer. 

King: You’d think it strange if I should marry her. 

Gloster: That would be ten days’ wonder, at the 
least. 

King: That’s a day longer than a wonder lasts. 

Henry VI, Pt. Ill , III, ii. 

Dressed up to the nines. To perfection from 
head to foot. 

Nine-tail bruiser. Prison slang for the cat-o*- 
nine- tails (q.v.). 

Nine tailors make a man. See Tailor. 

Nine times out of ten. Far more often than 
not; in a great preponderance. 

Possession is nine points of the law. It is every 
advantage a perspn can have short of actual 
right. The ‘‘nine points of the law” have been 
given as — 

(1) A good deal of money; (2) a good deal of 
patience; (3) a good cause; (4) a good lawyer; (5) a 
good counsel; (6) good witnesses; (7) a good jury; 
(8) a good judge; and (9) good luck. 

To look nine ways. To squint. 

Nice as ninepence. A corruption of “Nice 
as nine-pins.” In the game of nine-pins, the 
“men” are set in three rows with the utmost 
exactitude or nicety. 

Nimble as ninepence. Silver ninepences Were 
common till the year 1696, when all unmilled 
coin was called in. These ninepences were very 
pliable or “nimble,” and, being bent, were 
given as love tokens, the usual formula of 


presentation being To my love , from my love . 
There is an old proverb, A nimble ninepence is 
better than a slow shilling . 

Right as ninepence. Perfectly well, in perfect 
condition. 

Ninus. Son of Belus, husband of Semiramis, 
and the reputed builder of Nineveh. It is at his 
tomb that the lovers meet in the Pyramus and 
Thisbe travesty: — 

Pyr.: Wilt thou at Ninny’s tomb meet me straight- 
way? 

This.: Tide life, ’tide death, I come without delay. 

Midsummer Night's Dream , V, i. 

Niobe. The personification of maternal sorrow. 
According to Grecian fable, Niobe, the daugh- 
ter of Tantalus and wife of Amphion, King of 
Thebes, was the mother of twelve children, and 
taunted Latona because she had only two — 
Apollo and Diana. Latona commanded her 
children to avenge the insult, and they caused 
all the sons and daughters of Niobe to die. 
Niobe was inconsolable, wept herself to death, 
and was changed into a stone, from which 
ran water, “Like Niobe, all tears” (Hamlet, 
I, ii). 

The Niobe of nations. So Byron styles Rome, 
the “lone mother of dead empires,” with 
“broken thrones and temples”; a “chaos of 
ruins”; a “desert where we steer stumbling o’er 
recollections.” (Childe Harold , iv, 79.) 

Nip. Nip of whisky, etc. Short for Nipperkin. A 
small wine and beer measure containing about 
half a pint ? or a little under; now frequently 
called “a nip.” 

His hawk-economy won’t thank him for’t 
Which stops his petty nipperkin of port. 

Peter Pindar: Hair Powder. 

The traditional Devon and Cornish song 
The Barley Mow starts with drinking the health 
out of the “jolly brown bowl,” and at each 
chorus increases the size of the receptacle until 
in the sixteenth and last we have — 

We’ll drink it out of the ocean, my boys, 

Here’s a health to the barley-mow! 

The ocean, the river, the well, the pipe, the hogshead, 
the half-hogshead, the anker, the half-anker, the 
gallon, the half-gallon, the pottle, the quart, the 
pint, the half a pint, the quarter-pint, the nipperkin, 
and the jolly brown bowl! 

Nip and tuck. A neck-and-ncck race; a close 
fight. 

Number Nip. Another name for Riibezahl. 
To nip in the bud. To destroy before it has 
had time to develop; usually said of bad habits, 
tendency to sin, etc. Shakespeare has — 

The third day comes a frost, a killing frost; 

And, when he thinks, good easy man, full surely 
His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root , 

And then he falls, as I do. Henry VIII , III, ii. 

Nip-cheese or Nip-farthing. A miser, who 
nips or pinches closely his cheese and farthings. 
Among sailors the purser is nicknamed “Nip- 
cheese.” (Dutch, nypen .) 

Nipper. Slang for a small boy. 

Nippon (ni pon 7 ). The Japanese name of 
Japan. 

Nirvana (ner van 7 &) (Sansk. a blowing out, or 
extinction). Annihilation, or rather the final 
deliverance of the $oul frontf transmigration 
(see Buddhism). * / * * * ^ 




Nisei 


645 


Noblesse oblige 


Nisei (ne' sa). A person born in the U.S.A. of 
Japanese descent but a loyal American. 

Nisi (nl' si) (Lat. unless). In Law a “rule nisi” 
is a rule unless cause be shown to the contrary. 

Decree nisi. A decree of divorce granted on 
the condition that it does not take effect until 
made absolute , which is done in due course 
unless reasons why it should not have mean- 
time come to light. Every decree of divorce is, 
in the first instance, a decree nisi . 

Nisi prius (unless previously). Originally a 
writ commanding a sheriff to empanel a jury 
which should be at the Court of Westminster 
on a certain day unless the judge of assize 
previously come to his county, as — 

“We command you to come before our justices at 
Westminster on the morrow of All Souls’, NISI 
PRIUS justiciarii domini regis ad assisas capiendas 
venerint — i.e. unless previously the justices of our 
lord the king come to hold their assizes at (the court 
of your own assize town)”. 

The second Statute of Westminster (1285) 
instituted Judges of nisi prius> who were 
appointed to travel through the shires three 
times a year to hear civil causes; and such 
causes tried before Judges of Assize are still 
known as “Causes of nisi prius.” 

Nisroch (nis' rok). The Assyrian god in whose 
temple Sennacherib was worshipping when he 
was slain (II Kings xix, 37). Nothing is known 
of the god, and the name is probably a corrup- 
tion either of Asur or of Nusku, a god con- 
nected with Nebo ( q.v .). 

Nissen hut. A long, iron-roofed hut, semi- 
circular in section, easily portable and largely 
used by armies, etc. The name comes from the 
original designers and makers. 

Nitouche (ni toosh'). Faire la Sainte Nitouchc , 
to pretend to great sanctity, to look as though 
butter would not melt in one’s mouth. Sainte 
Nitouche is the name given in France to a 
hypocrite; it is a contraction of n'y touche. 

Nitwit. A slow-witted person, one who is 
irresponsible and is liable to say or do foolish 
and irrelevant things. 

Nivetta. See Morgan le Fay. 

Nix. See Nicker. The word is also slang for 
“nothing.” “You can’t get him to work for 
nix,” i.e. without paying him. In this sense it is 
from Ger. nichts , nothing. 

Nizam (nl zam'). A title of sovereignty in 
Hyderabad (India), contracted from Nizam-ul - 
mulk (regulator of the state), the style adopted 
by Asaf Jah, who obtained possession of the 
Deccan in 1713. 

Njorthr. See Nerthus. 

N.K.V.D. The Russian abbreviation for 
People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs, 
which is the security service. Under this name 
it existed from 1934 to 1943, when it was 
divided into two commissariats. See also 
Ogpu. 

No. No dice (U.S.A.). Nothing doing. 

No Man’s Land. The name applied to the 
area between hostile entrenched lines or to 
anyispace contWted by both sides and belong- 
ing to neither: * V 


No-popery Riots. Those of Edinburgh and 
Glasgow, February 5th, 1779, and those of 
London instigated by Lord George Gordon, 
of 1780. A stirring account of these is given in 
Dickens’s Barnaby Rudge. 

Noachian (no a' ki &n). The adjective formed 
from the name of the patriarch Noah, hence 
the Noachian deluge, i.e. The Flood. 

Noah’s Ark. A name given by sailors to a 
white band of cloud spanning the sky like a 
rainbow and in shape something like the hull 
of a ship. If east and west expect dry weather, 
if north and south expect wet. 

Noah’s Wife. According to legend she was 
unwilling to go into the ark, and the quarrel 
between the patriarch and his wife forms a 
prominent feature of Noah's Flood , in the 
Chester and Townley Mysteries. 

Hastow nought herd, quod Nicholas, also 
The sorwe of Noe with his felawshipe 
Er that he mighte gete his wyf to shipe? 

Chaucer: Miller's Tale , 352. 

Nob. Slang for the head (probably from 
knob); also for a person of rank and position 
(contraction of noble or nobility ). Cp. Snob. 

Nobbier. Australian colloquial term for a 
short drink, one-fifth of a gift or a fluid ounce. 

Nobel Prizes. Prizes established by the will of 
Alfred Bernard Nobel (1833-96), the Swedish 
chemist and inventor of dynamite, etc., to 
encourage work in the cause of humanity. 
There are five prizes given annually, each of 
about £7,000, as follows: (1) for the most 
noteworthy work in physics , (2) in chemistry \ 
(3) in medicine or physiology , (4) in idealistic 
literature , and (5) in the furtherance of uni- 
versal peace. W. C. Rontgen, Mme. Curie, A. 
Carrel, Rudyard Kipling, Maeterlinck, Haupt- 
mann, Rabindranath Tagore, Romain Rolland, 
Elihu Root, Woodrow Wilson, F. G. Banting, 
W. B. Yeats, Albert Einstein, Sir A. Fleming, 
Luigi Pirandello, Sinclair Lewis, G. B. Shaw, 
Pearl Buck, Sir Norman Angell, The Society 
of Friends (Quakers), T. S. Eliot, Earl Russell, 
Mr. Ralph Bunche, are among those to whom 
the prizes have been awarded. 

Noble. A former English gold coin, so called 
on account of the superior excellency of its 
gold. Nobles were originally disposed pf.as a 
reward for good news, or important ‘service 
done; first minted by Edward III, they re- 
mained in use till the time of Henry VIII; their 
nominal value was 6s. 8d. to 10s. 

Noble. The Lion, the King of all the Beasts, 
in Caxton’s edition of Reynard the Fox iq.v.). 

The Noble. Charles III of Navarre (1361- 
1425). 

Soliman Tchelibf Turkish prince at Adri- 
anople (d. 1410) 

The Noble Science. The old epithet for 
fencing or boxing, sometimes called “The 
Noble~Art of Self-Defence.” 

... a bold defiance 

Shall meet him, were he of the noble science. 
Beaumont and Fletcher: Knight of the Burning 
Pestle, II, i. 

Noblesse oblige (no bles' 6 blezh) (Fr.). 
Noble birth imposes the obligation of high- 
minded principles and noble actions. 


Noctee Ambrosian® 


646 


Non sequitur 


Nodes Ambrosian® (nok' tez am bro zi a' nS). 
A series of papers on literary and topical 
subjects, in the form of dialogues, contributed 
to Blackwood's Magazine , 1822-35. They were 
written principally by Professor Wilson, 
“Christopher North.” See Ambrosian Nights. 

Nod. A nod is as good as a wink to a blind 
horse. However obvious a hint or suggestion 
may be it is useless if the other person is 
unable to see it. 

On the nod. On credit. To get a thing on the 
nod is to get it without paying for it at the 
time — and often without any definite intention 
of paying for it at all. The phrase is from the 
auction-room; one buys articles by a mere nod 
of the head to the clerk, and the formalities 
arq attended to later. 

The Land of Nod. See Land. 

Noddy. A Tom Noddy is a very foolish or 
half-witted person, “a noodle.” The marine 
birds called noddies are so silly that anyone 
can go up to them and knock them down 
with a stick. It seems more than likely that 
the word is connected with to nod, but it has 
been suggested that it was originally a pet form 
of Nicodemus . 

Noel (no' el). Iu English (also written Nowell ), 
a Christmas carol, or the shout of joy in a 
carol; in French, Christmas Day. The word 
is Provencal nadal , from Lat. natalem , natal. 

Nowells, noweils, nowells! 

Sing all we may. 

Because that Christ, the King 

Was born this blessed day. — Old Carol. 

Nokes. See John-a-Nokes. 

Nolens volens (nd' lenz vd' lenz). Whether 
willing or not. Two Latin participles meaning 
“being unwilling (or) willing.” Cp. Willy- 
nilly. 

Noli me tangere (noi' i me tan' jer i) (Lat. 
touch me not). The words Christ used to 
Mary Magdalene after His resurrection {John 
xx, 17), and given as a name to a plant of the 
genus Impatiens. The seed-vessels consist of 
one cell in five divisions, and when the seed is 
ripe each of these, on being touched, suddenly 
folds itself into a spiral form and leaps from 
the stalk. See Darwin’s Loves of the Plants, II, iii. 
Noll. OJd Noll. Oliver Cromwell was so called 
by the Royalists. Noll is a familiar form of 
Oliver . 

Nolle prosequi (nol'i pro sek' wi) (Lat. to be 
unwilling to prosecute). A petition from a 
plaintiff to stay a suit. Cp. Non Pros. 

Nolo eplscopari (nd' 16 ep isk 6 pa' ri) (Lat. I 
am unwilling to be made a bishop). The formal 
reply supposed to be returned to the royal offer 
of a bishopric. Chamberlayne says ( Present 
State of England , 1669) that in former times 
the person about to be elected modestly 
refused the office twice, and if he did so a 
third time his refusal was accepted. 

Nom. Nom de guerre is French for a “war 
name,” but really means an assumed name. 
It was customary at one time for everyone 
who entered the French army to assume a 
name; this was especially the case in the times 
of chivalry, when knights were known by the 
device on their shields. 


Nom de plume. English-French for “pen 
name,” or pseudonym, the name assumed by a 
writer, cartoonist, etc., who does not choose 
to give his own to ihe public; as Currer Bell 
(Charlotte Bronte), George Eliot (Marian 
Evans) etc. Occasionally, as in the case of 
Voltaire (Francois Marie Arouet) and Stendhal 
(Henri Beyle) ,the assumed name quite replaces 
the true name. 

Nominalist (nom' i nal ist). The schoolmen’s 
name for one who — following William of 
Occam — denied the objective existence of 
abstract ideas; also, the name of a sect founded 
by Roscelin, Canon of Compidgne (1040-1 120), 
who maintained that if the Father, Son, and 
Holy Ghost are one God, they cannot be three 
distinct persons , but must be simply three 
names or the same being; just as father, son, 
and husband are three distinct names of one 
and the same man under different conditions. 
Abelard, Hobbes, Locke, Bishop Berkeley, 
Condillac, and Dugald Stewart are noted 
Nominalists. 

Non. The Latin negative, not ; adopted in 
English, and very widely employed, as a prefix 
of negation, e.g. in non-abstainer , non- 
conformist, non-existent , non-resident , non- 
sense, nonsuit, etc. 

Non amo te, Sabidi. See I do not like thee, 
Dr. Fell, under Doctor. 

Non Angll sed angeli (Lat. Not Angles, but 
angels). See Angfls. 

Non assumpsit (Lat. he has not undertaken). 
The legal term for a plea denying promise or 
undertaking by the defendant. 

Non compos mentis (Lat. not of sound mind). 
Said of a lunatic, idiot, drunkard, or one who 
has lost memory and understanding by 
accident or disease. 

The prisoner not denying the fact, and persisting 
before the court that he looked upon it as a compli- 
ment, the jury brought him in non compos mentis . — 
Addison: Tatler, 5 Dec., 1710. 

Non dolet. See Arria. 

Non-ego. See Ego. 

Non est. A contraction of Lat. non est 
inventus (not to be found). They are the words 
which the sheriff writes on a writ when the 
defendant is not to be found in his bailiwick. 

Non mi ricordo (Ital. I do not remember). 
A shuffling way of saying “I don’t choose to 
answer that question.” It was the usual 
answer of the Italian witnesses when under 
examination at the trial of Queen Caroline, 
wife of George IV, in 1820. 

Non placet (Lat. it is unpleasing). The 
formula used, especially by the governing 
body of a University, for expressing a negative 
vote. 

Non pf&s. for Lat. non prosequi (not to 
prosecute). The judgment of non pros, is one 
for costs, when the plaintiff stays a suit. 

Non sequitur (Lat. it does not follow). A 
conclusion which does not follow from the 
premises stated; an inconsequent statement, 
such as Artemus Ward’s — * 

I met a man in Oregon who hadnk any teeth — not a 
tooth in his head, — yet that man copla play off the 
bass drum better than any plan I ever met. 



Non-com 


647 


Northern Wagoner 


Non-com. A non-commissioned officer in the 
army. 

Nonconformists. In England, members of 
Protestant bodies who do not conform to the 
doctrines of the Church of England (also 
called Dissenters ); especially the 2,000 
clergy who, in 1662, left the Church rather than 
submit to the conditions of the Act of Uni- 
formity— i.e. “unfeigned assent to ail and 
everything contained in the Book of Common 
Prayer.” 

Nonjurors. Those clergymen who refused to 
take the oath of allegiance to the new govern- 
ment after the Revolution (1690). They were 
Archbishop Sancroft with eight bishops, and 
four hundred clergymen, all of whom were 
ejected from their livings. The non-juring 
bishops ordained clergy and kept up the “suc- 
cession” until the death of the last “bishop” in 
1805. Cp. Seven Bishops, The. 

Nonplus (Lat. no more). A quandary: a 
state of perplexity when “no more” can be said 
on the subject. When a man is nonplussed or 
has come to a nonplus in an argument, it means 
that he is unable to deny or controvert what 
is advanced against him. To nonplus a person 
is to put him into such a fix. 

Nonce-word. A temporary word that is 
coined for the occasion. Birrellism , couponeer. 
Lime house, Puseyite , and many others to be 
found throughout this Dictionary, are 
examples. 

Nones (nonz). In the ancient Roman calendar, 
the ninth (Lat. nonus) day before Ides; in the 
Roman Catholic Church, the office for the 
ninth hour after sunrise, i.e. between noon and 
3 p.m. 

Norman French. The Old French dialect spoken 
in Normandy at the time of the conquest of 
England and spoken by the dominant class 
in the latter country for some two centuries 
after the conquest. Vestiges of it remain in the 
formal words of the royal assent given to Bills 
that have passed through Parliament — “La 
Reine le veult” — and in the “Fitz” (fils, son) 
that precedes certain family surnames. 

Norns, The. The three Fates, dispensers of 
destiny in Norse mythology. 

Norrislan Professor (nor is' i an). A Professor 
of Divinity in Cambridge University. This 
professorship was founded in 1760 by John 
Norris (1734-77), of Whitton, Norfolk. The 
four divinity professors are Lady Margaret’s, 
the Regius, the Norrisian, and the Hulsean. 

Norroy and Ulster (i.e. north roy, or king). The 
third king of arms is so called, because his 
office is on the north side of the, river Trent; 
that of the south side is called Clareneeux (q. v.). 

North. It is said that villagers have a great 
objection to being buried on the north side of 
a churchyard. They seem to think only evil- 
doers should be there interred. Probably the 
chief reason is the want of sun; but the old 
idea is that the east is God's side, where His 
throne is set; ti|e west, man's side, the Galilee 
of fie Gentiles; the south, the side of the 
“ spirits made just' 1 and angels , where the sun 


shines in his strength; and the north, the devil's 
side. Cp. The Devil’s door, under Devil. 

As men die, so shall they arise; if in faith, in the 
Lord, towards the south . . . and shall arise in glory; 
u m unbelief . . . towards the north, then are they 
past all hope. — C overdale: Praying for the Dead. 

He’s too far north for me. Too canny, too 
cunning to be taken in; very hard in making 
a bargain. The inhabitants of Yorkshire are 
supposed to be very canny, especially in 
driving a bargain; and when you get to 
Aberdeen ! 

North Atlantic Treaty Organization. See 
N.A.T.O. 

North Briton. A periodical founded in 1762 
by John Wilkes (1727-97) to air his animosity 
against Lord Bute and the Scottish nation. 
On April 23rd, 1763 appeared No. 45 which 
attacked the royal speech at the close of the 
late session of Parliament. Wilkes was arrested 
and sent to the Tower, but claiming his 
prerpgative as a member of Parliament he 
obtained his release and went to Paris. The 
House passed a resolution that No. 45 was a 
“false, scandalous and malicious libel,” and 
in his absence Wilkes was expelled from the 
House. 

North-east Passage, The. A way to India 
from Europe round the no$h extremity of 
Asia. It had been often attempted even in the 
16th century. Hence Beaumont and Fletcher: 

That everlasting cassock, that has worn 

As many servants out as the North-east Passage 

Has consumed sailors. The Woman's Prize, II, It. 

North Pole. For two or three centuries men 
tried to reach the North Pole, and many were 
the speculations as to what would be found 
when they got there. It was not until April 6th, 
1909, that the American sailor and explorer 
Robert Edwin Peary (1856-1920) reached the 
Pole, by that time known to be the central 
point of the shallow Arctic basin wherein lies 
the Arctic Ocean, of which the surface near 
the Pole is floating and moving ice. In May, 
1933, the North Pole was claimed by the 
Russians as a Soviet possession and four years 
later they established a Polar station there, 
under Prof. Otto Schmidt. 

North-west Passage. The name given to an 
assumed passage to China and the Orient 
round the north of the American continent. 
Attempts to find it were made in tne^l6th 
and 17th century by such sailors as the Cabots, 
Frobisher, Gilbert, Davis, Hudson and Baffin, 
in the 19th century the quest was followed by 
Ross, Parry, and Sir John Franklin who lost 
his life and the lives of his crew in the attempt. 
It was not until 1903-05 that Roald Amundsen 
made the complete voyage. 

The Northern Bear. Tsarist Russia was so 
called. 

The Northern Gate of the Sun. The sign of 
Cancer, or summer solstice; so called because 
jt marks the northern tropic. 

The Northern Lights. The Aurora Borealis 
(<?v.). 

The Northern Wagoner. The genius presiding 
over the Great Bear, or Charles’s Wain (q.v.) f 
which contains seven large stars. 

By this the northern wagoner has set 
His sevenfold team behind the stedfast star [the pole- 
star], Spenser: Faerie Queene, jyi, 1. 


Northamptonshire Poet 


648 


Notables 


Dryden calls the Great Bear the Northern 
Car , and similarly the crown in Ariadne has 
been called the Northern Crown. 

Northamptonshire Poet. John Clare (1793- 
1864), son of a farmer at Helpstone. 

Norway, Maid of. See Maid. 

Nose. A nose of wax. See Wax. 

As plain as the nose on your face. Extremely 
obvious, patent to all. 

Bleeding of the nose. According to some, a 
sign that one is in love. Grose says if it bleeds 
one drop only it forebodes sickness, if three 
drops the omen is still worse; but Melton, 
in nis Astrologaster , says, “If a man’s nose 
bleeds one drop at the left nostril it is a sign of 
gbod luck, and vice versa .” 

Cleopatra’s nose. See Cleopatra. 

Golden nose. Tycho Brahe (d. 1601), the 
Danish astronomer. He lost his nose in a duel, 
so adopted a golden one, which he attached 
to his face by a cement which he carried about 
with him. 

The bloodthirsty emperor Justinian II, 
nicknamed Rhinotmetus, had a golden nose 
in place of the nose that had been cut otT by 
his general Leontius before he ascended the 
imperial throne. It used to be said that when 
Justinian cleansed this golden nose, those 
who were present knew that the death of some- 
one had been decided upon. 

Led by the nose. Said of a person who has 
no will of his own but follows with docility 
the guidance of a stronger character. In 
another sense it appears in Isaiah xxxvii, 29: — 
“Because thy rage against me ... is come up 
into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook 
in thy nose . . . and will turn thee back. . . 
Horses, asses, etc., led by bit and bridle, are 
led by (he nose. Hence Iago says of Othello, he 
was “led by the nose as asses are” (I, iii). But 
buffaloes, camels, and bears arc actually led 
by a ring inserted in their nostrils. 

Nose tax. It is said that in the 9th century 
the Danes imposed a poll tax in Ireland, and 
that this was called the “Nose Tax,” because 
those who neglected to pay were punished by 
havj^gi»iheir noses slit. 

On the nose. An American expression mean- 
ing exactly on time. It originated in the 
broadcasting studio, where the producer, when 
signalling to the performers, puts his finger on 
his nose when the programme is running to 
schedule time. 

The Pope’s nose. The rump/of a fowl, which 
is also called the parson’s nose. The phrase is 
said to have originated during the years 
following James IPs reign, when anti-Catholic 
feeling was high. 

To count noses. A horse-dealer counts 
horses by the nose, as cattle are counted by the 
head; hence, the expression is sometimes 
ironically used of numbering votes, as in the 
Division lobbies. 

To cut off your nose to spite your face, or 
to be revenged on your face. Torjact out of 
pique in such a way as to injure yourself. 


To follow one’s nose. To go straight ahead; 
to proceed without deviating from the path. 

To keep one’s nose to the grindstone. To keep 
hard at work. Tools, such as scythes, chisels, 
etc., are constantly sharpened on a stone or 
with a grindstone. 

Be to the poor like onie whunstane, 

And haud their noses to the grunstane. 

Burns: Dedication to Gavin Hamilton . 

To pay through the nose. To pay too much. 
Of many conjectured origins of the phrase, the 
most likely is that it derives from the Nose 
Tax (see above). 

To poke or thrust one’s nose in. Officiously 
to intermeddle with other people’s affairs; to 
intrude where one is not wanted. 

To put one’s nose out of joint. To supplant a 
person in another’s good graces; to upset 
one’s plans; to humiliate a conceited person. 

To snap one’s nose off. To speak snappishly. 
To pull (or wring) the nose is to affront by an 
act of indignity; to snap one's nose is to affront 
by speech. Snarling dogs snap at each other’s 
noses. 

To take pepper i’ the nose. See Pepper. 

To turn up one’s nose. To express contempt. 
When a person sneers he turns up the nose 
by curling the upper lip. 

To wipe one’s nose. See Wipe. 

Under one’s very nose. Right before one; 
in full view. 

Nosey. Very inquisitive; given to overmuch 
poking of the nose into other people’s business. 
One who docs this is often called a Nosey 
Parker, an epithet of unknown origin. 

The Duke of Wellington was familiarly 
called “Nosey” by the soldiery. His “com- 
mander’s face” with its strongly accentuated 
aquiline nose, was a very distinguishing feature 
of the Iron Duke. The nickname was also 
given to Oliver Cromwell. See Copper Nose. 

Nostradamus, Michel (nos' tra da' mus). A 
French astrologer (1503-66) who published an 
annual “Almanack” as well as the famous 
Centuries (1555) containing prophecies which, 
though the book suffered papal condemnation 
in 1781, still occasion controversy from time 
to time. His prophecies arc couched in most 
ambiguous language, hence the saying as good 
a prophet as Nostradamus — i.e. so obscure 
that none can make out your meaning. 

Nostrum (nos' trum) (Lat. our own). A term 
applied to a quack medicine, the ingredients 
of which are supposed to be a secret of the 
compounders; also, figuratively, to any 
political or other scheme that savours of the 
charlatan. 

Notables. An assembly of nobles or notable 
men, in French history, selected by the king 
to form a parliament. They were convened in 
1626 by Richelieu, and not again till 1787 
when Louis XVI called them together with the 
view of relieving the natidn.of some of its 
pecuniary embarrassments. The last time#they 
ever assembled was November 6th, 1788. 




Notarikon 


649 


Nullification 


Notarikon (no tdr' i kon). A cabalistic word 
(Gr. notarikon; La U no tar i us, a shorthand- 
writer) denoting the old Jewish art of using 
each letter in a word to form another word, or 
using the initials of the words in a sentence to 
form another word, etc., as Cabal itself (q.v.) 
was fabled to have been formed from Clifford, 
Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington, and Lauder- 
dale, and as the term Ichthus {q.v.) was applied 
to the Saviour. Other instances will be found 
under A.E.I.O.U.; Clio; Hempe; Limp; and 
Smectymnuus; cp. also Hip. 

Notch. Out of all notch. See Scotch. 

Note-sharer (U.S.A.). A bill discounter, 
usurer. 

Nothing. Mere nothings. Trifles; unimportant 
things or events. 

Next to nothing. A very little. As “It will 
cost next to nothing,’* “He eats next to 
nothing.” 

Nothing doing! A slang expression, generally 
implying that you are disappointed in your 
expectations, or refuse some request. 

Nothing venture, nothing have. If you daren’t 
throw a sprat you mustn’t expect to catch a 
mackerel; don’t be afraid of taking a risk now 
and then. A very old proverb. 

Out of nothing one can get nothing; the Latin 
Ex nihilo nihil Jit — i.e. every effect must have 
a cause. It was the dictum by which Xeno- 
phanes, founder of the Eleatic School {q.v.), 
postulated his theory of the eternity of matter. 
Persius ( Satires , iii, 84) has De nihilo ni hi linn, 
in nihil um nil posse reverti , From nothing 
nothing, and into nothing can nothing return. 

We now use the phrase as equivalent to 
“You cannot get blood from a stone,” or 
expect good work from one who has no brains. 

That’s nothing to you, or to do with you. It’s 
none of your business. 

There’s nothing for it but . • . There’s no 
alternative; take it or leave it. 

To come to nothing. To turn out a failure; 
to result in naught. 

To make nothing of. To fail to understand; 
not to succeed in some operation. 

Nourmahal (noor ma hal') (Arab. The Light 
of the Harem). One of the women in the harem 
of the Caliph Haroun-al-Raschid, afterwards 
called Nourjehan (Light of the World). The 
story of her love for Selim and how she 
regained his lost affections by means of a love- 
spell is told in Moore’s Lalla Rookh . 

Nous (nous) (Gr. mind, intellect). Adopted in 
English and used more or less loosely for 
intelligence, “horse-sense.” 

This is the genuine head of many a house, 

And much divinity without a nous. 

Pope: Dunciad , IV, 244. 

Nous was the Platonic term for mind, or the 
first cause, and the system of divinity here 
referred to is that which springs from blind 
nature. 

Nous, avons chang6 tout cela (noo z&v ong 
shon' ja too sla) (Fr. we have changed ail that). 


A facetious reproof to one who lays down the 
law upon everything, and talks contemptu- 
ously of old customs, old authors, old artists, 
and old everything. The phrase is taken from 
Moltere’s MMecin Malgrd Lui, II, vi (1666). 

Nova Scotia. See Acadia. 

Noyatians (no va' sh&nz). Followers of No- 
vatianus, a presbyter of Rome in the 3rd 
century. They differed little from the orthodox 
Catholics, but maintained that the Church 
had no power to allow one who had lapsed 
to be readmitted. 

Novella (novel' 1&). A short story of the kind 
contained in Boccaccio’s Decameron. These 
novelle were immensely popular in the 16th 
and 17th centuries and were the forerunners of 
the long novel that later developed from them, 
as also of the short story of more recent times. 

November (Lat. novem , nine). The ninth month 
in the ancient Roman calendar, when the year 
began in March, now the eleventh. The old 
Dutch name was Slaght-maand (slaughter- 
month, the time when the beasts were slain 
and salted down for winter use); the old 
Saxon, Wind-monath (wind-month, when the 
fishermen drew their boats ashore, and gave 
over fishing till the next spring); it was also 
called Blot-monath — the same as Slaght- 
maand. In the French Republican calendar 
it was called Brumaire (fog-month, October 
22nd to November 21st). 

Novena (no ve' na). In R.C. devotions a prayer 
for some special object or occasion extended 
over a period of nine days. Various reasons 
have been adduced for the choice of nine 
days, but at root the custom seems to have 
been taken over from Roman paganism. 

Nowell. See Noel. 

Noyades (nwa' yad) (Fr. drownings). A means 
of execution adopted by Carrier at Nantes, in 
the French Revolution (1793-4). Prisoners to 
be “removed” were first bound and then 
stowed in the hold of a vessel which had a 
movable bottom. This was sent to the middle 
of the Loire, the vessel was scuttled, and the 
victims drowned. Nero, at the suggestion of 
Anicetus, attempted to drown his mother in 
the same manner. 

Nubbin (U.S.A.). A spoiled ear of corn. 

Nude. Naked. Rabelais (iv, xxix) says that a 
person without clothing is dressed in “grey and 
cold” of a comical cut, being “nothing before, 
nothing behind, and sleeves of the same.” 
King Shrovetide* monarch of Sneak Island, 
was so arrayed. 

Nulla linea. See No day without its line, 
under Line. 

Nulb* secundus (nOF J se kOn' dus) (Lat. second 
to none). The motto of the Coldstream Guards, 
which regiment is hence sometimes spoken of 
as the Nulli Secundus Club . 

Nullification (U.S.A.). In a political sense this 
term is said to have first been used by Thomas 
Jefferson in 1798. In 1832 South Carolina said 
they woufd nu lify tariffs by not allowing duty 


Numbers 


650 


Nunc dimittis 


to be collected at Charleston; hence those who 
set State rights above Federal Law are called 
nullifiers. 

Numbers, Numerals. Pythagoras looked on 
numbers as influential principles; in his 
system — 

1 was Unity, and represented Deity, which has no 
parts. 

2 was Diversity, and therefore disorder; the 
principle of strife and all evil. 

3 was Perfect Harmony, or the union of unity and 
diversity. 

4 was Perfection; it is the first square (2 x 2 = 4). 

5 was the prevailing number in Nature and Art. 

6 was Justice. 

7 was the climacteric number in all diseases; called 
the Medical Number. See Climacteric 

With the ancient Romans 2 was the most 
fatal of all the numbers; they dedicated the 
second month to Pluto, and the second day 
of the month to the Manes. 

In old ecclesiastical symbolism the numbers 
from 1 to 13 were held to denote the follow- 
ing:— 

1 The Unity of God. 

2 The hypostatic union of Christ, both God and 
man. 

3 The Trinity. 

4 The number of the Evangelists. 

5 The wounds of the Redeemer: two in the hands, 
two in the feet, one in the side. 

6 The creative week. 

7 The gifts of the Holy Ghost and the seven times 
Christ spoke on the cross. 

8 The number of beatitudes {Matt, v, 3-11). 

9 The nine orders of angels. 

10 The number of the Commandments. 

11 The number of the Apostles who remained faith- 
ful. 

12 The original college. 

13 The final number after the conversion of Paul. 

Apocalyptic number, 666. See Number of 
the Beast, below. 

Back number. A number of a paper or 
periodical issued previously to the current one; 
hence an out-of-date or old-fashioned person 
or thing. 

Cyclic number.' A number the final digit of 
whose square is same, 5 (25) and 6 (36) 
are examples. 

Golden number. See Golden. 

His 4ays are numliercd. They are drawing to 
a crole; he is near death. 

God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. — 
Dan. v, 26. 

Irrational number, A definite number not 
expressible in a definite number of digits, as 
the root of a number that cannot be exactly 
extracted. 

Medical number. In the Pythagorean system 
{see above), 7. 

Number of the Beast, The. 666; a mystical 
number of unknown meaning but referring to 
some man mentioned by St. John. 

Let him that hath understanding count the number 
of the beast; for it is the number of a man; and his 
number is Six hundred threescore and six.— Rev. xiii, 
18. 

One of the most plausible suggestions is that 
It refers to Neron Caesar, which in Hebrew 
characters with numerical value gives 666, 
whereas Nero, without the final * r n,” as in 


Latin, gives 616 (n =* 50), the number given 
in many early MSS., according to Irenaeus. 

* Among the Cabalists every letter represented 
a number, and one’s number was the sum of 
these equivalents to the letters in one’s name. 
If, as is probable, the Revelation was written 
in Hebrew, the number would suit either Nero, 
Hadrian, or Trajan — all persecutors; if in 
Greek, it would ht Caligula or Latelnos , i.e. 
the Roman Empire; but almost any name in 
any language can be twisted into this number, 
and it has been applied to many persons 
assumed to have been Antichrist, or Apostates, 
Diocletian, Evanthas, Julian the Apostate, 
Luther, Mohammed, Paul V, Silvester II, 
Napoleon Bonaparte, Charles Bradlaugh, 
William II of Germany, and several others; as 
well as to certain phrases supposed to be 
descriptive of “the Man of Sm,” as Vicar- 
General of God, Kakos Odcgos (bad guide), 
Abinu Kadescha Papa (our holy father the 
pope), e.g.— 

Maomctls 

40 , 1 , 70 , 40 , 5 , 300 , 10,200 - 666 

L a t e i n o s 

30 , 1 , 300 , 5 , 10 , 50 , 70 , 200 « 666 

One suggestion is that St. John chose the 
number 666 because it just fell short of the 
holy number 7 in every particular; was 
straining at every point to get there, but never 
could. See also Mystf.rium. 

Odd numbers. See Odd. 

To consult the Book of Numbers. A facetious 
way of saying, “to put it to the vote,” “to 
call for a division.” 

Your number’s up. You are in a very serious 
position or, sometimes, about to die. A soldier’s 
phrase; in the American army a soldier who 
has just been killed or has died is said to have 
“lost his mess number.” An older phrase used 
in the British Navy was “to lose the number 
of his mess.” 

Numerals. All our numerals and ordinals 
up to a million (with one exception) are Anglo- 
Saxon. The one exception is Second , which is 
French. The Anglo-Saxon word was other , as 
First, Other, Third, etc., but as this was 
ambiguous the Fr. seconde was early adopted. 
Million is from Lat. mille, a thousand. 

The primitive method of counting was by 
the fingers ( cp . Digit); thus in the Roman 
system of numeration the first four were 
simply i, ii, iii, iiii; five was the outline of the 
hand simplified into a v$ the next four figures 
were the two combined, thus, vi, vii, viii, viiii; 
and ten was a double v, thus, x. At a later 
period iiii and viiii were expressed by one less 
than five (i-v) and one less than ten (i-x); 
nineteen was ten-plus-nine (x + ix), etc. See 
also Arabic Figures. 

Nunawadding Messiah. This was Andrew 
Fisher, of Nunawadding, Victoria, Australia, 
who declared himself to be the Messiah, in 
1871. His hundred followers were polygamous, 
he himself having three wives. 

Nunc dimittis (nOngk di mit' is). The Song of 
Simeon {Luke ii, 29), “Lord, now lettest thou 
thy servant depart in peace,” so called from 
the opening words of the Latin version, Nunc 
dimittis servum tuum , Domlne. 




Nuncheon 


651 


NrMM 


Hence, to receive one's Nunc dimitt is, to be 
given permission to go; to sing one's Nunc 
dimittis , to show satisfaction at departing. 

The Canticle is sung in the Evening Service 
of the Church of England, and has been used 
at Compline or Vespers throughout the Church 
from the earliest times. 

Nuncheon (ntin' chim). Properly, “the noon- 
tide draught”; M.E. noneschench (none, noon, 
and schench , a cup or draught); hence, ‘light 
refreshments between meals, lunch. The word 
luncheon has been affected by the older 
nuncheon. Cp. Bever. 

Laying by their swords and truncheons. 

They took their breakfasts, or their nuncheons. 

Butler: Hudlbras, I, i, 345. 

Nunky, Slang for “Uncle” (q.v), especially as 
meaning a pawnbroker; or for “Uncle Sam” 
(see Sam). 

Nunky pays for all. The American Govern- 
ment (see Sam) has to “stand the racket/* 

Nuremberg (nO' rem bSrg). One of the principal 
cities of Bavaria (in German Nuernberg), with 
a long and honorable history, among other 
things famous as the home of Albrecht Diirer. 
After 1933 the Nazi party held its annual 
September conventions there, and in 1935 the 
infamous Nuremberg Laws were promulgated, 
dividing the people of Germany into three 
classes: Aryans (with full civic rights); Jews 
(with no rights); and mixed Aryans and Jews 
(who might acquire Aryan rights by marrying 
Germans). As the centre of Nazi Germany 
Nuremberg yj^as chosen as the venue for the 
trial of the 23 chief Nazi leaders which 
opened November 21st, 1945 and concluded 
October 1st, 1946, when 3 were acquitted, 11 
were condemned to death and the remainder 
sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. 

Nuremberg Eggs. Watches, which were 
invented at Nuremberg about 1500, and were 
egg-shaped. 

Nurr and Spell. See Knurr. 

Nursery. A room set apart for the use of 
oung children (Lat. nutrire , to nourish); 
ence, a garden for rearing plants (tended by 
a nursery-man). 

In horse-racing, Nurseries are races for 
two-year-olds; and figuratively the word is 
used of any place or school of training for the 
professions, etc. r 

Nursery cannons. In billiards, a series of 
cannons played so that the balls move as 
little as possible. 

Nursery slopes. Easy hillsides on which 
beginners learn to ski. 

Nut. Slang for the head; perhaps so called 
from its resemblance to a nut. 

Also slang for a swell young man about 
town, a dude (in this sense frequently written — 
and pronounced — with an initial k t knut ); 
from a music-hall song of the early 20th 
century, sung by Basil Hallam, “I’m Gilbert 
the Filbert, the colonel of the K-nuts.” 

A hard nut to crack. A difficult question to 
answer; a hard problem to solve. 


He who would eat the nut must first crack the 
shell. The gods give nothing to man without 
great labour. 

Here we go gathering nuts in May. This 
burden of the old children’s game is a per- 
version of “Here we go gathering knots of 
may,” referring to the old custom or gathering 
knots of flowers on May-day, or, to use the 
ordinary phrase, “to go a-maying.” There are 
no nuts to be gathered in May. 

It is time to lay our nuts aside (Lat. relinquere 
nuces). To leave off our follies, to relinquish 
boyish pursuits. The allusion is to an old 
Roman marriage ceremony, in which the bride- 
groom, as he led his bride home, scattered nuts 
to the crowd, as if to symbolize to them that 
he gave up his boyish sports. 

Off one’s nut. Crazy, daft. 

That’s nuts to him. A great pleasure, a fine 
treat. 

To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, 
warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was 
what the knowing ones call nuts to Scrooge. — 
Dickens: A Christmas Carol, i. 

To be dead nuts on. To be very much pleased 
with, highly gratified with. 

My aunt is awful nuts on Marcus Aurelius: I beg 
your pardon, you don’t know the phrase; my aunt 
makes Marcus Aurelius her Bible. — Wm. BLACK: 
Princess of Thule , xi. 

To be off one’s nut, to be nuts. Crazy, 
demented. Hence, Nut house. A lunatic asylum. 

Nut-brown Maid, The. An English ballad, 
dating (probably) from the late 15th century, 
first printed in Arnolde's Chronicle (Antwerp, 
1502). It tells how the “Not-browne Maya” 
was wooed and won by a knight who gave out 
that he was a banished man. After describing 
the hardships she would have to undergo if 
she married him, and finding her love true to 
the test, he revealed himself to be an earl’s 
son, with large estates in Westmorland. 

The ballad is given in Percy’s Reliques , and 
forms the basis of Prior’s Henry and Emma . 

Nutcrack Night. All Haffdws’ Eve, when it is 
customary in some places to crack nuts in 
large quantities. 

Nutcrackers. The East Kent Regiment, the 
old 3rd Foot; so called because at Albufera 
(18H) they opened and retreated, but in a few 
minutes came again into the field, cracked the 
heads of the Polish Lancers, and did most 
excellent service. Now the Queen’s Own Buffs, 
The Royal Kent Regiment. 

The “Iliad” in a nutshell. Pliny (vii, 21) tells 
us that the Iliad was copied in so small a hand 
that the whole work could lie in a walnut 
shell; his authority is Cicero (Apud Gellium , 
ix, 421). 

Whilst they (as Homer’s Iliad in a nut) 

A world of wonders in one closet shut. 

On the Tradescants' Monument, Lambeth Churchyard . 

Huet, Bishop of Avranches (d. 1721), 
proved by experiment that a parchment 27 by 
21 centimetres would contain the entire Iliad, 
and that such a parchment would go into a 
common-sized nut; he wrote eighty verses of 
the Iliad (\frhich contains in all 501,930 letters) 
on a single line of a page similar to this 


Nutshell 


652 


Oak 


Dictionary. This would be 19,000 verses to 
the page, or 2,000 more than the Iliad con- 
tains. 

In the Harleian MSS. (530) is an account of 
Peter Bales, a clerk of the Court of Chancery 
about 1590, who wrote out the Bible so snialf 
that he inclosed it in a walnut shell of English 
growth. Lalanne described, in his Curiositis 
Bibliographiques , an edition of Rochefoucauld’s 
Maximes , published by Didot in 1829, on 
pages one inch square, each page containing 
26 lines, and each line 44 letters. Charles Top- 
pan, of New York, engraved on a plate one- 
eighth of an inch square 12,000 letters; th e Iliad 
would occupy 42 such plates engraved on both 
sides. George P. Marsh says, in his Lectures , he 
has seen the entire Koran in a parchment roll 
four inches wide and half an inch in diameter. 

To lie in a nutshell. To be explained in a few 
words; to be capable of easy solution. 

Nutmeg State. The nickname of Connecticut. 
The story is that the inhabitants at one time 
manufactured wooden nutmegs for export. 


o 


O. The fifteenth letter of our alphabet, the 
fourteenth of the ancient Roman, and the six- 
teenth of the Phoenician and Semitic — in which 
it was called “the eye.” Its name in O.E. was 
oedely home. 

A headless man had a letter [o] to write, 

He who read it [naught] had lost his sight. 

The dumb repeated it [naught] word for word, 

And deaf was the man who listened and heard 
[naught]. 

Dr. Whewell. 


Round as Giotto’s O. Said of work that is 

{ jerfect and complete, but done with little 
abour. See Giotto. 

The Fifteen O’s, or the O’s of St. Bridget. 
Fifteen meditations on the Passion, composed 
by St. Bridget. Each begins with O Jesu y or a 
similar invocation. 


The Seven O’s, or the Great O’s of Advent. 
The seven antiphons to the Magnificat sung 
during the week preceding Christmas. They 
commence respectively with O Sapientia, 
O Adonaiy O Radix Jesse , O C la vis Davidy 
O Oriens Splendor , O Rex gentiutriy and O 
Emmanuel. They are sometimes called The 
Christmas O's. 

O’. An Irish patronymic. (Gael, ogha ; Ir. 
oay a descendant.) 

O’ in tam-o'-shanter , what's o'clock? cat-o'- 
nine-tailsy etc., stands for of; but in such 
phrases as He comes home late o' nighty / go to 
church o' Sundays , it represents M.E. on. 

O.K. All correct, all right; a reassuring 
affirmative that, coming from the U.S.A. to 
England has spread colloquially throughout 
several European languages. It derives prob- 
ably from the Choctaw oke y meaning, *‘It is 
so. Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), who was 
notoriously illiterate, used the phrase. In the 
presidential campaign of 1828 Jackson’s op- 
ponents asserted that he derived the abbrevia- 
tion from his own spelling “orl korrect.” 


O.P. Riots. When Co vent Garden Theatre 
was reopened in 1809 after the disastrous fire 
of the preceding year, the charges of admission 
were increased; but night after night for three 
months a throng crowded the pit, shouting 
“O.P.” ( old prices); much damage was done, 
and the manager was obliged at last to give 
way. 

O tempora ! O mores! (6 tern' por & 6 m6r 'ez) 
(La&ifrom Cicero’s In Catilinam i, 2). Alas! 
how the times have changed for the worse! 
Alas! how the morals of the people have 
degenerated ! 

O Yes! O Yes! O Yes! See Oyez. 

Oaf. A corruption of ouph (elf). A foolish lout 
or dolt is so called from the notion that idiots 
are changelings, left by the fairies in place of 
the stolen ones. 

Oak. The oak was in ancient times sacred to 
the god of thunder because these trees are said 
to be more likely to be struck by lightning than 
any other. Among the Druids the oak was held 
in the greatest veneration. 

Royal Oak Day. See Oak-apple Day. 

To sport one’s oak. To be “not at home.’’ At 
the Universities, chambers have two doors, the 
usual room-door and another, made of oak, 
outside it; when the “oak” is shut or “sported” 
it indicates either that the occupant of the 
room is out, or that he does not wish to be dis- 
turbed by visitors. 

Oak before ash, in for a splash; Ash before 
oak, in for a soak. The tradition is, if the oak 
gets into leaf before the ash we may expect a 
fine and productive year; if the ash precedes 
the oak in foliage, we may anticipate a wet 
summer and unproductive autumn. 

Some Famous Oaks: 

The Abbot's Oak , near Woburn Abbey, is so 
called because the Woburn abbot was hanged 
on one of its branches, in 1537, by order of 
Henry VIII. 

The Bull Oak , Wcdgenock Park, was grow- 
ing at the time of the Conquest. 

Cowthurpe Oaky near Wethcrby, in York- 
shire, will hold seventy persons in its hollow. It 
is said to be over 1,600 years old. 

The Ellerslie Oaky near Paisley, is reported to 
have sheltered Sir William Wallace and 300 of 
his men. 

Fairlop Oaky in Haii^uilt Forest, was 36 ft. 
in circumference a yard from the ground. It 
was blown down in 1820. 

Owen Glendower's Oaky at Shelton, near 
Shrewsbury, was in full growth in 1403, for in 
this tree Owen Glendower witnessed the great 
battle between Henry IV and Henry Percy. Six 
or eight persons can stand in the hollow of its 
trunk. Its girth is 40i ft. 

The Major Oaky Sherwood Forest, Edwin- 
stowe, according to tradition, was a full- 
grown tree in the reign of King John. The 
hollow of the trunk will hold fifteen persons, 
but a new bark has considerably diminished the 
opening. Its girth is 37 or 38 ft., and the head 
covers a circumference of 240 ft. 

The Parliament Oaky Clipston, in Sherwood 
Forest, was the tree under which Edward I, in 




Oak-apple Day 


653 


Obelisk 


1282, held his parliament. He was hunting 
when a messenger came to tell him of the 
revolt of the Welsh. He hastily convened his 
nobles under the oak, and it was resolved to 
march at once against Llewelyn, who was 
slain. It was standing until early in this 
century. 

The Oak of the Partisans , in Parcy Forest, 
St. Ouen, in the department of the Vosges, is 
107 ft. in height. At the beginning of this, cen- 
tury it was 706 years old. 

Queen's Oak , Huntingfield, Suffolk, is so 
named because near this tree Queen Elizabeth I 
shot a buck. 

The Reformation Oak , on Mousehold 
Heath, near Norwich, is where the rebel Ket 
held his court in 1549, and when the rebellion 
was stamped out nine of the ringleaders were 
hanged on this tree. 

Robin Hood's Larder is an oak in Sherwood 
Forest. The tradition is that Robin Hood used 
its hollow trunk as a hiding-place for the deer 
he had slain. Late in the last century some 
schoolgirls boiled their kettle in it, and burnt 
down a large part of the tree, but every effort 
was made to preserve what remained. 

The Royal Oak. See Oak-apple Day. 

Sir Philip Sidney's Oak , near Penshurst, was 
planted at his birth in 1554, and was commemo- 
rated by Ben Jonson and Waller. 

The Swilcar Oak , in Necdwood Forest, Staf- 
fordshire, is between 600 and 700 years old. 

William the Conqueror' s Oak , in Windsor 
Great Park, is 38 feet in girth. 

The Winfarthing Oak is said to have been 
700 years old at the time of the Conquest. 

Oak-apple Day (also called Royal Oak Day). 
May 29th, the birthday of Charles II, com- 
manded by Act of Parliament in 1664 to be 
observed as a day of thanksgiving. A special 
service — expunged only in 1859 — was inserted 
in the Book of Common Prayer. 

It was in the month of September that 
Charles concealed himself in an oak (the 
“Royal Oak”) at Boscobel. The battle of Wor- 
cester was fought on Wednesday, September 
3rd, 1651, and Charles arrived at Whiteladies, 
about three-quarters of a mile from Boscobel 
House, early the next morning. He returned to 
England on his birthday, when the Royalists 
displayed a branch of oak in allusion to his 
hiding in this tree. 

Oakes’s Oath (Austr^ Unreliable testimony 
delivered on oath. The phrase is said to derive 
from one Oakes who was asked in a Court of 
Law if he could identify a pair of horns as 
belonging to one of his own cattle. After 
hesitating a moment he is reported to have 
said, “I’ll chance it; Yes!” 

Oakley, Annie. An expert American marks- 
woman (1860-1926), who in Buffalo Bill’s Wild 
West Show, using a playing card as a target, 
centred a shot in each of the pips. From this 
performance of hers, and the resemblance of 
the card to a punched ticket, springs ^ the 
American use of the name “Annie Oakley * to 
mean a complimentary ticket to a show, a 
meal ticket, or a pass on a railway. 

Oaks, The. One of the “classic” horse-races; it 
is for three-year-old fillies, and is run at Epsom 


shortly before or after the Derby ( q.v .). So 
called by the twelfth Earl of Derby, who estab- 
lished the race in 1779, from an estate of his 
near Epsom named “The Oaks.” 

Oakum is the fibre obtained by unravelling and 
unpicking old rope. It was formerly used for 
caulking the seams in the timbers of wooden 
ships. The picking of oakum was once a form 
of employment forced upon prisoners; the 
plucking of old, tarred rope with the bare 
fingernails was little short of a form of torture, 
and a more sensible attitude towards imprison- 
ment and punishment has made it obsolete. 

Oannes (6 Sn' ez). A Babylonian god having a 
fish’s body and a human head and feet. In the 
daytime he lived with men to instruct them in 
the arts and sciences, but at night retired to the 
depths of the Persian Gulf. He has been iden- 
tified with Ea of the cuneiform inscriptions. 

Oar. To put your oar into my boat. To interfere 
with my affairs. “Paddle your own canoe, and 
don’t put your oar into my boat.” 

To rest on one’s oars. To take an interval of 
rest after hard work. A boating phrase. 

To toss the oars. To raise them vertically, 
resting on the handles. It is a form of salute. 

Oasis (6 a' sis) (Coptic, ouahe; from ouift, to 
dwell). A fertile spot in the midst of a desert 
country, especially in the deserts of Africa 
where wells of water or small lakes are to be 
found, and vegetation is pretty abundant. 
Hence a sudden cessation of pain, or a sudden 
pleasure in the midst of monotonous existence, 
is sometimes called “a perfect oasis.” 

Oaten pipe. A rustic musical pipe made of 
an oat straw so cut as to be stopped at one end 
with a knot, the other end being left open. A 
slit made in the straw near the knot was so cut 
as to form a reed. 

Meanwhile the rural ditties were not mute. 

Temper’d to th’ oaten flute. 

Milton: Lycidas. 

Oath. See Swear. 

Oats. He has sown his wild oats. He has left off 
his gay habits and is become steady. The 
reference is to the folly of sowing wild, i.e. bad, 
grain instead of good; but it is worth noting 
that in Denmark the thick vapours which rise 
just before the land bursts into vegetation are 
called Lokkens havre (Loki’s wild oats), and 
when the fine weather succeeds, the Danes say, 
“ Loki has sown his wild oats." 

Obadiah (6 be di' &). A slang name for a 
Quaker. 

Obcah, Obi (o' be a). The belief in and prac- 
tice of obeah, z.e., a kind of sorcery or witch- 
craft prevalent in West Africa and formerly in 
the West Indies. Obeah is a native word, and 
signifies something put into the ground, to 
bring about sickness, death, or other disaster. 

Obelisk. A tapering pillar stone, originally 
erected by the Egyptians, who placed them in 
pairs before temple portals. They were usually 
monoliths of pink syenite, with a base width 
one-tenth of the height and a copper-sheathed, 
pyramidal apex. Each of the obelisk’s four 
faces bore incised hieroglyphs. The best known 



Oberammergau 


654 


Odd 


in England is Cleopatra’s Needle, placed on 
die Victoria Embankment, London, in 1878, 
its partner being set up in Central Park, New 
York. These granite obelisks were erected in 
Heliopolis by Thothmes III, about 1475 b.c., 
and removed to Alexandria by Augustus 
Caesar in 12 b.c. 

The tallest of all obelisks is at Rome, taken 
there from Heliopolis by the Emperor Cali- 
gula and erected in the circus that is now the 
Piazza of St. Peter's. Although weighing some 
320 tons, it was moved bodily on rollers by 
Pope Sixtus V, in 1586 — an astonishing en- 
gineering feat, considering the appliances then 
available. The task was so tricky that spec- 
tators were forbidden to utter a sound on pain 
of death. But at a critical moment, when the 
immense weight of stone appeared to be 
straining the ropes to breaking point, one of 
the workmen, a sailor from San Remo, called 
“Acqua alle funi” — Water on the ropes — and 
saved the situation at the risk of his life. 

The Obelisk of Luxor, in the Place de la Con- 
corde, Paris, came from Thebes and was pre- 
sented to Louis Philippe, in 1831, by the then 
Khedive of, Egypt. Its hieroglyphs record the 
deeds of Rameses II (13th century, b.c.). 

Oberammergau. See Passion Play. 

Obermaon (o' ber man). The impersonation of 
high moral worth without talent, and the tor- 
tures endured by the consciousness of this 
defect. From Senancour’s psychological 
romance of this name (1804), in which Ober- 
mann, the hero, is a dreamer perpetually try- 
ing to escape from the actual. 

Oberon (o' ber on). King of the Fairies, hus- 
band of Titania. Shakespeare introduces them 
in his Midsummer Night's Dream. The name is 
robably connected with Alberich (< 7 -v.), the 
ing of the elves. 

He first appears in the mediaeval French 
romance, Huon de Bordeaux , where he is a son 
of Julius Caesar and Morgan le Fay. He was 
only three feet high, but of angelic face, and 
was lord and king of Mommur. At his birth the 
fairies bestowed their gifts — one was insight 
into men’s thoughts, and another was the 
power of transporting himself to any place in- 
stantaneously; and in the fullness of time 
legions of angels conveyed his soul to Paradise. 
Obi. See Obeah. 

Obiter dictum (ob' i ter dik' turn) (Lat.). An 
incidental remark, an opinion expressed by a 
judge, but not judicially. An obiter dictum has 
no authority beyond that of deference to the 
wisdom, experience, and honesty of the person 
who utters it; but a judicial sentence is the 
verdict of a judge bound under oath to pro- 
nounce judgment only according to law and 
evidence. 

Object; Objective. See Subject. 

Obloxm (U.S.A.). A late 19th-century slang 
term for a bank note. 

Oboius (ob' 6 Ius). An ancient Greek copper 
coin worth five lepta, or about a halfpenny. 
Also a silver coin of the Byzantine Empire, 
worth about three times as much. It is to this 
latter that the phrase “Give an oboius to poor 
old Belisarius {see Beusarius) refers. 


Observantins. See Franciscans. 

Obverse. That side of a coin or medal which 
contains the principal device. Thus, the ob- 
verse of our coins is the side which contains the 
sovereign’s head; the other side is the “re- 
verse.” 

Occam’s Razor. Entia non sunt multiplicanda 
(entities are not to be multiplied). With this 
axiom, which means that all unnecessary facts 
or constituents in the subject being analysed 
are to be eliminated, Occam dissected every 
question as with a razor. 

William of Occam, the Doctor Singularis et 
Invincibilis (d. 1347), was a scholastic philo- 
sopher, famous as the great advocate and 
reviver of nominalism (#.v.). 

Occasion. A lame old hag in Spenser’s Faerie 
Queene (II, iv), mother of Furor, and sym- 
bolical of the cause of anger. 

To improve the occasion. To draw a moral 
lesson from some event which has occurred. 

Occult Sciences (Lat. ocadtus; related to 
celdre , to hide). Magic, alchemy, and astro- 
logy; so called because they were hidden 
mysteries. 

Oceana (6 se' a na). A philosophical treatise on 
the principles of government by James Har- 
rington (1656). See Commonwealths, Ideal. 
Octavo (ok ta' vo). A book in which each 
sheet of paper is folded into eight leaves (16 
pages); contracted thus — 8vo. (ltal. un ottaxo ; 
FT. in-octavo ; Lat. octo, eight.) An octavo can 
be of almost any size, dependent entirely on 
the size of the sheets before folding. 

October. The eighth month of the ancient 
Roman calendar (Lat. octo , eight) when the 
year began in March; the tenth of ours. The 
old Dutch name was Wyn-maatul\ the O.E., 
Winmonath (wine-month, or the time of 
vintage): also Teo-monath (tenth-month) and 
Winter-fylleth (winter full-moon). In the 
French Republican calendar it was Vendc- 
miaire (time of vintage, September 22nd to 
October 21st). 

A tankard of October. A tankard of the best 
and strongest ale, brewed in October. 

October Club. A club of extreme Tories 
founded in 1710, with the password “October” 
— easily remembered “by a country gentleman 
who loved his ale.” In the last years of Queen 
Anne’s reign the October Club was a staunch 
supporter of the Jacobites. 

Od. See Odyle. 

Odal. See Udal Tenure. 

Odd. There’s luck in odd numbers. This is a 
very ancient fancy. According to the Pytha- 
gorean system, “all nature is a harmony,” man 
is a full chord; and all beyond is Deity, so that 
nine represents Deity. A major chord consists 
of a fundamental or tonic, its major third, and 
its just fifth. As the odd numbers are the funda- 
mental notes of nature, the last being Deity, it 
will be easy to see how they came to be con- 
sidered the great or lucky numbers. Cp. Diapa- 
son; Number. 

Good luck lies in odd numbers. . . . They say, there 
is divinity in odd numbers, either in nativity, chance, 
or death — Merry Wives of Windsor , V, i. 


Odd Fellows 


655 


(Ecumenical 


The odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 ( which see) 
seem to play a far more important part than 
the even numbers. One is Deity, three the 
Trinity, five ^the chief division, seven is the 
sacred number, and nine is three times three, 
the great climacteric. 

Numero Deus impare gaudet (the god delights 
in odd numbers — Virgil, Eclogues , viii, 75). 
Three indicates the “beginning, middle, and 
end.” The Godhead has three persons; so in 
classic mythology Hecate had threefold power; 
Jove’s symbol was a triple thunderbolt, Nep- 
tune’s a sea-trident, Pluto’s a three-headed 
dog; the Fates were three, the Furies three, the 
Graces three, the Horae three; the Muses three- 
times-three. There are seven notes, nine 
planets, nine orders of angels, seven days a 
week, thirteen lunar months, or 365 days a 
year, etc.; live senses, five fingers on the hand 
and toes on the foot, five continents, etc. 

Odd Fellows. A secret society with benevolent 
aims and of uncertain antiquity. Records go 
back to 1745, and in the following years it 
flourished despite considerable persecution on 
account of its alleged “seditiousness.” In 1813 
it awakened to new vigour as the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, in Manchester; it has 
since then become the greatest of such bene- 
volent orders, spreading into most of the 
countries of North Europe and into North 
America. 

Odd Volumes, Sette of. A literary dining 
Society in London, founded in 1884. 

At odds. At variance. 

By long odds. By a great difference; as, “He 
is the best man by long odds.” In horse-racing, 
odds are the ratio by which the amount staked 
by one party to a bet exceeds that of the other; 
hence long odds indicates a big variance in this 
ratio. 

Odds and Ends. See End. 

That makes no odds. No difference; never 
mind; that is no excuse. An application of the 
betting phrase. 

Odin (o' din). The Scandinavian name of the 
god called by the Anglo-Saxons Woden {q.v.). 
Odin was god of wisdom, poetry, war, and 
agriculture. He was god of the dead, also, and 
presided over banquets of those slain in battle. 
See Valhalla. He became the All-wise by 
drinking of Mimir’s fbuntain, but purchased 
the distinction at the cost of one eye, and is 
often represented as a one-eyed man wearing a 
hat and carrying a staff. His remaining eye is 
the Sun. 

The promise of Odin. The most binding of all 
oaths to a Norseman. In making it the hand 
was passed through a massive silver ring kept 
for tne purpose; or through a sacrificial stone, 
like that called the “Circle of Stennis.” 

The vow of Odin. A matrimonial or other 
vow made before the “Stone of Odin,” in the 
Orkneys. This was an oval stone, with a hole in 
it large enough to admit a man’s hand. Anyone 
who violated a vow made before this stone was 
held infamous. 


Odium theologicum (5' di Dm th5 6 loj' i kDm) 
(Lat.). The bitter hatred of rival theologians. 
No wars so sanguinary as holy wars; no per- 
secutions so relentless as religious persecu- 
tions; no hatred so bitter as theological hatred. 

Odor lucri (o' dor la' kri) (Lat.). The sweets of 
gain; the delights of money-making. 

Odour. In good odour; in bad odour. In favour, 
out of favour; in good repute, in bad repute. 

The odour of sanctity. In the Middle Ages it 
was held that a sweet and delightful odour was 
given off by the bodies of saintly persons at 
their death, and also when their bodies, if 
“translated,” were disinterred. Hence the 
phrase, he died in the odour of sanctity , i.e. he 
died a saint. The Swedenborgians say that 
when the celestial angels are present at a death- 
bed, what is then cadaverous excites a sensa- 
tion of what is aromatic. 

There is an “odour of iniquity” as well as an 
“odour of sanctity,” and Shakespeare has a 
strong passage on the odour of impiety. 
Antiochus and his wicked daughter were killed 
by lightning, and the poet says: — 

A Hrc from heaven came and shrivelled up 
Their bodies, e’en to loathing; for they so stunk 
That all those eyes adored them ere their fall 
Scorned now their hand should give them burial. 

Pericles, II, iv. 

Od’s, used in oaths, as: — 

Od's bodikins! or Odsbody! means “God’s 
body.” 

Od's pittikins! God’s pity. 

Od's plessed will! ( Merry Wives of Windsor , 
I, i.) 

Od rot 'em! See Drat. 

Od-zounds! God’s wounds. 

Odyle (od' II). The name formerly given to the 
hypothetical force which emanates from a 
medium to produce the phenomena connected 
with mesmerism, spirit-rapping, table-turning, 
and so on. Baron von Reichenbach (1788- 
1869) called it Od force, and taught that it per- 
vaded all nature, especially heat, light, crystals, 
magnets, etc., and was developed in chemical 
action; and also that it streamed from the 
fingers of specially sensitive persons. 

That od-force of German Riechenbach 
Which still from female finger-tips burns blue. 

Mrs. Browning: Aurora Leigh, vii, 295. 

Odyssey (od' i si). The epic poem of Homer 
(a. v.) which records the adventures of Odysseus 
(Ulysses) on his home-voyage from Troy. The 
word is an adjective formed out of the hero’s 
name, and means the things or adventures of 
Ulysses. 

(Ecumenical Councils (e kQ men' ik &1). Eccle- 
siastical councils whose findings are — or were 
— recognized as applying to tne whole of the 
Christian world (Gr. olkoumenikos f the in- 
habited — ge, earth, being understood), and the 
members of which were drawn from the whole 
Church. They are: — 

Nicaea, 325, 787; Constantinople, 381, 553, 680-1, 
869; Ephesus, 431; Chalcedon, 451: Lateran, 1123, 
1139, 1179, 1215, 1512-17; Lyons, 1245, 1274; Vienne, 
1311-13; Constance, 1414-18; Basle-Ferrara-Floreiiee* 
1431-43: Trent, 1545-1563; Vatican, 1869 (adjourned 
1870 while still unfinished), 1962- 


(Edipus 


656 


Ogpu 


Of these the Church of England recognizes 
only six : — 

Nicaea, 325, against the Arians. 

Constantinople, 381, against “heretics.” 

Ephesus, 431, against the Nestorians and Pelagians. 
Cholcedon, 451, when Athanasius was restored. 
Constantinople, 553, against Origen. 

Constantinople, 680, against the Monothelites. 

The Church of England, in common with 27 
other denominations, accepted an invitation to 
send observers to the Council beginning in 
1962. 

CEdipus (e 7 di pits) was the son of Laius, King 
of Corinth, and of Jocasta his wife. To avert 
the fulfilment of a prophecy CEdipus was ex- 
posed on the mountains as an infant and taken 
ip and reared by the shepherds. When grown 
to manhood he unwittingly slew his father; 
then, having solved the riddle of the Sphinx, he 
became King of Thebes, thereby gaining the 
hand in marriage of Jocasta, his mother, of 
whose relationship to himself they were both 
ignorant. When the facts came to light Jocasta 
hanged herself and CEdipus tore out his own 
eyes. 

An CEdipus complex is the psychoanalytical 
term for the sexual desire (usually unrecog- 
nized by himself) of a son for his mother and 
conversely an equally unrecognized jealous 
hatred of his father. 

(Eil de Bttuf (6 e de berf) (Fr. “bull’s-eye”). A 
large reception room (salle) in the palace of 
Versailles, lighted by a round, “bull’s-eye” 
window. The ceiling, decorated by Van der 
Mulen, contains likenesses of the children of 
Louis XIV. It was the ante-room where cour- 
tiers waited and gossiped, and hence the name 
became associated with backstairs intrigue. 

Les Fastcs de I’CEil de Breuf. The annals of 
the courtiers of the Grand Monarque; hence, 
anecdotes of courtiers generally. 

Off (Lat. ab y from, away). The house is a 
mile off — i.e. is “away” or “from” us a mile. 
The word preceding off defines its scope. To be 
“ well off” is to be away or on the way towards 
well-being; to be ; “ badly off” is to be away or 
on the way to th£ bad. 

The off-side of horses when in pairs is that to 
the right hand of the coachman ( cp . Near); 
and a “Soccer” football referee signals Off-side 
and awards a free kick when a player has kicked 
the ball — there being none of his oppo- 
nents except the goal-kceper between himself 
and his opponents' goal — unless he himself has 
taken the ball there. The off-side rules vary with 
the different varieties of football. 

The off-side of the road is the other side to 
the motorist, i.e. the side where on-coming 
traffic passes him. 

An act of behaviour, a thing, a person, etc., 
is said to be a bit off when it is not quite up to 
the mark — it is a bit “off colour” (see Colour) ; 
and a girl is said “to get off with a man” when 
she sets out to attract him and succeeds. 
Offa’s Dyke. An entrenchment which runs 
from Beachley, near the mouth of the Wye, to 
Flintshire. If not actually the work of Offa, 
King of Mercia ( c . 757-96) it was repaired 
by him, and he availed himself of it as a line of 
demarcation between him and the Welsh, 


though it by no means tallied with his territory 
either in extent or position. 

Office, The Divine. See Breviary. 

Office, The Holy. The Inquisition fa.v.). 

Og, King,of Bashan, according to Rabbinical 
mythology was an antediluvian giant, saved 
from the flood by climbing on the roof of the 
ark. After the passage of the Red Sea, Moses 
first conquered Sihon, and then advanced 
against the giant Og (whose bedstead, made of 
iron, was above 15 ft. long and nearly 7 ft. 
broad (Dent, iii, 11). The legend says that Og 
lucked up a mountain to hurl at the Israelites, 
ut he got so entangled with his burden that 
Moses was able to kill him without much dif- 
ficulty. 

In Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel ( q.v .), 
Og stands for Thomas Shadwell (see Mac- 
Flecknoe). He was very large and fat. 

Ogham (og 7 am). The alphabet in use among 
the ancient Irish and British nations. There 
were twenty characters, each of which was 
composed of any number of thin strokes from 
one to five, which were arranged and grouped 
above, below, or across a horizontal line. 


h d t c cj. 




mgngfr pdouei 


The word is connected with Ogmius , the 
name, according to Lucian, of a Gaulish god 
who presided over speech. 

Ogier the Dane (o'ji 6r). One of the great 
heroes of mediaeval romance; a paladin of 
Charlemagne, and son of Geoffrey, King of 
Denmark, of which country (as Holger 
Danske) he is still the national hero. Fairies 
attended at his birth, and bestowed upon him 
divers gilts. Among these fairies was Morgan 
le Fay (g.v.), who when the knight was a hun- 
dred years old embarked him for Avalon, 
“hard by the terrestrial paradise.” On reaching 
the island he entered the castle, where he found 
a horse sitting at a banquet-table. The horse, 
who had once been a mighty prince, conducted 
him to Morgan le Fay, who gave him a ring 
which removed all infirmities and restored him 
to ripe manhood, and a crown which made him 
forget his country and past life, and introduced 
him to King Arthur. Two hundred years rolled 
on, and France was invaded by the Paynims. 
Morgan le Fay now sent Ogier to defend “/e 
bon pays de France”; and when he had routed 
the invaders she took him back to Avalon, 
where he remains until the time for him to re- 
appear on this earth of ours has arrived. 
William Morris gives a rendering of the 
romance in his Earthly Paradise (August), 

Ogpu (og'poo) or G.P.U. (ga pa oo). The secret 
political police of the U.S.S.R., employed to 
suppress political crime and root out dis- 



Ogres 


657 


Old Man 


affection among the proletariat. It succeeded 
the dreaded Cheka in 1922, but proved itself no 
less tyrannical and feared. The initials stand 
for Russian Obedinennoe Gosudarstvennoe 
Politicheskoe Upravlenie, State Political Con- 
trol. It was renamed the N.K.V.D. (< 7 .v.) in 
1934. See also M.V.D. 

Ogres of nursery story are giants of very malig- 
nant disposition, who live on human flesh. The 
word was first used (and probably invented) by 
Perrault in his Contes (1697), and is thought to 
be made up from Orcus , a name of Pluto, the 
god of Hades. 

Ogygia (o jij' i a). See Calypso. 

Ogygian Deluge. In Greek legend a flood 
supposed to have taken place two hundred 
years before Deucalion’s flood, when Ogyges 
was King of Boeotia. 

Varro tells us that the planet Venus underwent a 
great change in the reign of Ogyges. It changed its 
diameter, its colour, its figure, and its course. 

Oi Polloi, properly Hoi Polloi ( q.v .). The com- 
monalty, the many. In University slang the 
“poll men,’* or those who take degrees without 
“honours.” 

Oil. Oil of palms. See Palm-oil. 

To oil the knocker. To fee the porter. The 
expression is from Racine’s Les Plaideurs : “ On 
Centre point cltez lui sans graisser le mar tea u ” 
(“No one enters his house without oiling the 
knocker”). 

To pour oil on troubled waters. To soothe by 
gentle words; to bring about a state of calm 
after great anger or excitement, etc., by tact 
and diplomacy. 

The allusion is to the well-known fact that 
during a storm at sea the force of the waves 
striking against a ship is very much lessened by 
pouring out oil. In Bede’s Ecclesiastical His- 
tory (735) it is said that St. Aidan gave a young 
priest who was to convoy a maiden destined 
for the bride of King Oswin a cruse of oil to 
pour on the sea if the waves became stormy. A 
storm did arise, and the priest, pouring the oil 
on the waves, actually reduced them to a calm. 

To strike oil. To make a happy hit or 
valuable discovery. The phrase refers to the 
discovery, sometimes accidental, of a bed of 
petroleum or mineral oil. 

Old. Used in slang and colloquial talk as a 
term of endearment or friendship, as in My 
dear old chap , my old man {i.e. my husband); 
as a general disparagement, as in Old cat , old 
fogy , old geezer, old stick-in-the-mud ; and as a 
common intensive, as in Shakespeare’s “Here 
will be an old abusing of God’s patience and 
the king’s English,” and in the modern Any old 
thing will do. 

For names such as Old Grog, Harry, Noll, 
Rowley, Scratch, Tom, etc., see these words. 

Old and Bold. See Regimental Nicknames. 

Old Bags. John Scott, Lord Chancellor 
Eldon (1751-1838); so called from his carrying 
home with him in different bags the cases still 
pending his judgment. 

Old Blood-and-Guts. Nickname of American 
General George S. Patton (World War II.) 


Old Bold. See Regimental Nicknames. 

Old Bold Fifth. See Regimental Nicknames. 

Old Bona Fide. Louis XIV (1638, 1643- 
1715). 

Old boots. See Boots. 

Old Boy Net. See Net. 

Old Braggs. The Gloucestershire Regiment, 
the 28th Foot, raised in 1694. The name is 
derived from General Philip Bragg, who was 
colonel of the regiment from 1734 to 1759. 

Old Contemptibles. The British Expedi- 
tionary Force that crossed to France in 1914 
and fought in the battle and retreat from Mons. 
The phrase originated in the alleged comment 
of the Kaiser about “the contemptible British 
army.” 

Old Cracow Bible. See Bible, Specially 
named. 

Old Dominion. Virginia. Eveiy Act of Parlia- 
ment up to the Declaration of Independence 
designated Virginia “the Colony and Dominion 
of Virginia.” Captain John Smith, in his His- 
tory of Virginia (1629), calls this “colony and 
dominion” Ould Virginia , in contradistinction 
to New England , and other British settlements. 

Old Dozen. See Regimental Nicknames. 

Old Fogs. See Regimental Nicknames. 

Old Fox. Nickname of George Washington, 
and of Marshal Soult. 

Old Glory. The United States Flag. See 
Stars and Stripes. 

Old Guard. The Imperial Guard created by 
Napoleon in 1804 and composed of picked 
men, the flower of the French army. Devoted 
to the Emperor, w'ith a magnificent uniform 
including a huge bearskin hat, with better pay 
and rationing than the rest of the army, the 
Old Guard were to be relied upon in any des- 
perate strait of battle, and it was they who 
made the last charge of the French at Water- 
loo. Figuratively the phrase Old Guard is used 
for the stalwarts of any party or movement. 

Old Hickory. The nickname of General 
Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), 7th President of 
the U.S.A.; it arose fropi the staunchness and 
strength of his character. */# 

Old King Cole. See Cole. 

Old Lady of Threadneedle Street See 

Threadneedle. 

Old Man Eloquent. Isocrates; so called by 
Milton. When he heard of the result of tJie 
battle of Chseronea, which was fatal to Grecian 
liberty, he died of grief. 

That dishonest victory 
At Chaeronea, fatal to liberty, 

Killed with report that Old Man Eloquent 
Milton: Sonnets. 

This name was also applied to John Quincy 
Adams (1767-1848), 6th President of the 
U.S.A., 1825-29. 

Old Man of the Mountain. Hassan-ben- 
Sabah, the sheikh A1 Jebal, and founder of the 
sect called Assassins (q.v.). 



Old Man 


658 


Olympian Zens 


Old Man of the Sea. In the Arabian Nights 
story of Sinbad the Sailor . the Old Man of the 
Sea hoisted himself on tne shoulders of Sin- 
bad and dung there for many days and nights, 
much to the discomfort of Sinbad, who finally 
released himself by making the Old Man 
drunk. Hence, any burden, figurative or actual, 
of which it is impossible to free oneself without 
the greatest exertions is spoken of as an Old 
Man of the Sea. 

Old Pretender. James Stuart (1688-1766), 
son of James II of Great Britain and Ireland. 
He was also called the Old Chevalier, and on the 
death of his father was proclaimed king by his 
adherents, under the title of James III. The 
word “Pretender” in this context has its old 
connotation of one who makes a claim to a 
title, etc. There was a popular Jacobite toast: 

God bless the king, I mean the Faith’s Defender; 

God bless (no harm in blessing) the Pretender. 

But who that Pretender is, ana who that king, 

God bless us all! is quite another thing. 

Old Reekie. See Auld Reekie. 

Old Rough and Ready. General Zachary 
Taylor (1784-1850), 12th President of the 
U.S.A., 1849-50. 

Old School Tie. Literally a necktie of the 
colours of the wearer’s public school, but more 
often used figuratively m a pejorative sense as 
a symbol of the class distinction allegedly 
assumed by those who went to a public school. 

Old Style — New Style. Terms used in 
chronology; the Old Style being the Julian 
Calendar (<y,v.), and the New Style the 
Gregorian (q.v.). See also Calendar. 

OM World. So Europe, Asia, and Africa are 
called when compared with North and South 
America (the New World). 

Oldenburg Horn. A horn long in the possession 
of the reigning princes of the House of Olden- 
burg, but now in the collection of the King of 
Denmark. According to tradition. Count Otto 
of Oldenburg, in 967, was offered drink in this 
silver-gilt horn by a “wild woman,” at the 
Osenborg. As he did not like the look of 
the liquor, he threw it away, and rode off with 
the horn. 

•Ole, A Better. Old Bill, a walrus-moustached, 
disillusioned old soldier in the days of trench 
wfftare was the creation of Capt. Bruce 
Bairnsfather, who was doing drawings for 
London illustrated papers in 1914-18. Cower- 
ing in a muddy shell-hole in the midst of a 
withering bombardment, he says to his grous- 
ing pal Bert, “If you know of a better ’ole, go to 
it/’ The joke and Old Bill struck the public 
fancy. Old Bill became a national figure — the 
embodiment of a familiar type of simple, 
cynical, long-suffering, honest old grumbler. 

Olet lucernam (d 'let loo sSr' n&m) (Latin pro- 
verb). It smells of the lamp. See Lamp. 

Oligarchy (ol'i gar ki) (Gr. oilgas, the few; 
arene, rule). A government in which the 
supreme power is vested in a small number of 
families or a few members of a class. 

Olio (6' H o) (So an. olla, a stew, or the pot in 
which it is coolced; from Lat. olla, a pot). In 


Spain a mixture of meat, vegetables, spices, 
etc., boiled together and highly seasoned; 
hence, any hotchpotch of various ingredients, 
as a miscellaneous collection of verses, draw- 
ings, pieces of music, etc. 

Olive. In ancient Greece the olive was sacred to 
Pallas Athene, in allusion to the story (see 
Athens) that at the naming of Athens she pre- 
sented it with an olive tree. It was the symbol 
of peace, and also an emblem of fecundity, 
brides wearing or carrying an olive garland as 
ours do a wreath of orange blossom. A crown 
of olive was the highest distinction of a citizen 
who had deserved well of his country, and was 
the highest prize in the Olympic Games. 

In the O.T. the subsiding of the Flood was 
demonstrated to Noah by the return of a dove 
bearing an plive leaf in her beak (Gen. viii, 1 1), 

To hold out the olive branch. To make over- 
tures for peace; in allusion to the olive being 
an ancient symbol of peace. In some oi 
Numa’s medals the king is represented holding 
an olive twig, indicative of a peaceful reign. 

Olive branches. A facetious term for children 
in relation to their parents; the allusion is to 
“Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine . . . thy 
children like olive plants round about thy 
table” (Ps. cxxviii, 3). 

The wife and olive branches of one Mr. Kenwigs. — 
Dickens: Nicholas Nickleby , xiv. 

Oliver. Charlemagne’s favourite paladin, who, 
with Roland, rode by his side. He was the son 
of Regnier, Duke of Genoa (another of the 
paladins), and brother of the beautiful Aude. 
His sword was called Hauteclaire , and his 
horse Ferrant d'Espagne. 

A Roland for an Oliver. See Roland. 

Olivetans (ol i vet' &nz). Brethren of “Our 
Lady of Mount Olivet,” and offshoot of the 
Benedictines. The order was founded in 1313 
by Bernard Tolomei, of Siena. 

Olla Podrida (ol 'ya pod re' da) (Span, putrid 
pot). Odds and ends, a mixture of scraps or pot 
au feu , into which every sort of eatable is 
thrown and stewed. Cp. Olio. Figuratively, the 
term means an incongruous mixture, a miscel- 
laneous collection of any kind, a medley. 

Olympia. The ancient name of a valley in Elis, 
Peloponnesus, so called because here were held 
the famous games in honour of the Olympian 
Zeus (see below). In the valley was built the 
Altis, an enclosure of about 500 ft. by 600 ft., 
which contained, besides the temple of Zeus, 
the Herceum, the Metroum, etc., the Stadium, 
with gymnasia, baths, etc. Hence, the name has 
been given to large buildings (more particularly 
the great halls and amphitheatre near Hammer- 
smith, London) in which sporting events, spec- 
tacles, exhibitions, and so on can be presented 
under cover. 

Olympiad. Among the ancient Greeks, a 
period of four years, being the interval between 
the celebrations of the Olympic Games (j.v.). 
The first Olympiad began in 776 e.c., ana the 
last (the 293rd) in a.d. 392. The system was 
discontinued in a.d. 393. 

Olympian Zeus or Jove,. A statue by Phidias, 
one of the “Seven Wonders of the World.” 




Olympic Games 


659 


Omnium 


Pausanias (vii, 2) says when the sculptor 

laced it in the temple at Olympia (433 B.c.), 

e prayed the god to indicate whether he was 
satisfied with it, and immediately a thunder- 
bolt fell on the floor of the temple without 
doing the slightest harm. 

It was a chryselephantine statue, i.e. made of 
ivory and gold, and though seated on a throne, 
was 60 ft. in height. The left hand rested on a 
sceptre, and the right palm held a statue of 
Victory in solid gold. The robes were of gold, 
and so were the four lions which supported the 
footstool. The throne was pf cedar, embel- 
lished with ebony, ivory, gold, and precious 
stones. 

It was removed to Constantinople in the 5th 
century a.d., and perished in the great fire of 
475. 

Olympic Games. The greatest of the four 
sacred festivals of the ancient Greeks, held at 
Olympia (q.v.) every fourth year, in the month 
of July. The festival began with sacrifices and 
included racing, wrestling, and all kinds of 
contests, ending on the fifth day with pro- 
cessions, sacrifices, and banquets to the victors 
— who were garlanded with olive leaves. 

The Olympic Games were revived in 1896, 
the first meeting being held at Athens in that 
year. These were followed at four-yearly inter- 
vals: 1900 (Paris), 1904 (St. Louis), 1908 
(London), 1912 (Stockholm), 1920 (Antwerp), 
1924 (Paris), 1928 (Amsterdam), 1932 (Los 
Angeles), 1936 (Berlin), 1948 (London), 1952 
(Helsinki), 1956 (Melbourne), 1960 (Rome). 
The games in 1916, 1940, and 1944 were not 
held on account of World Wars I and II. 

Olympus. The home of the gods of ancient 
Greece, where Zeus held his court, a mountain 
about 9,800 ft. high on the confines of Mace- 
donia and Thessaly. The name is used for any 
pantheon, as “Odin, Thor, Balder, and the rest 
of the Northern Olympus.” 

Om. Among the Brahmans, the mystic equi- 
valent for the name of the Deity; it has been 
adopted by modern occultists to denote ab- 
solute goodness and truth or the spiritual 
essence. 

Om raani padme hum (“Om, the jewel, is in 
the lotus: Amen”). The mystic formula of the 
Tibetans and northern Buddhists used as a 
charm and for many religious purposes. They 
are the first words taught to a child and the 
last uttered on the death-bed of the pious. The 
lotus symbolizes universal being, and the jewel 
the individuality of the utterer. 

Omar Khayyam (o' mar kl yam'), Persian poet, 
astronomer, and mathematician, lived at 
Nishapur, where he died about the age of 50 in 
a.d. 1123. He was known chiefly for his work 
on algebra until Edward Fitzgerald published 
a poetical translation of his poems in 1859. 
Little notice of this was taken, however, until 
the early ’90s when the Rubaiyat took Britain 
and America by storm. It is frankly hedonistic 
in tone, but touched with a melancholy that 
attunes with eastern and western pessimism 
alike. Fitzgerald never pretended that his work 
was other than a free version of the original; 
he made several revisions, but did not improve 
on his first text. 


Ombre (om' b£r). A card-game, introduced 
into England from Spain in the 17th century, 
and very popular till it was supplanted by 
quadrille, about 1730. It was usually played by 
three persons, and the eights, nines, and tens of 
each suit wereleft out. Prior has an epigram on 
the game; he was playing with two ladies, and 
Fortune gave him “success in every suit but 
hearts.” Pope immortalized the game in his 
Rape of the Lock. 

Omega (6 'meg a). The last letter of the Greek 
alphabet. See Alpha. 

Omelet (om' 16t). You can’t make omelets 
without breaking eggs. Said by way of warning 
to one who is trying to “get something for 
nothing” — to accomplish some desired object 
without being willing to take the necessary 
trouble or make the necessary sacrifice. The 
phrase is a translation of the French On ne 
saurait faire ime omelette sans casser des ceufs. 

Omen (o' men). Some phenomenon or un- 
usual event taken as a prognostication either 
of good or evil; a prophetic sign or augury. The 
Latin word was adopted in the 16th century; 
its origin is unknown, but it is thought to be 
connected with and ire, to hear. Some well- 
known examples of accepting omens, ap- 
parently evil, as of good augury, are: — 

Leotychides 11, of Sparta, was told by his augurs 
that his projected expedition would fail, because a 
viper had got entangled in the handle of the city key. 
‘Not so,” he replied. “The key caught the viper.** 

When Julius Caesar landed at Adrumetum he hap- 
pened to trip and fall on his face. This would have 
been considered a fatal omen by his army: but, with 
admirable presence of mind, he exclaimed, “Thus I 
take possession of thee, O Africa!” Told of Scipio 
also. 

When William the Conqueror leaped upon the 
English shore he fell on his face and a great cry went 
forth that it was an ill-omen; but the duke exclaimed: 
“i have taken seisin of this land with both my hands.’* 

Omnibus (om' ni bus) (dative pi. of Lat. 
omnis , all; for all). The name was first applied 
to the public^ehiclc in France in 1828. In the 
following year it was adopted by Shillibeer for 
the vehicles which he started on the Padding- 
ton (now Marylebone) Road, London. The 
plural is omnibuses , and the word is generally 
abbreviated to bus , without any initial apos- 
trophe — just as cabriolef became cab f not cab\ 

Omnibus Bill. The Parliamentary term f5r a 
Bill embracing clauses that deal with a number 
of different subjects, as a Revenue Bill dealing 
with Customs, Taxes, Stamps, Excise, etc. 

Omnibus box. A box at a theatre for which 
the subscription is paid by several different 
parties, each of which has the right of using it. 

Omnibus train. An old name for a train that 
stops at all stations — a train for all , as apart 
from the specials and the expresses that ran 
between only a few stations. 

Omnibus volume. A collection in one volume 
of an author’s works, of short stories, essays, 
etc. 

Omnium (om' ni tim) (Lat. of all). The par- 
ticulars of all the items, or the assignment of all 
the securities, of a government loan. 




Omnium 


660 


Opera 


Omnium gatherum. Dog-Latin for a gathering 
or collection of all sorts of persons and things; 
a miscellaneous gathering together without 
regard to suitability or order. 

Omphale (om' fale). In Greek legend, the 
masculine but attractive Queen of Lydia, to 
whom Hercules was bound a slave for three 
years. He fell in love with her, and led an effe- 
minate life spinning wool, while Omphale wore 
the lion’s skin and was lady paramount. 

On. A little bit on. Slightly drunk. 

It’s not on. Impossible. A phrase from 
snooker, used when the object ball is obscured. 

It’s not on to-day. It’s not on the menu, it’s 
not available. 

On dlt (ong de) (Fr. they say). A rumour, a 
report, a bit of gossip. “There is an on dit that 
the prince is to marry soon.” 

One. The word has a good many indefinite 
applications, as a person or thing of the kind 
implied or already mentioned (/ like those hats; 
I must buy one), an unspecified person {One 
doesn't do that sort of thing), someone or some- 
thing, anyone or anything. 

There is One above is a reference to the 
Deity; the Evil One is the Devil. 

By one and one. Singly, one at a time; en- 
tirely by oneself. 

He was one too many for me. He was a little 
bit too clever, he outwitted me. 

Number one. Oneself; hence, to take care of 
number one, to look after oneself, to seek one's 
own interest; to be selfish. 

One and all. Everybody individually and 
jointly. The phrase is the motto of Cornishmen. 

One-horse town. See under Horse. 

One in the eye, on the nose, in the bread- 
basket, etc. A blow on the spot indicated — the 
last being slang for the stomach. 

One of these days. At some unspecified time 
in the future, generally the rather remote and 
uncertain future. 

To go one better than he did. To do a little 
more, etc., than he did. The phrase is from 
car$-playing; at poker if one wishes to con- 
tinue betting one has to “go” at least “one 
better,” i.e. raise the stake. 

Oneida Community, The. See Perfectionists. 

Onomatopeia (on 6 mat 6 pc' a). The gram- 
matical term for forming a word by imitating 
the sound associated with the object desig- 
nated, or for a word that appears to suggest its 
nature or qualities. “Cuckoo” and “tingle” are 
examples of onomatopeia. The word itself 
comes from the Greek for “making of words.” 

Onus (o' nus) (Lat.). The burden, the respon- 
sibility; as, “The whole onus must rest on your 
own shoulders.” 

Onus probandi (Lat. the burden of proving). 
The obligation of proving some proposition, 
accusation, etc.; as, “The onus probandi rests 
with the accuser.” 


Onyx (on' iks) is Greek for a finger-nail; so 
called because the colour of an onyx resembles 
that of the finger-nail. 

Oom Paul. “Uncle” Paul, the name familiarly 
applied to Paul Kruger (1825-1902), President 
of the Transvaal Republic and inspirer of the 
Dutch resistance to the British rule in South 
Africa. 

Opal (Gr. opallios ; probably from Sansk. 
upala, a gem). This semi-precious stone — a 
vitreous form of hydrous silica — is well known 
for its play of iridescent colours, and has long 
been considered to bring ill luck. Alphonso 
XII of Spain (1874-85) is said to have had one 
that seemed to be fatal. On his wedding-day he 
presented it in a ring to his wife, and her death 
occurred soon afterwards. Before the funeral 
he gave the ring to his sister, who died a few 
days later. The king then presented it to his 
sister-in-law, and she died within three months. 
Alphonso, astounded at these fatalities, re- 
solved to wear the ring himself, and within a 
very short time he too was dead. The Queen 
Regent then suspended it from the neck of the 
Virgin of Almudena of Madrid. 

Open. Open city. A military term for a city 
which the occupying army declares it will not 
defend, and from which it guarantees it has 
withdrawn its armed forces — either because of 
the place’s great historical importance (e.g. 
Rome), or because it is full of hospitals and 
wounded. 

Open door. In political parlance the prin- 
ciple of admitting all nations to a share in a 
country’s trade, etc. The phrase is also applied 
to any loophole being left for the possibility of 
negotiation between contending parties, 
nations, etc. 

Open question. See Question. 

Open secret. See Secret de polichinelle. 

Open, Sesame. See Sesame. 

Opera. A production for the stage composed of 
music and drama. The dialogue is mostly in 
verse and is sung to orchestral accompani- 
ment; lyrics are an important element and in 
older operas a ballet was often included. The 
rise of opera began about 1582, but it was not 
until the first opera house was opened in 
Venice, in 1637, that it became popular as a 
form of entertainment. Alessandro Scarlatti 
(1659-1725) established the aria as a legitimate 
form of expressing soliloquy, and introduced 
the recitativo. In England Henry Purcell (c. 
1658-95) was the father of opera, writing some 
42 musical works for the stage, some of them, 
such as Dido and /Eneas (1689) being full 
operas. The Arts Council made a grant of 
£926,602 2s. 3d. for opera and ballet for the 
year 1962. 

Op6ra bouffe is a form of French comic 
opera or operetta light in construction and of 
slight musical value. It should be distinguished 
f rom : — 

Opera buffa, a form of light Italian comedy 
with musical numbers and dialogue in recita- 
tive. 



Opera 


661 


Oracle 


Op£ra comique is a French type of opera, 
not necessarily comic, with spoken dialogue 
and musical numbers. The dialogue is some- 
times recitative, as in Bizet’s Carmen. 

Operetta is a very light opera with spoken 
dialogue, such as the Gilbert and Sullivan 
works. 

Operations. In World War II operations 
were given code-names by which they 
could be known, for reasons of convenience 
and security. These should be differentiated 
from names, such as Fido and Pluto, which- 
were made up of initials and had a special 
meaning; these will be found under their 
separate headings. Among the most important 
Allied operations were: — 

Anvil. American and French landing in Southern 
France, 1944. 

Capital. The investing of North and Central Burma 
by Admiral Lord Mountbatten and General Stilwell. 
1944. 

Dynamo. British evacuation from Dunkirk, 1940. 

Eclipse. First plan for Allied occupation of Ger- 
many. 

Epsom. Major British operation south of Caen to 
break out of the beachhead, June 1944. 

Gold/lake. Large-scale switch of British and Cana- 
dian troops from the Italian front to that in North- 
west Europe, February 1945. 

Neptune. Naval name for the operations against 
North-west France, 1944. 

Overlord. Allied invasion of North-west Europe, 
1944. First known as Roundup. 

Torch. Allied invasion of North-west Africa, 1942. 

Operations, Base of, Line of. See Base. 

Opinicus (op in' i kits). A fabulous monster, 
composed of dragon, camel, and lion, used in 
heraldry. It forms the crest of the Barber Sur- 
geons of London. The name seems to be a cor- 
ruption of Ophincus , the classical name of the 
constellation, the serpent (Gr. aphis). 

Opium-eater. Thomas De Quinccy (1785-1859), 
author of The Confessions of an English Opium- 
Eater (18il). 

Oppidan (op' i dan). At Eton College, a student 
not on the foundation, but who boards in the 
town (Lat. oppidum , town). 

Opponency. See Act and Opponency. 

Opposition. The constitutional term for which- 
ever of the great political parties is not in 
power. In the House of Commons the Opposi- 
tion sits on the benches on the Speaker’s left, 
on the front bench being the leaders who are, 
generally, ministers-elcct waiting for a change 
of Government. The Leader of the Opposition, 
elected by his Party, receives an olficial salary 
from the State of £3,000 a year, and is also 
entitled to draw £750 of his salary as a Member 
of Parliament. 

Optime (op' ti me). In Cambridge phraseology 
a graduate in the second or third division of 
the Mathematical Tripos, the former being 
Senior Optimes and the latter Junior Optimes. 
The term comes from the Latin phrase for- 
merly used — Optime disputasti (You have dis- 
puted very well). The class above the Optimes 
is composed of Wranglers (q.v.). 

Optimism. The doctrine that “whatever is, is 
right,” that everything which happens is for the 
best. It was originally set forth by Leibnitz 


(1646-1716) from the postulate of the omni- 
potence of God, and is cleverly travestied by 
Voltaire in his Candida , ou VOptimisme (1759), 
where Dr. Pangloss continually harps on the 
maxim that “all is for the best in this oest of all 
possible worlds.” 

Opus (o' pus) (Lat. a work). See Magnum 
Opus. 

Opus operands. Ex opere operato is a phrase 
used by theologians to express the efficiency of 
acts irrespective of the intention of the agent 
or patient. Ex opere opera ntis implies the con- 
currence of intention on the part of the agent; 
it is the personal piety of the person who does 
the act, and not the act itself, that causes it to 
be an instrument of grace. Thus in the Eucha- 
rist, it is the faith of the recipient which makes 
it efficient for grace. 

Opus operatum. The thing done; the theo- 
logian’s term for expressing the effect of sacra- 
ments irrespective of the disposition of the re- 
ceivers of them. Thus, baptism is said by many 
to convey regeneration to an infant in arms. 

Or. The heraldic term for the metal gold. See 
Heraldry. 

Oracle (Lat. oraculum; from ordre , to speak, to 
pray). The answer of a god or inspired priest to 
an inquiry respecting the future; tne deity 
giving responses; the place where the deity 
could be consulted, etc.; hence, a person whose 
utterances are regarded as profoundly wise, an 
infallible, dogmatical person — 

I am Sir Oracle, 

And when I ope my lips let no dog bark. 

Merchant of Venice , I, i. 

In ancient Greece oracles were extremely 
numerous, and very expensive to those who 
consulted them. The most famous were the — 

Oracle of Apollo, at Delphi, the priestess of which 
was called the Pythoness; at Delos, and at Claros. 

Oracle of Diana, at Colchis; of Esculapius, at 
Epidaurus, and another in Rome. 

Oracle of Hercules, at Athens, and another at 
Gadcs. 

Oracle of Jupiter, at Dodona (the most noted); 
another at Ammon, in Libya; another in Crete. 

Oracle of Mars, in Thrace; Minerva, in Mycenae, 
Pan, in Arcadia. 

Oracle of Triphonius, in Bceotia, where only men 
made the responses. 

Oracle of Venus, at Paphos, another at Aphaca, 
and many others. 

In most of the temples women, sitting on a 
tripod, made the responses, many of which 
were either ambiguous or so obscure as to be 
misleading: to this day, our word oracular is 
still used of obscure as well as of authoritative 
pronouncements. 

The difficulty of making head or tail of 
oracles is well illustrated by the following 
classic examples: — 

When Croesus consulted the Delphic oracle respect- 
ing a projected war, he received for answer, “ Cratsus 
Halyn penetrans magnum perverts t opum vim” (When 
Croesus passes over the river Halys, he will overthrow 
the strength of an empire). Croesus supposed the 
oracle meant he would overthrow the enemy’s empire, 
but it was his own that he destroyed. 

Pyrrhus, being about to make war against Rome, 
was told by the oracle: “Aio te, /£acide f Romanos 
vincere posse ” (I say, Pyrrhus, that you the Romans 
can conquer), which may mean either You , Pyrrhus , 
can overthrow the Romans t or Pyrrhus , the Romans can 
overthrow you. 



Oracle 


662 


Orange- tawny 


Another prince, consulting the oracle on a similar 
occasion, received for answer, ‘76/5 redibis nunquam 
per bella peribis” (You shall go you shall return never 
you shall perish by the war), the interpretation of which 
depends on the position of the comma: it may be You 
shall return , you shall never perish in the war , or You 
shall return never , you shall perish in the war , which 
latter was the fact. 

Philip of Macedon sent to ask the oracle of Delphi 
if his Persian expedition would prove successful, and 
received for answer — 

The ready victim crowned or death 
Before the altar stands. 

Philip took it for granted that the “ready victim” was 
the King of Persia, but it was Philip himself. 

When the Greeks sent to Delphi to know if they 
would succeed against the Persians, they were told — 
Seed-time and harvest, weeping sires shall tell 
How thousands fought at Salamis and fell. 

But whether the Greeks or the Persians were to be 
“the weeping sires," no indication was given, nor 
whether the thousands “about to fall” were to be 
Greeks or Persians. 

When Maxentius was about to encounter Con- 
stantine, he consulted the guardians of the Sibylline 
Books as to the fate of the battle, and the prophetess 
told him, “///o die hostem Romanorunt esse periturunx ** 
but whether Maxentius or Constantine was “the 
enemy of the Roman people” the oracle left un- 
decided. 

In the Bible vve have a similar equivoque: When 
Ahab, King of Israel, was about to wage war on the 
king of Syria, and asked Micaiah if Ramoth-Gilead 
would fall into his hands, the prophet replied, “Go, 
for the Lord will deliver the city into the hands of the 
king" (/ Kings xxii, 15, 35). 

The Oracle of the Church. St. Bernard of 
Clairvaux (1091-1153). 

The Oracle of the Holy Bottle. The oracle to 
which Rabelais (Bks. IV and V) sent Panurge 
and a large party to obtain an answer to a 
question which had been put to sibyl and poet, 
monk and fool, philosopher and witch, judge 
and fortune-teller: “whether Panurgc should 
marry or not?” The oracle was situated at 
Bacbuc (q.v.), “near Cathay in Upper Egypt,” 
and the story has been interpreted as a satire on 
the Church. The celibacy of the clergy was for 
long a moot point, and the “Holy Bottle” or 
cup to the laity was one of the moving causes 
of the schisms from the Church. The crew set- 
ting sail for the Bottle refers to Anthony, Duke 
of Vendome, afterwards king of Navarre, set- 
ting out in search of religious truth. 

The oracle of the sieve and shears. See Sieve. 

To work the oracle. To induce another to 
favour some plan or to join in some project, 
generally by manoeuvring behind the scenes. 
Also — in slang — to raise money. 

They fetched a rattling price through Starlight’s 
working the oracle with those swells. — Boldrewood: 
Robbery Under Arms , ch, xii. 

Orange. William Ill’s territorial name came 
from Orange (anciently Arausio), a town on 
the Rhone 13 miles north of Avignon, and capi- 
tal of the former principality of the same name, 
which dated from the 11th century. From 1373 
to 1530 it belonged to the House of Chalons; 
through failure of male heirs it then fell 
through a sister of Philibert, the last prince 
of that House, to William the Silent, Prince of 
Nassau, who thereupon became Prince of 
Orange-Nassau, or simply “of Orange.” His 
grandson, William II, married Mary, daughter 


of our Charles I, and they were the parents of 
William of Orange, our William III, husband 
of Mary, daughter of his uncle and enemy, 
James II. 

The principality remained in the hands of the 
House of Orange-Nassau till 1702, and was 
finally annexed to France by the Treaty of 
Utrecht, 1713. The title “Prince of Orange” is 
still borne by the heir-presumptive to the 
throne of Holland, which is occupied by the 
House of Nassau. 

Orange. This distinctive epithet of the ultra- 
Protestants of Northern Ireland and of Ulster- 
men generally, it is said, became attached to 
them because in 1795 two members of the 
famous “Orange Lodge” of Freemasons 
(which had been revived in Belfast about 1780) 
were active in raising the Orange Lodges (see 
below), an armed force of Protestant volunteers 
—hence called “Orange boys” — in defence of 
civil and religious liberty. 

The Orange Lodge was named in honour of 
William of Orange (William 111), the Pro- 
testant opposer of James II in the “Glorious 
Revolution” of 1688, and the victor at the 
Battle of the Boyne (1690). 

Orange Lodges or Clubs are referred to in 
print as early as 1769. Thirty years later the 
Orangemen were a very powerful society, 
having a “grand lodge” extending over the 
entire province of Ulster and through all the 
centres of Protestantism in Ireland. 

Orangemen. A name given to the members 
of an Orange Lodge; originating in their 
respect for the memory of William III of the 
House of Orange. 

Orange blossom. The conventional decora- 
tion for the bride at a wedding, introduced as 
a custom into England from France about 
1820 The orange is said to indicate the hope of 
fruitfulness, as few trees are more prolific, 
while the white blossoms are symbolical of 
innocence. 

Hence the phrase, to go gathering orange 
blossoms, to look for a wife. 

Orange Free State. This province of the 
Republic of South Africa originated in 1824 
when some Dutch farmers from Cape Colony 
settled across the Orange River. They had 
trouble with the Basutos, but they held on and 
in 1854 formed a republic with this name. In 
1899 the Orange Free State ioined the Trans- 
vaal in making war on Great Britain and it was 
consequently annexed in 1900. In 1907 it was 
given responsible government and three years 
later it joined the Union. 

Orange Lilies. See Regimental Nicknames. 

Orange Peel. A nickname given to Sir 
Robert Peel when Chief Secretary for Ireland 
(1812-18), on account of his strong anti- 
Catholic proclivities. 

Orange-tawny. The ancient colour appro- 
priated to clerks and persons of inferior con- 
dition. It was also the colour worn by the 
Jews. Hence Bacon says, “Usurers should have 
orange-tawny bonnets, because they do 
Judaise” ( Essay xli). Bottom the weaver asked 



Oratof 1 


663 


Ordinary 


Quince what colour beard he was to wear for 
the character of Pyramus : — 

I will discharge it in either your straw-colour beard, 
your orange-tawny beard, your purple-in-grain beard, 
or your French-crown-colour beard, your perfect 
yellow .” — Midsummer Night's Dream , I, ii. 

Orator. Orator Henley. John Henley (1692- 
1756), who for about thirty years delivered 
lectures on theological, political, and literary 
subjects. 

Orator Hunt. Henry Hunt (1773-1835), a 
politician and radical reformer was so named. 
He presided at the famous “Peterloo” meeting 
(q.vj and as M.P. for Preston (1830-33) pre- 
sented the first petition to Parliament in favour 
of woman’s rights. 

Orator of the Human Race, The. See 
Anacharsis. 

Oratorio is sacred story or drama set to music, 
in which solo voices, chorus, and instrumental 
music are employed. In 1574 St. Philip Neri 
introduced the acting and singing of sacred 
dramas in his Oratory at Rome, and it is from 
this that the term comes. Oratorio has ap- 
pealed to many of the greatest composers of 
the past, outstanding among them being 
Handel. 

Ore. A sea-monster fabled by Ariosto, Dray- 
ton, Sylvester, etc., to devour men and women. 
The name was sometimes used for the whale. 
Milton speaks of the Mount of Paradise being 
“pushed by the horned flood”: — 

Down the great river to the opening Gulf, 

And there take root, an island salt and bare, 

The haunt of seals, and ores, and sea-mews’ clang. 

Paradise Lost , XI, 833. 

Orchard properly means a garden-yard. Hort - 
yard was one of the old spellings, and in this 
form its connexion with Lat. hortus y a garden, 
is clear. 

The hortyard entering [hej admires the fair 
And pleasant fruits. George Sandys. 

Orcus (or'kus). A Latin name for Hades, the 
abode of the dead. Spenser speaks of a dragon 
whose mouth was — 

All set with iron teeth in ranges twain. 

That terrified his foes, and armed him. 

Appearing like the mouth of Orcus grisely grim. 

Fairie Queene , VI, xii, 26. 

Ordeal (O.E. ordel ; related to adcelati , to deal, 
allot, judge). The ancient Anglo-Saxon and 
Teutonic practice of referring disputed ques- 
tions of criminality to supernatural decision, 
by subjecting the suspected person to physical 
tests by fire, boiling water, battle, etc. • hence, 
figuratively, an experience testing endurance, 
patience, courage, etc. 

This method of “trial” was based on the 
belief that God would defend the right, even by 
miracle if needful. All ordeals, except the ordeal 
of battle, were abolished in England by law in 
the early 13 th century. 

In Ordeal of battle the accused person was 
obliged to fight anyone who charged him with 
guilt. This ordeal was allowed only to persons 
of rank. 

Ordeal of fire was also for persons of rank 
only. The accused had to hold in his hand a 
iece of red-hot iron, or to walk blindfold and 
arefoot among nine red-hot plough-shares 


laid at unequal distances. If he escaped un- 
injured he was accounted innocent, otherwise 
not. This might be performed by deputy. 

Ordeal of hot water was for the common 
people. The accused was required to plunge his 
arm up to the elbow in boiling water, and was 
pronounced guilty if the skin was injured in the 
experiment. Ordeal of cold water. The accused, 
being bound, was tossed into a river; if he sank 
he was acquitted, but if he floated he was 
accounted guilty. This ordeal remained in use 
for the trial of witches to comparatively recent 
times. 

In the Ordeal of the bier a person suspected 
of murder was required to touch the corpse; 
if guilty the “blood of the dead body would 
start forth afresh.” 

In that of the cross plaintiff and defendant 
had to stand with thqir arms crossed over their 
breasts, and he who could endure the longest 
won the suit. See also Judicium Crucis. 

The Ordeal of the Eucharist was for priests. 
It was supposed that the elements would choke 
him if taken by a guilty man. 

In the Ordeal of the Corsned (q.v.) conse- 
crated bread and cheese was similarly given. 
Godwin, Earl of Kent, is said to have been 
choked when, being accused of the murder of 
the king’s brother, he submitted to this ordeal. 

Order! When members of the House of 
Commons and other debaters call out Order / 
they mean that the person speaking is in some 
way breaking the iule or order of the assembly, 
and has to be called to order . 

Architectural orders. See Architecture. 

Holy orders. A clergyman is said to be in 
holy orders because he belongs to one of the 
orders or ranks of the Church. In the Church of 
England these are three, viz. Deacon, Priest, 
and Bishop; in the Roman Catholic Church 
there is a fourth, that of Sub-deacon. 

In ecclesiastical use the term also denotes a 
fraternity of monks or friars (as the Franciscan 
Order), and also the Rule by which the frater- 
nity is governed. 

The Order of the Day. In the House of Com- 
mons the ordinary public business of each day 
is classified as consisting of notices of motions 
and orders of the day. A motion becomes an 
order of the day as soon as the debate on it 
has been adjourned by order of the House to 
a particular day. See Question. 

To move for the Orders of the Day is a pro- 
posal to set aside a government measure on a 
private members* day (Friday), and proceed to 
the agenda prearranged. This is done by the 
member concerned raising his hat without 
rising to address the chair. If the motion is 
carried, the agenda must be proceeded with, 
unless a motion “to adjourn” is carried. 

Ordinary. In Law an ordinary is one who has 
an “ordinary or regular jurisdiction” in his own 
right, and not by depute. Thus a judge who 
has authority to take cognizance of causes in 
his own right is an ordinary. A bishop is an 
ordinary in his own diocese, because he has 
authority to take cognizance of ecclesiastical 



Oread 


664 


Orion 


matters therein; an archbishop is the ordinary 
of his province, having authority in his own 
right to receive appeals therein from inferior 
jurisdictions. The chaplain of Newgate was 
also called the ordinary thereof. 

A meal prepared at an inn at a fixed rate for 
all comers is called an “ordinary”; hence, also, 
the inn itself: — 

Tis almost dinner; I know they stay for you at the 
ordinary.— Beaumont and Fletcher: Scornful Lady , 
IV, i. 

And in Heraldry the “ordinary” is a simple 
charge, such as the chief, pale, fesse, bend, bar, 
chevron, cross, or saltire. 

Oread (or' e &d) (pi. Oreads or Or cades). 
Nymphs of the mountains. (Gr. oros, a moun- 
tain.) 

The Ocean-nymphs and Hamadryades, 

Oreads and Naiads, with long weedy locks, 

Offered to do her bidding through the seas, 

Under the earth, and in the hollow rocks. 

Shelley: Witch of Atlas, xxii. 

Oregon Trail. This started as a number of 
paths that left the Missouri River at almost 
any good crossing point between Independence, 
Missouri, and Omaha, Nebraska. The various 
feeders met on the banks of the Platte River 
in Nebraska, at a point somewhat east of the 
present Kearney. At this point they merged 
with the Mormon Trail as far as Fort Laramie. 
There the Cherokee Trail, often used by 
migrants from the south, joined the united 
Oregon-Mormon Trail. The goal and true end 
of the Trail was at Fort Vancouver, or at the 
point opposite to it at the mouth of the Willa- 
mette. Many people from the Middle West, 
and the Eastern States, as well as immigrants 
from Europe used it as it was the safest over- 
land route to the gold-fields of California. 

Orellana (or el a' n&). The name formerly used 
for the river Amazon, so called from Francisco 
de Orellana, lieutenant of Pizarro, who was the 
first to explore it (c. 1537-41). 

Oremus. See Legem Pone. 

Orestes. See Pylades. 

Orgies (or' jez). Drunken revels, riotous feasts; 
hence, figuratively, wild or licentious extra- 
vagance. So called from the Gr. orgia, the 
secret, nocturnal festivals in honour of Bacchus 
(q.v.). 

Orgoglio (6r go' lyo) (Ital. Arrogant Pride, or 
Man of Sin). In Spenser’s Faerie Queene (I, 
vii, and viii), a hideous giant as tall as three 
men, son of Earth and Wind. 

He typifies the tyrannical power of the 
Church of Rome; in slaying him Arthur first 
cut off his left arm — i.e. Bohemia was first cut 
off from the Church of Rome; then the giant’s 
right leg — i.e. England, when Orgoglio fell to 
earth, and was easily dispatched. 

Oriana (dr i &n' a). The beloved of Amadis of 
Gaul, who called himself Beltenebros when he 
retired to the Poor Rock (Amadis de Gaula, ii, 6). 

Queen Elizabeth I is sometimes called the 
“peerless Oriana,” especially in the madrigals 
entitled the Triumphs of Oriana (1601). 


Oriel College, Oxford (or' i el). The fifth in age 
of the Oxford Colleges, founded in 1326 by 
Edward II and his almoner, Adam de Brome, 
who was its fijrst Provost. The name comes 
from a messuage in Oxford called La Oriole , 
which was granted to the College at its founda- 
tion, but the origin of this name is unknown. 

Oriel window is also obscure. The name 
originally denoted a gallery or balcony, then a 
gallery in a private chapel, then a small private 
apartment which had a window looking into 
the chapel. It may be connected with Late Lat. 
aulceum , a curtain (aula, hall), but this is by no 
means certain. 

Orientation. The placing of the east window of 
a church due east (Lat. orierts), that is, so that 
the rising sun may shine on the altar. Anciently, 
churches were built with their axes pointing to 
the rising sun on the saint’s day; so that a 
church dedicated to St. John was not parallel 
to one dedicated to St. Peter, but in the build- 
ing of modern churches the saint’s day is not, 
as a rule, regarded. 

Figuratively, orientation is thecorrect placing 
of one’s ideas, mental processes, etc., in relation 
with each other and with current thought — the 
ascertainment of one’s “bearings.” 

Oriflamme (or' i flam) (Fr. “flame of gold”). 
The ancient banner of the kings of France, 
first used as a national banner in 1 1 19. It was a 
crimson flag cut into three “vandykes” to 
represent “tongues of fire,” with a silken tassel 
between each, and was carried on a gilt staff 
(un glaive tout dore ou est attachie une bannidre 
vermeille). This celebrated standard was the 
banner of St. Denis; but when the Counts of 
Vexin became possessed of the abbey it passed 
into their hands. In 1082 Philippe I united 
Vexin to the crown, and the sacred Ori- 
flamme fell to the king. It was carried to the 
field after the battle of Agincourt, in 1415. The 
romance writers say that “mcscrcans” (in- 
fidels) were blinded by merely looking on it. 
In the Roman de Garin the Saracens cry, “If 
we only set eyes on it we are all dead men”; 
and Froissart records that it was no sooner 
unfurled at Rosbecq than the fog cleared away 
from the French, leaving their enemies in misty 
darkness. 

In the 15th century the Oriflamme was suc- 
ceeded by the blue standard powdered with 
fleurs-de-lis, and the last heard of the original 
Oriflamme is a mention in the inventory of the 
Abbey of St. Denis dated 1534. 

Original Sin. See Sin. 

Orinda the Matchless (o rin' dd). Katherine 
Philips (1631-64), the poetess and letter-writer. 
She first adopted the signature “Orinda” in her 
correspondence with Sir Charles Cotterell, and 
afterwards used it for general purposes. Her 
praises were sung by Cowley, Dryden, and 
others. 

Orion (o ri' 6n). A giant hunter of Greek 
mythology, noted for his beauty. He was 
blinded by CEnopion, but Vulcan sent Cedalion 
to be his guide, and his sight was restored by 
exposing his eyeballs to the sun. Being slain by 
Diana, he was made one of the constellations, 
and is supposed to be attended with stormy 




Orkneys 


665 


Orpheus 


weather. His wife was named Side, and his 
dogs Arctophonus and Ptoophagus. 

The constellation Orion is the clearest 
defined in the northern winter sky. Below the 
“shoulder” stars, Betelgeuse and Bcllatrix, are 
the three stars forming the “sword,” close to 
which is the nebula. The “feet,” Rugcl and 
Salph, point to Sirius, the brightest star in the 
heavens. 

Orkneys. The name is probably connected with 
the old ore (^.v.), a whale, and either Gaelic 
innis or Norse cy\ an island — “the isles of 
whales.” For centuries the Orkneys were a 
jarldom of Norway or Denmark, and it was 
not till 1590 that the latter renounced its claim 
to sovereignty. They had passed to the Scottish 
crown in 1468 after having been in the pos- 
session of the Earls of Angus for nearly 250 
years. 

Orlando. The Italian form of “Roland” (<?.v.), 
one of the great heroes of mediaeval romance, 
and the most celebrated of Charlemagne’s 
paladins. He appears under this name in the 
romances mentioned below, and in other 
works. 

Orlando Furioso (Orlando mad). An epic 
poem in 45 cantos, by Ariosto (published 1515- 
33). Orlando’s madness is caused by the faith- 
lessness of Angelica, but the main subject of 
the work is the siege of Paris by Agramant the 
Moor, when the Saracens were overthrown. 

The epic is full of anachronisms. We have 
Charlemagne and his paladins joined by King 
Edward IV of England, Richard Earl of War- 
wick, Henry Duke of Clarence, and the Dukes 
of York and Gloucester (Bk. VI). Cannon are 
employed by Cymosco, King of Friza (Bk. IV), 
and also in the siege of Paris (Bk. VI). We have 
the Moors established in Spain, whereas they 
were not invited over by the Saracens for 
nearly 300 years after Charlemagne’s death. In 
Bk. XVII the late mediaeval Prester John (q.v.) 
appears, and in the last three books Con- 
stantine the Great, who died 337. 

There are English translations by Sir John 
Harington (1591), John Hoole (1783), and 
W. S. Rose (1823-31). 

About 1589 a play (printed 1594) by Robert 
Greene entitled The History of Orlando Furioso 
was produced. In this version Orlando marries 
Angelica. 

Orlando Innamorato (Orlando in love). A 
romance in verse by Boiardo telling the love of 
Roland (q.v.) and Angelica. Boiardo died in 
1494, not having finished the work, and Ariosto 
wrote his Orlando Furioso (see above ) as a 
sequel to it. In 1541 Bcrni turned it into bur- 
lesque. 

Orleans, The House of. There are several 
younger sons of the great French family of 
Bourbon who bore this title, but the main 
branch stems from Philip, son of Louis XIII, 
who married Henrietta, the daughter of the 
English King Charles I. By his second wife 
Philip had a son Philip (1674-1723) known as 
the Regent Orleans as he acted in that capacity 
to Louis XV in his minority. His great-grand- 
son became notorious for his career in the 
French Revolution when he assumed the name 


of Philippe Egalite and voted for the death of 
his kinsman Louis XVI. He was guillotined in 
1793, at the age of 46. Hibson, after many 
vicissitudes, became King of the French in 
1830, but was deposed and sought refuge in 
England in 1848. In 1883 the older branch of 
the Bourbon family became extinct and since 
that date the Orleans family ar$ the “legiti- 
mate” claimants to the throne of France. 
Orlop Deck. The lowest deck in an old sailing 
ship, and so called from the Dutch overloopen , 
or spread over, because it covered the ship’s 
hold. 

Ormandine (or' man din). The necromancer 
who by his magic arts threw St. David for 
seven years into an enchanted sleep, from 
which he was redeemed by St. George. (The 
Seven Champions of Christendom , I, ix.) 
Ormulum (orm' 0 lum)- A long poem in Transi- 
tion, or Early Middle, English, of which only a 
“fragment” of some 10,000 lines is extant. It is 
so called from the author, Orm, or Ormin, an 
Augustinian canon — 

This boc iss nemmed Ormulum 
Forrthi that Orm itt wrohhte — 

and in it the Gospel for each day is versified 
and elaborated with expositions out of Aelfric, 
Bede, and Augustine. It was written in the 
early 13th century. 

Ormuzd or Ahura Mazda (6r' muzd, a hOr k 
maz' da). The principle or angel of light and 
good, and creator of all things, according to the 
Magian system. He is in perpetual conflict with 
Ahriman (q.v.), but in the end will triumph. The 
Latin form of the name is Oromasdes . 

And Oromaze, Joshua, and Mahomet, 

Moses and Buddh, Zerdusht, and Brahm, and Foh, 
A tumult of strange names, which never met 
Before, as watchwords of a single woe 
Arose. Shelley: Revolt of Islam , X, xxxi. 

Ornery (U.S.A.). Mean, purposely difficult. 

Orosius (o ro' si us). A Latin writer of the 
early 5th century a.d., whose General History , 
from the Creation to a.d. 417, is frequently 
referred to by historians and was translated 
into Old English by Alfred the Great. Orosius 
was a native of Tarragona, in Spain, and a 
friend of St. Augustine’s. 

Orpheus (or' fus). A Thracian poet of Greek 
legend (son of Apollo and Calliope), Who could 
move even inanimate things by his music — a 
power that was also claimed for the Scan- 
dinavian Odin. When his wife Eurydice (q.v.) 
died he went into the infernal regions, ana so 
charmed Pluto that she was released? on the 
condition that Orpheus would not ldok back 
till they reached the earth. He was just about to 
place his foot on the earth when he turned 
round, and Eurydice vanished from him in an 
instant. 

Orpheus’ self may . . . hear 
Such strains as would have won the ear 
Of Pluto, to have quite set free 
His half-regained Eurydice. 

Milton: V Allegro, 145 - 50 . 

The prolonged grief of Orpheus at his second 
loss so enraged the Thracian women that inbne 
of their Bacchanalian orgies they tore him to 
pieces. The fragments of his body were col- 
lected by the Muses and buried at the foot of 



Orpheus 


666 


Ostend Manifesto 


Mount Olympus* but his head had been thrown 
intc^ the ,river Hebrus, whither it was carried 
into the sea, and so to Lesbos, where it was 
separately interred. 

What could the Muse herself that Orpheus bore, 
The Muse herself, for her enchanting son, 

Whom universal nature did lament. 

When, by the rout that made the hideous roar 
His gory vi&jge down the stream was sent, 

Down the swift Hebrus to the Lesbian shore? 

Milton: Lycidas , 58. 

Orpheus of Highwaymen. So John Gay 
(1685-1732) has been called on account of his 
Beggar's Opera (1728). 

Orphic. Connected with Orpheus, the 
mysteries associated with his name, or the doc- 
trines ascribed to him ; similar to his music in 
magic power. Thus, Shelley says — 

Language is a perpetual Orphic song, 

Which rules with Dasdal harmony a throng 
Of thoughts and forms, which else senseless and shape- 
less were. Prometheus Unbound , IV, i, 415. 

The Orphic egg. See Egg, the Mundane. 

Orrery (or' er i). A complicated piece of 
mechanism showing by means of clockwork 
the movements of the planets, etc., round the 
sun. It was invented about 1700 by George 
Graham, who sent his model to Rowley, an 
instrument maker, to make one for Prince 
Eugene. Rowley made a copy of it for Charles 
Boyle (1636-1731)4 third Earl of Orrery, in 
whose honour it was named. One of the best is 
Fulton’s, in Kelvin Grove Museum, Glasgow. 

Orson. Twin brother of Valentine in the old 
romance, Valentine and Orson (q.v.). The twins 
were born in a wood near Orleans, and Orson 
(Fr. aurstm , a little bear) was carried off by a 
bear, which suckled him with her cubs. When 
he grew up he was the terror of France, and 
was called the Wild Man of the Forest. He was 
reclaimed by Valentine, overthrew the Green 
Knight, and married Fezon, the daughter of 
Duke Savary of Aquitaine. 

Orthodox. Hie Orthodox Church. See Greek 
Church. 

Orthodox Sunday, in the Eastern Church, is 
the First Sunday in Lent, to commemorate the 
restoration of images in 843. 

Ort& Crui^jbs ; refuse. (Low Ger. ort — i.e. what 
is left after eating.) 

I shall not eat your orts — i.e. your leavings. 
Let him have time a beggar’s orts to crave. ' 

^ J Rape of Lucrece y 985. 

0rtusLj|&r' til). Oi tus a quercu , non a salice. 
Latin for “sprung from an oak, and not from 
a willow” — Le. stubborn stuff; one that can- 
not bend to circumstances. 

Orvietan or Venice Treacle (or vi et' an), once 
believed to be a sovereign remedy against 
noison, hence sometimes used of an antidote. 
It is not now known of what this electuary was 
concocted; it took its name from a charlatan 
of Orvieto, Italy, who used to pretend to take 
potion and cure himself by means of his potion. 

O a Sacrum. See Luz. A triangular bone 
situate at the lower part of the vertebral 
column* of which it is a continuation. Some say 


that this bone was so called because it was in 
the part used in sacrifice, or the sacred part; 
Dr. Nash says it is so called “because it is much 
bigger than any of the vertebrae”; but the 
Jewish rabbins say the bone is called sacred 
because it resists decay, and will be the germ of 
the “new body” at the resurrection. ( Hudibras , 
pt. Ill, canto ii.) 

Oscar. A gold-plated figurjme awarded annually 
by the American Academy' of Motion Pictures 
and Sciences for the best film-acting, writing, or 
production of the year. There are two claims 
for the origin of this name. One is that in 1931 
the present executive secretary of the Academy, 
Mrs. Margaret Herrick, joined as librarian; on 
seeing the then nameless gold statue for the 
first time she exclaimed “it reminds me of my 
Uncle Oscar”—the name stuck. 

The other claim is that it derives indirectly 
from Oscar Wilde. When on a lecture tour of 
the U.S.A. he was asked if he had won the 
Newdigate Prize for Poetry, and he replied, 
“Yes, but while many people have won the 
Newdigate, it is seldom that the Newdigate gets 
an Oscar.” When Helen Haye was presented 
with the award, her husband Charles Mac- 
Arthur, a noted wit and playwright, said, “Ah 
1 see you’ve got an Oscar,” and the name stuck. 

Osiris (6 si' ris). One of the chief gods of 
Egyptian mythology: judge of the dead, ruler 
of the kingdom of ghosts, the Creator, the god 
of the Nile, and the constant foe of his brother 
(or son). Set, the principle of evil. He was the 
husband of Isis (q.v.), and represents the setting 
sun ( ep . Ra). He was slain, but came to life 
again and was revenged by Horus and Thoth. 

The name means Mcwy~eyed. Osiris was 
usually depicted as a mummy wearing the 
crown of Upper Egypt, but sometimes as an ox. 

Osmand. A necromancer in The Seven Cham- 
pions of Christendom , I, xix, who by enchant- 
ment raised an army to resist the Christians. 
Six of the Champions fell, whereupon St. 
George restored them; Osmand tore out his 
own hair, in which lay his magic power, bit his 
tongue in two, disembowelled himself, cut off 
his arms, and then died. 

Ossa. See Peuon. 

Osslan (Oisin) (os' i an). The legendary Gaelic 
bard and warrior of about the end of the 3rd 
century, son of Finn (Fingal), and reputed 
author of Ossian's Poems , published 1760-63, 
by James Macpherson, who professed that he 
had translated them from MSS. collected in the 
Highlands. A great controversy as to the 
authenticity of the supposed originals was 
aroused; the question has not yet been finally 
settled, but it is generally agreed that Mac- 
pherson, while compiling from undent sources, 
was the principal author of the poems as pub- 
lished. The poems are full of Celtic glamour 
and charm, but are marred by bombast. 

Ostend Manifesto. A declaration made in 1857 
by the Ministers of the United States in 
England, France, and Spain, “that Cuba must 
belong to the United States.” Notwithstanding 
this, until 1898 the island belonged to Spain, 
when, as one of the results of the Spanish 




Ostracism 


667 


Oven wood 


American War, it was freed and was for four 
years under the military rule of the United 
States. In 1902 Cuba was formed into an auto- 
nomous republic. 

Ostracism (os' trk sizm) (Gr. ostrakon , an 
earthen vessel). Black-balling, boycotting, ex- 
pelling; exclusion from society or common 
privileges, etc. The word arose from the ancient 
Greek custom of banishing one whose power 
was a danger to th^stale, the voting for which 
was done by the people recording their votes on 
tiles or potsherds. The custom of ostracizing is 
widespread. St. Paul exhorts Christians to 
“come out from” idolaters (II Cor . vi, 17); and 
the Jews ostracized the Samaritans. The 
Roman Catholic Church anathematizes and 
interdicts. 

Ostrich. At one time the ostrich was fabled, 
when hunted, to run a certain distance and then 
thrust its head into the sand, thinking, because 
it cannot see, that it cannot be seen ( cp . 
Crocodile); this supposed habit is the source 
of many allusions, e.g. — 

Whole nations, fooled by falsehood, fear, or pride. 
Their ostrich-heads in self-illusion hide, 

Moore: Sceptic. 

Another source of literary allusion to the 
bird is its habit of eating indigestible things 
such as stones and metals to assist the functions 
of the gizzard — 

Ah, villain ! thou wilt betray me, and get a 
thousand crowns of the king by carrying my head to 
him; but I’ll make thee eat iron like an ostrich, and 
swallow my sword like a great pin, ere thou and I 
part .— Henry VI Pt. II, IV, x. 

Hence, ostrich-stomachs, stomachs that will 
digest anything. 

Ostrich eggs arc often suspended in Eastern 
churches as symbols of God’s watchful care. It 
used to be thought that the ostrich hatches her 
eggs by gazing on them, and if she suspends her 
gaze even for a minute or so, the eggs are 
addled. Furthermore, we are told that if an egg 
is bad the ostrich will break it; so will God deal 
with evil men. 

Oh ! even with such a look as fables say 
The mother ostrich fixes on her eggs, 

Till that intense affection 
Kindle its light of life. 

Southey: Thalaba, 

Ostrog Bible, The. See Bible, specially 

NAMED. 

Othello’s occupation’s gone (III, iii). A phrase 
sometimes used when one is “laid on the 
shelf,” no longer “the observed of all ob- 
servers.” 

Other Day, The. Originally this meant “the 
second day,” either forward of backward, other 
being the Old English equivalent for second, 
as in Latin units , alter , tertius or proximus , 
alter, tertius . Starting from to-day, and going 
backwards, yesterday was the proximus ab ilia ; 
the day before yesterday was the alterus ab illo , 
or the other day; and the day preceding that 
was tertius ab illo, or three days ago. Now the 
phrase is used to express “a few days ago,” 
fi not so long since.” 

Otium cum dignitate (6' ti dm ktim dig ni ta' ti) 
(Lat. leisure with dignity). Retirement after a 
person has given up business and has saved 
B.D.— 22 


enough to live upon in comfort. The words 
were taken as a motto by Cicero. * 

Otium cum dignitate is to be had with £500 a ylar as 
well as with 5,000. — Pope: Lifters (Wks., vol. X, 

p. 110). 

Ottava Rima (o ta' va re' ma). A stanza of 
eight ten-syllabled lines, rhyming a b a b aj? c c, 
used by Keats in his Isabella , Byron in Don 
Juan, etc. It was originally Itdhan and was 
employed by Tasso (the lines were eleven- 
syllabled), Ariosto, and many others. 

Ottoman Empire. The Turkish Empire, so 
called from Othman, or Osman, I, the 
founder, about 1300, of the dynasty. Our otto- 
man, a kind of sofa having some resemblance 
to an oriental couch, is, of course, the same 
word. 

Oubliette (oo bli et'). Traditionally a secret 
dungeon in a mediaeval castle or monastery, 
only accessible from a hole in the roof. It used 
to be supposed that certain prisoners or refrac- 
tory monks or nuns were incarcerated in these 
oubliettes and on occasions sealed up in them. 
The real use of these cells is a debated point 
with archaeologists. 

Ouija (we'ja). A device employed by spirit- 
ualists for receiving spirit messages. It consists 
of a small piece of wood on wheels, placed on 
a board marked with the letters of the alphabet 
and certain commonly-useiLwords. When the 
fingers of the communicators are placed on the 
ouija board it moves from letter to letter and 
thus spells out sentences. The word is a com- 
bination of Fr. oui and German ja, both mean- 
ing “yes.” 

Out. Murder will out. The secret is bound to be 
revealed; “be sure your sin will find you out.” 
O blisful god, that art so just and trewe! 

Lo, how that thou biwreyest mordre alway, 
Mordre wol out, that see we day by day. 

Chaucer: Nun's Priest's Tale , 232. 

Out and out. Incomparably, by far, or be- 
ond measure; as, “He was out and out the 
est man.” 

Out of it. Left on one side, not included. 

Outed. Expelled, ejected. 

To go all out. In sport, racing, etc., to do 
one’s very best — to put out every effort to win. 

To have it out. To contest either physically or 
verbally with another to the utmost of one’s 
ability; as, “I mean to have it out with him one 
of these days” ; “I had it out with him” — i.e. 
‘*1 spoke my mind freely and without reserve.” 
The idea is that of letting loofee pent-up dis- 
approbation. 

To out-Herod Herod. See Herod. 

To outrun the constable. See Constable. 
Ovation. An enthusiastic display of popular 
favour, so called from the ancient Roman 
ovatio or minor triumph, in which the general 
after a bloodless victory or one over slaves 
entered the city on horseback or on foot, 
instead of in a chariot as in the greater triumph, 
and was crowned with myrtle instead of with 
gold. m 

Oven wood. Small firewood. Of English origin, 
the phrase is there long obsolete, but it sur- 
vived in the U.S.A. into the 19th century. 



Over 


668 


Oxgang 


Over, ipialf seas over. See Half. 

Ills all over with him. He’s finished, he can’t 
go any farther, he’s “shot his bolt.” Said also 
of one who has been giv&n up by the doctors. 

Over and over again. Very frequently. (In 
LaU^terum it&fttnutue.) 

Over the left. See Left. 

Overlander. From the 1870s any Australian 
riding through the interior of the country, 
because the hope of survival if in trouble was 
to get to the Overland Telegraph Line (Ade- 
laide to Darwin), cut it, and wait for the repair 
gang. It later came into general use to describe 
drovers as well as travellers, e.g. Banjo 
Patterson, Saltbush Bill , King of the Overland , 
c. 1890. 

Overture (Fr. ouvert, O.F. overt, past part, of 
ouvrir , to open). An opening, a preliminary 
proposal; a piece of music for the opening of 
an opera. 

To make overtures is to be the first to make 
an advance, as with a view to acquaintance- 
ship, some business deal, or a reconciliation. 
Overy. The church of St. Mary Overy, South- 
wark, was, according to Stow, founded by a 
ferry-woman named Mary Overy, who, long 
before the age of bridges, devoted her savings 
to this purpose. This is fable; the name is a 
contraction of St. Mary's over the river. 

Owain (o wan'). The hero of a 12th-century 
legend, The Descent of Owain , written by Henry 
of Saltrey, an English Benedictine monk. 
Owain (the name is a form of Welsh Owen) was 
an Irish knight of Stephen’s court who, by way 
of penance for a wicked life, entered and passed 
through St. Patrick’s Purgatory (q.v.). 

Owl. The emblem of Athens, [where owls 
abounded. As Athene (Minerva) and Athene 
(Athens) are the same word, the owl was given 
to Minerva for her symbol also. 

The Greeks had a proverb, To send owls to 
Athens, which meant the same as our To carry 
coals to Newcastle (q.v.). See also Madge. 

I live too near a wood to be scared by an owl. 
I am too old to be frightened by a bogy. 

Like an owl in an ivy-bush. Having a sapient, 
vacant look, as some persons have when in 
their cups ** having a stupid vacant stare. Owls 
are proverbial for their judge-like solemnity; 
ivy is the favourite plant of Bacchus, and was 
supposed to be the favourite haunt of owls. 
Good ivy, say to us, what birds hast thou? 

None but tfip owlet that cries “How how!” 

- " Carol (time Henry VI). 

Gray, in tils Elegy , and numerous other poets 
bracket the two : — 

From yonder ivy-mantled tower 
The moping owl doth to the moon complain. 

Owl light. Dusk; the gloaming, “blind man’s 
holiday.” Fr. Entre chien et loup. 

fThe owl was a baker’s daughter. According 
to a Gloucestershire legend, our Saviour went 
into a baker’s shop for something to cat. The 
mistress put a cake into the hven for Him, but 
her tfeugnter said it was too large, and reduced 
it by half. The dough, however, swelled to an 
enormous size, and the daughter cried out, 
“Heugh! heugh! heugh!” and was transformed 


into an owl. Ophelia alludes to the tradition — 

Well, God ’ield you! They say the owl was a baker’s 
daughter. — S hakespeare: Hamlet , IV, v. 

Owlglass. See Eulenspiegel. 

Ox. One of the four figures which made up 
Ezekiel’s cherub (i, 10). It is the emblem of the 
priesthood, and was assigned to St. Luke (q.v.) 
as his symbol because he begins his gospel with 
the Jewish priest sacrificing in the Temple. 

In early art the ox is usually given as the 
emblem of St. Frideswide, St. Leonard, St. 
Sylvester, St. Medard, St. Julietta, and St. 
Blandina. 

He has an ox on his tongue. See under 
Money. ♦ 

Off-ox. A stupid or clumsy person. In an ox- 
team the off-ox is the one farthest away from 
the driver. 

Ox-bow (U.S.A.). A horseshoe bend in a 
river. 

Ox-eye. A sailor’s name for a cloudy speck 
which indicates the approach of a storm. 
When Elijah heard that a speck no bigger than 
a “man’s hand” might be seen in the sky, he 
told Ahab that a torrent of rain would over- 
take him before he could reach home (I Kings 
xvii, 44, 45). Thomson alludes to this storm 
signal in his Summer. 

The black ox hath trod on your foot, or hath 
trampled on you. Misfortune has come to you 
or your house; sometimes, you are henpecked. 
A black ox was sacrificed to Pluto, the infernal 
god, as a white one was to Jupiter. 

Venus waxeth old; and then she was a pretie 
wench, when Juno was a young wife; now crowes 
foote is on her eye, and the blacke oxe hath trod on 
her foot. — Lyly : Sapho and Phao, IV, ii. 

The dumb ox. St. Thomas Aquinas (1227-74), 
so named by his fellow students at Cologne, on 
account of his dullness and taciturnity. Alber- 
tus said: “We call him the dumb ox, but he 
will give one day such a bellow as shall be 
heard from one end of the world to the other.” 

Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth 
out the corn ( Deut . xxv, 4). In other words, do 
not grudge him the mouthful he may snatch 
when working for you ; do not deprive a man of 
his little perquisites. 

To play the giddy ox. To act the fool gene- 
rally; to behave in an irresponsible or over- 
hilarious manner. There was an old phrase, to 
make an ox of one , meaning the same as the 
modern to make a fool of one ; and in the 
Merry Wives of Windsor (V, v) we have — 

Fal.: I do not begin to perceive that I am made an 
ass. 

Ford: Ay, and a& ox too; both the proofs are 
extant. 

Oxgang. An Anglo-Saxon land measure of 
no very definite quantity, but as much as an ox 
could gang over or cultivate. Also, called a 
bovate. The Latin jugum was a sinfiiar term, 
which Varro defines “ Quod juncti boves uno 
die exarare possunt .” 

Eight oxgangs made a carucate. If an ox- 
gang were as much as one ox could cultivate, 
its average would be about fifteen acres. 



Oxford 


669 


f’s and Q’s 


Oxford. Oxford bags. Wide-bottomed flannel 
trousers fashionable in Oxford in the 1920s. 

Oxford Blues. The Royal Horse Guards were 
so called in 1690 because the Earl of Oxford 
was then their colonel. 

Oxford frame. A picture frame made so that 
the wooden sides cross each other at the 
corners and project an inch or two; much used 
for photographs of college groups and so on. 

Oxford Group. A name, first given in Africa 
in 1929, to the religious movement founded by 
Frank Buchman (1878-1961), and often 
referred to as Buchmanism. He had a consider- 
able following in the 1920s in Cambridge first 
and even more at Oxford later, hence the name 
of the group. Evangelical in character, it 
claimed a more authentic form of Christianity 
and desired to disturb the complacency of older 
Christian organizations. In the later 1930s 
Buchman became more interested in the appli- 
cation of his ideas to social, industrial and 
international questions, and consequently in 
1938 launched the movement called Moral 
Rearmament (q.v.). 

Oxford Movement. A movement, centred at 
Oxford, within the Church of England, caused 
by dissatisfaction with the decline of Church 
life, the increase of liberal theology, and a 
desire to reform the Church in conformity with 
the High Church ideals and practice of the 17th 
century. The movement began with a sermon 
by J. Keble directed at the proposal to sup- 
press ten Irish bishoprics, and three tracts, one 
of them by J. H. (later Cardinal) Newman. 
Many of these Tracts for the Times followed, 
from which the earlier phases of the movement 
derived the name of Tractarianism. Newman’s 
famous Tract 90 (“On Certain Passages in the 
Thirty-Nine Articles”) provoked a storm on its 
appearance in 1841, and the series was ended 
at the request of R. Bagot, Bishop of Oxford. 

The other prominent members of the move- 
ment were E. B. Pusey, R. H. Froude, and 
F. W. Faber. During the early 1840s several 
of the leaders were inclined towards the 
Roman Catholic Church, which they even- 
tually joined. Although condemned by 
leaders, the movement exercised much influ- 
ence on the Church of England, especially in 
worship and ceremonial. 

Oxymoron (oks i mor' on). A rhetorical figure 
in which effect is produced by apparent self- 
contradictions, such as “More haste less 
speed,” “Cruel to be kind,” The word is the 
Gr. for pointedly foolish. 

Oyer and terminer (oi '^r, ter' min er). An 
Anglo-French legal phra$0 meaning “to hear 
and determine.” Commissions or Writs of 
oyer and terminer as issued to judges on circuit 
twice a year in every county directing them to 
hold courts for the trial of offences. 

Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! (5 yes') (O.Fr. hear yel) % 
The call made by a public crier, court officer, 
etc., to attract attention when a proclamation 
is about to be read out. Sometimes written O 
yest 


Oyster. And did you ever see an oyster walk 
upstairs? A satirical query sometimes ad- 
dressed to one who has been telling un- 
believable yarns about his own experiences. 

Close as a Kentish oyster. Absolutely secret; 
hermetically sealed. Kentish oysters are pro- 
verbially good, and all good oysters are fast 
closed. 

Never eat an oyster unless there’s an R In the 
month. Good advice; which limits the eating of 
oysters to the months from September to April 
inclusive. The legal close-time for oysters in 
England and Scotland, however, extends only 
from June 15th to Aug. 4th, thus freeing all 
May and parts of June and August. 

Who eats oysters on St. James’s Day will 
never want. St. James’s Day (July 25th) falls 
during what is now the legal close-time for 
oysters ( see above). It may be supposed that, 
before the close-time came into force, oysters 
obtainable so unseasonably early would be an 
expensive luxury eaten only by the rich. 

Oz. The abbreviation for an ounce is the 15th- 
century contraction of Ital. onza. The “z” here 
does not play the same part as that in “viz.” 
(q.v.). See also Wizard of Oz. 


p 

P. The sixteenth letter in the English alphabet; 
called pe % “mouth,” by the Phoenicians and 
ancient Hebrews, and represented in Egyptian 
hieroglyph by a shutter. 

In the 16th century Placentius, a Dominican 
monk, wrote a poem of 253 hexameter verses 
called Pugna Porcorum , every word of which 
begins with the letter p. It opens thus: — 
Plaudite, Porcelli, porcorum pigra propago— 
which may be translated — 

Piglets, praise pigs’ prolonged progeny 
The Four P's. A “merry interlude” by John 
Heywood, written about 1540. The four prin- 
cipal characters are “a Palmer, a Pardoner, a 
Poticary (apothecary), and a Pedlar.” 

The five P's. William Oxberry (1784-1824) 
was so called, because he was Printer, Poet, 
Publisher, Publican, and Player. 

P.C. The Roman patres conscripti. See Con- 
script Fathers. 

p, PP» PPP (in music). p = piano, pp and 
ppp = pianissimo. Sometimes pp means piu 
piano (more softly). 

So f= forte, ff and fff= fortissimo. 

P.P.C. See Cong6. 

P.S. (Lat. post-scriptum). Written afterwards 
— i.e. after the letter or book was finished. 

P’s and Q’s. Mind your P’s and Q’s. Be very 
circumspect in your behaviour. 

Several explanations have been suggested, 
but none seems to be wholly satisfactory. One 
is that it was.au admonition to children learn- 
ing the alphabet—and still more so to printers’ 
apprentices sorting type — because Qjf the 
similar appearance of these tailed letters; 
another that in old-time bar-parlours in the 
accounts that were scored up for beer “P” 



Pace 


670 


Pagan 


stood for “pints” and “Q” for “quarts,” and 
of course the customer when settling up would 
find it necessary “to mind his P’s and Q’s,” or 
he would pay too much; and yet another — 
from France — is that in the reign of Louis 
XIV, when huge wigs were worn, and bows 
were made with great formality, two things 
were specially required: a “step” with the feet, 
and a low bend of the body. In the latter the 
wig would be very apt to get deranged, and 
even to fall off. The caution, therefore, of the 
French dancing-master to his pupils was, 
“Mind your P’s (i.e. pieds , feet) and Q’s (i.e. 
queues , wigs).” 

Pace (pa' si). From the Latin pax , meaning 
peace or pardon, this word is used in the sense 
of “with the permission of” when preceding the 
mention of some person who disagrees with 
what is being said or done. 

Pacific Ocean. So named by Magellan in 1520, 
because there he enjoyed calm weather and a 
placid sea after the stormy and tempestuous 
passage of the adjoining straits. 

The Pacific. 

Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy (1383, 1391- 
1439; d. 1451). He was an anti-pope, as Felix V, 
from 1440 to 1449. 

Frederick III, Emperor of Germany (1415, 
1440-93). 

Olaf III of Norway (1030-93). 

Pacifico, Don. In 1850 the name of Don Paci- 
fico was on everyone’s lips. David Pacifico was 
a Portuguese Jew bom at Gibraltar but in 
trade at Athens. In the course of some religious 
commotions his house was burned down by the 
mob. Don Pacifico thereupon claimed from 
the Greek government the exorbitant sum of 
£26,618 as damages. On their refusal to pay 
this Pacifico fell back on his British citizenship 
and in January, 1850, Palmerston sent the 
Mediterranean fleet to the Piraeus. The French 
government then instructed their ambassador 
m Athens to patch matters up, with the result 
that Britain and France fell out and the French 
ambassador to Queen Victoria was recalled to 
Paris. The House of Lords passed a vote of 
censure on Palmerston, but in the Commons he 
replied in his most famous speech claiming that 
British citizenship was a protection through- 
out the world. ( See Civis Romanus.) In the 
end Pacifico received some £5,000 for his lost 
house and injured feelings. 

Pack (U.S.A.). To carry, as to pack a gun. 
“We packed trie hams and shoulders to camp” 

Packing a jury. Selecting on a jury persons 
whose verdict may be relied on from proclivity, 
far more than from evidence. 

To pack up. Slang for to take one’s de- 
parture; to have no more to do with the 
matter; also to die. 

To send one packing. To dismiss one sum- 
marily and without ceremony. 

Packstaff. See Pikestaff. 

Pactofus (p&k td' lus). The golden sands of 
the Pactolus. The Pactolus is a small river in 
Lydia, Asia Minor, long famous for its gold 


which, according to legend, was due to Midas 
(q.v.) having bathed there. Its gold was ex- 
hausted by the time of Augustus. 

Paddington Fair. A public execution. Tyburn, 
where executions formerly took place, was in 
the parish of Paddington. Public executions 
were abolished in England in 1868. 

Paddock. Cold as a paddock. A paddock is a 
toad or frog; and we have the- corresponding 
phrases “cold as a toad,” and “cold as a frog.” 
Here a little child I stand. 

Heaving up my either hand; 

Cold as Paddocks though they be, 

Here I lift them up to Thee, 

For a Benizon to fall 
On our meat and on us all. 

Herrick: Grace for a Child. 

Paddy, Paddywhack. An Irishman; from 
Patrick (Ir. Padraig). In slang both terms are 
used for a loss of temper, a rage on a small 
scale; and the latter also denotes the gristle in 
roast meat. 

Padishah (pdd' i sha) is the Turkish form of the 
Persian Padshah, a king or reigning sovereign. 
It was formerly applied exclusively to the 
Sultan of Turkey. 

Padre (pa' dra). The name given by soldiers, 
sailors, and airmen to a chaplain. It is Spanish 
and Portuguese for “father,” and was adopted 
in the British Army in India from the natives, 
who had learned the term from the Portuguese. 

Padua (pad' 0 k) was long supposed by the 
Scottish to be the chief school of necromancy; 
hence Scott says of the Earl of Gowrie — 

He learned the art that none may name 
In Padua, far beyond the sea. 

Lay of the Last Minstrel. 

Paduasoy (p&d' Q a soi). A silk stuff, the French 
pou - or pout-de-soie , introduced into England 
in the 17th century and for 150 years or so 
called poudesoy or poodesoy. The material had 
no connexion with Padua, but there was a 
“say” or serge manufactured there which was 
known as Padua say , and the name Paduasoy 
is due to confusion with this. 

Paan (pe' &n). The name, according to Homer, 
of the physician to the gods. It was used in the 
phrase Io Pecan as the invocation in the hymn 
to Apollo, and later in hymns of thanksgiving 
to other deities; hence pecan has come to mean 
any song of praise or thanksgiving, any shout 
of triumph or exultation. 

Pagan (pa' g&n). The long held idea that this 
word — which etymologically means a villager, 
a rustic (Lat. paganus) — acquired its present 
meaning because the Christian Church first 
established itself in the cities, the village 
dwellers continuing to be heathen, has been 
shown by recent research to be incorrect. The 
name arose from a Roman military col- 
loquialism. Paganus (rti&ic) was the soldier’s 
contemptuous name for a civilian or for an 
incompetent soldier, and when th# early 
Christians called themselves milites Christi 
(soldiers of Christ) they adopted the soldier- 
slang, paganus , for those who were not 
“soldiers of Christ.” See the last note but onq 
to ch. xxi of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall. 




Pageant 


671 


Palace 


Pageant. A performance, usually in the open 
air, of a series of dramatic scenes representing 
outstanding events in the history of a town or 
building. The fashion for pageants was in- 
augurated in England by the Sherborne 
Pageant of 1905. Outstanding pageants were 
those of Bury St. Edmunds (1907), Oxford 
(1907), Winchester (1908), Chelsea (1908), 
Dover (1908). One of the principal producers 
of pageants was Louis N. Parker (1852-1944). 

Pagoda (pa go' del). A Buddhist temple or 
sacred tower in India, China, etc., especially 
a slender, storied tower built over the relics of 
a saint. The word is Portuguese, and was 
formed by them in the 16th century on some 
now unknown native word which may have 
been the Persian but-kadah , idol-house, or 
some form of bhagavat , holy. 

Pagoda was also the name of a gold coin, 
value about 7s., formerly current in Southern 
India. Hence the phrase: — 

To shake the pagoda-tree. To make money 
readily in the Far East. 

I have granted a pension of 400 pagodas per annum 
to the family of the late Rcza Saneb. — Wellington's 
Dispatches , I, p. 31 (1799). 

The amusing pursuit of “shaking the pagoda-tree’’, 
once so popular in our Oriental possessions. — 
Theodore Hook: Gilbert Gurney , 1, p. 45. 

Paid. See Pay. 

Paiforce. The short name for the Persia and 
Iraq Command (P.A.I. Force). Constituted in 
Sept. 1942, with headquarters at Baghdad, its 
functions were (a) to stand as a bulwark 
against a possible German drive through the 
Caucasus, and ( b ) to protect and operate the 
routes by which supplies were sent to Russia. 
The Command was wound up in 1946. 

Paint. To paint the lily. To indulge in hyper- 
bolical praise, to exaggerate the beauties, good 
points, etc., of the subject to a very con- 
siderable extent. 

To gild refined gold, to paint the lily. 

To throw a perfume on the violet, . . . 

Is wasteful and ridiculous excess. 

King John t IV, ii. 

To paint the lion. A sailors term, meaning to 
strip a person naked and then smear the body 
all over with tar. 

To paint the town red. To have a gay, noisy 
time; to cause some disturbance in town by 
having a noisy spree. Possibly from the fre- 
quent firing of towns by Indians on the war- 
path. 

Painting. It is said that Apelles, being at a 
loss to delineate the foam of Alexander’s 
horse, dashed his brush at the picture in 
despair^ and did by accident what he could not 
accomplish by art. 

This story is related of many other artists, 
and the incident isTs^id actually to have oc- 
curred to Michelangelo when painting the 
interior of the dome of St. Peter’s at Rome. 

Many legends are told of pictures so painted 
that the objects depicted have been taken for 
the things themselves. It is said, for instance, 
that Apelles painted Alexander’s horse so 
realistically that a living horse mistook it and 
began to neigh. Velasquez painted a Spanish 


admiral so true to life that Philip IV mistook 
the painting for the man and reproved it 
severely for not being with the fleet. Zeuxis 
painted some grapes so well that birds flew at 
them to peck them. Quentin Matsys painted a 
fly on a man’s leg so inimitably that Mandyn, 
the artist, tried to brush it off with his hand- 
kerchief. Parrhasios, of Ephesus, painted a 
curtain so well that Zeuxis was deceived by it, 
and told him to draw it aside that he might see 
the picture behind it; and Myron, the Greek 
sculptor, is said to have fashioned a cow so true 
to nature that a bull mistook it for a living 
animal. 

Painter. The rope by which a ship’s boat can 
be tied to the ship, a buoy, mooring-post, etc. 
The word is probably an extended sense of the 
14th-century peyntour , the rope which held the 
anchor to the ship’s side (now called the shank- 
painter) i, which was from Fr. pendre , Lat. 
pender e , to hang. 

v. 

To cut the painter. To sever connexion; to 
send one to tne right about in double quick 
time. In the late 19th century the phrase was 
much used in reference to a possible severance 
between her Colonial Empire and Great 
Britain. 

Pair Off. When two members of Parliament of 
opposite parties agree to absent themselves, so 
that when a vote is taken the absence of one 
neutralizes the missing vote of the other, they 
are said to pair off. In the House of Commons 
this is usually arranged by the Whips. 

Paix (pa). La Paix des Dames. The treaty con-* 
eluded at Cambray, in 1529, between Francis 
I and Charles V of Germany; so called because 
it was brought about by Louise of Savoy 
(mother of the French king) and Margaret, the 
emperor’s aunt. 

Pakeha. Any resident in New Zealand who is 
not a Maori. Thought by some to be a Maori 
word, it is more probably a native corruption 
of an unpleasant term of abuse used by early 
whaling crews. 

Pakistan. The name of the present Dominion 
was coined by Chaudhrie Rahmat Ali in 1933 
to represent the units which should be in- 
cluded when the time came: P-Punjab; A- 
Afghan border states; K-Kashmir; S-Sind; 
TAN for Baluchistan. 

Pal. A gipsy word meaning a brother or mate. 

Palace originally meant a dwelling on the 
Palatine Hill {See Palatinate) of Rome, where 
Augustus and, later, Tiberius and Nero built 
their mansions. The word was hence trans- 
ferred to other royal and imperial residences; 
then to similar buildings, such as Blenheim 
Palace , Dalkeith Palace , and to the official 
residence of a bishop; and finally to a place of 
amusement as the Crystal Palace , the People's 
Palace , and — in irony — to a gin palace . 

In parts of Devonshire cellars for fish, store- 
houses cut in the rock, etc., are called palaces 
or pa l laces; but this mav be from the old word 
patis, a space enclosed by a palisade. 

All that cellar and the chambers over the same, and 
the little paliace and landing-place adjoining the 
River Dart. — Lease granted by the Corporation of 
Totnes in 1703. 



Paladin 


672 


Palindrome 


Paladin (par A din). Properly, an officer of, or 
one connected with, the palace (q.v.) t palatine 
( 1 q.v .); usually confined in romance to the 
Twelve Peers of Charlemagne’s court, and 
hence applied to any renowned hero or knight- 
errant. 

The most noted of Charlemagne’s paladins 
were Allory de l’Estoc; Astolfo; Basin de 
Genevois; Fierambras or Ferumbras; Floris- 
mart; Ganelon, the traitor; Geoffroy, Seigneur 
de Bordelois, and Geoffroy de Frises; Guerin, 
Due de Lorraine; Guillaume de J’Estoc, 
brother of Allory; Guy de Bourgogne; Hoel, 
Comte de Nantes; Lambert, Prince de 
Bruxelles; Malagigi; Nami or Nayme de 
BaviAre; Ogier the Dane; Oliver (q.v.)\ Otuel; 
Richard, Due de Normandie; Rinaldo; Rioi 
du Mans; Roland otherwise Orlando; 

Samson, Due de Bourgogne; and Thiry or 
Theiry d’Ardaine. Of these, twelve at a time 
seem to have formed a special bodyguard to 
the king. 

Palaemon (p51 e' mon). In Roman legend, a son 
of Ino (see Leucothea), and originally called 
Melicertes. Palaemon is the name given to him 
after he was made a sea-god, and as Por- 
tumnus he was the protecting god of harbours. 
The story is given in Spenser’s Faerie Queene 
(IV, xi); in the same poet’s Colin Clout his 
name is used for Thomas Churchyard (c. 1 520- 
1604) the poet. 

Palaeolithic Age (pa li 6 lith' ik) (Gr. palaios , 
old; lithos, a stone). The earlier of the two 
periods into which the Stone Age of Europe 
is divided ( cp . Neolithic). 

Palais Rose. The first of many international 
conferences after World War II was held in the 
rose-decorated chamber of a Parisian mansion. 
The monotonous reiteration by the Russian 
delegate of “No” to every suggestion put 
forward gave origin to the phrase “Another 
Palais Rose” to describe an abortive con- 
ference. 

Palamedes (pal A me' dez). In Greek legend, 
one of the heroes who fought against Troy. He 
was the son of Nauplios and Clymene, and was 
the reputed inventor of lighthouses, scales and 
measures, the discus, dice, etc., and was said to 
have added four letters to the original alphabet 
of Cadmus. It was he who detected the as- 
sumed madness of Ulysses, in revenge for 
which the latter encompassed his death. The 
phrase, he is quite a Palamedes , meaning “an 
ingenious person,” is an allusion to this hero. 

In Arthurian romance, Sir Palamedes is a 
Saracen knight who was overcome in single 
combat by Tristram. Both loved Isolde, the 
wife of King Mark; and after the lady was 
given up by the Saracen, Tristram converted 
him to the Christian faith, and stood his god- 
father at the font. 

Palamon and Arcite (par A mon, ar si' tA). Two 
young Theban knights of romance whose 
story (borrowed from Boccaccio’s La Teseide ) 
is told by Chaucer in his Knight's Tale , by 
Fletcher and (possibly) Shakespeare in The 
Two Noble Kinsmen (1634) and elsewhere. Both 
were in love with Emilia, sister-in-law to the 
Duke of Athens, in whose hands they were 
prisoners. In time they obtained their liberty, 


and the Duke appointed a tournament, pro- 
mising Emilia to the victor. Arcite prayed to 
Mars to grant him victory, Palamon prayed to 
Venus to grant him Emilia. Arcite won the 
victory, but, being thrown from his horse, 
died; and Palamon, though not the winner, 
won the prize. 

Palatinate (pa lAt' in at). The province of a 
palatine who originally was aa officer of the 
imperial palace at Rome (cp. Palace). This 
was on the Palatine Hill , which was so called 
from Pales, a pastoral deity, whose festival 
was celebrated on April 21st, the “birthday of 
Rome,” to commemorate the day when 
Romulus, the wolf-child, drew the first furrow 
at the foot of the hill, and thus laid the founda- 
tion of the “Roma Quadrata,” the most 
ancient part of the city. 

In Germany The Palatinate was the name of 
a former very powerful and extensive state on 
the Rhine, and later that of the detached 
portion of Bavaria to the west of the Rhine 
until 1945 when it became part of the newly 
formed Land Rhineland-Palatinate. 

In England Cheshire and Lancashire arc 
palatine counties. See County Palatine. 

Pale, The English. The name given in the 15th 
century to that part of Ireland which had been 
colonized in the 12th century byiHenry II, viz. 
the districts of Cork, Dublin, Drogheda, 
Waterford, and Wexford. It was only in these 
districts that the English law prevailed, hence 
the phrases, Within the pale, and Beyond the 
pale. By the 16th century the English Pale had 
so much contracted that it embraced only the 
district about 20 miles round Dublin. 

Paleface. A name for a white man attributed 
to the North American Indians as if trans- 
lated from a term in their languages. Its 
popularity is largely due to the novels of 
Fenimore Cooper; but the term became 
notorious through an earlier connexion with 
an incident that occurred in 1799. A junior 
officer named Sterrett, serving on the Com 
stellation frigate, wrote home “we would put a 
man to death for even looking pale on this 
ship.” This letter was published in a Phila- 
delphia paper on March 13th; by early April 
the affair had become magnified to the point 
where it was said that Sterrett himself had 
killed a man for looking pale. 

Pales (pa' lez). The Roman god of shepherds 
and their flocks. See Palatinate above. 

Palimpsest (pal' imp sest) (Gr. palin, again; 
psestosj scraped). A parchment on which the 
original writing has been effaced and some- 
thing else has been written. When parchment 
was scarce the scribes used to erase what was 
written on it and use it again. As sometimes 
they did not rub it out entirely, many works 
that would otherwise haveL>een lost have been 
recovered. Thus Cicero’s De Republican which 
was partially erased to make room for a com- 
mentary of St. Augustine on the Psalms, has 
been restored. 

Palindrome (pal' in drom> (Gr. palin dromo y to 
run back again). A word or line which reads 
backwards and forwards alike, as Madam % also 
Roma tibi subito motibus ibit amor . They had 




Palinode 


- 673 


Pallium 


also been called Sotadics , from their reputed 
inventor, Sotades, a scurrilous Greek poet of 
the 3rd century b.c. 

Probably the longest palindrome in English 
is — 

Dog as a devil deified 

Deified lived as a god — 

and another well known is Napoleon’s reputed 
saying — 

Able was I ere I saw Elba. 

A good palindrome is attributed to Adam 
who thus introduced himself to Eve: 

Madam, I’m Adam. 

The following Greek palindrome is very 
celebrated : — 

N1 y^ONANOMHMATAMHMONANO tfqN 

i.e. wash my transgressions, not only my face. 
It appears as the legend round many fonts, 
notably that in the basilica of St. Sophia, 
Istanbul, those at St. Stephen d’Egres, 
Paris, and St. Menin’s Abbey, Orleans; and, in 
England, round the fonts of St. Martin’s on 
Ludgate Hill, St. Mary’s in Nottingham and 
at Dulwich College; and in churches at 
Worlingworth (Suffolk), Harlow (Essex), 
Knapton (Norfolk), and Hadleigh (Suffolk). 

Palinode (pal' i nod) (Gr. a singing again). A 
song or discourse recanting a previous one; 
such as that of Stesichorus to Helen after he 
had been struck blind for singing evil of her, or 
Horace’s Ode (Bk. 1, xvi), which ends — 

. . . nunc ego mitibus 
Mutare quero tristia, dum mihi 
fias recentatis arnica 
obprobriis animumque reddas. 

It was a favourite form of versification 
among Jacobean poets, and the best known is 
that of Francis Quarles (1592-1644) in which 
man’s life is likened to all the delights of nature, 
all of which fade, and man too dies. 

Isaac Watts (1674-1748) has a palinode in 
which he retracts the praise bestowed upon 
Queen Anne. In the first part of her reign he 
wrote a laudatory poem to the queen, but he 
says that the latter part deluded his hopes, 

Palinurus (pal i nu' rus) (in English Palinure). 
Any pilot, especially a careless one; from the 
steersman in Virgil’s /Eiteid, who went to sleep 
at the helm, fell overboard and was swept 
ashore three days later, only to be murdered 
as he landed. 

Lost was the nation’s sense, nor could be found. 

While the long solemn unison went round: 

Wide and more wide, it spread o’er all the realm; 

Even Palinurus nodded at the helm. 

Pope: Dunclad , IV, 611. 

Palissy Ware (pal' i si). Dishes and similar 
articles of pottery covered with models of fish, 
reptiles, shells, llowers, leaves, etc., carefully 
coloured and enamelled in high relief; so called 
after Bernard Palissy (1510-89), the French 
potter and enameller. 

Pall (pawl). The covering thrown over a coffin 
is the Latin pallium , a square piece of cloth 
used by the Romans to throw over their 
shoulders, or to cover them in bed; hence a 
coverlet. 

Pall, the long sleeping robe worn by 
sovereigns at their coronation, by the Pope, 
archbishops, etc., is the Roman palla, which 
was only worn by princes and women of honest 


fame. This differed greatly from the pallium 
(<y.v.), which was worn by freemen and slaves, 
soldiers, and philosophers. 

Sometimes let gorgeous Tragedy 

In sceptred pall come sweeping by. 

Milton: 11 Pe riser oso. 

Pall-bearers. The custom of appointing men 
of mark for pall-bearers came to us from the 
Romans. Julius Caesar had magistrates for his 
pall-bearers; Augustus Caesar had senators; 
Gcrmanicus had tribunes and centurions; 
L. /Emilius Paulus had the chief men of Mace- 
donia who happened to be at Rome at that 
time; but the poor were carried on a plain bier 
on men’s shoulders. 

Pall Mall (pal m&l). This fine thoroughfare in 
the West End of London has been so called 
since the late 17th century because it is the 
place where formerly the game of Palle malle 
(Ital. palla, ball; maglio , mallet) was played. 
When first built, about 1690, it was named 
Catherine Street, in honour of ^Catherine of 
Braganza. “Pale malle,” says Cotgrave — 
is a game wherein a round boxball is struck with a 
mallet through a high arch of iron. He that can do 
this most frequently wins. 

The game was fashionable in the reign of 
Charles II, and the walk called the Mall in St. 
James’s Park was appropriated to it for the 
king and his court. 

Palladian. An architectural term for a heavy, 
classic style based on the work of the Italian 
architect Andrea Palladio (1518-80). It was 
introduced into England by Inigo Jones, and 
the Banqueting Hall, Whitehall, is an example 
of his Palladian work. 

Palladium (pa la' di urn). In classical story, the 
colossal wooden statue of Pallas in the citadel 
of Troy, which was said to have fallen from 
heaven, and on the preservation of which it was 
believed that the safety of the city depended. It 
was carried away by the Greeks, and the city 
burnt to the ground; and later it was said to 
have been taken to Rome. 

Hence, the word is now figuratively applied 
to anything on which the safety of a people, 
etc., is supposed to depend. 

The liberty of the press is the palladium of all the 
civil, political, and religious rights of an English man. 
— Letters of Junius: Dedication . 

See also A baton; Ancile; Eden Hall. 

The rare metallic element found associated, 
with platinum and gold was named palladium 
by its discoverer, Wollaston (1803) from the 
newly discovered asteroid, Pallas ; and the 
same name has been given to a place of amuse- 
ment in London, apparently through the mis- 
taken idea that the ancient Palladium, like the 
Colosseum (?.v.), was something akin to a 
circus. 

Pallas. A name of Minerva (#.v.), sometimes 
called Pallas Minerva . According to fable, 
Pallas was one of the Titans, and was killed by 
Minerva, who flayed him, and used his skin for 
armour. More likely the word is either from 
pallo, to brandish, the compound implying 
“Minerva who brandishes the spear,” or 
simply pallax y virgin. 

Pallium (par i um). The square woollen cloak 
worn by men in ancient Greece, corresponding 
to the Roman toga. Hence the Romans called 



Palm 


674 


Pan 


themselves gens togata , and the Greeks gens 
palliata. 

At the present time the scarf-like vestment 
of white wool with red crosses, worn by the 
Pope and archbishops, is called the pallium. It 
is made from the wool of lambs blessed in the 
church of St. Agnese, Rome, and until he has 
received his pallium no archbishop can exercise 
his functions. It is still displayed heraldically in 
the arms of the Archbishop of Canterbury. 
Palm. The well-known tropical and sub- 
tropical tree gets its name from the Latin 
palma t which was a transferred use of palma , 
the palm of the hand, applied to the tree 
because of the spread-hand or open fan-like 
appearance of the fronds. The English palm (of 
the hand) represents M.E. (and Fr.) paume. 

The palm tree is said to grow faster for being 
weighed down. Hence it is the symbol of resolu- 
tion overcoming calamity. It is believed by 
Orientals to have sprung from the residue of 
the clay of which Adam was formed. 

An itching palm. A hand ready to receive 
bribes. The old superstition is that if your palm 
itches you are going to receive money. 

Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself 

Are much condemned to have an itching palm. 

Julius Ccrsar, IV, iii. 

Palm-oil. Bribes, or rather money for bribes, 
fees, etc. 

In Ireland the machinery of a political movement 
will not work unless there is plenty of palm-oil to 
prevent friction . — Irish Seditions from 1792 to 1880, 
p. 39. 

The rich may escape with whole skins, but those 
without “palm-oil” nave scant mercy . — Nineteenth 
Century , Aug., 1892, p. 312. 

Palm Sunday. The Sunday next before 
Easter. So called in memory of Christ’s trium- 
phant entry into Jerusalem, when the multi- 
tude strewed the way with palm branches and 
leaves (John xii, 12-19). 

Sad Palm Sunday. March 29th, 1463, the day 
of the battle of Towton, the most fatal of all 
the battles in the Wars of the Roses. It is said 
that over 30,000 Englishmen were slain. 

Whose banks received the blood of many thousand 

men, 

On “Sad Palm Sunday” slain, that Towton field we 

call . . . 

The bloodiest field betwixt the White Rose and the 

Red. Drayton: Polyolbion, xxviii. 

To bear the palm. To be the best. The 
allusion is to the Roman custom of giving the 
victorious gladiator a branch of the palm tree. 

To palm off. To pass off fraudulently. The 
allusion is to jugglers, who conceal in the palm 
of their hand what they pretend to dispose of 
in some other way. 

You may palm upon us new for old. — D ryden. 

Palmy days. Prosperous or happy days, as 
those were to a victorious gladiator when he 
went to receive the palm branch as the reward 
of his prowess. 

Palmam qul meruit ferat (Let him bear the palm 
who has deserved it) was Nelson’s motto, and 
is^hat of the Royal Naval College. The line 
comes from Jortin’s Lusus Poetici (1748), Ad 
ventos, stanza iv: — 

Et nobis faciles parcite et hostibus, 
Concurrant pariter cum ratibus rates: 

Spectent numina ponti, et 
Palmam qul meruit, ferat. 


Palmer. A pilgrim to the Holy Land who was 
privileged to carry a palm staff, and who spent 
all his days in visiting holy shrines, living on 
charity. 

His sandals were with travel tore. 

Staff, budget, bottle, scrip he wore; 

The faded palm-branch in his hand 
Showed pilgrim from the Holy Land. 

Scott: Marmion t i, 27. 

At the dedication of palmers prayers and 
psalms were said over them as they lay pros- 
trate before the altar; they were sprinkled with 
holy water, and received a consecrated palm 
branch. 

Palmerin (p2F mer in). The hero of a number of 
16th-century Spanish romances of chivalry, on 
the lines of Amadis of Gaul. The most famous 
are Palmerin de Oliva , and Palmerin of 
England. Southey published an abridged trans- 
lation of the latter. 

Palmetto State. The State of South Carolina. 
The palmetto is a fan-leafed palm. 

Palmy. See Palm. 

Paludament (pa IQ' da ment). A distinctive 
mantle worn by a Roman general in the time of 
war. This was the “scarlet robe” in which 
Christ was invested. (Malt, xxvii, 28.) 

They flung on him an old scarlet paludamentum — 
some cast-off war-cloak with its purple laticlave from 
the Praetorian wardrobe. — Farrar: Life of Christ , 
ch. lx. 

Pam (p&m). The knave of clubs in certain card- 
games, also the name of a card-game; short for 
Pamphile , French for the knave of clubs. 

This word is sometimes given as an instance 
of Johnson’s weakness in etymology. He says 
it is “probably from palm , victory; as trump 
from triumph." 

Pain was the usual nickname of the great 
Victorian statesman Viscount Palmerston 
(1784-1865). 

Pampas (p&m' pas). Treeless plains, some 
2,000 miles long and from 300 to 500 broad, in 
South America. They cover an area of 750,000 
sq. miles. It is the Spanish form of Peruvian 
bomba , meaning fiats or plains. 

Pampero, The (p&m pe 'ro). A dry, north-west 
wind that blows in the summer season from the 
Andes across the pampas to the sea-coast. 
Pamphlet. A small unbound book of a few 
sheets stitched together, usually on some sub- 
ject of merely temporary interest; so called 
from O.Fr. Pamphilet, the name of a 12th- 
century erotic Latin poem which was very 
popular in the Middle Ages. 

Pan (Gr. all, everything). The god of pastures, 
forests, flocks, and herds of Greek mythology; 
also the personification of deity displayed in 
creation and pervading all things. He is repre- 
sented with the lower part of a goat and the 
upper part of a man; his lustful nature symbo- 
lized the spermatic principle of the world; the 
leopard’s skin that he wore indicated the im- 
mense variety of created things; and his charac- 
ter of “blameless” symbolized that wisdom 
which governs the worlds , 

Universal Piuji, 

Knit with the Graces and the flours in dance, 
Led on the eternal spring* * 

Milton: Paradise' Lap, IV, 266. 




Pan-pipes 


675 


Panic 


Legend has it that at the time of the Cruci- 
fixion, just when the veil of the Temple was 
rent in twain, a cry swept across the ocean in 
the hearing of many, “Great Pan is Dead,” and 
that at the same time the responses of the 
oracles ceased for ever. See E. B. Browning’s 
po#m of this name. 

Pan-pipes. A wind instrument of great an- 
tiquity, consisting of a series of pipes of 
graduated length, across the upper ends of 
which the player blows, obtair^ing a scale of 
thin, reedy notes. Pan-pipes are associated by 
name and picture with the rural god Pan who, 
according to Greek legend, invented them and 
played them to the nymphs and dryads of the 
mountainside. 

Panacea (p&n 3 se' &) (Gr. all-healing). A uni- 
versal cure. Panacea was the daughter of 
iEsculapius (god of medicine), and the medi- 
cine that cures is the daughter or child of the 
healing art. 

In the Middle Ages the search for the pana- 
cea was one of the alchemists’ self-imposed 
tasks; and fable tells of many panaceas, such 
as the Promethean unguent which rendered the 
body invulnerable, Aladdin’s ring, the balsam 
of Fierabras, and Prince Ahmed’s apple (see 
Apple). Cp. also Achilles’ Spear; Medea’s 
Kettle; etc. 

Panache (pan ash'). The literal meaning of this 
French word ks a plume of feathers flying in the 
wind as from the crest of a helmet. Figuratively, 
however, “panache” is applied to one’s courage 
or spirit, to keeping one’s end up. It is in this 
sense familiar to those who have read or seen 
Cyrano de Bergerac. 

Panama Hat. A light, broad-brimmed hat 
made of the young leaves of Carludovica pal- 
mata , a palm-like tree indigenous to Central 
America. 

Pancake. A thin, flat “cake” made in a frying- 
pan. These pancakes were made from the 
necessity in the past, when conditions of fasting 
were more strict, of using up eggs and fat 
before the beginning of Lent. Shrove Tuesday 
( q.v .), a special day for these, came to be called 
Pancake Day, and the Shrove-bcll the Pan- 
eake Bull. 

Panchsea (pan ke' a). A fabulous land, possibly 
belonging to Arabia Felix, renowned among 
the ancients for the quality and quantity of its 
perfumes, such as myrrh and incense. 

Pancras, St, One of the patron saints of chil- 
dren (cp. Nicholas), martyred in the Dio- 
cletian persecution (304) at Rome at the age of 
13. His day is May 12th, and he is usually 
represented as a boy, with a sword in one hand 
and! a palm-branch in the other. 

The first church to be consecrated in England 
(by St. Augustine, at Canterbury) was dedi- 
cated to St. Pancras. 

Pandarus (pan' da rus). A Lycian leader and 
ally of the Trojans in Greek legend. Owing to 
his later connexion with the story of Troilus 
andCressida, he wasjaken over by the romance 
writers of the MiSdfe Ages as a procurer. See 
Pandeil 

22* t J 


Pandects of Justinian (Gr. pandefetes y all re- 
ceiver or encloscr). A compendium of Roman 
civil law made in the 6th century by order of 
the Emperor Justinian. It comprises 50 books, 
and contains the decisions to which Justinian 
gave the force of law. The story that the copy 
now in the Laurentian Library at Florence was 
found at Amalfi (1137), and gave a spur to the 
study of civil law which changed the whole 
literary and legal aspect of Europe, is not now 
credited. 

Pandemonium (pan de mo' ni dm) (Gr. alt the 
demons). A wild, unrestrained uproar, a 
tumultuous assembly. The word was first used 
by Milton as the name of the principal city in 
Hell. It was formed on the analogy of Pantheon 

fa.v.). 

The rest were all 

Far to the inland retired, about the walls 

Of Pandemonium city and proud seat 

Of Lucifer. 

Paradise Lost, X, 424 (see also I, 756). 

Pander. To pander to one’s vices is to act as an 
agent to them, and such an agent is termed a 
pander from Pandarus , who procures for 
Troilus (q.v.) the love of Cressida. In Much Ado 
About Nothing it is said that Troilus was “the 
first employer of pandars” (V, ii). 

Pandora’s Box (pan dor' a). A present which 
seems valuable, but which is in reality a curse; 
like that of Midas (q.v.), who found his very 
food became gold, and so uneatable. 

Prometheus made an image and stole fire 
from heaven to endow it with life. In revenge, 
Jupiter told Vulcan to make the first woman, 
who was named Pandora (i.e. the All-gifted), 
because each of the gods gave her some power 
which was to bring about the ruin of man. 
Jupiter gave her a box which she was to present 
to him who married her. Prometheus dis- 
trusted Jove and his gifts, but Epimcthcus, his 
brother, married the beautiful Pandora, and — 
against advice — accepted the gift of the god. 
Immediately he opened the box all the evils 
flew forth, and have ever since continued to 
afflict the world. According to some accounts 
the last thing that flew out was Hope; but 
others say that Hope alone remained. 

Pangloss, Dr. (pan' gloss) (Gr. all tongues). 
The pedantic old tutor to the hero in VoltaireS 
Candide , ou VOpttmisme (1759). His great 
point was his incurable and misleading op- 
timism; it did him no good and brought him 
all sorts of misfortune, but to the end he re- 
iterated “all is for the best in this best of all 
possible worlds.” This was an attack upon the 
current theories of J. J. Rousseau. 

Panhandle. In the United States a narrow strip 
of territory belonging to one State which runs 
between two others, such as the Texas Pan- 
handle, the Panhandle of Idaho, etc. West Vir- 
ginia is known as the Panhamtte State. 

Panic. The word comes from the god Pan (q*v\ 
because sounds beard by night m the moun? 
tains and valleys, which gave rise to sudden and 
groundless fear, were attributed to him. There 
aFe various legends accounting for the name; 
one is that Bacchus, in his eastern expeditions. 



Panjandrum 


676 


Panther 


was opposed by an army far superior to his 
own, and Pan advised him to command all his 
men at dead of night to raise a simultaneous 
shout. This was rolled from mountain to 
mountain by innumerable echoes, and the 
enemy, thinking they were surrounded on all 
sides, took to sudden flight. Cp. Judges vii, 
18 - 21 . 

Panjandrum (pan j&n' drOm). A village boss, 
who imagines himself the “Magnus Apollo” of 
his neighbours. The word occurs in Foote’s 
farrago of nonsense which he composed to test 
old Macklin, who said he had brought his 
memory to such perfection that he could re- 
member anything by reading it over once. 
There is more than one version of the test 
passage; the following is as well authenticated 
as any: — 

So she went into the garden to cut a cabbage-leaf to 
make an apple-pie, and at the same time a great shc- 
bear came running up the street and popped its head 
into the shop. “What! no soap?” So he died, and she 
— very imprudently — married the barber. And there 
were present the Picninnies, the Joblillies, the 
Garyulies, and the Grand Panjandrum, himself with 
the little red button a-top, and they all fell to playing 
the game of catch-as-catch-can till the gunpowder ran 
out at the heels of their boots. 

It is said that Macklin was so indignant at this 
nonsense that he refused to repeat a word of it. 

Panope. See Nereids. 

Panopticon (pan op' ti kon). The Royal Panop- 
ticon of Science and Art, in Leicester Square, 
was opened in 1852-53 as a place of popular 
instruction and a home for the sciences and 
music. It was built in the Moorish style and 
awakened great admiration. It failed in its 
original intention, however, and after being 
closed some years was reopened in 1858 as a 
place of entertainment, under the name of The 
Alhambra. For many years this was one of the 
landmarks of London. 

Pan-piper. See Pan. 

Pantables. See Pantofles. 

Pantagruel (p3n ta groo' el). The principal 
character in Rabelais’ great satire The History 
of Gargantua and Pantagruel (the first part pub- 
lished in 1532, the last posthumously in 1564), 
King of the Dipsodes, son of Gargantua (r/.v.), 
and by some identified with Henri II of France. 
He was the last of the giants, and Rabelais says 
he got his name from the Greek panta, all, and 
Arab, gruel , thirsty, because he was born 
during the drought which lasted thirty and 
six months, three weeks, four days, thirteen 
hours, and a little more, in that year of grace 
noted for having “three Thursdays in one 
week.” He was covered with hair at birth, “like 
a young bear,” and was so strong that though 
he was chained in his cradle with four great 
iron chains, like those used in ships of the 
largest size, he stamped out the bottom, which 
was made of weavers’ beams, and, when loosed 
y the servants, broke his bonds into five hun- 
red thousand pieces with one blow of his 
infant fist. When he grew to manhood he knew 
all languages, all sciences, and all knowledge of 
every sort, out-Solomoning Solomon in wis- 
dom. His immortal achievement was his voyage 


from Utopia in quest of the “oracle of the Holy 
Bottle”. 

Wouldst thou not issue forth . . . 

To see the third part in this earthy cell 
Of the brave acts of good Pantagruel. 

Rabelais: To the Spirit of the Queen of Navarre. 

Pantagruelism. Coarse and boisterous buf- 
foonery and humour, especially with a serious 
purpose — like that for which Pantagruel was 
famous. 

Pantaloon. The breeches, trousers, or under- 
drawers of various kinds (now often called 
pants) get their name from Pantaloon, a 
Venetian character in 16th-century Italian 
comedy, a lean and foolish old man dressed in 
loose trousers and slippers. His name is said to 
have come from San Pantaleone (a patron saint 
of physicians and very popular in Venice), and 
he was adopted by the later harlequinades and 
pantomimes as the butt of the clown’s jokes. 

Playing Pantaloon. Playing second fiddle; 
being the cat’s-paw of another; servilely 
imitating. 

Pantechnicon (pan tek' ni kon) (Gr. belonging 
to all the arts). The name was originally coined 
for a bazaar for the sale of artistic work built 
about 1830 in Motcomb Street, Belgrave 
Square; as this was unsuccessful the building 
was converted into a warehouse for storing 
furniture, and the name retained. It is now 
often used in place of pantechnicon van t a fur- 
niture-removing van. 

Pantheism (pan' the izm). The doctrine that 
God is everything and everything is God; a 
monistic theory elaborated by Spinoza, who, 
by his doctrine of the Infinite Substance, 
sought to overcome the opposition between 
mind and matter, body and soul. 

Pantheon (pan' the on). A temple dedicated to 
all the gods (Gr. pan , all; theos , god); speci- 
fically that erected at Rome by Agrippa, son- 
in-law to Augustus. It is circular, nearly 150 ft. 
in diameter, and of the same total height; in the 
centre of the dome roof is a space open to the 
sky. Since the early 7th century, as Santa Maria 
Rotunda, it has been used as a Christian 
church. Among the national heroes buried 
there are Raphael, Victor Emmanuel II, and 
Humbert I. 

The Pantheon at Paris was originally the 
church of St. Genevieve, started by Louis XV 
and completed in 1790. In 1791 the Convention 
changed its name to the Pantheon and decreed 
that men who had deserved well of their 
country should be buried there. Among them 
are Rousseau, Voltaire, and Victor Hugo. 

Panther (earlier Panthera). In mediaeval times 
this animal was supposed to be friendly to all 
beasts except the dragon, and to attract them 
by a peculiarly sweet odour it exhaled. Swin- 
burne, in Laus Veneris , makes use of this tradi- 
tion, but gives it a rather different signifi- 
cance: — 

As one who hidden in deep sedge and reeds 
Smells the rare scent made where a panther feeds, 
And tracking ever slotwise the warm smell 
Is snapped upon by the warm mouth and bleeds, 
His head far down the hot sweet mouth of her — 
So one tracks love, who& breath is deadlier. 



Panther 


677 


Paper 


In the old Physiologus the panther was the 
type of Christ, but later, when the savage 
nature of the beast was more widely known, it 
became symbolical of evil and hypocritical 
flattery; hence Lyly’s comparison (in Euphues , 
the Anatomy of Wit) of the beauty of women to 
a delicate bait with a deadly hook, a sweet panther 
with a devouring paunch, a sour poison in a silver pot. 

The mediaeval idea is reflected in (or perhaps 
arose from) the name, which is probably of 
Oriental origin but was taken from Gr. panther , 
all beasts. 

In Reynard the Fox (q.v.) Reynard affirms 
that he sent the queen a comb made of pan- 
ther’s bone, “more lustrous than the rainbow, 
more odoriferous than any perfume, a charm 
against every ill, and a universal panacea.” 

The Spotted Panther in Dryden’s Hind and 
Panther (1687) typifies the Church of England 
as being full of the spots of error; whereas the 
Church of Rome is faultless as the milk-white 
hind. 

The panther, sure the noblest next the hind, 

And fairest creature of the spotted kind; 

Oh, could her inborn stains be washed away 
She were too good to be a beast of prey. Pt. L 

Pantile. A roofing-tile curved transversely to an 
ogee shape. In the 18th century as Dissenters* 
chapels were — like cottages — frequently roofed 
with these, such meeting-houses were some- 
times called pantile-shops , and the word was 
used in the sense of dissenting. Mrs. Centlivre, 
in A Gotham Election (1715), contrasts the 
pantile crew with a good churchman. 

The Parade at Tunbridge Wells, known as 
the Pantiles , was so called because the name 
was erroneously applied in the 18th century to 
such flat Dutch tiles as those with which it is 
paved. 

Pantisocracy (pan ti sok' ra si) (Gr. all of equal 
power). The name given by Coleridge to the 
communistic, Utopian society that he, with 
Southey, George Burnett, and others intended 
(c. 1794) to form on the banks of the Susque- 
hannah River. 'The scheme came to nothing 
owing chiefly to the absence of funds. 

Pantofles, or Pantables (pan 7 toflz, pun' tab lz). 
Slippers, especially loose ones worn by 
Orientals. 

To stand upon one’s pantofles. To stand on 
one’s dignity, get on the high horse. It was a 
common proverbial phrase from the 16th to 
the 18th century. 

I note that for the most part they stand so on their 
pantofles that they be secure of perils, obstinate in 
their own opinions . . . ready to shake oft' their old 
acquaintance without cause, and to condemn them 
without colour. — Lyly: Euphues , The Anatomy of 
Wit ( 1578 ). 

Richard Puttenham (c. 1520-1601), in his 
Arte of English Poesie (1589), shows how the 
phrase probably arose. “The actor,” he says, 
r ‘did walk upon those high-corked shoes or 
pantofles, which now they call in Spain and 
Italy Shoppini” 

Pantomime (pan' t6 mlm). According to ety- 
mology this shbuld be alf dumb show, but the 
word was commonly applied to an adaptation 
of the old Commedia dell’Arte that lasted dpwp 


to the 19th century. The principal characters 
are Harlequin ( q v.) and Columbine, who never 
speak, and Clown and Pantaloon, who keep 
a constant fire of joke and repartee. This 
once popular pantomime has since devolved 
into a Christmas theatrical entertainment, 
usually based on a nursery tale, e.g. Cinderella , 
Mother Goose , or even Robinson Crusoe , en- 
livened by catchy songs, pretty girls, and con- 
siderable buffooning. 

Panurgc (Gr. pan, all; ergos , worker; the “all- 
doer,” i.e. the rogue, he who will “do anything 
or anyone”). The roguish companion of Panta- 
gruel, and one of tne principal characters in 
Rabelais’ satire. He was a desperate rake, was 
always in debt, had a dodge for every scheme, 
knew everything and something more, was a 
boon companion of the mirthfullest temper 
and most licentious bias; but was timid of 
danger, and a desperate coward. Panurge con- 
sulted lots, dreams, a sibyl, etc., and, lastly, the 
Oracle of the Holy Bottle; and to every one of 
the obscure answers Panurge received, whether 
it seemed to point to “Yes” or to “No,” he in- 
variably found insuperable objections. 

Some “commentators” on Rabelais have 
identified Panurge with Calvin, others with 
Cardinal Lorraine; and this part of the satire 
seems to be an echo of the great Reformation 
controversy on the celibacy of the clergy. 

Panzer (pan' tzer). German term used in 
World War II meaning “armoured”; Panzer 
division, as a term, applied to all the troops in 
or attached to that armoured division, whether 
actually riding in tanks or not. 

Pap. He gives pap with a hatchet. He does or 
says a kind thing in a very brusque and un- 
gracious manner. One of the scurrilous tracts 
against Martin Marprelate {see Marprelate), 
published in 1589, was entitled Pap with a 
Hatchet. 

Papal States or States of the Church, were the 
Italian territories under the temporal sove- 
reignty of the Popes until 1860 when, with the 
exception of the city of Rome and a few out- 
lying possessions, the States were incorporated 
in the Kingdom of Italy. In 1870, with the with- 
drawal of the French garrison that had alone 
enabled the enfeebled Papal government to 
exist, the Italians entered Rome and the Pope,\ 
made himself a voluntary “prisoner” in the 
Vatican. In 1929 the Lateran Treaty was 
signed between the Holy See and Mussolini’s 
Italian government whereby de jure and de 
facto sovereignty was accorded to the Papal 
authorities in the Vatican City, which includes 
the Palace, the church and piazza of St. Peter’s, 
and contiguous buildings to the extent of a 
little under a square mile, with a population of 
some 1000 souls. The Pope’s country seat at 
Castel Gandolfo is also included in the 
Vatican City. 

Paper. So called from the papyrus \ the giant 
water reed from which the Egyptians manu- 
factured a material for writing on. 

Not worth the paper it’s written on. Said of an 
utterly worthless statement, promise, etc. 

Paper blockade. A blockade proclaimed but 
not put into force. 


Paper 678 

Paper credit. Credit allowed on the score of 
bills, promissory notes, etc., that show that 
money is due to the borrower. 

Paper money or currency. Bank notes as op- 
posed to coin, or bills used as currency. 

Paper profits. Hypothetical profits shown on 
a company’s prospectus, etc. 

The Paper King. John Law, the projector of 
the Mississippi Scheme 

To paper a house. In theatrical phraseology, 
to fill the theatre with “deadheads,” or non- 
paying spectators, admitted by paper orders. 

To send in (or to receive) one’s papers. To 
resign one’s appointment, commission, etc., or 
to receive one’s dismissal. 

Paphian (pa' fi &n). Relating to Venus, or 
rather to Paphos, a city of Cyprus, where 
Venus was worshipped; a Cyprian; a prosti- 
tute. 

Papier m&ch& (p&p' yer m&sh' a). Pulped paper 
mixed with glue, or layers of paper glued to- 
gether and while pliable moulded to form 
various articles and ornaments. When dry the 
material becomes hard and strong. Lacquered, 
and often inlaid with riiother o’ pearl, papier 
machd articles were greatly in vogue in early 
and mid-Victorian times. In 1772 Henry Clay, 
of Birmingham, used it in coach-building; in 
1845 it was first employed for architectural 
mouldings, etc. 

Papyrus. See Paper. The written scrolls of the 
ancient Egyptians are called papyri , because 
they were written on this. 

Par (Lat. equal). Stock at par means that it is 
to be bought at the price it represents. Thus, 
£100 stock if quoted at £105 would be £5 above 
par ; if at £95, it would be £5 below par. A 
person in low spirits or ill health is said to be 
“below par.” 

In journalism a par is a paragraph, a note of 
a few lines on a subject of topical interest. 

Paraclete (par' a klet). The advocate; one 
called to aid or support another; from the Gr. 
para-kalein, to call to. The word is used as a 
title of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. 

O source of uncreated Light 
The Father’s promised Paraclete! 

Dryden: Vent, Creator Spiritus. 

Paradise. The Greeks borrowed this word from 
the Persians, among whom it denoted the en- 
closed and extensive parks and pleasure 
grounds of the Persian kings. The Septuagint 
translators adopted it for the garden of Eden, 
and in the New Testament and by early Chris- 
tian writers it was applied to Heaven, the abode 
of the blessed dead. 

A fool’s paradise. See Fool. 

Paradise and the Peri. See Peri. 

Paradise Lost. Milton’s epic poem was pub- 
lished in 12 books in 1667. It tells the story — 

Of Man’s first disobedience and the fruit 
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste 
Brought death into the World, and all our woe 
With loss of Eden. 

Satan rouses the panic-stricken frost of fallen 
angels with tidings of a rumouf current in 
Heaven of a new world about to be created. He 


Paraguay 

calls a council to deliberate what should be 
done, and they agree to send him to search for. 
this new world* Seating himself on the Tree of 
Life, Satan overhears Adam and Eve talking 
about the prohibition made by God, and at 
once resolves upon the nature of his attack. 
He takes the form of a mist, and, entering the 
serpent, induces Eve to eat of the forbidden 
fruit. Adam eats “that he may perish with the 
woman whom he loved.” Satan returns to Hell 
to tell his triumph, and Michael is sent to lead 
the guilty pair out of the Garden. 

Milton borrowed largely from the epic of Du 
Bartas ( 1 544-90), entitled The Week of Creation , 
which was translated into almost every Euro- 
pean language; and he was indebted to St. 
Avitus (d. 523), who wrote in Latin hexameters 
The Creation, The Fall , and The Expulsion from 
Paradise , for his description of Paradise (Bk. I), 
of Satan (Bk. II), and other parts. 

In 1 67 1 Paradise Regained (in four books) was 
published. The subject is the Temptation. Eve, 
being tempted, fell, and lost Paradise; Jesus, 
being tempted, resisted, and regained Paradise. 

Paradise shoots. The lign aloe; said to be the 
only plant descended to us from the Garden of 
Eden. When Adam left Paradise he took a 
shoot of this tree, and from it the lign aloes 
have been propagated. 

The Earthly Paradise. In mediaeval times it 
was a popular belief that paradise, a land— k>r 
island — where everything was beautiful and 
restful, and where death and decay were un- 
known, still existed somewhere on earth and 
was to be found for the searching. It was 
usually located far away to the east; Cosmas 
(7th century) placed it beyond the ocean east of 
China, in 9th-century maps it is shown in China 
itself, and the fictitious letter of Prester John to 
the Emperor Emmanuel Comnenus states that 
it was within three days* journey of his own 
territory — a “fact” that is corroborated by 
Mandeville. The Hereford map (13th century) 
shows it as a circular island near India, from 
which it is separated not only by the sea, but 
also by a battlemented wall. Cp. Brandan, St. 

William Morris’s poem with this title was 
ublished in 1 868-70. In the prologue he tells 
ow a band of Norsemen seek vainly for this 
paradise, and return in old age to a nameless 
city where the gods of ancient Greece are still 
worshipped. In the twenty-four tales of the 
poem, twelve are stories from classical sources 
told by the dwellers in the city to the Norse- 
men ; and the other twelve are tales from Norse 
and other mediaeval sources told by the Norse- 
men. 

Paraguay, The Reductions of, were a Jesuit 
mission in Paraguay established in 1607. 
Basing their rule on the principle that they were 
the guardians and trustees or the Indians, the 
Jesuit fathers established a colony of a mode! 
nature. When the cupidity of the Spanish 
government closed the Reductions and ex- 
pelled the Jesuits, Voltaire, a by-no-means un- 
critical observer, wrote: “When the Paraguay 
mission left the hands of the Jesuits in 1768 
they had arrived at What is perhaps the highest 
degree of civilization to which it is possible to 
lead a young people. , , , Laws were th$r$ 



Parallel 


679 


Plaster of Paris 


— a 

respected, morals were pure, a^happy brother- 
hood bound men together, the useful arts 
flourished, and there was ahundjance every- 
where.” 

Parallel. None but himself can be his parallel. 

Wholly without a peer. The line occurs in 
Lewis Theobald’s The Double Falsehood (1727), 
III, i, a play which Theobald tried to palm off 
on the literary world as by Shakespeare. There 
are many similar sentences; for example: — 
And but herself admits no parallel. 
Massinger: Duke of M Maine, III, iv (1623). 
None but himself can parallel. 

Anagram on John Lilburn (1658). 

Paraphernalia (p&r & f£r na' ly£). Literally, all 
that a woman can claim at the death of her 
husband beyond her jointure (Gr. para, beside; 
pherne, dowry). In the Roman law her para- 
hernalia included the furniture of her cham- 
er, her wearing apparel, her jewels, etc. Hence 
personal attire, fittings generally, anything for 
show or decoration. 

Parasite (par' a sit) (Gr. para sitos , eating at 
another’s cost). A plant or animal that lives on 
another; hence a hanger-on, one who fawns 
and flatters for the sake of what he can get out 
of it — a “sponger.” 

Parchcesi (par che' zi). A game resembling 
backgammon, played mostly in U.S.A. 

Parchment. So called from Pergamum, in 
Mysia, Asia Minor, where it was used for the 
purpose of writing when Ptolemy prohibited 
the exportation of papyrus from Egypt. 

Pardon Bell. The Angelus bell. So called be- 
cause of the indulgence once given for reciting 
certain prayers forming the Angelus ( q.v. ). 

Pardoner’s Tale, in Chaucer’s Canterbury 
Tales , is that of Death and the Rioters , which 
comes from an Oriental source through the 
Italian Cento Novelle Antic he. 

A pardoner was a cleric licensed to preach 
and collect money for a definite object such as 
a crusade or the building of a church, for con- 
tributing to which an indulgence was attached. 

The pardoner’s mitten. Whoever put this 
mitten on would be sure to thrive in all things. 
He that his hondii put in this metayn, 

He shal have multiplying of his grayn, 

Whan he hath sowen, be it whete or otes. 

So that yc oflfre pans [pence} or ellgs grootes. 
Chaucer: Prologue to the Pardoner's Tale. 

Pargetting (par' jit ing). The ornamental 
plaster facing of exterior walls, usually in a 
simple pricked or traced design, and com- 
monly found in Essex. Parget is a plaster made 
of lime, hair, and cow dung. 

Pari mutuel (pa' ri mu tQ el') was the name 
first given to the totalizator, which ensures that 
the winners of a race share the money staked on 
the horses, etc., after the cost of management, 
taxes, etc., have been deducted. 

Pari passu. At the same time; in equal degrees; 
two or more schemes carried on at once and 
driven forward with equal energy, are said to 
be carried on pari passu , which is Latin for 
equal strides or the equally measured pace of 
persons marching together. 


Pariah. A member of the lowest caste of Hindu 
in Southern India, from a native word meaning 
“a drummer,” because it was these who beat 
the drums at certain festivals. 

Europeans often extend the term to those of 
no caste at all, hence it is applied to outcasts 
generally, the lowest of the low. 

Parian. A name given to a fine statuary porce- 
lain manufactured in the mid-19th century, and 
used for small figures, vases, chessmen, jewel- 
lery, etc. 

Parian Chronicle. One of the Arundelian 
Marbles (q.v.), found in the island of Paros, 
and bearing an inscription which contains a 
chronological register of the chief events in the 
mythology and history of ancient Greece dur- 
ing a series of 1,318 years, beginning with the 
reign of Cecrops ( c . 1580 b.c.), and ending 
with the archonship of Diognetus (264 b.c.), of 
which nearly the last hundred years is now 
lost. 

Paris (par' is). In Greek legend, the son of 
Priam, King of Troy, and Hecuba; and 
through his abduction of Helen (q.v.) the cause 
of the siege of Troy. Before his birth Hecuba 
dreamed that she was Jp bring forth a firebrand, 
and, as this was interpreted to mean that the 
unborn child would bring destruction to his 
house, the infant Paris was exposed on Mount 
Ida. He was, however, brought up by a shep- 
herd, and grew to perfection of beautiful man- 
hood. When the golden Apple of Discord (see 
under Apple) was thrown on the table of the 
gods it was Paris who had to judge between the 
rival claims of Hera (Juno), Aphrodite (Venus), 
and Athene (Minerva); each goddess offered 
him bribes — the first power, the second the 
most beautiful of women, ana the third martial 
glory. He awarded the Apple and the title of 
“Fairest” to Aphrodite, who in return assisted 
him to carry oft' Helen, for whom he deserted 
his wife, CEnone, daughter of the river-god, 
Cebren. At Troy Paris, having killed Achilles, 
was fatally wounded with a poisoned arrow by 
Philoctetes at the taking of the city. 

Paris (par' is), the capital of France. So 
called from the ancient Celtic tribe, the Parisii , 
whose capital — the modern Paris — was known 
to the Romans as Lutetia Parisiorum , the mud- 
town of the Parisii. See Lutetia. Rabelais 
gives a whimsical derivation of the name. He 
tells (I, xvii) how Gargantua played a dis- 
gusting practical joke on the Parisians who 
came to stare at him, and the men said it was 
a sport “par ris” (to be laughed at); wherefore 
the city was called Par-’is. 

The heraldic device of the city of Paris is a 
ship. As Sauval says, “L77e de la cite est faite 
comme un grand navire enfonce dans la vase , et 
echoue au fil de Veau vers le milieu de la Seine." 
This form of a ship struck the heraldic 
authorities, who, in the latter half of the 
Middle Ages, ^emblazoned it in the shield of 
the city. 

Monsieur de Paris. The public executioner of 
Paris. 

Plaster of Paris. Gypsum, especially cal- 
cined gypsuriV used for making statuary casts, 
keeping broken limbs rigid for setting, etc. It is 



Paris 


680 


Parr 


found in large quantities in the quarries of 
Montmartre, near Paris. 

Paris-Garden. A bear-garden; a noisy, dis- 
orderly place. In allusion to the famous bull- 
and bear-baiting gardens of that name at Bank- 
side, Southwark, on the site of a house owned 
by Robert de Paris in the reign of Richard II. 
About 1595 the Swan Theatre was erected 
here, and in 1613 this gave way to The Hope. 

Do you take the court for a Paris-garden? — Henry 
VIII, V, iii. 

Parisian Wedding, The. The massacre of St. 
Bartholomew, which took place (Aug. 24th, 
1572) during the festivities at the marriage of 
Henri of Navarre and Margaret of France. 

Charles IX, although it was not possible for him to 
recall to life the countless victims of the Parisian 
Wedding, was ready to explain those murders. — 
Motley: Dutch Republic , 111, ix. 

Parkinson's Law. As satirically promulgated 
by C. Northcote Parkinson in his book with 
that title (1957), it states that the amount of 
work done is in inverse proportion to the 
number of people employed; in other words, 
something similar to the Law of Diminishing 
Returns takes effect. The “law” is directed 
mainly at public administration, but it is aimed 
also at inefficient business administration. 

Parlement. Under the old regime in France, the 
sovereign court of justice where councillors 
were allowed to plead, and where justice was 
administered in the king’s name. The Paris 
Parlement received appeals from all inferior 
tribunals, but its own judgments were final. It 
took cognizance of all offences against the 
crown, the peers, the bishops, the corpora- 
tions, and all high officers of state; and, though 
it had no legislative power, had to register the 
royal edicts before they could become law. The 
Parlements were abolished by the Constituent 
Assembly in 1790. 

Parliament. From the French Parlement {see 
above), from parler , to speak, with the suffix 
•merit, denoting action etc. 

A number of English Parliaments have re- 
ceived special characteristic names, and the 
more important of these will be found in their 
alphabetical places. See , for instance, under 
Addled; Barebones; Convention; Devil’s; 
Drunken; Dunces; Good; Grattan’s; Long; 
Mad; Mongrel; Pensioner; Rump; Useless; 
Wondermaking. 

Parliamentary language, i.e. restrained and 
seemly language such as is required of any 
member speaking in Parliament, is now applied 
to a civil and courteous mode of addressing an 
opponent in an argument. 

Parliamentary Train. By the Regulation of 
Railways Act of 1844 every railway in Great 
Britain was obliged to run at least one train a 
day over its system, at a minimum speed of 
12 m.p.h., calling at every statiop, at a fare not 
greater than Id. a mile. This was repealed in 
1915. 

Parlour. Originally the reception room in a 
monastery, etc., where the inmates could see 
and speak (Fr. parler) to their friends. 

Parlour boarder. A pupil -M a boarding- 
school who lives with the prhfdpal and re- 


: 

ceives extra case and attention. Hence, used of 
one in a privileged position. 

Parlour tricks. Accomplishments that are 
useful in company, at At Homes, etc., such as 
singing, witty conversation, and so on. 

Parlous. A corrupt form of perilous. 

Parmesan (par' me zan'). A dry, hard cheese, 
originally made in Parma, Italy, from skim 
milk and especially suitable for grating. 

Parnassus. A mountain near Delphi, Greece, 
with two summits, one of which was con- 
secrated to Apollo and the Muses, the other to 
Bacchus. It is said to have been anciently called 
Larnassus , because Deucalion’s ark, larnax , 
stranded there after the flood. After the oracle 
of Delphi was built at its foot it received the 
name of Parnassus, which Peucerus says is a 
corruption of Har Nahas (hill of divination). 

Owing to its connexion with the Muses, Par- 
nassus came to be regarded as the seat of 
poetry and music, and we still use such phrases 
as To climb Parnassus , meaning “to write 
poetry.” 

The Legislator or Solon of Parnassus. 
Boilcau (1636-1711) was so called by Voltaire, 
because of his Art of Poetry, a production un- 
equalled in the whole range of didactic poetry. 

Gradus ad Parnassum (Lat. steps to Par- 
nassus). The title applied to a dictionary of 
Latin prosody formerly used in schools for 
teaching the writing of Latin verse. 

Parnassian School. The name given to a 
group of French poets flourishing from about 
1850 to 1890, from a collection of their poems 
entitled Parnasse contemporain (1866). They 
were followers of de Musset, and include 
Leconte de Lisle, Baudelaire, Francois Coppee, 
and Sully Prudhommc. 

In England the group of poets following 
Rossetti and William Morris have sometimes 
been referred to as “the Parnassians.” 

Parody. Father of Parody. Hipponax of 
Ephesus (6th century b.c.). Parody means an 
ode which perverts the meaning of another ode. 
(Gr. para ode.) 

Parole (pa rolO (Fr.). A verbal promise given 
by a soldier that he will not abuse his leave of 
absence or by a prisoner of war that he will not 
attempt to escape. 

Parolles (pa rol' ez). He was a mere Parolles. 
A pretender, a man of words, and a pedant. 
The allusion is to the faithless, bragging, 
slandering villain who dubs himself “captain,” 
pretends to knowledge which he has not, and 
to sentiments he never feels, in Shakespeare’s 
Airs Well that Ends Well . 

Parr. Thomas Parr, the “old, old, very old 
man,” was said to have lived in the reigns of 
ten sovereigns, to have married a second wife 
when he was 120 years old, and to have had a 
child by her. He was a husbandman, born — by 
repute — at Alberbury, near Shrewbury, in 
1483, and died 1635. He was taken to the 
Court of Charles I by the Earl of Arundel in 
1635, and the change of his mode of life killed 




Parsees 


681 , 


Partition 


him. He was buried in Poets’ Corner, West- 
minster Abbey. There is no evidence sup- 
porting his alleged age of 152, but he was 
apparently a very old man. 

Parsees (par sez). Guebres or fire-worshippers 
(q.v.)\ descendants of Persians who fled to 
India during the Mohammedan persecutions 
of the 7th and 8th centuries, and still adhere to 
their Zoroastrian religion. See also Silence 
C Towers of Silence). The word means People of 
Pars — i.e. Persia. 

Parsifal, Parsival. See Percival, Sir. 

Parsley. He has need now of nothing but a little 
parsley — i.e. he is dead. A Greek saying; the 
Greeks decked tombs with parsley, because it 
keeps green a long time. 

Parson. See Clerical Titles. 

Parson Adams. A leading character in Field- 
ing’s Joseph Andrews (1742), often taken as the 
type of the simple-minded, hard-working, and 
learned country curate who is totally ignorant 
of “the ways of the world.’* 

He was drawn from Fielding’s friend, the 
Rev. William Young, who edited Ainsworth’s 
Latin Dictionary (1752). 

Part. A portion, piece, or fragment. 


Tq take part. To assist; to participate. 

To take the part of. To side with, to support 

the cause of. 

A man of parts. An accomplished man; one 
who is clever, talented, or of high intellectual 
ability. 

Parting cup. See Stirrup Cup. 

The parting of the ways. Said of a critical 
moment when one has to choose between two 
different courses of action. The allusion, of 
course, is to a place at which a road branches 
ofT in different directions. 

Partant pour la Syrie (par' tong poor la sir' e). 
The favourite march of the French troops in 
the Second Empire. The words were by Count 
Alexander de Laborde (1810), and the music — 
attributed to Queen Hortcnse, mother of 
Napoleon III — was probably by the flautist 
Philippe Drouet. The ballad tells how young 
Dunois followed his lord to Syria, and prayed 
the Virgin “that he might prove the bravest 
warrior, and love the fairest maiden.’’ After- 
wards the count said to Dunois, “To thee we 
owe the victory, and my daughter I give to 
thee.” The refrain was: Amour a la plus belle; 
honneur an plus vaillant. 


For my part. As far as concerns me. 

For the most part. Generally, as a rule. 

In good part. Favourably. 

Part and parcel. An essential part, portion, 
or element. 

Part of speech. A grammatical class of words 
of a particular character. The old rhyme by 
which children used to be taught the parts of 
speech is: — 

Three little words you often see 

Are Articles, a , an , and the. 

A noun’s the name of anything; 

As school or garden , hoop or swing. 

Adjectives tell the kind of noun ; 

As great , small , pretty , white , or brown. 

Instead of nouns the pronouns stand; 

Her head, his face, our arms, your hand. 

Verbs tell of something being done; 

To read , count , sing, laugh, jump, or run. 

How things are done the adverbs tell; 

As slowly, quickly, ill , or well. 

Conjunctions join the words together; 

As, men and women, wind or weather. 

The preposition stands before 

A noun, as in or through a door. 

The interjection shows surprise; 

As, oh! how pretty! ah! how wise! 

The whole are called nine parts of speech, 

Which reading, writing, speaking teach. 

There is a glaring error in lines 7 and 8, where 
the so-called “pronouns” are in fact possessive 
adjectives. 

Part up! Slang for “hand over,” as in “If you 
don’t soon part up with the money you owe 
me there’ll be trouble.” An extension of the use 
is the old saying (Tusser, 1573), A fool and his 
money are soon parted. 

Till death us do part. See Depart. 

To play a part. To perform some duty or 
pursue some course of action; &lso, to act 
deceitfully. The phrase is from the stage, where 
an actor’s part is the words or the character 
assigned to him. 


Parthenon (par' the non). The great temple at 
Athens to Athene Parthenos (i.e. the Virgin), 
many of the sculptured friezes and fragments of 
pediments of which are now in the British 
Museum among the Elgin Marbles (< 7 .v.). The 
Temple was begun by the architect Ictinus 
about 450 b.c., and the embellishment of it was 
mainly the work of Phidias, whose colossal 
chryselephantine statue of Athene was its chief 
treasure. 


Parthenope (par then' 6 ip). Naples; so called 
from Parthenope, the siren, who threw herself 
into the sea out of love for Ulysses, and was 
cast up in the bay of Naples. 

Parthenopean Republic. The transitory 
Republic 01 Naples, established with the aid of 
the French in Jan. 1799, and overthrown by 
the Allies in the following June, when the 
Bourbons were restored. 

Particularists. Those who hold the doctrine of 
particular election and redemption, i.e. the 
election and redemption of some, not all, of 
the human race. 


Partington. Dame Partington and her mop. A 
taunt against those who try to withstand pro- 
gress. Sydney Smith, speaking on the Lords* 
rejection of the Reform Bill, October, 1831, 
compares them to Dame Partington with her 
mop, trying to push back the Atlantic. “She 
was excellent,” ne says, “at a slop or puddle, 
but should never have meddled with a tem- 
pest.” 

The story is that a Mrs. Partington had a cottage on 
the shore at Sidmouth, Devon. In November, 1824, a 
heavy gale drove the waves into her house, and the old 
lady laboured with a mop to sop the water up. 


B. P. Shillaber, the American humorist, pub- 
lished the Life and Sayings of Mrs. Partington 
(1854), the old lady— like, Mrs. Malaprop — 
constantly misus^ig words.' * # 

Partition of P&laiSd. See Poland. 



Partiet 


682 


Passion Piny 


Partiet, The hen in Chaucer’s Nun's Priest's 
Tale , and in Reynard the Fox ( q.v .). A‘p&rtlet 
was a ruff worn in the 16th century by women, 
and the reference is to the frill-like feathers 
round the neck of certain hens. 
r ' In the barn the tenant cock 

Close to partiet perched on high. 

Cunningham. 

Sister Partiet with her hooded head, alle- 
gorizes the cloistered community of nuns in 
Dryden’s Hind and Panther , where the Roman 
Catholic clergy are likened to barnyard 
fowls. 

Partridge. Always partridge! See Perdrix. 

St. Partridge’s Day. September 1st, the first 
day^f partridge shooting. 

Parturiunt montes (par til' ri ent mon' tcz). 
Parturiunt montes , nascetur ridieulus mus. The 
mountain was in labour, etc. See under 
Mountain. 

ESS*. Person or persons under consideration. 
“This is the next party, your worship” — i.e. the 
next case to be examined. “This is the party 
that stole the things” — the person or persons 
accused. 

As a Victorian colloquialism party was 
synonymous with person , as — “That dull old 
party in the corner.” 

Parvenu (par 7 ve nti) (Fr. arrived). An up- 
start; one who has risen from the ranks. The 
word was made popular in France by Mari- 
vaux’s Pay son Parvenu (1735). 

The insolence of the successful parvenu is only the 
necessary continuance of the career of the needy 
struggler. — Thackeray: Pendennis , II, xxi. 

Parvis (par 7 vis) ( Paravisus , a Low Latin cor- 
ruption of paradisus, a church close, especially 
the court in front of St. Peter’s at Rome in the 
Middle Ages). The “place” or court before the 
main entrance of a cathedral. In the parvis of 
St. Paul’s lawyers used to meet for consulta- 
tion, as brokers do in exchange. The word is 
now applied to the room above the church 
porch. 

A sergeant of lawe, war and wys, 

That often hadde ben atte parvys. 

Chaucer: Canterbury Tales . 

Pasch. Easter, from the Greek form of the 
Hebrew Pesach , passover. 

Pasch eggs. Easter eggs, given as an emblem 
of the Resurrection. 

Pasha (p&sh 7 a). A Turkish title borne by 
governors of provinces and certain military 
and civil officers of high rank. There were three 
grades of pashas, which were distinguished by 
the number of horse-tails carried before them 
and planted in front of their tents. The highest 
rank were those of three tails ; the grand vizier 
was always such a pasha, as also were com- 
manding generals and admirals; generals of 
division, etc., were pashas of two tails ; and 
generals of brigades, rear admirals, and petty 
provincial governors were pashas of one tail . 

Pasbt. See Bubastis. 

Pasiphse (pis' i fe). In Greek legend, a daughter 
of t^e Sun and wife of Mino^King of Crete. 
She was the mother of Ariadne, and also 
through intercourse with a whlte.bull (given by 
Posefapn to Minos) of the Mincftaur (q.v.). 


Pasque Eggs* See Pasch Egos. 

Pasquinade (p£s kwin 5d 7 ). A lampoon or 
politioal squib, having ridicule for its object: 
so called from Pasqumo, an Italian tailor of 
the 15th century, noted for his caustic wit. 
Some time after his death, a mutilated statue 
was dug up, representing Ajax supporting 
Menelaus, or Menelaus carrying the body of 
Patroclus, or else a gladiator, and was placed 
at the end of the Braschi Palace near the Piazza 
Navona. As it was not clear what the statue 
represented, and as it stood opposite Pasquin’s 
house, it came to be called r ‘Pasquin. The 
Romans affixed their political, religious, and 
personal satires to it, hence the name. At the 
other end of Rome was an ancient statue of 
Mars, called Marforio , to which were affixed 
replies to the Pasquinades. 

Pass. A pass or A common pass. At the Uni- 
versities, an ordinary degree, without honours. 
A candidate getting this is called a passman. 

To pass the buck. To evade responsibility. 
An American phrase, coming from the game k- 
poker. The “buck,” perhaps a piece of bucof 
shot or a bucktail, was passed from one 
player to another as a reminder that the 
recipient was to be the next dealer. The 
earliest recorded use of the phrase is by Mark 
Twain in 1872. 

Passing Bell. See Bell. 

Passepartout (pas' par too) (Fr. pass every- 
where). A master-key; also a simple kind of 
icture-framc in which the picture is placed 
etween a sheet of cardboard and a piece of 
glass, the whole being held together by strips 
of paper pasted over the edges. 

Passim (pas' im) (Lat. here and there, in many 
laces). A direction often found in annotated 
ooks which tells the reader that reference to 
the matter in hand will be found in many 
passages in the book mentioned. 

Passion, The. The sufferings of Jesus Christ 
which had their culmination in His death on 
the cross. 

Passion Flower. A plant of the genus Passi- 
flora , whose flowers bear a fancied resemblance 
to the instruments! of the Passion. Cp. Pike. 
It seems to have first got its name in mediaeval 
Spain. 

The leaf symbolizes the spear. 

The five anthers , the five wounds. 

The tendrils , the cords or whips. 

The column of the ovary , the pillar of the cross. 
The stamens , the hammers. 

The three styles, the three nails. 

The fleshy threads within the flowers, the crown of 
thorns. 

The calyx , the glory or nimbus. 

The white tint, purity. 

The blue tint, heaven. 

It keeps open three c(ays; symbolizing the three 
years’ ministry. 

Passion Play. A development of the mediaeval 
mystery play with especial reference to the 
story of Our Lord’s passion and death. The 
best known survival oi such plays, which were 
common in France in the 14th century, is the 
Oberammergau Passion Play which takes 
place every ten years. In 1633 the Black Death 




Passion 


683 


4 * 


Pathfinder 


swept over the village of Oberammergau; 
when it abated the inhabitants vowed to en&ct 
the scenes of the Passion every ten years. This 
has been done at the end of every decade with 
only one or two failures. Though the cast is 
still chosen exclusively from inhabitants of the 
village, the play is no longer the simple ex- 
pression of piety but has become a highly com- 
mercial undertaking, in a special theatre with 
all the embellishments of costume and pro- 
perties and an audience drawn thither from all 
parts of the world. 

Passion Sunday. See JutncA. 

Passionists. Members of the Congregation 
of Discalced Clerks of the Passion of Our 
Lord, founded by St. Paul of the Cross in 1737 
at Monte Argcntoro, an island off the coast of 
Tuscany, for the purpose of giving retreats and 
holding missions. The fathers wear on the 
breast of their black cassocks a heart sur- 
mounted by a cross and the inscription Jesu 
Xpi Passio , worked in white. 

Passover (pas 7 5 ver). A Jewish festival to 
commemorate the deliverance of the Israelites, 
when the angel of death (that slew the first- 
born of the Egyptians) passed over their 
houses, and spared all who did as Moses com- 
manded them. It is held from the 15th to the 
22nd of the first month, Nisan, i.e. about April 
13th to 20th. 

Passport. A safe conduct issued by the autho- 
rities of a nation to its citizens, and required to 
be produced when crossing national frontiers. 
Passports were in wide use by the 18th century, 
but by the mid- 19th century were almost 
obsolete. They were re-introduced with the 
outbreak of World War I in 1914. 

Passy-measures Pavin. See Pavan. 

Paston Letters. A series of letters (with wills, 
leases, and other documents) written by or to 
members of the Paston family in Norfolk be- 
tween the years 1440 and 1486. They passed 
from the Earl of Yarmouth to Peter le Neve, 
antiquary; then to Thomas Martin (1697- 
1771), known as Honest Tom Martin, of Pal- 
gravc, Suffolk; and eventually passed to Sir 
John Fenn, who, in 1787, edited two volumes 
of them as Original Letters written during the 
Reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV, and Richard 
III by various Persons of Rank. In 1872-5 James 
Gairdner re-edited them in three* volumes, 
and included some 500 additional letters 
besides a voluminous introduction and notes. 
The Letters are an invaluable source of infor- 
mation concerning the customs and business 
methods of the upper middle classes of 15th- 
century England. 

Patch. A fool; so called originally from the 
nickname of Cardinal Wolsey s jester, Sexton, 
who got this nickname either from Ital. pazzo , 
a fool, or from the motley or patched dress 
worn by licensed fools. 

What a pied ninny’s this! thou scurvy patch! 

The Tempest, III, if. 

Cross-patch. An ill-tempered person. 

Not a patch upon. Not to be compared with 1 ; 
ps, “His norse is not a patch upon mine.” 


To^patch up a quarrel. To arrange the matter 

in a hot very satisfactory way; a coat that has 
been torn and then “patched up” is pretty sure 
to break out again; so is a quarrel. 

Patent (through Fr. from Lat. patentem ^ lying 
open). Open to the perusal of anyboay. A 
thing that is patented is protected by letters 
patent. 

Letters patent. Documents from the sove- 
reign or a crown office conferring a title, right, 
privilege, etc., such as a title of nobility, or the 
exclusive right to make or sell for a given 
number of years sorrie new invention, So called 
because they are written upon open sheets of 
parchment, with the seal of the sovereign or 

B by whom they were issued pendent at the 
m. 

Patent Rolls. Letters patent collected to- 
gether on parchment rolls. They extend from 
1210, and each roll contains a year, though in 
some cases the roll is subdivided into two or 
more parts. Each sheet of parchment is num- 
bered, and called a membrane', for example, the 
8th sheet, say, of the 10th year of Henry III is 
cited thus: “Pat 10 Hen. Ill, m. 8.” If the 
document is on the back of the roll it is called 
dorso, and “d” is added to the citation. Cp, 
Close Rolls. * 

Paternoster (pftt' £r nos' tgr) (Lat. Ouf 
Father). The Lord’s Prayer; from the first two 
words in the Latin version. Every eleventh bead 
of a rosary is so called, because at that bead the 
Lord’s Prayer is repeated; and the name is also 
given to a certain kind of fishing tackle, in 
which hooks and weights to sink them are 
fixed alternately on the line, somewhat in 
rosary fashion. 

A paternoster- while. Quite a short time; the 
times it takes one to say a paternoster. v 

To say the devil’s paternoster. See Devil. 

Paternoster Row (London) was probably so 
named from the rosary or paternoster makers. 
There is mention as early as 1374 of a Richard 
Russell, a “paternostercr,” who dwelt there, 
and we read of “one Robert Nikke, a pater- 
noster maker and citizen,” in the reign of 
Henry IV. Another suggestion is that it was so 
called because funeral processions on their way 
to St. Paul’s began their Pater noster at the 
beginning of the Row. For over three centuries 
Paternoster Row was the home of publishers 
and booksellers. It was totally destroyed in an 
air raid at the end of December, 1940. 

Pathetic Fallacy. A term coined by John 
Ruskin (1819-1901) to describe the figure of 
Speech that attributes human feelings to 
inanimate objects. 

Pathfinder. One of the names of Natty Bumpo 
(q.v.) in Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking 
Novels (?.v.). It was given to the American 
Major-General John Charles Fremont 0813* 
90), who conducted four expeditions across the 
Rocky Mountains. * ^ 

Pathfinders. In World "V^ar II alfl.AiF. term 
for specially skified pilots and navigators? who 
flew in first and dropped“flares to identiftflhe 
target for fhS benefit of £orc<f 

which followed thfcm* * f* 


Patient Grlsel 


684 


Patroon 


Patient Grisel. See Grisilda. ¥ 

Patmos (pat' mos). The island of the S£orades 
in the jEgean Sea (now called Pat mo ox PatUio) 
to which St. John retired^-or was exiled {Rev. 
i, 9)., Hence the name is used allusively for a 
place of banishment or solitude. 

Patois (pat' wa). Dialect peculiarity, provin- 
cialism in speech. It is a 13th-century French 
word of unknown origin. 

Patres Conscript!. See Conscript Fathers. 

Patriarch (Gr. patria , family; archein , to rule). 
The head of a tribe or family who rules by 
paternal right; applied specially (after Acts vii, 
o) Jo the twelve sons of Jacob, and to Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob and Jheir forefathers. In one 
passage {Acts ii, 29) David also is spoken of as 
a patriarch. 

In the early Church “Patriarch,” first men- 
tioned in the council of Chalcedon, but vir- 
tually existing from about the time of the 
council of Nicasa, was the title of the highest of 
Church officers. He ordained metropolitans, 
convened councils, received appeals, and was 
the chief bishop over several countries or 
provinces, as an archbishop is over several 
dioceses. It was also the title given by the popes 
tcf the archbishops of Lisbon and Venice, in 
6fder to make the patriarchal dignity appear 
distinct from and lower than the papal, and is 
that of the chief bishop of various Eastern 
Tites, as the Jacobites, Armenians, and Maron- 
Utes. 

In the Orthodox Eastern Church the bishops 
of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and 
Jerusalem are patriarchs. Within a religious 
order the title is given to the founder, as St. 
Benedict, St. Francis, and St. Dominic. 

Patrician. Properly speaking, one of the patres 
(fathers) or senators of Rome (see Patres 
Conscripti), and their descendants. As they 
held for many years all the honours of the 
state, the word came to signify the magnates 
or nobility of a nation, the aristocrats. 

Patrick, St. The apostle and patron saint of 
Ireland (commemorated on March 17th) was 
not an Irishman but was born at what is now 
Dumbarton {c. 373), his father, Calpurnius, 
a deacon and Roman official, having come 
from “Bannavem Taberniae,” which was prob- 
ably near the mouth of the Severn. As a boy he 
was captured in a JPictish raid and sold as a 
slave in Ireland. He escaped to Gaul about 395, 
where he studied under St. Martin at Tours 
before returning to Britain. There he had a 
supernatural call to preach to the heathen of 
Ireland, so he was consecrated and in 432 
landpd at Wicklow. He at first met with strong 
opposition, btit, going north, he converted first 
the chiefs and people of«Ulster, and later those 
of the rest of Ireland^ Hfe founded many 
churches, including the* cathedral arid monas- 
tery^ Armagh, where he held two synods. He 
is said to have died ^t^Aifrnagh (c ? 464) and 
to hav£ beeHr buried ^either “aLPowh or SauP- 
though One tradition gives Glastonbury a%4he 
plajr of his^death and burial. Downpatrick 
ratlfedral claims his^supposed^gr%ve whiclnis 
coverda |^lt^«%sive slab of granite, for 
- whicn Insbfrien of every creed subscribed. 


St. Patrick left his name to countless places 
inoreat Britain and Ireland, and many legends 
are told of his miraculous powers — healing the 
blind,' raising the dead, etc. Perhaps the best 
known tradition is that he cleared Ireland of its 
vermin. 

The story goes that one old serpent resisted 
him; but he overcame it by cunning. He made 
a box, and invited the serpent to enter it. The 
serpent objected, saying it was too small; but 
St. Patrick insisted it was quite large enough to 
be comfortable. After a long contention, the 
serpent got in to prove it was too small, when 
St. Patrick slammed down the lid, and threw 
the box into the sea. 

In commemoration of this St. Patrick is 
usually represented banishing the serpents; and 
with a shamrock leaf, in allusion to the tradi- 
tion that when explaining the Trinity to the 
heathen priests on the hill of Tara he used this 
as a symbol. 

St. Patrick’s Cross. The same shape as St. 
Andrew’s Cross (X), only different in colour, 
viz. red on a white field. 

St. Patrick’s Purgatory. A cave in a small 
island in Lough Derg (between Galway, Clare, 
and Tipperary). In the Middle Ages it was a 
favourite resort of pilgrims who believed that 
it was the entrance to an earthly purgatory. 
The legend is that Christ Himself revealed it to 
St. Patrick and told him that whoever would 
spend a day and a night therein would witness 
the torments of hell and the joys of heaven. 
Henry of Saltrey tells how Sir Owain {q.v.) 
visited it, and Fortunatus, of the old legend, 
was also one of the adventurers. It was blocked 
up by order of the Pope on St. Patrick’s Day, 
1497, but the interest in it long remained, and 
the Spanish dramatist Calderon (d. 1681) has 
a play on the subject — El Purgatorio de San 
Patricio. 

Why should aft your chimney-sweepers be Irish- 
men? 

Faith, that’s soon answered, for St. Patrick, you 
know, keeps purgatory; he makes the tire, and his 
countrymen could do nothing if they cannot sweep 
the chimneys. — Dfkker: Honest Whore , Pt. II, I, i. 

The Order of St. Patrick. A British order of 
knighthood, instituted by George III in 1783 
and revised in 1905, consisting of the Sove- 
reign, the Lord Lieutenant (as Grand Master), 
and twenty-two knights. Its motto is Qttis 
Separahit? In 1962 the Order consisted of the 
Sovereign and five knights. 

Patriots’ Day. In U.S.A. the anniversary of the 
battle of Lexington, April 19th, 1775, the first 
battle in the War of Independence. It is a 
public holiday in Massachusetts and Maine. 

Patroclus (pi trok' lus). The gentle and amiable 
friend of Achilles, in Homer’s. Iliad. When 
Achilles .refused to fight in order to annoy 
Agamemnon, Patroclus appeared in Achilles’s 
armour at the head of the Myrmidons, and 
was stain by Hedtor. 

Patroon (pi troonO- An x?ld term for a land- 
owner in New Jersey and New York when they 
tyslongfedto theT>utch v . The patroon had certain 
pianorial ri^tts and privijeges under a govem- 
fnent grant. 



Patter 


685 


Pay 


Patter. To chatter, to clack, also the running 
talk of cheap Jacks, conjurers, etc., is frofri 
Paternoster (q.v,). When saying Mass the priest 
recites it in a low, rapid, mechanical way till 
he comes to the words, “and lead us not into 
temptation,” which he speaks aloud, and the 
choir responds, “but deliver us from evil.” In 
the Anglican Prayer Book, the priest is directed 
to say the whole prayer “with a loud voice.” 

Patter. The patter of feet, of rain, etc., is not 
connected with the above. It is a frequentative 
of pat , to strike gently. 

Pattern. From the same root as patron (Lat. 
pa ter , father). As a patron ought to be an 
example, so pattern has come to signify a 
model. 

Paul. St. Paul. Patron saint of preachers and 
tentmakers (see Acts xviii, 3). Originally called 
Saul, his name, according to tradition, was 
changed in honour of Sergius Paulus, whom he 
converted ( Acts xiii, 6-12). 

His symbols arc a sword and open book, the 
former the instrument of his martyrdom, and 
the latter indicative of the new law pro- 
pagated by him as the apostle of the Gentiles. 
He is represented of short stature, with bald 
head and grey, bushy beard; and legend 
relates that when he was beheaded at Rome 
(a.d. 66), after having converted one of Nero’s 
favourite concubines, milk instead of blood 
flowed from his veins. He is commemorated on 
January 25th. 

A Paul’s man. A braggart; a captain out of 
service, with a long rapier; so called because 
the Walk down the centre of old St. Paul’s, 
London, was at one time the haunt of stale 
knights and other characters. These loungers 
were also known as Paid's Walkers, Jonson 
called Bobadil (q.v.) a Paul’s man, and in his 
Every Man out of his Humour (1599) is a. 
variety of scenes in the interior of St. Paul’s. 

Paul’s Cross. A pulpit in the open air 
situated on the north side of old St. Paul’s 
Cathedral, in which, from 1259-1643, eminent 
divines preached in the presence of the Lord 
Mayor and Aldermen every Sunday. Upon its 
site a new pulpit and cross were erected in 1910. 

St. Paul the Hermit. The first of the Egyptian 
hermits. When 113 years old he was visited by 
St. Antony, himself over 90, and when he died 
in 341 St. Antony wrapped his body in the 
cloak given to him by St. Athanasius, and his 
grave was dug by two lions. His day is Jan. 
15th, and he is represented as an old man, 
clothed with palm-leaves, and seated under a 
palm-tree, near which are a river and loaf of 
bread. 

Paul Pry. See Pry. 

Pavan or Pavto (pa' van). A stately Spanish 
dance of the 16th and 17th centuries, said to be 
so called because in it the dancers, stalked like 
peacocks (Lat. pavones), the gentlemen with 
their long robes of office, andyhe ladies, with 
trains like peacocks’ tails. JThe pavan, like the 
minuet, ended with a quick movement called 
the galliard, a sort of gavotte. 

Every pavan has its galliard. ‘Every safee has 
his moments of folly* Every white must have 
its black, and every sweet its sour. 


Passy-mcasures pavin. A reeling dance or 
motion, like that of a drunken man, from side 
to side. The tipsy Sir Toby Belch says of 
“Dick Surgeon” — 

He's a rogue and a p&ssy-measures pavin. I hate 
a drunken rogu e,— Twelfth Night, V, i. 

The passy-measure was a slow dance/ the 
Italian passcimezzo (a middle pace or step). 
Also called a cinque measure , because it con- 
sisted of live measures — “two singles and a 
double forward, with two singles side.” 

Pawnbroker’s Sign, The. See Balls, The Three 
Goldfn. 

Pawnee (paw' nee). Anglo-Indian for water 
(Hind, pani, water). 

Brandy pawnee. Brandy and water. 

Pax (paks) (Lat. peace). The “kiss of peace,” 
which is given at High Mass. It is omitted on 
Maundy Thursday. 

Also a sacred utensil used when mass is 
celebrated by a high dignitary. It is sometimes 
a crucifix, sometimes a tablet, and sometimes a 
reliquary, and is handed round to be kissed as 
a symbolic substitute for the “kiss of peace.” 

The old custom of “kissing the bride,” 
which took place immediately before the Com- 
munion of the newly married couple and still 
obtains in some churches, is derived from the*. 
Salisbury rubric concerning the Pax in the" 
Missa Sponsalium: — 

Tunc amoto pallio, surgant ambo sponsus et* 
sponsa; et accipiat sponsus pacem a sacerdote, et^jp 
ferat sponsa: osculans earn et neminem alium, nec * 
ipse, nec ipsa; sed statim diaconus vel clericus a 
presbytero pacem accipiens, ferat aliis sicut solitum 
est. 


Pax! The schoolboy’s cry of truce. 


Pax Britannica. The peace imposed by 
British rule. The phrase is modelled on the 
Latin Pax Romana, the peace existing between 
the different parts of the Roman empire. 

Pax vobis (cum) (Peace be unto you). The 
formula used by a bishop instead of “The 
Lord be with you,” wherever this versicle 
occurs in Divine service. They are the words 
used by Christ to His Apostles on the first 
Easter morning. 


Pay, to discharge a debt, is through O.Fr. 
paier, from the Latin, pax , peace, by way of 
pacare , to appease. The nautical pay, to cover 
with hot tar for waterproo^ng, represents Lat. 
picare, from pix, pitch. 1 

Here’s the devil to pay, and no pitch hot. See 
Devil. 


1*11 pay him out. I’ll be a match for him, 1*11 
punish him. * * “ 

To pay off old scores. See §core. 

To pay out, a rope isjo let it out gradually by 
slackerfing itf , “ t( v a. 

To pay with the rolLpf the drum. Noftopay 
at all. No sfeldier cap be arrested fojr debt when 
on Ihe rparch. ’ 7 ' ’ i * ' 

Hdw happy the soldier who lives on his pay, 

And spends half-a-crown qpt*of sixpence a ** 

He cares not fot justices, bekjsjir- — 1 
But pays all his debts witl| t fee 



Pay 


686 


Peacock 


Who’s to pay the piper? Who is to pay the 
score? The phrase may come from the story of 
the Pied Piper ($.v.), who agreed to rid Hamelin 
city of rats and mice, and when he had done so 
was refused his pay. An older and more 
probable derivation goes back to the piper who 
used to amuse guests at inns or on the green, and 
expected his payment for the entertainment. 

You can put paid to that. You can treat it as 
finished, it’s all over, done with. A phrase from 
the counting-house; when “Paid” is put to an 
account it is finished with. 

Pay dirt. A mining term for ground which 
pays for working. 

P.A.Y.E. The initials of Pay As You Earn, a 
system of collecting Income Tax from weekly 
earnings, introduced in Britain in 1944. The 
employer is furnished with a guiding table in 
accordance with which the proper tax is de- 
ducted before wages or salary are paid, and he 
is responsible to the Income Tax authorities for 
the sum thus collected. 

Paynim (pa' nim), from the O.Fr. paienime , 
Lat. paganismus , a heathen, was the recog- 
nized chivalric term for a Moslem. 

Payola. Bribes to “disk jockeys” by manu- 
facturers of musical recordings to induce them 
to broadcast the required records. The word 
Was coined in the U.S.A., apparently in 1959, 
possibly from “pay” and the last two syllables 
of Victrola and Motorola. 

^Peabody Buildings or Dwellings. In 1 843 George 
Peabbdy (1795-1869), a successful American 
dealer in dry goods, set up in London as a 
banker and merchant. He amassed a fortune 
and founded in London the Peabody Dwell- 
ings for workmen and their families. These 
were a great boon to the overcrowded slum- 
4wellers who in the accommodation thus 
Offered them found an opportunity of retaining 
their self-respect and bringing up a family in 
comparative comfort and decent surroundings. 
Peace. A Bill of Peace. A Bill intended to 
secure relief from perpetual litigation. It is 
brought by one who wishes to establish and 
perpetuate a right which he claims, but which, 
from its nature, is Controversial. 

If you want peace, prepare for war. A trans- 
lation Of the Latin proverb, Si vis pacem , para 
bellum. It goes a step farther than the advice 
given by Polonius to his son ( Hamlet , I, iii), for 
you are told, whether you are “in a quarrel” or 
not, always to bear yourself so that all possible 
opposers “may beware of thee.” 

Peace at any price. Lord Palmerston sneered 
at the Quaker statesman. John Bright, as a 
“pcace-at-any-price man.’* Cp. Conchy. 

* ^ftoough not a “peacc-at-any-price” man, I am not 
ashamed to say'I am a peace-at-almost-any-price man. 
—Lord Avebury: The Use of Life , xi (1849). 

Peace Ballot.On Jupe27th, 1935, the J-eague 
of,, Nations Uhion took a national ballot in 
Brit£fii#on certain questions regarding peace 
and disarmament. 11.640,066 votes were re- 
corded jjp favour of adherence f6 the League of 
Nations, and over ten million voted for a 
redaction of armaments. The bpllot was inter- 
jprefedfjby Jthe ^xis powers as a sign of weak- 
ness ijidicatffig thfe unwillingness of the British 


people to go to war in any circumstances and 
this strengthened the determination of Hitler 
to stand out for his territorial and other 
demands. 

Peace in our time. Phrase used by Neville 
Chamberlain, Prime Minister, on his return 
from Munich on September 30th, 1938, when 
he imagined that by giving way to Hitler he had 
averted war. It comes from the versicle in 
Morning Prayer, “Give peace in our time, O 
Lord.” 

* Peace with honour. A phrase popularized by 
Lord Beaconsfield on his return from the Con- 
gress of Berlin (1878), when he said: — 

Lord Salisbury and myself have brought you back 
peace — but a peace 1 hope with honour, which may 
satisfy our Sovereign and tend to the welfare of the 
country. 

It is, of course, much older than this. Shake- 
speare uses it more than once, e.g .: — 

We have made peace 
With no less honour to the Antiates 
Than shame to the Romans. 

Coriolanus , V, v. 

The Queen’s (King’s) peace. The peace of 
law-abiding subjects; originally the protection 
secured by the king to those employed on his 
business. 

To kill an alien, a Jew, or an outlaw, who are all 
under the king’s peace or protection, is as much 
murder as to kill the most regular born Englishmen. — 
Blacks tone's Commentaries , IV, xiv. 

The kiss of peace. See Pax. 

The Perpetual Peace. The peace concluded 
June 24th, 1502, between England and Scot- 
land, whereby Margaret, daughter of Henry 
VII, was betrothed to James IV; a few years 
afterwards the battle of Flodden Field was 
fought. The name has also been given to other 
treaties, as that between Austria and Switzer- 
land in 1474, and between France and Switzer- 
land in 1516. 

To keep the peace. To refrain from disturb- 
ing the public peace or doing anything that 
might result in strife or commotion. Wrong- 
doers are sometimes bound over to keep the 
peace for a certain time by a magistrate; a 
specified sum of money is deposited, and if the 
man commits a breach of the peace during that 
time he is not only arrested but his deposit is 
forfeit. 

Peach. To inform, to “split”; a contraction of 
impeach. The word is one of those that has 
degenerated to slang after being in perfectly 
good use. 

Peacock. By the peacock! An obsolete oath 
which at one time was thought blasphemous. 
The fabled incorruptibility of the peacock’s 
flesh caused the bird to be adopted as a type of 
the resurrection. 

There is a storv that when George III had 
partly recovered from one of his attacks of in- 
sanity his Ministers got him to read the King’s 
Speech, and he ended every sentence with the 
word peacock . The Minister who drilled him 
said tnat peacock was an excellent word for 
ending a sentence, only kings should not let 
subjects hear it, but should whisper it softly. 
The result was* a perfect success, and the pause 
at the close vof each sentence had an excellent 
effect. 



Peacock 


687 


Peculiar 


The peacock’s feather. An emblem of vain- 
glory, and in some Eastern countries a mark of 
rank. 

As a literary term the expression is used of a 
borrowed ornament of style spatchcocked into 
the composition; the allusion being to the 
fable of the jay who decked herself out in 
peacock’s feathers, making herself an object 
of ridicule. 

The peacock’s tail is an emblem of an Evil 
Eye, or an ever-vigilant traitor; hence the 
feathers are considered unlucky, and the super- 
stitious will not have them in the house. The 
classical legend is that the 100 eyes of the 
Argus (see Argus-eyed) slain by Mercury 
were placed in the tail of a peacock by Juno, 
forming its beautifully coloured disks. 

Pea-jacket. A rough overcoat worn by seamen, 
etc.; probably from the Dutch pig or pije , a 
coarse thick cloth or felt. The “courtepy,” the 
short (Fr. court) jacket worn by Chaucer’s 
“Clerk of Oxenford,” is from the same 
word : — 

Ful thredbare was his overest courtepy. 

For he had getten him yet no benefyee. 

Canterbury Tales: Prologue , 290. 

Peal. To ring a peal is to ring 5,040 changes on 
a set of 8 bells ; any number of changes less than 
that is technically called a touch or flourish. 
Bells are first raised , and then pealed. 

This society rung ... a true and complete peal of 
5,040 grandsirc triples in three hours and fourteen 
minutes. — Inscription in Windsor Curfew Tower . 

Pearls. Dioscorides and Pliny mention the 
belief that pearls are formed by drops of rain 
falling into the oyster-shells while open; the 
raindrops thus received being hardened into 
pearls by some secretions of the animal. 

Cardan says ( De Rerum Varietate, vii, 34) 
that pearls arc polished by being pecked and 
played with by doves. 

A pearl is actually a secretion forming a 
coating and repeated so often that it attains 
considerable thickness. It is caused by the 
attempt of many marine and fresh-water 
molluscs to get rid of or to kill a minute worm. 

Cleopatra (^.v.) and Sir Thomas Gresham 
are said to have dissolved pearls in wine by 
way of making an ostentatious display of 
wealth, and a similar act of vanity and folly is 
told by Horace (II Satires , iii, 239). Clodius, son 
of ALsop the tragedian, drew a pearl of great 
value from his ear, melted it in vinegar, and 
drank to the health of Cecilia Metella. This 
story is referred to by Valerius Maximus, 
Macrobius, and Pliny. Horace says, 

Qui sanior, ac si 

Illud idem in rapidum flumen jaceretve cloacam? 

How say you? had the act been more insane 

To fling it in a river or a drain? 

Coni noton’s tr. 

The Pearl Coast. So the early Spanish ex- 
plorers named the Venezuelan coast from 
Cumana to Trinidad; the islands oft this coast 
were called the Pearl Islands. This district was 
the site of large pearl-fisheries. 

Pearl Mosque. In Agra, India; built at the 
order of Shah Jehan, who also ordered the 
more famous Taj Mahal in the same city. 


Peasants’ War, The. The name given to the 
insurrectfons of the peasantry of southern Ger- 
many in the early 16th century, especially to 
that; of 1 524 in Swabia, Franconia, Saxony, 
and other German states, in consequence of 
the tyranny and oppression of the nobles, 
which was ended by the battle of Franken- 
hausen (1525), when many thousands of the 1 
peasants were slain. In 1502 was the rebellion 
called the Laced Shoe , from its cognizance; in 
1514, the League of Poor Conrad; m 1523, the 
Latin War. 

Peascod. Winter for shoeing, peascod for 
wooing. The allusion in the latter clause is 
to the custom of placing a peascod with nine 
peas in it on the door-lintel, under the notion 
that the first man who entered through the 
door would be the husband of the person 
who did so. Another custom is alluded t to by 
Browne — 

The peascod greene oft with no little toyle 
Hee’d seeke for in the fattest, fertil’st soiie. 

And rend it from the stalke to bring it to her 
And in her bosome for acceptance woo her. 

Britannia's Pastorals. 

Pec. Old Eton slang for money. A contraction 
of the Latin pecunia. 

Peccavi (pe ka' vl). To cry peccavi. To acknow- 
ledge oneself in the wrong. It is said that Sir 
Charles Napier, after the battle of Hyderabad, 
in 1843, sent a preliminary despatch with the /. 
single word “Peccavi” (I have sinned, /.e. f 
Sind). 

Pecker. Keep your pecker up. As the mouth is 
in the head, pecker (the mouth) means the 
head; and to “keep your pecker up,” means to 
keep your head up, or, more familiarly, “keen, 
your chin up”; “never say die.” 

Peckham. AH holiday at Peckham — i.e. no 
appetite, not peckish; a pun on the word peck, 
as going to Bedfordshire is a pun on the word 
bed. 

Going to Peckham. Going to dinner. 

Peckish. Hungry, or desirods of something to 
eat. Of course “peck” refers to fowls, etc., 
which peck their food. 

Pecksniff. A canting hypocrite, who speaks 
homilies of morality, does the most heartless 
things “as a duty to society,” and forgives 
wrongdoing in nobody but himself. (Dickens, 
Martin Chuzzlewit.) 

Pecos Bill (pe' kos). A cowboy of American 
legend who performed superhuman prodighesj 
on the frontier in early days. One of his feats 
was to dig the Rio Grande river. 

Pectoral Cross. See Crux pectoralis. 

Peculiar. A parish or church which was exempt 
from episcopal jurisdiction, as a royal chapel, 
etc. Peculiars were abolished in 1849. 

The Court of Peculiars. A branch of the 
Court of Arches which had jurisdiction over 
the “peculiars” of the archbishop of Canter- 
bury. See above. 


Peculiar 


688 


Peine forte et dure 


The Peculiar People. Properly, the*Jews — 
the “Chosen people*'; but taken as a title by a 
sect founded in 1838, the chief characteristic of 
which is that its members refuse all medical aid 
and, as a consequence, are frequently in con- 
flict with the authorities. They have a strong 
belief in the efficacy of prayer; subscribe to no 
.creed and have no recognized preachers or 
clergy. The name is based on Titus ii, 14 — “to 
purify unto himself a peculiar people.” 

% 

Pecuniary. From pecus , cattle, especially sheep. 
Varo says that sheep were the ancient medium 
of barter and standard of value. Ancient coin 
was marked with the image of an ox or sheep. 

Pedagogue (Gr. pais , boy; ageing to lead). A 
“boy-leader,” hence, a schoolmaster — now 
usually one who is pompous and pedantic. In 
ancient Greece the pedagogos was a slave 
whose duty it was to attend his master’s son 
whenever he left home. 

Pedlar is not a tramp who goes on his feet, as 
if from the Lat. pedes , feet. The name is prob- 
ably from the ped, a hamper without a lid 
in which are stored fish or other articles to 
hawk about the streets. In Norwich there is 
a place called the Ped-market, wh$i£ women 
used to expose eggs, butter, cheese, etc., in open 
hampers. 

Pedlar’s Acre. According to tradition, 
a pedlar of Lambeth parish left a sum of 
money, on condition that his picture, with a 
dog, should be preserved for ever in glass in 
one of the church windows. In the south win- 
dow of the middle aisle, sure enough, such a 
picture exists; but probably it is a rebus on 
Chapman , the name of some benefactor. In 
Swaffham church there is a portrait of one 
John Chapman, a great benefactor, who is 
presented as a pedlar with his pack, and in 
that town a similar tradition exists. 

Pedlars’ French. The jargon or cant of 
thieves, rogues, and vagabonds. “French” was 
formerly widely used to denote anything or 
anyone that was foreign, and even Bracton 
uses the word “Frenchman” as a synonym of 
foreigner. 

Instead of Pedlars' French, gives him plain lan- 
guage. — Beaumont and Fletcher: Faithful Friends , 

Peel Tower. A fortified keep, particularly one 
built in the 16th century along the border areas 
of England and Scotland as a defence against 
raids.lt derives from Lat. palus, a stake. 

Peeler. Slang for a policeman ; first applied to 
the Irish Constabulary founded when Sir 
Robert Peel was Chief Secretary (1812-18), 
and afterwards, when Peel as Home Secretary 
introduced the^Metropolitan Police Act (1829), 
to the English 4 " policeman. Cp. Bobby. In the 
16th century the word was applied to robbers, 
from peel (later pill), to plunder, strip of pos- 
sessions, rob? Holinshed, in his Scottish 
Chronicle (1 570), refers to Patrick Dunbar, who 
“delivered the countrie of these peelers.” Cp. 
also Milton’s Paradise Regained , IV, 136: — 
That people . f who, once just, 

Frugal, and mild, and temperate, conquered well 
But govern ill the rations under yoke, 

Peeling their provinces, exhausted all 
By lust and rapine. * 


Peelites was the name given to the Con- 
servative adherents of Sir Robert Peel when he 
introduced a Bill for the repeal of the Corn 
Laws in 1846. 

Peep-o’-Day Boys. The Irish Protestant faction 
in Ulster of about 1786; they were precursors 
of the Orangemen (<?.v.), and were active from 
the period mentioned; so called because they 
used to visit the houses of their Roman Catholic 
opponents (called Defenders) at “peep of day” 
searching for <arms or plunder. 

Peeping Tom of Coventry. See Godiva, Lady. 

Peers of the Realm. The five orders of Duke, 
Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron (see 
these names). The word peer is the Latin 
pares (equals), and in feudal times all great 
vassals were held equal in rank. 

The Twelve Peers of Charlemagne. See 
Paladins. 

Peg. A square peg in a round hole. One who is 

doing (or trying to do) a job for which he is not 
suited; e.g. a bishop refereeing a prize-fight. 

I am a peg too low. I am low-spirited, moody; 
I want another draught to cheer me up. Our 
Saxon ancestors used tankards with pegs in- 
serted at equal intervals, so- that when two or 
more drank from the same bowl no one might 
exceed his fair proportion (cp. Pin — In merry 
pin). We are told that St. Dunstan introduced 
the fashion to prevent brawling. 

Come, old fellow, drink down to your peg! 

But do not drink any farther, I beg. 

Longfellow: Golden Legend , iv. 

To peg away at it. To stick at it persistently, 
in spite of difficulties and discouragement. 

To take one down a peg. To take the conceit 
out of a braggart or pretentious person. The 
allusion here is not to peg-tankards, but to a 
ship’s colours, which used to be raised and 
lowered by pegs; the higher the colours arc 
raised the greater the honour, and to take them 
down a peg would be to award less honour. 
Trepanned your party with intrigue. 

And took your grandees down a peg. 

Butler: Hudibras , II, ii. 

Well, he has come down a peg or two, and he don’t 
like it. — H aggard. 

Pegasus (peg' & sus). The winged horse on 
which Bellerophon (q.v.) rode against the 
Chimaera. When the Muses contended with the 
daughters of Pieros, Helicon rose heavenward 
with delight; but Pegasus gave it a kick, 
stopped its ascent, and brought out of the 
mountain the soul-inspiring waters of Hippo- 
crene ; hence, the name is used for the inspira- 
tion of poetry. 

Then who so will with vertuous deeds assay 
To mount to heaven, on Pegasus must ride, 

And with sweete Poets verse be glorified. 

Spenser : Ruines of Time, 425. 

In World War II the horse, with Bellerophon 
on his back, in pale blue on a maroon ground, 
was adopted as the insignia of all British Air- 
borne troops. 

Peine forte et dure (pan fort 3 dQr). A species of 
torture applied to contumacious felons who 
refused to plead; it usually took the form of 
pressing the accused to death by weights. The 




Peking Man 


689 


Pencil 


following persons were executed in this way: — 
Juliana Quick, in 1442; Anthony Arrowsmith, 
in 1598; Walter Calverly, 1605; Major Strang- 
ways, in 1657; ana even in 1741 a person was 
condemned to this death at the Cambridge 
assizes. Abolished 1772. 

Peking Man, The (Sinanthropos pekinensis ), is 
the name given to a suppositional primitive 
man, based on remains found in caves near 
Peking in 1927. Bones of some forty individuals 
were found, showing considerable resemblance 
to the Pithecanthropos or ape tnan supposed to 
have been in some way connected with primi- 
tive man, Homo sapiens . The date of Peking man 
is about 1,000,000 years ago, but whether he 
was an ancestor of the human race is still a 
matter of conjecture and dispute among an- 
thropologists. 

Pelagians (pe la janz). Heretical followers of 
the British monk Pelagius (a Latinized form of 
his native Welsh name, Morgan, the sea), who 
in the 4th and early 5th centuries was fiercely 
opposed by St. Augustine, and was con- 
demned by Pope Zosimus in 418. They denied 
the doctrine of original sin or the taint of 
Adam, and maintained that we have power of 
ourselves to receive or reject the Gospel. 

Pelf. Filthy pelf. .Money; usually with a con- 
temptuous implication — as we speak of “filthy 
lucre,” or “Who steals my purse steals trash” 

The word is from O.Fr. pelf re , connected 
with our pilfer , and was originally used of 
stolen or pilfered goods, ill-gotten gains. 

Pelican (pci' i kan). In Christian art, a symbol 
of charity; also an emblem of Jesus Christ, by 
“whose blood we are healed.” St. Jerome gives 
the story of the pelican restoring its young ones 
destroyed by serpents, and his own salvation by 
the blood of Christ; and the popular fallacy 
that pelicans fed their young with their blood 
arose from the fact that when the parent bird is 
about to feed its brood, it macerates small fish 
in the large bag attached to its under bill, then 
pressing the bag against its breast, transfers the 
macerated food to the mouths of the young. 
The correct term for the heraldic representa- 
tion of the bird in this act is a pelican in her 
piety, piety having the classical meaning of 
filial devotion. 

The mediaeval Bestiary tells us that the 
pelican is very fond of its brood, but when the 
young ones begin to grow they rebel against the 
male bird and provoke his anger, so that he 
kills them; the mother returns to the nest in 
three days, sits on the dead birds, pours her 
blood over them, revives them, and they feed 
on the blood. 

Than sayd the Pellycane, 

When my byrdis be slayne 
With my bloude I them reuyue [revive], 
Scrypture doth record, 

The same dyd our Lord, 

And rose from deth to lyue. 

Skelton : Armoury of Birdis. 

The Pelican State. Louisiana, U.S.A., which 
has a pelican in its device. 

Pelion (pS' li on). Heaping Pelion upon Ossa. 
Adding difficulty to difficulty, embarrassment 
to embarrassment, etc. When the giants tried to 
scale heaven, thfey placed Mount Pelion upon 


Mount Ossa, two peaks in Thessaly, for a 
scaling ladder ( Odyssey , XI, 315). 

Pell-mell. Headlong; in reckless confusion. 
From the players of pall-mall (#.v,), who 
rushed heedlessly to strike the ball. 

Pelleas, Sir (pel' e Ss). One of the Knights of 
the Round Table, famed for his great strength. 
He is introduced into the Faerie Queene (VI, 
xii) as going after the “blatant beast” when it 
breaks the chain with which it had been bound 
by Sir Calidore. See also Tennyson’s Pelleas 
and Ettare, 

Pells. Qlerk of the Pells. An officer of the 
Exchequer, whose duty it was to makeentrieson 
the pells or parchment rolls. Abolished in 1834. 

Pelmanism. A system of mind and memory 
training originated by W. J. Ennever in the 
closing years of last century, and so called 
because it was an easy name to remember. 
Owing to its very extensive advertising, the 
verb to pelmanize, meaning to obtain good 
results by training the memory, was coined. , 

Pelops (pel' ops). Son of Tantalus, and father 
of Atreus and Thyestes. He was king of Pisa in 
Elis, and was cut to pieces and served as food 
to the gods. The Morea was called Pelopon- 
nesus, the “island of Pelops,” from this 
mythical king. 

The ivory shoulder of Pelops. The distin- 
guishing or distinctive mark of anyone. The tale 
is that Demeter ate the shoulder of Pelops when 
it was served up by Tantalus; when the gods 
put the body back into the cauldron to restore 
it to life, this portion was lacking, whereupon 
Demeter supplied one of ivory. 

Not Pelops’ shoulder whiter than her hands. 

W. Browne: Britannia's Pastorals , II, iii. 

P.E.N. The initials of an international associa- 
tion of poets, playwrights, editors, essayists, 
and novelists. Its principal activity is the 
organization of annual reunions of literary and 
artistic men and women in one or other of its 
national centres. 

Pen. An interesting word evtmologically, for it 
is the Latin pettna , a featner, both of which 
words are derived from the Sanskrit root pet-, 
to fly. Pet - gave Sansk. patra (feather)* this 
became in Cat. penna (Eng. pen), and in O. 
Teut. fethro (Ger. Feder; Dut. veder; Eng. 
feather). Also, in O.Fr. penne meant both 
feather and pen, but in Mod.Fr. it is restricted 
to the long wing- and tail-feathers and to 
heraldic plumes on crests, while pen is plume. 
Thus, the French and English usage has been 
vice versa, English using plume in heraldry, 
French using penne, the English writing imple- 
ment being named pen, and the French plume. 

Pen-name. A pseudonym. See Nom de Plume. 
Penates. See Du Penates. 

Pencil. Originally, a painter’s brush, and still 
used of very fine paint-brushes, from Lat. 
penicillum , a paint-brush, diminutive of peni- 
culus , a brush, which itself is ft diminutive of 
penis, a tail. When the modern pencil came 
into use in the early 17th century it was known 
as a dry pencil or a pencil with black lead^ 


Pend) 


690 


Penny a liner 


Knight of the pencil. A bookmaker;,;^ rer 
porter; also anyone who makes his living hy 
scribbling. 

Pencil of ray*. All the rays that issue from 
one point or can be formed at one point; so 
pallet because a representation of {hem has 
the appearance pf a pointed pencil. 

Pendente lite (penden' ti II' te) (Lat.). Pending 
the trial; while the suit is going on. 

Pett^rtgPP, (pen dr^g' 6n). A title conferred on 
several British chiefs in times of great danger, 
when they were invested with supreme power, 
especially (iji the Arthurian legends) to Uther 
Pendragon, father of King Arthur. The word is 
Welsh pen , head, and dragon (the reference 
being to the war-chief’s dragon standard); and 
it corresponded to the Roman dux bettor am. 

A legend recorded by Geoffrey of Mon- 
mouth relates that when Aurelius, the British 
king, was poisoned by Ambron, during the 
invasion of paspentius, son of Yprtigern, there 
•"appeared a star at Winchester of wonderful 
magnitude and brightness, darting forth a ray, 
at the end of which was a globe of lire in form 
of a dragon,, out of whose mouth issued forth 
two rays, one of which extended to Gaul and 
the other to Ireland.” Uther ordered two 
golden dragons to be made, one of which he 
presented to Winchester, and the other he 
carried w(th him as his royal standard, whence 
he received the title “Pendragon.” 

Penelope (pe nel' 6 pi). The wife of Ulysses 
and mother of Telemachus in Homeric legend. 
She was a model of all the domestic virtues. 

The Web of Penelope. A work “never ending, 
still beginning”; never done, but ever in hand. 
Penelope, according to Homer, was pestered 
by suitors at Ithaca while Ulysses was absent 
at the siege of Troy. To relieve herself of their 
importunities, she promised to make a choice 
of one as soon as she had finished weaving a 
s|iroud for her father-in-law. Every night she 
unravelled what she had done in the day, and so 
deferred making any choice until Ulysses re- 
turned and slew the suitors. 

Penetralia (pen e tra' li &) (Lat. the innermost 
parts). The private rooms of a house; the 
secrets of a family. Properly, the part of a 
Roman temple to which the priest alone had 
access, where the sacred images were housed, 
the responses of the oracles made, and the 
sacred mysteries performed. The Holy or 
Holies was the penetralia of the Jewish Temple. 

PenjpsuteF War. The war carried on, under the 
Puke of Wellington, against the French in 
Portugal and Spain, between 1808 and 1814. It 
was brought about through the French attack 
on Spain and Portugal* and, so far as Britain, 
was concerned, was the most important of the 
Napoleonic Wars. It resulted in the French 
being driven from the Peninsula. 

Penitential Psalms, The seven psalms expressive 
of contrition-r-tf/r. the vi, xxxii, xxxviii, li, cii, 
exxx, cxiiii. From time, immemorial they have 
ail been used at the Ash Wednesday services; 
the first three at Matins, the 5 1st at the Com- 
minahon, and the last three at Evensong. 


Pennant, Pennon. The former— the long narrow 
streamer borne at the masthead of warships— 
is the nautical form of the latter, which was the 
name of the small pointed or swallow-tailed 
flag formerly borno on knights' spears, and 
still carried by lancer regiments on their lances 
and as their ensign. Pennon is from Lat. penna , 
a feather ($ee Pen), and pennant was formed on 
it through a confusion with pendant (Lat. 
pender e x to hang), because it hangs from the 
masthead. It is sometimes, but erroneously, 
taken as representing the “whip’ with which, 
according to the popular story, the English 
admiral was to defeat Van Tromp when he 
hoisted a broom to signify his intention of 
sweeping the ships of England off the seas, 
Pennsylvania Patch is the name given to the 
descendants of the settlers from South-west 
Germany who took up their abode in Penn- 
sylvania in the mid- 18th century. A German 
dialect is still spoken by them in East Penn- 
sylvania. 

Penny (O.E. pening). The English bronze coin 
worth one-twelfth of a shilling — often called a 
copper , because from 1797 to 1860 pennies were 
made of copper. From Anglo-Saxon times till 
the reign of Charles II pennies were of silver, 
and between that time and 1797 none were 
coined, though copper halfpence and farthings 
were. Silver pennies are still coined, but only in 
very small quantities and solely for use as 
Maundy Money (q.v.). The weight of a new 
penny is one-third of an ounce avoirdupois, 
and it is legal tender up to twelve pence. 

The plural pennies is used of the number of 
coins, and pence of value; and the word is 
sometimes used to denote coins of low value of 
other nations, such as in Luke xx, 24, where it 
stands for the Roman denarius. 

A pretty penny. A considerable sum ©f 
money, an unpleasantly large sum. 

A penny for your thoughts! Tell me what you 
are thinking about. Addressed humorously to 
one in a “brown study.” The phrase occurs in 
Heywood’s Proverbs (1546). 

A penny saved is a penny earned (or gained, 
etc.). An old adage intended to encourage 
thrift in the young. 

He has got his pennyworth. He has got good 
value for his money; sometimes said of one who 
has received a good drubbing. 

In for a penny, in for a pound. Another way 
of saying “having put your hand to the 
plough.” Once a thing has been started it must 
be carried through, no matter what difficulties 
arise or what obstacles have to be overcome— 
one is in it and there can be no drawing back. 

My penny of observation {Love's labour's 
Lost, III, i). My pennyworth or wit; my natural 
observation or mother-wit. Perhaps there is 
some pun on penny and penetration. 

No penny, no paternoster. No pay, no work; 
you’ll get nothing for nothing. The allusion is 
to pre- Reformation days, when priests would 
npt perform services without payment. 

Penny a liner. The old name for a coik 
tributor to the newspapers who was not on the 
staff and used to be paid a penny a Uno. As it 




Pentode 


Penny-dreadful 691 


was to his interest to “pad” as much as pos- 
sible the word is still used in a contemptuous 
way for a second-rate writer or newspaper 
hack. 

Penny-dreadful, or -horrible. A cheap boys’ 
paper, full of crude situations and highly 
coloured excitement. “Shilling shocker” is a 
name for a similar article of higher price, but 
no higher literary value. 

A penny-father. A miser, a penurious person, 
who “husbands” his pence. 

To nothing fitter can I thee compare 
Than to the son of some rich penny-father, 

Who having now brought on his end with care, 

Leaves to his son all he had heap’d together. 

Drayton: Idea , X, i. 

Penny farthing. The nickname of what was 
also called the “ordinary” bicycle that came 
into vogue in 1872. The front wheel was much 
larger than the back wheel, sometimes being as 
much as 5 ft. in diameter while the rear was 
only 12 in. The drive was directly on the front 
wheel, the seat being above it and set only 
slightly back from the perpendicular of its 
axle. The penny farthing lasted until the late 
80s, but the Safety, which was introduced in 
1885 and was much on the lines of the bicycle 
now built, ousted it from ordinary use. 

Penny fish. A name given to the John Dory 
(q.v.) because of the round spots on each side 
left by St. Peter’s lingers. 

Penny gaff. A concert or crude music-hall 
entertainment for which the entrance charge 
was one penny. See Gaff. 

Penny-leaf. A country name for the navel- 
wort or wall pennywort (< Cotyledon umbilicus ), 
from its round leaves. 

Penny-pies. A name given to the above and 
also to the moneywort (Sibthorpia europcea). 

Penny Plain, Twopence Coloured. A phrase 
originating in the shop of a maker of toy 
theatres in East London. The scenery and 
characters for the plays to be acted on these 
theatres were printed on sheets of thick paper 
ready to be cut out, the sheets being sold at Id. 
if plain but 2d. each if coloured. 

Penny readings. Parochial entertainments, 
consisting of readings, music, etc., for which 
one penny admission was charged. 

Penny weddings. Weddings formerly in 
vogue among the poor in Scotland and Wales 
at which each of the guests paid a small sum of 
money not exceeding a shilling. After defraying 
the expenses of the feast, the residue went to 
the newly married pair, to aid in furnishing 
their house. 

Vera true, vera true. We’ll have a’ to pay ... a sort 
of penny-wedding it will prove, where all men con- 
tribute to the young folk’s maintenance. — Scorr: 
Fortunes of Nigel , ch. xxvii. 

Penny wise and pound foolish. Said of one 
who is in danger of “spoiling the ship for a 
ha’porth of tar,” like the man who lost his 
horse from his penny wisdom in saving the 
expense of shoeing it afresh when one of its 
shoes was loose; hence, one who is thrifty in 
small matters aria careless over large ones is 
said to be penny wise. 


Take care of the pence and the pounds will 
take care of themselves. An excellent piece of 
advice, which Chesterfield records in his 
Letters to his son (Feb. 5th, 1750) as having 
been given by “old Mr. Lowndes, the famous 
Secretary of the Treasury, in the reigns of King 
William, Queen Anne, and George I.” 
Chesterfield adds — i 

To this maxim, which he not only preached, but 
practised, his two grandsons, at this time, owe the 
very considerable fortunes that he left them. 

The saying was parodied in the Advice to a 
Poet , which goes “Take care of the sense and 
the sounds will take care of themselves.” 

To turn an honest penny. To earn a little 
money by working for it. 

Pennyroyal. The name of this herb ( Mentha 
pulegium ), a species of mint, is not connected 
with the coin, but is a corruption of pulyole 
ryale , from the Latin pulegium , thyme (so called 
from pulex , a flea, because it was supposed to 
be harmful to fleas), and Anglo-French rial, 
royal. The French call the herb pouliot , from 
pou , a louse. 

Pennyweight. 24 grains, i.e. one-two-hun- 
dred-and-fortieth of a pound troy; so called 
because it was formerly the same proportion of 
the old “Tower pound” (i.e. 22\ grains), which 
was the exact weight of a new silver penny. 

Pension. Etymologically, that which is weighed 
out (Lat. pensionem , payment; from pendere , to 
weigh, also to pay, because payment was 
originally weighed out. Cp. our pound , both a 
weight and a piece of money). 

Pension, a boarding-house (to live en 
pension , i.e. as a boarder), though now pro- 
nounced and treated as though French, was, in 
the 17th century, ordinary English; this use 
arose because pension was the term for aiw 
regular payment made for services rendered, 
such as payment for board and lodging. 

Pensioner. The counterpart at Cambridge of 
the Oxford commoner, i.e. an under- 
graduate who pays for his own commons, etc.,, 
and is neither a sizar nor on the foundation of 
a college. 

At the Inns of Court the pensioner is the 
officer who collects the periodical payments 
made by the members for the upkeep of the 
Inn. 

Gentlemen Pensioners. The old name for the 
members of the Honourable Corps of Gentle- 
men-at-arms (q.v.). 

The Pensioner (or Pensionary) Parliament. 
That from May 8th, 1661, to Jan. 24th, 1679; 
convened by Charles II, and so called because 
of the many pensions it granted to adherents of 
the king. 

Pentacle (pen' t&kl). A five-pointed star, or 
five-sided figure, used in sorcery as a talisman 
against witches, etc., and sometimes worn as a 
folded headdress of fine linen, as a defence 
against demons in the act of conjuration. It is 
also called the Wizard’s Foot, and Solomon’s 
Seal (signum Salamonis ), and is supposed to 
typify the five senses, though, as it resolves 
itself into three triangles, its efficacy may 
spring from its being a triple symbol of the 
Trinity. 


Pentagon 


692 


Perceforest 


And on her head, lest spirits should invade, 

A pentacle, for more assurance, laid. 

Rose: Orlando Furioso, III, xxi. 
The Holy Pentacles numbered forty-four, of 
which seven were consecrated to each of the 
planets Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and the Sun; 
five to both Venus and Mercury; and six to the 
Moon. The divers figures were enclosed in a 
double Circle, containing the name of God in 
Hebrew, and other mystical words. 

Pentagon (pen' ta gon). A vast five-sided 
building erected in Washington, D.C., to 
house government officials. It now houses the 
U.S. Department of Defense, and the word 
Pentagon is a synonym for the official American 
attitude in military matters. 

Pentameron (pen tarn' er on). A collection of 
stories written in the Neapolitan dialect in 
1672 by Giovanni Battista Basile. It is modelled 
on the Decameron but consists of five days of 
ten stories each and was based on — in some 
instances was the foundation of — French 
fairy tales. 

The Pentameron (1837) of Walter Savage 
Landor (177,5-1864) was a collection of five 
long imaginary conversations. 

Pentameter (pen tarn' e ter). In prosody, a line 
of five feet, dactyls or spondees divided by a 
caesura into two parts of two and a half feet 
each — the line used in alternation with the 
hexameter (q.v.) in Latin elegiac verse. The 
name is sometimes wrongly applied to the 
English five-foot iambic line. 

In the hexameter rises the fountain’s silvery column, 
In the pentameter aye falling in melody back. 

Coleridge: Example of Elegiac metre . 

Pentateuch (pen' ta tuk). The first five books of 
the Old Testament, anciently attributed to 
Moses. (Gr. penta , five; teuchos , a tool, book.) 

The Samaritan Pentateuch. The Hebrew text 
as preserved by the Samaritans; it is said to 
date from 400 b.c. 

Pentathlon (pen tatlT Ion). An athletic contest 
of five events, usually the running broad jump, 
javelin throw, 200-metre race, discus throw, 
and 1,500-metre flat race. 

Pentecost (pen' te kost) (Gr. pentecoste , 
fiftieth). The festival held by the Jews on the 
fiftieth day after the second day of the Pass- 
over; our Whit Sunday, which commemorates 
the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles 
on the Day of Pentecost {Acts ii). 

Penthesilea (pen the sil e' a). Queen of the 
Amazons who, in the post-Homeric legends, 
fought for Troy; she was slain by Achilles. 
Hence, any strong, commanding woman; Sir 
Toby Belch, in Twelfth Night (II, iii), calls 
Maria by this name. 

Pent-house. Originally any smaller building 
with a sloping roof erected against the wall of a 
hohse, the word has now become associated 
chiefly with the dwelling houses built on the 
roofs of skyscrapers, etc., above the main roof 
line, but recessed behind the main wall line. 

Peony (pe' o ni). So called, according to fable, 
from Paeon, the physician who cured the 
wounds received by the gods in the Trojan war. 


^he seeds were, at one time, worn round the 
neck as a charm against the powers of dark- 
ness. 

About an Infant’s neck hang Peonie, 

It cures Alcydes cruell Maladie. 

Sylvester's Du Bartas , I, iii, 712. 

People. People of God. See Shakers. 

Peoples’ Charter. See Chartism. 

Pepper. To pepper one well. To give one a good 
basting or thrashing. 

To take pepper i’ the nose. To take offence. 
The French have a similar locution, La 
moutarde lui monte an nez . 

Take you pepper in the nose, you mar our sport. — 
Middleton: The Spanish Gipsy, IV, iii. 

When your daughter is stolen close Pepper 
Gate. Pepper Gate used to be on the east side 
of the city of Chester. It is said that the 
daughter of the mayor eloped, and the mayor 
ordered the gate to be closed up. “Lock the 
stable-door when the steed is stolen.” 

Pepper-and-salt. A light grey colour, espe- 
cially applied to cloth for dresses. 

Peppercorn Rent. A nominal rent. A pepper- 
berry is of no appreciable value, and given as 
rent is a simple acknowledgment that the tene- 
ment virtually belongs to the person by whom 
the peppercorn is given, though the freehold 
belongs to him who receives it. 

Cowper makes a figurative use of the 
custom — 

True. While they live, the courtly laureate pays 

His quit-rent ode, his pepper-corn of praise. 

Table-talk, 110. 

Pepperpot. A stew of tripe, dumplings, and 
vegetables, originating in Philadelphia. 

Per contra (per kon' tra) (Lat.). A commercial 
term for on the opposite side of the account. 
Used also of arguments, etc. Per saltum (Lat. 
by a leap). A promotion or degree given with- 
out going over the ground usually prescribed. 
Thus, a clergyman on being made a bishop may 
have the degree of D.D. given him per saltum 
— i.e. without taking the B.D. degree, and 
waiting the usual period. 

Perambulator. A wooden wheel which, when 
pushed along by a man on foot, records 
exactly the distance travel s?d. Such appara- 
tuses were used by the employees of John 
Cary in the production of the first accurate 
Itinerary of the Great Roads of England and 
Wales (1798). The name, usually abbreviated 
“pram,” has been attached to the vehicle in 
which babies are taken for walks. 

Perceforest (pers' for est). An early 14th- 
century French prose romance (said to be the 
longest in existence), belonging to the 
Arthurian cycle, but mingling with it the 
Alexander romance. After Alexander’s war in 
India he comes to England, of which he makes 
Perceforest, one of his knights, king. The 
romance tells how Perceforest establishes the 
Knights of the Franc Palais, how his grandson 
brings the Grail to England, and includes many 
popular tales, such as that of the Sleeping 
Beauty. 



Percival 


693 


Peri 


Percival, Sir (per' si v&l). The Knight of the 
Round Table who, according to Malory’s 
Morte d' Arthur (and Tennyson’s Idylls of the 
King), finally won a sight of the Holy Grail 
(q.v.). He was the son of Sir Pellinore and 
brother of Sir Lamerocke. In the earlier 
French romances — based probably on the 
Welsh Mabinogion and other Celtic originals — 
he has no connexion with the Grail, but here 
(as in the English also) he sees the lance drip- 
ping blood, and the severed head surrounded 
by blood in a dish. The French version of the 
romance is by Chretien de Troyes (12th cen- 
tury), which formed the basis of Sebastian 
Evans’s The High History of the Holy Graal 
(1893). The German version, Parsifal or Parzi- 
val, was written some 50 years later by Wolf- 
ram von Eschenbach, and it is principally on 
this version that Wagner drew for his opera, 
Parsifal (1882). 

Percy. When Malcolm III of Scotland invaded 
England, and reduced the castle of Alnwick, 
Robert de Mowbray brought to him the keys 
of the castle suspended on his lance; and, 
handing them from the wall, thrust his lance 
into the king’s eye; from which circumstance, 
the tradition says, he received the name of 
“Pierce-eye,” which has ever since been borne 
by the Dukes of Northumberland. 

This is all a fable. The Percies are descended from a 
great Norman baron, who came over with William, 
and who took his name from his castle and estate in 
Normandy. — Scorr: Talcs of a Grandfather , iv. 

Perdita (per' di ta). In A Winter's Tale , the 
daughter of Leontes and Hcrmione of Sicily. 
She was abandoned by order of her father, and 
put in a vessel which drifted to “the sea-coast 
of Bohemia,” where the infant was discovered 
by a shepherd, who brought her up as his own 
daughter. In time Florizel, the son and heir of 
the Bohemian king Polixcnes, fell in love with 
the supposed shepherdess. The match was for- 
bidden by Polixenes, and the young lovers fled 
to Sicily. Here the story is cleared up, and all 
ends happily in the restoration of the lost (Fr. 
perdue) Perdita to her parents, and her marriage 
with Florizel. 

Mrs. Robinson, the actress and mistress of 
George IV when Prince of Wales, was specially 
successful in the part of Perdita, and she 
assumed this name, the Prince being known as 
Florizel. 

Perdrix, toujours perdrix (par' dre too zhoor 
par' dre). Too much of the same thing. Wal- 
pole tells us that the confessor of one of the 
French kings reproved him for conjugal in- 
fidelity, and was asked by the king what he 
liked best. “Partridge,” replied the priest, and 
the king ordered him to be served with part- 
ridge every day, till he quite loathed the sight of 
his favourite dish. After a time, the king visited 
him, and hoped he had been well served, when 
the confessor replied, Mat's oui , perdrix , tou- 
iours perdrix. “Ah! ah!” replied the amorous 
monarch, “and one mistress is all very well, 
but not * perdrix , toujours perdrix .’ ” 

Soup for dinner, soup for supper, and soup for 
breakfast again. — Farquhar: The Inconstant , IV, ii. 

Pfere Lachaise (paria shaz). This great Parisian 
cemetery is on tne site of a religious settlement 


founded by the Jesuits in 1626, and later en- 
larged by Louis XIV’s confessor, Pdre La- 
chaise. After the Revolution, the grounds were 
laid out for their present purpose, and were 
first used in May, 1804. 

Peregrine Falcon. A falcon of wide distribu- 
tion, formerly held in great esteem for hawk- 
ing, and so called (13th century) because taken 
when on their passage or peregrination , from 
the breeding place, instead of straight off the 
nest, as was the case with most other hawks 
(Lat. peregrinus , a foreigner, one coming from 
foreign parts). 

Dame Juliana Berners in the Booke of St. 
Albans ( see Hawk) tells us that the peregrine 
was for an earl. The hen is the falcon of fal- 
coners; the cock the tercel. 

The word was formerly used as synonymous 
with pilgrim , and (adjectivally) for one travel- 
ling abroad. 

Perfect. Perfect number. One of which the 
sum of all its divisors exactly measures itself, as 
6, the divisors of which are 1, 2, 3 = 6. These 
are very scarce; indeed, from 1 to forty million 
there are only seven, viz. 6, 28, 496, 8,128, 
130,816, 2,096,128, and 33,550,336. 

Perfect rhyme is a rhyme of two words pro- 
nounced and often spelled alike but with dif- 
ferent meanings, as “rain” and “reign,” 
“thyme” and “time.” 

Perfectionists. Members of a communistic 
sect founded by J. H. Noyes (1811-86) in Ver- 
mont about 1834, and removed by him and 
settled at Oneida, New York, 1847-8. Its chief 
features were that the community was held to 
be one family, mutual criticism and public 
opinion took the place of government, and 
wives were — theoretically, at least — held in 
common, till 1879, when, owing to opposition, 
this was abandoned. In 1881 the sect, which 
had prospered exceedingly through its thrift 
and industry, voluntarily dissolved and was 
reorganized as a joint-stock company. 

Perfume means simply “from smoke” (Lat. per 
fu mum), the first perfumes having been ob- 
tained by the combustion of aromatic woods 
and gums. Their original use was in sacrifices, 
to counteract the offensive odours of the burn- 
ing flesh. 

Peri (pe' ri). Originally, a beautiful but male- 
volent sprite of Persian myth, one of a class 
which was responsible for comets, eclipses, 
failure of crops, *etc.; in later times applied to 
delicate, gentle, fairy-like beings, begotten by 
fallen spirits who direct with a wand the pure 
in mind the way to heaven. These lovely 
creatures, according to the Koran, are under 
the sovereignty of Eblis; and Mohammed was 
sent for their conversion, as well as for that of 
man. 

The name used sometimes to be applied to 
any beautiful, fascinating girl. 

Paradise and the Peri. The second tale in 
Moore’s Lalla Rookh. The Peri laments her 
expulsion from heaven, and is told she will be 
readmitted if she will bring to the gate of 
heaven the “gift most dear to the Almighty.” 
After a number of unavailing offerings she 
brought a guilty old man, who wept with re- 




Pericles 


694 


Perseus 


pentance, and knelt to pray. The Peri offered 
the Repentant Tear , and the gates flew open. 

Pericles, Prince of Tyre (per' i klez). According 
to Sir Sidney Lee, the greater portion of this 
play, which was ascribed to Shakespeare in all 
the Quartos (1st, 1608), but was not admitted 
to the collected works before the Third Folio 
(1664), was by George Wilkins, author of The 
Miseries of Inforst Marriage (1607), etc. The 
original story was the work of a late Greek 
romance writer and was extremely popular in 
mediaeval times. The hero was Apollonius of 
Tyre, and under this name the story occurs in 
the Gesta Romanorum , Gower’s Confessio 
Amantis (Bk. VIII), and elsewhere. 

PeriUos and the Brazen Bull. See under Inven- 
tors. 

Perilous Castle. The castle of “the good” Lord 
Douglas was so called in the reign of Edward I, 
because Douglas destroyed several English gar- 
risons stationed there, and vowed to be re- 
venged on anyone who should dare to take 
possession of it. Scott calls it “Castle Dan- 
gerous” (see Introduction of Castle Dan- 
gerous). 

Peripatetic School (per i pa tet' ik). The school 
or system of philosophy founded by Aristotle, 
who used to walk about (Gr. peri , about; 
patein , to walk) as he taught his disciples in the 
covered walk of the Lyceum. This colonnade 
was called the peripatos. 

Periphrasis (pe rif' ra sis). The rhetorical term 
for using more words than are necessary in an 
explanation or description. A fair example is: 
“Persons prejudicial to the public peace may be 
assigned by administrative process to definite 
places of residence,” i.e. breakers of the law 
may be sent to gaol. 

Perissa (per is' a). The typification of excessive 
exuberance of spirits in Spenser’s Faerie 
Queene (II, ii). She was the mistress of Sansloy 
and a step-sister of Elissa (^.v.). 

In wine and meats she flowed above the bank, 

And in excess exceeded her own might; 

In sumptuous tire she joyed herself to prank, 

But of her love too lavish. 

Faerie Queene, II, ii, 26. 

Periwig. See Peruke. 

Periwinkle. The plant gets its name from Lat. 
pervinta , which may mean either to conquer 
completely or to bind around, but why it 
should have received this name is unknown, 
though it may earlier have been applied to 
some climbing plant. In Italy it used to be 
wreathed round dead infants, and hence its 
Italian name, fiore di morto. 

The sea-snail of this name was called in O.E. 
pinewinkle , the first syllable probably being 
cognate with Lat. pina, a mussel, and winkle 
from O.E. wincel , a corner, with reference to its 
much convoluted shell. 

Perk. The derivation of the word is unknown, 
but as it is first met with (14th century) in con- 
nexion with the popinjay (parrot) it may have 
something to do with perch , the parrot bearing 
itself on its perch in a perky or jaunty way; and 
in some instances (e.g. “The eagle and the dove 
pearke not on one branch,” Greene’s Peri- 
medes , and “Caesar’s crowe durst never cry Ave 


but when she was pearked on the Capitoll,” 
Greene’s Pandosto) it is not always easy to dif- 
ferentiate the two meanings. 

To perk up. To get more lively, to feel better. 

Permian Strata (pgr' mi &n). The uppermost 
strata of the Palaeozoic series, consisting chiefly 
of red sandstone and magnesian limestone, 
which rest on the carboniferous strata; so 
called by Sir Roderick Murchison (1841) from 
Perm, in Russia, where they are most distinctly 
developed. 

Perpetual Motion. The term applied to some 
theoretical force that will move a machine for- 
ever of itself — a mirage which holds attractions 
for some minds much as did the search for the 
philosophers’ stone, the elixir of life, and the 
fountain of perpetual youth in less enlightened 
times. 

It is quite possible, theoretically, at least, to 
eliminate all friction, air resistance, and wear 
and tear, and if this were done a body to which 
motion had been given would, unless inter- 
fered with, retain it for ever; but only on the 
condition that it were given no work to do; once 
connect the ideal spinning top with a wheel or 
crank and the spin would inevitably come to an 
end. 

Persecutions, The Ten Great. (1) Under Nero, 
a.d. 64; (2) Domitian, 95; (3) Trajan, 98; (4) 
Hadrian, 118; (5) Pertinax, 202, chiefly in 
Egypt; (6) Maximin, 236; (7) Decius, 249; (8) 
Valerian, 257; (9) Aurelian, 272; (10) Dio- 
cletian, 302. 

These were all persecutions of Christians, 
but Christians have persecuted each other 
until they learned, very slowly, to tolerate each 
other’s differing conceptions of Christianity. 
See Albigenses; Bartholomew; Dragon- 
nards; Huguenot; Inquisition; Walden- 
sians, etc. 

Secular authority has been equally guilty of 
persecution against secular, generalv political, 
factions. Jews particularly, for religious and 
other reasons, have been persecuted in all parts 
of Europe throughout their history. The worst 
of all their persecutions was under the Nazi 
regime, when possibly over ten million of them 
perished. Jn Communist regimes political 
opponents, deviationists, and those who have 
fallen out of favour are persecuted. 

Persepolis (per sep' o lis). The capital of the 
ancient Persian empire. It was situated some 
35 miles NE. of Shirar. The palaces and other 
public buildings were some miles from the city, 
and were approached by magnificent flights of 
steps. 

Perseus (per' sus). In Greek legend, the hero 
son of Zeus and Danae ( q.v .). He and his 
mother were set adrift in a chest, but were 
rescued through the intervention of Zeus, and 
he was brought up by King Polydectes, who, 
wishing to marry his mother, got rid of him by 
giving him the almost hopeless task of obtain- 
ing the head of Medusa (q.v.). He, with the 
help of the gods, was successful, and with the 
head (which turned all that looked on it to 
stone) he rescued Andromeda (q.v.), and later 
metamorphosed Polydectes ana his guests to 
stone. * 



Person 


695 


Peter’s Pence 


Before his birth an oracle had foretold that 
Acrisius, Danae’s father, would be slain by + 
Danae’s son; and this came to pass, for, whild 
taking part in the games at Larissa, Perseus 
accidentally slew his grandfather with a discus. 

Person* From Lat. persona , which meant 
originally a mask worn by actors (perhaps from 
per sonare , to sound through), and later was 
transferred to the character or personage re- 
presented by the actor ( cp . our dramatis per - 
some ), and so to any human being in his 
definite character, at which stage the word was 
adopted in English through the O.Fr. persorte. 

Confounding the Persons. The heresy of 
Sabellius (see Sabellianism), who declared that 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost were but three 
names, aspects, or manifestations of one God, 
the orthodox doctrine being that of the Atha- 
nasian Creed — 

We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in 
Unity; Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing 
the Substance (Neque confundentes personas, neque 
substantiam separantes). 

Persona grata (Lat.). An acceptable person; 
one liked. The phrase is sometimes used (in the 
negative) in connexion with diplomatic repre- 
sentatives who are not acceptable, for one 
reason or another, to the countries to which 
they are accredited. 

Perth is Celtic for a bush. The county of Perth 
is the county of bushes. 

The Five Articles of Perth. Those passed in 
1618 by order of James VI, enjoining the 
attitude of kneeling to receive the elements; the 
observance of Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, 
and Pentecost; the rite of confirmation, etc. 
They were ratified August 4th, 1621, called 
Black Saturday , and condemned in the General 
Assembly of Glasgow in 1638. 

Peru (per oo')* From China to Peru. From one 
end of the world to the other; world-wide. 
Equivalent to the biblical “from Dan to Beer- 
sheba.” The phrase comes from the opening of 
Johnson’s Vanity of Human Wishes— 

Let observation with extensive view 
Survey mankind from China to Peru. 

Boileau (Sat. viii, 3) had previously writ- 
ten : — 

De Paris au P6rou, du Japon jupqu’fc Rome. 

Peruvian Bark, called also Jesuit’s Bark, 
because it was introduced into Spain by the 
Jesuits. “Quinine,” from the same tree, is called 
by the Indians quinquina. See Cinchona. 

Peruke (per Ok') (Fr. perruque , the origin of 
which is unknown though the word has been 
conjecturally derived from Lat. pilus y hair). The 
wigs are first mentioned in the 16th century; in 
the next century they became very large, and 
the fashion began to wane in the reign of 
George III. Periwig , which has been further 
corrupted into wig y is a corrupt form of 
peruke . 

Petard (petardO- Hoist with his own petard. 
Beaten with his own weapons, caught in his 
own trap ; involved in the danger intended for 
others, as were many designers of instruments 
of torture. See, list under Inventors. The 
petard was a tmek iron engine of war, filled 


with gunpowder, and fastened to gates, bar- 
ricades, and so on, to blow them up. The 
danger was lest the engineer who fired the 
petard should be blown up in the explosion. 

Let it work; 

For ’tis the sport, to have the engineer 

Hoist with his own petard; and it shall go hard 

But I will delve one yard below their mines, 

And blow them at the moon. 

Hamlet , III, iv. 

Pltaud (pa' t6). ’Tis the court of King P6taud, 
where everyone is master. There is no order or 
discipline at all. This is a French proverb. Le 
roi Petaud (Lat. peto , I beg) was the title of the 
chief who was elected by the fraternity of 
beggars in mediaeval France, in whose court all 
were equal. 

Peter. St. Peter. The patron saint of fishermen, 
being himself a fisherman; the “Prince of the 
Apostles.” His feast is kept universally on 
June 29th, and he is usually represented as an 
old man, bald, but with a flowing beard, 
dressed in a white mantle and blue tunic, and 
holding in his hand a book or scroll. His 
peculiar symbols are the keys, and a sword 
(Matt, xvi, 19 and John xviii, 10). 

Tradition tells that he confuted Simon 
Magus, who was at Nero’s court as a magician, 
and that in a.d. 66 he was crucified with his 
head downwards at his own request, as he said 
he was not worthy to suffer the same death as 
Our Lord. The location of his tomb under the 
high altar of St. Peter’s, Rome, was verified 
in 1950. 

St. Peter’s fingers. The fingers of a thief. The 
allusion is to the fish caught by St. Peter with a 
piece of money in its mouth. They say that a 
thief has a fish-hook on every finger. 

St. Peter’s fish. The John Dory (q.v.); also, 
the haddock. 

Great Peter. A bell in York Minster, weigh- 
ing 10$ tons, and hung in 1845. 

Lord Peter. The Pope in Swift’s Tale of a 
Tub. 

To peter out. To come gradually to an end, 
to give out. The phrase came from the Ameri- 
can mining camps of about ’49, but its origin is 
not known. 

To rob Peter to pay Paul. See Rob. 

Peter-boat: Peterman. A fishing-boat made 
to go either way, the stem and stern being alike. 
They are still in common use round the mouth 
of the Thames, and were so called from Peter- 
man , a term up to the 17th century for a fisher- 
man. J 

I hope to live to see dog's meat made of the old 
usurer’s flesh; . . . his skin is too thick to make parch- 
ment, ’t would make good boots for a peterman to 
catch salmon in. — Chapman: Eastward Ho y II, ii. 

Peter Funk. (U.S.A.) A swindle. \ Peter 
Funk Auction is one that has been rigged. 

Peterhouse, or St. Pet<Jf *s College. The oldest 
of the Cambridge Colleges, having been 
founded in 1257 by Hugo de Balshara, Bishop 
of Ely. 

Peter the Hermit. See Hermit. 

Peter’s Pence. An annual tribute of one 
penny, paid at the feast of St. Peter to the see 
pf Rome, collected at first from every family, 



Peter-see-me 


696 


Phallicism 


but afterwards restricted to those “who had the 
value of thirty pence in quick or live stock.** 
This tax was collected in England from about 
the middle of the 8th century till it was 
abolished by Henry VIII in 1534. Peter’s 
Pence now consists of voluntary contributions 
of any amount made by Roman Catholics in all 
parts of the world, and it is a considerable 
source of income to the Holy See. 

Peter-see-me. A favourite Spanish wine was 
so called in the 17th century. The name is a cor- 
ruption of Pedro Ximenes , the name of a 
grower who introduced a special grape. 

Peter-see-me shall wash thy noul 
And maiaga glasses fox thee; 

If, poet, thou toss not bowl for bowl 
Thou shalt not kiss a doxy. 

' Middleton: Spanish Gipsy , III, i. 

Peterloo or the Manchester Massacre. The 
dispersal by the military on August 16th, 1819, 
of a large crowd of operatives who had as- 
sembled at St. Peter’s Field, Manchester, to 
hear “Orator” Hunt speak in favour of Par- 
liamentary Reform. The arrest of Hunt was 
ordered, but, as this was impossible and riot 
was feared, the magistrates gave the hussars 
orders to charge. Some six persons were killed 
in the charge, many were injured, and the 
arrest of Hunt (who was given two years’ im- 
prisonment) was effected. 

The name was founded on Waterloo , then 
fresh in the popular mind. 

Petit Sergeanty. See Serge ant y. 

Petitio principii (pe tish' yo prin sip' i I). A beg- 
ging of the question, or assuming in the pre- 
mises the question you undertake to prove. In 
mediaeval logic a principium was an essential, 
self-evident principle from which particular 
truths were deducible; the assumption of this 
principle was the petitio , i.e. begging, of it. It 
is the same as “arguing in a circle.” 

Petitio Principii, as defined by Archbishop Whately, 
is the fallacy in which the premise either appears mani- 
festly to be the same as the conclusion, or is actually 
proved from the conclusion, or is such as would 
naturally and properly so be proved. — J. S. Mill: 
System of Logic , II, p. 389. 

Petitioners and Abhorrers. Two political 
parties in the reign of Charles IT. The former 
were those members of the Opposition or 
“Country” party who, in 1679, presented 
petitions to the King asking him to summon a 
Parliament in 1680. Their opponents pre- 
sented counter-petitions expressing their ab- 
horrence of the attempt to encroach on the 
royal prerogative, and were thus called Ab- 
horrers. 

Petrel. The stormy petrel. A small sea-bird 
(Procellaria pelagica ), so named, according to 
tradition, from the Ital. Petrello, little Peter, 
because during storms these birds seem to lly 
patting the water with each foot alternately as 
though walking on it, reminiscently of St. 
Peter, who walked on the Lake of Genne- 
sareth. Sailors call them ‘‘Mother Carey’s 
chickens.” The term is used figuratively of one 
whose coming always portends trouble. 

Petticoat Government is management by 
women; in another phrase, wearing the 
breeches. 


Petto. In petto. In secrecy, in reserve (Ital. 
in the breast). The pope creates cardinals in 
.petto — i.e. in his own mind — and keeps the 
appointment to himself till he thinks proper to 
announce it. On the declaration of their names 
their seniority in the college of cardinals dates 
from their appointment in petto. It is claimed 
that the English historian Lingard was made 
cardinal in petto by Leo XII, who died before 
announcing the fact. 

Petty Cury (Cambridge) means “The Street of 
Cooks,” from Lat. curare , to cure or dress 
food. It is called Parva Cokeria in a deed dated 
13 Edward 111. Probably at one time it was part 
of the Market Flail. 

Peutingerian Map. A map of the roads of the 
ancient Roman world, constructed in the time 
of Alexander Severus (a.d. 226), discovered in 
the early 16th century by Conrad Pcutinger, of 
Augsburg. 

Pewter. To scour the pewter. To do one’s work. 
But if she neatly scour her pewter, 

Give her the money that is due t’ her. 

King : Orpheus and Eurydice. 

Pfister’s Bible. See Bible, Specially named. 

Phaxlria (fe' dri a). The typification in Spen- 
ser’s Faerie Queene (II, vi) of wantonness; she 
was handmaid to Acrasia the enchantress, and 
sailed about Idle Lake in a gondola. 

Phaeton (fa' ton). In classical myth, the son of 
Phoebus (the Sun); he undertook to drive his 
father’s chariot, and was upset and thereby 
caused Libya to be parched into barren sands, 
and all Africa to be more or less injured, the 
inhabitants blackened, and vegetation nearly 
destroyed, and would have set the world on 
fire had not Zeus transfixed him with a thunder- 
bolt. 

Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds. 

Towards Phoebus’ lodging; such a waggoner 
As Phaeton would whip you to the west, 

And bring in cloudy night immediately. 

Romeo and Juliet , III, ii. 

The name is given to a light, four-wheeled 
open carriage usually drawn by two horses. 

Phaeton’s bird. The swan. Cygnus, son of 
Neptune, was the friend of Phaeton and lamen- 
ted his fate so grieviously that Apollo changed 
him into a swan, and placed him among the 
constellations. 

Phalanx (fal' Sngks). The close order of battle 
in which the heavy-armed troops of a Grecian 
army were usually drawn up. Hence, any 
number of people distinguished for firmness 
and solidity of union. 

Phalaris (fal' a ris). The brazen bull of Phalaris. 

See wider Inventors. 

The epistles of Phalaris. A series of 148 
letters said to have been written by Phalaris, 
Tyrant of Agrigentum, Sicily, in the 6th century 
b.c., and edited by Charles Boyle in 1695. 
Boyle maintained them to be genuine, but 
Richard Bentley, applying methods or his- 
torical criticism, proved that they were for- 
geries of about the 7th or 8th centuries, a.d. 
See Boyle Controversy. 

Phallicism or Phallic Worship is the term 
applied to the primitive worship of fertility as 
symbolized in the phallus, oiMnale generative 


Phantom 


697 


Phigalian Marbles 


organ. Phallic emblems are found in most 
parts of the world, but there is no reason to 
suppose that obelisks, church spires, and other’ 
suggestive objects are the vestiges of phallic 
worship. 

Phantom. A spirit or apparition, an illusory 
appearance; from M.E. and O.Fr. fantosme , 
Gr. phantasma (phanein , to show). 

Phantom corn. The mere ghost of corn; corn 
that has as little body as a spectre. 

Phantom fellow. One who is under the ban of 
some hobgoblin ; a half-witted person. 

Phantom flesh. Flesh that hangs loose and 
flabby; formerly supposed to be bewitched. 

The Phantom Ship. The “Flying Dutch- 
man” {q.v.). 

Phaon (fa' on). 1 In Spenser’s Faerie Queene 
(II, iv), a young man ill-treated by Furor, and 
rescued by Sir Guyon. The tale is designed to 
show the evil of intemperate revenge. In some 
editions of the poem Phedon is the name, not 
Phaon. 

Pharainond (f3r' a mond). In the Arthurian 
romances, a Knight of the Round Table, who 
is said to have been the first king of France, 
and to have reigned in the early 5th century. He 
was the son of Marcomir and father of Clodion. 

La Calpren£de’s novel Pharainond , on VHis - 
toire de France , was published in 1661. 

Pharaoh (far' 6). The title or generic appella- 
tion of the kings in ancient Egypt. The word 
originally meant “the great house,” and its 
later use arose much in the same way as, in 
modern times, “the Holy See” for the Pope, or 
“the Sublime Porte” for the Sultan of Turkey. 

None of the Pharaohs mentioned in the Old 
Testament has been certainly identified, owing 
to the great obscurity of the references and the 
almost entire absence of reliable chrono- 
logical data. 

According to the Talmud, the name of 
Pharaoh’s daughter who brought up Moses 
was Bat hia. 

In Dryden’s satire Absalom and Achitophel 
{q.v.) “Pharaoh” stands for Louis XIV of 
France. 

Pharaoh’s chicken, or hen. The Egyptian 
vulture, so called from its frequent representa- 
tion in Egyptian hieroglyphics. 

Pharaoh’s corn. The grains of wheat some- 
times found in mummy cases. See Mummy- 
wheat. 

Pharaoh’s rat. See Ichneumon. 

Pharaoh’s serpent. A chemical toy consisting 
of sulpho-cyanide of mercury, which fuses 
into a serpentine shape when lighted; so called 
in allusion to the magic serpents of Exod. vii, 
9-12. 

Pharisees (far' i ses) (Heb. perusim ; from 
perashy to separate) means “those who have 
been set apart,” not as a sect but as a school of 
ascetics who attempted to regulate their lives 
by the letter of the Law. The opprobrious sense 
of the word was given it by their enemies, 
because the Pharisees came to look upon them- 
selves as holier than other men, and refused to 


hold social intercourse with them. The Talmud 
mentions the following classes: — 

(1) The “Dashers,” or “Bandy-legged” (Nikfi), who 
scarcely lifted their feet from the ground in walking, 
but “dashed them against the stones,” that people 
might think them absorbed in holy thought {Matt. 
xxi, 44). 

(2) The “Mortars,” who wore a “mortier,” or cap, 
which would not allow them to see the passers-by, 
that their meditations might not be disturbed. Having 
eyes, they saw not {Malt, viii, 18). 

(3) The “Bleeders,” who inserted thorns in the 
borders of their gaberdines to prick their legs in walk- 
ing. 

(4) The “Cryers,” or “Inquirers,” who went about 
crying out, “Let me know my duty, and 1 will do it” 
{Matt, xix, 16-22). 

(5) The “Almsgivers,” who had a trumpet sounded 
before them to summon the poor together {Matt, vi, 
2 ). 

(6) The “Stumblers,” or “Bloody-browed” ( Kizai ), 
who shut their eyes when they went abroad that they 
might see no women, being “blind leaders of the 
blind” {Matt, xv, 14). Our Lord calls them “blind 
Pharisees,” “fools and blind.” 

(7) The “Immovables,” who stood like statues for 
hours together, “praying in the market places” {Matt. 
vi, 5). 

(8) The “Pestle Pharisees” ( Medinkia) t who kept 
themselves bent double like the handle of a pestle. 

(9) The “Strong-shouldered” ( Shikmi ), who walked 
with their back bent as if carrying on their shoulders 
the whole burden of the law. 

(10) The “Dyed Pharisees,” called by Our Lord 
“Whited Sepulchres,” whose externals of devotion 
cloaked hypocrisy and moral uncleanliness. ( Talmud 
of Jerusalem , Berakothy ix; Sota t v, 7; Talmud of 
Babylon t Sota t 22 b.) 

Pharos (far' os). A lighthouse; so called from 
the lighthouse — one of the Seven Wonders of 
the World — built by Ptolemy Philadelphus in 
the island of Pharos, off Alexandria, Egypt. It 
was 450 feet high, and, according to Josephus, 
could be seen at the distance of 42 miles. Part 
was blown down in 793. 

Pharsalia (far sa' lia). An epic in Latin hex- 
ameters by Lucan. It tells of the civil war 
between Pompey and Caesar, and of the battle 
of Pharsalus (48 b.c.) in which Pompey, with 

45.000 legionaries, 7,000 cavalry, and a large 
number of auxiliaries, was decisively defeated 
by Caesar, who had only 22,000 legionaries and 

1.000 cavalry. Pompey’s battle-cry was Her- 
cules invictus ; that of Caesar, Venus victrix. 

Pheasant. The “Phasian bird”; so called from 
Phasis, a river of Colchis, whence the bird is 
said to have spread westward. 

Phedon (fe' don). An alternative name of 
Phaon ( q.v .). 

Phenomenon (fe nom' e non) (pi. phenomena ) 
means simply what has appeared (Gr. phaino- 
mai , to appear). It is used in science to express 
the visible result of an experiment. In popular 
language it means a prodigy, and phenomenal 
(as “a phenomenal success”) is colloquial for 
prodigious. 

Phenomenal , soon, we hope, to perish, unregretted, 
is (at least indirectly, through the abuse of pheno- 
menon) from Metaphysics; (such words are] at 
present, enjoying some vogue as slang, and come 
from regions that to most of us are overhead. — H. W. 
and F. G. Fowler: The King's English ch. i (1906). 

Phigalian Marbles (figa'lian). A series of 
twenty-three sculptures in alto-relievo* dis- 



Philadelphia 


698 


Philosopher 


covered in 1812 at Phigalia, in Arcadia, form- 
ing part of the Elgin Marbles ( 17 . v.), now in the 
British Museum. They represent the combat of 
the Centaurs and Lapitnae, and that of the 
Greeks and Amazons. 

Philadelphia (fil a del' fi 4). The first city of the 
State of Pennsylvania, w&s founded in 1582 by 
William Penn (1644-1718) and others of the 
Society of Friends, and so named from the 
Greek Philadelpheia , brotherly love. It was 
also the name of an ancient city in Asia Minor, 
the seat of one of the Seven Churches (Rev, 
i»i, 7). 

Philadelphia lawyer. A lawyer of outstanding 
ability, with a keen scent for the weaknesses in 
an adversary’s case and a thorough know- 
ledge of the intricacies of the law. “You will 
have to get a Philadelphia lawyer to solve that” 
is a familiar American phrase. It is said that in 
1735, in a case of criminal libel, the only 
counsel who would undertake the defence was 
Andrew Hamilton, the famous Philadelphia 
barrister, who obtained his client’s acquittal in 
face of apparently irrefutable evidence, and 
charged no fee. In New England there was a 
saying that three Philadelphia lawyers were a 
match for the Devil. 

Philadelphists. See Behmenists. 

Philandering (fi lan' der ing). Coquetting with 
a woman; paying court, and leading her to 
think you love her, but never declaring your 
preference. Philander literally means “a lover 
of men” (Gr. philos , loving; andros , man), but 
as the word was made into a proper noun and 
used for a lover by Ariosto in Orlando Furioso 
(followed by Beaumont and Fletcher in The 
Laws of Candy), it obtained its present signifi- 
cation. In Norton and Sackville’s Gorboduc 
(1561) Philander is the name of a staid old 
counsellor. 

Philemon and Baucis (fi le' mon, baw' sis). 
Poor cottagers of Phrygia (husband and wife), 
who, in Ovid’s story ( Metamorphoses , iii, 631), 
entertained Jupiter so hospitably that he 
promised to grant them whatever request they 
made. They asked that both might die together, 
and it was so. Philemon became an oak, 
Baucis a linden tree, and their branches inter- 
twined at the top. 

Philip. Philip, remember thou art mortal. A sen- 
tence repeated to the Macedonian king every 
time he gave an audience. 

Philip sober. When a woman who asked 
Philip of Macedon to do her justice was 
snubbed by the petulant monarch, she ex- 
claimed, “Philip, I shall appeal against this 
judgment.” “Appeal!” thundered the enraged 
king, “and to whom will you appeal?” “To 
Philip sober,” was her reply. 

St Philip is usually represented bearing a 
large cross, or a basket containing loaves, in 
allusion to John vi, 5-7. He is commemorated 
with St. James (the Less) on May 1st. 

Philippic (fi lip' ik). A severe scolding; a speech 
full of acrimonious invective. So called from 
the orations of Demosthenes against Philip of 
Macedon, to rouse the Athenians to resist his 
encroachments. The orations of Cicero against 
Antony are called “Philippics.” 


Philistines (fil' is tlnz). The ill-behaved and 
ignorant; persons lacking in liberal culture or 
of low and materialistic ideas. This meaning of 
the word is due to Matthew Arnold, who 
adapted it from Philister , the term applied by 
students at the German universities to the 
townspeople, the “outsiders.” This is said to 
have arisen at Jena, because, after a “town and 
gown” row in 1689, which resulted in a number 
of deaths, the university preacher took for his 
text “The Philistines be upon thee” (Judges 
xv i). 

The people who believe most that our greatness and 
welfare are proved by our being very rich, and who 
most give their lives and thoughts to becoming rich, 
arc just the very people whom we call the Philistines. 
— M. Arnold: Culture and Anarchy (1869). 

Philoctetes (fil ok te' tez). The most famous 
archer in the Trojan war, to whom Hercules, at 
death, gave his arrows. In the tenth year of the 
siege Ulysses corrtmanded that he should be 
sent for, as an oracle had declared that Troy 
could not be taken without the arrows of Her- 
cules. Philoctetes accordingly went to Troy, 
slew Paris, and Troy fell. 

The Philoctetes of Sophocles is one of the 
most famous Greek tragedies. 

Philomel. See Nightingale. 

Philopena (fil 6 pe' na). From the German 
Vielliebchen , darling, sweetheart. A philopena 
is a double almond. 

One evening we invited him to dine at our table, 
and we ate a philopena together. — Mrs. Mackin: 
Two Continents (1898). 

The word is also applied to a game in which 
each of two persons tries to inveigle the other 
into paying a forfeit. 

Philosopher. The sages of Greece used to be 
called sophui (wisemen), but Pythagoras thought 
the word too arrogant, and adopted the com- 
pound Philosophic (lover of wisdom), whence 
“philosopher,” one who courts or loves wisdom- 

Marcus Aurelius (121-80) was sumamed 
The Philosopher by Justin Martyr, and the 
name was also conferred on Leo VI, Emperor 
of the East (d. 911), and Porphyry, the Neo- 
platonic opponent of Christianity (d. 305). 

The leading philosophers and Schools of 
Philosophy in Ancient Greece were — 

Philosophers of the Academic sect. Plato, 
Speusippos, Xenocrates, Polemo, Crates, 
Crantor, Arcesilaos, Carneades, Clitomachos, 
Philo, and Antiochos. 

Philosophers of the Cynic sect . Antishtenes, 
Diogenes of Sinope, Monimos, Oncsicritos, 
Crates, Metrocles, Hipparchia, Menippos, and 
Mcnedemos of Lampsacos. 

Philosophers of the Cvrenaic sect. Aristippos, 
Hegesias, Anniceris, Tneodoros, and Bion. 

Philosophers of the Eleac and Ere tr lac sects. 
Phtedo, Plisthenes, and Menedemos of Eretria. 

Philosophers of the Elea tic sect. Xenophanes, 
Parmenides, Melissos, Zeno of Tarsos, Leucip- 
pos, Democritos, Protagoras, and Anaxarchos. 

Philosophers of the Epicurean sect. Epicuros, 
and a host of disciples. 

Philosophers of the Heraclitan sect. Herac- 
litos; the names of his disciples are unknown. 

Philosophers of 4)ie Ionic sect. Anaximander, 
Anaximenes, AnUxagoras, and Archelaos. 




Philosopher's Egg 


699 Pbqofat 


Philosophers of the Italic sect . Pythagoras, 
Empedocles, Epicharmos, Archytas, Alcmaeon. 
Hippasos, Phifolaos, and Eudoxos. 

Philosophers of the Megaric sect. Euclid, 
Eubulides, Alexmos, Euphantos, Apollonius 
Chronosis, Diodoros, Ichthyas, Clinomachos, 
and Stilpo. 

Philosophers of the Peripatetic sect . Aristotle, 
Theophrastos, Strato, Lyco, Aristo, Critolaos 
and Diodoros. 

Philosophers of the Sceptic sect. Pyrrho and 
Timon. 

Philosophers of the Socratic sect . Socrates, 
Xenophon, yEschines, Crito, Simon, Glauco, 
Simmias, and Cebes. 

Philosophers of the * Stoic sect. Zeno, 
Cleanthes, Chrysippos, Zeno the Less, Dio- 
genes of Babylon, Antipater, Panaetios, 
Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and Posidonios. 

Philosopher’s Egg. A mediaeval preservative 
against poison and a cure lor the plague. The 
shell of a new egg was pricked, the white 
blown out, and the place filled with saffron or 
a yolk of an egg mixed with saffron. 

Philosophers’ Stone. The hypothetical sub- 
stance which, according to tne medueval al- 
chemists, would convert all baser metals into 
gold. Its discovery was the prime object of all 
the alchemists; and to the wide and unremit- 
ting search that went on for it we are indebted 
for the birth of the science of Chemistry, as 
well as for many inventions. It was in searching 
for this treasure that Botticher stumbled on the 
manufacture of Dresden porcelain; Roger 
Bacon on the composition of gunpowder; 
Gebcr on the properties of acids; Van Helmont 
on the nature of gas; and Dr. Glauber on the 
“salts” which bear his name. 

In Ripley's treatise. The Compound of 
Alchymy {temp. Edward IV), we are told the 
twelve stages, or “gates,” in the transmutation 
of metals. These are: — (1) Calcination; (2) Dis- 
solution; (3) Separation; (4) Conjunction; (5) 
Putrefaction; (6) Congelation; (7) Cibation; 
(8) Sublimation; (9) Fermentation; (10) Ex- 
altation; (11) Multiplication; and (12) Pro- 
jection. Of these the last two were of much the 
greatest importance; the former consisted in 
the “augmentation” of the elixir, the latter in 
the penetration and transfiguration of metals in 
fusion by casting the powder of the philo- 
sophers’ stone upon them, which is then called 
the “powder of projection.” According to one 
legend, Noah was commanded to hang up the 
true and genuine philosophers’ stone in the ark, 
to give light to every living creature therein; 
while another related that Deucalion (q.v.) had 
it in a bap over his shoulder, but threw it away 
and lost it. 

Philosophers’ Tree or Diana’s Tree. An 
amalgam of crystallized silver, obtained from 
mercury in a solution of silver; so called by the 
alchemists, with whom Diana stood for silver. 
Philter (Gr . philtron; from phi l e in, to love). A 
draught or charm to incite in another the 
passion of love. The Thessalian philters were 
the most renowned, but noth the Greeks and 
Romans used these dangerous potions, which 
sometimes produced insanity. Lucretius is said 
to have been driven madj|hy a love-potion, 
and Caligula’s death is attributed to some 

B.D.—23 


philters administered to him by his wife, 
Caesonia. Brabantio says to Othello:*— * 

Thou hast practised on her [Desdemona] with foul 

charms. 

Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals 
That weaken motion. T 

Shakespeare: Othelfy , I, i. 
Phiz, the face, is a contraction of physiognomy. 
Th* emphatic speaker dearly loves t* oppose. 

In contact inconvenient, nose to nose. 

As if the gnomon on his neighbour’s phiz. 
Touch’d with a magnet, had attracted his. 

Cowper: Conversation , 269. 
Phiz was the pseudonym of Hablot K. 
Browne, illustrator of many of Dickens’s 
novels. 

Phlegethon (fieg' £ thon) (Gr. phlego , to bum). 
A river of liquid fire in Hades. It flowed into 
the river Acheron. 

Fierce Phlegethon, 

Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage. 

Milton : Paradise Lost , II. 
Phlogiston (flo jis' ton) (Gr. burnt up). The 
name used by early chemists to denote the 
principle of inflammability that was supposed 
to be a necessary constituent of combustible 
material. It was introduced by the German 
chemist Georg Ernst Stahl, 1 in 1702, and belief 
in the theory Tasted for nearly a ce/jtftry. 
Phcbe (fe' bi). A female Titan of classical myth, 
daughter of Uranus and Ge; also a name of 
Diana as goddess of the moon. 

Phoebus (Gr. the Shining One). An epithet of 
Apollo, god of the sun. In poetry the name is 
sometimes used of the sun itself, sometimes of 
Apollo as the leader of the Muses. 

Blind Melesigenes, thence Homer called. 

Whose poem Phcebus challenged for his own. 

Milton : Paradise Regained , IV, 260. 

Phoenix (fc' niks). A fabulous Arabian bird, the 
only one of its kind, that is said to live a certain 
number of years, at the close of which it makes 
in Arabia a nest of spices, sings a melodious 
dirge, flaps its wings to set fire to the pile, bums 
itself to ashes, and comes forth with new life. 

It is to this bird that Shakespeare refers in 
Cymbeline (I, vii): — 

If she be furnished with a mind so rare. 

She is alone the Arabian bird. 

He also wrote the beautiful Phcenix and Turtle, 
based on the legendary love and death of this 
bird and the turtle-dove. 

The phoenix was adopted as a sign over 
chemists’ shops through the association of this 
fabulous bird with alchemy. Paracelsus wrote 
about it, and several of the alchemists em- 
ployed it to symbolize their vocation. 

Phoenl^facf^tfera. The date-palm ; so called 
because of the ancient idea that this tree, if 
burnt down or if it falls through old age, will 
rejuvenate itself and spring up fairer than ever. 
Shakespeare may be referring to it in The 
Tempest {Ul t iii): — 

Now I will believe 
That there are unicorns; that in Arabia 
There is one tree, the phoenix’ throne; one phenttx 
At this hour reigning there. 

Phoenix period or cycle, generally supposed 
to be 500 years ; T acitus tells us it was 50u years ; 
R. Stuart Poole that it was ! ? 460 Julian years, 
like the Sothic Cycle; and Lipstus that it was 
1,500 years. Now, the phoenix is said to have 




Phoenix Park 


700 


Piccaninny 


appeared in Egypt five times: (1) in the reign of 
Sesostris; (2) m the reign of Amasis; (3) in the 
reign of Ptolemy Phila^lphus; (4) a year or 
two prior to the deatfe of Tiberius; and (5) in 
a.d. 334, dufilfig the reign of Constantine. The 
Phoenix Cycle is therefore irregular, the reign or 
existence of Sesostris being doubtful; Amasis, 
566 b.c.; Ptolemy, 266 b.c.; Tiberius, a.d. 34; 
Constantine, a.d. 334. In corroboration of this 
suggestion it must be borne in mind that Jesus 
Christ, who died c. a.d, 33, is termed the Phoenix 
by monastic writers. Tacitus ( Annales , vi, 28) 
mentions the first four of these appearances. 

Phoenix Park (Dublin). A corruption of the 
Gaelic Fionn-uisge , the clear water, so called 
from a spring at one time resorted to as a 
chalybeate spa. 

The Phoenix Park Murders, which created an 
enormous sensation at the time, were the 
assassination by Fenians (May 6th, 1882) of 
Lord Frederick Cavendish and Thomas Henry 
Burke, Chief and Under Secretaries of Ireland. 
The following year one Thomas Carey turned 
informer and on his largely unsupported evi- 
dence five me# were hanged for the crime. 
Carey was shipped for safety to South Africa 
but was qiurdercfcl orr the voyage out. 
PhpneyjorTfo^tiy^ Fraudulent, bogus, insincere; 
an American colloquialism and slang term that 
became anglicized about 1920. It derives from 
fawney , an obsolete underworld cant word 
meaning the imitation gold ring used by con- 
fidence tricksters. During World War II the 
period of comparative inactivity from the out- 
break to the invasion of Norway and Denmark 
was characterized by American journalists as 
the “Phoney War.” 

Phonograph. In Britain this word is applied to 
the old-fashioned sound-reproducing machine 
with cylindrical records that has now given 
place to the gramophone. In American the flat- 
disk gramophone is called a phonograph. 
Phony. See Phoney. 

Phrygians (frij' yanz). An early Christian sect, 
so called from Phrygia, where they abounded. 
They regarded Montanus as their prophet, and 
laid claim to the spirit of prophecy. 

Phrygian cap. The cap of liberty ( q.v .). 

Phrygian mode. In music, the second of the 
“authentic” ecclesiastical modes. It had its 
“final” on E and its “dominant” on C, and was 
derived from the ancient Greek mode of this 
name, which was warlike. 

Phryne (frl' n6). A famous Athenian courtesan 
of the 4th century b.c., who acquired so much 
wealth by her beauty that she offeredHo rebuild 
the walls of Thebes if she might put on them 
this inscription: “Alexander destroyed them, 
but Phryne the hetaera rebuilt them.” It is re- 
corded of her that when she was being tried on 
a capital charge her defender, who had failed to 
move the judges by his eloquence, asked her to 
uncover her bosom. She did so. and the judges, 
struck by her beauty, acquitted her on the spot. 

She is said to have been the model for 
Praxiteles* Cnidian Venus, and also for Apelles* 
picture of Venus Rising from the Sea. 
Phylactery (fi l&k' ter i) (Gr. phylacterion ; from 
phylasso to watch). A charm or amulet worn 


by the ancient Jews on the wrist or forehead. It 
consisted of four slips of parchment, each bear- 
ing a text of Scripture, enclosed in two black 
leather cases. One case contained Exod. xiii, 
1-10, 11-16; and the other case Deut . vi, 4-9, 
xi, 13-21. The idea arose from the command of 
Moses, “Therefore shall ye lay up these my 
words in your heart . . . and bind them for a 
sign upon your hand ... as frontlets between 
your eyes” (Deut. xi, 18). 

Phynnodderee. A Manx hobgoblin combining 
the properties of the Scandinavian troll, the 
Scottish brownie and the Irish leprechaun. 
He drives home straying sheep and helps in 
the harvesting if a storm be brewing. 

Physician (Gr. phusis , nature). 

The Physician finger. The third. See Medi- 
cinal Finger. 

The Beloved Physician. St. Luke (q.v.), so 
called by St. Paul in Col. iv, 14. 

The Prince of Physicians. Avicenna (q.v.% 
the Arabian (980-1037). 

Piazza (pi at' za). An Italian word meaning an 
open place or square in a town. In America the 
word has come to mean the verandah of a 
dwelling-house. 

Picador (pik' a dor) (Span.). An agile horse- 
man, who, in bull fights, is armed with a gilt 
spear (pica dorado ), with which he pricks the 
bull to madden him for the combat. 

Picards. A sect of fanatics prevalent in 
Bohemia and the Vaudois in the early 15th 
century, said to be so called from Picard of 
Flanders, their founder, who called himself the 
New Adam, and tried to introduce the custom 
of living nude, like Adam in Paradise. They 
were suppressed by Ziska in 1421. 

Picaresque (pik a reskO. The term applied to' 
the class of literature that deals sympathetically 
with the adventures of clever and amusing, 
rogues (Span. picaresco, roguish, knavish). The 
earliest example of the picaresque novel is* 
Mendoza’s Lazarillo de Tormes (1554). Le 
Sage’s Gil Bias (1715) is perhaps the best 
known. Nash’s Jack Wilton ( 1594) is the earliest 
English example, and others are Defoe’s Moll' 
Flanders and Colonel Jack. 

Picayune. In the days of the French occupation' 
of Florida and Louisiana the Spanish half-real; 
(2£d.) was known as a picayune, from Fr. 
picaillon , an old Piedmontese coin. The word is 
now used in America for anything of trifling; 
value or of a contemptible character. 

Piccadilly. This famous London street was 
named after a Pickadilly Hall that existed in 
the vicinity early in the 17th century. It was the 
home of a retired tailor who had made some 
of his living from pickadils , the edgings of ruffs 
etc., and probably his home was jocularly 
nicknamed. There is a reference in 1623-4 to 
the area “lately called Piccadilly.” 

Piccadilly Weepers. See Wpp. 

Piccaninny, or Piccanin (West Indian Negro, 
from Sp. pequefio , small). A little Negro child of 
the West Indies and southern U.S.A.; also, in 
South Africa, app^fttl to small Kafir children, 
and sometimes to native children in Australia* 



Pick-a-back 


701 


Piepowder Court 


Pick-a-back. On the back or shoulders, as a 
pack is carried. The term dates at least from 
the early 16th century, but its precise origin, 
and the force of the pick -, are unknown. Other 
forms of it are a-pigga-back, piggy-back , pick- 
back , etc. 

Pickle. A rod in pickle. One ready to chastise 
with at any moment; one “preserved” for use. 

I’m in a pretty pickle. In a sorry plight, or 
state of disorder. 

How cam’st thou in this pickle ? 

Tempest , V, i. 

Pickle-herring. The German term for a 
clown or buffoon, from a humorous character 
of that name in an early 17th-century play. It 
was adopted in England through Addison’s 
mention in the Spectator (No. 47, 1711), where 
he wrongly attributes it to the Dutch. 

Pickwickian. In a Pickwickian sense. Said of 
words or epithets, usually of a derogatory or 
insulting kind, that, in the circumstances in 
which they are employed, are not to be taken as 
having quite the same force or implication as 
they naturally would have. The allusion is to 
the scene in ch. i of Pickwick Papers when Mr. 
Pickwick accused Mr. Blotton of acting in “a 
vile and calumnious manner,” whereupon Mr. 
Blotton retorted by calling Mr. Pickwick “a 
humbug.” It finally was made to appear that 
both had used the offensive words only in a 
Pickwickian sense, and that each had, in fact, 
the highest regard and esteem for the other. 

Picnic. The word came into use in England 
about 1800 to denote a fashionable party, often 
but not always in the open air, at which each 
guest contributed towards the provisions. It is 
a translation of Fr. pique-tuque (which had 
much the same meaning), the origin of which is 
uncertain. 

Piets. The ancient inhabitants of Scotland, of 
unknown race. They were gradually dis- 
possessed after the coming of the Scots 
(Goidels) from northern Ireland, about a.d. 
500, and after the union of the Pictish kingdom 
with that of the Scots under Kenneth Mac- 
Alpin (844) the remnant was driven to the far 
north-east. The name is probably not native, 
but was given them by the Romans because 
they tattooed their bodies (Lat. picti , painted). 

Piets’ houses. Underground prehistoric 
dwellings found in the Orkneys and on the east 
coast of Scotland, and attributed to the Piets. 

Picture (Lat. pictura ; from pictus , past part, of 
pingere , to paint). A model, or beau-ideal, as. 
He is the picture of health ; A perfect picture of 
a house . 

Picture Bible. A name given to the Biblia 
pauperum 0 q.v .). 

Picture hat. A woman’s hat, with wide 
drooping brim, such as was worn by many of 
the sitters to Reynolds and Gainsborough. 

The pictures. -At colloquial and convenient 
way of referring to a cinematograph entertain- 
ment. 

Pidgin-EiftHsh. The semi-English lingua franca 
used in China and the Par East, consisting 
principally of mispronounced English words 


with certain native grammatical constructions. 
For instance, the Chinese cannot pronoimce /*, 
so replace it with / — t e-lee for “three,” sollyi or 
“sorry,” etc. — ahd, in , n Chinese. between a 
numeral and its noun there is ahtffys inserted a 
word (called the “classifier”) and this, in 
Pidgin-English, is replaced by piece — e.g. one 
piece knifee , two piece hingkichi (handker- 
chiefs). Pidgin is a corruption of business. 

Hence, this is not my pidgin, this is not my 
business, it is not strictly my affair. 

Pie or Pi (pi). A printing term used to describe 
the mix-up of types (for instance, when 
dropped) or a jumble of letters when a word or 
sentence is badly printed. The origin of the 
word is obscure; possibly it comes from the 
analogy of the mixed ingredients in a pie, or it 
may come from the assortment of types used in 
the old pie or pre-Reformation books of rules 
for finding the prayers, etc., proper for the day. 

Piebald. Parti-coloured (especially black and 
white like a magpie), usually of horses. The 
word is from pie, the magpie (<?.v.), and bald , of 
which one of the meanings was “streaked with 
white,” as in the “bald-faced stfcg.” 

Piece goods are fabrics woven in the proper 
lengths for certain purposes ^rather than 
lengths cut off from a long bolt. M * % 

Pieces of Eight. The old Spanish silver peso 
(piastre) or dollar of 8 reals, equivalent to 
about Is. 8d. It was marked with an 8, and was 
in use in the 17th and 18th centuries. 

Pied (pe' a) (Fr. foot). Pied-a-terrqsCpe a da tar') 
(Fr. foot on the ground). A temporary lodging, 
or a county residence; a footing. 

Mr. Harding, however, did not allow himself to 
be talked over into giving up his own and only pied-d- 
terre in the High Street. — A nthony Trollope: Par- 
ches ter Towers. 

Pted de la lettre, Au (Fr. to the foot of the 
letter). Quite literally — close to the letter. 

A wild enthusiastic young fellow, whose opinions 
one must not take au pied de la lettre . — Thackeray: 
Pendennis, I, xi. 

Pied Piper of Hamelin. The legend is that the 
town of Hamelin (Westphalia) was infested 
with rats in 1284, that a mysterious Piper, clad 
in a parti-coloured suit, appeared in the town 
and offered to rid it of the vermin for a certain 
sum, that the townspeople accepted the offer, 
the Pied Piper fulfilled his contract, and that 
then the payment was withheld. On the follow- 
ing St. John’s Day he reappeared, and again 
played his pipe. This time all the children of the 
town, in place of the rats, followed him; he led 
them to a mountain cave where ail disappeared 
save two — one blind, the other dumb, or lame; 
and one legend adds that the children did not 
perish in the mountain, but were led over it to 
Transylvania, where they formed a German 
colony. The story is familiar from Robert 
Browning’s poem, but was first circulated in 
England in James Howell’s Familiar Letters . 

Piepowder Court. A court of justice formerly 
held at fairs, which had summary powers in 
cases of dispute between those buyers and 
sellers who were there temporarily. Literally, a 
“wayfarer’s court,” piepowder being from Fr. 
pied-poudreuxy dusty-footed (also, a vagabond). 




Pierrot 


702 


Pigeon 


The duties of these old Courts of Piepowder 
are paw performed at the Petty Sessions. 

Is&his well, goody Joan, to interrupt my market in 
the midst, and call away my customers? Can you 
answer this «?* the pfe-poudres? — B en Jonson: 
Bartholomew Fair , III, i. 

Pierrot (per' 6) (t.e. “Little Peter”). A charac- 
ter originally in French mime, representing a 
man in growth and a child in mind and 
manners. He is generally the tallest and thin- 
nest man that can be got, has his face and hair 
covered with.white powder or flour, and wears 
a white gown with very long sleeves and a row 
of bfg buttons down the front. 

Piers Plowman. See Vision of Piers Plowman. 

Pieth (p>S § taO. A representation of the Virgin 
embracing the dead body of her Son. Filial or 
parental love was called pietas by the Romans. 

Pietists (pl'etists). A 17th-century sect of 
Lutherans who sought to introduce a more 
moral life and a more “evangelical” spirit of 
doctrine into the reformed church. In Germany 
the word is aftbut equal to our common use of 
Methodist. 

Pig (see ajso H6g). The pig was held sacred by 
the ancient Cretans because Jupiter was 
suckled by a Sow; it was immolated in the 
mysteries oP Ficus is; was sacrificed to Her- 
cules, to Venus, and to the Lares by all those 
who sought relief from bodily ailments. The 
sow was sacrificed to Ceres “because it taught 
men to turn up the earth”; and in Egypt it was 
slain at grand weddings on account of its 
fecundity, t 

In the forefltet of pigs are very small holes 
which may be seen when the hair has been care- 
fully removed. The tradition is that the legion 
of devils entered by these apertures. There are 
also round it some six rings, the whole to- 
gether not larger than a small spangle; they 
look as if burnt or branded into the skin, and 
the tradition is that they are the marks of the 
devifs claws when he entered the swine ( Mark 
v, 11-15). 

A pig In a poke. A blind bargain. The refer- 
ence is to a common trick in days gone by of 
trying to palm oft' on a greenhorn a cat for a 
sucking-pig. If he opened the poke or sack he 
“let the cat out of the bag,” and the trick was 
disclosed. The French chat en poche (from 
which the saying may have come) refers to the 
fact, while our proverb regards the trick. 
Pocket is diminutive of poke. 

A pig’s whisper. A very short space of time; 
properly a grunt — which doesn’t take long. 

You'll find yourself in bed in something less than a 
pig'* whisper.— Dickens : Pickwick Papers, ch. xxxii. 

Bartholomew pigs. See Bartholomew. 

He has brought bis piss to a pretty market. 
He has made a very bad bargain; he has 
managed his business in a very bad way. Pigs 
were for long a principal article of sale with 
rustics, and till recently the cottager looked to 
pay his rent by the sale of his pigs. 

Pig-a-back. See Pick-a-back. 

Pig-beaded. Obstinate, contrary. 

Pk iron. Iron cast in oblong ingots now 
called pigs but formerly sows. Sow is now ap- 
plied to the main channel in which the molten 


liquid runs, the smaller branches which diverge 
from it being called pigs, and it is the iron from 
these which is called pig iron . 

Pigs and whistles. Trifles. To go to pigs and 
whistles is to be ruined, to go to the deuce. 

I would be nane surprised to hear the morn that the 
Nebuchadnezzar was a’ gane to pigs and whistles, and 
driven out with the divors bill to the barren pastures 
of bankruptcy. — G alt: The Entail , I, ix. 

Pigs in clover. People who have money but 
don’t know how to behave themselves decently. 
Also, a game consisting of a box divided 
into recesses into which one has to roll marbles 
by tilting the box. 

Please the pigs. “I’ll come on Tuesday — 
please the pigs”; i.e. if circumstances permit, 
Deo volente. The suggestions that this phrase 
was originally “please the pyx” or “please the 
pixies,” are ingenious, but there is no evidence 
to back them. 

St. Anthony’s pig. See Anthony. 

The Pig and Tinderbox. An old colloquial 
name for the Elephant and Castle public- 
house; in allusion to its sign of a pig-like 
elephant surmounted by an erection intended 
to represent a castle but which might pass as a 
tinderbox. 

To drive one’s pigs to market. See Hoc. 

To drive pigs. To snore. 

To pig together. To huddle together like pigs 
in a sty. To share and share alike, especially in 
lodgings in a small way; formerly it meant to 
sleep two (or more) in the same bed. 

To stare like a stuck pig. With open mouth 
and staring eyes, as a pig that is being killed; in 
the utmost astonishment, mingled sometimes 
with fear. 

When pigs fly. Never. See also Sow. 

Pigskin. A saddle, the best being made of 
pigskin. “To throw a leg across a pigskin” is to 
mount a horse. 

Pigtail. In England the word first appeared 
(17th century) as the name of a tobacco that 
was twisted into a thin rope; and it was used of 
the plait of twisted hair worn by sailors till the 
early 19th century, as it still is used of that 
worn by schoolgirls. 

When the Mongols invaded and conquered 
China ( c . 1660) they imposed on the Chinese as 
a sign of servitude the obligation of wearing 
their hair in a pigtail. This custom was ob- 
served by Chinese of whatever grade or class 
until the fall of the Empire in 1912, when their 
freedom from this vassalage was symbolized by 
the abolition of the pigtail. 

Pig-wife. A woman who sells crockery. A 
piggin was a small pail, especially a milk-pail; 
and a pig a small bowl, cup, or mug. 

Pigeon. Slang for a dupe, an easily aullible 
person, a gull (<?.v.). To pigeon is to cheat or 
gull one out of his money ^by almost self- 
evident hoaxes. Pigeon^ are very easily caught 
by snares, and in the spdrting world rogues and 
their dupes are called “rooks and pigeons.” 
Thackeray has a story entitled “Captain Rook 
and Mr. Pigeon.” 



Pigeon 


703 


Pilgrim Fathers 


To pluck a pigeon. To cheat a gullible person 
of his money; to fleece a greenhorn. 

Flying the pigeons. Stealing coals from a cart 
or sack between the coal-dealer’s yard and the 
house of the customer. 


Pigeon English. An incorrect form of 
“Pidgin-English” (q.v.). 

Pigeon-hole. A small compartment for filing 
papers; hence, a matter that has been put on 
one side and forgotten is often said to have 
been pigeonholed, In pigeon-lockers a small 
hole is left for the pigeons to walk in and out. 


Pigeon-llvered. Timid, easily frightened, JUke 
a pigeon. 

It cannot be V 

But I am pigcon-liver’d, and lack gall 
To make oppression bitter; or, ere this, 

I should have fatted all the region kites 
With this slave’s offal. u , jj. 


Pigeon pair. Boy and girl twins. It was 
once supposed that pigeons always sit on two 
eggs which produce a male and a female, and 
these twin birds live together in love the rest of 
their lives. 


The black pigeons of Dodona. Two black 
pigeons, we are told, took their flight from 
Thebes, in Egypt; one flew to Libya, and the 
other to Dodona ( q . v .). On the spot where the 
former alighted, the temple of Jupiter Ammon 
was erected; in the place where the other 
settled, the oracle of Jupiter was established, 
and there the responses were made by the black 
pigeons that inhabited the surrounding groves. 
This fable is probably based on a pun upon the 
word peleiai , which usually meant “old 
women,” but in the dialect of the Epirots sig- 
nified pigeons or doves. 

Piggin. See Pig-wife above. 

Pigmies. See Pygmies. 

Pigwiggem An elf in Drayton’s Nytnphidia 
(1627), in love with Queen Mab. He combats 
the jealous Oberon with great fury. 

Pigwiggen was this Fairy Knight, 

One wondTous gracious in the sight 
Of fair Queen Mab, which day and night 
He amorously observed. 

Pike. The Germans have a tradition that when 
Christ was crucified all fishes dived under the 
waters in terror, except the pike, which, out of 
curiosity, lifted up its head and beheld the 
whole scene; hence the fancy that in a pike’s 
head all the parts of the Crucifixion are 
represented, the cross, three nails, and a sword 
being distinctly recognizable. Cp. Passion- 
flower. 

Pikestaff. Plain as a pikestaff. Quite obvious 
and unmistakable. The earlier form of the 
phrase (mid- 16th century) was plain as a pack - 
staff \ Le . the staff on which a pedlar carried his 
pack, which was worn plain and smooth. 

O Lord! what absurdities! as plain as any packstafT. 
— Dryden: Amphitryon , III, i. 

Pilate. Traditioh has it that Pontius Pilate’s 
later life was so full of misfortune that, in 
Caligula’s time, he committed suicide in Rome. 
His oody was cast into the Tiber, but evil 
spirits disturbed the water so much that it was 
retrieved and taken to Vienne, where it was 


thrown into the Rhone, eventually coming to 
rest in the recesses of a lake on Mount Pilatus 
(y.v.) opposite yieerne. Another legend states 
that the suicide occurred so that he might 
escape the sentence of death passed on him oy 
Tiberius because of his having ordered the 
crucifixion of Christ; and yet another that 
both he and his wife became penitent, em- 
braced Christianity, and died peaceably w the 
faith. 

Tradition gives the name Claudia Procula. or 
Procla, to Pilate’s wife, and by some she has 
been identified with the Claudia of II 77 * ife iv, 

In the Coptic Church (see Copts) he is 
regarded as a martyr, and his feast day is June 
25th. In 1960 an inscription was found in 
Palestine bearing his name. 

Pilate voice. A loud, ranting voice. In the old 
mysteries all tyrants were made to speak in a 
rough, ranting manner. Thus Bottom the 
Weaver (q.v.) t after a rant “to show his 
quality,” exclaims, “That’s ’Ercles* vein, a 
tyrant’s vein”; and Hamlet describes a ranting 
actor as “out-heroding Herod.*' 

The Miller, that for-drunken was al pale . . . 

... in Pilates vois he gan to crye. 

And swoor by armes and by bj^oa'and bones. 

“I can a noble tale For the nones ■' * 

With which I wol now quyte the Rnightes tale.” 

Chaucer: Miller's Prologue , 12-19. 

Pilatus, Mount. In Switzerland, between the 
canton of Lucerne and Unterwalden. So called 
because during westerly winds it is covered 
with a white “cap” of cloud fLat. pileatus , 
covered with the p ileus, o%rfelt xap). The 
similarity of the name with that of Pilate (q.v.) 
gave rise to one of the legends mentioned 
above; another tradition has it that Pilate was 
banished to Gaul by Tiberius, wandered to this 
mount and threw himself into a black lake on 
its summit, and it is further stated that once a 
year Pilate appears oi\ the mountain and that 
whoever sees the ghost will die before the year 
is out. In the 16th century a law was passed for- 
bidding anyone to throw stones into the lake, 
for fear of bringing a tempest on the country. 

Pilgarlic or Pill’d Garlic (piP gar lik). A 16th- 
century term for a bald-headed man, especially 
one whose hair had fallen off through disease, 
and had left a head that was suggestive of a bit 
of peeled garlic. Stow says of one getting bald: 
“He will soon be a peeled garlic like myself”; 
and the term was later used of any poor wretch 
avoided and forsaken by his fellows, and, in a 
humorous or self-pitying way, of oneself. 

After thisjfeast] we jogged off to bed for the night; 
but never a bit could poor pilgarlic sleep one wink, for 
the everlasting jingle of bells. — Rabelais: Pantagruek 
V, vii. 

Pilgrim Fathers. The term applied to the 
English founders of Plymouth Colony, Mas- 
sachusetts, in 1620. They belonged to the 
church founded at Leyden by John Robinson. 
Having obtained a grant of land in New Jersey 
they came over from Holland and sailed from 
Plymouth in the Mayflower on September 6th, 
1620. The party consisted of 74 men and 28 
women. By stress of weather they were com- 
pelled to land on the coast of Massachusetts on 
December 21st, far north of the territory 




The Pilgrims 


704 


Pin 


granted to them, and here they founded Ply- 
mouth Colony. 

Ine Pilgrims is a club founded in their 
honour in 1902, with two branches, one in 
London and the other in New York. 

Pilgrimage. A journey to a sacred place under- 
taken as an act of religious devotion, either 
simply to venerate it or to ask for the fulfil- 
ment of some prayer, or as an act of penance. 
It is not penitential necessarily, nor need it 
be performed under conditions of physical 
discomfort or with great solemnity, hence 
it pan be performed by train or motor 
with as great reverence as if done bare- 
foot. The chief places in the West were 
Walsingham and Canterbury (England); Four- 
vi&re, Puy, and St. Denis (France); Rome, 
Loretto, and Assisi (Italy); Compostela, 
Guadalupe, and Montserrat (Spain); Getting, 
Zell, Cologne, Trier, and Einsiedeln (Ger- 
many). 

The Pilgrimage of Grace. The rising on 
behalf of the Roman Catholics that broke out 
in* Lincolnshire in the autumn of 1 536. It quickly 
assumed large proportions, but was finally ex- 
tinguished in March, 1537, by the Council of 
the Nojrth, oVef 70 of the rebels being executed. 
Robert Aske, the Archbishop of York, Lord 
Darcy, and the Percys were the principal 
leaders. 

Pill. To gild the pill. To soften the blow; to 
make a disagreeable task less offensive, as pills 
used to be gilded (and are now sugar-coated) to 
make them h)ore pleasant to the taste and 
sight. t 

Pillar. From pillar to post. Flither and thither; 
from one thing to another without any definite 
purpose; harassed and worried. The phrase 
was originally from post to pillar , and comes 
from the old tennis-courts in allusion to the 
banging about of thebafis. 

Pillar Saints. See Stylites. 

The Pilldrs of Hercules. The opposite rocks 
at the entrance of the Mediterranean, one in 
Spain and the other in Africa. The tale is that 
they were bound together till Hercules tore 
them asunder in order to get to Gades (Cadiz). 
The ancients called them Calpe and Abyla; we 
call them Gibraltar and Mount Hacho, on 
which stands the fortress of Ceuta. Macrobius 
ascribes the feat of making the division to 
Sesostris (the Egyptian Hercules), Lucan fol- 
lows the same tradition; and the Phoenicians 
are said to have set on the opposing rocks two 
large pyramidal columns to serve as seamarks, 
one dedicated to Hercules and the other to 
Astarte. 

I will follow you even to the pillars of Her- 
cules. To the end of the world. The ancients 
supposed that these rocks marked the utmost 
limits of the habitable globe. 

Pillory (pil'dri). Punishment by the pillory 
was not finally abolished in England till 1837, 
but since 1815 it had been in force only for 
perjury. In Delaware, U.S.A., it was a legal 
punishment down to 1905. In France it was 
abolished in 1848. 

The following eminent men have been put in the 
pillory for literary offences: — Leighton, for tracts 


against Charles I; Lilburn, for circulating the tracts of 
Dr. Bastwick; Bastwick, for attacking the Church of 
England; Wharton tl\e publisher; Prynne, for a satire 
on the wife of Charles I; Daniel Defoe, for a pamph- 
let entitled The Shortest Way with Dissenters , etc. 

Pilot. Through Fr. from Ital. pilota. formerly 
pedota , which is probably connected with Gr. 
pedon , a rudder. 

Pilot balloon. A small balloon sent up to try 
the wind; hence, figuratively, a feeler; a hint 
thrown out to ascertain public opinion on some 
point. 

Pilot engine. The leading engine when two 
are needed to draw a railway train; also an 
engine sent ahead of a train carrying important 
personages, etc., to ensure that the line is clear. 

Pilot fish. The small sea-fish, Naucrates 
ductor , so called because it is supposed to pilot 
the shark to its prey. 

The pilot that weathered the storm. William 
Pitt, son of the first Earl of Chatham. George 
Canning, in 1802, wrote a song so called in 
compliment to him, for his having steered his 
country safely through the European storm 
stirred up by Napoleon. 

Pilpay or Bidpay (pil paO. The name given as 
that of the author of Kalilah and Dimnah 
(otherwise known as The Fables of Pilpay ), 
which is the 8th-century Arabic version of the 
Sanskrit Panchatantra. The word is not a true 
name, but means “wise man” (Arab, bidbah ), 
and was applied to the chief scholar at the 
court of an Indian prince. 

Pinjlico (pirn li ko) (London). Formerly the 
pleasure centre of Hoxton, but the better 
known Pimlico is the largely residential district 
in the City of Westminster, of somewhat 
indeterminate area. In Elizabethan and Stuart 
times it was an area of entertainment, and the 
Mulberry Gardens (the site of which is covered 
by Buckingham Palace) were a favourite 
resort. In spite of many guesses, the origin of 
the name is unknown. 

Pin. The original pin (O.E. pinn, connected with 
pinnacle) was a small tapered peg of wood, 
horn, metal, etc. In various forms pins were 
used by all peoples of antiquity, and it is 
a mistake to suppose that pins were invented 
in the reign of Francois I, and introduced into 
England by Catherine Howard, fifth wife of 
Henry VIII. In 1347, 200 years before the 
death of Francois, 12,000 pins were delivered 
from the royal wardrobe for the use of the 
Princess Joan. 

At a pin’s fee. At an extremely low estimate; 
valueless. 

I do not set my life at a pin’s fee. 

Hamlet, I, iv. 

I don’t care a pin, or a pin’s point. In the 
least. 

[the Red-cross Knight] not a pin 
Does care for look of living creature’s eye. 

Spenser: Faerie Queene , I, v, 4. 

I do not pin my faith upon your sleeve. I am 
not going to take your ipse dixit for gospel. In 
feudal times badges were worn, and the par- 
tisans of a leader used to wear his badge, which 
was pinned on the sleeve. Sometimes these 



Pin 


705 


Pinkerton 


badges were changed for some reason, hence, 
people learned to be chafy of judging by ap- 
pearances, and would* ^ay — “You wear the 
badge, but I do not intend to pin my faith on 
your sleeve.” 

In merry pin. In merry mood, in good spirits. 
The Callender, right glad to find 
His friend in merry pin, 

Return’d him not a single word, 

But to the house went in. 

Cowper: John Gilpin , st. xlv. 

The origin of the term is not certain; it may 
be in reference to the pin or key of a stringed 
instrument by which it is kept to the right pitch, 
or it may be an allusion to the pins o f pegs of 
peg-tankards (see Peg — I am a peg too low). 
By the rules of “good fellowship” a drinker was 
supposed to stop drinking oply at a pin y and if 
he went beyond it, was to drink to the next one. 
As it was hard to stop exactly at the pin, the 
effort gave rise to much mirth, and the drinker 
had generally to drain the tankard. 

No song, no laugh, no jovial din 
Of drinking wassail to the pin. 

Longfellow: Golden Legend. 

Not worth a pin. Wholly worthless. 

Pin money. A woman’s allowance of money 
for her own personal expenditure. At one time 
pins were a great expense, and in 14th- and 
15th-century wills there are often special 
bequests for the express purpose of buying 
pins; when they became cheap and common 
the women spent their allowance on other 
fancies, but the term pin money remained in 
vogue. 

Miss Hoyden: Now, nurse, if he gives me two hun- 
dred a year to buy pins, what do you think he’ll give 
me to buy fine petticoats? 

Nurse: Ah, my dearest, he deceives thee foully, and 
lie’s no better than a rogue for his pains! These Lon- 
doners have got a gibberage with ’em would confound 
a £ipsy. That which they call pin-money is to buy their 
wives everything in the varsal world, down to their 
very shoe-ties. — Vanbrugh: The Relapse , V, v (1697). 

Pins and needles. The tingling sensation that 
comes over a limb when it has been numbed, or 
“asleep.” 

On pins and needles. “On thorns,” “on 
edge”; in a state of fearful expectation or great 
uneasiness. 

Policy of pin pricks. A policy of petty annoy- 
ances. The term came into prominence during 
the strained relations between England and 
France in 1898, and is an Anglicization of the 
very much older French phrase, un coup 
d^p ingle. 

There’s not a pin to choose between them. 
They’re as like as two peas, practically no dif- 
ference. 

To tirl at the pin. See Tirl. 

Weak on his pins. Weak in his legs, the legs 
being a man’s “pegs” or supporters. 

You could have heard a pin drop. Said of a 
state — especially a sudden state in the midst of 
din — of complete silence. Leigh Hunt speaks of 
“a pin-drop silence” ( Rimini , I, 144). 

Pin-table. A popular game depending partly 
on skill but mostly on chance in which balls are 
shot up an inclined table and touch various 


pins when rolling back, scoring points accord- 
ing to the pins they strike. It is usually com- 
bined with a penny-in-the-slot machine Which 
deals the players an allotted number of balls. 

Pin-up Girl. In World War II the Forces 
used to pin up in their billets, etc., pictures of 
film stars, actresses, or their own particular 
girls. The phrase seems to have come into use 
in the U.S.A. in 1941. 

Pinch. A pinch for stale news. A punishment for 
telling as news what is well known. 

At a pinch. In an urgent case; if hard pressed. 
There are things that one cannot do in the 
ordinary way, but that one may manage “at a 
pinch.” 

To be pinched for money. To be in financial 
straits, hard up. Hence, to pinch and scrape , or 
to pinch it , to economize. 

To pinch. Slang for to steal. 

Where the shoe pinches. See Shoe. 

Pinch-hitter. A person who substitutes for 
another in a crisis. The term is from the game 
of Baseball where the pinch-hitter — a man who 
always hits the ball hard — is put in to bat when 
his team is in desperate straits. , 

Pinchbeck. An alloy of copper (5 parts) and 
zinc (1 part), closely resembling gold. So called 
from Christopher Pinchbeck (1670-1732), a 
manufacturer of trinkets, watches and 
jewellery in Fleet Street, London. The term is 
used figuratively of anything spurious, of de- 
ceptive appearance, or low quality. 

Pindar (Pinder or Pinner) of Wakefield. See 
George-a-Green. A pinder was one who^im- 
pounded straying cattle and looked after the 
pound. 

Pindaric Verse (pin dar' ik). Irregular verse; a 
poem of various metres, and of lqfty style, in 
imitation of the od£s ©f Pindar. Alexander's 
Feast , by Dryden, and The Bard , by Gray, are 
examples. 

Pine-tree State. Maine, which has forests of 
these trees, and bears a pine-tree on its coat of 
arms. 

Pink. The flower is so called because the edges 
of the petals are pinked or notched. The verb 
to pink means to pierce or perforate, also to 
ornament dress material by punching holes in 
it so that the lining can be seen, scalloping the 
edges, etc. In the 17th century it was com- 
monly used of stabbing an adversary, especially 
in a duel. 

In pink. In the scarlet coat of a fox-hunter. 
The colour is not pink, but no hunting man 
would call it anything else. Cp. Redcoats. 

ItMhe pink. In excellent health. An abbrevia- 
tion of the modern phrase “in the pink of 
condition,” deriving from Shakespeare’s “the 
very pink of courtesy” (Romeo and Juliet , II, 
iv), Steele’s “the pink of courtesy” (Tatler t jxo. 
204), Goldsmith’s “the very pink of perfec- 
tion” (She Stoops to Conquer , II), and Burns’s 
“the pink o’ womankind’ (The Posie ). 

Pinkerton. Pinkerton’s National Detective 
Agency was*founded in Chicago, in 1852,', by 




Pinto 


706 


Piso’s Justice 


Allan* Pinkerton, a deputy sheriff of Kane 
County, 111., who had proved himself a detec- 
tive of some resource. The Agency became well 
known through investigating industrial dis- 
putes, but it was in the Civil War that it came 
to the forefront of such activities. In 1861 a 
plot to assassinate President-Elect Lincoln at 
Baltimore was laid bare by Pinkerton’s men. 
During this war Pinkerton devised a method of 
obtaining military and political information 
from the Southern States, and eventually 
organized the Federal Secret Service. Pinker- 
ton’s' most sensational coups were the dis- 
covery of the thieves of $700,000 stolen from 
the Adams Express in 1866, and the breaking- 
up of the Molly Maguires (1877), an Irish- 
Arfierican secret society with many subversive 
and lawless deeds to their discredit. 

Pinto. The name for a piebald or spotted horse, 
derived from the Spanish and Portuguese word 
pintado (painted). In American slang pinto has 
the additional meaning of coffin, derived 
probably from the Africanism of the earliest 
negroes. 

Pious. The Romans called a man who revered 
his father pins ; hence Antoninus was called 
Pius, because he requested that his adoptive 
father (Hadrian) might be ranked among the 
gods. vEneas was called Pius because he 
rescued his father from the burning city of 
Troy. The Italian word pieta (q.v.) has a similar 
meaning. 

The Pious. Ernest I, founder of the House of 
Gotha. (1601-74.) 

Robert, son of Hugues Capet. (971, 996- 
1031.) 

Eouis I of France. See Debonair. 

Eric IX of Sweden, (d. 1161.) 

Frederick III, Elector Palatine. (1575-76.) 

Pip. The pips on cards and dice were named 
from the seeds of fruit -(earlier peep , origin 
obscure). This is merely an abbreviated form of 
pippin , whiph denoted the seed long before it 
denoted apples raised from seed. To be pipped 
is to be blackballed or defeated, the black ball 
being the “pip.” 

Pip emma, Soldier slang in World War I for 
p.m. Originally telephonese, as on the phone 
“twelve pip emma” cannot be misunderstood, 
whereas “twelve p.m.” might be. In the same 
way ack emma stands for a.m. 

To get one’s second pip. To be promoted 
from second to first lieutenant. These army 
ranks are marked by “pips” on the shoulder- 
straps. 

To have or get the pip. To be thoroughly 
“fed up,” downhearted, and miserable. Prob- 
ably connected with the poultry disease which 
causes fowls to pine away. ^ 

Pipe. As you pipe, I must dance. I must accom- 
modate myself to your wishes. “He who pays 
the piper calls the tune.” 

Piping hot. Hot as water which pipes or 
sings; hence, new, only just out. 

Piping times of peace (Shakespeare, Richard 
III , I, i). Times wnen there was no thought of 
war, and the pastoral pipe instead of the martial 
trumpet was heard on the village%reens. 


Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Digest 
that, if you can. An expressibn used by one who 
has given an adver^aiy a severe rebuke. 

The pipe of peace. Se$ Calumet. 

To pipe one’s eye. To snivel, weep. 

To put one’s pipe out. To spoil his piping; to 
make him change his key or sing a different 
tune; to “take his shine out.” 

Pipeclay. Routine; fossilized military dog- 
mas of no real worth, such as excessive atten- 
tion to correctness in dress, drill, etc. ( Cp . Red 
Tape.) Pipeclay was at one time largely used by 
soldiers for whitening their gloves, belts and 
other accoutrements. 

Pipe-laying. (U.S.A.) Swaying the issue in an 
election by slipping in voters who are not on 
the electoral fc>fl. 

Pipe Rolls or Great Rolls of the Pipe. The 
series of Great Rolls of the Exchequer, begin- 
ning 2 Henry II, and continued to 1834, 
probably so called either because of the cylin- 
drical shape of the Roils, or because they were 
kept in pipe-like cases. The Pipe Rolls 
contain complete accounts of the Crown 
revenues as rendered by the Sheriffs of the dif- 
ferent counties. They are now in the Public 
Record Office, Chancery Lane, London. 

Office of the Clerk of the Pipe. A very ancient 
office in the Court of Exchequer, where leases 
of Crown lands, sheriffs’ accounts, etc., were 
made out. It existed in the reign of Henry II, 
and was abolished in the reign of William IV. 

Piper. Piper’s news. Stale news; “fiddler’s 
news” (q.v.). 

The Pied Piper. See Pied. 

Tom Piper. So the piper is called in the 
morris dance. 

The Piper referred to by Drayton seems to 
have been a sort of jongleur or raconteur of 
short tales. 

Tom Piper is gone out, and mirth bewailes. 

He never will come in to tell us tales. 

Who’s to pay the piper? See Pay. 

Pippin. See Pip. 

Pique (pc' ka). The art of inlaying gold or silver 
in another material, such as tortoiseshell or 
ivory. 

Pirie’s Chair. “The lowest seat o’ hell.” 
in Pirie’s chair you’ll sit, I say. 

The lowest seat o’ hell; 

If ye do not amend your ways. 

It's there that ye must dwell. 

Child's English and Scottish Ballads : 

The Courteous Knight. 

Pis-aller (pez 21' a) (Fr. worst course). A make- 
shift; something for want of a better; a dernier 
ressort. 

Piso’s Justice (pi' z6). Verbally right, but 
morally wrong. Seneca tells us that Piso con- 
demned a man on circumstantial evidence for 
murder; but when the suspect was at the place 
of execution, the man supposed to have been 
murdered appeared. The centurion sent the 
prisoner to Piso, and explained the case to him ; 
whereupon Piso condemned all three to death, 
saying, Flat justltia (Lat. let justice be done). 
The condemned man was executed because 


Pistol 


707 


PUn 




sentence of death had been passed upon him, 
the centurion because he had disobeyed orders, 
and the man supposed tpliave been murdered 
because he had been thO'Cause of death to two 
innocent men, fiat fiistitia ruat ccelum (let 
justice be done though the heavens should fall). 

Pistol. Formerly pistolet; so called from the old 
pistolese , a dagger or hanger for the manu- 
facture of which Pistoia, in Tuscany, was 
famous. 

Pocket pistol. See Pocket. 

To fire one’s pistol in the air. Purposely to 
refrain from injuring an adversary. Tne phrase 
is often used of argument, and refers to the old 
practice of duellers doing this when they wished 
to discharge a “debt of honour” without in- 
curring risks. 

Pit-a-pat. My heart goes pit-a^pnt. Throbs, pal- 
pitates. An echoic or a mere ricochet word, of 
which there are a great many in English — as 
“fiddle-faddle,” “harum-scarum,” “ding- 
dong,” etc. 

Anything like the sound of a rat 
Makes my heart go pit-a-pat. 

Browning: Pled Piper of Hamelln. 

Pitcairn Island, in the South Pacific, was the 
first home of the mutineers of the Bounty O 7 .V.). 

Pitch. The black resinous substance gets its 
name from Lat. pix ; the verb (to fling, settle, 
etc.) is the M.E. pic hen, pykken . 

A pitched battle. One for which both sides 
have made deliberate preparations. 

Pitch and pay. Pay up at once. There is a sup- 
pressed pun in the phrase: “to pay a ship” is to 
pitch it. 

The word is pitch and pay — trust none. 

Henry V f II, ffi. 

Pitch and toss. A game in which coins are 
itched at a mark, the player getting nearest 
aving the right to toss all the others’ coins 
into the air and take those that come down 
with heads up. Hence, to play pitch and toss 
with one’s money, prospects, etc., is to gamble 
recklessly, to play ducks and drakes. 

The bounding pinnace played a game 
Of dreary pitch and toss; 

A game that, on the good dry land. 

Is apt to bring a loss. 

Thos. Hood : The Sea Spell . 

To pitch into one. To assail him vigorously; 
to give it him hot. 

Touch pitch, and you will be defiled. “The 
finger that touches- rouge will be red.” “Evil 
cpmmunications corrupt good manners.” “A 
rotten apple injures its companions.” Shake- 
speare introduces the proverb in Much Ado 
(HI, iii). 

Pitcher. From Lat. picarium or bicar ium; the 
word is a doublet of Beaker (<y.v.). 

Little pitchers have long ears. Little folk or 
children hear what is said when you little think 
it. The ear of a pitcher is the handle, made 
somewhat in the shape of a man’s ear. 

The pitcher went once too often to the well. 
The dodge was tried once too often, and utterly 
failed. The sentiment is proverbial in most 
European languages. 

. 73 * 


Pithecanthrope (pith e kan'Jftrap). The name 
given by Haeckel in 1868 to the hypothetical 
missing link” ( q.v .); from Or. pithekos, ape, 
and anthropos , man. Later, Pithecanthropus was 
the generic name given to the remains of the 
extinct man-like ape discovered in the Pliocene 
of Java in 1891. 

Pitt Diamond. A diamond of just under 137 
carats found at the Parteal mines, India, and 
bought by Thomas Pitt {see Diamond Prrr) in 
1702 from a thief for a sum (said to have been 
£20,400) far below its real value. Hence Pope's 
reference — 

.. Asleep and naked as an Indian lay. 

An honest factor stole a gem away. 

Moral Essays , Ep. iii, 361. 

Pitt sold the diamond in 1717 to the Regent 
Orleans (hence it is also called the “Regent 
Diamond”) for £135,000; it later adorned the 
sword-hilt of Napoleon, and is still in the pos- 
session of France. Its original weight before 
cutting was 410 carats. 

Pitt’s Pictures. “Blind” windows used to be 
so called, because many windows were blocked 
up when William Pitt augmented the window 
tax in 1784, and again in 1797. ’ 

Pixie or Pixy (pik/ si). A sprite or fairy of folk- 
lore, especially in Corn wail and Devon, where 
some hold pixies to be the spirits of infants who 
have died before baptism. The Pixy monarch 
has his court like Oberon, and sends his sub- 
jects on their several tasks. The word is prob- 
ably Celtic, but its history is unknown. 

Place. Place-makers* Bible. See Bible. 

Place aux dames (Fr.). Make way for the 
ladies; ladies first. * 

Placebo (plas e' b5) (Lat. I shall please, or be 
acceptable). Vespers for the dead; because the 
first antiphon at Vespers of the Office of the 
Dead began with the words Placebo Domino In 
regione vivo rum, I will walk before me Lord In 
the land of the living (Ps. cxvi, 9), - 

As sycophants and those who wanted to get 
something out of the relatives of the departed 
used to make a point of attending this service 
and singing the Placebo the phrase to sing 
Placebo came to mean “to play the flatterer or 
sycophant”; and Chaucer (who in the Mer- 
chant's Tale gives this as a name to a parasite) 
has — 

Flatereres been the develes chapdleyns that sin g wy 
evere Placebo. — Parson's Tale » § xl. 

Placer. An area where surface mining (for 
gold or silver) is carried out. The word is of 
Spanish origin, the plural being placer es* 

Plagiarist (pla' j& rist), one who appropriates 
another’s ideas, etc., in literature, musfc, and 
so on, means strictly one who kidnaps a slave 
(Lm plagiartus). Martial applies the word to 
the kidnappers of other men $ brains. 

Plain, The. The Girondists were so called in the 
French Revolutionary National Convention, 
because they sat on the level floor or plain of 
the hall. After their overthrow this part of the 
House was called the marais or swamp, and 
included such members as were under tne con* 
trol of the Mountain fa.v.}. 



Plain 


708 


Platonic love 


If# all plain sailing. It’s perfectly straight- 
forward; there nedti be no hesitation about the 
course of action. A nautical phrase which 
should be written plane, not plain. Plane sail- 
ing is the art of determining a ship’s position on 
the assumption that the earth is flat and she 
is sailing, therefore, on a plane, instead of a 
spherical surface, which is a simple and easy 
method of computing distances. 

Plains Indians is the name given by ethno- 
graphers to the Indian tribes of the central 
prairie areas of North America from Alberta 
to Texas — the land, indeed, once ranged over 
by the American bison or buffalo on which the 
Plains Indians largely subsisted. The Plains 
Indians are the Redskins of romance, with 
their feather bonnets, tepees, and pipes of 
peace — the Dakotas, Blackfeet, Cheyennes, 
Comanches, Pawnees, Apaches, and many 
others. 


Planets. The heavenly bodies that revolve 
round the sun in approximately circular orbits; 
so called from Gr. (through Lat. and O.Fr.) 
planasthal , to wander, because, to the ancients, 
they appeared to wander about among the 
stars instead of having fixed places. 

The primary planets are Mercury, Venus, 
the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, 
Uranus, and Pluto (discovered in 1930); these 
are known as the major planets , the asteroids 
between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter being 
the minor planets . 

The secondary planets are the satellites, or 
moons, revolving round a primary. 

Mercury and Venus are called Inferior 
Planets because their orbits are nearer to the 
sun than the Earth’s; the remaining planets are 
Superior Planets. 

Only five of the planets were known to the 
ancients (the Earth, of course, not being 
reckoned), viz. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, 
and Satun^; but to these were added the Sun 
and the Moon, making seven in all. Among the 
astrologer alchemists 

The Suit (Apollo) represented Gold. 

The Moon (Diana) „ Silver. 


Mercury 

Venus 

Mars 

Jupiter 

Saturn 


Quicksilver. 

Copper. 

Iron. 

Tin. 

Lead. 


In heraldry the arms of royal personages 
used to be blazoned by the names of planets 
(see Heraldry). 


Planet-struck. A blighted tree is said to be 
planet-struck. Epilepsy, paralysis, lunacy, etc., 
are attributed to the malignant aspects of the 
planets. Horses are said to be planet-struck 
when they seem stupefied, whether from want 
of food, colic, or stoppage. 

They with speed 

Their course through thickest constellations held, 
Spreading their bane; the blasted stars looked wan, 
An d planets, planet-strook, real eclipse 
Then suffered. Milton: Paradise Lost , X, 410. 


To be born under a lucky (or unlucky) planet. 
According to astrology, some planet, at the 
birth of every individual, presides over his 
destiny. Some of the planets, like Jupiter, are 
lucky; and others, like Saturn, are unlucky. See 
Houses, Astrological. 


Plank, A. Any one portion or principle of a 
political platform (q.v.). 

To walk the plank. To put to the supreme 
test; also, to he abouk to die. Walking the 
plank was a mode of disposing of prisoners at 
sea, much in vogue among pirates in the 17th 
century. 

Plantagenet (pl&n t8j' e net), from planta 
genista (broom-plant), the family cognizance 
first assumed by Geoffrey, Count of Anjou 
(d. 1151), during a pilgrimage to the Holy 
Land, as a symbol of humility. By his wife 
Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, he 
was father of Henry II, the founder of the 
House of Plantagenet. 

The House of Plantagenet. Henry II and the 
English kings descended in the direct male line 
from him, viz . : — 

Henry II Edward I 

Richard I Edward II 

John Edward HI 

Henry III Richard II 

They reigned from 1154 to 1399. Cp. Angevin. 

Plate. In horse-racing, the gold or silver cup 
forming the prize; hence the race for such a 
prize. 

A lot on one’s plate. Slang for having plenty 
to do or think about. 

Selling plate. A race in which owners of 
starters have to agree beforehand that the 
winner shall be sold at a previously fixed price. 

Plates of meat. Rhyming slang for “feet”; 
often abbreviated to plates. 

Platform. The policy or declaration of the 
policy of a political party, that on which the 
party stands, each separate principle being 
called a plank of the platform. 

In this sense the word is an Americanism 
dating from rather before the middle of last 
century; but in earlier Elizabethan times and 
later it was used of a plan or scheme of Church 
government and of political action. 

Queen Elizabeth I, in answer to the Supplica- 
tion of the Puritans (offered to the Parliament 
in 1586), said she “had examined the platform 
and accounted it most prejudicial to the religion 
established, to her crown, her government, and 
her subjects.” 

Platonic (pl& ton' ik). Pertaining to or ascribed 
to Plato, the great Greek philosopher (d. 
347 b.c.) who taught a form of Idealism that 
attributed real Being to general concepts or 
Ideas and denied the existence of individual 
things, the world of sense being an illusion, the 
world of thought all. 

Platonic bodies. An old name for the five 
regular geometric solids described by Plato — 
viz. the tetrahedron, hexahedron, octahedron, 
dodecahedron, and icosahedron, all of which 
are bounded by like, equal, and regular planes. 

Platonic love. Spiritual love between persons 
of opposite sexes; the friendship of man and 
woman, without anything sexual about it. The 
phrase is founded on a passage towards the end 
of the Symposium in which Plato was extolling 
not the non-sexual love of a man for a woman, 
but the loving interest that Socrates took in 


Platonic Year 


709 


young men — which was pure, and therefore 
noteworthy in the Qreecp of the period. 

I am convinced, and #ways was, that Platonic Love 
is Platonic nonsens^r-RiCHARDSON : Pamela , I, 
lxxvni. 

The Platonic Year. The same as the Platonic 
Cycle. See under Cycle. 

Platonism is characterized by the doctrine of 
pre-existing eternal ideas, and teaches the im- 
mortality and pre-existence of the soul, the 
dependence of virtue upon discipline, and the 
trustworthiness of cognition. 

Plattdeutsch (nl&t doich), the language of the 
“ (North) German plain,” was until 1500 the 
business language of Northern Europe, but has 
now sunk to the level of regional dialects, 

Plaudite (plaw'diti) (Lat. “applaud, ve!” — 
hence our word plaudit). The appeal for ap- 
plause at the conclusion of Roman plays, espe- 
cially the comedies of Terence; hence the end 
of a play. 

Here we may strike the Plaudite to our play; my 
lord Fool’s gone; all our audience will forsake us. — 
Chapman: Monsieur D' Olive t IV, ii. 

Play. “This may be play to you, ’tis death to 
us.” The allusion is to AEsop’s fable of the boys 
throwing stones at some frogs. 

As good as a play. Intensely amusing. It is 
said to have been the remark of Charles I when 
he attended the debate on Lord Ross’s 
“Divorce Bill.” 

Played out. Exhausted; out of date; no longer 
in vogue. 

Playing possum. See Possum. 

Playing to the gallery, or to the gods. Appeal- 
ing to the less cultured taste attributed to the 
common people- appealing to sensational 
rather than artistic taste. 

The “gods” in theatrical phrase are the 
spectators in the uppermost gallery. The ceil- 
ing of Drury Lane Theatre — only iust above 
the gallery — was at one time painted in imita- 
tion of the sky, with cupids and deities. In 
French this gallery is nicknamed paradis. 

Pleader, Pleading. See Special Pleading. 

Plebeian (pie be' in). One of, or appertaining 
to, the common people; properly a free citizen 
of Rome, neither patrician nor client. Plebeians 
were, however, free landowners, and had their 
own “gentes.” 

Plebiscite (pleb' i sit). In Roman history, a law 
enacted by the “comitia” or assembly of 
tribes; nowadays it means the direct vote of the 
whole body of citizens of a State on some 
definite question. 

In France, the resolutions adopted in the 
Revolution by the voice of the people, and the 
general votes given during the Second Empire 
— such as the general vote to elect Napoleon 
III emperor of the French — were by plebiscite. 

Pledge. To guarantee; to assign as security; 
hence, in drinking a toast, to give assurance of 
friendship by the act of drinking. 

Drink to me only with thine eyes, 

And I will pledge with mine. 

Ben Jonson. 


Plonk 

. .Jit.-.'-,. _ 

To take the pledge. To bind oneself by a 
solemn undertaking to abstain from intoxicat- 
ing liquors; the pledge being the guarantee or 
security — one’s pledged word. 

Pleiades (pir a dez). The cluster of stars in thb 
constellation Taurus, especially the seven 
larger ones out of the great number that com- 
pose the cluster; so called by the Greeks, pos- 
sibly from pletn, to sail, because they con- 
sidered navigation safe at the return of the 
Pleiades, and never attempted it after those 
stars disappeared. 

The Pleiades were the seven daughters of 
Atlas and Pleione. They were transformed 
into stars, one of which, Electra (tf.v.), is in- 
visible, some said out of shame, because she 
alone married a human being, while others 
held that she hides herself from grief for the 
destruction of the city and royal race of Troy. 
She is known as “the lost Pleiad”: — 

One of those forms which flit by us, when we 
Are young, and fix our eyes on every face; . . . 

Whose course and home we know not, nor shall know. 
Like the lost Pleiad seen no more below. 

Byron; Beppo, xiv. 

The name The Pleiad has frequently been 
given to groups of seven specially illustrious 
persons, e.g . : — 

The Seven Wise Men of Greece (?.v.), some- 
times called the Philosophical Pleiad. 

The Pleiad of Alexandria. A group of seven 
contemporary poets in the 3rd century b.c., 
viz. Callimachus, Apollonius of Rhodes, 
Aratus, Philiscus (called Homer the Younger), 
Lycophron, Nicander, and Theocritus. 

Charlemagne’s Pleiad, the group of scholars 
with which the Emperor surrounded himself, 
viz . Charlemagne (who, in this circle, was 
known as “David”), Alcuin (“Albinus”), 
Adelard (“Augustine”), Angilbert (“Homer”), 
Riculfe (“Damaetas”), Vamefrid, -fmd Egin- 
hard. j kv ' 

The French Pleiad of the 16t$tS^tttry, who 
wrote poetry in the metres, style, etc., of the 
ancient Greeks and Romans. Of these, Ron- 
sard was the leader, the others being Dorat, 
Du Bellay, Remi Belleau, Jodelle, Balf, and 
Ponthus de Thyard. 

The second French Pleiad. Seven contem- 
porary poets in the reign of Louis XIII, very 
inferior to the “first Pleiad.” They are Rapin, 
Commire, Larue, Santeuil, Menage, Dup^rier, 
and Petit. 

Plimsoll Line or Mark. A circle with a hori- 
zontal*! ine drawn through it, carried on both 
sides of all British merchant vessels. It in- 
dicates the maximum depth to which a vessel 
may be loaded and is named after Samuel 
Plimsoll (1824-98), M.P % for Derby, who 
brought about its adoption in view of the 
great loss of life in overloaded vessels. 
Plon-plon. The sobriquet of Prince Napoleon 
Joseph Gharles Bonaparte (1822-91). son of 
Jerome Bonaparte, an adaptation of Craint - 
plon (Fear-bullet), the nickname he earned in 
the Crimean War. 

Plonk. Also “Red Biddy” or ” Pinkie 9 * m 
Cheap red wine fortified with methylated^ 
spirit. Much drunk in Australia. 



Plough 


710 


1 1 18 ' 

Plough. Another name for the ‘ {Jreat Bear” 


his own hogs, said, 
altered “ 


Plunger 

“Nay, then , the case is 

t' 


Fond. Fool, or White Plough, The plough 
dragged about a village on Plough* Monday. 
Called white, because the mummers who drag 
it about are dressed in white, gaudily trimmed 
with flowers and ribbons. Called fond or fool, 
because the procession is fond k 0 foolish — not 
serious, or of a business character* 

Plough Monday. The first Monday after 
Twelfth Day is so called because it is the end of 
the Christmas holidays, and the day when men 
return to their plofigh or daily work. It was 
customary on this day for farm labourers to 
draw a plough from door to door of the parish, 
and solicit *tplough-money” to spend in a 
frolic. The queen of the banquet was called 
Bessy. Cp. Distaff. 

Speed the plough, or God speed the plough. 
A wish for success and prosperity in some 
undertaking. It is a very old phrase, and occurs 
as early as the 15th century m the song sung by 
the ploughmen on Plough Monday. 

To be ploughed. To be “plucked” at an 
examination; to fail to pass. 

To plough the sands. To engage in some al- 
together fruitless labour. 

To plough with another’s heifer. To use 
information obtained by unfair means, e.g. 
through a treacherous friend. A Biblical phrase. 
When the men of Timnath gave Samson the 
answer to his riddle, he replied : — 

If ye had not plowed with ray heifer, ye had not 
found out my riddle . — Judges xiv, 18. 

To put one’s hand to the plough. To under- 
take a task; to commence operations in earnest. 
Only by keeping one’s eyes on an object ahead 
is it possible to plough straight. 

And Jesus said unto him. No man, having put his 
hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the 
kingdom of God. — Luke ix, 62. 

Plover. Another old synonym for a dupe or 
“gull” (tf.v.); also for a courtesan. 

To live like a plover. To live on nothing, to 
live on air. Plovers, however, live on small 
insects and worms, which they hunt for in 
newly ploughed fields. 

Plowden. “The case is altered,’’ quoth Plowden. 
There is more than one story given by way of 
accounting for the origin of this old phrase — 
used by Jonson as the title of one of his 
comedies (1598). One of them says that Plow- 
den was an unpopular priest, and, to get him 
into trouble, he was inveigled into attending 
mass performed by a layman. When impeached 
for so doing, the cunning priest asked the lay- 
man if it was he who officiated. “Yes,” said the 
man. “And are you a priest?” said Plowden. 
“No/* said the man. Then,” said Plowden, 
turning to the tribunal, “ the case is altered, for 
it Is an axiom with the Church, ‘No priest, no 
mass.’ ” 

Another story fathers the phrase on Edmund 
Plowden (1518-85), the peat lawyer. He was 
asked what legal remedy there was against 
JK>me hogs that had trespassed on a complain- 
ant’s ground. “There is very good remedy,” 
began Plowden, but when told that they were 


Pluck, meaning cdurage, determination, was 
originally pugilistic slang of the late i 8th cen- 
tury, and meant much the same as heart . A 
“pug” who was lacking in pluck was a coward, 
he hadn’t the heart for his job; the pluck of an 
animal is the heart, liver, and lungs, that can 
be removed by one pull or pluck. Cp . the ex- 
pressions bold heart, lily -livered, a man of 
another kidney , bowels of mercy, a vein of fun, 
it raised his bile, etc. 

A rejected candidate at an examination is 
said to be plucked , because formerly at the 
Universities, when degrees were conferred and 
the names were read out before presentation to 
the Vice-Chancellor, the proctor walked once 
up and down the room, and anyone who ob- 
jected might signify his dissent by plucking the 
proctor’s gown. This was occasionally done by 
tradesmen to whom the candidate was in debt. 

A plucked pigeon. One fleeced out of his 
money; one plucked by a rook or sharper. 

There were no smart fellows whom fortune had 
troubled ... no plucked pigeons or winged rooks, no 
disappointed speculators, no ruined miners. — Scon: 
Peveril of the Peak, ch. xi. 

He’s a plucked ’un. He’s a plucky chap; 
there’s no frightening him. 

I’ll pluck his goose for him. I’ll cut his crest, 
lower his pride, make him eat humble pie. 
Comparing the person to a goose, the threat is 
to pluck off his feathers in which he prides 
himself. 


Plug. Plug song. A song given publicity, e.g. on 
the wireless. To plug , Tn this connexion, is to 
publicize — sometimes to an extreme degree. 


Plug ugly. A rowdy, unpleasant character, 
a term said to have originated in Baltimore. 

Plum. Old slang for a very large sum of money 
(properly £100,000), or for its possession. 
Nowadays the figurative use of the word means 
the very best part of anything, the “pick of the 
basket,” a windfall, or one oi the prizes of life, 
as “The plums ( i.e . the chief ana highly paid 
positions) of the Civil Service should go by 
merit, not influence.” 


Plumes. In borrowed plumes. Assumed merit; 
airs and graces not merited. The allusion is to 
the fable of the jackdaw who dressed up in pea- 
cock’s feathers. 


To plume oneself on something. To be proud 
of it, conceited about it; to boast of it. Ajplume 
is a feather, and to plume oneself is to feather 
one’s own conceit. 

Mrs. fyite Crawley . . . plumed herself upon her 
resolute manner of performing [what she thought 
right]. — T hackeray: Vanity Fair. 

Plump. To give all one’s votes to a single can* 
didate, or to vote for only one when one has 
the right to vote for more. The earlier phrase 
was to give a plumper, or to vote plump. 

Plunger. One who plunges, i.e. gambles reck- 
lessly, and goes on when he can’t afford it in 
the hope that his luck will turn. The 4th and 
last Marquis of Hastings was the first person 
so called by the turf. He was the original of 
Champagne Charlie and the most notorious 



Plus ultra 


711 


Podsuap 


spendthrift and wastrel of the mid- 19th cen- 
tury, whpse folly of squandering has become 
almost legendary. One night he played three 
games of draughts for £1,000 a^game, and lost 
all three? He then cut a pack of cards for £500 
a cut, and lost £5,000 in an hour and a half. He 
paid both debts before he left the room. 


Plus ultra (piUs til' tr&). The motto in the royal 
arms of Spain. It was qnce Ne plus ultra (“thus 
far and no farther”), in allusion to the pillars 
of Hercules, the ne plus ultra of the world ; but 
after the discovery of America, and when 
Charles V inherited the crown of Aragon and 
Castile, with all the vast American possessions, 
he struck out ne , and assumed the words plus 
ultra for the national motto, the suggestion 
being that Spain can go farther. 


Pluto (ploo' tb). The ruler of the infernal 
regions in Roman mythology, son of Saturn, 
brother of Jupitet and Neptune, and husband 
of Proserpine (< 7 -v.); hence, the grave, the place 
where the dead go before they are admitted 
into Elysium or sent to Tartarus. 

Brothers, be of good cheer, this night we shall sup 
with Pluto . — Leonidas to the three hundred Spartans 
before the battle of Thermopylae . 

A Pluto of the 20th century is the large, 
amiable, and stupid dog who is the companion 
of Mickey Mouse in Walt Disney’s animated 
cartoons. 

In World War 11 Pluto was the code name 
(from the initials of Pipe Line Under The 
Ocean) given to the pipelines to carry petrol 
which were laid across the bed of the English 
Channel from England to France — from 
Sandown to Cherbourg and from Dungeness 
to Boulogne. In all, these Pluto lines covered a 
distance of 770 miles, and consisted of 23,000 
tons of lead piping and 5,500 tons of steel 
piping. Much of this was recovered in 1949. 

Plutonian or Plutonist. See Vulcanist. 


Plutonic Rocks. Granites, certain porphyries 
and other igneous unstratified crystalline rocks, 
supposed to have been formed at a great depth 
and pressure, as distinguished from the vol- 
canic rocks, which were formed near the sur- 
face. So called by Lycll from Pluto , as the lord 
of elemental tire. 


under the nime of Rebecca, and in 1616 was 
w brought to England, where she became an 
object of curiQsitv and frequent allusion in con- 
temporarw literature. She* died at Gravesend, 
Kent, in 1617. 

The blessed 

Pocahontas, as the historian calls her. 

And great king’s daughter of Virmnia. . , . 

Ben ipSoN : Staple of i (1625). 

Pocket. The word is used by airmen to denote 
a place where a sudden drop or acceleration is 
experienced, owing to a local variation in air- 
pressure. 

Pocket battleship. A small, heavily 
armoured warship built in accordance with the 
limiting terms of a treaty. By the Treaty of 
Versailles Germany was forbidden to build 
battleships of over 10,000 tons. In consequence 
she constructed several formidable battleships 
which purported to be within this limit, .though 
it was discovered later that they were not. 

Pocket borough. A parliamentary borough 
where the influence of the magnate was so 
powerful as to be able to control the election of 
any candidate. 

Pocket judgment. A bond under the hand of 
a debtor, countersigned by the sovereign. It 
could be enforced without legal process, but 
for long has fallen into disuse. 

Pocket pistol. Colloquial for a flask carried 
in “self-defence,” because we may be unable to 
get a dram on the road. 

Pocket veto. When the President of the 
U.S.A. refuses to ratify a Bill which has passed 
both Houses, he is said to pocket it. 

Queen Elizabeth's pocket pistol. A for- 
midable piece of ordnance given to Queen 
Elizabeth I by the Low Countries in recognition 
of her efforts to protect them in their reformed 
religion. It used to overlook the Channel from 
Dover cliffs, but in 1834 was removed to make 
room for a modern battery. It bore the follow- 
ing inscription (in Flemish): — 

Load me well and keep me clean. 

And I’ll carry a ball to Calais Green. 

Put your pride in your pocket. Lay it aside for 
the nonce. 


Plutus (ploo' tus). In Greek mythology, the 
god of nehes. Hence, Rich as Plutus, and pluto* 
crat y one who exercises influence or possesses 
power through his wealth. The legend is that he 
was blinded by Zeus so that his gifts should be 
equally distributed and not go only to those 
who merited them. 


Plymouth Brethren. A sect of Evangelical 
Christians founded in Ireland about;48z8 by 
J. N. Darby (hence they are sometimes called 
Darbyites), and deriving their name from 
Plymouth being the first centre set up in Eng- 
land (1830). They have no organized ministry, 
and lay emphasis on the Breaking of the Bread 
each Sunday. 


Pocahontas (pok & hon' t&s). Daughter of Pow- 
hatan, an Indian chief of Virginia, bom about 
1595. She is said to have rescued Captain John 
Smith when her father was on the point of kill- 
ing him. She subsequently married John Rolfe. 
one of the settlers at Jamestown, was baptized 


To be in, or out of pocket. To be a gainer or a 
loser by some transaction. 

To pocket an insult. To submit to an insult 
without showing annoyance. 

To put one’s hand in one’s pocket. To give 
money (generally to some charity). 

Pococurante (po ko kfl rfin' ti) (Ital. poco 
curante y caring little), Insouciant, devil-may- 
care, easy-go-lucky. Hence, pococurantism, in- 
difference to matters of importance but 
concern about trifles. Also used for one who in 
argument leaves the main gist and rides off on 
some minor and indifferent point. 

Podsnap, A pompous,* self-satisfied man in 
Dickens’s Our Mutual Friend % the type of 
one who is overburdened with stiff-starched 
etiquette and self-importance. Hence, Pod* 
snappery. * 

He always knew exactly what Providence meant. 
Inferior and less respectable men might fail short of 


Poet 


712 


Point-blank 


1 ' * 

that mark, but Mr. Podsnap was always up to it. And 
it was very remarkable (and must have bdbn very com- 
fortable) that what Providence meant was invariably 
what Mr. Podsnap mea^t. — Our Mutual friend, Bk. {, 

Poet. Poet Laureate. A court official, ap- 
pointed by the Prime Minister, whose duty it is 
(or was) to compose odes in honour of the 
sovereign’s birthday and in celebration of State 
occasions of importance. 

The first Poet Laureate officially recognized 
as such was Ben Jonson, but in earlier times 
there had been an occasional Versificator 
Regis , and Chaucer. Skelton, Spenser, and 
Daniel weret called ‘‘Laureates’* though not 
appointed to that office. The following is the 
complete list of Poets Laureate: — 

Ben Jonson, 1619-1637. 

Sir William Davenant. 1660*1668. 

John Dryden, 1670-1688. 

Thomas Shadwell, 1688-1692. 

Nahum Tate, 1692-1715. 

Nicholas Rowe, 1715-1718. 

Laurence Eusden, 1718-1730. 

Colley Cibber, 1730-1757. 

William Whitehead, 1757-1785. 

ThQmas Warton, 1785-1790. 

Henry James Pye, 1790-1813. 

Robert Southey, 1813-1843. 

William Wordsworth, 1843-1850. 

Alfred Tennyson, 1850-1892. 

Alfred Austin, 1896-1913. 

Robert Bridges, 1913-1930. 

John Masefield, 1930- 

The term arose from the ancient custom in 
the universities of presenting a laurel wreath to 
graduates in rhetoric and poetry. There were at 
one time “doctors laureate,’* “bachelors 
laureate,” etc.; and in France authors of dis- 
tinction are still at times “crowned” by the 
Academy. 

Poeta nascitur non fit. Poets are born, not 
made. See Born. 

Poets’ Corner, The. The southern end of the 
south transept of Westminster Abbey, first so 
called by Oliver Goldsmith because it con- 
tained the tomb of Chaucer. Addison had pre- 
viously (* Spectator , No. 26, 1711) alluded to it 
as the “poetical Quarter,” in which, he says — 

I found there were Poets who had no Monuments, 
and Monuments which had no Poets. 

Among writers buried here are Spenser, 
Dryden, Dr. Johnson, Sheridan, Dickens, 
Browning, Tennyson, Macaulay, Hardy, and 
Kipling. There dre many monuments to writers 
not buried here. Ben Jonson was buried in the 
north aisle of the Abbey, and Addison in 
Henry VIl’s Chapel. 

The term Poets' Corner is also facetiously 
applied to the part of a newspaper in which 
poetical contributions are printed. 

Pogrom. An organized massacre, especially one 
of those directed against the Jews in Russia in 
1905 and later. The word is Russian, and 
means devastation {gromit, to thunder, to 
destroy unmercifully)^ 

Poilu (pwa' IQ). The popular name for the 
French private soldier, equivalent to our 
‘Tommy Atkins.” It means literally “hairy,” 
but had been used by Balzac as meaning 
“brave.” 


Point. Defined by Euclid as “that which hath 
no parts.” Playfair defines it as “that which has 
position but not magnitude,” and Legendre 
says it “is a lttnit terminating a line.”* which 
suggests that a point could not exist? even in 
imagination, without a line, and presupposes 
that we know what a line is. s ^ 

A point of honour. See Honour. 

A point-to-point race. A race, especially a 
steeplechase, ajfect from one point to another; 
a cross-country race. 

Armed at all points. Armed to the teeth; 
having no parts undefended. 

A figure like your Father, 

Arm’d at all points exactly. Cap a Pe , 
Appears before them. 

Hamlet, I, ii. 

Come to the point! Speak out plainly what 
you want; don’t beat about the bush, but avoid 
circumlocution and get to th£ gist of the 
matter. 

In point of fact. A stronger way of saying 
“As a fact,” or “As a matter of fact.” 

Not to put too fine a point upon it. Not to be 
over delicate in stating it; the prelude to a 
blunt though truthful remark. 

To carry one’s point To attain the desired 
end; to get one’s way. 

To dine on potatoes and point. To have 
potatoes without any relish or extras, a very 
meagre dinner indeed. When salt was dear 
and the cellar was empty parents used to tell 
their children to point their potato to the salt 
cellar, and eat it. This was potato and point, 
and the “joke” lies in the allusion to a point- 
steak, which is the best portion. 

To give one points. To be able to accord him 
an advantage and yet beat him; to be con- 
siderably better than he. 

To make a point of doing something. To treat 
it as a matter of duty, or to make it a special 
object. The phrase is a translation of the older 
French faire un point de. 

To stand on points. On punctilios; delicacy of 
behaviour. In the following quotation Theseus 
puns on the phrase, the side allusion being that 
Quince in the delivery of his Prologue had 
taken no notice of the stops, or points : — 

This fellow doth not stand upon points. — Mid- 
summer Night's Dream, V, i. 

To stretch a point. To exceed what is strictly 
right. There may be an allusion here to the 
tagged laces called points , formerly used in 
costume; to “truss a point” was to tie the 
laces which held the breeches; to “stretch a 
point”, to stretch these laces, so as to adjust the 
dress to extra growth, or the temporary full- 
ness of good feeding. 

To truss his points. To tie the points of hose. 
The points were the cords pointed with metal, 
like shoe-laces, attached to doublets and hose; 
being very numerous, some second person was 
required to “truss” them or fasten them 
properly. 

Point-blank. Direct. A term in gunnery; 
when a cannon is so placed that the line of 
sight is parallel to the axis and horizontal, the 
discharge is point-blank, and was supposed to 
go direct, without curve, to an object within a 



Point 


713 


Poll 


certain distance. In French point blanc is the 
white mark or bull's-eye of a target, to hit 
which the ball or arrow must not deviate in the 
least frqjn the exact path. 

Now art thou within point-blank of our jurisdiction 
regal. — Henry VJ, Pt. 77, IV, vii. 

Point d’a&mi (Fr.). A standpoint; a fulcrum; 
a position from which you can operate; a pre- 
text to conceal the real intention. Literally the 
point of support. 

The material which gives name to the dish is but the 
point d'appui for the literary cayenne and curry- 
powder, by which it is recommended to the palate of 
the reader. — The Athenaeum. 

Point-devise (Fr. the point devised, the 
desired object). Punctilious; minutely exact. 
Holofernes says, “I abhor such insociable and 
point de vise companions, such rackers of 
orthography.” 

You are rather point de vise in your accoutrements. 
— As You Like It, III, ii. 

Point of No Return. The point at or beyond 
which the pilot of an aircraft is ordered to go 
on rather than turn back in the event of trouble. 

Pointillisme. A technique of painting with dots 
of pure colour, popularized by the French 
painter Georges Seurat (1859-91). It is also 
known as the Divisionist technique. 

Poison. It is said that poisons had no effect on 
Mithridates, King of Pontus. This was Mithri- 
dates VJ (d. 63 b.c.), called the Great, who suc- 
ceeded his father at the age of eleven, and forti- 
fied his constitution by drinking antidotes to 
poisons which might at any moment be 
administered to him by persons about the 
court. See Mithridate. 

Poisson d’Avril (pwa' son da vril) (Fr. April 
fish). The French equivalent lor our “April 
fool” iq.v.). 

Poke. A bag, pouch, or sack— from which 
comes our pocket , a little poke. The word is 
rarely used nowadays, except in the phrase To 
buy a pig in a poke ( see Pig). The word is not 
connected with the verb to poke. 

Poke bonnet. A long, straight, projecting 
bonnet, commonly worn by women in the 
early 19th century, and still worn by Salvation 
Army lasses and old-fashioned Quaker women. 
Why it was so called is not clear— probably 
because it projects or pokes out. 

To poke fun at one. To make one a laughing- 
stock. 

Poker Face. An expressionless face charac- 
teristic of the good poker-player who assumes 
it to conceal from his adversaries any idea of 
what cards he may be holding. 

Poky. Cramped, narrow, confined; as, a poky 
comer. Also poor and shabby. 

The ladies were in their pokiest old headgear. — 
Thackeray: The Newcomes , ch. Ivii. 

Polack (po' l£k). An inhabitant of Poland. The 
term is not used now, except jokingly in 
U.S.A., Pole having for long taken its place. 

So frowned he once, when, in an angry parle, 

He smote the sledded Polacks on the ice. 

Hamlet , I, i. 

Poland. The Partition of Poland. This country, 
situated between the leading military powers oi 
Eastern Europe — Russia, Austria* and Prussia 


— has for the last two centuries been subject to 
invasion by, and division between, those 
countries. The first partition between the three 
was in 1772; the second in 1793; the final par- 
titionun 1796. The kingdom was reconstituted 
under Napoleon’s authority, but was annexed 
to the Russian crown in 1832. It was again set 
up, as a republic, in 1919* but partitioned be- 
tween Germany and Russia in 1939. In 1945 it 
was again reconstituted as a separate state 
under Russian dominance. 

Polish Corridor. The territory given to 
Poland by the Treaty of Versailles to enable her 
to have access to the Baltic Sea. It followed 
roughly the line of the Vistula and reached the 
sea to the west of Danzig (declared a free city) 
and the port of Gdynia was built by Poland 
for her commerce. The Corridor cut off East 
Prussia from the rest of Germany and was one 
of the causes of irritation which eventually led 
to World War II. 

Pole. The stake, mast, measure (16J ft.), etc., 
gets its name from Lat. pains, a pale or stake; 
pole — the North Pole , magnetic pole, etc. — is 
from Gr. polos , an axis, pivot. 

Barber’s pole. See Barber. 

The Poles are the vintagers in Normandy. The 
Norman vintage consists of apples beaten 
down by poles. The French say, En Normandie 
Von vendange avec la gaule, where gaule is a 
play on the word gaul, but really means a pole. 
In this connexion it is interesting to record that 
during the German occupation of Paris in 
1941-43 the students once marched through the 
streets as a demonstration carrying two posts 
1 deux gaules) and it took the German authori- 
ties some time to grasp that this was a play on 
the name De Gaulle— then the symbol of 
French nationality and liberty. 

Under bare poles. See Bare. 

Polichinelle. See Secret. 

Polish Off. To finish out of hand. In allusion to 
articles polished. 

Pll polish him off in no time. I’ll set him 
down, give him a drubbing. * 

To polish off a meal. To eat it quickly, and 
not keep anyone waiting. 

Politeness of Kings. A definition of punc- 
tuality. 

Polixenes (pol ix' e nez). Father of Florizel and 
King of Bohemia in Shakespeare s Winters 
Pale. 

Polka. A round dance said to have been in- 
vented about 1830 by a Bohemian servant grl. 
In a few years it took Europe by storm. The 
polka is danced in couples in 2-4 time, the 
characteristic feature being ; the rest on the 
second beat. 

Pol) (pol) (of Teutonic origin) means the head; 
hence, the number of persons in a crowd ascer- 
tained by counting heaos, hence the counting 
of voters at an election, and such phrases as to 
go to the polls, to stand for election, and poll 
tax, a tax levied on everybody. 

The Cambridge term, the Poll, meaning 
students who obtain only a pass degree, Le. a 
degree without honours, is probably from Gr. 



Pollux 


714 


Pompey’s Pillar 


hoi pplloi , the common herd. These students — 
poll men , aifc said to go out in the poll , and to 
take a poll wgree. 

Pollux (pol'fcks). In classical mythology the 
twin brother of Castor (q.v.). 

Polly. Mary. The change of M for P in pet 
names is by no means rare; e.g . — 

Margaret . Maggie or Meggy, becomes 
Peagie, and Peg g or Peg. 

Martha . Matty becomes Patty. 

In the case of Mary — Polly we see another 
change by no means unusual— that of r into l 
or //.Similarly, Sarah becomes Sally ; Dorothea , 
Dora, becomes Dolly; Harry , Hal. 

Poloxdus (pol 6' ni Os). A garrulous old cour- 
tier, in Hamlet , typical of the pompous, sen- 
tentious old man. He was father of Ophelia, 
and lord chamberlain to the king of Denmark. 

Polony (polS'ni). A corruption of Bologna 
(sausage). 

Poltergeist (pol t£r gist). A household spirit, 
well known to spiritualists, remarkable for 
throwing things about, plucking the bed- 
clothes, making noises, etc. It is a German 
term — Polter noise; Gelst, spirit. 


Polt-foot. A club-foot. Ben Jonson calls Vul- 
can, who was lame, the “polt-footed philo- 
sopher.” 

Venus was content to take the blake Smith (/. e., 
blacksmith Vulcan) with hi9 powlt foote. — L yly: 
Euphues. 

Poltroon. A coward; from Ital. poltro , a bed, 
because cowards are sluggards and feign them- 
selves sick a-bed in times of war. 

In falconry the name was given to a bird of 
*prey, with the talons of the hind toes cut off to 
prevent its flying at game, probably owing to 
the old idea that the word was derived from 
Lat. pollice truncus , maimed in the thumb, 
because conscripts who had no stomach for the 
field used to disqualify themselves by cutting 
off their right thumb. 

Polycrates (pol i kra' tez), Tyrant of Samos, 
was so fortunate in all things that Amasis, King 
oT Egypt, advised him to chequer his pleasures 
by relinquishing something he greatly prized. 
Whereupon Polycrates threw into the sea a 
beautiful ring, the most valuable of his jewels. 
A few days afterwards a fine fish was sent him 
as a present; and in its belly was found the 
jewel. Amasis, alarmed at this good fortune, 
broke off his alliance, declaring that sooner or 
later this good fortune would fail; and not long 
afterwards Polycrates was shamefully put to 
death by Orates, who had invited him to his 
court. 

Polydore (pol' i ddr). The name assumed by 
Guiderius m Shakespeare’s Cymbellne. 

Polyhymnia (pol i him' ni &). The Muse of lyric 
poetry, and inventor of the lyre. See Muses. 

Polyphemus (pol i fe' mtis). One of the Cyclops, 
an enormous giant, with only one eye, and that 
In the middle of nis forehead, who lived in 
Sicily. When Ulysses landed on the island, this 
monster made him and twelve of his crew cap- 
tives; six of them he ate, and then Ulysses con- 
trived to blind him, and escape with the rest of 


the crew (cp. Lestrioons). Polyphemus was in 
love with Galatea, a sea-nymph, wh6 had set 
her heart on the shepherd Acis; Polyphemus, 
in a fit of jealousy, crushed him beneatp a rock. 

Poma Alcinoo dare. See Alcinoo. 

Pomander (pom an' ddr). From the French 
pomme d'ambre , apple of amber, or amberjgris. 
A ball made of perfume, such as ambergris or 
musk, which was worn or carried in a per- 
forated case in order to ward off infection or 
counteract bad smells. The cases, usually of 
gold or silver, were also called “pomanders.” 

Pomatum (po ma' turn). Another name for 
pomade , which was so called because it was 
originally made by macerating over-ripe 
apples (Fr. pommes) in grease. 

There is likewise made an ointment with the nulpe 
of Apples and Swines grease and Rose water, which is 
used to beautifie the face . . . called in shops pomatum , 
of the Apples whereof it is made.—GERARDE: Herbat, 
111, xcv (1597). 

Pomfret Cakes. See Pontefract. 

Pommard. A red Burgundy wine, so called 
from a village of that name in the Cote d’Or, 
France. The word is sometimes colloquially 
used for cider, the pun being on pomme , apple. 

Pommel. The pommel of a sword is the rounded 
knob terminating the hilt, so called on account 
of its apple-like shape (Fr. pomme , apple); and 
to pommel one , now to pound him with your 
fists, was originally to beat him with the pom- 
mel of your sword. 

Pommie. Term for Englishman used in Aust- 
ralia and New Zealand; it can be used affect- 
ionately or as an insult. The pink and white 
complexions of the English, compared with 
their own leathery sunburn, remind Australians 
and New Zealanders of the flesh of the 
pomegranate. 

Pomona (po m5' ni). The Roman goddess of 
fruits and fruit-trees (Lat. pomum) t hence fruit 
generally. 

Pompadour (pom' pa dor), as a colour, is 
claret purple, so called from Louis XV’s mis- 
tress, the Marquise de Pompadour (1721-64). 

There is an old song supposed to be an 
elegy on John Broadwood, a Quaker, which 
introduces the word: — 

Sometimes he wore an old brown coat, 
Sometimes a pompadore. 

Sometimes 'twas buttoned up behind, 

And sometimes down before. 

The word is also applied to a fashion of hair- 
dressing in which the hair is raised (often on a 
pad) in a wave above the forehead. 

Pompey (pom' pi). The familiar name in the 
British Navy for Portsmouth is Pompey. It is 
also a generic name formerly used of a black 
footman, as Abigail used to be of a lady’s maid. 
One of Hood’s jocular book-titles was Pompeii; 
or , Memoirs of a Black Footman , by Sir W . 
Gill. (Sir W. Gell wrote a book on Pompeii.) 

Pompey’s Pillar. A Corinthian column of 
red granite, nearly 100 ft. high, erected at 
Alexandria by Publius, Prefect of Egypt, in 
honour of Diocletian and to record the con- 
quest of Alexandria in 296. It has about as 
much right to be called Pompey' s pillar as the 
obelisk of Heliopolis, re-erep^d by Ramoses II 




Fompilfa 715 Pope 


at Alexandria, has to be called Cleopatra's 
Needle. 

Poropilia. The heroine of Browning’s Ring and 
the Book , who escapes from her over-bearing 
husband Guido Franceschini and lives 
under the protection of the priest Capon- 
sacchi. She is murdered by her husband, and 
the account of the trial furnishes the story. 

Pone, frofn an Indian word meaning some- 
thing baked; in the Southern U.S.A. it is used 
for maize bread. 

Pongo. In the ancient romance The Seven 
Champions of Christendom he was an amphi- 
bious monster of Sicily who preyed on the 
inhabitants of the island for many years. He 
was slain by the three sons of St. George. 

Pons Asinorum (ponz Ss i nor' (im) (Lat. the 
asses’ bridge). The fifth proposition, Bk. I, of 
Euclid — the first difficult theorem, which 
dunces rarely get over for the first time without 
stumbling. It is anything but a “bridge”; it is 
really pedica asinorum , the “dolts’ stumbling- 
block.” 

Pontefract or Pomfret Cakes. Liquorice 
lozenges impressed with a castle; so called 
from being made at Pontefract. The name of 
the town is still frequently pronounced pum - 
fret, representing the Anglo-Norman and 
Middle English spelling Pontfret. The place 
was called Fractus Pons by Orderic (1097) and 
Pontefractus by John of Hexham ( c . 1165), 
in allusion to the old Roman bridge over the 
Aire, broken down by William I in 1069, re- 
mains of which were still visible in the 16th 
century. 

Pontiff. The term was formerly applied to any 
bishop, but now only to the Bishop of Rome — 
the Pope — i.e . the Sovereign Pontiff. It means 
literally one who has charge of the bridges, as 
these were in the particular care of the prin- 
cipal college of priests in ancient Rome, the 
head of which was the PontifeX Maximus (Lat. 
pons, pout is, a bridge). 

Pontius Pilate’s Body-guard. See Regimental 
Nicknames. 

Pony. Slang for £25; also (especially in the 
U.S.A.) for a translation crib: also for a small 
beer-glass holding a little unaer a gill. 

In card games the person on the right hand 
of the dealer, whose duty it is to collect the 
cards for the dealer, is called the pony, from 
Lat. pone, “behind,” being behind the dealer. 

Pony Express. This was the U.S. govern- 
ment mail system across the continent just 
before the days of railways and telegraphs. It 
ran from St. Joseph, Missouri, to tne Pacific 
Coast and was inaugurated in 1860; less than 
two years later it was superseded by the electric 
telegraph. Pony Express is a misnomer, as fleet 
horses were used, ridden for stages of 10 to 15 
miles by men who did three stages, or over 30 
miles, before passing on the wallet to the next 
rider. The schedule time for the whole distance 
was ten days, but Lincoln’s inaugural address 
was taken across the continent in 7 days 17 
hours. The fame of the Pony Express rests 
tkrgely on the hardihood and courage of the 
riders, who br|ved storms, landslides, and 


Indian ambushes to get their matt through on 
time. 

Poor. Poor as a church mouse. In a church there 
is no cupboard or pantry where even so little a 
creature as a mouse could find a crumb. 

Poor as Job. The allusion is to Job being 
deprived by Satan of everything he possessed. 

Poor as Lazarus. This is the beggar Lazarus, 
full of sores, who was laid at the rich man’s 
gate, and desired to be fed with the crumbs 
that fell from Dives’ table (Luke xvi, 19-31). 

Poor Clares. See Franciscans. 

Poor Jack or John. Dried hake. We have 
“John Dory.” a “jack” (pike), a “jack shark,” 
etc., and Jack may here be a play on the word 
“Hake,” and John a substitute for Jack. 

Tis well thou art not fish; if thou hadst, thou hadst 
been poor-john . — Romeo and Juliet , 1, i. 

Cp. the jocular proof that an eel pie is a 
pigeon pie. An eel pie is a fish pie, a fish pie 
may be jack pie, a jack pie is a john pie, and a 
john pie is a pie john (pigeon). 

Poor man. The blade-bone of a shoulder of 
mutton is so called in Scotland. In some parts 
of England it is termed a “poor knight of 
Windsor,” because it holds the same relation 
to “Sir Loin” as a Windsor knight does to a 
baronet. Scott (Bride of Lammermoor , ch. xix) 
tells of a laird who, being asked by an English 
landlord what he would have for dinner, 
produced the utmost consternation by saying, 
“I think I could relish a morsel of a poor 
man.” 

Poor Richard. The assumed name of Ben- 
jamin Franklin in a series of almanacks from 
1732 to 1757. They contained maxims and pre- 
cepts on temperance, economy, cleanliness, 
chastity, and o^her virtues; and several ended 
with the words, “as poor Richard says.” 

Poor Robin’s Almanack. A farcical al- 
manack, parodying those who seriously in- 
dulged in prophecy, published at intervals from 
1664 to as late as 1828. The earlv issues have 
often been attributed to Herrick, but they were 
the work of one (or both) of the brothers 
Robert (“Robin”) and William WinStanlev. 

As a specimen of the “predictions,” the fol- 
lowing, for January, 1664, may be taken as an 
example: — 

Strong Beer and good Fires are as fit for this Season 
as a Halter for a Thiefe; and, when every Man is 
pleas’d, then "twill be a Merry World indeed. . . . This 
Month we may expect to bear of the Death of some 
Man, Woman, or Child, either in Kent or Christen- 
dom. 

There are none poor but those whom God 
hates. This does not mean that poverty is a 
punishment, but that those whom God loves 
are rich in H is love. In this sense Dives may be 
the poor man, and Lazarus abounding in that 
“blessing of the Lord which maketh rich.” 

Pope. The word represents the O.E .papa, from 
ecclesiastical Latin, and Gr. pappas , the infan* 
tile word for father (cp. modern “papa”); it is 
not connected with Lat. popa , which denoted 
an inferior Roman (pagan) priest who brought 
the victim to the altar and felled it with an axe. 



Pope 


716 


Porphyrogenitus 


In the early Church the title was given to many 
bishops: Ldb the Great (440-61) was the first to 
use it officially, and in the time of Gregory VII 
- (1073-85) it was, by decree, specially reserved 
to the Bishop of Rome. Cp . Pontiff. 

According to Platina, Sergius II (844-6) was 
the first pope who changed his name on ascend- 
ing the papal chair. Some accounts have it that 
his name was Hogsmouth, others that it was 
“Peter di Porca,” and he changed it out of 
deference to St. Peter, thinking it arrogant to 
style himself Peter II. 

Gregory the Great (591) was the first pope to 
adopt the title Servus Servorum Dei (the 
Servant of the Servants of God). It is founded 
on Mark x, 44. 

Fye upon all his jurisdiccions 
And upon those whiche to hym are detters; 

Fye upon his bulles breves and letters 
Wherein he is named Servus Servorum. 

Rede Me and be nott Wrothe, v, 13 (1528). 

The title Vicar of Christ , or Vicar of God , 
was adopted by Innocent III, 1198. See also 
Tiara. 

The number of popes is not certain; there 
are, however, with the election of Paul VI 
261 commonly enumerated, but the election of 
two of them is of doubtful validity. Of these 
over 200 were Italians, 15 Frenchmen, 15 
Greeks, 7 Syrians, 6 Germans, 3 Spaniards, 2 
Dalmatians, 2 Africans, and 1 each English, 
Portuguese, Cretan, Thracian, Sardinian, Jew 
(St. Peter). 

The Black Pope. The General of the Jesuits. 

The Red Pope. The Prefect of the Propa- 
ganda (< q.v .). 

K The Pope of Geneva. A name given to Calvin 
*(1 509-64). 

The Pope’s eye. The tender piece of meat 
(the lymphatic gland) surrounded by fat in the 
middle of a leg of mutton. The French call it 
Judas's eye , and the Germans the priest's tit-bit . 

The Pope’s slave. So Cardinal Cajetan (d. 
1534) called the Church. 

Pope Joan. A once popular card game 
played with an ordinary pack minus the eight 
of diamonds, called the “Pope Joan” (who was 
alleged to be Pope John VIII — see Joan); 
also a circular revolving tray with eight 
compartments. 

Popish Plot. A fictitious plot implicating the 
Duke of York and others in high place, in- 
vented in 1678 by Titus Oates (1649-1705) who 
alleged that the Roman Catholics were about to 
massacre the Protestants, burn London, and 
assassinate the king. Some thirty innocent per- 
sons were executed, and Oates obtained great 
wealth by revealing the supposed plot, but 
ultimately he was pilloried, whipped, and 
imprisoned. 

Popinjay (pop' in jay). An old name for a 
parrot (ultimately of Arabic origin ; Gr. papa - 
gos) f hence a conceited or empty-headed fop. 

1 then, all smarting with my wounds being cold, 

To be so pestered with a popinjay, 

Answered neglectingly I know not what, 

He should or he should not. 

Henry IV Pt. /, I, iii. 


The Festival of the Popinjay. The first Sunday 
in May, when a figure of a popinjay, decked 
with parti-coloured feathers and suspended 
from a pole, served as a target for shooting 
practice. He whose ball or arrow brought down 
the bird by cutting the string by which it was 
hung, received the proud title of “Captain 
Popinjay,” or “Captain of the Popinjay, for 
the rest of the day, and was escorted home in 
triumph. 

Poplar. The poplar was consecrated to Her- 
cules, because he destroyed Kakos in a cavern 
of Mount Aventine, which was covered with 
poplars. In the moment of triumph the hero 
lucked a branch from one of the trees and 
ound it round his head. When he descended 
to the infernal regions, the heat caused a pro- 
fuse perspiration which blanched the under 
surface of the leaves, while the smoke of the 
eternal flames blackened the upper surface. 
Hence the leaves of the poplar are dark on one 
side and white on the other. 

The white poplar is fabled to have originally 
been the nymph Leuce, beloved by Pluto. He 
changed her into this at death. 

Poplin. This silk and worsted material, now 
made chiefly in Ireland, gets its name from the 
old papal (Ital. papalino) city of Avignon, be- 
cause up to the 17th century that was the chief 
seat of its manufacture. 

Popski’s Private Army. A British volunteer 
force in World War II operating under the 
orders of Lieut. -Col. Peniakoflf in a series of 
daring and highly successful raids in North 
Africa and Southern Europe. The Colonel was 
familiarly known as “Popski” and his irregular 
forces wore the initials P.P.A. on their 
shoulders, much to the chagrin of conservative 
military circles. 

Popular Front. A political alliance by all Left 
Wing parties (Labour, Liberal, Socialist, but 
not necessarily Communist) against reac- 
tionary government and especially dictator- 
ship. 

Populist. A term applied in U.S.A. to a member 
of the People's Party, a political party formed 
in 1891 and committed to the expansion of the 
currency, the restriction of land ownership, the 
state control of transport, etc. 

Porcelain, from Ital. porcellana , “a little pig,'* 
the name given by the early Portuguese traders 
to cowrie-shells, the shape of which is not un- 
like a pig’s back, and later to Chinese earthen- 
ware, which is white and glossy, like the inside 
of these shells. 

Porch, The. A philosophic sect, generally 
called Stoics (Gr. stoa y a porch), because Zeno, 
the founder, gave his lectures in the public 
ambulatory, Stoa pctcile , in the agora of 
Athens. 

The successors of Socrates formed societies which 
lasted several centuries; the Academy, the Porch, the 
Garden. — Seeley: Ecce Homo. 

Pork, pig. The former is Norman, the latter 
Saxon. As in the case of most edible domestic 
animals the Norman word is used for the meat 
and the Saxon for the live animal. 
Porphyrogenitus (pdr fi ro jen' i tOs). A sufl* 
name of the Byzantine Emperor, Constantine 



Porridge 


717 


Poser 


— 

VII (911-59). It signifies “bom in the purple” 
(Gr. porphuros , purple; genetos , born), and a 
son born to a sovereign after his accession is 
called a porphyrogetiito . Cp . Purple. 

Porridge. Everything tastes of porridge. How- 
ever we may deceive ourselves, whatever castles 
in the air we may construct, the fact of home 
life will always intrude. 

He has supped all his porridge. Eaten his last 
meal; he is dead. 

Keep your breath to cool your porridge. A 
rude remark made to one who is giving un- 
wanted or unsought advice. 

Well, Friar, spare your breath to cool your por- 
ridge; come, let us now talk with deliberation, fairly 
and softly. — Rabelais: Pantagruel, etc., V, xxviii. 

Not to earn salt to one’s porridge. To earn 
practically nothing; to be a “waster.” 

Port. The origin of the nautical term, meaning 
the left-hand side of a ship when looking for- 
ward, is not certain; but it is probably from 
port , a harbour. The word has been in use for 
over three centuries, and in course of time took 
the place of the earlier larboard which was 
so easily confused with starboard . When 
the steering-gear was on the starboard (i.e. 
steer-board ) side it was almost a necessity to 
enter port and tie up at the harbour with the 
larboard side towards the port , and this prob- 
ably accounts for the name. 

In the days when a ship was steered by a 
tiller it was necessary to put the tiller to port in 
order to make the rudder — and thus the vessel 
— go to starboard. Thus it came that “port the 
helm” meant really “steer the ship to star- 
board.” To do away with this anomaly, after 
World War I the rule was introduced univer- 
sally that “Port the helm” should mean “Turn 
to port,” and “Starboard the helm,” to star- 
board. 

A vessel’s port-holes are so called from Lat. 
porta , a door; the harbour is called a port from 
Lat. port as, a haven; the dark red wine gets its 
name port from Oporto , Portugal, whence it is 
exported; and port , the way of bearing one- 
self, etc. (Queen Elizabeth I, says Speed, 
daunted the Ambassador of Poland “with her 
stately port and majestical deporture”) from 
Lat. port are, to carry. 

Any port in a storm. Said when one is in a 
difficulty and some not particularly good way 
out offers itself ; a last resource. 

Port Royal. A convent about 8 miles SW. 
of Versailles which in the 17th century became 
the headquarters of the Jansenists (g.v.). The 
community was suppressed by Louis XIV in 
1660, but later again sprang into prominence 
and was condemned by a bull of Clement XI in 
1713. Two years later the convent, which had 
been removed to Paris about 1637, was razed 
to the ground. 

Portage. A place where canoes or boats must 
be carried overland from one stretch of 
navigable water to another. 

Porte, or Sublime Porte. Originally the official 
name of the Ottoman Court at Constantinople, 
3&d later used as a synonym for the Turkish 
government. The last of the Abbasid caliphs. 


Mostasem (d. 1258) placed in the threshold of 
the principal entrance to his palace at Baghdad 
a portion of the black stone adored at Mecca, 
and thus the entrance became the porte , to be 
applied in time to the sultan’s court. The word 
is the French translation of an Arabic word for 
gate. 

Porteous Riot. At Edinburgh in September, 
1736. John Porteous was captain of the city 
guard, and, at the execution of a smuggler 
named Andrew Wilson, ordered the guards to 
fire on the mob, which had become tumul- 
tuous; six persons were killed, and eleven 
wounded. Porteous was condemned to death, 
but reprieved; whereupon the mob burst into 
the jail where he was confined, and, dragging 
him to the Grassmarket (the usual place of 
execution), hanged him by torchlight on a 
barber’s pole. 

Portia (por' sh&). A rich heiress and “lady 
barrister’ in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice 
( q.v .), in love with Bassanio. Her name is often 
used allusively for a female advocate. 

Portland Vase. A cinerary urn of transparent 
dark blue glass, coated with opaque white 
glass cut in cameo fashion, found in a tomb 
(supposed to be that of Alexander Severus) 
near Rome in the 17th century. In 1770 it was 
purchased from the Barberini Palace by Sir 
William Hamilton for 1,000 guineas, and came 
afterwards into the possession of the Duke of 
Portland, one of the trustees of the British 
Museum, who placed it in that institution for 
exhibition. In 1845 a lunatic named Lloyd 
dashed it to pieces, but it was so skilfully re- 
paired that the damage is barely visible. It is 
ten inches high, and six in diameter at the 
broadest part. 

Portmanteau Word. An artificial word made up 
of parts of others, and expressive of a combina- 
tion denoted by those parts — such as squarson , 
a cross between a squire and a parson. Lewis 
Carroll invented the term in Through the 
Looking-Glass , ch. vi; slithy, he says, means 
lithe and slimy , mimsy is flimsy and miserable, 
etc. So called because there are two meanings 
“packed up” in the one word. 

Portsoken Ward (port so' ken). The most 
easterly of the City of London wards — the old 
Knightenguild (q.v.) — lying outside the wall in 
the parish of St. Botolph, Aldgate. Its name 
indicates the soke or franchise of the city (not 
of the gate). Port is an old name for any city, 
and occurs in Portreeve , the chief city officer. 

Poseidon (p6 si' don). The god of the sea in 
Greek mythology, the counterpart of the 
Roman Neptune (q.v.). He was the son of 
Cronos and Rhea, brother of Zeus and Pluto, 
and husband of Amphitrite. It was he who, 
with Apollo, built the walls of Troy, and as the 
Trojans refused to give him his reward he hated 
them and took part against them in the Trojan 
War. Earthquakes were attributed to him, and 
he was said to have created the first horse. 

Poser. Formerly used of an examiner, one who 

g oses (i.e. “opposes”) questions, especially a 
ishop’s examining chaplain and the examiner 
at Eton for the King $ College fellowship. 


Posh 


718 


Pot 


Nowadays the word usually denotes a puzzling 
question or proposition. 

Posh. This colloquialism for “grand,” “swell,” 
or “first class” has its origin in the old days of 
constant travel between England and India by 
steamship. Passengers travelling by the P. & O. 
(Peninsula and Oriental) liner would, at some 
cost, book their return passage with the 
arrangement “Port Outward Starboard H ome* 
ward, thus avoiding the south-facing or sunny 
side of the vessel when crossing the Indian 
Ocean. Passages were booked “P.O.S.H.” 
accordingly, and POSH soon came to be 
applied to a first-class passenger who could 
afford this luxury. 

Posse (pos' i) (Lat. to be able). A body of men 
— especially constables — who are armed with 
legal authority. 

Posse Comitatus. The whole force of the 
county — that is, all the male members of a 
county over fifteen, who may be summoned by 
a sheriff to assist in preventing a riot, the 
rescue of prisoners, or other unlawful dis- 
orders. Clergymen, peers, and the infirm are 
exempt. 

Possum. To play possum is to lie low, to feign 
quiescence, to dissemble. The phrase comes 
from the opossum’s habitual attempt to avoid 
capture by pretending to be dead. 

Post. Beaten on the post. Only just beaten; a 
racing term, the “post” being the winning-post. 

By return of post. By the next mail in the 
opposite direction; originally the phrase re- 
ferred to the messenger, or “post” who brought 
the dispatch and would return with the answer. 

From pillar to post. See Pillar. 

Knight of the post. See Knight. 

Post-and-rail. Wooden fencing made of posts 
and rails. In Australia roughly made tea in 
which the stalks are floating is called post-and- 
rail tea. 

Post captain. A term used in the Navy from 
about 1730 to 1830 to distinguish an officer who 
held a captain’s commission from one of in- 
ferior rank who was given the title by courtesy 
because he was in command of a small ship or 
was acting as captain, etc. A ship of under 20 
guns was not entitled to a full — or post — 
captain. 

Post haste. With great speed or expedition. 
The allusion is to the old coaching days, when 
travelling by relays of horses, or with horses 
placed on the road to expedite the journey, was 
the rule in cases of urgency. 

Post-Impressionism. Name applied to the 
phase of painting that followed Impres- 
sionism (< 7 .v.). The chief exponents were 
Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh, and Seurat. 
They believed in stronger pictorial construc- 
tion in reaction against the atmospheric effects 
of Impressionism. 

Post paper. A standard size of paper measur- 
ing 15 x 19i in. in writing papers, and 
15J x 19i in. in printings; so called from an 
ancient watermark which has been supposed to 
represent a post-horn. This horn or bugle mark 
was, however, in use as early as 1314, long 


before anything in the nature of a postman or 
his horn existed. It is probably the famous hora 
of Roland (<?.v.). 

Post term (Lat. post terminum, after the 
term). The legal expression for the return of a 
writ after the term, and for the fee that then is 
payable for its being filed. 

To be posted in a club is to have one’s name 
ut upon the notice board as no longer a mem* 
er, for non-payment of dues, or other irregu- 
larity. In the British armed forces it means to 
be assigned to a specific rank, position, or post. 

To be well posted in a subject. To be 
thoroughly acquainted with it, well informed. 
Originally an American colloquialism, prob- 
ably from the counting-house, where ledgers 
are posted . 

To run your head against a post. To go ahead 
heedlessly and stupidly, or as if you had no 
eyes. 

Poste restante (Fr. remaining post). A de- 
artment at a post office to whicn letters may 
e addressed for callers, and where they will re- 
main (with certain limits) until called for. 

Post (Lat. after). Post factum (Lat.). After the 
act has been committed. 

Post hoc. ergo propter hoc (Lat.). After this, 
therefore because of this; expressive of the 
fallacy that a sequence of events is always the 
result of cause and effect. The swallows come 
to England in the spring, but do not bring the 
spring. 

Post meridiem (Lat.). After noon; usually 
contracted to “p.m.” 

Post mortem (Lat.). After death; as a post- 
mortem examination for the purpose of ascer- 
taining the cause of death. 

A post-mortem degree. In old University 
slang, a degree given to a candidate after 
having failed at the poll. 

Post obit (Lat. post obi turn, after the death, i.e . 
of the person named in the bond). An agree- 
ment to pay for a loan a larger sum of money, 
together with interest at death. 

Posteriori. See A posteriori. 

Posy properly means a copy of verses pre- 
sented with a bouquet. It now means the verses 
without the flowers, as the “posy of a ring,” or 
the flowers without the verses, as a “pretty 
posy.” 

He could make anything in poetry, from the posy of 
a ring to the chronicle of its most heroic wearer. — 
Stedman : Victorian Poets (Landor), p. 47. 

Pot. A big pot. An important person, a per- 
sonage; a leader of his class or group. 

A little pot is soon hot. A small person is 
quickly “riled.” Grumio makes humorous use 
of the phrase in The Taming of the Shrew (IV, i). 

A pot of money. A large amount of money; 
especially a large stake on a horse. 

A watched pot never boils. Said as a mild 
reproof to one who is showing impatience; 
watching and anxiety won’t hasten matters. 

Gone to pot. Ruined, gone to the bad. The 
allusion is to the pot into which bits of already 
cooked meat are cast prior to their making 
their last appearance as basil. 


Pot 


719 


Pound 


The pot calls the kettle black. Said of a 
person who accuses another of faults similar to 
those committed by himself. 

The pot of hospitality. The pot or cauldron 
always hanging over the open fire which in 
Ireland used to be dipped into by anyone who 
dropped in at meal-times, or required refresh- 
ment. 

And the “pot of hospitality” was set to boil upon 
the fire, and there was much mirth and heartiness 
and entertainment . — Nineteenth Century , Oct., 1891, 
p. 643. 

To keep the pot a-boiling. To go on paying 
one’s way and making enough to live on; also, 
to keep things going briskly, to see that the 
interest does not flag. 

Pot-boiler. Anything done merely for the 
sake of the money it will bring in — because it 
will “keep the pot a-boiling,” i.e. help to pro- 
vide the means of livelihood; applied specially 
to work of small merit by artists or literary 
men. 

Pot-hook. The hook over an open fire on 
which hung the pot. The term was applied to 
the shaky curves and loops made by the be- 
ginner in handwriting. 

Pot-hunter. One who in athletic contests, 
etc., is keener on winning prizes (often silver 
cups, or pots) than on the sport; it is, of course, 
a term of reproach among sportsmen. 

Come and take pot-luck with me. Come and 
take a family dinner at my house; we’ll all 
“dip into the pot” and share anything that’s 
going. 

Pot valiant. Made courageous by liquor. 

Pot-wallopers, before the passing of the 
Reform Bill (1832), were those who claimed a 
vote as householders, because they had boiled 
their own pot at their own fireplace in the 
parish for six months. The earlier form was 
pot-waller , from O.E. weallan y to boil. 

Potato. This very common vegetable ( Solarium 
tuberosum) was introduced into Ireland (and 
thence into England) from America by Sir 
Walter Raleigh about 1 584, but the name (from 
Haitian batata) properly belonged to another 
tuberous plant ( Batata edulis , of the natural 
order Convolvulacete ), now known as the sweet 
potato , which was supposed to have aphrodi- 
siac qualities. It is to this latter that Falstaflf 
refers when he says “Let the sky rain potatoes” 
{Merry Wives , V, v), and there are many 
allusions to it in contemporary literature. 

Potato-bogle. So the Scots call a scarecrow, 
the head of these bird-bogies being a big 
potato or turnip. 

Potato Jones. Caplaiu D. J. Jones, who died 
in 1962 aged 92. In 1937, with his steamer 
Marie Llewellyn loaded with potatoes, he tried 
to run General Franco’s blockade off Spain, 
but was prevented by a British warship. Two 
other captains who tried to do the same thing 
were called Ham-and-Egg Jones and Corncob 
Jones. 

To think small potatoes of it. To think very 
little of it, to account it of very slight worth, 
or importance. 


Poteen fpo t5n0 (Irish poitln , little jpot). 
Whisky that is produced privately in an illicit 
still, and so escapes duty. 

Potent. Cross potent. An heraldic cross, each 
limb of which has an additional cross-piece 
like the head of an old-fashioned crutch; so 
called from Fr. po fence , a crutch. It is also 
known as a Jerusalem cross. 

Potiphar’s Wife (pot' i ftir) is unnamed both in 
the Bible ( Genesis xxxix, 7) and the Koran. 
Some Arabian commentators have called her 
Rahil, others Zuleika, and it is this latter name 
that the 1 5th-century Persian poet gives her in 
his Yusuf and Zulaikha. 

In C. J. Wells’s poetic drama Joseph and His 
Brethren (1824), of which she is the heroine, 
she is named Phraxanor. 

Potlatch. A North American Indian feast at 
which gifts are distributed lavishly to the 
guests, while the hosts destroy much of their 
own property in a magnificent ostentation of 
wealth and possessions. It is a social barbarity 
to refuse an invitation to a potlatch, or, having 
been to one, to neglect to give a potlatch in 
return; rivalry in this insensate reast-giving 
often reduced the givers to ruin. 

Potpourri (po poo' re) (Fr.). A mixture of dried 
sweet-smelling flower-petals and herbs pre- 
served in a vase. Also a hotch-potch or olla 
podrida (tf.v.). In music, a medley of favourite 
tunes strung together. 

Pourri means rotting [flowers], and potpourri, 
strictly speaking, is the vase containing the sweet mix- 
ture. 

Pott. A size of printing and writing paper 
(15& x \7\ in.); so called from its original 
watermark, a pot, which really represented the 
Holy Grail. 

Poolaines (poo' lanz). The long pointed toes of 
the 14th century. They were put on the feet of 
suits of armour for purposes of defence. They 
appeared also on the fashionable souliers a la 
poulaine. The fashion is thought to have come 
from Poland — whence the name. 

PouJt (polt). A chicken, or the young of the 
turkey, guinea-fowl. etc. The word is a con- 
traction of pullet , from Late Lat. pulla , a hen, 
whence poultry , poulterer , etc. 

Poulter’s Measure. In prosody, a metre con- 
sisting of alternate Alexandrines and four- 
teeners, i.e. twelve-syllable and fourteen- 
syllable lines. The name was given to it by 
Gascoigne (1576) because, it is said, poulterers 
— then called poulters — used sometimes to give 
twelve to the dozen and sometimes fourteen. It 
was a common measure in early Elizabethan 
times; the following specimen is from a poem 
by Surrey: — 

Good ladies, ye that have your pleasures in exile, 
Step in your foot, come take a place, and mourn with 
me a while; 

And such as by their lords do set but little price 
Let them sit still, it skills them not what chance come 
on the dice. 

Pound. The unit of weight (Lat. pondus % 
weight); also cash to the value of twenty 
shillings sterling, because in the Carlovingian 


Penny 


720 


Praise the Lord 


1 

period the Roman pound (twdve ounces) of 
pure silver was corned into 240 silver pennies. 
The symbols £ and lb. are for libra, the Latin 
for a pound. 

In for a penny, in for a pound. See Penny. 

Pound of flesh. The whole bargain, the exact 
terms of the agreement, the bond literatim et 
verbatim. The allusion is to Shylock, in The 
Merchant of Venice , who bargained with An- 
tonio for a “pound of flesh,” but was foiled in 
his suit by Portia, who said the bond was 
expressly a pound of flesh, and therefore (1) 
the Jew must cut the exact quantity, neither 
more nor less than a just pound ; and (2) in so 
doing he must not shed a drop of blood. 

Poverty. When poverty comes in at the door, 
Jove flies out at the window. An old proverb, 
given in Ray’s Collection (1742), and appearing 
m many languages. Keats says much the same 
in Lamia (Pt. 11): — 

Love in a hut, with water and a crust, 

Is — Love forgive us — cinders, ashes, dust. 

Powder. I’ll powder your jacket for you. A cor- 
ruption of Fr. poudrer , to dust. 

Not worth powder and shot. Not worth the 
trouble; the thing shot won’t pay the cost of 
the ammunition. 

Pow-wow. A consultation. Derived from the 
North American Indians. 

Poynings’ Law or Statute of Drogheda. An Act 
of Parliament passed in Ireland in 1495 (10 
Henry VII , ch. xxii) at the summons of Sir 
Edward Poynings (d. 1521), then Lord Deputy, 
providing that no Parliament could be called 
together in Ireland except under the Great 
Seal of England, that its Acts must be sub- 
mitted to the English Privy Council before be- 
coming law, and declaring all general statutes 
hitherto made in England to be in force in Ire- 
land also. It was repealed in 1782. 

Practical and Practicable. These two words are 
often confused in common usage. Practical 
means adapted to actual conditions, pertaining 
to action not theory or speculation. A prac- 
tical man is one better adapted to doing manual 
jobs than to speculating about them. A prac- 
tical joke (rarely a joke to its victim, be it 
observed) is a piece of humour that depends on 
some, action on the part of the perpetrator, 
usually to the discomfiture of the subject. 

Practicable is applied to something capable 
of being done, feasible. In theatrical usage a 
practicable door or window in a piece of stage 
scenery is one that can be actually opened and 
shut. 

Pnemonstratensian. See Premonstratensian. 

Praemunire (pre mO nl' r£). A writ charging a 
sheriff to summon one accused of an indictable 
offence committed overseas, authorized by the 
Statute of Praemunire (1392); so called from the 
words praemunire facias , cause thou to warn 
(so and so) that appear in the opening sen- 
tence. The Statute was soon used specially to 
prevent the purchase in Rome of excommunica- 
tions, etc., and to stop the assertion or main- 
tenance of papal jurisdiction in England and 
the denial of the ecclesiastical supremacy of 


the Crown. Offenders could be punished by 
outlawry, forfeiture of goods, and attachment. 

Praetorian Guard (pre tor' i &n). The house- 
hold troops of the Roman Empire. Praetor was 
the title given to the consul who had supreme 
command of the army; his bodyguard was the 
Praetorian Guard. 

Pragmatic Sanction. Sanctio in Latin means a 
“decree or ordinance with a penalty attached,” 
or, in other words, a “penal statute.” Prag- 
maticus means “relating to state affairs,” so 
that Pragmatic Sanction is a penal statute bear- 
ing on some important question of state. The 
term was first applied by the Romans to those 
statutes which related to their provinces. The 
French applied the phrase to certain statutes 
which limited the jurisdiction of the Pope; but 
generally it is applied to an ordinance fixing 
the succession in a certain line. 

Pragmatic Sanction of St. Louis, 1268, for- 
bade the court of Rome to levy taxes or collect 
subscriptions in France without the express 
sanction of the king. It also gave plaintiffs in 
the ecclesiastical courts the right to appeal to 
the civil courts. The “Constitutions oi Claren- 
don” were to England what the “Pragmatic 
Sanction” was to France. 

Pragmatic Sanction of Charles VII (of 
France), 1438, defining and limiting the power 
of the Pope in France. By this ordinance the 
authority of a general council was declared 
superior to the dictum of the Pope; the clergy 
were forbidden to appeal to Rome on any 
point affecting the secular condition of the 
nation; and the Roman pontiff was forbidden 
to appropriate a vacant benefice, or to appoint 
either bishop or parish priest. 

Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, whereby the 
succession of the Austrian Empire was made 
hereditary in the female line, in order to trans- 
mit the crown to Maria Theresa, the daughter 
of Charles VI. This is emphatically the Prag- 
matic Sanction, unless some qualification is 
added restricting the term to some other in- 
strument. 

Pragmatic Sanction of Naples, 1759, where- 
by Carlos 111 of Spain ceded the succession to 
the Kingdom of Naples to his third son and his 
heirs forever. 

Pragmatism (Gr. pragma , deed). The philo- 
sophical doctrine that the only test of the truth 
of human cognitions or philosophical prin- 
ciples is their practical results, i.e. their work- 
ableness. It does not admit “absolute” truth, 
as all truths change their trueness as their 
practical utility increases or decreases. The 
word was introduced in this connexion about 
1875 by the American logician C. S. Peirce 
(1839-1914) and was popularized by William 
James, whose Pragmatism was published in 
1907. 

Prairie Schooner. A large covered wagon, 
drawn by oxen or mules, used to transport 
settlers across the North American continent. 

Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition 
(World War II). Phrase used by an American 
Naval chaplain during the Japanese attack on 
Pearl Harbour, though the actual identity of 



Prajapatis 


721 


Premonstratensian 


the chaplain has since been in dispute. Made 
the subject of a popular song in 1942. 

Prajapatis. See Menu. 

Prang. R.A.F. slang in World War II, mean- 
ing to bomb a target with evident success; or 
to crash one’s aircraft. 

Pratique (prat ekO. The licence given to an in- 
coming vessel when she can show a clean bill 
of health or has fulfilled the necessary quaran- 
tine regulations. 

Prayer-wheel. A device used by the Tibetan 
Buddhists as an aid or substitute for prayer, 
the use of which is said to be founded on a mis- 
interpretation of the Buddha’s instructions to 
his followers, that they should “turn the wheel 
of the law” — i.e. preach Buddhism incessantly 
— we should say as a horse in a mill. It consists 
of a pasteboard cylinder inscribed with — or 
containing — the mystic formula Om mani 
padtne hum ( q.v .) and other prayers, and each 
revolution represents one repetition of the 
prayers. 

Pre-Adamites. The name given by Isaac de la 
Peyr£re (1655) to a race of men whom he sup- 
posed to have existed before the days of Adam. 
He held that only the Jews are descended from 
Adam, and that the Gentiles derive from these 
“Pre-Adamites.” 

Prebend (preb' end) (O.Fr. from Late Lat. pree- 
benda , a grant, pension). The stipend given out 
of the revenues of the college or cathedral to a 
canon; he who enjoys the prebend is the pre- 
bendary \ though he is sometimes wrongly 
called the prebend. 

Precarious (Lat. precarius , obtained by prayer) 
is applied to what depends on our prayers or 
requests. A precarious tenure is one that de- 
pends solely on the will of the owner to con- 
cede to our prayer; hence uncertain, not to be 
depended on. 

Preceptor. Among the Knights Templar a pre* 
ceptory was a subordinate house or com- 
munity (the larger being cotnmanderies), and 
the Preceptor or Knight Preceptor was the 
superior of a preceptory, the Grand Preceptor 
being the head of all the preceptories in a 
province. The three of highest rank were the 
Grand Preceptors of Jerusalem, Tripolis, and 
Antioch. 

Pr^cieuses, Les (pra sc £rz). The intellectual 
circle that centred about the Hotel de Ram- 
bouillet in 17th-century Paris. It may be inter- 
preted as “persons of distinguished merit.” 
Their affected airs were the subject of Molifcre’s 
comedy Les Precieuses Ridicules , 1659. 

Precious Stones. The ancients divided precious 
stones into male and female. The darker stones 
were called the males, and the light ones were 
called the females. Male sapphires approach 
indigo in colour, but the female ones are sky- 
blue. Theophrastus mentions the distinction. 
The tent shook, for mighty Saul shuddered; and 
sparkles ’gan dart 

From the jewels that woke in his turban, at once with 
a start. 

All its lordly male-sapphires, and rubies courageous 
at heart. Browning : Saul , viii. 


Each month, according to the Poles, is 
under the influence of a precious stone: — 
January . . Garnet , . Constancy . 

February . . Amethyst . . Sincerity . 

March . . . Bloodstone . Courage . 

April . . . Diamond . . Innocence . 

May . . . Emerald . . Success in love . 

June . . . Agate . . . Health and long life . 

July . . . Cornelian . . Content. 

August . . Sardonyx . . Conjugal felicity . 
September . Chrysolite . Antidote to madness . 

October . . Opal . . . Hope . 

November . Topaz . . . Fidelity. 

December . . Turquoise . Prosperity . 

In relation to the signs of the Zodiac — 

Aries . . Ruby. Libra . . Jacinth. 

Taurus . Topaz. Scorpio . Agate. 

Gemini . Carbuncle. Sagittarius . Amethyst. 

Cancer . Emerald. Capricornus Beryl. 

Leo . . Sapphire. Aquarius . Onyx. 

Virgo . . Diamond. Pisces . . Jasper 


In relation to the planets — 


Saturn . 

. Turquoise 

. Lead. 

Jupiter . 

. Cornelian . 

. Tin. 

Mars 

. Emerald . 

. Iron. 

Sun . 

. Diamond . 

. Gold. 

Venus . . 

. Amethyst . 

. Copper. 

Moon . . 

. Crystal 

. Silver. 

Mercury 

. Loadstone 

. Quicksilver . 


It was an idea of the ancients that precious 
stones were dewdrops condensed and hardened 
by the sun. 


Precocious means ripened by the sun before it 
has attained its full growth (Lat. prcc , before; 
coquere , to cook); hence, premature; develop- 
ment of mind or body beyond one’s age. 

Many precocious trees, and such as have their 
spring in winter, may be found. — B rown. 

Prelate (preK &t) (Lat. prcelatus , carried before) 
means simply a man preferred, a man pro- 
moted to an ecclesiastical office which gives 
him jurisdiction over other clergymen. In the 
Roman Catholic Church cardinals, bishops, 
and many other ecclesiastical dignitaries enjoy 
that title and rank, with the style of Monsignore ; 
in the Church of England the term is restricted 
to bishops. 

Premier. The Prime Minister , or first minister 
of the Crown, formerly (l 7th century) called 
the Premier Minister , from Fr. ministre 
premier , first minister. The first British Prime 
Minister was Sir Robert Walpole (1676-1745), 
chief political adviser to George I and II. 

Premiere, the feminine of Fr. premjer t is 
used in English of the first performance of a 
play or showing of a cinematograph film. 

Ce n’est que le premier pas qui cofite. It is only 
the first step that costs anything. Pythagoras 
used to say, “The beginning is half the whole.” 

Incipe dimidium facti cst ccepisse. — Ausonius. 

Dimidiura facti, qui ccepit, habet. — Horace , Ep., I, 
ii, 41. 

Well begun is half done. 

Premillenarians. See Second Adventists. 

Premonstratensian (pre mon stri ten' sian) or 
Norbertine Order. An order of Augustinians 
founded by St. Norbert in 1120 in the diocese 
of Laon, France. A spot was pointed out to 
him in a vision, and he termed the spot Pre 
Montre or Pratum Monstratum (the meadow 
pointed out). The Order possessed thirty-five 
monasteries in England — where they were 


Prepense 


722 


Prevent 


known as the White Canons of the rule of St. 
Augustin*— at the time of the Dissolution. 
Prepense (prS pens'). Malice prepense. Malice 
designed or deliberate; “malice aforethought’* 
(Lat. pree, before; Fr. penser, to think). 

Preposterous (Lat. prte, before; posterus , com- 
ing after). Literally, “putting tne cart before 
the horse”; hence, contrary to reason or 
common sense. 

Your misplacing and preposterous placing is noi all 
one in behaviour of language, for the misplacing is 
alwaies intolerable, but the preposterous is a par* 
donable fault, and many times gives a pretie grace 
unto the speech. We call it by a commbn saying to set 
the carte before the horse. — Puttenham: Arte of 
English Poesie, Bk. Ill, ch. xxii (1589). 

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, The. A group of 
artists formed in London in 1848, consisting 
originally of Holman Hunt, Millais, and 
Rossetti, having for its objects a closer study of 
nature than was practised by those bound by 
the academical dogmas, and the cultivation of 
the methods and spirit of the early Italian (the 
“pre-Raphael”) painters. The group was cham- 
pioned by Ruskin, but was attacked by many 
artists and critics, and after its second exhibi- 
tion (1850) Rossetti gave up exhibiting. Millais 
resigned, and Hotman Hunt’s methods under- 
went a change. The term Pre-Raphaelite was 
later applied to work characterized by exag- 
gerated attention to detail, and high finish or 
“finnickiness.” 

... a society which unfortunately, or rather unwisely, 
has given itself the name of “Pre-Raphaelite”; un- 
fortunately, because the principles on which its 
members arc working are neither pre- nor post- 
Raphaelite, but everlasting. They are endeavouring to 
paint with the highest possible degree of completion, 
what they see in nature, without reference to con- 
ventional or established rules; but by no means to 
imitate the style of any past epoch. — Ruskin: Modern 
Painters , pt. II, sect, vi, ch. iii, § xvi. 

Presbyterian Church. A Church governed by 
elders or presbyters (Gr. presbuteros , elder), and 
ministers, all of equal ecclesiastical rank ■ espe- 
cially the United Presbyterian Church of Scot- 
land, which was formed in 1847 by the union 
of the United Secession and Relief Churches, 
and which in 1900 united with the Free Church 
of Scotland. 

Presence. See Real Presence. 

Presepts (prez'ents). Know all men by these 
prepeints — i.e . by the writings or documents 
now present. (Lat. per preserves, by the [writ- 
ings] present.) 

Press-gang. The name given to the bodies of 
men who formerly carried out the impress- 
ment of those liable to forced service in the 
Army or Navy. It was almost entirely used to 
get men for the Navy. Edward m set up a Com- 
mission of Empressment, 1355. In 1641 Parlia- 
ment declared the system illegal, but it was 
later used by Cromwell to obtain men for his 
land forces and in the latter half of the 18th 
century it was used with much harshness and 
scandal to recruit men for the Navy. 

Prester John (Le. John the Presbyter). A 
fabulous Christian king and priest, supposed 
in mediaeval times to have reigned somewhere 
in the heart of Asia in the 12th centuiy. He 
figures rh Ariosto (Orlando Furloso , Bks. XVII- 


XIX), and has furnished materials for a host of 
mediaeval legends. 

I will fetch you a toothpicker now from the farthest 
inch of Asia; bring you the length of Prester John's 
foot; fetch you a hair off the great Cham’s beard. . . . 
- r-Much Ado About Nothing, II, i. 

According to “Sir John Mandeville” he was 
a lineal descendant of Ogier the Dane (q.v.), 
who penetrated into the north of India with 
fifteen of his barons, among whom he divided 
the land. John was made sovereign of Teneduc, 
and was called Prester because he converted the 
natives. Another tradition says he had seventy 
kings for his vassals, and was seen by his sub- 
jects only three times in a year. So firm was the 
belief in his existence that Pope Alexander HI 
(d. 1 1 8 1) sent him letters by a special messenger. 
The messenger never returned. 

Prestige (pres tezh). This word has a strangely 
metamorphosed meaning. The Lat. p/astigia 
means juggling tricks, hence prestidigitateur 
(Fr.), one who juggles with his fingers. We use 
the word for that favourable impression which 
results from good antecedents. The history of 
the change is this: juggling tricks were once 
considered a sort of enchantment; to enchant 
is to charm, and to charm is to win the heart. 
Presto. The name frequently applied to him- 
self by Swift in his Journal to Stella. According 
to his own account (Journal, August 1st, 1711) 
it was given him by the notorious Duchess of 
Shrewsbury, an Italian: — 

The Duchess of Shrewsbury asked him, was not 

that Dr. , Dr. , and she could not say ray 

name in English, but said Dr. Presto, which is Italian 
for Swift. 

Preston and his Mastiffs. To oppose Preston 
and his mastiffs is to be foolhardy, to resist 
what is irresistible. Christopher Preston estab- 
lished the Bear Garden at Hockley-in-the- 
Hole in the time of Charles II, and was killed 
in 1700 by one of his own bears. 

... I’d as good oppose 

Myself to Preston and his mastiffs loose. 

Oldham: III Satire of Juvenal. 
Pretender. The Old Pretender. James Francis 
Edward Stuart (1688-1766), son of James II. 

The Young Pretender. Charles Edward 
Stuart (1720-88), son of the “Old Pretender.” 
See Jacobites. 

Pretext (pre' tekst). A pretence or excuse. 
From the Latin preetexta , a dress embroidered 
in the front worn by Roman magistrates, 
priests, and children of the aristocracy be- 
tween the age of thirteen and seventeen. The 
preetextatot were dramas in which actors per- 
sonated those who wore the pnetexta; hence 
persons who pretend to be what they are not. 
Prevarication. The Latin word varico means 1 
straddle, and prceuaricor , I go zigzag or 
crooked. The verb, says Pliny, was first applied 
to men who ploughed crooked ridges, and 
afterwards to men who gave crooked answers 
in the law courts, or deviated from the straight 
fine of truth. Cp. Delirium. 

Prevent. Precede, anticipate (Lat. prce-venlo, to 
go before). And as what goes before us may 
hinder us, so prevent means to hinder or keep 
back. 

My eyes prevent the night watches. — Ps. cxix, 148. 

Prevent us, O Lord, in all our dotnas .— Book of 
Common Prayer. 



Previous Question 


723 


Primer 


Previous Question. See Question. 

Priam (prl' &m). King of Troy when that city 
was sacked by the Greeks, husband of Hecuba, 
and father of fifty children, the eldest of whom 
was Hector. When the gates of Troy were 
thrown open by the Greeks concealed in the 
wooden horse, Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, 
slew the aged Priam. 

Prlapus (prl a' pus). In Greek mythology, the 
god of reproductive power and fertility (hence 
of gardens), and protector of shepherds, 
fishermen, and farmers. He was the son of 
Dionysus and Aphrodite, and in later times was 
regarded as the chief deity of lasciviousness 
and obscenity. See Phallicism, 

Prick. Shakespeare has, “’Tis now the prick of 
noon” (Romeo and Juliet, II, iv), in allusion to 
the mark on the dial — made by pricking or in- 
denting with a sharp instrument — that in- 
dicated 12 o’clock. 

The annual choosing of sheriffs used to be 
done by the king, who pricked the names on a 
list at haphazard. Sheriffs are still “pricked” by 
the sovereign, but the names are chosen be- 
forehand. 

Prick-eared. Said of a dog with up-standing 
ears. The Puritans and Roundheads were so 
called, because they had their hair cut short 
and covered their heads with a black skull-cap 
drawn down tight, leaving the ears exposed. 

Pricklouse. An old contemptuous name for a 
tailor. 

Prick-song. Written music for singing, as dis- 
tinguished from music learnt by ear. So called 
because the notes were originally pricked in on 
the parchment. The term has long been ob- 
solete. 

Prick the garter. See Garter. 

The prick of conscience. Remorse; torment- 
ing reflection on one’s misdeeds. In the 14th 
century Richard of Hampole wrote a devo- 
tional treatise with this title. 

To kick against the pricks. To strive against 
odds, especially against authority. Prick , here, 
is an ox-goad, and the allusion is to Acts ix, 5 — 
“It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” 

To prick up one’s ears. To pay particular 
attention; to do one’s best to follow what is 
going on. In allusion to the twitching of a 
horse’s ears when its attention is suddenly 
attracted. 

Pride, meaning ostentation, finery, or that 
which persons are proud of. Spenser talks of 
“lofty trees yclad in summer’s pride” (verdure). 
Pope, of a “sword whose ivory sheath (was) 
inwrought with envious pride” (ornamenta- 
tion); and in this sense the word is used by 
Jacques in that celebrated passage — 

Why, who cries out on pride [dress] 

That can therein tax any private party? 

What woman in the city do I name 

When that I say “the city woman bears 

The cost of princes on unworthy shoulders”? 

. . . What is he of baser function 

That says his bravery [finery] is not of my cost?” 

As You Like It, II, vii. 

Fly pride, says the peacock, a bird pro- 
verbial for pride (Comedy of Errors, IV, iii). The 
pot calling the kettle black. 


The heraldic peacock is said to be in hh 
pride when depicted with the tail displayed and 
the wings drooping. 

The pride of the morning. That early mist or 
shower which promises a fine day. The morn- 
ing is too proud to come out in her glory all at 
once — or the proud beauty being thwarted 
weeps and pouts awhile. Keble uses the phrase 
in a different sense when he says: — 

Pride of the dewy Morning, 

The swain’s experienced eye 
From thee takes timely warning. 

Nor trusts the gorgeous sky. 

Keble: 25 th Sunday after Trirt ty. 

Pride’s Purge. The Long Parliament, not 
proving itself willing to condemn Charles I, 
was purged of its unruly members ^Colonel 
Thomas Pride (d. 1658), who entered the 
House with a body of soldiers (December 6th, 
1648), arrested 47 members, excluded 96 more, 
and left the House consisting of less than 80 
members — the “Rump” (<?.v.). 

Prig. An old cant word (probably a variant of 
Prick) for to filch or steal, also for a thief. In 
the Winter's Tale the clown calls Autolycus a 
“prig that haunts wakes, fairs, and bear- 
baitings.” 

Shadwell uses the term for a pert coxcomb, 
and nowadays it denotes a conceited, formal, 
or didactic person — one who tries to teach 
others how to comport themselves, etc., with- 
out having any right to do so. 

Shatnwell: Cheatly will help you to the ready; and 
thou shalt shine, and be as gay as any spruce prig that 
ever walked the street. 

Bedford Senior: Well, adad, you are pleasant men, 
and have the neatest sayings with you; “ready,” and 
“spruce prig,” and abundance of the prettiest witty 
words. — Shadwell: The Squire o c Alsatia, I, i (1688). 

Prima Donna (pre' nia don 7 a) (Hal. first lady). 
The principal female singer in an opera. 

Priina facie (Lat.). At first sight. A prima facie 
case is a case or statement which, without 
minute examination into its merits, sifcms 
plausible and correct. 

“It would be easy to make out a strong prima 
facie case, but l should advise the more cautious 
policy of audi alteram partem .” k 

Primary Colours. See Colours, 

Prime (Lat. primus, first). In the Roman Catho- 
lic Church the first canonical hour of the tiay, 
beginning at 6 a.m. Milton terms sunrise “that 
sweet hour of prime” (Paradise Lost, V, 170); 
and the word is used in a general way of the 
first beginnings of anything, especially of the 
world itself. Cp . Tennyson’s “dragons of the 
prime” (In Memoriam , lvi). 

Prime Minister. The first minister of the 
Crown; the Premier (?.v.). » 

Prime Number. The Golden Number; also 
called simply “the Prime.” 

Primed. Full and ready to deliver a speech.^ We 
say of a man whose head is full of his subject, 
“He is primed to the muzzle.” Also a euphe- 
mism for “drunk.” The allusion is to firearms. 

Primer (pri' mer). Originally the name of the 
Prayer-book used by laymen in pre-Reforma- 
tion England; as this was used as a child’s 




Primer 


724 


Priscian’s Head 


first reading-book— generally with the addi- 
tion of the ABC, etc. — the name was trans- 
ferred to such books, and so to elementary 
books on any subject. 

Great primer (pron. prim' er). A large-sized 
type, rather smaller than 
eighteen-point, 4J lines 
} to the inch. 

Long primer. A smaller-sized type, 9J-point, 

As this; 7 i lines t0 the inch. 

Primero (prim er' 6). A very popular card-game 
for about a hundred years after' 1530, in which 
the cards had three times their usual value, four 
were dealt to each player, the principal groups 
being prime, and point. Flush was the 

same as jn poker, prime was one card of each 
suit, and point was reckoned as in piquet. 

1 left him at primero with the Duke of Suffolk. — 
Henry VIII, I, if. 

Primrose. A curious corruption of the French 
primerole , which is the name of the flower in 
M.E. This is from the Late Lat. primula , and the 
rose (as though from prima rosa , the first, or 
earliest, rose) is due to a popular blunder. 

Primum mobile (pri' mum mo' bile) (Lat. the 
first moving thing), in the Ptolemaic system of 
astronomy, was the ninth (later the tenth) 
sphere, supposed to revolve round the earth 
from east to west in twenty-four hours, carry- 
ing with it all the other spheres ( q.v .). Milton 
refers to it as “that first mov’d’’ ( Paradise Lost , 
III, 483), and Sir Thomas Browne ( Religio 
Medici) uses the phrase, “Beyond the first 
movable,” meaning outside the material 
creation. According to Ptolemy the primum 
mobile was the boundary of creation, above 
which came the empyrean (q.v.), or seat of God. 

The term is figuratively applied to any 
machine which communicates motion to 
others; and also to persons and ideas sug- 
gestive of complicated systems. Thus, Socrates 
called the primum mobile of the Dia- 
lectic; Megaric, Cyrenaic, and Cynic systems of 
philosophy. 

Primus (pri' mus) (Lat. first). The presiding 
bishop, of the Episcopal Church of Scotland. 
He is "elected by the other six bishops, and 
presides in Convocation, or meetings relative 
to Church matters. 

Primbs inter pares. The first among equals. 

Prince (Lat. princeps , chief, leader). A royal 
title which, in England, is now limited to the 
sons of the sovereign and their sons. Princess is 
similarly limited to the sovereign’s daughters 
and his sons’ (but not daughters’) daughters. 

Crown Prince. The title of the heir-apparent 
to the throne in some countries, as Sweden, 
Denmark, and Japan (formerly also in Ger- 
many). 

Prince Consort. A prince who is the husband 
of a reigning queen. 

Prince Imperial. The title of the heir- 
apparent in the French Empire of 1852-70. 

Prince of the Asturias. The title of the heir- 
apparent to the former Spanish throne. 

Priira of Piedmont. The heir-apparent to the 
HouseSbf Savoy, former kings of Italy. 


Prince of the Church. A cardinal. 

Prince of the Peace. Thfc Spanish statesman 
Manuel de Godoy (1767-1851) was granted 
this title for having negotiated peace with 
France in the Treaty of Basel, 1795. 

Prince of Physicians. A title given to Avicenna 

(tf.V.). 

Prince of Wales. See Wales. 

Prince Rupert’s drops. See Rupert. 

Princess Royal. The title of an eldest daughter 
of a British sovereign. On the death of a Prin- 
cess Royal the eldest daughter of the then 
reigning monarch automatically receives the 
title and retains it for life, no matter how many 
sovereigns with daughters may occupy the 
throne during her lifetime. George Ill’s 
daughter Charlotte, Queen of Wurtemberg, 
was Princess Royal until her death in 1828; 
neither George IV nor William IV having 
daughters the title was in abeyance until 1840 
when Queen Victoria’s daughter. Princess 
Victoria (later the Empress Frederick of Ger- 
many) succeeded to it. She remained Princess 
Royal until her death in 1901, when King 
Edward’s daughter, Princess Louise, Duchess 
of Fife, succeeded. On her death in 1931 the 
title passed to Princess Mary, Countess of 
Harewood, daughter of George V. 
Principalities. Members of one of the nine 
orders of angels in mediaeval angelology. See 
Angel. 

In the assembly next upstood 
Nisroch, of Principalities the prime. 

Milton: Paradise Lost t VI, 447. 
Printing. Wood blocks for printing were first 
used by the Chinese c. a.d. 600, and movable 
type in the 13th century. In the Western 
World there is no evidence successfully to 
refute the claim of Johann Gutenberg (c. 1400- 
68) who set up a press at Mainz c. 1450. 

Printers* Bible, The. See Bible, Specially 

NAMED. 

Printers’ marks. 

? is J — that is, the first and last letters of 
queestio (question). 

! is lo in Latin is the interjection of joy. 

H is the initial letter of paragraph (reversed). 

§ the S-mark or section mark. 

* is used by the Greek grammarians to 
arrest attention to something striking (< asterisk 
or star). 

t is used by the Greek grammarians to in- 
dicate something objectionable {obelisk or 
dagger). Both marks are now used to indicate 
footnotes. 

Priori. See A priori. 

Priscian’s Head (prish' &n). To break 
Priscian’s head (in Latin, Diminuere Priscianis 
caput). To violate the rules of grammar. 
Priscian was a great grammarian of the early 
6th century, whose name is almost synonymous 
with grammar. 

And held no sin so deeply red 
As that of breaking Priscian’s head. 

Butler: Hudibras , pt. II, ii. 

Sir Nathaniel: Laus Deo, bone intelligo. 

Holof ernes: Bone! — bone for bene: Priscian a little 
scratch’d; ’twill serve. 

Love's Labour's Lost , V, i. 


As This 




Prisoner of ChiHon 


725 


Proctor 


Prisoner of Chillon, The. See Chillon. 

V 

Privateer. A privately owned vessel commis- 
sioned by a belligerent state to wage war on 
the enemy’s commerce. The commission, 
known as letters of marque, was formerly 
given to a ship-owner who could arm and send 
out ships to harass the enemy, and important 
prizes were often captured by privateers. The 
practice of issuing letters of marque ceased as 
a result of the Declaration of. Paris, 1856. At 
times it required some ingenuity to dis- 
criminate between privateering and piracy. 

Privilege. In a Parliamentary sense this applies 
to the rights enjoyed by Members as such. 
Both Houses have the right of committing to 
prison an offender against their privilege, nor, 
unless the commitment be for some other 
offence than contempt, can the civil courts 
inquire into the matter. Contempts include 
disobedience to orders of the House, indig- 
nities offered to it, assaults, insults or libels on 
Members, interference with officers of the 
House or tampering with witnesses. Freedom of 
speech is a dearly bought and much cherished 
privilege, as also is freedom from arrest. 

Privy Council. The council chosen by the 
sovereign originally to administer public 
affairs, but now never summoned to assemble 
as a whole except to proclaim the successor to 
the Crown on the death of the Sovereign, or to 
hear the Sovereign’s announcement of intention 
to marry. It usually includes Princes of the 
Blood, the two Primates, the Bishop of London, 
the great officers of State and of the Royal 
Household, the Lord Chancellor and Judges of 
the Courts of Equity, the Chief Justices of the 
Courts of Common Law, the Judge Advocate, 
some of the Puisne Judges, the Speaker of the 
House of Commons, the Lord Mayor of Lon- 
don, Ambassadors, Governors of Colonies, 
and many politicians. The business of the Privy 
Council is nowadays to give formal effect to 
Proclamations and Orders-in-Council; for 
this a quorum of three suffices. The Cabinet 
and the Judicial Committee are, in theory, 
merely committees of the Privy Council. Privy 
Councillors are entitled to the prefix “the Right 
Honourable,” and to the use of the initials 
“P.C.” after their names; they rank next after 
Knights of the Garter who may be com- 
moners. 

Privy Seal. The seal which the sovereign uses 
in proof of assent to a document, kept in the 
charge of a high officer of State known as the 
Lora Privy Seal, In matters of minor impor- 
tance it is sufficient to pass the Privy Seal, but 
instruments of greater moment must have the 
Great Seal also. 

Prize Court. A court of law set up in time of 
war to examine the validity of capture of ships 
and goods made at sea by the navy. 

Prize money is the name given to the net pro- 
ceeds of the sale of enemy property, etc., thus 
captured at sea. Prior to 1914 the distribution 
of prize money was confined to those ships 
actually making the capture; since that date 
the whole prize money is paid into a common 
fund. 


The prize ring is the boxing ring in which a 
rize fight takes place, a prize fight being a 
oxing match for a money prize or trophy. 

Pro. (Lat. for, on behalf of). 

Pro and con (Lat.). For and against. “Con” 
is a contraction of contra . The pros and cons 
of a matter are all that can be said for or against 
it. 

Pro tanto (Lat.). As an instalment, good 
enough as far as it goes, but not final; for what 
it is worth. 

I heard Mr. Parnell accept the Bill of 1886 as a 
measure that would close the differences between the 
two countries; but since then he stated that he had 
accepted it as a pro tanto measure. ... It was a par- 
liamentary bet, and he hoped to make futur%amend- 
ments on it . — Joseph Chamberlain , April Iptn, 1893. 

Pro tempore (Lat.). Temporarily; for the 
time being, till something is permanently 
settled. Contracted into pro tem . 

Probate (pro' bat) (Lat. proved). The probate 
of a will is the official proving of it, and a copy 
certified by an officer whose duty;it is to attest 
it. The original is retained in the court registry, 
and executors cannot act until probate has been 
obtained. 

ProcSs-verbal (pro sa var' bal) (Fr.). A detailed 
and official statement of some fact; especially 
a written and authenticated statement of facts 
in support of a criminal charge. 

Procne. See Nightingale. 

Proconsul. A magistrate of Ancient Rome who 
was invested with the power of a consul and 
charged with the command of an army or the 
administration of a province. The name is now 
often applied to a colonial governor or ad- 
ministrator. " 

Procris (prok' ris). Unerring as the dart of 
Procris. When Procris fled from Cephalus out 
of shame, Diana gave her a dog (Laelaps) that 
never failed to secure its prey, and a dart w^ch v: 
not only never missed aim, but which always 
returned of its own accord to the shooter. See 
Cephalus. 

Procrustes’ Bed (pro krus' tez). Procru^es, in 
Greek legend, was a robber of Attica, who 
laced all who fell into his hands upon an iron 
ed. If they were longer than the beetle cut 
off the redundant part, if shorter he sttwhed 
them till they fitted it; he was slain by TfteSeus. 
Hence, any attempt to reduce men to one stan- 
dard, one way of thinking, or one way of 
acting, is called placing them on Procrustes’ 
bed. 

Tyrant more cruel than Procrustes old, 

Who to his iron-bed by torture tits 

Their nobler parts, the souls of suffering wits. 

Mallet: Verbal Criticism. 

Proctor. Literally this is one who manages the 
affairs of another, the word being a contrac- 
tion of “procurator.” At the universities of 
Oxford and Cambridge the proctors are two 
officials whose duties include the maintaining * 
of discipline. Representatives of ecclesiastical 
bodies in Convocation are called Proctors. The 
Queen’s Proctor is a law official entitled to inter- 
vene in a divorce or nullity suit where collusion 
or fraud is suspected. m 


Procyon 


726 


Proof 


Procyon (pro' si on). The Lesser Dog-star, 
alpha in Canis Mihoris. It is the eighth brightest „ 
star in the heavens. See Icarius. 

Prodigal. Festus says the Romans called victims 
wholly consumed by fire prodigee hostice 
(victims prodigalized), and adds that those who 
waste their substance are therefore called 
prodigals. This derivation is incorrect. Prodigal 
is Lat. pro-ago or prod-igo, to drive forth, and 
persons who had spent all their patrimony were 
“driven forth” to be sold as slaves to their 
creditors. 

The Prodigal. Albert VI, Duke of Austria 
(1418-63). ;; 

Prodigious! See Sampson, Dominie. 
Prodiog^Lat. prodigium , a portent, prophetic 
sign). The prodigy of France . Guillaume Bude 
(1467-1540); so called by Erasmus. 

The Prodigy of Learning. Samuel Hahne- 
mann (1755-1843), the German, was so called 
by J, Paul Richter. 

Producer’s Qoods. An economic term for goods, 
such as toq$ and raw material, which satisfy 
needs only indirectly, through making other 
goods. 

Profane means literally before or outside the 
temple (Lat. pro fano ); hence profamis was 
applied to those persons who came to the 
temple and, remaining outside and unattached, 
were not initiated. 

Profile (pro' fil) means shown by a thread (Ital. 
profilo ; Lat. filunu a thread). A profile is an 
outline, but especially a view, or drawing or 
some other representation, of the human face 
outlined by the median line. The term “pro- 
file,” for an essay setting forth the outstanding 
characteristics Of an individual — a verbal out- 
line, so to speaK — came into use in the 1940s. 
Profound. The Profound Doctor. Thomas Brad- 
wardinc, Richard Middleton, and other 14th- 
century scholastic philosophers were given the 
title. 

Most Profound Doctor. vEgidius de Columna 
(d. 1316), a Sicilian schoolman. 

Prog. The verb was used in the 16th century for 
to poke about for anything, especially to 
forage for food; hence the noun is slang for 
food, but its origin is unknown. Burke says, 
“You^re the lion, and I have been endeavour- 
ing tqi prog for you.” 

Stof%aying, with a smile she left the rogue 

To weave more lines of death, and plan for prog. 

DR. Wolcot: Spider and Fly. 

Prog is also university slang for proctor {q.v.). 
Programme Music is instrumental music 
based on a literary, historical, or pictorial 
subject and intended to describe or illustrate 
this theme musically. 

Progress. To report progress, in parliamentary 
language, is to conclude for the night the busi- 
ness of a bill at report stage, and defer the 
consideration of all subsequent items thereof 
till the day nominated by the Leader of the 
House; hence, to put off anything till a more 
convenient time. 

Projection. Powder of projection. A form of the 
“Philosopher’ 8 Stone A (, q.v .), which was sup- 
pose<ffio have the virtue of changing baser 


metals int^ gold. A little of this powder, being 
cast into the molten metal, was to project from 
it pure gold. 

Proletariat (pro le tar' i St). The class of the 
community* labourers and wage-earners, who 
are destitute of property, in ancient Rome the 
proletarii contributed nothing to the state but 
their proles , Le. offspring; they could hold no 
office, were ineligible for the army, and were 
useful only as breeders of the race. 

Promenade Concert. A concert in which some 
of the audience stand in an open area in the 
concert-room floor. Promenade Concerts 
(Proms, as they are familiarly called) were 
started at Drury Lane and Covent Garden in 
1840, but it was not until 1895 that they 
became a feature of London musical life under 
the conductorship of Sir Henry Wood (1869- 
1944) at the Queen’s Hall. The destruction of 
the Hall in 1941 caused a break in the concerts 
but they were renewed at the Albert Hall 
under the management of the B.B.C. 

Prometheus (pro me' thus) (Gr. Forethought). 
One of the Titans of Greek myth, son of 
Iapetus and the ocean-nymph Clymene, and 
famous as a benefactor to man. It is said that 
Zeus employed him to make men out of mud 
and water, and that then, in pity for their state, 
he stole fire from heaven and gave it to them. 
For this he was chained by Zeus to Mount 
Caucasus, where an eagle preyed on his liver 
all day, the liver being renewed at night. He 
was eventually released by Hercules, who slew 
the eagle. It was to counterbalance the gift of 
fire to mankind that Zeus sent Pandora {q.v.) 
to earth with her box of evils. 

Promethean. Capable of producing fire; per- 
taining to Prometheus {q.v.). The earliest 
“safety” matches, made in 1805 by Chancel, a 
French chemist, who tipped cedar splints with 
paste of chlorate of potash and sugar, were 
known as “Promctheans.” They were dipped 
into a little bottle containing asbestos wetted 
with sulphuric acid, and burst into flame on 
being withdrawn. 

Promethean fire. The vital principle; the fire 
with which Prometheus quickened into life his 
clay images. 

T know not where is that Promethean heat 

That can thy light relume. 

Othello , V, ii. 

The Promethean unguent. Made from a herb 
on which some of the Blood of Prometheus had 
fallen. Medea gave Jason some of it, and thus 
rendered his body proof against fire and war- 
like instruments. 

Promised Land or Land of Promise. Canaan; 
so called because God promised Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob that their offspring should 
possess it. 

Proof. A printed sheet to be examined and 
approved before it is finally printed. The first, 
or foul t proof is that which contains all the 
compositor’s errors; when these are corrected 
the impression next taken is called a clean 
proof and is submitted to the author; the final 
impression, which is corrected by the reader, is 
termed the press proof. 




Proof Bible 

Proof Bible, The. See Bible, Specially 

NAMED. 

Proof prints. The first impressions of an en- 

? ;raving. India proofs are tnose takefi off on 
ndia paper. Proofs before lettering ^re those 
taken off before any inscription is engraved on 
the plate. After the proofs the connoisseur’s 
order of value is — (0 prints which have the 
letters only in outline; (2) those in which the 
letters are shaded with a black line; (3) those 
in which some slight ornament is introduced 
into the letters; (4) those in which the letters 
are filled up quite black. 

Proof spirit. A term applied to spirituous 
liguors in which 0-495 of the weight and 0*5727 
oi the volume is absolute alcohol, and the 
specific gravity is 0*91984. When the mixture 
has more alcohol than water it is called over 
proof and when less it is termed under proof 

Prooshan Blue. A term of great endearment, 
when, after the battle of Waterloo, the 
Prussians were immensely popular in England. 
Sam Weller, in Pickwick Papers , addresses his 
father as “Veil, my Prooshan Blue.” 

Prop, To. In horses, an Australian term to 
describe to come to a sudden stop. Used in 
application to general life in the sense of to jib, 
to refuse to co-operate. 

Propaganda (prop a g&n' d£). The Congrega- 
tion, or College, of the Propaganda ( Congre - 
gatio de propaganda fide ) is a committee of 
cardinals established in Rome by Gregory XV, 
in 1622, for propagating the Faith throughout 
the world. Hence the term is applied to any 
scheme, association, etc., for making proselytes 
or influencing public opinion in political, 
social, and international, as well as in religious 
matters. 

Property Plot, in theatrical language, means a 
list of all the “properties” or articles which will 
be required in the play produced. Such as the 
bell when Macbeth says, “The bell invites 
me”; the knocking apparatus for the porter 
(“Heard you that knocking?”); tables, chairs, 
banquets, tankards, etc., etc. Everything stored 
in a theatre for general use on the stage is a 
“prop” ; the above-mentioned are the manager’s 
“props”; an actor’s “props” are the clothing 
and other articles which he provides for his 
own use. 

Prophet, The. The special title of Mohammed. 
According to the Koran there have been 
200,000 prophets, but only six of them brought 
new laws or dispensations, viz. Adam, Noah, 
Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed. 

The Great or Major Prophets. Isaiah, Jere- 
miah, Ezekiel, and Daniel; so called because 
their writings are more extensive than the 
prophecies of the other twelve. 

The Minor or Lesser Prophets. Hosea, Joel, 
Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Jonah, Nahum, 
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, 
and Malachi, whose writings are less exten- 
sive than those of the four Great Prophets. 

Propositions, in logic, are of four kinds, called 
A, E, I, O. “A” is a universal affirmative, and 
"E” a universal negative; “I” a particular 


727 Proserpina 

affirmative, and “O” a particular negative. See 
& also Syllogism. 

Props. See Property Plot. 

Prorogue (pro rogO (Lat. pro-rogo, I prolong). 

The Parliament was prorogued. Dismissed 
at the end of the session, or suspended for a 
time. If dismissed entirely it is said to be 
“dissolved.” 

Proscenium (pro se' ni um). The front part of 
the stage, between the drop-curtain and 
orchestra. (Gr . proskenion; Lat. proscenium.) 

Proscription. A sort of hue and cry; so called 
because among the Romans the names of the 
persons proscribed were written out, ,*tnd the 
tablets bearing their names were fixed d|> in the 
public forum, sometimes with the offer of a 
reward for those who should aid in bringing 
them before the court. If the proscribed did 
not answer the summons, their goods were con- 
fiscated and their persons outlawed. In this 
case the name was engraved on brass or 
marble, the offence stated, an$ ,the tablet 
placed conspicuously in the market-place. 

Prose means straightforward speaking or 
writing (Lat. oratio prosa — i.e. pro- versa), in 
opposition to foot-bound speaking or writing, 
oratio vincta (fettered speech — i.e . poetry). 

It was Monsieur Jourdain, in Moli&re’s Le 
Bourgeois Gentilhomme , who suddenly dis- 
covered that he had been talking prose for 
twenty years without knowing it. 

Proselytes (pros e lits). From Gr. proselutos , 
one who has come to a place; hence, a convert, 
especially (in its original application) to 
Judaism. Among the Jews proselytes were of 
two kinds — viz . “The proselyte of righteous- 
ness” and the “stranger that fc within^ thy 
gates” {see Hellenes). The former submitted to 
circumcision and conformed to the laws of 
Moses; the latter went no farther Than tb 
refrain from offering sacrifice to heathen gctyls, 
and from working on the Sabbath. 

Proserpina or Proserpine (pro ser' pi n&, pros'- 
er pin). The Roman counterpart of the Greek 
goddess Persephone, queen of the infernal 
regions and wife of Pluto. As the persoijdfica- 
tion of seasonal changes she passed six months 
of the year on Olympus, and six in Hades; 
while at Olympus she was beneficent; *6ut in 
Hades was stern and terrible. Legend says that 
as she was amusing herself in the meadows of 
Sicily Pluto seized her and carried her off in his 
chariot to the infernal regions for his bride. In 
her terror she dropped some of the lilies she 
had been gathering, and they turned to daf- 
fodils. 

O Proserpina, 

For the flowers now, that frighted thou let’st fall 

From Dis’s waggon! daffodils, 

That come before the swallow dares, and take 

The winds of March with beauty. 

Winter's Tale , IV, iv. 

In later legend Proserpine was the goddess of 
sleep, and in the myth of Cupid and Psyche , by’ 
Apuleius, after Psyche had long wandered 
about searching for her lost Cupid, she is sent 
to Proserpine for “the casket of divine 
beauty,” which she was not to open till she 
came into the light of day. Just as sH| was 



Prosperity Robinson 


728 


Province 


about to step on earth Psyche thought how 
much more Cupid would love her if she were 
divinely beautiful; so she opened the casket 
and found it contained Sleep, which instantly 
filled all her limbs with drowsiness, and she 
slept as it were the sleep of death. 

Prosperity Robinson. F. J. Robinson. Earl 
of Ripon (1782-1859), Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer in 1823, so called by Cobbett. In 1825 
he boasted in the House of the prosperity of 
the nation, and his boast was not yet cold when 
a great financial crisis occurred. 

Prospero (pros' pe ro). The rightful Duke of 
Milan in The Tempest , deposed by his brother 
and turned adrift on the sea with his daughter, 
Miranda. They were cast ashore on a desert 
island, where, in company with the King of 
Naples and his son, Ferdinand, who fell in 
love with Miranda and was betrothed to her, 
he practised magic, and raised a tempest in 
which his brother was shipwrecked. Ultimately 
Prosper© broke his wand , and his daughter 
married the son of the King of Naples. The 
Tempest was the last play that Shakespeare 
wrote, and it is generally thought that Pros- 
ero is an allegorical picture of the dramatist 
idding farewell to his work. 

Protean. See Proteus. 

Protectionist. One who advocates the imposi- 
tion of import duties, to “protect” home pro- 
duce or manufactures. 

Protector, The. William Marshall, Earl of 
Pembroke (d. 1219), appointed Regent on the 
accession of Henry III (1216). 

Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (1391- 
1447), Protectqr of England during the 
minority of his nephew, Henry VI (1422-47). 

Richard, Duke of Gloucester, afterwards 
Richard III. He took Edward V into his custody 
dh thejdeath of Edward IV (1483), and was 
najnednProtector of the Kingdom. 

Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, Pro- 
tector and Lord Treasurer in the reign of his 
nephew, Edward VI (1548). 

The Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. 
OJiver Cromwell (1599-1658) was declared such 
in 1653. His son Richard succeeded as Lord 
Protector in 1658 until the Restoration in 1660. 

Protestant. A member of a Christian Church 
upholding the principles of the Reformation, 
or (loosely) of any Church not in communion 
with Rome. Originally, one of the party which 
adhered to Luther who, in 1529, “protested” 
against the decree of Charles V of Germany, 
and appealed from the Diet of Spires to a 
general council. 

The Protestant Pope. Clement XIV. He 
ordered the suppression of the Jesuits (1773). 
He was a patron of art and a liberal-minded 
statesman. 

*JjProteus (prd' tOs). In Greek legend, Neptune’s 

' herdsman, an old man and a prophet, famous 
for his power of assuming different shapes at 
will. Hence the phrase, As many shapes as 
Proteus — i.e . full of shifts, aliases, disguises, 
etc., .and the adjective protean, readily taking 
on different aspects, ever-changing. 


Proteus lived in a vast cave, and his custom 
* was to tell over his herds of sea-calves at nopn, 
and then to sleep. There was no way of catch- 
ing him but by stealing upon him at this time 
and binding him: otherwise he would elude 
anyone by a rapia change in shape. 

Protevangelium (pro te v&n je' li um). The * first 
(Gr. protos) gospel, applied to an apociyphal 
gospel which had been attributed to St. James 
the Less. It has been supposed by some critics 
that all the gospels were based upon this, al- 
though no vestige of it has been discovered. 
The name is also given to the curse upon the 
serpent in Gen. iii, 15: — 

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, 
and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy 
head, and thou shalt bruise his heel, 

which has been regarded as the Earliest utter- 
ance of the gospel. 

Prothalamion (pro th& la' mi un). The term 
coined by Spenser (from Gr. thalamos , a 
bridal chamber) as a title for his “Spousall 
Verse” (1596) in honour of the double marriage 
of Lady Elizabeth and Lady Katherine Somer- 
set, daughters of the Earl of Worcester, to 
Henry Gilford and William Peter, Esquires. 
Hence, a song sung in honour of the bride and 
bridegroom before the wedding. 

Proto-martyr. The first martyr (Gr. protos , 
first). Stephen the deacon is so called ( Acts v, 
vii), and St. Alban is known as the proto- 
martyr of Britain. 

Protocol (pro' td kol). The first rough draft or 
original copy of a dispatch, which is to form 
the basis ot a treaty; Irom Gr. proto-koleon , a 
sheet glued to the front of a manuscript, or to 
the case containing it, and bearing an abstract 
of the contents and purport. Also the cere- 
monial procedure used in affairs of diplomacy 
or on state occasions. 

Protoplasm (pro' to plazm) (Gr. proto , first; 
plasma , thing moulded). The physical basis of 
life; the material composing cells, from which 
all living organisms are developed. It is a 
viscid, semi-fluid, semi-transparent substance 
composed of a highly unstable combination of 
oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen, 
capable of spontaneous movement, contrac- 
tion, etc. It can best be seen in the simpler 
jellyfishes. Sarcode (Gr. sarcos , flesh) is an 
earlier name of the substance. 

Proud, The. Otho IV, Emperor of Germany 
(1175, 1209-18). 

Tarquin II of Rome. Superbus . (Reigned 
535-510 B.c., d. 496). 

The proud Duke. Charles Seymour, 6th Duke 
of Somerset (1662-1748). He would never suffer 
his children to sit in his presence, and would 
never speak to his servants except by signs. 

In engineering and mechanics proud is a 
term denoting any screw or piece of metal 
which protrudes farther than it should. 

Province. From Lat. provincial the name given 
by the Romans to a territory brought under 
subjugation, possibly because previously com- 
quered {pro , before; \incere % to conquer). It is 
now applied, in the plural, to districts in a 




Provincial 


729 


Public 


country, usually at a distance from the metro- 
polis, whence the special meaning of provincial 
-—narrow, unpolished, rude — and to the terri-* 
tory. under the ecclesiastical control of an 
archbishop or metropolitan. 

The Provincial of an Order is the superior of 
all fhemonastic houses pf that Order in a given 
province. 

Prud’homme (proo'dom). The French col- 
loquialism for a man of experience and -great 
prudence, of estimable character and prac- 
tical good sense. Ypur Monsieur Prud'homme is 
never a man of genius and originality. The 
name arises from the character of Joseph 
Pnid’hbmme in Henri Mounier’& sketch thus 
entitled (1857). 

Prunella (pru' nel a). A dark, smooth, woollen 
stuff of which clergymen’s and barristers’ 
gowns used to be made; probably so termed 
from its colour — plum, or prune. It is still in 
use for gaiters and the uppers of boots. 

AO leather and prunella. See Leather. 

Prussianism. A term given to the overbearing 
spirit and methods characteristic of Prussians 
dating from the military despotism that has 
flourished among them from the days of 
Frederick the Great (1712-86). It came to full 
flower after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 
when Prussia forced herself as a leader among 
the German states forming the new German 
Empire. Under the last Kaiser, who was King 
of Prussia, the spirit of Prussianism led to 
World War I, and it has taken a second world 
war and the virtual obliteration of German 
civilization to break if not to destroy Prus- 
sianism. 

Prussian blue. So called because it was dis- 
covered by a Prussian, viz. Diesbach, a colour- 
man of Berlin, in 1704. It was sometimes called 
Berlin blue. It is hydrated ferric ferrocyanide, 
and prussic acid (hydrocyanic acid) is made 
from it. 

Pry, Paul. An idle, meddlesome fellow, who 
has no occupation of his own, and is always 
interfering with other folk’s business. The term 
comes from the hero of John Poole’s comedy, 
Paul Pry (1825). 

Psalmanazar, George. A classical example of 
the impostor. A Frenchman whose real name 
is unknown to this day, he appeared in London 
in 1703 claiming to be a native of Formosa, at 
that time an almost unknown island. In 1704 
he published an account of Formosa with a 
grammar of the language, which was from 
beginning to end a fabrication of his own. The 
literary and critical world of London was taken 
in, but his imposture was soon exposed by 
Roman Catholic missionaries who had 
laboured in Formp^a, and after a time 
Psalmanazar publicly confessed his fraud. He 
turned over a new leaf and applied himself to 
the study of Hebrew and other genuine 
labours, ending his days in 1763 as a man of 
some repute and the friend of Dr. Johnson. 

Psalms. Seventy-thre^ psalms are inscribed 
with David’s name, twelve with that of Asaph 
the singer; eleven go under the name of the 


*£ons of Korah, a family of singers; one (J.e. 
Ps. xc) is attributed to Moses. The whole com- 
pilation is divided into five books: Bk. 1, from 
i to xli; Bk. 2, from xlii to Ixxii; Bk. 3, from 
lxxiii to Ixxxix; Bk. 4, from xc to evi; Bk. 5, 
from evii to cl. 

The Book of Psalms — or much of its con- 
tents — was for centuries attributed to David 
(hence called the sweet psalmist of Israel), but 
it is very doubtful whether he wrote any of 
them, and it is certain that the majority belong 
to a later period. The tradition comes from the 
author of Chronicles , and in II Sam. xxii is a 
psalm attributed to David that is identical 
with Ps. xviii. Also, the last verse of Ps. Ixxii 
(“the prayers of David the son of Jesse are 
ended”) seems to suggest that he was the 
author up to that point. 

In explanation of the confusion between the 
R.C. and the Protestant psalters it should be 
noted that Psalms x to cxiii and cxv to cxlvi 
in the R.C. psalter are numbered one behind 
those in the A.V. and Prayer Book. , 

See Gradual Psalms; Penitential Psalms, 
etc. v, 

Pschent (pshent). The royal double crown of 
ancient Egypt, combining that of Upper 
Egypt— a high conical white cap terminating in 
a knob — with the red one of Lower Egypt, the 
latter being the outermost. 

Pseudonym. See Nom de Plume. 

Psyche (slk' 6) (Gr. breath; hence, life, or soul 
itself). In “the latest-born of the myths,” 
Cupid and Psyche , an episode in the Golden Ass 
of Apuleius (2nd century a.d.), a beautiful 
maiden beloved by Cupid, who visited her 
every night, but left her at suprise. Cupid bade 
her never seek to know who he was, but one 
night curiosity overcame her prudence; she lit 
the lamp to look at him, a drop ofdhot oil fdl 
on his shoulder, and he awoke and nejl. The 
abandoned Psyche then wandered far and 
wide in search of her lover; she became the 
slave of Venus, who imposed on her heartless 
tasks and treated her most cruelly; but ulti- 
mately she was united to Cupid, and became 
immortal. The story is told by Walter Fffe&jn 
Marius the Epicurean. 

Ptolemaic System (tolema'ik). The system 
promulgated by Ptolemy, the celebrated 
astronomer of Alexandria in the 2nd century 
a.d., to account for the apparent motion of the 
heavenly bodies. He taught that the earth is 
fixed in the centre of the universe, and the 
heavens revolve round it from east to west, 
carrying with them the sun, planets, and fixed 
stars, in their respective spheres ( q.v.) y which he 
imagined as solid coverings (like so many skins 
of an onion) each revolving at different 
velocities. This theory, with slight modifica- 
tions, held the field till the time of Copernicus 
(16th century). 

Public (Lat. publicus; earlier poplicus from' 
poplus , later populus. the people). The people 
generally and collectively; the members 
generally of a state, nation, or community. 
Also, a colloquial contraction of “public- 


Public-house signs 


730 Public-house signs 


house.” frequently abbreviated still further to 
“pub. * 

The simple life I can’t afford. 

Besides. I do not like the grub — 

I want a mash and sausage, “scored” — 

Will someone take me to a pub? 

G. K. Chesterton: Ballade of an Anti-Puritan. 

Public-house signs. Much of a nation’s his- 
tory, and more of its manners and feelings, 
may be gleaned from its public-house signs. A 
very large number of them are selected out of 
compliment to the lord of the manor, either 
because he is the “great man” of the neigh- 
bourhood, or because the proprietor is some 
servant whom “it delighted the lord to 
honour.” When the name and titles of the lord 
have been exhausted, we get his cognizance or 
his favourite pursuit, as the Bear and Ragged 
Stqff] the Fox ami Hounds . As the object oi the 
sign is to speak to the feelings and attract, 
another fruitful source is either some national 
hero of great battle; thus we get the Marquis of 
Granby ^ nd the Duke of Wellington , the Water- 
loo and Jjtye Alma. The proverbial loyalty of 
Englishman has naturally shown itself in 
tavern signs, giving us the Victoria , Prince of 
Wales , thd Albert , the Crown , and so on. 
Literature is not well represented, though 
Shakespeare and Ben Jonson give their names 
to a good many houses, and in London there is 
a Milton Arms , a Macaulay Arms , a Sir 
Richard Steele , and a Sir Walter Scott , as well 
as The Miller of Mansfield , Pindar of Wake- 
Held , Sir John Pal staff, Robinson Crusoe , and 
Valentine and Orson. The Good Samaritan , 
Noah's Ark , Simon the Tanner , and Gospel Oak 
all have a Biblical flavour, and old ecclesiastical 
manorial rights arc responsible for many 
tavern signs {see The Three Kings , below). 
Myth and legetid are represented by houses 
named The Apollo , Hercules , Phcenix , King Lud , 
Merlin's Cave, Man in the Moon , Punch , Robin 
Hood, The Moo makers, etc. 

Some signs indicate a speciality of the house, 
as the Bowling Green , the Skittles; some a 
political bias, as the Royal Oak ; a number are 
reminiscent of the old trade guilds, such as the 
Co ooers', Bricklayers', Carpenters' , and Haber- 
dqSMfrs' Arms' and some are an attempt at wit, 
as the Five All? and The World Turned Upside 
Down. The" fallowing list will serve to ex- 
emplify the subject: — 

The Bag o' Nails. A corruption of the 
“Bacchanals.” 

The Barley Mow (q.v.). 

The Bear. From the popular sport of bear- 
baiting. 

The Bear and Bacchus , in High Street, 
Warwick. A corruption of Bear and Baculus — 
i.e. Bear and Ragged Staff, the badge of the 
Earl of Warwick. 

The Bell. In allusion to races, a silver bell 
having been the winner’s prize up to the reign 
of Charl^II. 

* The Bel^Savage. See La Belle Sauvage. ^ 

* The Black Goats. A public-house sign, High 
Bridge Lincoln, formerly The Three Goats — 
i.e. three gowts (gutters or drains), by which the 
water from the Swan Pool (a large lake that 
formerly existed to the west of the city) was 
conducted into the bed of the Withatr . 


The Blue Boar . The cognizance of Richdrd 
411 . j. 

The Boar's Head. The cognizance of 'the 
Gordons, etc. 

The Bolt-in-Tun. The punning heraldic badge 
of Prior Bolton, last of the clerical rulers of St. 
Bartholomew’s, previous to the Reformation. 

The Bull. The cognizance of Richard, Duke 
of Yqj*k. The Black Bull is the cognizance of 
the house of Clare. 

The Bull and Gate {q.v.). 

The Bull's Head. The cognizance of Henry 
VIII. 

The Case is Altered. See Plowden. 

The Castle. This, being the arms of Spain, 
signified that Spanish wines were to be ob- 
tained within. 

The Cat and Fiddle. See Cat. 

The Cat and Wheel . A corruption of “St. 
Catherine’s Wheel”; or an announcement that 
cat and balance - wheels are provided for the 
amusement of customers. 

The Chequers. (1) In honour of the Stuarts, 
whose shield was “cheeky,” like a Scottish plaid 

(2) In commemoration of the licence granted 
by the Earls of Arundel or Lords Warrenne. 

(3) An intimation that a room is set apart for 
merchants and accountants, where they can be 
private and make up their accounts, or use 
their “chequers” undisturbed. 

The Coach and Horses. A favourite sign of a 
posting-house or stage-coach house. 

The Cock and Bottle . By some said to be a 
corruption of the “Cork and Bottle,” meaning 
that wine is sold there in bottles. 

The Cross Keys. Common in the mediaeval 
ages, and in allusion to St. Peter, or one of the 
bishops whose cognizance it is — probably the 
lord of the manor or the patron saint of the 
parish church. The cross keys are emblems of 
the papacy, St. Peter, the Bishop of Gloucester, 
St. Servetus, St. Hippolytus, St. Genevieve, St. 
Petronilla, St. Osyth, St. Martha, and St. 
German us. 

The Devil. The sign of more than one old 
public-house in the neighbourhood of Fleet 
Street. It represents St. Dunstan seizing the 
devil by the nose. See Devil. 

The Dog and Duck , or The Duck in the Pond. 
Indicating that the sport so called could be 
seen there. A duck was put into water, and a 
dog set to hunt it; the fun was to see the duck 
diving and the dog following it under water. 

The Fox and Goose. To signify that there are 
arrangements within for playing the Royal 
Game of Fox and Goose. 

The Globe. The royal cognizance of Portugal ; 
intimating that Portuguese wines were stocked. 

The Goat and Compasses. See Goat. 

The Golden Cross. This refers to the ensigns 
carried by the Crusaders. 

The Green Man. The late gamekeeper of the 
lord of the manor turned publican. At one time 
these servants were dressed in green. 

The Green Man and Still — i.e. the herbalist 
bringing his herbs to be distilled. 

The Hare and Hounds. In compliment to the 
sporting squire or lord of the manor. 

TheHole In the Wall. Probably so called 
because it was approached by a small passage 
or “hole” between hou&es standing in front of 
the tavern. 



Public-house signs 


731 Puff 

The Horse and Chains. A favourite sign for The Turk's Head. Like the “Saracen’s Head,” 
an inn at the foot 08 a hill, signifying that a an allusion to the Crusades, 
diain-horse is kept. The Two Chairmen. Not an uncommon 


The Horse and Groom. Where a stallion was 
kept for stud purposes. 

The Iron Devil. Said to be a corruption of 
“Hirondelle” (the swallow). 

The Man with a Load of Mischief. A public- 
house sign, Oxford Street, nearly opposite to. 
Hanway Yard. It is said to have been painted 
by Hogarth, and shows a man carrying a woman 
and a lot of other impedimenta on his back. 

The Marquis of Granby . In compliment to 
John Manners (1721-70), eldest son of John, 
third Duke of Rutland — a bluff, brave soldier, 
generous, and greatly beloved by his men. 

What conquest now will Britain boast 
Or where display her banners? 

Alas! in Granby she has lost 
True courage and good Manners. 

The Pig and Tinderbox. See Pig. 

The Plum and Feathers (near Stokenchurch, 
Oxford). A corruption of the “Plume of 
Feathers, 1 ’ meaning that of the Prince of Wales. 

The Queen of Bohemia. In honour of James 
I’s daughter Elizabeth, who married the King 
of Bohemia. 

The Red Dragon. The cognizance of Henry 
VII or the principality of Wales. 

The Rose. A symbol of England, as the 
Thistle is of Scotland, and the Shamrock of 
Ireland. 

The Rose and Crown. One of the “loyal” 
public-house signs. 

The Rose of the Quarter Sessions. A corrup- 
tion of La Rose des Quatre Saisons. 

St. George and the Dragon. In compliment to 
the patron saint of England. 

The Salutation and Cat . The “Salutation” 
(which refers to the angel saluting the ViYgin 
Mary) is the sign of the house, and the “Cat” 
is added to signify that arrangements are made 
for playing cat or tipcat. 

The Saracen's Head. Reminiscent of the 
Crusades; adopted probably by some Crusader 
after his return home, or to excite sympathy 
with these quixotic expeditions. 

The Seven Stars. An astrological sign of the 
Middle Ages. 

The Ship and Shovel. Referring to Sir 
Cloudesley Shovel, a favourite admiral in 
Queen Anne’s reign. 

The Spread Eagle. The arms of Germany; to 
indicate that German wines could be obtained 
within. 

The Sun and the Rose. The cognizance of the 
House of York. 

The Swan and the Antelope . The cognizance 
of Henry V. 

The Swan with Two Necks. See Swan. 

The Talbot (a hound). The arms of the Talbot 
family. t 

The Three Kings. A'&Sediaeval sign, in allusion 
to the three kings of Cologne, the Magi (q.v.)^ 
Many public-house signs of this period had a 
reference to ecclesiastical matters, usually be- 
cause they were church property or on church 
land, Such, for instance, are The Mitre. Abbey , 
Priory , and Lamb and Flag. 

Three Suns., The cognizance of Edward 

B.D.— *24 


sign for small houses in districts (such as 
Charing Cross and Wardour Street) that were 
fashionable residential quarters in the 18th 
century, when sedan chairs were in vogue. 

The Unicorn. The Scottish supporter in the 
royal arms of Great Britain. 

The White Hart. The cognizance of Richard 
II; the White Lion. Of Edward IV as Earl of 
March; the White Swan. of Henry IV and 
Edward III. 

Publicans. The name given in the New Testa- 
ment to the provincial representatives ( pub - 
licatti. servants of the state) of the Magister or 
master tax-collector who resided at Rome. The 
taxes were farmed by a contractor called the 
Manceps , who divided the whole taxable area 
into convenient districts, each of which was 
under a Magister. 

Pucelle, La (pQ seL). (Fr. “The Maid”) i.e. of 
Orleans, Joan of Arc (1410-31). Chapelain 
wrote a dull heroic poem with this’ title; Vol- 
taire a mock-heroic, satirical, and in parts a 
scurrilous one. 

Puck. A mischievous, tricksy sprite of popular 
folk-lore, also called Robin Goodfellow, 
originally an evil demon, but transformed and 
popularized in his present form by Shakespeare 
( Midsummer Night's Dream), who shows him 
as a merry wanderer of the night, “rough, 
knurly limbed, faun-faced, and shock-pated, a 
very Shetlander among the gossamer-winged” 
fairies around him. 

Pudens (pu' denz). A soldier in the Roman 
army, mentioned in II Tint, iv, 21, in connexion 
with Linus and Claudia. According to tradi- 
tion, Claudia, the wife of Pudens, was a British 
lady; Linus, otherwise called Cylien, was her 
brother; and Lucius “the British king,” the 
grandson of Linus. Tradition further adds that 
Lucius wrote to Eleutherus, Bishop of Rome, 
to send missionaries to Britain to convert the 
people. 

Pueblo (pweb' 16). The Spanish word for 
“people” but applied particularly to thd farm- 
ing, peace-loving Indians of New Mexico ind 
Arizona, and to their commet^al dwellings of 
adobe or stone. 

Puff. An onomatopoeic word, suggestive of the 
sound made by puffing wind from the mouth. 
As applied to inflated or exaggerated praise, 
extravagantly worded advertisements, reviews, 
etc., it dates at least from the early 17th cen- 
tury, and the implication is that such com- 
mendation is really as worthless and transitory 
as a puff of wind. 

In Sheridan's The Critic (1779), Puff, who, he 
himself says, is “a practitioner in panegyric, or, 
to speak more plainly, a professor of the art of 
puffing” gives a catalogue of puffvr— 

Yes, sir, — puffing is of various sortgfthc principal 
are. the puff direct, the puff preliminary, the puff col#? 
lateral, the puff collusive and the puff oblique. Ot puff 
by implication. These all assume, as circumstances 
require, the various forms of letter to the editor, 
occasional anecdote, impartial critique, observation 
from correspondent, or advertisement from the party. 
The Critic , I, ii. 


Puffed up 


732 


Punch 


Puffed up. Conceited; elated with conceit or 
praise; filled with wind. A puff is a tartlet with 
a very light or puffy crust. 

That no one of you be puffed up one against 
another. — I Cor . iv, 6. 

Puff-ball. A fungus of the genus Lycoperdon , 
so called because it is ball-shaped and when it 
is ripe it bursts and the spores come out in a 
“puff” of fine powder. 

Puisne Judges (pQ' ni) means the younger-born 
judges. They are the judges of the High Court 
of Justice other than the Lord Chancellor, the 
Lord Chief Justice, the Master of the Rolls, and 
the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. 
The word is the same, etymologically, as puny . 
(Fr .puisnd, subsequently born; Lat. post natus.) 

Puke (puk) (U.S.A.). An uncomplimentary 
term for a Missourian. 

Pukka (pOk' a). A Hindustani word that has 
crept into common speech meaning sub- 
stantial, real, bona fide, conventional. It has 
developed a somewhat derogatory implication. 

Pulhems. A system for assessing the physical 
and mental capabilities of a recruit. It was 
introduced in the Canadian Army in 1943. The 
word is a mnemonic: P, physical capacity; U, 
upper limbs; L, locomotion; H, hearing; E, 
eyesight; M, mental capacity; S, stability 
(emotional). In 1948 the system was intro- 
duced into the British armed forces, but with 
two E’s, for the Navy and Air Force de- 
manded that the visual acuity of each eye be 
registered separately. 

Pulitzer Prizes for literary work, the drama 
and music are awarded annually from funds 
left for the purpose by Joseph Pulitzer (1847- 
1911), a prominent and wealthy American 
editor and newspaper proprietor. 

Pull. A long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all 
together — i.e. a steady, energetic, and syste- 
matic co-operation. The reference may be 
either to a boat, where all the oarsmen pull 
together with a long and strong pull at the oars; 
or it may be to the act of hauling with a rope, 
when a simultaneous strong pull is indispen- 
sable; 

Pull devil, pull baker. Let each one do the best 
for himself inltis own line of business, but let 
not one man interfere in that of another. 

IPs all fair pulling, “pull devil, pull baker,” some- 
one has to get the worst of it. Now it’s us [bush- 
rangers], now its them [the police] that gets . . . rubbed 
out. — Boldrewood: Robbery under Arms , ch. xxxvii. 

The long pull. The extra quantity of beer sup- 
plied by a publican to his customer over and 
above the pint or half-pint ordered and paid 
for. Under the restrictions imposed during 
World War I this was abolished by order, as it 
is a form of “treating.” 

To have the pull of or over one. To have the 
advantage over him; to be able to dictate terms 
or make him do what you wish. 

To pull bacon. To cock a snook. 

To pull one’s weight. To do the very best one 
can, exert oneself to the utmost of one’s ability. 
The phrase comes from rowing; an oarsman 
who does not put all his weight into the stroke 
tends to become a passenger. 


To pull oneself together. To rouse oneself to 
renewed activity; to slfeke off depression or 
inertia. 

To pull someone’s leg. To delude him in a 
humorous way, lead him astray by chaff, exag- 
geration, etc. 

To pull the wool over someone’s eyes. To 
deceive or hoodwink; to blind him temporarily 
to what is going on. 

To pull through. To get oneself well out of a 
difficulty — such as over a serious illness, 
through a stiff examination, etc. To work in 
harmony with one view; to co-operate heartily. 
Pullman. Properly a well-fitted railway saloon 
or sleeping-car built at the Pullman Carriage 
Works, Illinois; so called from the designer, 
George M. Pullman (1832-97) of Chicago. The 
word is now applied to other luxurious rail- 
way saloons, and to motor-cars. 

Pummel. See Pommel. 

Pump. To pump someone is to extract informa- 
tion out of him by artful questions; to draw 
from him all he knows as one draws water 
from a well by gradual pumping. Ben Jonson, 
in A Tale of a Tub (IV, iii) has “I’ll stand aside 
whilst thou pump’st out of him his business.” 
Pumpernickel (pump' er nik el). The coarse 
rye-bread (“brown George”) eaten by German 
peasants, especially in Westphalia. Thackeray 
applied the term as a satirical nickname to 
petty German princelings (“His Transparency, 
the Duke of Pumpernickel”) who made a great 
show with the court officials and etiquette, but 
whose revenue was almost nil. 

Pun. He who would make a pun would pick a 
pocket. Dr. Johnson is generally credited with 
this silly dictum, but the correct version is — 
“Any man who would make such an execrable 
pun would not scruple to pick my pocket”, the 
remark addressed by the critic, John Dennis 
(1657-1734) to Purcell. See the Public Ad- 
vertiser , Jan. 12th, 1779, and the Gentleman's 
Magazine , vol. II, p. 324; also the note to 
Pope’s Dunciad , bk. I, 1. 63. 

The “execrable pun” was this: Purcell rang the bell 
for the drawer or waiter, but no one answered it. 
Purcell, tapping the table, asked Dennis “why the 
table was like the tavern!” Ans. “Because there is no 
drawer in it.” 

Punch. The name of this beverage, which was 
introduced into England from India in the 
early 17th century, has generally been held to 
derive from Hindustani punch , five, because it 
has five principal ingredients {viz. spirit, water, 
spice, sugar, and some acid fruit essence). 
There are, however, linguistic and phonetic 
objections to accepting this derivation — as 
well as the fact that early recipes give anything 
from three to six principal ingredients, and 
there was no reason why it should have been 
named from five — and ills just as likely that it 
is merely a contraction by sailors engaged in 
the East Indian trade of puncheon , the large 
cask from which their grog was served. 

Punch, Mr. The hero of the popular puppet 
show, Punch and Judy. The name comes from 
the Italian Pulcinello. In the 18th century the 
suggestion was made thfat the name was from 
a popular and ugly low comedian named 
Puccio d’ Aniello, but nothing definite is known 




Punch 


Puritans 


743 


of him, and the conjecture is certainly an 
example of “popular etymology.’* Another 
suggestion is that the name is derived from 
that of Pontius Pilate in the old mystery plays. 

The show first appeared in England a little 
before the accession of Queen Anne, and the 
story is attributed to Silvio Fiorillo, an Italian 
comedian of the 17th century. Punch, in a fit 
of jealousy, strangles his infant child, where- 
upon his wife, Judy, fetches a bludgeon with 
which she belabours him till he seizes another 
bludgeon, beats her to death, and flings the two 
bodies into the street. A passing police officer 
enters the house; Punch flees, but is arrested 
by an officer of the Inquisition and shut up in 

rison, whence he escapes by means of a golden 

ey. The rest is an allegory, showing how the 
light-hearted Punch triumphs over (1) Ennui, 
in the shape of a dog; (2) Disease, in the dis- 
guise of a doctor; (3) Death, who is beaten to 
death; and (4) the Devil himself, who is out- 
witted. 

The satirical humorous weekly paper, Punch , 
or the London Charivari , is, of course, named 
from “Mr. Punch.” It first appeared on July 
17th, 1841. 

Pleased as Punch. Greatly delighted. Our old 
friend is always singing with self-satisfaction 
in his naughty ways, and his evident “pleasure” 
is contagious to the beholders. 

Suffolk punch. A short, thick-set cart-horse. 
The term was formerly applied to any short 
fat man, and is probably the same word as 
above, though it may be connected with 
puncheon , the large cask. 

I did hear them call their fat child Punch, which 
pleased me mightily, that word having become a word 
of common use for everything that is thick and short. 
— Pepys's Diary , Apr. 30th, 1669. 

Punctual. No bigger than a point, exact to a 
point or moment. (Lat. ad punctum.) Hence the 
angel, describing this earth to Adam, calls it 
“This spacious earth, this punctual spot” — i.e. 
a spot no bigger than a point (Milton : Paradise 
Lost , VIII, 23). 

Punctuality is the politeness of kings (JL' ex- 
actitude est la politesse des rois ). A Favourite 
maxim of Louis XVIII, but erroneously attri- 
buted by Samuel Smiles to Louis XIV. 

Pundit (pun' dit). An East Indian scholar, 
skilled in Sanskrit, and learned in law, divinity, 
and science. We use the word for a learned 
person, also for one more stocked with book 
lore than deep erudition. 

Punic Apple (pa' nik). A pomegranate; so 
called because it is the pomum or “apple” 
belonging to the genus Punica. 

Punica tides (pu' nik a fT dez). Treachery, 
violation of faith, the faith of the Cartha- 
ginians, Lat. Punicus , earlier Pcenicus , meaning 
a Phoenician, henqe applied to the Cartha- 
ginians, who were of Phoenician descent. The 
Carthaginians were accused by the Romans of 
breaking faith with them, a most extraordinary 
instance of the “pot calling the kettle black”; 
for whatever infidelity they were guilty of, it 
could scarcely equal that of their accusers. Cp. 
Attic Faith. vl 0ur Punic faith 

Is infamous, and branded to a proverb. 

Addison: Cato , II. 


Pup. Slang for a pupil, especially an under- 
graduate studying with a tutor. 

As applied to the young of dogs, the word is 
an abbreviation of puppy , which represents Fr. 
poupte , a dressed doll, a plaything. 

An empty-headed, impertinent young fellow 
is frequently called a young puppy , hence 
Douglas Jerrold’s epigram — more witty than 
true — 

Dogmatism is only puppyism come to maturity. 

To be sold a pup. To be swindled. 

Purbeck (Dorsetshire). Noted for a marble 
used in ecclesiastical ornaments. Chichester 
cathedral has a row of columns of this lime- 
stone. The columns of the Temple church, 
London; the tomb of Queen Eleanor, in West- 
minster Abbey; and the throne of the arch- 
bishop in Canterbury cathedral, are other 
specimens. 

Pure, Simon. See Simon Pure. 

Purgatory. The doctrine of Purgatory, accord- 
ing to which the souls of the departed suffer for 
a time till they are purged 01 their sin, is of 
ancient standing, and was held in a modified 
form by the Jews, who believed that the soul of 
the deceased was allowed for twelve months 
after death to visit its body and the places or 
persons it especially loved. This intermediate 
state they called by various names, as “the 
bosom of Abraham,” “the garden of Eden,” 
“upper Gehenna.” The Sabbath was always a 
free day, and prayer was supposed to benefit 
those in this intermediate state. 

The outline of this doctrine was annexed by 
the early Fathers, and was considerably 
strengthened by certain passages in the New 
Testament, particularly Rev. vi, 9-11, and I 
Pet. iii, 18 and 19. The first decree on the sub- 
ject was promulgated by the Council of 
Florence, in 1439; and in 1562 it was con- 
demned by the Church of England, the XXIInd 
of the “Articles of Religion” stating that — 

The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory ... is 
a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no 
warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the 
Word of God. 

Purge. A neo-euphemism in dictator countries 
for the elimination (usually by murder) of 
persons suspected of disaffection or in some 
other way undesirable to party leaders. The 
most notorious of party purges was the in- 
famous “night of the knives, on June 30th, 
1934, when Roehm, a potential rival of Hitler, 
and some 7,000 others were murdered in cold 
blood within 24 hours. There have been many 
“purges” in Bolshevist Russia, but the par- 
ticulars of them have never come to the light 
of day. 

See also Pride’s Purge. 

Puritans. Seceders from the Reformed Church 
in the sixteenth century; so called because, 
wishing for a more radical purification of 
religion, they rejected all human traditions 
and interference m religious matters, acknow- 
ledging the sole authority of the “pure Wofd 
of God,” without “note or comment.” Their 
motto was: “The Bible, the whole Bible, and 
nothing but the Bible.” The English Puritans 
were sometimes by the Reformers called Pre- 
cisionists , from their preciseness in matters 



Purler 


Put 


134 


called “indifferent.” Andrew Fuller nam$d 
them Non-conformists , because they refused to 
subscribe to the Act of Uniformity. 

Purler. A cropper, or heavy fall from one’s 
horse in a steeplechase or in the hunting-field; 
also, a knockdown blow. 

Seraph’s white horse cleared it, but falling with a 
mighty crash, gave him a purler on the opposite side. 
— Ouida: Under Two Flags , ch. vi. 

Purlieu (per' lu). The outlying parts of a place, 
the environs; originally the borders or out- 
skirts of a forest, especially a part which was 
formerly part of the forest. So called from O.Fr. 
pourallS , a place free from the forest laws. 
Henry II, Richard I, and John made certain 
lands forest lands; Henry III allowed certain 
portions all round to be freed from the restric- 
tions imposed on the royal forests, and the 
“perambulation” by which this was effected 
was called pourallee , a going through. The lieu 
(as though for “place”) was an erroneous ad- 
dition due to English pronunciation and spell- 
ing of the French word. 

In the purlieus of this forest stands 
A sheepcote fenced about with olive-trees. 

As You Like It , IV, iii. 

Purple, The. A synonym for the rank of Roman 
emperor, derived from the colour of the 
emperor’s dyed woollen robe. Phrases such as 
“bom to the purple” or “raised to the purple” 
are frequent in the histories of the Roman 
Empire. In Roman times purple robes were 
often worn by kings, magistrates and com- 
manders in the field. To the Romans the 
colour eventually became a symbol of luxury 
and power. It was obtained from shellfish 
( Purpura , Bucinum , Mur ex), that from Mur ex 
being bright and from Purpura dark. The 
mixture of the two produced the famous 
Tyrian purple (Tyre was the main centre of the 
dyeing industry). Since Roman times purple 
has become frequently part of the insignia of 
emperors, kings, and prelates. A priest is said 
to fee raised to the purple when he is created a 
cardinal, though his insignia are actually red. 
Purple is one of the tinctures ( purpure ) used in 
heraldry, and in engravings it is shown by lines 
running diagonally from sinister to dexter 
< Le . from right to left as one looks at it). See 
Colours. 

Born in the purple. Said of the child of a king 
or emperor (see Pqrphyrogenitus), hence of 
anyone of exalted birth or “born with a silver 
spoon in his mouth.” The expression comes 
from a Byzantine custom which ordained that 
the empress should be brought to bed in a 
chamber the walls of which were lined with 
porphyry, or purple. 

Purple Heart. A U.S. army medal awarded 
for wounds received by enemy action while on 
active service. It consists of a silver heart bear- 
ing the effigy of George Washington, sus- 
pended from a purple ribbon with white edges. 

Purple patches. Highly coloured or florid 
passages in a literary work which is (generally 
speaking) otherwise undistinguished. The allu- 
sion is to Horace’s De Arte Poetica , 14: — 

Inceptis gravibus plerumque et magna professis 

Purpureus, late qui splendeat, unus et $£^r 

Adsuitur pannus. 


(Often to weighty enterprises and such as profess 
great objects, one or two purple patches are sewed on 
to make a line display in the distance.) 

Pursuivant (pSr' swi v&nt). The lowest grade of 
the officers of arms composing the College of 
Arms, or Heralds’ College, the others, under 
the Earl Marshal, being (1) the Kings of Arms, 
and (2) the Heralds. 

England has four Pursuivants, viz. Rouge 
Croix , Bluemantle , Rouge Dragon , and Port- 
eullis ; Scotland has three, viz. Carrick , Kintyre , 
and Unicorn. 

Pursy. Broken-winded, or in a bloated state in 
which the wind is short and difficult (Fr. 
poussif ). 

A fat and pursy man. Shakespeare has 
“pursy insolence,” the insolence of Jesurun, 
“who waxed fat and kicked,” In Hamlet we 
have “the fatness of these pursy times” — i.e. 
wanton or self-indulgent times. 

Puseyite (pu' zi it). A High Church follower of 
E. B. Pusey (1800-82), Professor of Hebrew at 
Oxford, one of the leaders of the “Oxford 
Movement,” and a contributor to the Tracts 
for the Times. See Oxford Movement. 

Push. Military slang for a strong concerted for- 
ward movement, a general attack; hence, by 
extension, for a body of troops engaged on an 
offensive; a gang, crowd, “crush.” 

To give one the push. To give him his congd, 
give him the sack. 

To push off. To commence the game, the 
operations, etc. A phrase from boating — one 
starts by pushing the boat off from the bank. 
Push off said imperatively, is equivalent to 
“Get you gone!” “Go to the devil!” 

Puss. A conventional call-name for a cat; 
applied also (in the 17th century and since) to 
hares. Its original is unknown, though it is 
present in many Teutonic languages. The deri- 
vation from Lat. lepus, a hare, Frenchified into 
le pus , is of course only humorous. 

Puss in Boots. This nursery tale, Le Chat 
Botte , is from Straparola’s Nights (1530), No. 
xi, where Constantine’s cat procures his master 
a fine castle and the king’s heiress. It was trans- 
lated from the Italian into French in 1585, and 
appeared in Perrault’s Les contes de ma Mdre 
VOie (1697), through which medium it reached 
England. In the story the clever cat secures a 
fortune and a royal partner for his master, who 
passes off as the Marquis of Carabas, but is in 
reality a young miller without a penny in the 
world. 

Pussyfoot. A person with a soft, cat-like, 
sneaking tread. 

Pussyfoot Johnson was the nickname of 
W. E. Johnson (1882-1945) who gained the 
sobriquet from his unwavering advocacy of 
prohibition, and his silent, Stealthy, relentless 
methods of enforcing it. It was partly owing to 
his determination and pertinacity that Pro- 
hibition was introduced in U.S.A. in 1919. 

Put (pot). A clown, a silly shallow-pate, a butt, 
one easily “put upon.” ** 

Queer country puts extol 'Queen Bess’s reign. 

Bramson. 




Put 


735 


Pythagoras 


Put and take. A game of chance played with 
a modification of the old “tee-to-tum,” one 
side of which is marked /V/r— signifying that 
the player pays — and another with Take. It was 
immensely popular for a few months about 
Christmastime, 1921. 

Putsch (pooch). A German word from the 
English push applied to a minor revolt or 
political uprising. 

Pygmalion (pig m&' li 6n). A sculptor and king 
of Cyprus in Greek legend, who, though he 
hated women, fell in love with his own ivory 
statute of a woman. At his earnest prayer the 
goddess Aphrodite gave life to the statue and 
he married it. 

The story is told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses , 
x, and appeared in English dress in John 
Marston’s Metamorphosis of Pygmalion's 
Image (1598). Morris retold it in The Earthly 
Paradise ( August ), and W. S. Gilbert adapted 
it in his comedy of Pygmalion and Galatea 
(1871), in which the sculptor is a married man. 
His wife (Cynisca) was jealous of the animated 
statue (Galatea), which, after considerable 
trouble, voluntarily returned to its original 
state. The name was used figuratively by G. B. 
Shaw for a play produced in 1912. 

Pygmy (pig' mi). The name used by Homer 
ana other classical writers for a supposed race 
of dwarfs said to dwell somewhere in Ethiopia; 
from Gr. pugme , the length of the arm from 
elbow to knuckles. Fable has it that every 
spring the cranes made war on them and 
devoured them; they used an axe to cut down 
corn-stalks; when Hercules went to the 
country they climbed up his goblet by ladders 
to drink from it, and while he was asleep two 
whole armies of them fell upon his right hand, 
and two upon his left and were rolled up by 
Hercules in his lion’s skin. It is easy to see how 
Swift has availed himself of this Grecian 
legend in his Gulliver's Travels. 

The term is now applied to certain dwarfish 
races of central Africa (whose existence was 
first demonstrated late in the 19th century), 
Malaysia, etc.; also to small members of a 
class, as the pygmy hippopotamus . 

Pylades and Orestes (pi' la dez, 6 res' tez). Two 
friends in Homeric legend, whose names have 
become proverbial for friendship, like those of 
Damon and Pythias, David and Jonathan. 
Orestes was the son, and Pylades the nephew, 
of Agamemnon, after whose murder Orestes 
was put in the care of Pylades’ father 
(Strophius), and the two became fast friends. 
Pylades assisted Orestes in obtaining ven- 
geance on >Egisthus and Clytemnestra, and 
afterwards married Electra, his friend’s sister. 

Pylon (pt' Ion). Properly a monumental gate- 
way (Gr. pulon ), especially of an Egyptian 
temple; now usually applied to the obelisks 
that mark out the course in an aerodrome or 
to the standards for electric cables. 

Pyramid (pir' a mid). There are some 70 pyra- 
mids still remaining in Egypt, but those 
specially called Th* Pyramids are the three 
larger in the group of eight known as the 
Pyramids of Gizeh. Of these the largest, the 


$rreat Pyramid, is the tomb of Cheops, a king 
of the 4th Dynasty, about 4000 B.c. It was 
480 ft. in height (now about 30 ft. less), and the 
length of each base is 755 ft. The Second 
Pyramid, the tomb of Chephrcn (also 4th 
Dynasty) is slightly smaller (4/2 ft. by 700 ft); 
and the Third, the tomb of Menkaura, or 
Mycerinus (4th Dynasty, c. 3630 b.c.), is 
much smaller (215 ft. by 346 ft.). Each con- 
tains entrances, with dipping passages leading 
to various sepulchral chambers. 

Pyramus (pir' k mus). A Babylonian youth in 
classic story (see Ovid’s Metamorphoses , iv), 
the lover of Thisbe. Thisbe was to meet him 
at the white mulberry-tree near the tomb of 
Ninus, but she, scared by a lion, fled and left 
her veil which the lion besmeared with blood. 
Pyramus, thinking his lady-love had been 
devoured, slew himself, and Thisbe coming up 
soon afterwards, stabbed herself also. The 
blood of the lovers stained the white fruit of 
the mulberry-tree into its present colour. The 
“tedious brief scene’’ and “very tragical mirth” 
presented by the rustics in Midsummer Night's 
Dream is a travesty of this legend. 

Pyrrha (pi' ra). The wife of Deucalion (q.v.) in 
Greek legend. They were the sole survivors of 
the deluge sent by Zeus to destroy the whole 
human race, ana repopulated the world by 
casting stones behind them which were turned 
into men. 

Men themselves, the which at first were framed 

Of earthly mould, and form’d of flesh and bone. 

Are now transformed into hardest stone: 

Such as behind their backs (so backward bred) 

Were thrown by Pyrrha and Deucalion. 

Spenser: Fairlc Queene, V, lntrod. % ii. 

Pyrrhic Dance (pi' rik). The famous war-dance 
of the Greeks; so called from its inventor, 
Pyrrichos, a Dorian. It was a quick dance, per- 
formed in full armour to the flute, and its 
name is still used for a metrical foot of two 
short, “dancing” syllables. The Romaika , still 
danced in Greece, is a relic of the ancient 
Pyrrhic dance. 

Yq have the Pyrrhic dance as yet: 

Where is the Pyrrhic phalanx gone? 

Byron : The Isles of Greece. 

Pyrrhic victory. A ruinous victory. Pyrrhus, 
King of Epirus, after his victory over the 
Romans at Asculum (279 b.c.), when he lost 
the flower of his army, said to those sent to 
congratulate him, “One more such victory and 
Pyrrhus is undone.” 

Pyrrhonism. Scepticism, or philosophic 
doubt; so named from Pyrrho (4th century 
b.c.), the founder of the first Greek school of 
sceptical philosophy. Pyrrho maintained that 
nothing was capable of proof and admitted the 
reality of nothing but sensations. 

Pythagoras (pi th&g' or as). The Greek philo- 
sopher and mathematician of the 6th century 
b.c. (born at Samos), to whom Was attributed 
the enunciation of the doctrines of the trans- 
migration of souls and of the harmony of the 
spheres, and also the proof of the 47th pro- 
position in the 1st book of Euclid, which is 
hence called the Pythagorean proposition . He 
taught that the sun is a movable sphere, and 



Pythagoras 


736 


Quack 


that it, and the earth, and all the planets 
volve round some central point which they 
called “the fire.” He maintained that the soul 
has three vehicles: (1) the ethereal , which is 
luminous and celestial, in which the soul 
resides in a state of bliss in the stars; (2) the 
luminous , which suffers the punishment of sin 
after death; and (3) the terrestrial , which is the 
vehicle it occupies on this earth. 

Pythagoras was noted for his manly beauty 
and long hair; and many legends are related of 
him, such as that he distinctly recollected pre- 
vious existences of his own, having been (1) 
jEthalides, son of Mercury ; (2) Euphorbus the 
Phrygian, son of Panthous, in which form he 
ran Patroclus through with a lance, leaving 
Hector to dispatch the hateful friend of 
Achilles; (3) Hermotimus, the prophet of 
Cla'zomenae; and (4) a fisherman. To prove his 
Phrygian existence he was taken to the temple 
of Hera, in Argos, and asked to point out the 
shield of the son of Panthous, which he did 
without hesitation. 

Rosalind alludes to this theory (As You Like 
It , III, ii) when she says: — 

I was never so be-rhymed since Pythagoras’ time 
that l was an Irish rat, which I can hardly remember. 
It is also elaborated in the scene between Fcstc 
and Malvolio in Twelfth Night , IV, ii: — 

Clown: What is the opinion of Pythagoras con- 
cerning wild fowl? 

Mat.: That the soul of our grandam might haply 
inhabit a bird. 

Clown: What thinkest thou of his opinion? 

Mai.: I think nobly of the soul, and no way approve 
his opinion. 

Other legends assert that one of his thighs 
was of gold, and that he showed it to Abaris, 
the Hyperborean priest, and exhibited it in the 
Olympic Games; also that Abaris gave him a 
dart by which he could be carried through the 
air and with which he expelled pestilence, lulled 
storms, and performed other wonderful ex- 
ploits. 

It was also said that Pythagoras used to 
write on a looking-glass in blood and place it 
opposite the moon, when the inscription would 
appear reflected on the moon’s disc; and that 
he tamed a savage Daunian bear by “stroking 
it gently with his hand,” subdued an eagle by 
the same means, and held absolute dominion 
over beasts and birds by “the power of his 
voice” or “influence of his touch.” 

The letter of Pythagoras. The Greek upsilon, 
Y ; so called because it was used by him as a 
symbol of the divergent paths of virtue and vice. 

The Pythagorean tables. See Table of 
Pythagoras. 

Pythian Games (pith' i an). The games held by 
the Greeks at Pytho, in Phocis, subsequently 
called Delphi. They took place every fourth 
year, the second of each Olympiad. 

Pythias. See Damon. 

Python (pr thon). The monster serpent hatched 
from the mud of Deucalion’s deluge, and slain 
near Delphi by Apollo. 

Pyx (picks). A small metal vessel in which the 
Host is carried to sick people. In pre-Reforma- 
tion England it was a vessel, often in |J>e shape 
of a dove, suspended above the altar#!m which 
the sacrament was reserved. Only in the 


churches of Amiens and Valloires is such a pyx 
now permitted. 


Q 

Q. The seventeenth letter of the English alpha- 
bet, and nineteenth (koph) of the Phoenician 
and Hebrew, where, in numerical notation, it 
represented 90 (in late Roman, 500). In English 
q is invariably followed by u (except occa- 
sionally in transliteration of some Arabic 
words), and it never occurs at the end of a word. 

Q in a corner. An old children’s game, per- 
haps the same as our “Puss in the corner”; 
also something not seen at first, but sub- 
sequently brought to notice. The thong to 
which seals are attached in legal documents is 
in French called the queue ; thus we have lettres 
scellees sur simple queue or sur double queue , 
according to whether they bear one or two 
seals, in documents where the seal is attached 
to the deed itself, the corner where the seal is 
placed is called the queue , and when the 
document is sworn to the finger is laid on the 
queue . 

In a merry Q (cue). Humour, temper; thus 
Shakespeare says, “My cue is villainous melan- 
choly” (King Lear, I, ii). 

Q. The nom de plume of Sir Arthur Quiller- 
Couch (1863-1944), sometime Professor of 
English Literature at Cambridge, and author 
of novels (e.g. Dead Man s Rock , 1887) and of 
several anthologies of prose and verse. 

Old Q. William Douglas, third Earl of 
March, and fourth Duke of Queensberry 
(1724-1810), notorious for his dissolute life 
and escapades, especially on the turf. 

On the strict Q.T. With complete secrecy. 
“Q.T.” stands for “quiet.” 

To mind one’s P’s and Q’s. See P. 

Q.E.D. (Lat. quod erat demonstrandum , 
which was to be demonstrated). Appended to 
the theorems of Euclid : — Thus have we proved 
the proposition stated above, as we were re- 
quired to do. 

Q.E.F. (Lat. quod erat faciendum , which was 
to be done). Appended to the problems of 
Euclid: — Thus have we done the operation re- 
quired. 

Q.P. (Lat. quantum placet). Used in pre- 
scriptions to signify that the quantity may be 
as little or much as you like. Thus, in a cup of 
tea we might say “Milk and sugar q.p .” 

Q.S. (Lat. quantum sufficit , as much as 
suffices). Appended to prescriptions to denote 
that as much as is required may be used. Thus, 
after giving the drugs in minute proportions, 
the apothecary may be told to “mix in 
liquorice, q.s .” 

Q.V. (Lat. quantum vis). As much as you 
like, or quantum valeat , as much as is proper. 

q.v. (Lat. quod vide). Which see. 

Quack or Quack doctor; once called quack - 
salver . A puffer of salves; an itinerant drug- 




Quad 


737 


Quarantine 


vendor at fairs, who mounted his tailboard 
and “quacked” forth the praises of his wares 
to the gaping rustics. Hence, a charlatan. 

Saltimbancoes, quacksalvers, and charlatans de- 
ceive them in lower degrees. — Sir Thomas Browne: 
Pseudodoxia Epidemica y I, iii. 

Quad. The university contraction for quad- 
rangle, the college grounds; hence, to be in 
quad is to be confined to your college grounds. 
The word quad is also applied to one of a 
family of quadruplets. Cp. Quod. 

Quadragesima Sunday (kwod ra jes' i mk). The 
first Sunday in Lent; so called because it is, in 
round numbers, the fortieth day before Easter. 

Quadragesimals. The farthings or payments 
formerly made in commutation of a personal 
visit to the mother-church on Mid-Lent 
Sunday; also called Whitsun farthings. 
Quadrant, The. The name given to the curved 
southern end of Regent Street, London. It was 
designed by John Nash (1752-1835) and built 
between 1813 and 1820, with colonnades that 
were removed in 1848. The Quadrant was one 
of the most impressive streets in the world ; but 
it was pulled down in an excess of iconociasm 
in 1928. 

Quadriga (kwod' ri ga). A two-wheeled chariot 
of Classic times, drawn by four horses har- 
nessed abreast. A spirited representation of 
Peace riding in a quadriga, executed by Adrian 
Jones in 1912, was placed on the arch at the 
west end of Constitution Hill, in London. 

Quadrilateral. The four fortresses of Peschicra 
and Mantua on the Mincio, with Verona and 
Legnago on the Adige. Now demolished. 

Lambeth Quadrilateral. The 4 points 
suggested by the Lambeth Conference of 
1888 as a basis for Christian re-union: Bible, 
Apostolic and Nicene Creeds, 2 Sacraments, 
Episcopate. 

Quadrille (kwod ril'). An old card-game played 
by four persons with an ordinary pack of cards 
from which the eights, nines, and tens have 
been withdrawn. It displaced ombre (q.v.) in 
popular favour about 1730, and was followed 
by whist. 

The square dance of the same name was of 
French origin, and was introduced into 
England in 1813 by the Duke of Devonshire. 

Quadrillion. In English numeration, a million 
raised to the fourth power, represented by 1 
followed by 24 ciphers; in American and 
French numeration it stands for the fifth power 
of a thousand, i.e. 1 followed by 15 ciphers. 

Quadrivium (kwod riv' i urn). The collective 
name given by the Schoolmen of the Middle 
Ages to the four “liberal arts” (Lat. quadri -, 
four; via , way), viz . arithmetic, music, geo- 
metry, and astronomy. The quadrivium was the 
“fourfold way” to knowledge; the trivium ( q.v .) 
the “threefold way” to eloquence; both to- 
gether comprehended the seven arts or sciences 
enumerated in the following hexameter: — 
Lingua, Tropus, Ratio, Numerus, Tonus, Angulus, 
Astra. 

And in the two following: — 

Gram . loquitur, Dia . vera docet, Rhet. verba colorat; 
Mus. cadit, Ar. numerat, Geo. ponderat, Ast. colit 
astra. 


Quadroon (kwod roonO» A person with one- 
fourth of black blood; the offspring of a 
mulatto woman by a white man. The mulatto 
is half-blooded, one parent being white and the 
other black. 

Quadruple. Quadruple Alliance. An inter- 
national alliance for offensive or defensive pur- 
poses of four powers, especially that of Britain, 
France, Austria, and Holland in 1718, to pre- 
vent Spain recovering her Italian possessions, 
and that of Britain, France, Spain, and Por- 
tugal in 1834 as a counter-move to the “Holy 
Alliance” between Russia, Prussia, and 
Austria. Another is that of 1674, when Ger- 
many, Spain, Denmark, and Holland formed 
an alliance against France to resist the en- 
croachments of Louis XIV. 

Quadruple Treaty. An agreement signed in 
1834 between Britain, France, Spain, and Por- 
tugal, whereby the succession of Isabella II to 
the throne of Spain was accepted despite the 
Salic Law {q.v.). 

Quai d’Orsay (ka dor sa). The quay in Paris 
running along the left bank of the Seine 
where are situated the departments of Foreign 
Affairs and other government offices. The 
name is applied to the French Foreign Office 
and sometimes to the French Government as a 
whole. 


Quail. The bird was formerly supposed to be of 
an inordinately amorous disposition, hence its 
name was given to a courtesan. 

Here’s Agamemnon, an honest fellow enough, and 
one that loves quails . — Troilus and Cressida , V, i. 

Quaker. A familiar name for a member of the 
Society of Friends, a religious body having no 
definite creed and no regular ministry, founded 
by George Fox, 1648-50. It appears from the 
founder’s Journal that they first obtained the 
appellation (1650) from the following circum- 
stance: — “Justice Bennet, of Derby,” says Fox, 
“was the first to call us Quakers, because I 
bade him quake and tremble at the word of the 
Lord.” 

Quakers (that, like lanterns, bear 
Their light within them) will not swear. 

Butler: Hudibras , II, ii. 

The name had, however, been previously 
applied to a sect whose adherents shook ana 
trembled with religious emotion. 

Quaker City. Philadelphia, which was 
founded by a group of Quakers led by William 
Penn and intended as a haven of religious 
freedom. 

Quaker guns. Dummy guns made of wood, 
for drill purposes or camouflage; an allusion to 
the Quaker reprobation of the use of force. 

The Quaker Poet. Bernard Barton (1784- 
1849); also John Greenieaf Whittier (1807-92). 


Quarantine (Ital. quaranta , forty). The period, 
originally forty days, that a ship suspected of 
being infected with some contagious disorder is 
obliged to lie off port. Now applied to any 
period of segregation to prevent infection. 

In law the term is also applied to the forty 
days during which a widow who is entitled to a 
dower mhy remain in the chief mansion-house 
of her deceased husband. 




Quarrel 


738 


Quasimodo 


To perform quarantine is to ride off port 
during the time of quarantine. 

Quarrel (O.Fr. quarel; from Late Lat. quad - 
rellus> dimunitive of quadrus , a square). A 
short, stout, square-headed bolt or arrow used 
in the cross-bow; also, a square or diamond- 
shaped pane of glass for a window. 

Quarrel. To engage in contention, to fall out 
(from O.Fr. querele; Lat. querela , complaint; 
querl t to complain). 

To quarrel over the bishop’s cope — over some- 
thing which cannot possibly do you any good; 
over goat’s wool. A newly appointed Bishop of 
Bruges entered the town in his cope, which he 
gave to the people; and the people, to part it 
among themselves, tore it to shreds, each 
taking a piece. 

To quarrel with your bread and butter. To act 
contrary to your best interest; to snarl at that 
which procures your living, like a spoilt child, 
who shows its ill-temper by throwing its bread 
and butter to the ground. 

Quarry. An object of chase, especially the bird 
flown at in hawking or the animal pursued by 
hounds or hunters. Originally the word de- 
noted the entrails, etc., of the deer which were 
placed on the animal’s skin after it had been 
flayed, and given to the hounds as a reward. 
The word is the O.Fr. cuiree , skinned, from 
cuir (Lat. coriutn ), skin. 

„Your castle is surprised; your wife and babes 
Savagely slaughter’d; to relate the manner, 

Were, on the quarry of these murder’d deer. 

To add the death of you. 

Macbeth , IV, ii. 

The place where marble, stone, etc., is dug 
out is called a quarry , from O.Fr. quarridre , 
Lat. quadrare , to square, because the stones 
were squared on the spot. 

Quart d’heure (kar der). Un mauvais quart 
d’heure (Fr. a bad quarter of an hour). Used of 
a short, disagreeable experience. 

Quarter. The fourth part of anything, as of a 
year or an hour, or any material thing. 

In weights a quarter is 28 lb., i.e. a fourth of a 
hundredweight; as a measure of capacity for 
grain it is 8 bushels, which used to be one- 
tourth, but is now one-fifth, of a load. In the 
meat trade a quarter of a beast is a fourth part, 
which includes one of the legs. A quarter in the 
United States coinage is the fourth part of a 
dollar; and in an heraldic shield the quarters 
are the divisions made by central lines drawn 
at right angles across the shield, the 1st and 
4th quarters being in the dexter chief and 
sinister base (i.e. left-hand top and right-hand 
bottom when looking at it), and the 2nd and 
3rd in the sinister chief and dexter base. 

To grant quarter. To spare the life of an 
enemy in your power. The origin of the phrase 
is not certain, but the old suggestion that it 
originated from an agreement anciently made 
between the Dutch and the Spaniards, that the 
ransom of a soldier should be the quarter of his 
pay, is not borne out It is more likely due to 
the fact that the victor would have to provide 
his captive with temporary quarters; 


Quarters. Residence or place of abode; as 
winter quarters, the place where an army lodges 
during the winter months; married quarters, 
the accommodation in a barrack area allotted 
to regular soldiers who live with their wives and 
families. Come to my quarters is a common 
phrase among bachelors as an invitation to 
their rooms. In the Southern U.S.A. the word 
is used for that part of a plantation allotted to 
the Negroes. 

There shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, 
neither shall there be leaven seen ... in all thy 
quarters. Exod, xiii, 7. 

A district of a town or city is often known as 
a quarter , and in this sense the French use 
Quartier Latin, in Paris, which is the district 
where artists live and the medical schools are 
situated. 

Quartered. See Drawn and Quartered. 

Quarter Days. (1) New Style — Lady Day 
(March 25th), Midsummer Day (June 24th), 
Michaelmas Day (September 29th), and Christ- 
mas Day (December 25th). 

(2) Old Style — Lady Day (April 6th), Old 
Midsummer Day (July 6th), Old Michaelmas 
Day (October 11th), and Old Christmas Day 
(January 6th). 

Quarter Days in Scotland — 

Candlemas Day (February 2nd), Whit- 
sunday (May 15th), Lammas Day (August 1st), 
and Martinmas Day (November 11th). 

Quarterdeck. The upper deck of a ship from 
the mainmast to the stern. In men-of-war it is 
used by officers only. Hence, to behave as 
though he were on his own quarterdeck , to be- 
have as though he owned the place. 

Quartermaster. In the army, the officer 
whose duty it is to attend to the quarters of the 
soldiers. He superintends the issue of all stores 
and equipment. 

In the navy, the petty officer who, besides 
other duties, has charge of the steering of the 
ship, the signals, stowage, etc. 

Quarto. A size of paper made by folding the 
sheet twice, giving four leaves, or eight pages; 
hence, a book composed of sheets folded thus. 
C/7. Folio; Octavo. The word is often written 
“4to.” 

Quashee (kwosh' e). A generic name of a 
Negro; from West African Kwasi , a name often 
given to a child born on a Sunday. Cp. Quassia. 

Quasi (kwa' zl) (Lat. as if). Prefixed to denote 
that so-and-so is not the real thing, but may be 
almost accepted in its place; thus a 

Quasi contract is not a real contract, but 
something which has the force of one. 

Quasi historical. Apparently historical; more 
or less so, or pretending to be so and almost 
succeeding. 

Quasi tenant. The tenant of a house sublet. 

Quasimodo Sunday (kwa z! m6 d6'). The 
first Sunday after Easter; so called because the 
“Introit” of the day begins with these words: 
Quasi modo geniti infantes (I Pet. ii, 2). Also 
called “Low Sunday.” 

Quasimodo was also the name of the hunch- 
back in Victor Hugo’s Notre Dame de Paris , 
1831. 



Quassia 


739 


Queen 


Quassia (kwosh'y£). An American plant, or 
rather genus of plants* named after Quassi, a 
Negro, who, in 1730, was the first to make its 
medicinal properties known. See Quashee. 

Linnaeus applied this name to a tree of Surinam in 
honour of a negro, Quassi . . . who employed its bark 
as a remedy for fever; and enjoyed such a reputation 
among the natives as to be almost worshipped by 
some.**— L indlEY and Moore: Treatise of Botany, 
PL II, p. 947. 

Que spais-je? (kS s5zh). The motto adopted 
by Michel-Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-92), 
the great French essayist, as expressing the 
sceptical and enquiring nature of his writings. 
Queen. A female reigning sovereign, or the 
consort of a king; from O.E. cwen, a woman 
(which also gives quean , a word still sometimes 
used slightingly or contemptuously of a 
woman), from an ancient Aryan root that gave 
the Old Teutonic stem kweit -, Zend genS, Gr. 
gufte, Slavonic zend, O.lr. ben , etc., all meaning 
“woman.” In the 4th-century translation of the 
Bible by Ulfilas we meet with gens and gino 
(“wife” and “woman”); and in the Scandina- 
vian languages karl and kone still mean “man” 
and “wife.” Cp . King; see Mab. 

Queen Anne. Daughter of James If and Anne 
Hyde. She reigned over Great Britain from 
1702 to 1714, and her name is still used in 
certain colloquial phrases. 

Queen Anne is dead. A slighting retort made 
to the teller of stale news. 

Queen Anne style. The style in buildings, 
furniture, silver-ware, etc., characteristic of her 
period. Domestic architecture, for instance, 
was noted for many angles, gables, and ir- 
regularity of windows. 

Queen Anne’s Bounty. A fund created out of 
the firstfruits and tenths which were part of the 
papal exactions before the Reformation. The 
firstfruits are the whole first year’s profits of a 
clerical living, and the tenths are the tenth part 
annually of the profits of a living. Henry VIII 
annexed both these to the Crown, but Queen 
Anne formed them into a perpetual fund for 
the augmentation of poor livings and the build- 
ing of parsonages. The sum equals about 
£14,000 a year. 

Queen Anne’s fan. Vour thumb to your nose 
and your fingers spread; cocking a snook. 

Queen City. Cincinnati. 

Queen Consort. The wife of a reigning king. 

Queen Dick. Richard Cromwell (1626-1712), 
son of the Protector, Oliver, was sometimes so 
called. 

In the reign of Queen Dick. See Queen Dick, 
above ; also wider DiCK. 

Queen Dowager. The widow of a deceased 
king. 

Queen Mother. The consort of a king is so 
called after her husband’s death and when her 
son or daughter has succeeded to the throne. 

Queen of the Blues. A nickname given by Dr, 
Johnson to Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu (1720- 
1800), a noted bluestocking. 

Queen of the May. See May. 

Queen Regnant. A queen who holds the 
crown in her owp right, in contradistinction to 
a Queen Consort. 

24* 


Queen’s (or King’s) Bench. The Supreme 
Court of Common Law; so called because at 
one time the sovereign presided in this court, 
and the court followed the sovereign when he 
moved from one place to another. Originally 
called the Aulia Regia * it is now a division of 
the High Court of Judicature. 

Queen’s College (Oxford), Queens’ College 
(Cambridge). Note the position of the apos- 
trophe in each case — an important matter. The 
Oxford College was founded (1340) by Robert 
de Eglesfield in honour of Queen Philippa, con- 
sort of Edward III, to whom he was confessor. 
The Cambridge college numbers two Queens 
as its founders, viz. Margaret of Anjou, con- 
sort of Henry VI (1448), and Elizabeth Wood- 
ville, Edward IV’s consort, who refounded the 
college in 1465. 

Queen’s (or King’s) Counsel. In England a 
member of the Bar appointed by the Crown on 
the nomination of the Lord Chancellor; in 
Scotland on the recommendation of the Lord 
Justice General. A Q.C. wears a silk gown and 
is thus often called a silk. He takes precedence 
over the junior Bar, and in a case must have a 
junior barrister with him. 

Queen’s Day, November 1 7th, the day of the 
accession of Queen Elizabeth I, first publicly 
celebrated in 1 570, and for over three centuries 
kept as a holiday in Government offices and at 
Westminster School. 

November 17th at Merchant Taylors’ School 
is a holiday also, now called Sir Thomas 
White’s Founder’s Day. 

Queen’s (or King’s) Messenger is an official 
of the British Foreign Office whose duty it is to 
carry personally confidential messages from 
London to any embassy or legation abroad. 
He carries as his badge of office a silver grey- 
hound, and though he receives courtesies and 
help in the countries across which he travels, he 
enjoys no diplomatic immunities or privileges 
except that of passing through the customs the 
“diplomatic bag” he is carrying. 

Queen’s (or King’s) Remembrancer. An office 
held by the Senior Master of the Supreme 
Court, whose function is the collection of 
debts due to the sovereign. 

Queen’s ware. Glazed Wedgwood earthen* 
ware of a creamy colour. 

Queen’s weather. A fine day for a tbte; so 
called because Queen Victoria was, for the 
most part, fortunate in having fine weather 
when she appeared in public. 

The Queen of Glory. An epithet of the Virgin 
Mary. 

The Queen of Hearts. Elizabeth (1596-1662), 
daughter of James 1, the unfortunate Queen of 
Bohemia, so called in the Low Countries from 
her amiable character and engaging manners, 
even in her lowest estate. 

The Queen of Heaven. The Virgin Mary. In 
ancient times, among the Phoenicians, Astarte; 
Greeks, Hera; Romans, Juno; Hecate; the 
Egyptian Isis, etc., were also so called; but as 
a general title it applied to Diana, or the Moon, 
also called Queen of the Night, and Queen of the 




Queen 


740 


Queue 


Tides. In Jer . vii, 18, we read: “The children 
gather wood . . . and the women knead dough 
to make cakes to the queen of heaven,” i.e. tne 
Moon. 

The Queen of Love. Aphrodite, or Venus. 
Poor queen of love in thine own law forlorn 
To love a cheek that smiles at thee in scorn! 

Venus and Adonis , 251. 

Queen Square Hermit. Jeremy Bentham 
(1748-1832), who lived at No. 1 Queen Square, 
London. He was the father of the political 
economists called Utilitarians, whose maxim 
is, “The greatest happiness of the greatest 
number.” 

The White Queen. Mary Queen of Scots; so 
called because she dressed in white mourning 
for her French husband (Francis II, 1544-60). 

'The Queen’s English. See English. 

The Queen’s Pipe. A name given in Queen 
Victoria’s reign to a furnace at the Victoria 
Docks for destroying (by the Inland Revenue 
authorities) contraband and worthless tobacco, 
etc. 

The Queen’s (or King’s) Speech with which 
each session of the British Parliament opens is 
prepared by the Cabinet and outlines their 
programme for the session. It is always ad- 
dressed to both Houses but the special clause 
relating to finance is addressed to the Com- 
mons alone. 

Queenhithe (London). The hithe or strand 
for lading and unlading barges and lighters in 
the City. Called “queen” from being part of 
the dowry of Eleanor, Queen of Henry II. 

Queer. Colloquial for out of sorts, not up to 
the mark, also slang for drunk; and thieves’ 
cant for anything base and worthless, espe- 
cially counterfeit money. 

A queer cove. An eccentric person, a rum 
customer; also queer card. See Card. 

In Queer Street. In financial difficulties. The 
punning suggestion has been made that the 
origin of the phrase is to be found in a query ( ?) 
with which a tradesman might mark the name 
of such a one in his ledger. 

To queer one’s pitch. To forestall him; to 
render his efforts nugatory by underhand 
means. 

Querao (kwer' no). Camillo Quemo, of Apulia, 
hearing that Leo X (1513-22) was a great 
patron of poets, went to Rome with a harp in 
his hand, and sang his Alexias , a poem con- 
taining 20,000 verses. He was introduced to the 
Pope as a buffoon, but was promoted to the 
laurel. 

Rome in her Capitol saw Quemo sit, 

Throned on seven hills the Antichrist of wit. 

Dunciad, II. 

Querpo (kSr'po). In querpo. In one’s shirt- 
sleeves; in undress (Span, en cuerpo , without a 
cloak). 

Boy, my cloak and rapier; it fits not a gentleman of 
my rank to walk the streets in querpo. — Beaumont 
and Fletcher: Love's Cure , II, i. 

Question. When members of the House of 
Commons or other debaters call out Question , 


they mean that the person speaking is wander- 
ing away from the subject under consideration. 

A leading question. See Leading. 

An open question. A statement, proposal, 
doctrine, or supposed fact, respecting which 
private opinion is allowed. In the House of 
Commons every member may vote as he likes, 
regardless of party politics, on an open ques- 
tion. 

Out of the question. Not worth discussing, 
not to be thought of; quite foreign to the sub- 
ject. 

Questions and commands. An old Christmas 
game, in which the “commander” bids one of 
his subjects to answer a question which is 
asked. If he refuses, or fails to satisfy the com- 
mander, he must pay a forfeit or have his face 
smutted. 

While other young ladies in the house are dancing, 
or playing at questions and commands, she [the 
devotee] reads aloud in her closet . — The Spectator , 
No. 354 (Hotspur's Letter), April 16th, 1712. 

The previous question. The question whether 
the matter under debate shall be put to the vote 
or not. In Parliament, and debates generally, 
when one party wishes that a subject should be 
shelved it is customary to “move the previous 
question”; if this is carried the original dis- 
cussion comes to an end, for it has been de- 
cided that the matter shall not be put to the 
vote. 

Moving the previous question, says Erskine 
May — 

is an ingenious method of avoiding a vote upon any 
question that has been proposed, but the technical 
phrase does little to elucidate its operation. When 
there is no debate, or after a debate is closed, the 
Speaker ordinarily puts the question as a matter of 
course . . . but by a motion for the previous question, 
this act may be intercepted and forbidden. — Parlia- 
mentary Practice , p. 303 (9th ed.). 

A motion for “the previous question” can- 
not be made on an amendment, nor in a select 
committee, nor yet in a committee of the whole 
house. 

To beg the question. See Beg. 

To pop the question. To propose or make an 
offer of marriage. As this important demand is 
supposed to be unexpected, the question is said 
to be “popped.” 

Questionists. In the examinations for degrees 
at Cambridge it was customary, at the begin- 
ning of the January term, to hold “Acts,” and 
the candidates for the Bachelor’s degree were 
called “Questionists.” They were examined by 
a moderator, and afterwards the fathers of 
other colleges “questioned” them for three 
hours in Latin, and the dismissal uttered by the 
Regius Professor indicated what class each 
would be placed in, or if a respondent was 
plucked, in which case the words were simply 
Descendus domine. 

Queue (kfi). French for tail ( cp . Q in a Corner), 
hence used of a pigtail, or long plait of hair, 
also for a line of people waiting their turn at a 
booking-office, theatre, shop, etc. 

To queue up. A term that came into pro- 
minence during the World Wars, especially in 
connexion with the food shortage, when hun- 
dreds of people had to wait for hours in long 



Quey 741 Quinapalus 


lines before they could obtain their “rations’* 
at the butcher’s, grocer’s, etc. 

Quey (qua). A female calf, a young heifer; from 
O.Scand. kviga , meaning the same thing. 

Quey calves are dear veal. An old proverb, 
somewhat analogous to “killing the goose 
which lays the golden eggs.’’ Female calves 
should be kept and reared for cows. 

Qui vive? (ke vev) (Fr.). Literally, Who lives? 
but used as a sentry’s challenge and so equi- 
valent to our Who goes there? which in French 
would be Qui va la? 

To be on the qui vive. On the alert; to be 
quick and sharp ; to be on the tiptoe of expecta- 
tion, like a sentinel. ( See above.) 

Quia Emptores (kwi' k emp tor' ez). A statute 
passed in the reign of Edward I (1290), to 
insure the lord paramount his fees arising from 
escheats, marriages, etc. By it freemen were 
permitted to sell their lands on condition that 
the purchaser should hold from the chief lord, 
and it resulted in a great increase of land- 
owners holding direct from the Crown. So 
called from its opening words. 

Quick. Living; hence animated, lively; hence 
fast, active, brisk (O.E. cwic, living, alive). Our 
expression “Look alive,” means “Be brisk.” 

The quick and the dead. The living and the 
dead. 

Quicksand is sand which shifts its place as if 
it were alive. See Quick. 

Quickset is living hawthorn set in a hedge, 
instead of dead wood, hurdles, and palings. 
See Quick. 

Quicksilver is argentum vivum (living silver), 
silver that moves about like a living thing. 
(O.E. cwic seolfor.) 

Swift as quicksilver 
It courses through the natural gates 
And alleys of the body. 

Hamlet , I, v. 

Quickie. In film parlance, a motion picture 
made cheaply to catch the cheap market and 
make a quick return on the money invested. 

Quid. Slang for a sovereign (or a pound note). 
It occurs in Shadwell’s Squire of Alsatia (1688), 
but its origin is unknown. 

In a quid of tobacco , meaning a piece for 
chewing, quid is another form of cud. 

Quids (U.S.A.). A third political party 
(tertium quid) which was opposed to the ad- 
ministration of President Madison, 1809-16. 

Quids in. Extremely lucky; to have every- 
thing fall right. 

Quidlibet. See Quodlibet. 

Quid pro quo (Lat.). Tit for tat; a return 
given as good as that received; a Roland for an 
Oliver; an equivalent. 

Quid rides (Lat. Why are you laughing?). 
It is said that Lundy Foot, a Dublin tobac- 
conist, set up his carriage, and that Curran, 
when asked to furnish him with a motto, sug- 
ested this. The witticism is, however, attri- 
uted also to H. Callender, who, we are 
assured, supplied it to one Brandon, a London 
tobacconist. 


. “Rides” in English, one syllable; in Latin it 
is two. 

Quiddity. The essence of a thing, or that 
which differentiates it from other things — “the 
Correggiosity of Correggio,” “the Freeness of 
the Free.” Hence used of subtle, trifling dis- 
tinctions, quibbles, or captious argumentation. 
Schoolmen say Quid est? (what is it?) and the 
reply is, the Quid is so and so, the What or the 
nature of the thing is as follows. The latter quid 
being formed into a barbarous Latin noun 
becomes Quidditas. Hence Quid est? (what is 
it?). Answer: Talis est quidditas (its essence is 
as follows). 

He knew . . . 

Where entity and quiddity 
(The ghosts of defunct bodies) fly. 

Butler: Hudibras . I, i. 

Quidnunc (Lat. What now?). One who is 
curious to know everything that’s going on, or 
pretends to know it; a self-important news- 
monger and gossip. It is the name of the lead- 
ing character in Murphy’s farce The Uphol- 
sterer, or What News? 

Quietism. A form of religious mysticism based 
on the doctrine that the essence of religion con- 
sists in the withdrawal of the soul from external 
objects, and in fixing it upon the contempla- 
tion of God; especially that taught by the 
Spanish mystic, Miguel Molinos (1640-96), 
who taught the direct relationship between the 
soul and God. His followers were termed 
Molinists, or Quietists. See Molinism. 

Quietus (Late Lat. quietus est , he is quit). The 
writ of discharge formerly granted to those 
barons and knights who personally attended 
the king on a foreign expedition, exempting 
them also from the claim of scutage or knight’s 
fee. Subsequently the term was applied to the 
acquittance which a sheriff receives on settling 
his account at the Exchequer; and, later still, 
to any discharge, as of an account, or even of 
life itself. 

You had the trick in audit-time to be sick till I had 
signed your quietus. — Webster: Duchess of Malfi , 
III ii, (1623). 

Who would fardels bear . . . 

When he himself might his quietus make 
With a bare bodkin? In , i. 

Quill-drivers. Writing clerks. 

Quillet (kwir 6t). An evasion. This may be an 
abbreviation of the old word quillity (formed 
on analogy with quiddity) meaning a quibble, 
or it may be from Lat. quidlibet , i.e. “anything 
you choose.” A fanciful suggestion is that it 
came to England from the French law courts, 
where each separate allegation in the plaintiff’s 
charge, and every distinct plea in the defen- 
dant’s answer, began with qu'il est ; whence 
quillet , to signify a false charge, or an evasive 
answer. 

Oh, some authority how to proceed; 

Some tricks, some quillets, how to cheat the devil. 

Love's Labour's Lost , IV, iii 

Quinapalus (kwin &p' k lus). A kind of “Mrs. 
Grundy” or “Mrs. Harris” invented by Feste, 
the Clown in Twelfth Night , when he wished to 
give some saying the weight of authority. 
Hence someone “dragged in” when one 
wishes to clench an argument by some sup- 
posed quotation. 


Quintals 


742 


Quit 


What says Quinapalus: “Better a witty fool, than a 
foolish wit." — Twelfth Night , I, v. 

Quinbus Flestrin (kwin' bus fles' trin). The 
man-mountain. So the Lilliputians called Gulli- 
ver (ch. ii). Gay has an ode to this giant. 

Bards of old of him told, 

When they said Atlas* head 
Propped the skies. 

Gay: Lilliputian Ode . 

Quincunx (kwin' kOngks). An arrangement of 
five things, one in each corner and one in the 
middle of a square or oblong space. The term 
is also applied to trees in an orchard so planted 
that those in one row face the spaces between 
those in the adjacent rows. 

Quinine. See Cinchona. 

Quinquagesima Sunday (kwin kwa jes' i ma) 
(Lat. fiftieth). Shrove Sunday, or the first day 
of the week which contains Ash Wednesday. It 
is so called because in round numbers it is the 
fiftieth day before Easter. 

Quins, The. Marie, Emilie, Yvonne, Ceciie, 
and Annette Dionne, the famous quintuplets 
born May 28th, 1934, to a farmer in Callander, 
Ontario. There were seven other children in the 
family. Medical attention and interest was 
drawn to the phenomenon of their birth and 
successful rearing. The Quins were wards of 
King George VI who, with his Queen, received 
them during the royal visit to Canada in 1939. 

Quinsy (kwin' zi). This is a curious abbrevia- 
tion. The Latin word is quinancia , and the 
Greek kunanche , from kuon anche , dog stran- 
gulation, because persons suffering from 
quinsy throw open tne mouth like dogs, espe- 
cially mad dogs. It first appeared in English 
(14th century) as qwinaci and later forms were 
quynnancy and squinancy. Squinancy •wort is 
still a name given to the small woodruff 
(Asperula cynanchica ), which was used as a cure 
for quinsy by the herbalists. 

Quintain (kwin' tin). Riding at the quintain was 
a form of medieval knightly exercise. A dummy 
figure — sometimes only a head — was fastened 
to one end of a pole swinging horizontally on 
an upright firmly embedded in the ground. The 
knignt, mounted or on foot, tilted at this 
figure, and unless he impaled it with his spear 
it would swing away from him and the op- 
posite end of the pole would swing round and 
give him a smart blow. 

Quintessence. The fifth essence. The ancient 
Greeks said there are four elements or forms in 
which matter can exist — fire, air, water, and 
earth (see Elements); the Pythagoreans added 
a fifth, the fifth essence — quintessence — ether , 
more subtle and pure than fire, and possessed 
of an orbicular motion, which new upwards at 
creation and formed the material basis of the 
stars. Hence the word stands for the essential 
principle or the most subtle extract of a body 
that can be procured. Horace speaks of 
“kisses which Venus has imbued with the 
quintessence of her own nectar.” 

Swift to their several quarters hasted then 
The cumbrous elements — earth, flood, fire; 

But this ethereal quintessence of heaven 
Flew upward . . . and turned to stars 
Numberless as thou seest. 

Milton: Paradise Lost , III, 716. 


Quintilians (kwin tiT y&ns). Members of a 2nd- 
century heretical sect of Montanists, said to 
have been founded by one Quintilia, a prophet- 
ess. They*made the Eucharist of bread and 
cheese, ancLqllowed women to become priests 
and bishops. 

Quintillion (kwin til' y6n). In English, the fifth 
power of a million, 1 followed by 30 ciphers; in 
France and the United States the cube of a 
million, a million multiplied by a thousand 
four times over, 1 followed by 18 ciphers. 
Quip Modest, The. Sir, it was done to please 
myself. Touchstone’s reasoning is as follows 
(As You Like It, V, iv) : If I sent a person word 
that his beard was not well cut and he replied 
he cut it to please himself, he would answer 
with the Quip Modest, which is six removes 
from the lie direct; or, rather, the lie direct in 
the sixth degree. See Reply Churlish; Retort 
Courteous. 

Quipu (ke' poo). An ancient Peruvian device 
for recording events, keeping accounts, etc. 
It consisted of a cord with knotted and 
coloured strings, arranged in particular designs 
and patterns. 

Quirinal (kwi' ri nal). The palace in Rome of 
the former kings of Italy, and now of the 
President, The term was usually applied 
emblematically to the Italian kingdom and 
government as opposed to the Vatican, the 
seat of Papal authority and ecclesiastical 
government. 

Quirt (U.S.A.). A riding whip with a short 
stock and a long lash or braided leather. From 
the Spanish cuerda, cord. 

Quis. (Lat.) Who? 

Quis custodiet custodes? (Lat.) [The shep- 
herds keep watch over the sheep], but who is 
there to keep watch over the shepherds? Said 
when one is not certain of the integrity of one 
whom one has placed in a position of trust. 

Quis separabit? (Lat. Who shall separate us?) 
The motto adopted by the Most Illustrious 
Order of St. Patrick when it was founded in 
1783. 

Quisling (kwiz' ling). Term applied to a traitor 
and collaborationist in time of enemy occupa- 
tion. Vidkun Quisling was a Norwegian who, 
before the invasion of his country by the 
Germans in 1940, acted as their advance agent 
and strove for the downfall of his country. He 
was appointed the puppet premier, but fled at 
the defeat of Germany and was caught and 
executed October 24th, 1945. 

Quit. (Fr. quitter , to leave, to depart). In U.S.A. 
this word is more commonly used in the sense 
of to leave a job or a place. 

Quit rent. A rent formerly paid by a tenant 
whereby he was released from feudal service. 
The term is still used of the small annual sum 

f >aid by some freeholders and copyholders in 
ieu of services due from them. 

Quit in the sense of “acquitted” means 
discharged from an obligation, “acquitted.” 

To John I owed great obligation; 

But John unhappily thought fit 
To publish it to all the nation — 

Now I and John are fairly quit. 

?WP*. 




Quit 


743 


R 


To be quit of. To be free from, to be rid of. 

Cry quits. When two boys quarrel, and one 
has had enough, he says, “Cry quits,” mean- 
ing, “Let us leave off, and calf ^ijCa drawn 
game.” So in an unequal distribution, he who 
has the largest share restores a portion and 
“cries quits,” meaning that he has made the 
distribution equal. Here quit means “acquittal” 
or discharge. 

Double or quits. See Double. 

Quixote, Don. See Don Quixote. 

The Quixote of the North. Charles XII of 
Sweden (1682, 1697-1718), also called The 
Madman. 

Quixotic (kwik zot' ik). Having foolish and 
unpractical ideas of honour, or schemes for the 
general good, like Don Quixote (q.v.). 

Quiz. One who banters or chaffs another. The 
origin of the word — which appeared about 
1780 — is unknown ;but fable accounts for it by 
saying that a Mr. Daly, manager of a Dublin 
theatre, laid a wager that he would introduce 
into the language within twenty-four hours a 
new word of no meaning. Accordingly, on 
every wall, or all places accessible, were chalked 
up the four mystic letters, and all Dublin was 
inquiring what they meant. The wager was won, 
and the word remains current in our language. 

Since World War IL the word has been 
applied to a test, usually competitive, of general 
knowledge. 

Quo warranto (kwo war 5n' to). A writ against 
a defendant (whether an individual or a cor- 
poration) who lays claim to something he has 
no right to; so named because the offender is 
called upon to show quo warranto ( rem ) 
usurpavit (by what right or authority he lays 
claim to the matter of dispute). 

Quoad hoc (kwo' ad hok) (Lat.). To this extent, 
with respect to this. 

Quod. Slang for prison. Probably the same 
word as auad (q.v.). which is a contraction of 
quadrangle , the enclosure in which prisoners arc 
allowed to walk, and where whippings used to 
be inflicted. The word was in use in the 17th 
century. 

Flogged and whipped in quod. 

Hughes: Tom Brown's Schooldays. 

Quodlibet (Lat. what you please). Originally 
a philosophical or theological question pro- 
posed for purposes of scholastic debate, hence 
a nice and knotty point, a subtlety. Quidlibet is 
a form of the same word. 

Quondam (kwon' dam) (Lat. former). We say, 
He is a quondam schoolfellow — former school- 
fellow; my quondam friend, the quondam 
chancellor, etc. 

My quondam barber, but “his lordship’’ now. 

Dryden. 

Quorum (kw6r' uni) (Lat. of whom). The 
lowest number of members of a committee or 
board, etc., the presence of whom is necessary 
before business may be transacted; formerly, 
also, certain Justices of the Peace — hence 
known as Justices of the Quorum — chosen for 
their special ability, one or more of whom had 
to be on the Bench at trials before the others 


could act. Slender calls Justice Shallow justice 
of the peace and quorum. ( Merry Wives of 
Windsor , I, i.) 

Quos ego (kwos eg' 6). A threat of punishment 
for disobedience. The words, from Virgil's 
/Eneid (I. 135), were uttered by Neptune to the 
disobedient and rebellious winds, and are 
sometimes given as an example of aposiopesis, 
i.e. a stopping short for rhetorical effort, 
“Whom I — ,” said Neptune, the “will punish” 
being left to the imagination. 

Neptune had but to appear and utter a quos ego for 
these windbags to collapse, and become the most sub- 
servient of salaried public servants. — Truth. January, 
1886. 

Quot. Quot homines, tot sententise (Lat.). As 
many minds as men; there are as many 
opinions as there are men to hold them. The 
phrase is from Terence’s Phormio (II, iv, 14). 

Quot linguas calles, tot homines vales (Lat.). 
As many languages as you know, so many 
separate individuals you are worth. Attributed 
to Charles V. 

Quota (kwo' ta) (Lat.). The allotted portion or 
share; the rate assigned to each. Thus we say, 
“Every man is to pay his quota.” 


R 

R. The eighteenth letter of the English alphabet 
(seventeenth of the Roman) representing the 
twentieth of the Phoenician and Hebrew. In the 
ancient Roman numeration it stood for 80. In 
England it was formerly used as a branding 
mark for rogues, particularly kidnappers. 

It has been called the “snarling fetter” or 
“dog letter,” because a dog in snarling utters a 
sound resembling r-r-r-r-r, r-r-r-r-r, etc. — 
sometimes preceded by a g. 

lrritata canis quod R R quam plurima dicat. 

Lucilius. 

In his English Grammar made for the Benefit 
of all Strangers Ben Jonson says — 

R is the dog’s letter, and hurreth in the sound; the 
tongue striking the inner palate, with a trembling 
about the teeth. 

And see the Nurse’s remark about R in Romeo 
and Juliet, II, iv. 

in prescriptions. The ornamental part of 
this letter is the symbol of Jupiter ( H ), under 
whose special protection all medicines were 
placed. The letter itself ( Recipe , take) and its 
nourish may be thus paraphrased: “Under the 
good auspices of Jove, the patron of medicines, 
take the following drugs in the proportions set 
down.” It has been suggested that the symbol 
is for Responsum Raphaelis , from the assertion 
of Dr. Napier and other physicians of the 17th 
century, that the angel Raphael imparted the 
virtues of drugs. 

The R months. See under Oyster. 

The three R’s. Reading, writing, and arith- 
metic. The phrase is said to have been origi- 
nated by Sir William Curtis (d. 1829), wno 
gave this as a toast. 

The House is aware that no payment is made except 
on the “three R's.”— Mr, Cory, M.P.: in House of 
Commons, Feb. 28th, 1867. 



R.A.P. 


744 


Rack 


R.A.P. Rupees, annas, and pies, in India; 
corresponding to our £ s. d. 

R.I.P. Requiescat in pace. Latin for May he 
(or she) Rest in Peace; a symbol used on 
mourning cards, tombstones, etc. 

Ra (ra). The principal deity of ancient Egypt, 
one of the numerous forms of the sun-god, and 
the supposed ancestor of all the Pharaohs. He 
was the protector of men and vanquisher of 
evil; Nut, the sky, was his father, and it was 
said of him that every night he fought with the 
serpent, Apepi. He is usually represented as 
hawk-headed, and is crowned with the solar 
disk and uraeus. See Osiris. 

Rabbinic (ra bin' ik). The Hebrew language as 
used by tne rabbis in their ecclesiastical and 
theological writings. The term is often applied 
to modern Hebrew. Among the Jews a Rab- 
binist is one who follows closely the doctrines 
and precepts of the Talmud and the traditions 
of the rabbis. 

Rabelaisian (rab el a' zian). Coarsely and 
boisterously satirical; grotesque, extravagant, 
and licentious in language; reminiscent in 
literary style of the great French satirist Fran- 
cois Rabelais (1483*1553). When Rabelaisian 
is used it applies to coarseness and complete 
frankness, and ignores Rabelais* humanism. 

Dean Swift, Thomas Amory (d. 1788, 
author of John B uncle), and Sterne have all 
been called “the English Rabelais’* — but the 
title is not very fitting; Rabelais was so essen- 
tially a Frenchman of the Renaissance that it is 
impossible to think of an English counterpart 
of any period. 

Raboin. See Tailed Men. 

Race Suicide. The extinction of a race through 
the undue use of contraceptives by so large a 
number of ^people that the birth rate falls 
below the death rate. 

Races. The principal horse-races in England are 
run at Newmarket, Doncaster, Epsom, Good- 
wood, and Ascot (see Classic Races), but 
there are a large number of other courses 
where important meetings are held, and the 
greatest event in the world of steeplechasing — 
the Grand National — is run at Aintree, near 
Liverpool. 

There are seven annual race meetings at 
Newmarket: (1) The Craven; (2) first spring; 
(3) second spring; (4) July; (5) first October; 
(6) second October; (7) the Houghton. < 

At Doncaster races are held for two days 
about the middle of May, four days early in 
September, and two days toward the end of 
October. 

The Epsom meeting (when the Derby, Oaks, 
Coronation Cup, etc., are run) is held for four 
days in the first week of June. 

Goodwood (four days) starts on the last 
Tuesday in July, and Ascot (four days) in the 
middle of June. 

The following are the principal English 
horse-races, with distances and venue : — 
Alexandra Cup (Ascot), 2 m. 6 fur. 75 yd. 

Ascot Gold Cup, 2f m. 

Ascot Gold Vase, 2 m. 

Ascot Stakes. 2f m. 

The Cambridgeshire (Newmarket), 9 fur. 

The Cesarewitch (Newmarket), 2\ m. 


Champagne Stakes (Doncaster), 6 fur. 152 yd. 
Champion Stakes (Newmarket), If m. 

Chester Cup, 2± m. 77 yd. 

Chesterfield Cup (Goodwood), 1 m. 2 fur. 

Cheveley Park^Stakes (Newmarket), 6 fur. 

City and SurBunban Handicap (Epsom), If m. 
Coventry Stakes (Ascot), 5 fur. 

Criterion Stakes (Newmarket), 6 fur. 

The Derby (Epsom), If m. 

Dewhurst Stakes (Newmarket), 7 fur. 

Doncaster Cup, 2 m. 2 fur. 

Ebor Handicap (York), If m. 

Eclipse Stakes (Sandown), If m. 

Goodwood Cup, 2 m. 5 fur. 

Goodwood Stakes, 2 m. 3 fur. 

Grand Military Gold Cup (Sandown), 3 m. 125 yd. 
The Grand National (Aintree), 4 m. 856 yd. 

Great Metropolitan Handicap (Epsom), 2f m. 

Great Yorkshire Handicap (Doncaster), 1 m. 6 fur. 
632 yd. 

Jubilee Handicap (Kempton), If m. 

July Stakes (Newmarket), 5 fur. 142 yd. 

Lincolnshire Handicap (Lincoln), 1 m. 

Liverpool Autumn Cup, 1 m. 2 fur. 

Liverpool Summer Cup, 1 m. 3 fur. 

Manchester Cup, If m. 

Manchester November Handicap, 1 f m. 

Middle Park Stakes (Newmarket), 6 fur. 

New Stakes (Ascot), 5 fur. 136 yd. 

Northumberland Plate (Newcastle), 2 m. 

The Oaks (Epsom), If m. 

The One Thousand Guineas (Newmarket), 1 m. 
Portland Handicap (Doncaster), 5 fur. 

Prince of Wales’s Stakes (Newmarket), If m. 

Royal Hunt Cup (Ascot), 7 fur. 166 yd. 

The St. Leger (Doncaster), If m. 132 yd. 

Stewards’ Cup (Goodwood), 6 fur. 

The Two Thousand Guineas (Newmarket), 1 m. 

Many of the more important of these races 
will be found entered in their alphabetical 
places throughout this Dictionary. 

Rache (rSch). A hound that hunts by scent 
(O.E. raecc , a hound; A. Nor. brache; Ger. 
Bracke). They were later called “running 
hounds” and then simply “hounds,” and were 
used in the Middle Ages for stag, wild boar, 
and buck hunting. 

And first I will begin with raches and their nature, 
and then greyhounds and their nature, and then 
alaunts and their nature . . . and then I shall devise 
and tell the sicknesses of hounds and their diseases. — 
Edward, 2nd Duke of York: The Master of Game , 
Prologue (c. 1410). 

Rachel (ra shel'). A French actress whose real 
name was Elizabeth Felix (1821-58). She was 
the daughter of poor Jewish pedlars, but going 
on the stage as a girl she won a great triumph 
in 1843 in the name part of Racine’s Phtdre. As 
Adrienne Lecouvreur, in Scribe’s play of that 
name (1849), she confirmed her position as one 
of the greatest tragic actresses in Europe. The 
cosmetics bearing the name “Rachel” immor- 
talize a Parisian beauty-specialist of the Second 
Empire. 

Racialism. The practice of and adherence to the 
theory that human races have certain charac- 
teristics that unalterably mould their cultures. 
From this arises the belief that one’s own race 
has a right to rule less “advanced” races and is 
justified in asserting this right by force. 

Rack. A flying scud, drifting clouds. (Icel. rek , 
drift; recka , to drive.) 

The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces. 
The solemn temples, the great globe itself. 

Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve 
And, like an insubstantial pageant faded, 

Leave not a rack behind. 

Tempest , IV, i. 




Rack 


745 


Rag 


The instrument of torture so called (con- 
nected with Ger. recken , to strain) was a frame 
in which a man was fastened and his arms and 
legs stretched till the body was lifted by the 
tension several inches from the floor. Not in- 
frequently the limbs were forced thereby out of 
their sockets. Coke says that the rack was first 
introduced into the Tower by the Duke of 
Exeter, constable of the Tower, in 1447, 
whence it was called the “Duke of Exeter’s 
daughter.” Its use in England was abolished in 
1640. . 

Rack. The framework for putting plates and 
other things on ; the grating for holding fodder, 
etc., is probably connected with this. 

Rack and ruin. Utter destitution. Here 
“rack” is a variety of wrack and wreck. 

Rack rent. The actual value or rent of a 
tenement, and not that modified form on which 
the rates and taxes are usually levied; an ex- 
orbitant rent, one which is “racked” or 
stretched. 

To lie at rack and manger. To live without 
thought of the morrow, like cattle or horses 
whose food is placed before them without 
themselves taking thought; hence, to live at 
reckless expense. 

When Virtue was a country maide. 

And had no skill to set up trade, 

She came up with a carrier’s jade. 

And lay at rack and manger. 

Life of Robin Goodfellow (1628). 

To rack one’s brains. To strain them to find 
out or recollect something; to puzzle about 
something. 

Rack and pinion railway. Railway designed 
for ascending and descending mountains. It 
has a third rail cut with teeth over which rides 
a mechanism which, in the event of an accident, 
engages the teeth and so prevents the train from 
falling to the bottom. 

Racket. Noise or confusion. The word is prob- 
ably imitative, like crack , bang, splash , etc. 

To stand the racket. To bear the expense; to 
put up with the consequences. 

Racy. Having distinctive or characteristic 
piquancy. It was first applied to wine, and 
comes to us from the Spanish raiz, Portuguese 
raiz (root), meaning having a radical or dis- 
tinct flavour. 

Rich, racy verse, in which we see 
The soil from which they come, taste, smell, and see. 

Cowley. 

The word now generally implies a hint of in- 
decency. 

Racy of the soil. Characteristic of the in- 
habitants, especially the .dwellers in the 
country, workers on the land. 

Radar. Term derived from Radio-Detection- 
and-Ranging, primarily a means of detecting 
the presence of aircraft by sending out fre- 
quencies which are reflected back when they 
encounter a solid object. Subsequently de- 
veloped for use by ships navigating in fog. A 
British invention, made by R. A. W. Watt, 
telecommunications advisor to the Air Minis- 
try, in 1935. Britain was far ahead of the world 


at the start of the war, and without this 
invention could not have won the Battle of 
Britain in 1940. Two radar stations were lent 
to France by Britain in 1939, and a courageous 
Frenchman, Rene Varin, was dispatched from 
England to effect their destruction after the 
fall of France. The United States had some 
experimental stations, one of which was at 
Pearl Harbour and plotted the incoming 
Japanese aircraft, though the report was un- 
fortunately not taken seriously. When in due 
course the Germans had developed Radar, 
countermeasures were developed ; they took the 
form of bundles of tin-foil streamers dropped 
from bomber formations which registered on 
and confused the enemy’s Radar screens. In 
1950 Radar frequencies were sent to and 
reflected back from the Moon. 

Radcliffe Library. A library at Oxford, founded 
with a bequest of £40,000 left for the purpose 
by Dr. John Radcliffe (1650-1714), ana origin- 
ally intended for a medical library. Dr. Rad- 
cliffe was a prominent London physician, 
famous for his candour. When summoned to 
Queen Anne he told her that there was nothing 
the matter with her but “vapours,” and he 
refused to attend her on her deathbed. 

Radegonde or Radegund, St. (rad' e gond). 
Wife of Clothaire, king of the Franks (558-61). 

St. Radegonde’s lifted stone. A stone 60 feet 
in circumference, placed on five supporting 
stones, said by the historians of Poitou to have 
been so arranged in 1478, to commemorate a 
great fair held on the spot in the October of that 
year. The country people insist that Queen 
Radegonde brought the impost stone on her 
head, and the five uprights in her apron, and 
arranged them all as they appear to this day. 

Radevore (rad' e vor). A kind of cloth, prob- 
ably tapestry, known in the 14th century. It 
has been suggested (Skeat) that it was named 
from Vaur, in Languedoc, ras (Eng. rash , a 
smooth — rased — textile fabric) de Vor. 

This woful lady ylern’d had in youthe 
So that she worken and embrowden kouthe, 

And weven in hire stole the radevore 
As hyt of wommen had be y-woved yore. 

Chaucer: Legend of Good Women, 2351. 

Radical. The term was first applied as a party 
name in 1818 to Henry Hunt, Major Cart- 
wright, and others of the same clique, ultra- 
Liberais verging on republicanism, who wished 
to introduce radical reform, i.e. one that would 
go to the root (Lat. radix , radicis) of the matter, 
in the electoral system, and not merely to dis- 
franchise and enfranchise a borough or two. 
Bolingbroke, in his Discourses on Parties 
(1735), says, “Such a remedy might have 
wrought a radical cure of the evil that threatens 
our constitution.” 

Raft (from the Middle English raff, \ abundance, 
plenty) is applied to express a number of 
persons or things. 

Rag. A tatter, hence a remnant (as “not a rag 
of decency,” “not a rag of evidence”), hence a 
vagabond or ragamuffin. 

Lash hence these overweening rags of France. 

Richard III , V, iii. 


746 


Rainingtfrea 


Rug 


The word was old cant for a farthing, and 
was also used generally to express scarcity— or 
absence— of money: — 

Money by me? Heart and good-will you might. 

But surely, master, not a rag of money. 

Comedy of Errors , IV, iv. 

In university slang (and now in general 
slang) a rag is a boisterous jollification, in 
which practical jokes and horseplay have a 
large share. To rag a man is to torment him in 
a rough and noisy fashion. 

Glad rags. See Glad. 

Rag-tag and bob-tail. The rabble, the “great 
unwashed.” The common expression in the 
16th and 17th centuries was the rag and tag . 

Rag-time. Fast syncopated rhythm, usually 
played by coloured jazz musicians, popular in 
the first decade of the 20th century. The name 
has been perpetuated in the celebrated tune 
Alexander's Rag-time Band by Irving Berlin 
( 1912 ). 

Rgg water. Whisky {thieves* jargon). 

The Rag. The nickname of the Army and 
Navy Club ,in London, and it is said to have 
originated in the remark of a dissatisfied mem- 
ber who described the entertainment there as 
“rag and famish.” Another suggestion is that 
the “rag” is the flag. 

To chew the rag. A slang expression for 
“grousing,” complaining, or talking at length 
on one particular subject. 

Ragamuffin. A muffin is a poor thing of a 
creature, a “regular muff”; so that a raga- 
muffin is a sorry creature in rags. 

. I nave led my ragamuffins where they are peppered. 
— Henry IV Pt. I, V, iii. 

Ragged Robin. A wild flower {Lychnis floscu - 
cull). The iVord is used by Tennyson for a 
pretty damsel in ragged clothes. 

The prince 

Hath picked a ragged robin from the hedge. 

Tennyson: Idylls of the King; Enid. 

Raglan. An overcoat which has no shoulder 
seams, and the sleeves extend up to the neck. 
First worn by Lord Raglan, the British com- 
mander in the Crimean War. 

Ragman Roll. The set of documents recording 
the names of the Scottish barons who paid 
homage to Edward I on his progress through 
Scotland in 1291, now in the Public Record 
Office. The name probably arose from the 
quantity of seals hanging from it, and it still 
survives as “rigmarole” {q.v.). 

Ragnarok (r3g' na rok). The Gotterdam- 
merung, or Twilight of the Gods, in the 
old Scandinavian mythology. The day of 
doom, when the present world and all its in- 
habitants will be annihilated. Vidar of Vali 
wiU survive the conflagration, and reconstruct 
an imperishable universe. 

And, Frithiof, mayst thou sleep away 
Till Ragnarok, if such thy will. 

Fjuthiof-Saga : Frithiof' s Joy. 

Ragout (ragoo'). A seasoned dish; stewed 
meat and vegetables highly seasoned. Fr. 
ragouter {re, again; go&ter , to taste) means to 
coax a sick person's appetite. 


Rahu (ra' hd). The demon that, according to 
Hindu legend, causes eclipses. He one day 
quaffed some of the nectar of immortality, but 
was discovered by the Sun and Moon, who 
informed against him, and Vishnu cut off his 
head. As he had already taken some of the 
nectar into his mouth, the head was immortal, 
and he ever afterwards hunted the Sun and 
Moon, which he caught occasionally, causing 
eclipses. 

Rail. To sit on the rail. To hedge or to reserve 
one’s decision. A common American phrase, 
expressive of the same meaning as our “to sit 
on the fence” {q.v.). 

Railroad, Railway. The former is the American 
form of English railway. 

To railroad (U.S.A.). To hustle someone 
through (as of school) or out (as of an as- 
sembly) with unseemly haste and without 
reference to the proper formalities. 

Railway King, The. George Hudson (18Q0- 
71), chairman of the North Midland Company, 
and for a time the dictator of the railway 
speculations — known as the Railway Mania of 
1844-45. In one day he cleared the large sum of 
£100,000. Sydney Smith gave him the name. 
His business methods, however, were of ques- 
tionable honesty. He was obliged to resign his 
many chairmanships in 1854 and to take refuge 
on the Continent, where he died in compara- 
tive poverty. 

Rain. To rain cats and dogs. In northern 
mythology the cat is supposed to have great 
influence on the weather, and English sailors 
still say, “The cat has a gale of wind in her 
tail,” when she is unusually frisky. Witches 
that rode upon the storms were said to assume 
the form of cats; and the stormy north-west 
wind is called the cat's-nose in the Harz district 
even at the present day. 

The dog is a signal of wind , like the wolf, 
both of which animals were attendants of 
Odin, the storm god. In old German pictures 
the wind is figured as the “head of a dog or 
wolf,” from which blasts issue. 

So cat may be taken as a symbol of the 
down-pouring rain, and the dog of the strong 
gusts of wind accompanying a rainstorm. 

Lay by something for a rainy day. Save 
something against evil times. 

Rain Check (U.S.A.). A receipt or the 
counterfoil of a ticket entitling one to see 
another baseball game if the game for which 
the ticket was originally purchased is rained 
off. The phrase is now in general use meaning 
a promise to accept an invitation at a later 
date, e.g. when invited and one cannot accept, 
one says “I’ll take a rain-check.” 

Raining-tree or Rain-tree. Old travellers to 
the Canaries frequently mentioned a linden 
tree from which sufficient water to supply all 
the men and beasts of the whole of the island 
of Fierro was said to fall. Of course, in certain 
states of the weather moisture will condense 
and collect on the broad leaves of many trees. 

The Tamia caspia of the Eastern Peruvian 
Andes is known as the rain- tree, as also is 
Pithecolobium saman, an ornamental tropical 




Rainbow 


747 


RamiHe 


tree, one of the Mimoseap, and Brunefelsia 
pubescens , a tree whose flowers are odorous 
before rain. 

Rainbow. The old fable has it that if one 
reaches the spot where a rainbow touches the 
earth and digs there one will be sure to find a 
pot of gold. Hence visionaries, woohgatherers, 
daydreamers, are sometimes called rainbow 
chasers , because of their habit of hoping for 
impossible things. 

Rainbow Corner. In World War H Messrs. 
Lyons’ Corner House in Shaftesbury Avenue, 
London, was taken over and turned into a 
large caf 6 and lounge for American service 
men under this name. It became a general 
meeting place for Americans in London during 
the war. The name was a sentimental reference 
to the earlier Rainbow Division (< 7 . v.), plus the 
rainbow in the insignia of SHAEF (q.v.). 

Rainbow Division. The most famous and 
finest Division of the American Army sent to 
Europe in World War I. 

Raison d’etre (ra' zon datr) (Fr.). The reason 
for a thing’s existence, its rational ground for 
being; as “Once crime were abolished there 
would be no raison d'etre for the police.’' 

Rajah (ra' ja). Sanskrit for king, cognate with 
Lat. rex. The title of an Indian king or prince, 
given later to tribal chiefs and comparatively 
minor dignitaries and rulers; also to Malayan 
and Japanese chiefs. Maha-rajah means the 
“great-rajah.” 

Rake. A libertine. A contraction of rakehell, 
used by Milton and others. 

And far away amid their rakehell band. 

They speed a lady left all succourless. 

Francis Quarts. 

Rally is re-alligo, to bind together again. 
(Fr. rallier.) In Spenser it is spelt “re- 
allie” — 

Before they could new counsels re-allie. 

Faerie Queene. 

In this sense rally is also the gathering together 
of a group or party, as Scout Rally, or Nurem- 
burg Rally of the Nazis. 

A rally in lawn-tennis, badminton, etc., is a 
rapid return of strokes. To rally, meaning to 
banter or chaff, is not connected with this word, 
but from Fr. railler , to deride; our raillery is 
really the same word. 

Ralph or Ralpho. The squire of Hudibras (q.v.). 
The model was Isaac Robinson, a zealous 
butcher in Moorfields, always contriving some 
queer art of church government. He represents 
the Independent party, and Hudibras the Pres- 
byterian. 

The name is made to rhyme with either safe. 
A if, or half 


The Ram feast. Formerly held on May morn- 
ing at Holne, Dartmoor, when a ram was run 
down in the “Ploy Field” and roasted whole, 
with its skin and fur, close by a granite pillar* 
At midday a scramble took place for a slice, 
which was supposed to bring luck to those who 
got it. 

The Ram and Teazle. A public-house sign, in 
compliment to the Clothiers’ Company. The 
ram with the golden fleece is emblematical of 
wool, and the teazle is used for raising the nap 
of wool spun and woven into cloth. 

The ram of the Zodiac. This is the femous 
Chrysomallion, whose golden fleece was stolen 
by Jason in his Argonautic expedition. It was 
transposed to the stars, and made the first sign 
of the Zodiac. 

Rama (ra' ma). The seventh incarnation of 
Vishnu (see Avatar). Rama performed many 
wonderful exploits, such as killing giants, 
demons, and other monsters. He won Sita to 
wife because he was able to bend the bow of 
Siva. 

Ramachaqdra. See Avatar. 

Ramadan (r&nT & d&n). The ninth month of the 
Mohammedan year, and the Mussulman’s 
Lent or Holy Month (also transliterated 
Ramazan). 

As the Moslem year is calculated on the system of 
twelve lunar months, Ramazan is liable at times to fall 
in the hot weather, when abstinence from drinking as 
well as from food is an extremely uncomfortable and 
inconvenient obligation, What wonder, then, that the 
end of the fast is awaited with feverish impatience ?*— 
H. M. Batson: Commentary on Fitzgerald's % i Omar * % 
st. xc. 

Rama-Yana (ra' ma ya' na) (i.e. the d$eds of* 
Rama). The history of Rama, the great epic 
poem of ancient India, ranking with the 
Mahabharata (4.V.), and almost with the Iliad. 
It is ascribed to the poet Valmiki, and, as now 
known, consists of 24,000 stanzas in seven 
books. 

Rambouillet, Hdtel de (ram bwe' y&). The 
house in Paris where, about 1615, the Marquise 
de Rambouillet, disgusted with the immoral 
and puerile tone of the time, founded the salon 
out of which grew the Acad£mie Franchise. 
Mme de S 6 vigne, peseartes, Riohelieu, 
Bossuet, and La Rochefoucauld were among 
the members. They had a language of their 
own, calling common things by uncommon 
names, and so on; the women were known as 
Les precieuses and the men as ^sprits (Iqw$. 
Preciosity, pedantry, and affectation led to;|ne 
disruption of the coterie which, after having 
performed a good and lasting service, was 
finally demolished by the satire of Moltere’s 
Les precieuses ridicules (1659) and Les femmes 
savantes (1672). 


Ralph Roister Doister. The title of the earliest 
English comedy; so called from the chief 
character. Written by Nicholas Udall about 
1533 for performance by the boys at Eton, 
where he was then headmaster. 


Ram. Formerly, the usual prize at wrestling 
matches. Thus Chaucer says of his Miller, “At 
wrastlynge he wolde ’here* awey the ram, 
(Canterbury Tales: Prologue , 548.) 


Rambunctious (rflm btingk' shus). Slang term 

for tiresomely ferocious. 

Ramilie, RamilUes (rdm' { li). A name given to 
certain articles of dress in commemoration of 
the Duke of Marlborough’s victory over the 
French at Ramlllies in 1706. The Ramiltfe$ 
Hat was the cocked hat worn between 1714*40. 
with the brim turned up in three equal-sized 
cocks. The Ramiilies wig, that lasted on until 




Raminagobris 


748 


Raphael 


after 1760, had a long, gradually diminishing 
lait, called the Ramillies plait, with a large 
ow at the top and a smaller one at the bottom. 

Raminagobris (r&m in & go' bris). Rabelais 
t Pantagruel III, xxi) under this name satirizes 
Guillaume Cretin, a poet in the reigns of 
Charles VIII, Louis XII, and Francois I. 

In La Fontaine’s fables the name is given to 
the great cat chosen as judge between the 
weasel and the rabbit. 

Rampage. On the rampage. Acting in a 
violently excited or angry manner. The word 
was originally Scottish, and is probably con- 
nected with ramp , to storm and rage. 

Rampallion (r&m p&l' yon). A term of con- 
tempt; probably a “portmanteau word” of 
ramp and rapscallion ; in Davenport’s A New 
Trick to Cheat the Devil (1639) we have: “And 
bold rampallion-like, swear and drink drunk.” 

Away, you scullion! you rampallion! you fusti- 
larian! I’ll tickle your catastrophe . — Henry IV Pt. II, 

Rampant. The heraldic term for an animal, 
especially a lion, shown rearing up with the 
fore paws in the air; strictly, a lion rampant 
should stand on the sinster hind-leg, with both 
fore-legs elevated, and the head in profile. 

Ranch (ranch). A very extensive cattle farm in 
North America, where large herds are main- 
tained entirely on pasturage. The word is also 
applied to the buildings connected with the 
ranch where the owner and cowboys live. 

Dude ranch. A ranch run as a resort, where 
city-dwellers can spend their holidays attempt- 
ing to be cowboys. 

Randan. On the randan. On the spree; having a 
high old time in town. There was a popular 
m^sic-hall song in the ’nineties of last century 
in which the exploits of the “randy-dandy 
boys” out on the spree were related. 
Randem-tandem. Three horses driven tandem 
fashion. See Tandem. 

Ranee or Rani. A Hindu queen; the feminine 
of Rajah (?.v.). 

Ranelagh (r&n' e 1£). An old London place of 
amusement on the site that now forms part of 
the grounds of Chelsea Hospital. It was named 
after Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh, who 
built a house and laid out gardens here in 1690. 
From 1742 to 1803 Ranelagh rivalled Vauxhall 
Gardens for concerts, masquerades, etc. A 
notable feature was the Rotunda, built in 1742. 
l|^s not unlike the Albert Hall in design, and 
was*. 185 ft. across with numerous boxes in 
which refreshments were served, while the 
brightly lit floor formed a thronged promenade. 
The Ranelagh Club was established in 1894 in 
Barns Elm Park, S.W., to provide facilities for 
polo, tennis, golf, etc. 

Range (U.S.A.). Open grazing ground in the 
Far West. 

Rangers. Picked men in the U.S. Army who 
worked with British Commandos. They were 
named after Rogers’s Rangers, a body of 
colonial Indian fighters organized by Major 
Robert Rogers. Their first appearance was at 
the Dieppe raid in 1942 on which a small party 
went as armed observers. 


Rank. A row, a line (especially of soldiers); 
also high station, dignity, eminence, as — 

The rank is but the guinea’s stamp. 

The man’s the gowd, for a’ that! 

Burns: Is there for Honest Poverty? 

Rank and fashion. People of high social 
standing; the “Upper Ten. 

Rank and file. See File. 

Risen from the ranks. Said of a com- 
missioned officer in the army who formerly 
worked his way up from private soldier — from 
the ranks. Often called a ranker. Hence applied 
to a self-made man in any walk of life. 

Ransom. In origin the same word as redemption , 
from Lat. redemptionem , through O.Fr. ranpon , 
earlier redempfon. 

A king’s ransom. A large sum of money. 

Rantipole (ran' ti pol). A harum-scarum fellow, 
a madcap (Dut. randten , to be in a state of 
idiocy, and perhaps poll, a head or person). 
Napoleon III was called Rantipole , for his 
escapades at Strasbourg and Boulogne. 

Ranz des vaches (ranz de vash). Simple melodies 
played by the Swiss mountaineers on their Alp- 
horn when they drive their herds to pasture, or 
call them home. Des vaches means “of the 
cows”; the meaning of ranz is not so cer- 
tain, but it is thought to be a dialectal variation 
of ranger , the call being made pour ranger les 
vaches , to bring the cows home. 

Rap. Not worth a rap. Worth nothing at all. The 
rap was a base halfpenny, intrinsically worth 
about half a farthing, circulated in Ireland in 
1721, because small coin was so very scarce. 

Many counterfeits passed about under the name of 
raps. — Swift: D rapier's Letters. 

Why the coin was so called is not known. 

Rape. One of the six divisions into which 
Sussex is divided; it is said that each has its own 
river, forest, and castle. Herepp is Norwegian 
for a parish district, and rape in Doomsday 
Book is used for a district under military juris- 
diction, but connexion between the two words 
is doubtful. 

Rape of the Lock. Lord Petre, in a thought- 
less moment of frolic gallantry, cut off a lock 
of Arabella Fermor’s hair, and this liberty 
gave rise to the bitter feud between the 
two families which Alexander Pope worked 
up into the best heroic-comic poem of the 
language. The first sketch was published in 
1712 in two cantos, and the complete work, in- 
cluding the most happily conceived machinery 
of sylphs and gnomes, in five cantos in 1714. 
Pope, under the name of Esdras Barnevelt, 
apothecary, later pretended that the poem was 
a covert satire on Queen Anne and the Barrier 
Treaty. 

Say, what strange motive, goddess, could compel 

A well-bred lord to assault a gentle belle; 

O say, what stranger cause, yet unexplored, 

Could make a gentle belle reject a lord. 

Introduction to the Poem. 

Raphael (r&f al). One of the principal angels of 
Jewish angelology. In the book of Tobit we are 
told how he travelled with Tobias into Media 
and back again, instructing him on the way 
how to marry Sara and to drive away the 
wicked spirit. Milton calls him the “sociable 




Raphaelesque 


749 


Rat-killer 


spirit,” and the ‘^affable archangel” (. Paradise 
Lost , VII, 40), and it was he who was sent by 
God to advertise Adam of his danger. 

Raphael, the sociable spirit, hath designed 

To travel with Tobias, and secured 

His marriage with the seven-times-wedded maid. 

Paradise Lost , V, 221-3. 

Raphael is usually distinguished in art by a 
ilgrim’s staff, or carrying a fish, in allusion to 
is aiding Tobias to capture the fish which per- 
formed the miraculous cure of his father’s eye- 
sight. 

Raphaelesque. In the style of the great Italian 
painter Raphael (1483-1520), who was specially 
notable for his supreme excellence in the 
equable development of all the essential 
qualities of art — composition, expression, de- 
sign, and colouring. 

Raphael’s cartoons. See Cartoon. 

Rapparee (nip' a re'). A wild Irish plunderer; 
so called from his being armed with a rapaire , 
or half-pike. 

Rappee. A coarse kind of snuff, manu- 
factured from dried tobacco by an instrument 
called in French a rape , or rasp; so called 
because it is rape , rasped. 

Rara avis (rar' a a' vis) (Lat. a rare bird). A 
phenomenon; a prodigy; a something auite 
out of the common course. First applied by 
Juvenal to the black swan, which, since its dis- 
covery in Australia, is quite familiar to us, but 
was unknown before. 

Rara avis in terris nigroque simillima cygnc (a bird 
rarely seen on the earth, and very like a black swan). — 
Juvenal , vi, 165. 

Rare (U.S.A.). Underdone, as of a steak; or 
lightly cooked, as of an egg. 

Rare Ben. The inscription on the tomb of 
Ben Jonson, the dramatist (1573-1637), in the 
north nave aisle of Westminster Abbey, “O rare 
Ben Jonson,” was, says Aubrey, “done at the 
charge of Jack Young (afterwards knighted), 
who, walking there when the grave was cover- 
ing, gave the fellow eighteenpence to cut it.” 

Raree Show. A peep-show; a show carried 
about in a box. In the 17th century, when this 
word appears in England, most of the travel- 
ling showmen were Savoyards, and this repre- 
sents their attempt at English pronunciation. 

Rascal. Originally a collective term for the 
rabble of an army, the commonalty, the mob, 
this word was early (14th century) adopted as a 
term of the chase, and for long almost ex- 
clusively denoted the lean, worthless deer of a 
herd. In the late 16th century it was retrans- 
ferred to people, and so to its present meaning, 
a mean rogue, a scamp, a base fellow. Shake- 
speare says, “Horns! the noblest deer hath 
them as huge as the rascal”; Palsgrave calls a 
starveling animal, like the lean kine of Pharaoh, 
“a rascal! refus beest” (1530). The French have 
racaille (riff-raff). 

Come, you thin thing; come, you rascal . — Henry 
IV Pt. //, V, iv. 

Rascal counters. Pitiful £ s. d., “filthy lucre.” 
Brutus calls money paltry compared with 
friendship, etc. 


When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous 
To lock such rascal counters from his friends. 

Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts, 

Dash him to pieces. 

Julius Cctsar, IV, v. 

Raspberry, To give a. A 20th-century slang 
expression, used on both sides of the Atlantic, 
for showing contempt of someone. In action, 
to give a raspberry is to put one’s tongue be- 
tween the closed lips and expel air forcibly with 
a resulting rude noise. It is otherwise known as 
the Bronx cheer . 

Rasselas (rSs' e las). Prince of Abyssinia, in Dr. 
Johnson’s philosophical romance of that name 
(1759). He leaves a secluded “Happy Valley,” 
shut off from all contact with the world or with 
evil, and his adventures in the world outside 
teach him that the virtuous man is not neces- 
sarily a happy one. 

Rat. The Egyptians and Phrygians deified rats. 
The people of Bassora and Cambay to the 
present time forbid their destruction. In Egypt 
the rat symbolized utter destruction, and also 
wise judgment, the latter because rats always 
choose the best bread. 

Pliny tells us (vni, lvii) that the Romans 
drew presages from these animals, and to see a 
white rat foreboded good fortune. The bucklers 
at Lanuvium being gnawed by rats presaged 
ill-fortune, and the battle of the Marses, 
fought soon after, confirmed this superstition. 

As wet as, or like a drowned rat. Soaking 
wet; looking exceedingly dejected. 

I smell a rat. I perceive there is something 
concealed which is mischievous. The allusion 
is to a cat smelling a rat, while unable to see it. 

Irish rats rhymed to death. It was onos a 
prevalent opinion that rats in pasturage&coukF* 
be extirpated by anathematizing thenv4 n 
rhyming verse or by metrical charms. This 
notion is frequently alluded to by ancient 
authors. Thus, Ben Jonsoft says: “Rhyme them 
to death, as they do Irish rats” t Poetaster ); Sir 
Philip Sidney says: “Though I will not wish 
unto you ... to be rimed to death, as is said to 
be done in Ireland” ( Defence of Poesie ); and 
Shakespeare makes Rosalind say: “I was never 
so be-rhymed since ... I was an Irish rat,” 
alluding to the Pythagorean doctrine of the 
transmigration of souls (As You Like It , III, ii). 

Rats! An exclamation of incredulity, wonder, 
surprise, etc. 

Rat, {Pat, and Dog. 

The Rat, the Cat, and Lovell the Dog, 

Rule all England under the Hog. -wm 

The Rat , /.e. Rat-cliff; the Cat , i.e. Cat-eSoy; 
and Lovell the Dog , is Francis, Viscount Lovell, 
the king’s “spaniel.” The Hog or boar was the 
crest of Richard III. William Collingham, the 
author of this rhyme, was put to death for his 
pregnant wit. 

Rat-killer. Apollo received this derogatory 
soubriquet from the following incident: — 
Crinis. one of his priests, having neglected his 
official duties, Apollo sent against him a swarm 
of rats; but the priest, seeing the invaders 
coming, repented and obtained forgiveness of 
the god, who annihilated the swarms which he 
had sent with his far-darting arrows. 



Rat 


750 


Read 


To rat. To forsake a losing side for the 
stronger party, as rats are said to forsake un- 
seaworthy ships. One who deserts his party, as 
a “blackleg” during a strike, is sometimes 
called a rat. * 

Averting . . . 

The cup of sorrow from their lips, 

And fly like rats from sinking snips. 

Swift: Epistle to Mr. Nugent. 

To take a rat by the tail. French colloquialism 
(Prendre un rat par la queue) for to cut a purse. 
The phrase dates back to the age of Louis 
XIII. A cutpurse would cut the purse at the 
string, or else he would spill the contents. 

Ratisbon, Interim of. See Augsburg. 

Rattening. Destroying or taking away a work- 
man’s tools, or otherwise incapacitating him 
from doing work, with the object of forcing 
him to join a trade union or to obey its rules. 
The term used to be common in Yorkshire, 
but is not heard much nowadays. 

Rattler. The term for a train, usually a local one 
made up of old rolling-stock, which has long 
been used both in Australia and the U.S.A. 

Raven. A bird of ill omen; fabled to forebode 
death and bring infection and bad luck 
generally. The former notion arises from its 
following an army under the expectation of 
finding dead bodies to raven on; the latter 
notion is a mere offshoot of the former, seeing 
pestilence kills as fast as the sword. 

The boding raven on her cottage sat. 

And with hoarse croakings warned us of our fete. 

Gay: Pastorals ; The Dirge. 

Jovianus Pontanus relates two skirmishes 
between ravens and kites near Beneventum, 
which prognosticated a great battle, and 
^iefetas speaks of a skirmish between crows 
and ravens its presaging the irruption of the 
Sgyfhians into Thrace. Cicero was forewarned 
oi his death by the fluttering of ravens, and 
Macaulay relates the legend that a raven en- 
tered the chamber of the great orator the very 
day of his murder and pulled the clothes off his 
bed. Like many other birds, ravens indicate by 
their cries the approach of foul weather, but 
"it is ful unleful to beleve that God sheweth His 
prevy counsayle to crowes, as Isidore sayth.” 

Of inspired birds ravens are accounted the most 
prophetical. Accordingly, in the language of that dis- 
trict, “to have the foresight of a raven” is to this day 
a proverbial expression. — Macaulay: History of St. 
Kilda , p. 174. 

When a flock of ravens forsakes the woods 
we may look for famine and mortality, be- 

S e 4l ravens bear the characters of Saturn, 
luthor of these calamities, and have a very 
j perception of the bad disposition of that 
jriariet.” See Athenian Oracle , Supplement, p. 

As if the great god Jupiter had nothing else to doe 
but to dryve about jacke-dawes and ravens. — C ar- 
NEADES. 

According to Roman legend ravens were 
once as white as swans and not inferior in size; 
but one day a raven told Apollo that Coronis, 
a Thessalian nymph whom he passionately 
loved, was faithless. The god shot the nymph 
with his dart: but, hating the tell-tale bird— 
He blacked the raven o'er, 

And bid him prate in his white plumes no more. 
Addison: Translation of Ovid , Bk. n. 


In Christian art the ravlln is an emblem of 
God’s Providence, in allusion to the ravens 
which fed Elijah. St. Oswald holds in his hand 
a raven with a ring in its mouth; St. Benedict 
has a raven at his feet; St. Paul the Hermit is 
drawn with a raven bringing him a loaf of 
bread, etc. 

The fatal raven, consecrated to Odin, the 
Danish war god, was the emblem on the 
Danish standard, Landeyda (the desolation of 
the country), and was said to have been woven 
and embroidered in one noontide by the 
daughters of Regner Lodbrok, son of Sigurd, 
that dauntless warrior who chanted his death- 
song (the Krakamal) while being stung to death 
in a horrible pit filled with deadly serpents. If 
the Danish arms were destined to defeat, the 
raven hung his wings; if victory was to attend 
them, he stood erect and soaring, as if inviting 
the warriors to follow. 

The Danish raven, lured by annual prey, 

Hung o’er the land incessant. 

Thomson: Liberty , Pt. IV. 

The two ravens that sit on the shoulders of 
Odin are called Huginn and Muninn ( Mind 
and Memory.) , , 

Ravenstone (Ger. Rabenstein). The old stone 
gibbet of Germany; so called from the ravens 
which are wont to perch on it. 

Do you think 

I’ll honour you so much as save your throat 

From the Ravenstone, by choking you myself? 

Byron: Werner , II, ii. 

Raw. Johnny Raw. A raw recruit; a “new 
chum,” greenhorn. 

To touch one on the raw. To mention some- 
thing that makes a person wince, like touching 
a horse on a raw place in currying him. 

Rawhead and Blood-Bones. A bogy at one 
time the terror of children. 

Servants awe children and keep them in subjection 
by telling them of Rawhead and Bloodybones. — 
Locke. 

Razee. An old naval term for a ship of war cut 
down (or razed) to a smaller size, as a seventy- 
four reduced to a frigate. 

Razor. To cut blocks with a razor. See Cut. 

Razzia (rat' zi &). An incursion made by the 
military into an enemy’s country for the pur- 
pose of carrying off cattle or slaves, or for 
enforcing tribute. It is the French form of an 
Arabic word, and is usually employed in con- 
nexion with Algerian and North African 
affairs. 

Razzle-dazzle. A boisterous spree, a jollifica- 
tion. 

On the razzle-dazzle. On the spree; on art 
hilarious drunken frolic. 

Re (re) (Lat.). Respecting; in reference to; as, 
“re Brown,” in reference to the case of Brown. 

Reach of a river. The part which lies between 
two points or bends; so called because it 
reaches from point to point. 

When he drew near them he would turn from each, 

And loudly whistle till he passed the Reach. 

Crabbe: Borough . 

Read. To read between the lines. See LfrJE. 



Read 


751 


Recessional 


; 

To read oneself In. Said of a clergyman on 
entering upon a new incumbency, because one 
of his first duties is to give a public reading of 
the Thirty-nine Articles in the church to which 
he has just been appointed, and to make the 
Declaration of Assent. 

Reader. The designation of certain lecturers 
at many of the Universities, as the Reader in 
Roman Law (Durham), the Reader in Phonetics 
(London). In the Inns of Court, one who reads 
lectures in law. In printing, one who reads and 
corrects proof-sheets before publication. In a 
publisher’s office, one who reads and reports 
on manuscripts submitted for publication. 

Ready. An elliptical expression for ready 
money. Goldsmith says, AEs in presenti per - 
fectum format (“Ready-money makes a man 
perfect’ 1 ). ( Eton Latin Grammar .) 

Lord Strut was not very flush in the “ready.” — D r. 
Arbuthnot. 

Ready-to-Halt, A pilgrim in Pt. II of Bun- 
yan’s Pilgrim's Progress who journeyed on 
crutches. He joined the party under the charge 
of Mr. Gredtneart, but “when he was sent for” 
he threw awaytfis crutches, and, lo ! a chariot 
bore him to the Celestial City. 

Real Presence. The doctrine that Christ Him- 
self is present in the bread and wine of the 
Eucharist after consecration. In the Church of 
England “real” implies that — 

The Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the 
Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. 
— ( Thirty-nine Articles : No. 28.) 

In the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Churches 
“real” implies that the actual Body is present — 
in the former case by transubstantiation, and 
in the latter by consubstantiation. 

Realism. A form of philosophy which, for 
example, gathered a school of eminent French 
writers at the end of the 19th century. The 
leaders were Zola and Maupassant, and their 
aim was to describe life as it is and not as 
people like to think that it is or should be. The 
brutality and outspokenness of their writings 
led to an outcry; Anatole France, for example, 
described Zola’s great novel La Terre as “a 
heap of ordure.” 

Ream (ultimately from Arab, rizmah , a bundle). 

A ream of paper, unless otherwise specified, 
contains 480 sheets; a “perfect” ream for 
printing papers contains 516 sheets; a ream of 
envelope paper contains 504 sheets, and of 
news, 500 sheets. 

An “insides” ream contains 480 sheets, all 
“insides,” i.e. 20 good or inside quires of 24 
sheets; a “mill” ream contains 480 sheets, and 
consists of 18 “good” or “insides” quires of 24 
sheets each, and 2 “outsides” quires of 24 
sheets each. 

Rearmouse or Reremouse. The bat (O.E. hrere - 
ww, probably the fluttcring-mouse; from 
hrere-an , to move or flutter). Of course, the 
“bat” is not a winged mouse. 

Reason. It stands to reason. It is logically mani- 
fest; this is the Latin constat ( constare , literally, 
to stand together). 

The Goddess of Reason. The central figure in 
an attempt to substitute a religion for Chris- 
tianity during the French Revolution, which 


was known as The Feast of Reason. The role 
was taken by various young women who, in 
turns, were enthroned and “worshipped” in the 
cathedral of Notre Dame. Mile Condeille, of 
the Opera, was one of the earliest of these 
“goddesses” (Nov. 10th, 1793); she wore a red 
Phrygian cap, a white frock, a blue mantle, and 
tricolour ribbons; her head was filleted with 
oak-leaves, and in her hand she carried the pike 
of Jupiter-Peuple. Others were Mme Momoro 
(wife of the printer), and the actresses Mile 
Maillard and Mile Aubray. The procession 
was attended by the municipal officers and 
national guards, while troops of ballet girls 
carried “torches of truth”; and many apostate 
clergy stripped themselves of their canonicals, 
and, wearing red nightcaps, joined in this blas- 
phemous mockery. So did Julien of Toulouse, 
a Caivinistic minister. Such Feasts of Reason 
were held in various towns of France for several 
years after. 

The woman’s reason. “I think so just because 
I do think so” ( see Two Gentlemen of Verona , 

I, ii). 

First then a woman will, or won’t, depend on’t; 

If she will do’t, she will, and there’s an end on’t. 

Aaron Hill; Epilogue to “Zara.” 
Rebecca’s Camels Bible. See Bible, Specially 

NAMED. 

Rebeccaites (re bek' a Itz). Welsh rioters in 
1843, who, led by a man in woman’s clothes, 
went about demolishing turnpike gates. The 
name was taken from Gen. xxiv, 60. When 
Rebecca left her father’s house, Laban and his 
family “blessed her,” and said, “Let thy seed 
possess the gate of those that hate them.” 
Rebellion, The Great. In English history, the , 
struggle between Parliament (thejjeople) Indfc 
the Crown, which began in the retln of Jaqcrcs 
I, broke into Civil War in 1642, and cul- 
minated in the execution of Charles I (Jan. 
30th, 1649). It is generally referred to as the 
Great Civil War. 

The revolts in favour of the Stuarts in 1715 
and 1745 (see Fifteen; Forty-five) have also 
each been called The Rebellion. 

Rebus (re' bus) (Lat. with things). A hiero- 
glyphic riddle, non verbis sed rebus. The origin 
of the word has, somewhat doubtfully, been 
traced to the lawyers of Paris who, during the 
carnival, used to satirize the follies of the day 
in squibs called De rebus qua geruntur (on the 
current events), and, to avoid libel actions, 
employed hieroglyphics either wholly or in 
part. j*u 

In heraldry the name is given to punning 
devices on a coat of arms suggesting the name 
of the family to whom it belongs; as the broken 
spear on the shield of Nicholas Breakspear 
(Pope Adrian IV). 

Recessional. The music or words, or both 
accompanying the procession of clergy and 
choir when they retire after a service. The term 
is often associated with Rudyard Kipling’s 
well-known verses (1897) beginning: 

God of our fathers, known of old — 

Lord of our far-flung battle-line — 

Beneath whose awftil Hand we hold 
Dominion over palm and pine— 

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet. 

Lest we forget, lest we forget 1 


Rechabites 


752 


Redbreasts 


Rechabites (rek' & bits). Members of a teetotal 
benefit society (the Independent Order of 
Rechabites), founded in 1835, and so named 
from Rechab, who enjoined hi? family to 
abstain from wine and to dwell in tents ( Jer . 
xxxv, 6, 7). 

Recipe, Receipt, Recipe is Latin for take, and 
contracted into R. is used in doctors* pre- 
scriptions. See R. 

Reckon. I reckon, in the sense of “I guess’* was 
in use in England by the early 17th century; it 
is now almost obsolete in Britain but is still 
widely used in the U.S.A. 

Day of reckoning. Settlement day; when one 
has to pay up one’s account or fulfil one’s 
^obligation; also used of the Day of Judgment. 

Dead reckoning. See under Dead. 

Out of one’s reckoning. Having made a 
mistake — in the date, in one’s expectation, etc., 
or an error of judgment. 

To reckon without one’s host. See Host. 
Recollects. See Franciscans. 

Record, that which is recorded (originally 
“got by heart” — Lat. cor, cordis , heart); hence 
the modern meaning, the best performance or 
most striking event of its kind recorded, espe- 
cially in such phrases as to beat the record, to 
do it in record time, etc.; also the engraved disk 
on which music or words that can be audibly 
transmitted by means of a gramophone are 
recorded. 

(pourt of Record. A court whose proceedings 
are officially recorded and can be produced as 
> evidence. 

&Off the r^bord. Originally a legal term, where- 
by a judge directs that improper or irrevelant 
evidence shall be struck off the record. This 
since became commonly synonymous with in 
confidence, an unofficial expression of views. 

Recreant is one who yields (from O.Fr. re- 
croire , to yield in trial by combat); alluding to 
the judicial combats, when the person who 
wished to give in cried for mercy, and was held 
a coward and infamous. 

Rector. See Clerical Titles. 

Recusants (rek' u zants). The name given in 
English history to those who refused to attend 
services of the Church of England. At different 
^jmes heavy fines and even imprisonment have 
attached to recusancy. The name was com- 
monly used of Roman Catholics. 

Red. One of the primary colours (q.v.); in 
heraldry said to signify magnanimity and forti- 
tude; in ecclesiastical use worn at certain 
seasons; and in popular folklore the colour 
of magic. 

Red Is the colour of magic in every country, and has 
been so from the very earliest times. The caps of 
fairies and musicians are well-nigh always red. — 
Yeats: Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry , 

X«- 

Nowadays it is more often symbolical of 
anarchy and revolution — “Red ruin, and the 
breaking up of laws” (Tennyson: Guinevere , 
421). In the French Revolution the Red Repub - 


• . » 1 

licans were those extremists who never hesi- 
tated to dye their hands in blood in order to 
accomplish their political object. In Russia red 
is supposed to be the beautiful colour. Krda is 
beauty; kranie is red. This may' account for its 
adoption by the Bolsheviki, but. in general, red 
is regarded as the colour of liberty. See Red 
Flag, below . 

Rea is the colour of the royal livery; and 
it is said that this colour — technically called 
“pink” (q.v.) — was adopted by huntsmen 
because fox-hunting was declared a royal sport 
by Henry II. 

In the old ballads W was frequently applied 
to gold (“the gude red gowd”), and this use 
still survives in thieves’ cant, a gold watch 
being a red kettle , and the chain a red tackle . 
One of the names given by the alchemists to 
the Philosophers’ Stone (q.v.) was the red tinc- 
ture, because, with its help, they hoped to 
transmute the base metals to gold. 

Admiral of the Red. See Admiral. 

Red Ball Route, Express, or Highway. See 
Routes. 

Red Biddy. A noisome and highly intoxicat- 
ing concoction of which cheap port is the basis, 
much favoured by old crones in very low-class 
English life. 

Red Book. A directory relating to the court, 
the nobility, and the “Upper Ten” generally. 
The Royal Kalendar , published from 1767 to 
1893, was known by this name, as also Web- 
ster’s Royal Red Book , a similar work, first 
issued in 1847. 

The name is also given to other special works 
covered in red, as, e.g. the old Austro-Hun- 
garian Empire, the official parliamentary 
papers of which corresponded to our “Blue 
Books.” A book which gave account of 
the court expenditure in France before the 
Revolution, and an English manuscript con- 
taining the names of those who held lands per 
baroniam in the reign of Henry II, etc. 

The Red Book of Hergest. A Welsh manu- 
script of the 14th century, containing the 
Mabinogion , poems by Taliesin and Llywarch 
Hen, a history of the world from Adam to 
1320, etc. It is now the property of Jesus 
College, Oxford. 

The Red Book of the Exchequer. Liber ruber 
Scaccarii in the Record Office. It was com- 
piled in the reign of Henry III (1246), and con- 
tains the returns of the tenants in capite in 
1 166, who certify how many knights’ fees they 
hold, and the names of those who hold or held 
them; also the only known fragment of the 
Pipe Roll of Henry II, copies of the important 
Inquisition returned into the exchequer in 13 
John, and matter from the Pipe Rolls and other 
sources. It was printed in the Rolls Series 
(edited by Hubert Hall) in 1896. 

Redbreasts. The old Bow Street “runners,” 
police officers combining the duties of in- 
formers, detectives, and general agents. 

The Bow Street runners ceased out of the land soon 
after the introduction of the new police. I remember 
them very well as standing about the door of the 
office in Bow Street. They had no other uniform than 
a blue dress-coat, brass buttons . . . and a bright red 
cloth waistcoat. . . . The slang name for them was 
“Redbreasts.” — Dickens: Letters, 




Red Button 


753 


Red Laws 


Red Button. In the Chinese Empire a man- 
darin of the first class wore one of these as a 
badge of honour in his cap. Cp. Panjandrum. 

Redcap pf red cap. Colloquial and slang 
term for British military police, who wear red 
caps. 

Mother Red Cap. An old nurse “at the 
Hungerford Stairs. 

Not a red cent. No money at all; “stony- 
broke.” An Americanism; the cent used to be 
copper, but is now an alloy of copper, tin, and 
zinc. 

Redcoats. British soldiers, from the colour 
of the uniform formerly universal in line 
regiments. Cromwell’s New Model Army was 
the first to wear red coats as a uniform. Each 
regiment was distinguished by the colour of the 
facings — Blue, Green, Buff, etc., and was 
known by that name. 

Red Cpmyn. Sir John Comyn of Badenoch, 
nephew orJohn Balliol, king of Scotland, so 
called from his ruddy complexion and red 
hair, to distinguish him from his kinsman 
“Black Comyn,” who was swarthy and black- 
haired. He was stabbed by Robert Bruce ( 1 306) 
in the church of the Minorites at Dumfries, 
and afterwards dispatched by Lindesay and 
Kirkpatrick. 

The Red Crescent, Lion, Sun. The equivalent 
in non-Christian countries of the Red Cross 
(q.v.)y i.e. the military hospital service. 

Red Cross. The badge adopted by all civilized 
nations (except those who use the Red Crescent , 
etc.), in accordance with the Geneva Conven- 
tion of 1864, as that of military ambulance and 
hospital services, hospital ships, etc. It is a red 
Greek Cross on a white ground, and is also 
called the Geneva Cross. 

Hence the name of various national societies 
for the relief of the wounded and sick. 

Also, the St. George’s Cross (<y.v.), the basis 
of the Union Jack, and the old national emblem 
of England. 

The Red Cross Knight in Spenser’s Faerie 
Queene (Bk. 1) is a personification of St. 
George, the patron saint of England. He 
typifies Christian Holiness, and his adventures 
are an allegory of the Church of England. The 
Knight is sent by the Queen to destroy a 
dragon which was ravaging the kingdom of 
Una’s father. With Una he is driven into 
Wandering Wood, where they encounter 
Error, and pass the night in Hypocrisy’s cell. 
Here he is deluded by a false vision and, in 
consequence, abandons Una and goes with 
Duessa (False-faith) to the palace of Pride. He 
is persuaded by Duessa to drink of an en- 
chanted fountain, becomes paralysed, and is 
taken captive by Orgoglio, whereupon Una 
seeks Arthur’s help, and the prince goes to the 
rescue. He slays Orgoglio, and the Red Cross 
Knight is taken by Una to the house of Holi- 
ness to be healed. On leaving Holiness they 
journey onwards, and as they draw near the 
end of their quest the dragon flies at the 
knight, who has to do battle with it for three 
whole days before he succeeds in slaying it. The 
Red Cross Knight and Una are then united in 
marriage. 


Red Eye (U.S.A.). Cheap whisky. 

The Red Feathers. See Regimental Nick- 
names. 

Red Flag. The emblem of Bolshevism, Com- 
munism, and revolution generally. English 
Communists have a “battle hymn” with this 
title. The red flag was used during the French 
Revolution as the symbol of insurrection and 
terrorism, and in the Roman Empire it sig- 
nified war and a call to arms. 

Red Hackle. See Regimental Nicknames. 

Red-haired persons have for centuries had 
the reputation of being deceitful and un- 
reliable— probably owing to the tradition that 
Judas Iscariot (q.v.) had red hair. The fat of a 
dead red-haired person used to be in request 
as an ingredient for poisons ( see Middleton’s 
The W itchy V, ii) and Chapman says that 
flattery, like the plague — 

Strikes into the brain of man, 

And rageth in his entrails when he can, 

Worse than the poison of a red-hair’d man. 

Bussy d*Ambois> III, ii. 

The old rhyme says — 

With a red man rede thy rede; 

With a brown man break thy bread; 

At a pale man draw thy knife; 

From a black man keep thy wife. 

See also Hair. 

Red-handed. In the very act; as though with 
red blood of murder still on his hand. 

The Red Hand of Ulster. See Ulster. 

The Red Hat. The cardinalate. 

Red Herring. Sec Herring. 

Red Horse (U.S.A.). A man from Kentucky. 

Indian red. Red haematite (peroxide of iron), 
found abundantly in the Forest of Dean,;, 
Gloucestershire. It is of a deep, laky hue, used 
for flesh tints. Persian red, which is of a- darker 
hue with a sparkling lustre, is imported from 
the island of Ormuz in the Persian Gulf. 

The Romans obtained this pigment from the 
island of Elba. 

Red Indians. The North American Indians; 
so called because of their copper-coloured 
skin; also called Redskins and red men. 

A red-laced jacket. Old military slang for a 
flogging. 

Red-lattice phrases. Pot-house talk. A red 
lattice at the doors and windows was formerly 
the sign that an ale-house was duly licensed; 
see the page’s quip on Bardolph in Henry IV 
Pt. lly II, ii— “ *a calls me e’en now, my lord, 
through a red lattice, and I could discern fno 
part of his face from the window.” ^ 

I, I, I myself sometimes leaving the fear of God 
on the left hand . . . am fain to shuffle, to hedge and to 
lurch ; and yet you, rogue, will ensconce your rags . . . 
your red-lattice phrases . . . under the shelter of your 
honour. — Merry Wives of Windsor , II, ii. 

The Red Lara. The civil code of ancient 
Rome. Juvenal says, Per lege rubros majoram 
leges ( Satiresy xiv, 193). The civil laws, being 
written in vermilion, were called rubrica, and 
rubrica vetavit means, It is forbidden by thc^ 
civil laws. . „ , . , „ 

The praetor’s laws were inscribed in white lettew, as 
Quintilian informs us(xii, 3: "pratores edlcta sue in 
alba proponebant ”) and imperial rescripts were 
written in purple. 




tttd4ett*r day 


754 


Reed 


Red-letter day, A lucky day; a day to be 
recalled with delight. In almanacs* saints' days 
and holidays are printed in red ink, other days 
in black; and only the former have special 
services m our Prayer Book. 

<4 It'$ a great piece of luck, ma’am," said Mrs. Bel- 
field, “that you should happen to come here of a 
holiday! . , . Why, you know, ma’am, to-day is a red- 
letter day— ’’-^FanNy BxjRney : Cecilia , X, vi. 

To see the red light. To be aware of approach- 
ing disaster. The phrase comes from the rail- 
way-signal* where the red light signifies danger. 

Red Light District. That quarter of a large 
city where brothels are located, these houses 
being frequently indicated by a red light out- 
side. 

Red man. A term of the old alchemists, used 
in conjunction with "white woman" to express 
the affinity and interaction of chemicals. In the 
long list of terms that Surly scoffingly gives 
(Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist , II, iii) "your red 
matt and your white woman” are mentioned. 

The French say that a red man commands 
the elements, and wrecks off the coast of Brit- 
tany those whom he dooms to death. The 
legend affirms that he appeared to Napoleon 
and foretold his downfall. 

See also Red Indians, above. 

To paint l ha town red. See Paint. 

Red rag. Old slang for the tongue. 

Discovering in his mouth a tongue, 

He must not his palaver balk; 

So keeps it running all day long. 

And fancies his red rag can talk. 

Peter Pindar; Lord B. and his Motions. 

Al^b in the phrase Like a red rag to a bull, 
•^anything that is calculated to excite rage. 

Red, Sea. So called by the Romans ( Mare 
r»br«m) and by the Greeks, as a translation of 
the Semitic name, the reason for which is un- 
certain; also formerly called the "Sedgy Sea," 
because of the seaweed which collects there. 

To see red. To give way to excessive passion 
or anger; to be violently moved, run amok. 

Red snow. Snow reddened by the presence of 
a minute alga, Protococcus nivalis , in large 
numbers. It is not at all uncommon in arctic 
and alpine regions, where its sanguine colour 
formerly caused it to be regarded as a portent 
of evil. 

Red tape. Official formality, or rigid ad- 
herence to rules and regulations, carried to 
excessive lengths; $0 called because lawyers 
and government officials tie their papers to- 
gether with red tape. Charles Dickens is said 
to have introduced the expression; but it was 
the scorn continually poured upon this evil of 
officialdom by Carlyle that brought it into 
popular use. 

Redan (re d5n0 (Fr. redent notched or jagged 
like teeth). The simplest of fieldworks, and 
very quickly constructed. It consists of two 

* faces at an angle formed thus A» the angle, or 
salient, being towards the enemy. In the 

* Crimean War the British failure to capture 
the batteries of the Redan before Sebastopol 
<I$$4*55) cost many lives and lengthened the 
war. 


Redder. One Who tries to separate parties 
fighting, the adviser, the person who redes or 
interferes. Thus the proverb, "The redder gets 
aye the warst lick of the fray." i 
Rede (O.E. rad). Counsel, advidS; also as verb. 

To reck Ape's own rede. To be governed by 
one’s own octter judgment. 

Do not, as some ungracious pastors do, 

Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, 

Whilst, like a puffed and reckless libertine, 

Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads, 

And recks not his own rede. 

Hamlet^ I, lii. 

Ethelred II, King of England (born 968, 
reigned 978-1016) was nicknamed "the Un- 
ready" (O.E. Vnrced , "not counsel"). 

Rede Lectureships. Sir Robert Rede (d. 1519) 
Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, 
founded three public lectureships at Cam- 
bridge. These were reorganized in 1858, one to 
be delivered by a man of eminence in science or 
literature. t 

Redemptioner. An immigrant who is obliged to 
pay back his passage money out of his earnings 
after landing in the new country. 

Reductio ad absurdum. A proof of inference 
arising from the demonstration that every 
other hypothesis involves an absurdity. Thus, 
suppose I want to prove that the direct road 
from two given places is the shortest, I should 
say, "It must either be the shortest or not the 
shortest. If not the shortest, then some other 
road is the direct road; but there cannot be 
two shortest roads, therefore the direct road 
must be the shortest." 

Reduplicated or Ricochet Words. There are 
probably some hundreds of these words, which 
usually have an intensifying force, in use in 
English. The following, from ancient and 
modern sources, will give some idea of their 
variety:— chit-chat, click-clack, clitter-clatter, 
dilly-dally, ding-dong, drip-drop* fal-lal, 
fiddle-faddle, flim-flam, flip-flap, flip-flop, 
hanky-panky, harum-scarum, helter-skelter, 
heyve-keyve, higgledy-piggledy, hob-nob, 
hodge-podge, hoity-toity, hubble-bubble, 
hugger-mugger, hurly-burly, mingle-mangle, 
mish-mash, mixy-maxy, namby-pamby, niddy- 
noddy, niminy-piminy, nosy-posy, pell-mef!, 
ping-pong, pit-pat, pitter-patter, pribbles and 
prabbles, randem-tandem, randy-dandy, 
razzle-dazzle, riff-raff, roly-poly, shilly-shally, 
slip-slop, slish-slosh, tick-tack, tip-top, tittle- 
tattle, wibble-wobble, wig-wag, wiggle-waggle, 
wish-wash, wishy-washy. 

Ree. an interjection formerly used by team- 
sters when they wanted the horses to go to the 
right. "Heck!" or "Hey!” was usea for the 
contrary direction. 

Who with a hey and ree the beasts command. 

Micro Cynlcon (1599). 

Riddle me* riddle me ree. Expound my riddle 
rightly. 

Reed. A broken or braised reed. Something not 
to be trusted for support; a weak adherent. 
Egypt is called a broken reed, in which Heze- 
kiah could not trust if the Assyrians made war 
on Jerusalem: "which broken reed if a man 
leans on, it will go into his hand and pierce it” 

( see II Kings xviii, 21 ; 75. xxxvi, 6). 




Reed 


755 


Regimental Nicknames 


A reed shaken by the wind.^A person blown 
about by every wind of doctrine. John the Bap- 
tist (said Ch^st) was not a “reed shaken by the 
wind,” butfrapi the very first had a firm belief 
in the Messianship of the Son of Mary, and 
this conviction was not shaken^y fear or 
favour. See Matt, xi, 7. 

Reef. He must take in a reef or so. He must 
reduce his expenses; he must retrench. A reef 
is that part of a sail which is rolled and tied to 
reduce the area caught by the wind. 

Reefer. An Australian term for one search- 
ing for gold. In American slang it is used for a 
marijuana cigarette, otherwise known as, /.<?., 
tea or gauge , muggles , muta. In English a 
reefer is a short, double-breasted overcoat 
largely worn in the Navy. 

Reekie, Auld. A familiar name for Edinburgh. 
It is said that Durham of Largo, one of the old, 
patriarchal lairds, was in the habit of regulating 
the time of evening worship by the appearance 
of the smoke of Edinburgh. When it increased, 
in consequence of the good folk preparing 
supper, he would say, “It is time noo, bairns, 
to tak the buike and gang to our beds, for 
yonder’s Auld Reekie, I see, putting on her 
night-cap.” 

Reel. Right off the reel. Without intermission. 
A reel is a device for winding rope. A reel of 
cotton is a certain quantity wound on a bobbin. 

We’ve been travelling best part of twenty-four hours 
right off the reel.— BOLDRKWOOD : Robbery under 
Arms , ch. xxxi. 

In the cinematograph world a reel is a con- 
venient length of film for winding on one spool 
and showing at one performance. 

The Scottish dance, reel , is from Gaelic 
rig hi l or ruithil. 

Referendum. The submission of a definite 
political question to the whole electorate for a 
direct decision by the general vote. This is not 
done in Great Britain, but is a general rule in 
Switzerland. After World War 1 certain 
questions, such as the apportionment of 
Schleswig-Holstein, were submitted to a 
plebiscite among their inhabitants, which is 
not quite the same thing as a referendum, but 
is the taking of a general vote as to future 
policy. 

Refresher. An extra fee paid to a barrister in 
long cases in addition to his retaining fee, 
originally to remind him of the case entrusted 
to his charge. 

Regan (re g&n). The second of King Lear’s 
unhlial daughters, in Shakespeare’s tragedy — 
“most barbarous, most degenerate.” She was 
married to the Duke of Cornwall. 

Regatta (re g&t' a). A boat-race, or organized 
senes of boat-races; the name originally given 
to the races held between Venetian gondoliers, 
the Italian regata meaning “strife” or “con- 
tention.” 

Regency. There have been a number of 
regencies in European history, usually during 
the minority of a sovereign. In British history 
the term is usually applied to the period 1811- 
20 when George, Prince of Wales (afterwards 
George IV) acted as regent because of hts 
father’s insanity. 


In French history the word refers to the 
years from 1715 to 1723 when the Duke of 
Orleans was regent for the minor Louis XV, 

Regent’s Park (London). This park, formerly 
called Marylebone Park, covering 472 acres, 
was originally attached to a palace of Queen 
Elizabeth I, but at the beginning of the 17th 
century much of the land was let on long 
leases, which fell in early in the 19th century. 
It was laid out by the architect, John Nash 
(1752-1835) for the Prince Regent (George IV), 
and named in honour of him. 

Regicides. The name applied in English his- 
tory to those men who sat in judgment on 
Charles I, in 1649, and especially the 58 who 
signed his death warrant. After the Restora- 
tion, when some of the regicides were dead and 
others in flight, 10 were executed and 25 others 
imprisoned for life. The bodies of Cromwell, 
Ireton, Bradshaw, and Pride were disinterred, 
and after a solemn trial for treason were dis- 
membered and exhibited at Temple Bar and 
other places. 

Regimental and Divisional Nicknames. 

(In addition to the better-known ones mentioned 
in alphabetical order). 

British Army 

Assaye Regiment. The 74th Foot, 90 called because 
they first distinguished themselves in the battle of 
Assaye, where 2,000 British and 2,500 Sepoy troops 
under Wellington defeated 50,000 Mahrattas, in 1803. 
This regiment is now called The Royal Highland 
Fusiliers (Princess Margaret’s Own Glasgow and 
Ayrshire Regiment). 

Belfast Rogiment, The. The old 35th Foot, frajsed 
in Belfast in 170 1 , is now the Royal Sussex Reginfei^. 

Bingham's Dandies. Die 17th Lancers; so called 
from their colonel, the Earl of Lucan, formerly Lord 
Bingham, The uniform was noted for its admirable 
fit and smartness. Now the 17tli/2 1st Lancers. 

Black Horse. The 7th Dragoon Guards, or ‘‘the 
Princess Royal’s Dragoon Guards.’* Their “facings” 
are black. Also called “Strawboots,” “The Blacks.” 
Now the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards. 

Blayney’s Bloodhounds. The old 89th Foot; so 
called because of their unerring certainty, and un- 
tiring perseverance in hunting down the Irish rebels 
in 1798, when the corps was commanded by Lord 
Blaney. 

This regiment was later called “the Second Batta- 
lion of the Princess Victoria’s Irish Fusiliers.” The 
first battalion is the old 87th Foot. 

Bloodsuckers. The 63rd Regiment of Foot were 
nicknamed “the Bloodsuckers.” ^ 

Bloodv Eleventh. The Devonshire Regiment, llfli 
Foot, raised in 1685. At the Battle of Salamanca, 
in the Peninsular War, the regiment fought so stub- 
bornly that there was hardly a man among them who 
was not wounded, and from this exploit they got 
their name. 

Brickdusts. The 53rd Foot; so called from the 
brickdust-red colour of their facings. Also called 
“Five-and-thre' pennies” a play on the number and the 
old rate of daily pay of the ensigns or subalterns. 

Now forms part of the King’s Shropshire Light 
Infantry. 

Buckmaster’s Light Infantry. The 3rd West India 
Regiment was so called from Buckmaster, the tailor, 
who used to issue “Light Infantry uniforms” to the 
officers of the corps without any authority from the 

Commander-in-Chief. 


Regimental Nicknames 


756 


Regimental Nicknames 


Buffs. The Queen’s Own Buffs, The Royal Kent 
Regiment. They were first raised in 1572, but the 
Buffs actually date from 1664 when the regiment was 
properly constituted. They take their name from the 
colour of the equipment. They were originally called 
the Holland Regiment on account of long service in 
that country in the 17th century. 

The Ross-shire Buffs. The old 78th, now the 
Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Cameron). 

Cross-belts. The Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars, 
raised by William III, in 1693. The unit fought in 
Spain in 1710, during one fight practically destroying 
a Spanish cavalry regiment, whose cross-belts they 
removed and wore themselves. 

Desert Rats. See Desert. 

The Devil’s Own. The 88th Foot, the Connaught 
Rangers. So called by General Picton from their 
bravery in the Peninsular War, 1809-14. Also the 
Inns of Court Regiment, which wa^at one time chiefly 
recruited from among lawyers. Disbanded 1922. 

V The Die Hards. The Middlesex Regiment, the 57th 
Foot, which was raised in 1755. At the Battle of 
Albuera, May 16th, 1811, the regiment was hard 
pressed; Colonel Inglis (later General Sir William) 
who was badly wounded, refused to be taken to the 
rear, but lay where he fell, crying, “Die hard, men, 
die hard!” 

The Dirty Half-Hundred. The 50th Foot (The 
Queen’s Own), so called because during a Peninsular 
War battle the men wiped their sweaty faces with 
their black cuffs. Now the Queen’s Own Buffs, 
The Royal Kent Regiment. 

The Dirty Shirts. The 101st Foot (2nd Munster 
Fusiliers), which fought at Delhi in their shirt-sleeves 
(1857). Disbanded 1922. 

Eliott's Tailors. The 15th (King’s) Hussars. In 
1759 Lieutenant-Colonel Eliott (later Lord Heath- 
field, hero of Gibraltar) enlisted a large number of 
tailors into a cavalry regiment modelled after the 
Prussian hussars. This regiment so highly distin- 
guished themselves that George III granted them the 
honour of being called “the King’s.” Now 15/ 19th 
The King’s Royal Hussars. 

, The Fighting Fifth. The 5th Foot, now The Royal 
Northumberland Fusiliers. This sobriquet was given 
to the regiment during the Peninsular War; it was also 
known as the “Old and Bold Fifth,” and “the Duke 
of Wellington’s Body-guard.” 

Heavies, The. The heavy cavalry, especially the 
Dragoon Guards, which consisted of men of greater 
build and height than Lancers and Hussars. The 
term Heavies or Heavy Artillery was formerly applied 
to ordnance of any calibre of 6 in. and over, manned 
by gunners of the Royal Garrison Artillery. 

Hindustan Regiment. The old 76th; so called be- 
cause it first distinguished itself in Hindustan. It was 
also called the “ Seven and Sixpennies ,” from its 
number. Now The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment. 

Holy Boys, The. The Royal Norfolk Regiment, the 
9th Foot. The regimental badge was a figure of 
Britannia, and in the Peninsular War the Spaniards 
thought this was a representation of the Virgin Mary, 
hence the nickname. A detachment of the regiment 
buried Sir John Moore, at Corunna, in 1809, and in 
ftill dress all officers still wear a strip of mourning in 
his memory. Now amalgamated with The Suffolk 
and Cambridgeshire Regiment in the 1st East 
Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk). 

The Immortals. In the British Army the 76th Foot 
were called “The Immortals,” because so many were 
wounded, but not killed, in India (1788-1806). This 
regiment, with the old 33rd, now forms The Duke of 
Wellington’s Regiment. 

Kiddies, The. The Scots Guards, raised in the 
reign of Charles I. When James II attempted to over- 
awe the City of London by forming a large camp on 
Hounslow Heath, the thrfce regiments of Guards then 
in existence were present, and the Scots Guards, being 
the junior, gained this disrespectful nickname. 

Kirke's Lambs. The Queen’s Royal Surrey 


Regiment, so called from their cdlonel, Percy Kirke 
(c. 1646-91). The regiment was originally known as 
the Tangier Regiment, the badge of which was a 
Paschal Lamb, the crest of the house of Braganza, in 
compliment to Queen Catherine, to whom they were 
a guard of honour in her progress td^Lortdon. There 
was an ironical turn to the nickname as “Kirke’s 
Lambs” were notoriously a tough lot, 

Lacedemonians, The (13s e de mo' ni &nz). An 
old nickname of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light 
Infantry; because in 1777 their colonel made a long 
harangue, under heavy fire, on Spartan discipline 
and the military system of the Lacedaemonians. Now 
the Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry, See 
Red Feathers. 

Mutton Lancers. The Queen’s Royal Regiment 
(now the Queen’s Royal Surrey Regiment); raised in 
1661. The nickname comes from the regimental 
badge — the Paschal Lamb bearing a lance. 

Old and Bold. The old 14th Foot, the Prince of 
Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire. 

Old Bold. The Worcestershire Regiment, the old 
29th and 36th Foot. 

Old Bold Fifth. The Royal Northumberland 
Fusiliers, formerly the 5th Foot. 

Old Dozen. The Suffolk Regiment, formerly the 
12th Foot. Now the 1st East Anglian Regiment 
(Royal Norfolk and Suffolk). 

Old Fogs. The 87th Foot, the Royal Irish Fusiliers, 
so called from the war-cry “ Fag-an- Bealach" (Clear 
the way), pronounced Faug-a-bollaglt . 

Orange Lilies. The nickname of the old 35th Foot, 
now The Royal Sussex Regiment, raised at Belfast 
in 1701 by the Earl of Donegal. A firm supporter of 
William HI, he chose orange facings for the uniform; 
the lilies represent the white plumes given in recog- 
nition of their gallantry at Quebec in 1759, when they 
routed the Royal Roussillon French Grenadiers. 

The Oxford Blues. The Royal Horse Guards were 
so called in 1690, from the Earl of Oxford, their com- 
mander. Wellington, in one of his dispatches, 
writes: — “I have been appointed colonel of the 
Blues,” 

Pontius Pilate’s Body-guard. The 1st Foot Regi- 
ment, now called The Royal Scots (The Royal Regi- 
ment), the oldest regiment in the British Army. The 
fable is that when in the French service as Le Regi- 
ment de Douglas they had a dispute with the Picardy 
regiment about the antiquity of their respective corps. 
The Picardy officers declared they were on duty on 
the night of the Crucifixion, when the colonel of the 
Jst|Foot replied, “If we had been on guard, we should 
not have slept at our posts.” 

The Queen’s Bays. The 2nd Dragoon Guards; so 
called because they were mounted on bay horses: 
often known, “for short,” as “The Queen’s”. Now 
the 1st Queen’s Dragoon Guards. 

The Red Feathers. The Duke of Cornwall’s Light 
Infantry. They cut to pieces General Wayne’s 
brigade in the American War, and the Americans 
vowed to give them no quarter. So they mounted 
red feathers that no others might be subjected to this 
threat. Later they wore red puggarees on Indian 
service. See^also Lacedemonians. 

The Saucy Greens. The Worcestershire Regiment, 
the old 29th and 36th Foot. 

The Saucy Sixth. The Royal Warwickshire 
Fusiliers, formerly the 6th Foot. 

The Saucy Seventh. The Queen’s Own Hussars. 

Wolfe’s Own. The Loyal Regiment (North 
Lancashire), so called for their distinguished service 
under Wolfe, at Louisburg (1758) and Quebec (1759). 

American Army 

Infantry Divisions 

1st; The Red One. Name given it by the Germans, 
who saw the red “1” on their shoulder patch. Accord- 
ing to legend, the original red “1” was improvised 




Regimental Nicknames 


75.7 


Regimental Nicknames 


from the cap of an enemy soldier killed by a 1st 
Division doughboy in World War 1 when the division 
earned the right to proclaim itself the first American 
division (1918) in France, first to fire on the enemy, 
first to suffer casualties, first to take prisoners, first 
to stage a major offensive, and first to enter Germany. 

2nd: Indian Pfead. A long-forgotten truck driver 
of the division in World War I adorned the side of 
his vehicle with a handsome shield framing an Indian 
head which was adopted by the division as its shoulder 
insignia. Hence the name “Indian Division.” 

3rd: Marne or Rock of the Marne. In World War I 
because of its impregnable stand against the Ger- 
mans* last great counter-offensive. The three dia- 
gonal stripes in its insignia symbolize its participa- 
tion in three major battles in 1918. 

4th: Ivy. From its insignia. The selection of that 
design is one of the few known instances of author- 
ized military frivolity. “I-vy” is simply spelling out 
in letter form the Roman numeral for “four.” 

5th: Red Diamond. From its insignia. The Red 
Diamond was selected at the suggestion of Major 
Charles A. Meals that their insignia be the “Ace of 
Diamonds, less the Ace.” Originally there was a 
white “5” in the centre. This was removed when they 
reached France. 

6th: Sight Secin* Sixth. In World War I the divi- 
sion was in so many engagements and so many long 
marches that it got this name. 

7th: Hourglass. From insignia, a red circle bearing 
a black hourglass which is formed by a “7” resting 
on an inverted “7.” 

8th: Pathfinder. From their insignia, which is a 
golden arrow through a figure “8” pointing the way. 
Also called the “Golden Arrow Division.” 

9th: Hitler’s Nemesis. A newspaper at home 
dubbed them this. 

10th: Mountaineers. This division was given the 
task of dislodging crack German mountain troops 
from the heights of Mt. Belvedere. It was composed 
of famous American skiers, climbers, forest rangers, 
and wild life Servicemen. 

24th: Victory. The Filipinos on Leyte greeted 
them with the “V” sign. 

25th: Tropic Lightning. Activated from elements 
of the Hawaiian Division, Regular Army troops. No 
other division was so quickly in combat after it was 
formed. 

26th: Yankee. Originally composed of National 
Guard troops from the New England (Yankee) 
States. 

27th: New York. Division originally composed of 
New York State National Guard. Sometimes called 
the “Empire Division.” New York is called the 
Empire State. 

28th: Keystone. Troops from Pennsylvania, which 
is known as the “Keystone State.” 

29th: Blue and Gray. Organized in World War I 
from National Guardsmen ot New Jersey, Delaware, 
Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. 
Its shoulder patch of blue and grey, the colours of 
the rival armies in the Civil War, symbolizes unity 
of former embattled states. They are combined in a 
monad, the Korean symbol for eternal life. 

30th: Old Hickory. Composed after World War I 
from National Guardsmen of the Carolinas, Georgia, 
and Tennessee, Andrew Jackson’s old stamping 
grounds. He was known as “Old Hickory.” 

44 31st: Dixie. Originally composed of men of the 
Deep South” or “Dixie.” 

32nd: Red Arrow. On tactical maps the enemies’ 
lines are indicated in red. Their patch is a reminder, 
to those who wear it that the en$my has never stopped 
them. Another nickname, “LesTcrribles,” was given 
them by an admiring French general during World 
war I, when they earned four battle streamers and 
were first to crack the Hindenburg line. 

33rd: Illinois or Golden Cross. The division was 
originally composed mostly of Illinois troops. Their 
shoulder patch was a yellow cross on a black circle. 


The cross was an old symbol for marking govern- 
ment property and the only paint available where 
they were assembling their equipment was yellow. 
IrVas officially known as the “Prairie Division*’ be- 
cause its personnel came from the prairie states. 
It was also called the “Money Division” because of 
the large amount of buried treasure its men unearthed. 

34th: Red Bull. Its patch is a red bull’s skull on an 
olla, a Mexican water bottle. Inspired by the desert 
country of the South-west where it trained in World 
War I. 

35th : Santa Fe. So called because the ancestors of 
its personnel blazed the old Santa Fe trail. Insignia is 
the original marker used on the trail. 

36th: Texas. Personnel was from Oklahoma and 
Texas. The arrowhead of its insignia represented 
Oklahoma and the “T” was for Texas. 

37th: Buckeye. Composed of Ohio troops. Ohio 
is known as the “Buckeye State.” Insignia is that of 
the state flag. 

38th: Cyclone. Got its name in 1917 at Shelby, 
Mississippi, when the tent city in which it was bi- 
vouacked was levelled by winds. The division struck 
like a cyclone when it landed in Luzon. 

40th: Sunshine. From its insignia, which is sym- 
bolic of the Golden West sunshine. Troops were 
from California, 'Nevada, and Utah. 

41st: Jungleers. It was the first complete division 
to reach the South-west Pacific and has done more 
jungle fighting than any other American outfit. 

42nd: Rainbow. Nickname originated from the 
fact that this division was composed of military 
groups irom the District of Columbia and twenty-five 
states, representing several sections, nationalities, 
religions, and viewpoints. They blended themselves 
into one harmonious unit. A major in World War I, 
noting its various origins, said, “This division will 
stretch over the land like a rainbow.” 

43rd : Winged Victory. Received its name on Luzon. 
It is formed from the name of its commanding 
general, Maj.-Gen. Leonard F. Wing, and tho 
ultimate goal of the division. 

45th: Thunderbird. Included 1,500 American 
Indians from twenty-eight tribes. Originally the 
insignia was an old Indian symbol of the swastika, 
but when Hitler adopted it they changed the division 
insignia to another traditional Indian symbol, the 
Thunderbird. sacred bearer of unlimited happiness. 

63rd: Blood and Fire. When the division was 
activated in June 1943 following the Casablanca Con- 
ference they adopted the conference’s resolution, to 
make their enemies “bleed and burn in expiation of 
their crimes against humanity,” as their symbol. 

65th: Battle Axe. Its patch is a white halbert on a 
blue shield. The halbert, a sharp-pointed battle-axe, 
was a potent weapon of the 15th-century foot 
soldier, being suitable either for a powerful cutting 
smash or for a quick thrust. It is an emblem that 
signifies both the shock action and the speed of the 
modern infantry division. 

66th: Panther. The black panther on its shoulder 
patch symbolizes the attributes of a good infantry- 
man: ability to kill, to be aggressive, alert, stealthy^ 
cunning, agile, and strong. 

70th : Trailblaztrs. Their insignia combines an axe, 
a snowy mountain, and a green fir tree, symbols of the 
pioneers who blazed the trail to Oregon and the 
VVilliamette Valley, where most of their training was 
accomplished. 

76th: Liberty Bell. In World War I their original 
shoulder patch was a Liberty Bell. In 1919 this was 
officially changed to the present one: a shield with 
a white label, an heraldic device indicating the eldest 
son. The 76th was the first draft division from 
civilian ranks. Its present nickname is “Onaway,” 
the alert call of the Chippewa Indians in whose hunt- 
ing grounds they trained. 

77th: Statue of Liberty. Their insignia bears the 
picture of the Statue of Liberty, because most of the 
personnel in World War I were from New York City. 



Regimental Nicknames 


758 


Rehoboam 


4 


78th: Lightning. The shoulder patch originated in 
World War I because the battles of that division were 
likened by the French to a bolt of lightning, leaving 
the held blood red. p 

79th: Cross of Lorraine. Having distinguished 
Itself at Montfaucon in Lorraine, the division 
selected the Cross of Lorraine, a symbol of triumph, 
as its insignia* 

80th: Blue Ridge. Its insignia symbolizes the three 
Blue Ridge states, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West 
Virginia, from which most of its World War I per- 
sonnel were drawn. 

81st: Wild Cat. Gets its name from Wildcat Creek 
that flows through Fort Jackson, S.C. It is generally 
credited as the first to wear the shoulder patch. 

84th: Railsplitter. Primarily made up of National 
Guard units from Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana, 
the Lincoln states. They called themselves the Lin- 
coln Division. Their insignia is a red disc with a 
^ white axe which splits a rail. In World War II they 
called themselves the “Railsplitters.” The Germans 
called them the “Hatchet-men.” 

85th: Custer. The initials on its insignia “CD” 
stand for Custer Division, because they were acti- 
vated at Camp Custer, Michigan, in World War I. 

86th: Blackhawk. Its insignia is a black hawk 
wilh wings outspread superimposed on a red shield. 
On the breast of the hawk is a small red shield with 
black letters “B H” for its nickname. Its personnel 
in World War I were drawn from Illinois, Wisconsin, 
and Minnesota, the territory inhabited by Chief 
Blackhawk and his tribe. Bird symbolizes keenness, 
cunning, and tenacity. 

87th: Golden Acorn. Their patch is a green field 
with a golden acorn which symbolizes strength. 

88th: Blue Devil. Their patch is a blue four-leaf 
clover formed from two crossed Arabic numerals, 
“ 88 .” 

89th: Rolling W. The “W” on its insignia within 
a circle forms an "M" when it is inverted, the two 
letters standing for Middle West, the section of the 
country from which its personnel were drawn. The 
circle indicates speed and stability. 

90th: Tough ’Ombres. The letter “T” of its in- 
signia, standing for Texas, bisects the letter “O” 
for Oklahoma. The men of the division say it stands 
for “Tough ’Ombres.” 

91st: Powder River. The division has a war-whoop 
which comes from a World War I incident. When 
asked where they were from, they yelled, “Powder 
River — Let ’er buck.” Powder River is in Montana, 
tbe home state of the division in World War I. 

92nd: Buffalo. Insignia is a black buffalo on olive 
drab background with black border. In the days of 
hostile Indians a troop of Negroes who were on bor- 
der patrol killed buffaloes in the winter and used 
them for clothing. The Indians called them the 
“Black Buffaloes.” The men of this Negro division 
in World War I were trained at Fort Huachuca in 
this same locality. 

95th: Victory. Their oval blue patch bears a red 
numeral “9” with a white Roman numeral “V.” 
The “V” also stands for “Victory.” 

* 96th: Deadeyey Their name came from their per- 
fect marksmanship while in training. 

97th: Trident. Their insignia is a trident, white 
on a blue field. Neptune’s trident represents the 
coastal states Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire, 
*from which they came. There is a prong for each 
state. The blue represents their freshwater lakes, 
and the white their snowy mountains. 

98th: Iroquois. Its patch consists of a shield in the 
shape of the great seal of the State of New York. 
The head of the Iroquois Indian chief is in orange. 
These were the colours of the Dutch House of 
Nassau, which was responsible for the settlement of 
New Amsterdam, later New York. The five feathers 
worn by the Indian represent the Five Nations 
(Onondagas, Cayugas, Senacas, Mohawks, and Onei- 
da*) who formed the Iroquois Confederacy. The 
personnel of the division were from New York. 


99th: Checkerboard. The blue and white squares 
resembling a checkerboard were on the coat-of-arms 
of William Pitt. The home station of the division 
was Pittsburgh. 

102nd: Ozark. A large golden “O” on a field of 
blue. Within the “O” is the letter “Z,” from which 
is suspended an arc. This repnwents the word 
“Ozark.” The personnel came from the Ozark 
Mountain region. 

103rd: Cactus. A green Saguaro cactus in a blue 
base superimposed on a yellow disc was adopted by 
this Reserve division which had its headquarters in 
Denver, Colarado. Yellow disc represents the golden 
sky, while the green cactus growing in the blue sage- 
covered earth is characteristic of the South-west. 

106th: Golden Lion. Their patch represents a 
golden lion’s face on a blue background encircled 
by white and red borders. The blue represents the 
infantry, red the supporting artillery, and the lion’s 
face strength and power. 

Airborne Divisions 

13th: Blackcats. Gets its name from its flaunting 
of superstition. Its number is “13,” and it was 
reactivated on Friday the 13th. 

17th: Thunderbolt. From the surprise of their 
attacks from the air. Also called the “Golden Talon,” 
from its shoulder patch: stretching golden talons on a 
field of black, representing ability to seize; black 
suggests darkness under which many operations were 
carried out. 

82nd: All American. In World War I the division 
was composed of men from every state in the union. 
Originally an infantry division, when it was reacti- 
vated as an airborne division it retained its insignia, 
adding the word “Airborne” above. 

101st: Screaming Eagle. Its white eagle's head 
with gold beak on a black shield is based on Civil 
War tradition. The black shield recalls the “Iron 
Brigade,” one regiment of which possessed the famous 
eagle “Old Abe” which went into battle with them as 
their screaming mascot. 

Regius Professor (re' jus). One who holds in an 
English university a professorship founded by 
Henry VIII. In the universities of Scotland 
they are appointed by the Crown. 

Regnal Year is the year of a sovereign’s reign, 
running from anniversary to anniversary of 
the date of accession, e.g. regnal year I of 
Elizabeth II dating from the accession, began 
on February 6th, 1952. The regnal year is only 
used for dating Acts of Parliament. 

Regular (U.S.A.). In the early 19th century this 
meant thorough, well founded. In the 20th 
century it is more usually applied to people, 
e.g. a regular guy , a straightforward depend- 
able man. 

Regulars. All the British military forces 
serving in the army as a profession, as distinct 
from the Auxiliary Forces , viz. the Special 
Reserve (which takes the place of the old 
Militia), and the Territorial Force (i.e. Yeo- 
manry and the old Volunteers). 

Rehabilitation is a word of wide implications, 
the most general of which is, perhaps, the 
restoration to normalcy of one who has suf- 
fered in mind or body as a Jesuit of war 
wounds or strain, or who has ldst touch with 
his usual way of life for some length of time 
through mental or physical illness. 

Rehoboam (tl Citron, xiii, 7). A fanciful name 
sometimes given to a measure of claret, a 
double jeroboam (q.v.). 

1 rehoboam =*2 jeroboams or 32 pints. 

1 jeroboam **2 tappet-hens or 16 pints. 

1 tappet-hen » 2 magnums or 8 pints. 

1 magnum =«2 quarts or 4 pints. 



Reign of Terror 


Rendezvous 


75 ,? 


Charlotte Bronte— why is not known- 
applied the name to some sort of clerical hat. 

He [Mr. HelstoneJ was shor.t of stature [and wore] a 
rehoboam, or shovel hat, which he did not . . . remove. 
— Shirley , ch. i. 

Reign of Terrqr. The period in the French 
Revolution frolm March 1793 until July 1794, 
when supreme power was in the hands of the 
Committee of Public Safety, formed by the 
Jacobins and dominated by Robespierre, St. 
Just, and Couthon. In addition to supporters 
of the old regime, hundreds of revolutionaries 
themselves perished by the guillotine, drown- 
ing, or shooting, as a result of the universal 
atmosphere of suspicion, mistrust, hatred, and 
private spite. 

Reilly, To lead the life of. To live luxuriously. 
From a comic song “Is That Mr. Reilly,” by 
Pat Rooney, popular in the U.S.A. in the 
1880s. The song described what the hero 
would do if he “struck it rich.” 

Rein (connected with retain , from Lat. retinere , 
to hold back). The strap attached to the bit, 
used in guiding horses. To give the reins. To let 
go unrestrained ; to give licence. 

To take the reins. To assume the guidance of 
direction. 

Reins (Lat. renes). The kidneys, supposed by 
the Hebrews and others to be the seat of know- 
ledge, pleasure, and pain. The Psalmist says 
(xvi, 7), “My reins instruct me in the night 
season,” Solomon (Prov. xxiii, 16), “My reins 
shall rejoice when thy lips speak right things,” 
and Jeremiah says (Lam. iii, 13), God “caused 
his arrows to enter into my reins,” i.e. sent pain 
into my kidneys. 

Relic, Christian. The corpse of a saint or any 
part thereof; any part of his clothing; or any- 
thing intimately connected with him. The 
veneration of Christian relics goes back to the 
2nd century, and a vast amount of legend, 
exaggeration, and downright fiction has grown 
up around them since then. Honour may be 
paid to those relics whose genuineness is 
morally certain, but the question of their 
authenticity is one of fact, to be determined by 
the evidence, and the Church does not guaran- 
tee the genuineness of a single specific relic. 
Many famous relics are almost certainly 
spurious, but there is no need to presume 
deliberate fraud. Many of the relics in churches 
in Rome and elsewhere are in themselves 
interesting on account of their great antiquity, 
even if they are not “genuine.” 

Relief Church. A secession from the Church of 
Scotland led in 1752 by Thomas Gillespie 
(1708-74). He offered passive obedience re- 
specting the settlement of ministers. The 
*Tresbytery of Relief” was constituted in 
1761; in 1847 the sect was embodied in the 
United Presbyterian Church of Scotland. 

Religious. His Most Religious Majesty. The 
title by which the kings of England were for- 
merly addressed by the Popf. It still survives in 
the Prayer Book, in the Prayer “for the High 
Court of Parliament under our most religious 
and gracious Queen at this time assembled” 
(which was written, probably by Laud, in 
1625), and in James l's Act for a Thanksgiving 


on the Fifth of November occurs the expression 
‘most great, learned, and religious king.” 

the Middle Ages, and later, the Popes did 
not use the names of the various sovereigns, 
but addressed them by special appellations: 
thus the king of France was always addressed 
by the Vatican as “Most Christian”; the 
Emperor of Austria as “Most Apostolic”; the 
king of Spain as “Most Catholic^'; the king of 
Portugal as “Most Faithful”; the king of 
England as “Most Religious.” 

Remember! The last injunction of Charles I, on 
the scaffold, to Bishop Juxon. It has been inter- 
reted as meaning that Charles, who was at 
eart a Roman Catholic, felt that his misfor- 
tunes were a divine visitation on him for 
retaining church property confiscated by Henry 
VIII, and made a vow that if God would 
restore him to the throne he would restore this 
property to the Church. He was asking the 
Bishop to remember this vow, and to see that 
his son carried it out. Charles II, however, 
wanted all the money he could get, and the 
Church lands were never restored. 

Remigius, or Remy, St. (re mij' i us, re' mi) (438- 
533), bishop and confessor, is represented as 
carrying a vessel of holy oil, or in the act of 
anointing therewith Clovis, who kneels before 
him. When Clovis presented himself for bap- 
tism, Remy said to him, “Sigambrian, hence- 
forward burn what thou has worshipped, and 
worship what thou hast burned.” 

Remonstrants. Another name for the Ar- 
minians (<y.v.). 

Renaissance (Fr. re-birth). The term applied, 
broadly, to the movement and period of tran- 
sition between the mediaeval and modern 
worlds which, beginning with Petrarch and sub- 
sequent Italian humanists in the 14th century, 
was immensely stimulated by the fall of Con- 
stantinople (1453), resulting in the dissemina- 
tion of Greek scholarship and Byzantine art, 
the invention of printing (about the same time), 
and the discovery of America (1492). In 
England this revival first manifested itself in 
the early years of the 16th century, and affected 
principally literature and, later, architecture. 

Renard (ren' ard). Une queue de renard. A 
mockery. At one time a common practical 
joke was to fasten a fox's tail behind a person 
against whom a laugh was designed. Panurge 
(r/.v.) never refrained from attaching a fox's 
tail or the ears of a leveret behind a Master of 
Arts or Doctor of Divinity, whenever he en- 
countered them. ( Cargantua , II, kvi.) See also 
Reynard. 

C’est une petite vip£re, 

Qui n’^pargneroit pas son pdre, 

Et qui par nature ou par art 

Sea it couper la queue au renard. 

Beaucaire: LEmbarras de la Foire» 

Rendezvous. The place to which you are to 
repair, a meeting, a place of muster or calL 
Also used as a verb (Fr. rendez, betake; vous t 
yourself); e.g. “His house is a grana 
rendezvous of the Hite of Paris.” “The 
Imperial Guard was ordered to rendezvous in 
the Champs de Mars.” In British military par- 
lance usually contracted to R.V. 


Ren6 760 Revival of Letters 


Ren4 (re'na). Le.Bon Roi Ren£ (1408-80). 
Son of Louis II and father of Margaret of 
Anjou. The last minstrel monarch; a friend to 
chase and tilt, but still more so to poetry afid 
music. He gave in largesse to knights-errant 
and minstrels (so saysThiebault) more than he 
received in revenue. 

Reno Divorces. Reno is the largest city in the 
State of Nevada, where the divorce laws are 
easier than in most of the other States. Seven 
grounds for absolute divorce are recognized, 
and a residence of six weeks only is requisite to 
enable a suit to be brought. 

Rentier (ron' ti a). A French term, in course of 
being adopted into English, describing one who 
does not work but derives an income from 
shares, land, etc. 

Repenter Curls. The long ringlets of a lady’s 
hair. Repent ir is the French for pentitence, 
and les repenties are the girls doing penance 
for their misdemeanours. Mary Magdalene had 
such long hair that she wiped off her tears 
therewith from the feet of Jesus. Hence the 
association of long curls and reformed 
0 repenties ) prostitutes. 

Repertory Company. A theatrical company 
that produces a number of plays, operas, etc., 
often at successive performances, or gives, 
maybe, a week to each. 

Reply Churlish. Sir, you are no judge; your 
opinion has no weight with me. Or, to para- 
phrase Touchstone’s illustration (/Is You Like 
/r, V, iv): If I tell a courtier his beard is not well 
cut, and he disables my judgment, he gives me 
the reply churlish, which is the fifth remove 
from the lie direct, or, rather, the lie direct in 
the fifth degree. 

Reproof Valiant. Sir, allow me to tell you 
that is not the truth. This is Touchstone’s 
fourth remove from the lie direct, or, rather, 
the lie direct in the fourth degree. See Quip 
Modest; Retort Courteous. 

Republic of Letters, The. The world of litera- 
ture; authors generally and their influence. 
Goldsmith, in The Citizen of the World , No. 20 
(1760), says it “is a very common expression 
among Europeans’’; it is found in Moli£re’sLe 
Mariage Force , Sc. vi (1664). 

Republic of South Africa. See Union of South 
Africa. 

Republican Queen. Sophia Charlotte (1668- 
1705), wife qf Frederick I of Prussia, was so 
nicknamed bn account of her advanced 

F olitical views. She was the daughter of George 
of Britain, the friend of Leibniz, and a 
wom§p of remarkable culture. Charlottenburg 
was named after her. 

Requests, Court of. See Conscience, Court of. 

Requiem (re' kwi em). The first word of the 
prayer Requiem otternam dong, eis, domine , et 
lux perpetua luceat eis (Eternal rest give them, 
O Lora, and let everlasting light shine upon 
them) used as the introit of a Mass for the 
Deaa (Requiem Mass). 

Reremous. See Rearmouse. 


Reservation (U.S.A.). A tract of land set aside 
for occupation solely by Indians. 

Resolute. The Resolute Doctor. John Bacon- 
thorp (d. 1346), head of the Carmelites in 
England (1329-33) and commentator on Aris- 
totle. 

The Most Resolute Doctor. Guillaume 
Durandus de St. Pourcain (d. c. 1333), a 
French Dominican philosopher, bishop of 
Meaux (1326), and author of Commentaires sur 
Pierre Lombard (publ. 1508). 

Rcsponsions. See Smalls. 

Restoration. Term applied in British history to 
the recall to the throne, in 1660, of the royal 
family of Stuart in the person of Charles II, 
eldest son of Charles 1, who was beheaded in 
1649. After the austerity imposed on the nation 
by the Puritan regime of the Commonwealth, 
the return of the King brought about a reaction 
that flowered in the drama, literature, and life 
of the nation. In France the royal house of 
Bourbon was restored after the fall of Napoleon 
in 1815. Louis XVIII was the brother of the 
late king Louis XVI whose son, dynastically 
known as Louis XVII, never came to the 
throne or reached manhood. 

Resurrection Men. Grave-robbers, body- 
snatchers (q.v.). The term was first applied to 
the infamous Burke and Hare, of Edinburgh, 
who in 1829 were convicted of rifling graves to 
sell the bodies for dissection by doctors and 
students at the School of Medicine. They also 
murdered persons to supply bodies when occa- 
sion served. 

Retiarius (re ti ar' i us) (Lat.). A gladiator who 
made use of a net ( rete) t which he threw over 
his adversary. 

As in the thronged amphitheatre of old 
The wary Retiarius trapped his foe. 

Thomson: Castle of Indolence, canto ii. 

Retort Courteous, The. Sir, I am not of your 
opinion; I beg to differ from you; or, to use 
Touchstone’s illustration (As You Like It , V, iv), 
“If 1 said his beard was not cut well, he was in 
the mind it was.’’ The lie seven times removed; 
or rather, the lie direct in the seventh degree. 
See Quip Modest; Reply Churlish. 

Returned Letter Office. See Blind Depart- 
ment. 

Reveille (re v&l' i) (Fr. reveiller , to awaken). The 
signal by bugle or beat of drum, notifying 
soldiers that it is time to rise. 

Revenons k nos moutons. See Moutons. 

Revere, Paul (1735-1818). An American patriot 
whose ride from Charlestown, Mass., to Lex- 
ington, April 18-19, 1775, to give warning of 
the approach of British troops from Boston 
was celebrated in Longfellow’s poem. 

Reverend. An archbishop is the Most Reverend 
(Father in God); a bishop, the Right Reverend ; 
a dean, the Very Reverend ; an archdeacon, the 
Venerable ; all the other clergy, the Reverend. 

Revised Version, The. See Bible, The English. 

Revival of Letters, The. A term applied to the 
Renaissance (q.v.) in so far as the movement 




Revue 


761 


Rhymfog Slang 


reacted on literature. It really commenced 
earlier — at the close of the Dark Ages (q.v .) — 
but it received its chief impulse from the fall of 
Constantinople (1453) and the consequent dis- 
persal over Europe of Greek MSS. and Greek 
scholars. 

Revue (revfl'). A theatrical entertainment 
characterized by songs and music, dancing, and 
constant change, with a somewhat indefinite 
plot and (hence the name) usually allusions to 
current topics. 

Revue amtisesby fun, by satire of passing events, by 
gorgeous spectacle which delights the child in all of us, 
by song and dance, by glimpses of drama, by the 
agility of man and the beauty of woman, above all by 
the rapid alternation of these elements; its crowning 
virtue is variety.— A. B. Walkley: in The Times , Mar. 
22nd, 1922. 

Rexists. A Belgian political party formed by 
L6on Degrelle in 1936 advocating Fascist 
ideals and working hand in hand with the 
Nazis. It was markedly collaborationist during 
the German occupation of Belgium and was 
accordingly suppressed when the country re- 
gained its liberty. The name is an adaptation of 
“Christus Rex,” Christ the King, the watch- 
word of a Catholic Young People’s Action 
Society, founded in 1925. 

Reynard (ra' nard). A fox. Caxton’s form of the 
name in his translation (from the Dutch) of the 
Roman de Renart (see Reynard the Fox, 
below). Renart was the Old French form, from 
Ger. Reginhart , a personal name; the Dutch 
was Reynaerd or Reynaert. 

False Reynard. By this name Dryden de- 
scribes the Unitarians in his Hind and Panther. 

With greater guile 

False Reynard fed on consecrated spoil; 

The graceless beast by Athanasius first 

Was chased from Nice, then by Socinius nursed. 

Ft. 1, 51-54. 

Reynard the Fox. A mediaeval beast-epic, 
satirizing contemporary life and events, in 
which all the characters are animals. Such 
anthropomorphic epics were common in 
mediaeval France. 

The germ of the story is found in TEsop’s 
fable, The Fox and the Lion; this was built upon 
by more than one writer, but the Roman as wc 
now know it is by a Fleming named Willem , of 
the early 13th century, of which a new and 
enlarged version was written about 1380 by an 
unknown author, Caxton having made his 
translation from a late 15th-century Dutch 
version of this, which was probably by Herman 
Barkhusen. 

Reynard’s globe of glass. Reynard, in Rey- 
nard the Fox (see above), said he had sent this 
invaluable treasure to her majesty the queen as 
a present; but it never came to hand, inasmuch 
as it had no existence except in the imagination 
of the fox. It was supposed to reveal what was 
being done — no matter how far oft' — and also 
to afford information on any subject that the 
person consulting it wishe&to know. Your gift 
was like the globe of glass bf Master Reynard. 
A great promise, but no performance. 

Rhadamanthus. In Greek mythology one of the 
three judges of hell; Minos and ^Eacus being the 
other two. 


Rhapsody meant originally “songs strung to- 
gether” (Gr. rap to, to sew or string together: 
ode , a song). The term was applied to portions 
of the Iliad and Odyssey , which bards recited. 

Rheims-Douai Version, The. See Douai Bible. 

Rhetorical Question. The term in Logic for a 
question to which no considered answer is ex- 
pected or desired, the question having been 
asked to produce effect only. An example is the 
once-popular “Are we downhearted?” only 
asked to elicit the answer “No.” 

Rhino (ri' no). Slang for money; the term was 
in use as early as the 17th century. See under 
Nose, To pay through the nose. 

Some, as I know, 

Have parted with their ready rhino. 

The Seaman's Adieu (1670). 

Rhodes Scholarships. Under the will of Cecil 
Rhodes (1853-1902) scholarships at Oxford 
were endowed for foreign and overseas 
students. By subsequent rearrangement 
U.S.A. sends 32 annually (4 students from 
each of 8 regions consisting of 6 States); India 
2; 1 from each State or Province of Canada, 
Australia, and South Africa. Scholarships are 
also awarded to certain schools in New 
Zealand, Newfoundland, Rhodesia, Jamaica, 
Bermuda, Malta, and East Africa. 5 scholar- 
ships were allotted to Germany until 1914, and 

2 for the period between the wars. The scholar- 
ships are worth £400 per annum for a period of 

3 years. 

Rhodian Bully, The. The Colossus of Rhodes 

(tf.v.). 

Yet fain wouldst thou the crouching world bestride, 
Just like the Rhodian bully o’er the tide. 

Peter Pindar: The Lusiad, canto ii. 

Rhodian Law, The. The earliest system of 
marine law known to history; compiled by the 
Rhodians about 900 b.c. 

Rhopalic Verse. Verse consisting of lines in 
which each successive word has more syllables 
than the one preceding it (Gr. rhopalon , a club, 
which is much thicker at one end than at the 
other). 

Rem tibi confeci doctissime, dulcisonorum. 

Spes deus aeternae-est stationis conciliator. 

Hope ever solaces miserable individuals. 

1 2 3 4 5 

Rhyme. Neither rhyme nor reason. Fit neither 
for amusement nor instruction. An author took 
his book to Sir Thomas More, chancellor of 
Henry VIII, and asked his opinion. Sir Thomas 
told the author to turn it into rhyme. He did so, 
and submitted it again to the lord chancellor. 
“Ay! ay!” said the witty satirist, “that will do, 
that will do. ’Tis rhyme now, but before it was 
neither rhyme nor reason.” 

The lines on his pension, traditionally , 
ascribed to Spenser, are well known:—" 

I was promised on a time * 

To have reason for my rhyme; 

From that time unto this season, 

I received nor rhyme nor reason. 

Rhyming Slatfg: A kind of slang in which the 
word intended was replaced by one that 
rhymed with it, as “Charley Prescott” for 
waistcoat , “plates of meat” for feet. When the 
rhyme is a compound word the rhyming part 
is almost invariably dropped, leaving one who 



Rhyming t% death 762 Ride 


does not know somewhat in the dark. Thus 
Chivy (Chevy) Chase rhymes with “face,” by 
dropping “chase** chivy remains, and becomes 
the accepted slang word. Similarly, daisies** 
boots* thus: daisy-roots will rhyme with 
“boots,** drop the rhyme and daisy remains. 
By the same process skv is slang for pocket , the 
compound word which gave birth to it being 
“sky-rocket.” “Christmas,** a railway guard , as 
“Ask the Christmas,*’ is, of course, from 
“Christmas-card”; and “raspberry,” heart , is 
“raspberry-tart.” 

Then came a knock at the Rory o* More [door] 

Which made my raspberry beat. 

Other examples are given under their proper 
heads. 

Rhyming to death. The Irish at one time 
believed that their children and cattle could be 
“eyebitten,” that is, bewitched by an evil eye, 
and that the “eyebitter,** or witch, could “rime** 
them to death. See Rats. 

Thomas the Rhymer. A border poet and seer 
of the close of the 13th century, also called 
Thomas of Erceldoune and Thomas Learmont. 
He is the reputed author of a number ofpoems, 
including one on Tristram (which Scott be- 
lieved to be genuine), and is fabled to have pre- 
dicted the death of Alexander 111 of Scotland, 
the Battle of Bannockburn, the union of 
England and Scotland under James VI, etc. He 
must not be confused with Thomas Rymer (d. 
1713), Historiographer Royal to William 111. 

Ribbon Development. Urban extension in the 
form of a single depth of houses along roads 
radiating from the town. This extravagant and 
impractical method of development was made 
illegal under the Town and Country Planning 
Act of 1947. 

Rfbbonism. The principles, etc., of the Ribbon 
Society, a secret Roman Catholic association 
organized in Ireland about 1808. Its two main 
objects were (1) to secure fixity of tenure, called 
the tenant-right; and (2) to deter anyone from 
taking land from which a tenant has been 
ejected. The name arose from a ribbon worn as 
a badge in the buttonhole. 

Plying a person secretly with threatening 
letters in order to drive him out of the neigh- 
bourhood, or to compel him to do something 
he objects to, used to be known as the Ribbon 
dodge , because the Ribbon men sent such 
letters, often decorated with rude drawings of 
Coffins, cross-bones, or daggers, to obnoxious 
neighbours. 

Ribston Pippin. So called from Ribston, in 
Yorkshire, where the first pippins, introduced 
from Normandy about 1707, were planted. It is 
said that Sir Henry Goodriche planted three 
pips; two died, and from the third came all the 
Kibstxm apple-trees in England. 

RJcwThe custom of throwing rice after a bride 
comes from India, rice being, with the Hindus, 
an emblem of fecundity. The bridegroom 
throws three handfuls over the bride, and the 
bjride does the same over tbeiJifidegroom. Cp. 
Marriage Knot. 

Rice Christians. Converts to Christianity for 
worldly benefits, such as a supply of rice to 
Indians. Profession of Christianity born of 
lucre, not faith. 


Rice-paper. See Misnomers. 

Richard Roe. See Doe. 

Richmond. Another Richmond in the field. Said 
when another unexpected adversary turns up. 
The reference is to Shakespeare’s Richard ///, 
V, iv, where the king, speaking of Henry of 
Richmond (afterwards Henry VII), says — 

I think there be six Richmonds in the field; 

Five have I slain to-day, instead of him. 

A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse! 

Rick Mould. Fetching the rick mould is'a “flat- 
catching” trick played during the hay-harvest. 
The greenhorn is sent to borrow a rick -mould, 
with strict injunction not to drop it. Something 
very heavy is put in a sack and hoisted on his 
back ; when he has carried it carefully in the hot 
sun to the hayfield he gets well laughed at for 
his pains. 

Ricochet (rik' 6 sha). The skipping of a flung 
stone over water (“ducks ana drakes”), the 
bound of a bullet or other projectile after 
striking; hence, applied to anything repeated 
over and over again, e.g . the fabulous bird that 
had only one note. Marshal Vauban (1633- 
1707) invented a ricochet battery , the applica- 
tion of which was ricochet firing. 

Riddle. Josephus relates how Hiram, King of 
Tyre, and Solomon had once a contest in 
riddles, when Solomon won a large sum of 
money, though he subsequently lost it to 
Abdemon, one of Hiram’s subjects. 

Plutarch states that Homer died of chagrin 
because he could not solve a certain riddle. Sec 
Sphinx. 

A riddle of claret. Thirteen bottles, a mag- 
num and twelve quarts; said to be so called 
because in certain old golf clubs magistrates 
invited to the celebration dinner presented the 
club with this amount, sending it in a riddle or 
sieve. 

Riddle me, riddle me ree. See Ree. 

Ride. To ride (U.S.A.). To oppress, to pick on 
and irritate until the person becomes ex- 
asperated. 

Riding the marshes. See Bounds, Beating 
the. 

To ride abroad with St. George, but at home 
with St. Michael. Said of a henpecked braggart. 
St. George is represented as riding on a war 
charger; St. Michael on a dragon. Abroad a 
man rides, like St. George, on a horse which he 
can control and govern; but at home he has “a 
dragon” to manage, like St. Michael. 

To ride and tie. Said of a couple of travellers 
who have only one horse between them. One 
rides on ahead and then ties the horse up and 
walks on, the other taking his turn on the horse 
when he has reached it. 

To ride for a fall. To proceed with one’s busi- 
ness recklessly; usually, also desperately and 
regardless of consequences. 

To ride up Hoibom Hill. See Holborn. 

To take for a ride. Originally this meant to 
pull someone’s leg or make him the butt of a 
joke, but it has become a gangster euphemism 
for murder. The victim is induced or forced to 




Rider 


763 


Right 


enter a car with one or more companions who, 
in the course of the ride, murder him. Under 
the Nazi regime in Germany high officials, 
generals, etc. (e.g. Rommel), were requested to 
take a car ride with one or two of Hitler’s 
trusties and then given the alternative choice of 
suicide or being murdered. 

Rider. An addition to a manuscript, such as 
a codicil to a will; an additional clause tacked 
to a bill in Parliament, over-riding the preced- 
ing matter when the two come into collision; 
hence, a corollary or obvious supplement, and, 
in Euclid, etc., a subsidiary problem. 

In American Negro parlance, a rider is a 
lover. The word is found throughout Negro 
folk music as easy rider. 

Ridiculous. There is but one step from the 
sublime to the ridiculous. In his Age of Reason 
(1794), Pt. II, note, Tom Paine said, “The 
sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly 
related that it is difficult to class them 
separately. One step above the sublime makes 
the ridiculous, ana one step above the ridi- 
culous makes the sublime again." 

Napoleon, who was a great admirer of Tom 
Paine, use to say, “ Du sublime au ridicule il 
n’y a qu’un pas." 

Riding. The three administrative divisions of 
Yorkshire are so called because each forms the 
third part of the county. Old Scandinavian 
thriding; the initial th- of the old word being 
lost through amalgamation with the east , west , 
or north. The divisions of Tipperary are (and 
those of Lincolnshire formerly were) also called 
ridings. Some others of the counties have 
special names for their parts, as the lathes of 
Kent and rapes of Sussex. 

Ridotto (ri dot' 6) (Ital.). An assembly where 
the company is first entertained to music, and 
then joins in dancing. The word originally 
meant music reduced to a full score (Lat. 
reduct us). 

Rien do trop. See De trop. 

Rienzi, Cola di (re en' zi). A patriot of Rome 
who incited the people to rise against the Papal 
and Imperial governments. In May 1347, he 
was declared Tribune, but his power was 
crushed and he fled. In 1354 Pope Innocent VI 
sent him to Rome once more as a Senator, but 
while attempting to quell a riot he met his 
death. In Rienzi (1835) Bulwer Lytton tells the 
story of the Tribune. 

Riff-raff. The offscouring of society, perhaps 
the “refuse and sweepings." Raff in Swedish 
means sweepings, but the old French term rif 
et raf meant one and all, whence the phrase II 
n'a laisse ni rif ni raf (he has left nothing behind 
him). Gabriel Harvey (in Pierce's Supereroga- 
tion , 1593) speaks of “the riffe-raffe of the 
scribbling rascality." 

Riffle (U.S.A.). A small rapid, a place where the 
current of a stream flows swiftly and the water 
is disturbed. From this, probably, is evolved 
the jazz term, a riff \ which is a short, impro- 
vised musical phrase. 

Rifle. The firearm gets its name from the spiral 
rooves (Low Ger. Riffef ; Swed. re fid) in the 
ore, which give the bullet a rotatory motion. 

B.D. — ?5 


The verb, to rifle , meaning to pillage or 
plunder, is connected with this through the 
O.Fr. rifler , to graze, scratch, strip, etc. 

Rift in the Lute. A small defect which mars the 
general result. 

Unfaith in aught is want of faith in all, 

It is the little rift within the lute 

That by-and-by will make the music mute, 

And ever widening slowly silence all. 

Tennyson: Merlin and Vivien; Vivien* s Song • 

Rig. There is more than one word composed of 
these three letters, but the etymology and 
division of them are alike uncertain. In the 
sense of dressing it was originally applied to a 
ship; a ship that is thoroughly furnished with 
spars, gear, tackle, and so on is well rigged , and 
its ropes and stays are its rigging. Hence, a 
good rig out , a first-rate outfit in clothes, equip- 
ment, etc. 

In the U.S.A. before the days of motor-cars 
a rig was a carriage or private conveyance. 

The word also formerly was used of a strum- 
pet, and a lewd woman was said to be riggish. 
Also, a hoax or dodge; hence a swindle, and 
the phrase to rig the market, to raise or lower 
prices by underhand methods so that one can 
make a profit. 

To run the rig. To have a bit of fun, or in- 
dulge in practical jokes. 

He little thought when he set out 
Of running such a rig. 

Cowper: John Gilpin. 

Rigadoon. A lively dance for two people, said 
to have been invented towards the close of the 
17th century by a dancing-master of Marseilles 
named Rigadou. 

Isaac’s Rigadoon shall live as long 

As Raphael’s painting, or as Virgil’s song. 

Jenyns: Art of Dancing, canto ii. 

Right. In politics the Right is the Conservative 
party, because in the continental chambers the 
Conservatives sit on the right-hand side of the 
Speaker, the Liberals, Radicals, and Labour on 
the left. 

In one’s right mind. Sane; in a normal state 
after mental excitement. The phrase comes 
from Mark v, 15 — 

And they ... see him that was possessed with the 
devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in 
his right mind. 

It’ll all come right in the end. The cry of the 
optimist when things are going wrong. 

Miner’s right. The Australian term for a 
licence to dig for gold — a formidable looking 
document, engrossed on parchment. 

Right as a trivet. Quite right; in an excellent 
state. The trivet was originally a three-legged 
stand — a tripod — and the allusion is to its 
always standing firmly on its three legs, t, 

Right foot foremost. It is still considered un- 
lucky to enter a house, or even a room, on the 
left foot, and in ancient Rome a boy was 
stationed at the door of a mansion to caution 
visitors not to dross the threshold with their 
left foot, which would have been an ill omen. 

Right-hand man. An invaluable, or con- 
fidential, assistant; originally applied to the 
cavalryman at the right of the line, whose 
duties were of great responsibility. 


Right Honourable 


764 


Ring 


Right Honourable. A prefix to the title of 
earls, viscounts, barons, and the younger sons 
of dukes and marquesses. All privy councillors 
and some lord mayors. Lords Justices of 
Appeal, and other civic dignitaries are also 
Right Honourables. The corresponding prefix 
for a marquess is The Most Honourable , and 
for an archbishop and a duke His Grace . 
Younger sons of earls, and all sons of viscounts 
and barons are Honourables , as are justices of 
the High Court, maids of honour, and certain 
Colonial and other ministers. Members of 
Parliament when in the House are usually 
addressed as “My honourable friend,” or “the 
honourable member for So-and-so.” 

Righto! or Right ho! A colloquial form of 
cheerful assent; right you are is a similar ex- 
clamation. 

Right of way. The legal right to make use of 
a certain passage whether high road, by-road, 
or private road. Private right of way may be 
claimed by immemorial usage, special per- 
mission, or necessity; but a funeral cortege or 
bridal party having passed over a certain field 
does not give the public the right of way, as 
many suppose. 

To do one right. To be perfectly fair to him, 
to do him justice. 

King Charles, and who’ll do him right now? 

Browning: Cavalier Tunes. 

In Elizabethan literature the phrase is very 
common, and meant to answer when one’s 
health had been drunk. 

Falstaff [To Silence, who drinks a bumper]: Why, 
now you have done me right. 

Henry IV Pt. //, V, iii. 

To send one to the right about. To clear him 
off, send him packing. 

Declaration of Rights. An instrument sub- 
mitted to William and Mary and accepted by 
them (February 13th, 1689), setting forth the 
fundamental principles of the constitution. The 
chief items are: The Crown cannot levy taxes 
without the consent of Parliament, nor keep a 
standing army in times of peace; the Members 
of Parliament are free to utter their thoughts, 
and a Parliament is to be convened every year; 
elections are to be free, trial by jury to be in- 
violate, the right of petition not to be interfered 
with, and the Sovereign, who should take the 
oath against Transubstantiation, should not 
marry a Roman Catholic. 

To put things to rights. To put every article 
in its proper place. 

Rigmarie (rigma' re). An old Scottish coin of 
low value. The word originated from one of the 
“billon” coins struck in the reign of Queen 
Mary, which bore the words Reg. Maria as 
part of the legend. 

Billon is mixed metal for coinage, especially silver 
largely alloyed with copper. 

Rigmarole (rig' ma rol). A rambling, discon- 
nected account, an unending yarn. 

You never heard such a rigmarole. ... He said he 
thought he was certain he had seen somebody by the 
rick and it was Tom Bakewell who was the only man 
he knew who had a grudge against Farmer Blaize and 
if the object had been a little bigger he would not mind 
swearing to Tom and would swear to him for he was 
dead certain it was Tom only what he saw looked 
smaller and it was pitch-dark at the time . . . etc. — 
Meredith: Richard Fe verel, ch. xi. 


The word is said to be a popular corruption 
of Ragman Roll (<?.v.); it is recorded from the 
early 18th century. 

Rigol. A circle or diadem (Ital. rigolo , a little 
wheel). 

[Sleep] That from this golden rigol hath divorced 
So many English kings. 

Henry IV Pt. II, IV, iv. 

Rig-veda. See Vedas. 

Riksdag. The name of the Swedish Parliament. 

Rile. A dialect word, common in Norfolk and 
other parts, for stirring up water to make it 
muddy; hence, to excite or disturb, and hence 
the modern colloquial meaning, to vex, annoy, 
make angry. It comes from O.Fr. roillier , to 
roll or flow (of a stream). 

Rimfaxi. See Horse. 

Rimmon. The Babylonian god who presided 
over storms. Milton identifies him with one of 
the fallen angels: 

Him followed Rimmon, whose delightful seat 
Was fair Damascus, on the fertile bank 
Of Abbana and Pharphar, lucid streams. 

Paradise Lost, Bk. I, 467. 

To bow the knee to Rimmon. To palter with 
one’s conscience; to do that which one knows 
to be wrong so as to save one’s face. The 
allusion is to Naaman obtaining Elisha’s per- 
mission to worship the god when with his 
master (II Kings v, 18). 

Rinaldo. One of the great heroes of mediaeval 
romance (also called Renault of Montauban, 
Rcgnault, etc.), a paladin of Charlemagne, 
cousin of Orlando (c/.v.) y and one of the four 
sons of Aymon. He was the owner of the 
famous horse Bayardo, and is always painted 
with the characteristics of a borderer — valiant, 
ingenious, rapacious, and unscrupulous. 

In Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered Rinaldo was 
the Achilles of the Christian army, despising 
gold and power but craving renown. 

In Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso he appears as 
the son of the fourth Marquis d’Estc, Lord of 
Mount Auban or Albano, eldest son of 
Amon or Aymon, nephew of Charlemagne. He 
was the rival of his cousin Orlando, but 
Angelica detested him. 

Ring. The noun (meaning a circlet) is theO.E. 
bring ; the verb (to sound a bell, or as a bell) is 
from O.E. hringan , to clash, ring, connected 
with Lat. clangere , to clang. 

A ring worn on the forefinger is supposed to 
indicate a haughty, bold, and overbearing 
spirit; on the long finger, prudence, dignity, 
and discretion ; on the marriage finger, love and 
affection; on the little finger, a masterful spirit. 
Cp. Wedding Finger. 

The wearing of a wedding-ring by married 
women is now universal in Christian countries, 
but the custom varies greatly in detail. It 
appears to have originated in the betrothal 
rings given as secular pledges by the Romans. 
Until the end of the 16th century it was the 
custom in England to wear the wedding-ring 
on the third finger of the right hand. 

As the forefinger was held to be symbolical 
of the Holy Ghost, priests used to wear their 
ring on this in token of their spiritual office. 



Ring 


765 


Ring 


Episcopal rings, worn by cardinals, bishops 
and abbots, are of gold with a stone — cardinals 
a sapphire, bishops and abbots an amethyst — 
and are worn upon the third finger of the right 
hand. The pope wears a similar ring, usually 
with a cameo, emerald, or ruby. A plain gold 
ring is put upon the third finger of the right 
hand of a nun on her profession. 

Amongst the Romans, only senators, chief 
magistrates, and in later times knights, enjoyed 
the jus annuli aurei , the right to wear a ring of 
gold. The emperors conferred this upon whom 
they pleased, and Justinian extended the privi- 
lege to all Roman citizens. 

Rings noted in Fable and History. 

Agramant's ring. This enchanted ring was 
given by Agramant to the dwarf Brunello, 
from whom it was stolen by Bradamant and 
given to Melissa. It passed successively into the 
hands of Rogero and Angelica (who carried it 
in her mouth) ( Orlando Furioso , Bk. V). 

The ring of Amasis. A ring with the same 
story as that of Polycrates. See below. 

Core ud's ring . This magic ring was com- 
posed of six metals, and ensured the wearer 
success in any undertaking in which he chose to 
embark ( Chinese Tales ; Cor cud and his Four 
Sons). 

The Doge's ring. The doge of Venice, on 
Ascension Day, used to throw a ring into the 
sea from the ship Bucentaur (q.v.), to denote 
that the Adriatic was subject to the republic of 
Venice as a wife is subject to her husband. See 
Doge. 

The ring of Edward the Confessor. It is said 
that Edward the Confessor was once asked for 
alms by an old man, and gave him his ring. In 
time some English pilgrims went to the Holy 
Land and happened to meet the same old man, 
who told them he was John the Evangelist, and 
gave them the identical ring to take to “Saint** 
Edward. It was preserved in Westminster 
Abbey. 

The ring of Gyges. See Gyges. 

The ring of Innocent. On May 29th, 1205, 
Innocent III sent John, King of England, four 
gold rings set with precious stones, and ex- 
plained that the rotundity signifies eternity — 
remember we are passing through time into 
eternity; the number signifies the four virtues 
which make up constancy of mind — viz. 
justice, fortitude, prudence, and temperance; 
the material signifies “the wisdom from on 
high,’* which is as gold purified in the fire; the 
green emerald is emblem of “faith,” the blue 
sapphire of “hope,” the red garnet of “charity,” 
and the bright topaz of “good works.” (Rymer: 
Fa’dera, vol. I, 139.) 

Dame Liones ’ ring , given by her to Sir 
Gareth during a tournament. It ensured the 
wearer from losing blood when wounded. 

“This ring,” said Dame Liones, “increaseth my 
beauty. . . . That which is green it turns red, and that 
which is red it turns green. That which is blue it turns 
white and that which is white it turns blue. Whoever 
beareth this ring can never lose blood, however 
wounded.” — History of Prince Arthur , i, \46. 

Luned's ring Tendered the wearer invisible. 
Luned or Lynet gave it to Owain, one of King 
Arthur’s knights. 

Take this ring, and put it on thy finger, with the 
stone inside thy hand, and close thy hand upon it. As 


long as thou concealest the stone the stone will con- 
ceal thee . — Mabinogion ( Lady of the Fountain). 

The Ring of the Nibelung. See Nibelungen- 
lied. 

The ring of Ogier (q.v.) was given him by 
Morgan le Fay. It removed all infirmities, and 
restored the aged to youth again. 

Otnit's ring of invisibility belonged to Otnit, 
King of Lombardy, and was given to him by 
the queen-mother when he went to gain the 
soldan’s daughter in marriage. The stone had 
the virtue of directing the wearer the right road 
to take in travelling ( The Heldenbucli). 

Polycrates' ring was flung into the sea to pro- 
pitiate Nemesis, and was found again by the 
owner inside a fish. Cp. Kentigern. 

Reynard's wonderful ring. This ring, which 
existed only in the brain of Reynard, had a 
stone of three colours — red, white, and green. 
The red made the night as clear as the day; the 
white cured all manner of diseases; and the 
green rendered the wearer of the ring invin- 
cible ( Reynard the Fox , ch. xii). 

Solomon's ring , among other wonderful 
things, sealed up the refractory Jinni in jars, 
and cast them into the Red Sea. 

The steel ring , made by Seidel-Beckit, 
enabled the wearer to read the secrets of 
another’s heart ( Oriental Tales , The Four Talis- 
mans). 

The talking ring was given by Tartaro, the 
Basque Cyclops, to a girl whom he wished to 
marry. Immediately she put it on, it kept in- 
cessantly saying, “You there, and I here.” In 
order to get rid of the nuisance, the girl cut off 
her finger and threw it and the ring into a pond. 

This Basque legend is given in Campbell’s 
Popular Tales of the West Highlands, atid in 
Grimm’s Tales ( The Robber and his Sons). 

Ring and the Book, The. A long poem 
(20,934 lines), by Robert Browning, telling 
twelve times over, from different points of 
view, the story of a cause ceEbre of Italian 
history (1698). Guido Franceschini, a Floren- 
tine nobleman of shattered fortune, marries 
Pompilia, an heiTess, to repair his state. Pom- 
pilia is a supposititious child of Pietro, supplied 
by his wife, Violante, to prevent certain pro- 
perty going to an heir not his own. The bride 
reveals to Guido this fact, and the first trial 
occurs to settle the said property. The count 
treats his bride so brutally that she quits his 
roof under the protection of Caponsacchi, a 
young priest, and takes refuge in Rome. Guido 
follows and has them arrested; a trial ensues, 
a separation is permitted. Pompilia is sent to a 
convent and Caponsacchi is suspended for 
three years. Pompilia’s health gives way and, 
being with child, she is permitted to leave the 
convent and five with her putative parents. 
She pleads for a divorce, but, pending the suit, 
the child is born. The count, hearing thereof, 
murders Pietro, Violante, and Pompilia; but, 
being taken red-handed, is executed. 

Ring of the Fisherman. A seal ring with 
which each pope is invested at his election, and 
used only for sealing papal briefs. It is 
officially broken up at his death by the 
Chamberlain of the Roman Church. Its device 
is that of St. Peter fishing from a boat. 



Ring 


766 


Rise 


Ring posies or mottoes. 

(1) A E I (Greek for "Always"). 

(2) For ever and for aye. 

(3) In thee, my choice, I do rejoice. 

(4) Let love increase. 

(5) May God above Increase our love. 

(6) Not two but one TUI life is gone. 

(7) My heart and I, Until I die. 

(8) When this you see, Then think of me. 

(9) Love is heaven, and heaven is love. 

(10) Wedlock, ’tis said, In heaven is made. 

The Ring. A phrase used in Australia in the 
early 19th century to describe a group of the 
most hard-bitten convicts at the Norfolk 
Island penitentiary, who exercised an evil in- 
fluence over their fellows. This use of the word 
ante-dates by some 30 years its employment in 
the U.S.A. 

The Ring. Bookmakers or pugilists collec- 
tively, and the sports they represent; because 
the spectators at a prize-fight or race form a 
ring round the competitors. Specifically, The 
Ring was the hall for prize-fights in the Black- 
friars Road. 

Ringleader. The moving spirit, the chief, in 
some enterprise, especially one of a mutinous 
character; from the old phrase to lead the ring , 
the ring being a group of associated persons. 

To make a ring. To combine in order to con- 
trol the price of a given article. If the chief 
merchants of any article (say salt, flour, or 
sugar) combine, they can fix the selling price, 
and thus secure enormous profits. 

A swindle is also commonly found in auction 
rooms today, particularly at book, furniture, 
and art sales in the provinces. The dealers 
present £gree not to push up the prices of the 
goods* (offered, which are knocked down 
cheaply to one or another of the party. A fresh 
auction is then held among the ring privately, 
whereat each dealer obtains the items he most 
wants at something approaching its real value; 
the profit thus accruing is divided among the 
participating members, who then get both the 
money and the goods. For example, books 
bought at one provincial sale in Great Britain 
in 1948 for under £20,000 were resold the 
same day by the ring amongst themselves for 
£87,000. 

To make rings round one. To defeat him com- 
pletely in some sport or competition, etc.; to 
outclass him easily. 

To ring an anchor. To haul it up so that its 
ring is at the hawse-hole or cathead. 

A ring of bells. A set of bells (from three to 
twelve) for change ringing, tuned to the dia- 
tonic scale. 


Figuratively the phrase has two meanings: 

(1) to try every way of doing a thing, to “run a 
thing to death,” work it for all it’s worth, etc., 
as in — 

I have likewise seen an Hymn in Hexameters to the 
Virgin Mary which filled a whole Book tho’ it con- 
sisted but of the eight following Words: 

Tot t tibiy sunty VirgOy doteSy quoty sidera, Ccelo, 
The Poet rung the changes upon these eight several 
Words and by that Means made his Verses almost as 
numerous as the Virtues and the Stars which they 
celebrated. — Addison: Spectator , No. 60. 

(2) to swindle one over a transaction by bam- 
boozling him in changing money. For example : 
A man goes to a tavern and asks for a glass of 
beer (8d.) ; he lays a ten-shilling note on the bar 
and receives nine shillings and fourpence in 
change. “Oh!” says the man, “give me the note 
back, I have such a lot of change.” He offers 
ten shillings in silver as he is handed the note, 
but just before the barmaid takes it he puts the 
lot together and says, “There, let’s have a quid 
instead of the note and silver.” This is done, 
and, of course, the barmaid loses ten shillings 
by the transaction. 

Riot. In Common Law there are five elements 
necessary to make a tumult, or disturbance of 
the peace, a riot, viz. : — 

(1) A number of persons, three at least; (2) common 
purpose; (3) execution or conception of the common 
purpose; (4) an intent to help one another by force if 
necessary against any person who may oppose them in 
the execution of their common purpose; (5) force or 
violence not merely used in demolishing, but displayed 
in such a manner as to alarm at least one person of 
reasonable firmness and courage. 

If there are twelve persons or more present 
and they continue riotously and tumultuously 
together for one hour after the proclamation in 
the sovereign’s name ordering them to disperse 
has been read by a justice of the peace or other 
authorized person, the rioters are guilty of 
felony and can be punished by penal servitude 
for life (formerly it was a capital offence). This 
proclamation is popularly known as “reading 
the Riot Act,” for it is the opening section of 
the Riot Act of 1714 that is read on such oc- 
casions. 

To run riot. To act without restraint or con- 
trol; to act in a very disorderly way. The phrase 
was originally used of hounds which had lost 
the scent. 

Rip. He is a sad rip. A sad rake or debauchee; 
seems to be a perversion of rep , rep-robate, as 
in demirep. 

Some forlorn, worn-out old rips, broken-kneed and 
broken-winded. — Du Maurier : Peter Ibbetson , Pt.VI, 
p. 376. 


It has the true ring — has intrinsic merit; 
bears the mark of real talent. A metaphor 
taken from the custom of judging genuine 
money by its “ring” or sound. 

Ring off! The expression commonly used on 
the telephone when one has a wrong con- 
nexion or it is desired that the conversation 
should cease. 

Ringing the changes. Properly, producing 
continual changes on a set of bells without 
repetition, changes being variations — accord- 
ing to certain rules — from the regular striking 
order. 


Let her rip. Let it (an engine, etc.) go as fast 
as it can. 

Rip Van Winkle. See Winkle. 

Ripon. A cathedral city in Yorkshire. True as 
Ripon steel. Ripon used to be famous for its 
steel spurs, which were the best in the world. 
The spikes of a Ripon spur would strike 
through a shilling-piece without turning the 
point. 

Ripping. Excellent, tip-top. 

Rise. On the rise. Going up in price; becoming 
more valuable, especially of stocks and shares. 




Rise 


767 


Roaring Meg 


To get a rise. Colloquial for to have an in- 
crease in salary. 

To take a rise out of one. To raise a laugh at 
his expense, to make him a butt. Hotten says 
this is a metaphor from fly-fishing; the fish rise 
to the fly, and are caught. 

Rising in the Air. See Levitation. 

Risorgimento (ri sor ji men' td). The name 
given to the Italian movement for national 
freedom in the 19th century. It first took active 
form in 1848, the year of European revolu- 
tions. At that time the peninsula was divided 
into nine states, all — save Piedmont and the 
Papal States — under the direct or indirect in- 
fluence of Austria. Only Piedmont (the King- 
dom of Sardinia) remained unmoved by this 
revolution, but by the genius of Cavour this 
kingdom obtained the moral leadership of all 
Italian patriots and twelve years later, under 
her protection, Garibaldi delivered Sicily and 
Naples while the Piedmontese armies came 
down from the north. Only the city of Rome 
remained to the Popes and when, in 1870, 
Italian troops entered the city, the Kingdom of 
Italy under Victor Emmanuel II became a fact. 

Rivals. Originally “persons dwelling on op- 
posite sides of a river” (Lat. rivalis , a river- 
man). Oelius says there was no more fruitful 
source of contention than river-right, both 
with beasts and men, not only for the benefit 
of its waters, but also because rivers are natural 
boundaries. 

Rivers. The following are noteworthy for 
various reasons : 

Amazon. Length variously computed as 
3,300 to 3,900 miles; longest river of South 
America, largest river in the world for volume 
of water. 

Congo. About 3,000 miles; second longest 
river in Africa, and second largest in the world 
for volume of water. 

Mekong. About 2,800 miles; third largest 
for volume of water; rises in Tibet and reaches 
the sea through Cochin-China. 

Mississippi. Together with its principal 
tributary the Missouri , 4,814 miles, the longest 
river in the world. 

Murray. Together with its tributary the 
Darling (slightly longer than the Murray) 
3,300 miles; the longest river in Australia. 

Nile. About 3,500 miles; the longest river in 
Africa. 

Volga . 2,300 miles; the longest river in 
Europe. 

Yangtze-kiang. About 3,500 miles; the 
longest river in Asia. 

Riviera, The. The name given to the Mediter- 
ranean coasts of France and Italy for a dis- 
tance of about 300 miles, with its centre at 
Genoa. From west to east the principal resorts 
are: Hy£res, Cannes, Nice, Monte Carlo, 
Menton, San Remo, Bordighera, Rapallo, 
Savona, La Spezia. 

Roach. Sound as a roach. An old saying; a 
translation of the French Sain comme un 
gardon. 

To roach is to trim a horse’s mane to within 
an inch or so of the hide. The word is also 


applied in this sense to a style of cutting a 
man’s hair. 

Road. All roads lead to Rome. All efforts of 
thought converge in a common centre. As, 
from the centre of the ancient world, roads 
radiated to every part of the Empire, so any 
road, if followed to its source, must lead to the 
great capital city, Rome. 

Gentlemen of the road or knights of the road« 

Highwaymen. 

In the mountain districts of North America 
a highwayman used to be called a road agent. 
and the term is still applied to bandits who hola 
up trains, motor-cars, etc. 

On the road. Progressing towards; as. On the 
road to recovery ; said also of actors when “on 
tour,” and of commercial travellers. 

Road hog. See Hoo. 

The rule of the road — 

The rule of the road is a paradox quite, 

In riding or driving along; 

If you go to the left you are sure to go right, 

If you go to the right you go wrong. 

This is the rule in Great Britain, and Ireland. 
In all other European countries and in the 
U.S.A. traffic keeps to the right. 

To take to the road. To turn highwayman or 
become a tramp. 

Roadhouse. An inn, hotel, etc., by the road- 
side, usually at some distance outside a town, 
where parties can go out by car for meals, 
dancing, etc. 

Roads or Roadstead, as “Yarmouth Roads,” 
a place where ships can safely ride at anchor. 
Road , O.E. rad, comes from ridan, to ride. 

Roan. A reddish-brown. This word was form- 
erly said to be to be derived from Rouen, the 
town, because this was an Old French spelling 
of it (un cheval roueti) ; but there can be no 
connexion, as the Italian was rovano or roano , 
and its etymology is unknown. Rouen may 
have given its name to roan, the soft sheepskin 
leather. 

Roan Barbary. The famous charger of 
Richard II, which ate from his royal hand. 

Oh, how it yearned my heart when I beheld 
In London streets, that coronation day. 

When Bolingbroke rode on roan Barbary, 

That horse that thou so often hast bestrid. 

That horse that I so carefully have dressed. 

Richard II, V, v. 

Roar. Roarer. A broken-winded horse is so 
called from the noise it makes in breathing. 

He drives a roaring trade. He does a great 
business. 

Roaring boys. The riotous blades of Ben 
Jonson’s time, whose delight it was to annoy 
quiet folk. At one time their pranks in London 
were carried to an alarming extent. 

And bid them think on Jones amidst this glee. 

In hope to get such roaring boys as he. 

Legend of Captain Jones ( 1659 ). 

Dekker and Middleton wrote a play (1611) 
on Moll Cutpurse(tf.v.), which they called The 
Roaring Girl. 

Roaring Meg. See Meo. 


Roaring Forties 


768 


Robin Hood 


The Roaring Forties. See Forty. 

The roaring game. Curling, so called because 
the Scots when playing or watching support 
their side with noisy cheering, and because the 
stones (made of granite or whinstone and 
shaped like a Dutch cheese) roar as they tra- 
verse the ice. 

Roast. To roast a person is to banter him un- 
mercifully; also, to give him a dressing-down. 
Shakespeare, in Hamlet , speaks of roasting 
“in wrath and fire.” 

To rule the roast. To have the .chief direction; 
to be paramount. 

The phrase was common in the 15th century, 
and it is possible that roast was originally 
roost , the reference being to a cock, who 
decides which hen is to roost nearest to him; 
but it is unlikely; in Thomas Heywood’s His- 
tory of Women (c. 1630) we read of “her 
that ruled the roast in the kitchen.” 

John, Duke of Burgoyne, ruled the rost, and 
governed both King Charles . . . and his whole realme. 
—Hall: Union (1548). 

Ah, I do domineer, and rule the roast. 

Chapman: Gentleman Usher, V, i (1606). 

Geate you nowe up into your pulpittes like brag- 
ginge cocks on the rowst, flappe your winges and 
crowe out aloude. — Bp. Jewell (d. 1571). 

Rob. To rob Peter to pay Paul. To take away 
from one person in order to give to another; 
or merely to shift a debt — to pay it otY by in- 
curring another one. Fable has it that the 
phrase alludes to the fact that on December 
17th, 1540, the abbey church of St. Peter, 
Westminster, was advanced to the dignity of a 
cathedral by letters patent; but ten years later 
it was joined to the diocese of London again, 
and many of its estates appropriated to the 
repairs of St. Paul’s Cathedral. But it was a 
common saying long before this date, and had 
been used by Wyclif about 1380: — 

How should God approve that you rob Peter, and 
give this robbery to Paul in the name of Chiist? — 
Select Works , III, 174. 

The hint of the President, Viglius, to the 
Duke of Alva when he was seeking to impose 
ruinous taxation in the Netherlands (1569) was 
that — 

it was not desirable to rob St. Peter’s altar in order 
to build one to St. Paul. 

Rob Roy ( Robert the Red). Nickname of 
Robert M’Gregor (1671-1734), Scottish out- 
law and freebooter, on account of his red 
hair. He assumed the name of Campbell 
about 1716, and was protected by the Duke of 
Argyll. He may be termed the Robin Hood of 
Scotland. 

Rather beneath the middle size than above it, his 
limbs were formed upon the very strongest model that 
is consistent with agility. . . . Two points in his person 
interfered with the rules of symmetry; his shoulders 
were so broad ... as to give him the air of being too 
square in respect to his stature; and his arms, though 
round, sinewy, and strong, were so very long as to be 
rather a deformity. — Scott: Rob Roy , ch. xxiii. 

Robert. The personal name is sometimes ap- 
plied to the “man in blue,” the policeman. The 
allusion is to Sir Robert Peel — cp. Peeler, and 
Bobby. 

Highwaymen and bandits are called Robert's 
men from Robin Hood. 


King Robert of Sicily. A metrical romance 
taken from the Story of the Emperor Jovinian 
in the Gesta Romanorum , and borrowed from 
the Talmud. It finds a place in the Arabian 
Nights , the Turkish Tutinameh , the Sanskrit 
Panchatantra , and has been rechauffe by Long- 
fellow. 

Robert the Devil or Le Diable. Robert, third 
Duke of Normandy (1028-35), father of 
William the Conqueror. He supported the 
English athelings against Canute, and made the 
pilgrimage to Jerusalem; many legends grew 
up around him, and he got his name for his 
daring and cruelty. The Norman tradition is 
that his wandering ghost will not be allowed to 
rest till the Day of Judgment. He is also called 
Robert the Magnificent. 

Meyerbeer’s opera Roberto il Diavolo (1831) 
is founded on this story. The duke is depicted 
as a libertine, and the opera shows the struggle 
in Robert between the virtue inherited from 
his mother, and the vice imparted by his father. 

Robert Francois Damiens (1715-57), who 
attempted to assassinate Louis XV, was also 
called “Robert le Diable.” 

Robin. A diminutive of Robert. 

Robin Goodfellow. A “drudging fiend,” and 
merry domestic fairy, famous for mischievous 
pranks and practical jokes; also known as 
“Puck,” the son of Oberon, and the fairies* 
jester. The story is that at night-time he will 
sometimes do little services for the family 
over which he presides. The Scots call this 
domestic spirit a brownie; the Germans, Kobold 
or Knecht Ruprecht. The Scandinavians called 
it Nisse God-dr eng. 

Either I mistake your shape and making quite, 

Or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite 

Called Robin Goodfellow. . . . 

Those that Hob-goblin call you, and sweet Pi ck, 

You do their work, and they shall have good luck. 

Midsummer Night’s Dream , II, i. 

Robin Gray, Auld. Words by Lady Anne 
Lindsay, daughter of the Earl of Balcarres, and 
afterwards Lady Barnard, in 1772, written to 
an old Scotch tune called “The bridegroom 
grat when the sun gaed down.” Auld Robin 
Gray was the herdsman of her father. When 
Lady Anne had written a part, she called her 
younger sister for advice. She said, “1 am 
writing a ballad of virtuous distress in humble 
life. 1 have oppressed my heroine with sundry 
troubles: for example, I have sent her Jamie to 
sea, broken her father’s arm, made her mother 
sick, given her Auld Robin Gray for a lover, 
and want a fifth sorrow; can you help me to 
one?” “Steal the cow, sister Anne,” said the 
little Elizabeth; so the cow was stolen awa’, 
and the song completed. 

Lady Anne later wrote a sequel in which 
Auld Robin Gray died, Jcannic married 
Jamie and all turned to a happy ending. 

Robin Hood. This traditionary outlaw and 
hero of English ballads is mentioned by 
Langland in the Vision of Piers Plowman , 
Bk. V, 402 ( q.v .). It is doubtful whether he 
ever lived — the truth probably being that 
the stories associated with his name crys- 
tallized gradually round the personality of 
some popular local hero of the early 13th cen- 



Robin Hood 


769 


Robin 


turv — but the legends are that he was born in 
1160 at Locksley, Notts, or, alternatively, that 
he was the outlawed Earl of Huntingdon, 
Robert Fitzooth, in disguise. Fitz- being 
omitted leaves Ooth, and converting th into d 
it became “Ood.” 

Another suggestion (Ten Brink) is that in the 
Robin Hood legends we have a late reminder 
of the old Scandinavian mythology of our 
ancestors. About the 12th century Woden was 
given the name “Robin,” and the tales of 
outlawry may be a later form of the legend of 
the Wild Huntsman, connected with Woden. 
Some think that he may personify a forest 
elf or the wind god. 

According to Stow, he was an outlaw in the 
reign of Richard I (12th century). He enter- 
tained one hundred tall men, all good archers, 
with the spoil he took, but “he suffered no 
woman to be oppressed, violated, or otherwise 
molested; poore men’s goods he spared, 
abundantlie relieving them with that which by 
theft he got from abbeys and houses of rich 
earles.” 

Robin Hood’s companions in Sherwood 
Forest and Barnsdale, Yorks, were Little John, 
Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, Allen-a-dale, George- 
a-Greene, and Maid Marian, who do not ap- 
pear in the earlier ballads; indeed. Friar Tuck 
does not figure until 1475, and Maid Marian 
not until 1500. According to one tradition, 
Robin Hood and Little John were two heroes 
defeated with Simon de Montfort at the battle 
of Evesham, in 1265. Fuller, in his Worthies , 
considers the outlaw an historical character, 
but Thierry says he simply represents the 
remnant of the old Saxon race, which lived 
in perpetual defiance of the Norman oppressors 
from the time of Hereward. 

The traditions about Fulk FitzWarine, 
great-grandson of Warinc of Metz, so greatly 
resemble those connected with “Robin Hood,” 
that some suppose them to be both one. Fitz- 
Warine quarrelled with John, and when John 
was king he banished Fulk, who became a bold 
forester. 

The first published collection of ballads 
about the hero was the Lytel Geste of Robin 
Hood , printed by Wynkyn de Worde about 
1490. 

The stories about him formed the basis of 
early dramatic representations and were later 
amalgamated with the morris dances (<?.v.) and 
May-day revels. 

A Robin Hood wind. A cold thaw-wind. 
Tradition runs that Robin Hood used to say he 
could bear any cold except that which a thaw- 
wind brought with it. 

Bow and arrow of Robin Hood. The tradi- 
tional bow and arrow of Robin Hood are 
religiously preserved at Kirklees Hall, York- 
shire, the seat of Sir George Armytage; and 
the site of his grave is pointed out in the park. 

Death of Robin Hood. He was bled to death 
treacherously by a nun, instigated to the foul 
deed by his kinsman, the prior of Kirklees, 
near Halifax. 


Epitaph of Robin Hood. 

Hear, underneath his latil stean, 

Laiz Robert earl of Huntington; 

Nea arcir ver az hie sae geud, 

An pipl kauld him Robin Heud. 

Sich utlaz az he an hiz men 
Vll England nivr si agen. 

Obit. 24, Kalend Dikembris , 1247. 

Notwithstanding this epitaph Robin Hood 
lived into the reign of Edward II, and died in 
1325. One of the ballads relates how Robin 
Hood took service under Edward II. 

Many talk of Robin Hood who never shot 
with his bow. Many brag of deeds in which they 
took no part. Many talk of Robin Hood, and 
wish their hearers to suppose they took part 
in his adventures, but they never put a shaft 
to one of his bows; nor could they have bent it 
even if they had tried. 

Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne. Robin 
Hood and Little John, having had a tiff, part 
company, when Little John falls into the hands 
of the sheriff of Nottingham, who binds him to 
a tree. Meanwhile, Robin Hood meets with 
Guy of Gisborne, sworn to slay the “bold 
forrester.” The two bowmen struggle together, 
but Guy is slain, and Robin Hood rides till he 
comes to the tree where Little John is bound. 
The Sheriff mistakes him for Guy of Gisborne, 
and gives him charge of the prisoner. Robin 
cuts the cord, hands Guy’s bow to Little John, 
and the two soon put to flight the sheriff and 
his men. (Percy: Reliques.) 

Robin Hood’s larder. See Oak. 

To go round Robin Hood’s barn. To arrive at 
the right conclusion by very roundabout 
methods. 

To sell Robin Hood’s pennyworth is to sell 
things at half their value. As Robin Hood stole 
his wares, he sold them, under their intrinsic 
value, for just what he could get. 

Robin Redbreast. The tradition is that when 
our Lord was on His way to Calvary, a robin 
picked a thorn out of His crown, and the blood 
which issued from the wound falling on the 
bird dyed its breast with red. 

Another fable is that the robin covers dead 
bodies with leaves; this is referred to in Web- 
ster's White Devil , V, i (1612): — 

Call for the robin-red-breast and the wren. 
Since o’er shady groves they hover. 

And with leaves and flowers do cover 
The friendless bodies of unburied men. 

And in the ballad The Babes in the Wood — 
No burial this pretty pair 
From any man receives, 

Till Robin Redbreast piously 
Did cover them with leaves. 

Cp. Ruddock. 

Robin Redbreasts. Bow Street runners were 
so called from their red waistcoats. See Red- 
breasts. 

A round robin. See Round. 

Robin and Makyne. An ancient Scottish pas- 
toral. Robin is a shepherd for whom Makyne 
sighs. She goes to him and tells her love, but 
Robin turns a deaf ear, and the damsel goes 
home to weep. After a time the tables are 




Robinson Crusoe 


770 


Rock 


turned, and Robin goes to Makyne to plead for 
her heart and hand ; but the damsel replies — 
The man that will not when he may 
Sail have nocht when he wald. 

Percy: Reliques, etc., series II. 

Robinson Crusoe. Defoe’s novel (1719) is 
founded on the adventures of Alexander Sel- 
kirk (</.v). 

Though Robinson Crusoe’s adventures are 
based on those of Selkirk, whom it is unlikely 
that Defoe ever met, the actual island he de- 
scribes was not Juan Fernandez but more 
probably Tobago, from the mention of Trini- 
dad in the distance, and the descriptions of 
tropical plants. Defoe himself had never been 
to the West Indies. 

Robot (ro' bot). An automaton with semi- 
human powers and intelligence. From this the 
term is often extended to mean a person who 
works automatically without employing initia- 
tive. The name comes from the mechanical 
creatures in Karel Capek’s play R.U.R. 
(Rossum’s Universal Robots) which was suc- 
cessfully produced in London in 1923. 

Robot Bomb, or Pilotless Plane, is the 
official name of the “Flying Bombs,” “Buzz 
Bombs,” or “Doodlebugs” launched against 
England by the Germans in June 1944. They 
were officially known in Germany as VI, or 
Vergeltungswaffe Ein (Reprisal Weapon No. 


Roc (rok). A fabulous white bird of enormous 
size, and such strength that it can “truss 
elephants in its talons,” and carry them to its 
mountain nest, where it devours them. 
( Arabian Nights: The Third Calender , and 
Sinbad the Sailor.) 

Roch, or Roque, St. (rosh, rok). Patron of those 
afflicted with the plague, because “he worked 
miracles on the plague-stricken, while he was 
himself smitten with the same judgment.” He 
is depicted in a pilgrim’s habit, lifting his dress 
to display a plague-spot on his thigh, which an 
angel is touching that he may cure it. Some- 
times he is accompanied by a dog bringing 
bread in his mouth, in allusion to the legend 
that a hound brought him bread daily while he 
was perishing of pestilence in a forest. 

His feast day, August 16th, was formerly 
celebrated in England as a general harvest- 
home, and styled “the great August festival.” 

St. Roch et son chien. Inseparables; Darby 
and Joan. 

Roche (rosh). Sir Boyle Roche’s bird. Sir Boyle 
Roche (1743-1807) was an Irish M.P., noted 
for his “bulls.” On one occasion in the House, 
quoting from Jevon’s play. The Devil of a Wife , 
he said, “Mr. Speaker, it is impossible 1 could 
have been in two places at once, unless I were 
a bird.” 

You may make a remark on the ubiquitous nature 
of certain cards, which, like Sir Boyle Roche’s bird, 
are in two places at once. — Drawing-room Magic. 

Rochelle Salt. A tartrate of sodium or potas- 
sium, so called because it was discovered by an 
apothecary of Rochelle, named Seignette, in 
1672. In France it is called sel de Seignette or 
sel des tombeaux. 


Rochester, according to Bede, derives its name 
from “Hrof,” a Saxon chieftafn. ( Hrofs - 
ceaster , Hrof’s castle.) 

Rock. “The Rock,” par excellence , is Gib- 
raltar ( cp . Rock English, below). As applied to 
pigeons — as in Plymouth rock and blue rock — 
the word is short for rock-dove or rock- 
pigeon. “The Rock of Ages” ( see below ) is 
used of Jesus Christ as the unshakeable and 
eternal foundation. 

In U.S.A. thieves’ slang a rock is a diamond 
or other precious stone. 

In the sense of swinging backwards and for- 
wards to rock is a term in jazz music meaning 
to work up an exciting rhythm. 

A house builded upon a rock. Typical of a 
person or a thing whose foundations are sure. 
The allusion is to Matt, vii, 24. 

Captain Rock. A fictitious name assumed by 
the leader of the Irish insurgents in 1822. 

On the rocks. “Stony broke,” having no 
money; a phrase from seafaring; a ship that is 
on the rocks will very quickly go to pieces un- 
less she can be got off. 

People of the Rock. The inhabitants of 
Hejaz or Arabia Petnea. 

Rock Day. The day after Twelfth-day, when, 
the Christmas holidays being over, women re- 
turned to their distaff, an old name for which 
was rock ; the day is also called “St. Distaff’s 
Day.” Cp. Plough Monday. 

Rock English. The mixed patois of Spanish 
and English spoken by natives at Gibraltar — 
Rock Lizards. Similarly, Malta or Mediter- 
ranean fever, which is common at Gibraltar, is 
also called Rock fever. 

Rock of Ages, cleft for me. It is said that this 
well-known hymn was written by Augustus 
Montague Toplady (1740-78) while seated by 
a great cleft rock near Cheddar, Somerset. 
Another story, which may belong to the realm 
of fable, has it that the first verse was written 
on the ten of diamonds in the interval between 
two rubbers of whist at Bath. Hence a Toplady 
ring is a ring set with ten stones in the form of 
the pips on a ten of diamonds. The phrase 
itself, ;qs applied to Christ, is considerably 
older, and is traced to the marginal note to Is. 
xxW, 4, Where the words “everlasting strength” 
are stated to be, in the Hebrew, “Rock of 
Ages.” In one of his hymns Wesley had 
written (1788) — 

Hell in vain against us rages; 

Can it shock 
Christ the Rock 
Of eternal Ages? 

Praise by all to Christ is given. 

Southey also has — 

These waters are the Well of Life, and lo! 

The Rock of Ages there, from whence they flow. 

Pilgrimage to Waterloo , Pt. II, iii. 

That is the rock you’ll split on. That is the 
danger, or the more or less hidden obstruction. 
Another seafaring phrase; there are rocks 
ahead in the path oi the ship, and the helms- 
man must exercise the greatest caution. 

The Ladies’ Rock. A crag under the castle 
rock of Stirling, where ladies used to witness 
tournaments. 




Rocking Stones 


771 


ftogero 


Rocking Stones. See Logan Stones. 

Rockefeller Foundation (rok' e fel' er). This 
was established by John D. Rockefeller (1839- 
1937) in order “to promote the welfare of 
mankind throughout the world.” From it 
grants have been made to educational and 
other societies, including the universities of 
Oxford, Cambridge, and London. The capital 
is over £55,000,000. The Rockefeller Institute 
for Medical Research was founded in New 
York City in 1901. John D. Rockefeller built 
and endowed the buildings at a cost of 
£800,000. 

Rockefeller Center is a collection of 14 
separate buildings covering almost 12 acres 
in New York City. Radio City occupies 5 
buildings in one section, and the whole Center, 
grouped round a 70-storey skyscraper, has a 
daily population of some 151,000. it was 
completed in 1940. 

Rocket, To give someone a. To reprimand 
severely. An expression much used by the 
British in World War II. 

Rococo (ro ko' ko). An 18th-century European 
decorative style, characterized by motifs taken 
from shells ( rocaille ). It is seen at its best in the 
furniture and architecture of France during the 
reign of Louis XV. 

Rod. A rod in pickle. A scolding or punishment 
in store. Birch-rods used to be laid in brine to 
keep the twigs pliable. 

Spare the rod and spoil the child. An old 

saying drawing attention to the folly of allow- 
ing childish faults to go unreproved; founded 
on Prov. xiii, 24, “He that spareth his rod 
hateth his child: but he that loveth him chas- 
teneth him betimes.” 

To kiss the rod. To submit to punishment or 
misfortune meekly and without murmuring. 

Rodeo (ro' de 6, or ro da' 6). A public exhibi- 
tion of horsemanship, cattle rounding-up, 
etc., by cowboys. 

Roderick or Rodrigo. A Spanish hero round 
whom many legends have collected. He was the 
thirty-fourth and last of the Visigothic kings, 
came to the throne in 710, and was routed, and 
robably slain, by the Moors under Tarik in 
11. Southey took him as the hero of his 
Roderick , the last of the Goths (1814), where he 
appears as the son of Theodofred, and grand- 
son of King Chindasuintho. Witiza, the 
usurper, put out the eyes of Theodofred, and 
murdered Favila, a younger brother of 
Roderick; but Roderick, having recovered his 
father’s throne, put out the eyes of the usurper. 
The sons of Witiza, joining with Count Julian, 
invited the aid of Muza ibn Nozeir, the Arab 
chief, who sent Tarik into Spain with a large 
army. Roderick was routed at the battle of 
Guadalete, near Xeres de la Frontera (71 1); he 
himself disappeared from the battlefield, and 
the Spaniards transformed him into a hero who 
would come again to save his country. One 
legend relates that he was befriended by a 
shepherd who was rewarded with the royal 
chain and ring. Roderick passed the night in 
the cell of a hermit, who told him that by way 
of penance he must pass certain days in a tomb 

75 * 


full of snakes, toads, and lizards. After three 
days the hermit went to see him, and he was 
unhurt, “because the Lord kept His anger 
against him.” The hermit went home, passed 
the night in prayer, and went again to the 
tomb, when Rodrigo said, “They eat me now, 
they eat me now, I feel the adder’s bite.” So his 
sin was atoned for, and he died. 

Roderigo (rod e re' go). A Venetian gentleman 
in Shakespeare’s Othello. He was in love with 
Desdemona, and when the lady eloped with 
Othello, hated the “noble Moor.” Iago took 
advantage of this temper for his own ends, told 
his dupe the Moor would change; therefore 
“put money in thy purse.” The burden of his 
advice was always the same — “Put money in 
thy purse.” 

Rodomontade. Bluster, brag, or a blustering 
and bragging speech; from Rodomont, the 
brave but braggart leader of the Saracens in 
Boiardo’s Orlando Innaniorato. 

Rodrigo. See Roderick. 

Roe, Richard. See Doe. 

Rogation Days. The Monday, Tuesday, and 
Wednesday before Ascension Day. Rogation is 
the Latin equivalent of the Greek word 
“Litany,” and on the three Rogation days “the 
Litany of the Saints” is appointed to be sung 
by the clergy and people in public procession. 
(‘‘Litany,” Gr. litaneia , supplication. “Roga- 
tion,” Lat. rogatio , same meaning.) 

The Rogation Days used to be called Gang 
Days , from the custom of ganging round the 
country parishes to beat the bounds (see 
Bounds) at this time. Similarly, the weed milk- 
wort is still called Rogation or Gang flower , 
from the custom of decorating the pole (carried 
on such occasions by the charity children) with 
these flowers. 

Roger. The cook in Chaucer’s Canterbury 
Tales. “He cowde roste, sethc, broille, and frie, 
make mortreux, and wel bake a pye;” but 
Harry Baily, the host, said to him — 

Now telle on Roger, and loke it be good; 

For many a Jakk of Dover hastow sold. 

That hath be twyes hoot and twyes cold. 

Prologue to Cook's Tale . 

In World War II Roger was a simple code 
word of American origin used in wireless con- 
versations to denote “message understood.” 
Like many war terms it passed for a time into 
civilian speech. 

Sir Roger de Coverley. The simple, good, and 
altogether delightful country squire created by 
Steele as the chief character in the club that was 
supposed to write for the Spectator. He was 
developed by Addison, and it is to the latter 
that we are indebted for this portrait of a 
simple English gentleman. He has left his 
name to a popular country dance which, he 
tells us, was invented by his great-grandfather. 
Coverley is intended for Cowley, near Oxford. 

The Jolly Roger. The black flag with skull 
and cross-bones, the favourite ensign of pirates. 
The derivation is unknown. 

Rogero. Ruggiero, or Rizieri (ro jar' 6, rui &r' o, 
ritz i ar' i) of Risa (in Orlando Furioso ), was 
brother of Marphisa, and son of Rogero and 



Rogers’ Rangers 


772 


Roland 


Galacella. His mother was slain by Agolant and 
his sons, and he was nursed by a lioness. He 
deserted from the Moorish army to Charle- 
magne, and was baptized, and his marriage 
with Bradamant, Charlemagne’s niece, and 
election to the crown of Bulgaria conclude the 
poem. 

Rogers’ Rangers. A body of daring troops raised 
by an American colonial Major Robert 
Rogers, to fight with the British Army during 
the French and Indian war, 1756. Rogers 
fought at Quebec and occupied Detroit, but 
his Rangers were most successful in the vast 
Canadian forests. They may be regarded as a 
prototype of the modern Commando. Rogers 
could not repeat his success in the Revolu- 
tionary War and was rejected by both sides, 
eventually dying in London in drunken 
obscurity, 1795. 

Rogue. One of the “canting” words used first 
in the 16th century to describe sturdy beggars 
and vagrants (perhaps from some outstanding 
member of the class named Roger). There is a 
good description of them in Harman’s Caveat 
for Common Cursitors vulgarly called Vaga - 
bones , ch. iv. The expression rogues and vaga- 
bonds has since 1572 been applied in the 
Vagrancy Acts to all sorts of wandering, dis- 
orderly, or dissolute persons. 

Rogue elephant. A savage and destructive 
elephant that lives apart from the herd, always 
vicious and dangerous. 

Rogue in grain. See Grain. 

Rogue’s badge. A race-horse or a hunter that 
becomes obstinate and refuses to do its work is 
known as a rogue , and the blinkers that it is 
made to wear are the rogue's badge. 

Rogues’ Latin. The same as “thieves’ Latin.” 
See Latin. 

Rogues’ March. The tune played when an 
undesirable soldier is drummed out of his 
regiment; hence, an ignominious dismissal. 

Roi Panade ( King of Slops). Louis XV11I was so 
nicknamed (1755, 1814-24). 

Roland or (in Ital.) Orlando. The most famous 
of Charlemagne’s paladins, slain at the battle 
of Roncesvalles (778), called “The Christian 
Theseus” and “the Achilles of the West.” He 
was Count of Mans and Knight of Blaivcs, and 
son of Duke Milo of Aiglant, his mother being 
Bertha, the sister of Charlemagne. Fable has it 
that he was eight feet high, and had an open 
countenance, which invited confidence, but in- 
spired respect; and he is represented as brave, 
loyal, and simple-minded. On the return of 
Charlemagne from Spain Roland, who com- 
manded the rearguard, fell into the ambuscade 
at Roncesvalles, in the Pyrenees, and perished 
with all the flower of the Frankish chivalry. 

His achievements are recorded in the 
Chronicle attributed to Turpin (d. 794), Arch- 
bishop of Rheims, which was not written till 
the 11th or 12th century, and he is the hero of 
the Song of Roland ( see below), Boiardo’s 
Orlando Innamorato , and Ariosto’s Orlando 
Furioso. In Pulci’s Morgante Maggiore he is 
also a principal character, and converts the 
giant Morgante to Christianity. 


In Orlando Furioso (i.e. “Orlando mad”), 
although married to Aldabella he fell in love 
with Angelica, daughter of the infidel king of 
Cathay; she married Medoro, a Moor, with 
whom she fled to India, whereupon Orlando 
went mad, or rather his wits were taken from 
him for three months by way of punishment, 
and deposited in the moon. Astolpho went to 
the moon in Elijah’s chariot, and St. John gave 
him an urn containing the lost wits. On reach- 
ing earth again, Astolpho first bound the mad- 
man, then, holding the urn to his nose, Orlando 
was cured of both his madness and his love. 

A Roland for an Oliver. A blow for a blow, 
tit for tat. The exploits of Roland and Oliver, 
another of the paladins of Charlemagne, are so 
similar that it is difficult to keep them distinct. 
What Roland did Oliver did, and what Oliver 
did Roland did. At length the two met in single 
combat, and fought for five consecutive days 
on an island in the Rhine, but neither gained 
the least advantage. Shakespeare alludes to the 
phrase: “England all Olivers and Rolands 
bred” ( Henry VI Pt. /, I, ii); and Edward Hall, 
the historian, almost a century before Shake- 
speare, writes: — 

But to have a Roland to resist an Oliver, he sent 
solempne ambassadors to the King of Englandc, 
offeryng hym hys doughter in manage . — Henry VL 

Childe Roland. Youngest brother of the 
“fair burd Helen” in the old Scottish ballad. 
Guided by Merlin, he undertook to bring his 
sister from Elf-land, whither the fairies had 
carried her, and succeeded in his perilous ex- 
ploit. 

Childe Roland to the dark tower came; 

His word was still “Fie, foh, and fum, 

I smell the blood of a Britishman.” 

King Lear , III, iv. 

Browning's poem. Child Roland to the Dark 
Tower Came , is not connected in any way 
(except by the first fine) with the old ballad. 

Like the blast of Roland’s horn. Roland had a 
wonderful ivory horn, named “Olivant,” that 
he won from the giant Jutmundus. When he 
was set upon by the Gascons at Roncesvalles 
he sounded it to give Charlemagne notice of 
his danger. At the third blast it cracked in two, 
but it was so loud that birds fell dead and the 
whole Saracen army was panic-struck. Charle- 
magne heard the sound at St. Jean Pied de 
Port, and rushed to the rescue, but arrived too 
late. 

Oh, for one blast of that dread horn 

On Fontarabian echoes borne, 

That to King Charles did come. 

Scott: Mar m ion, vi, xxxiii. 
Roland’s sword. Durindana, or Durandal 
which was fabled to have once belonged to 
Hector, and which — like the horn — Roland 
won from the giant Jutmundus. It had in its 
hilt a thread from the Virgin Mary’s cloak, a 
tooth of St. Peter, one of St. Denis’s hairs, and 
a drop of St. Basil’s blood. Legend relates that, 
to prevent Durandal falling into the hands of 
the Saracens, after he had received his death- 
wound he strove to break it on a rock; but as 
it was unbreakable he hurled it into a poisoned 
stream, where it remains for ever. 

The Song (Chanson) of Roland. The 11th- 
century chanson de geste ascribed to the Nor- 
man trouvdre Theroulde, or Turoldus, which 



Roland 


773 


Roman 


tells the story of the death of Roland and all 
the paladins at Ronccsvalles, and of Charle- 
magne’s vengeance. When Charlemagne had 
been six years in Spain he sent Ganelon on an 
embassy to Marsillus, the pagan king of Sara- 
gossa. Ganelon, out of jealousy, betrayed to 
Marsillus the route which the Christian army 
designed to take on its way home, and the 
pagan king arrived at Ronccsvalles just as 
Roland was conducting through the pass a rear- 
guard of 20,000 men; he fought till 100,000 
Saracens lay slain, and only 50 of his own men 
survived. At this juncture another army, con- 
sisting of 50,000 men, poured from the 
mountains. Roland now blew his enchanted 
horn, and blew so loudly that the veins of his 
neck started. Charlemagne heard the blast, but 
Ganelon persuaded him that it was only his 
nephew hunting the deer. Roland died of his 
wounds. 

The Song runs to 4,000 lines, and it was 
probably parts of this that — as we are told by 
Wace in the Roman de Ron— the Norman 
minstrel sang to encourage William’s soldiers 
at the battle of Hastings:— 

Taillefer, the minstrel-knight, bestrode 
A gallant steed, and swiftly rode 
Before the Duke, and sang the song 
Of Charlemagne, of Roland strong, 

Of Oliver, and those beside 

Brave knights at Roncevaux that died. 

Arthur S. Way's rendering . 

To die like Roland. To die of starvation or 
thirst. One legend has it that Roland escaped 
the general slaughter in the defile of Ronces- 
valles, and died of hunger and thirst in seeking 
to cross the Pyrenees. He was buried at Blayes, 
in the church of St. Raymond; but his body 
was removed afterwards to Roncesvalles. 

Rolandseck Tower, opposite the Drachcnfels 
on the Rhine, 22 miles above Cologne. The 
legend is that when Roland went to the wars, a 
false report of his death was brought to his 
betrothed, who retired to a convent in the isle 
of Nonnewerth. When he returned home 
flushed with glory, and found that his lady- 
love had taken the veil, he built the castle which 
bears his name, and overlooks the nunnery, 
that he might at least see his heart-treasure, lost 
to him for ever. 

Roll. The flying roll of Zechariah (v, 1-5). “Pre- 
dictions of evils to come on a nation are like the 
flying roll of Zechariah.” This roll (twenty 
cubits long and ten wide) was full of maledic- 
tions, threats, and calamities about to befall 
the Jews. The parchment being unrolled flut- 
tered in the air. 

A rolling stone. See Stone. 

Rolling stock. All the wheeled equipment of 
a railway that is fitted to run on rails; the loco- 
motives, passenger coaches, vans, goods 
trucks, etc. 

Roller-Coaster. An open-air railway set in 
pleasure grounds, etc., running up and down 
steep inclines; an improvement on the old- 
fashioned switchback railway. 

Rolls, The. The former building in Chancery 
Lane where the records in the custody of the 
Master of the Rolls were kept; now replaced 
by the Public Record Office. It included a court 
of justice and a chapel, and was originally 


built by Henry III as a Domus Conversorum 
(house for lay monks) for converted Jews. In 
the time of Edward III it was devoted to the 
purpose of storing records. 

The Master of the Rolls. The head of the 
Public Record Office, an ex-officio Judge of the 
Court of Appeal and a member of the Judicial 
Committee, ranking next after the Lord Chief 
Justice. His jurisdiction was formerly exercised 
in Chancery as the deputy of the Lord Chan- 
cellor, and he also sat independently in the 
Rolls Chapel. 

To he struck off the rolls. To be removed 
from the official list of qualified solicitors, and 
so prohibited from practising. This is done in 
cases of professional misconduct. 

Rollright Stones, between the villages of Great 
and Little Rollright in Oxfordshire. This 
famous megalithic structure consists of the 
King Stone, a circle of about 70 stones called 
the King’s Men, and a few others called the 
Whispering Knights. The King Stone and the 
King’s Men may be the ruins of a Druid 
temple. 

Roly-poly. A crust with jam rolled up into a 
pudding; a little fat child. Roly is a thing rolled 
with the diminutive added. In some parts of 
Scotland the game of ninepins is called rouly 
pouly. 

Romaic. Modern or Romanized Greek. 

Roman. Pertaining to Rome, especially ancient 
Rome, or to the Roman Catholic Church. As 
a surname or distinctive title the adjective has 
been applied to: — 

Giulio Pippi, Giulio Romano (1492-1546), 
the Italian artist. 

Adrian van Roomcn (1581-1615), the famous 
mathematician, Adrianas Romamts. 

Stephen Picart (1631-1721), the French en- 
graver, le Remain. 

Jean Dumont (1700-81), the French painter, 
le Romain. 

Marcus Terentius Varro (116-27 b.c.) was 
called the Most Learned of the Romans , and 
Rienzi (1313-54), the Italian patriot and “last 
of the Tribunes,” was known as Ultimas 
Romanorum, the Last of the Romans — an 
honorific title later applied to Horace Walpole, 
Charles James Fox, and others. 

King of the Romans. The title usually as- 
sumed by the sovereign of the Holy Roman 
Empire previous to his actual coronation in the 
Holy City. Napoleon’s son, afterwards the 
Duke of Reichstadt, was styled the King of 
Rome at his birth in 1811. 

Roman architecture. A style of architecture, 
distinguished by its massive character and 
abundance of ornament, which combines the 
Greek orders with the use of the arch. It is 
largely a corruption of the Doric and Ionic. 

Roman birds. Eagles; so called because the 
ensign of the Roman legion was an eagle. 

Roman figures. See Numerals. 

Roman holiday. An allusion to Byron’s 
Childe Harold , iv, cxli, where he describes the 
death of a gladiator in the arena, “Butchered 
to make a Roman holiday.” 



Roman 


774 


Rome 


Roman roads in Britain. See Ermine, Fosse, 
ICKNIELD, WaTLING. 

Fair weyes many on thcr ben in Englond 
But four most of all ben zunderstond . . . 

Frara the south into the north takit Erming-sirete; 
Fram the east into the west goeth 1keneld-strete\ 
Fram south-est to North-west (that is sum deegrete) 
Fram Dover into Chester go’th Watling-strete; 

The forth is most of all that tills from Totgneys — 
Fram the one end of Cornwall anon to Catenays 
[Caithness] — 

Fram the south to North-est into Englondes end 
Fosse men callith thisk voix. 

Robert of Gloucester. 

Among the more remarkable of the num- 
erous Roman remains in England are — 

The pharos, church, and trenches in Dover, 
Chilham Castle, Richborough, and Reculver 
forts; the amphitheatres at Silchester (Berk- 
shire)? Dorchester, Nisconium (Salop), and 
Gatefleon; Hadrian’s wall (q.v.); the wall, baths, 
and Newport Gate of Lincoln; the earthworks 
at Verulam, near St. Albans; York (Ebora- 
cum), where Severus and Constantius Chlorus 
died, and Constantine the Great was born ; the 
villas at Brading, Isle of Wight, and Lulling- 
stone, Kent; and the ancient parts of Bath. 

Roman type. Ordinary type, as distinguished 
front italic, clarendon, gothic or “black letter,” 
etc.; so called because founded on that used in 
ancient Roman inscriptions and manuscripts. 

The Holy Roman Empire. See Holy. 

The Last of the Romans. See above , also Last. 

Tffc Roman Empire. The Empire established 
on the ruins of the Republic by Augustus in 
31 b.c., and lasting till a.d. 395, when it was 
divided into the Western or Latin Empire, and 
the Eastern or Greek. 

The Roman Empire was a power, and not a nation. 
. . . The name Roman, in the use of Procopius, when it 
goes not refer geographically to the elder Rome, means 
any man, of whatever race, who is a subject of the 
Roman Empire or who serves in the Roman armies. 
His nationality may not be only Greek, Macedonian, 
or Thracian, but Gothic, Persian, or Hunnish. — 
Freeman: Historical Essays, III, 246. 

The Roman Republic was established in 
509 b.c. after the overthrow of the last of the 
seven kings, Tarquinius Superbus, and sur- 
vived till it was superseded in 31 b.c. by the 
Empire. 

For a few months in 1848-49, after the flight 
of Pius IX, the people of Rome declared them- 
sevles a republic under the triumvirate of 
Mazzini, Saffi, and Armellini. It is one of the 
ironies of history that this Roman Republic was 
destroyed by the army of Republican France. 

Roman de la Rose. See Rose, Romance of the. 

Romance. Applied in linguistics to the lan- 
guages, especially Old French, sprung from 
the Latin spoken in the European province of 
the Roman Empire; hence, as a noun, the 
word came to mean a mediaeval tale in Old 
Ftfench or Provencal describing, usually in 
mixed prose and verse, the marvellous adven- 
tures of a hero of chivalry; the transition to the 
modem meanings — a work of fiction in which 
the scenes, incidents, etc., are more or less 
removed from common life and are surrounded 
by a halo of mystery — or the atmosphere of 
strangeness and imaginary adventure itself — is 
simple. 


The mediaeval romances fall into three main 
groups or cycles , viz . the Arthurian, the 
Charlemagne cycle, and the cycle of Alexander 
the Great. Nearly, but not quite, all the 
romances are connected with one or other of 
these. 

Romance languages. Those languages which 
are the immediate offspring of Latin, as the 
Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French and 
Rumanian. Early French is emphatically so 
called; hence Bouillet says, “Le roman itait 
universellement parle en Gaule au dixit me 
sitcle .” 

Frankis speech is called Romance, 

So say clerks and men of France. 

Robert le Brun. 

Romanes Lecture, at Oxford University, 
founded in 1891, by G. J. Romanes (1848-94) 
for an annual lecture by an eminent authority 
on a literary or scientific subject. 

Romanesque Architecture (rd man esk'). This 
term embraces the style of architecture in 
Western Europe from the virtual collapse of 
Roman rule in the 6th century until the emer- 
gence of the Gothic (<7. v.) style in the late 12th 
centuiy. A style with considerable regional 
variations, e.g. Saxon and Norman in England, 
Carolingian and Rhenish in Germany, it is 
characterized by the round arch, great thick- 
ness of wails, shallow (if any) buttressing, and 
in later phases by profuse decoration of arcades 
and other features. 

Romantic Revival, The. The literary movement 
that began in Germany in the last quarter of 
the 18th century having for its object a return 
from the Augustan or classical formalism of 
the time to the freer fancies and methods of 
romance. It was led by Schiller, Goethe, 
Novalis, and Tieck; spread to England, where 
it affected the work of Collins and Gray and 
received an impetus from the publication of 
Percy’s Reliques and Macpherson’s Osslan ; 
and, immensely stimulated by the French 
Revolution, effected a transformation of English 
literature through the writings of Keats, Byron, 
Wordsworth, Shelley, Coleridge, Scott, etc. 
In France its chief exponents were Rousseau, 
Chateaubriand, Mme de Stael, Lamartine, 
Musset, Vigny, and Victor Hugo. 

Romany. A gipsy; or the gipsy language, the 
speech of the Roma or Zincali. The word is 
from Gipsy rorn , a man, or husband. 

A learned Sclavonian . . . said of Rommany, that 
he found it interesting to be able to study a Hindu 
dialect in the heart of Europe. — Leland: English 
Gipsies, ch. viil. 

Romany rye. One who enters into the gipsy 
spirit, learns their language, lives with them as 
one of themselves, etc. Rye is gipsy for gentle- 
man. George Borrow’s book with this title (a 
sequel to Lavengro ) was published in 1857. 
Rome. The greatest city of the ancient world, 
according to legend founded (753 b.c.) by 
Romulus iq.v.) and named after him; but m all 
probability so called from Greek rhoma 
(strength), a suggestion confirmed by its other 
name Valentia, from valens (string). 

Oh, that all Rome had but one head, that I 
might strike it off at a blow! Caligula, the 
Roman emperor, is said to have uttered this 
sentiment. 


Rome 


775 


Roost 


Rome penny, Rome scot. The same as Peter’s 
penny (q.v). 

Rome’s best wealth is patriotism. So said 
Mettius Curtius, when he jumped into the 
chasm which the soothsayers gave out would 
never close till Rome threw therein “its best 
wealth.” 

Rome was not built in a day. Achievements of 
great pith and moment are not accomplished 
without patient perseverance and a consider- 
able interval of time. It is an old saying, and 
is to be found in Heywood’s Collection (1562). 

’Tis ill sitting at Rome and striving with the 
Pope. Don’t tread on a man’s corns when you 
are living with him or are in close touch with 
him — especially if he’s powerful. 

When you go to Rome, do as Rome does. Con- 
form to the manners and customs of those 
amongst whom you live; “Don’t wear a brown 
hat in Friesland.” St. Monica and her son St. 
Augustine said to St. Ambrose: “At Rome 
they fast on Saturday, but not so at Milan; 
which practice ought to be observed?” To 
which St. Ambrose replied, “When I am at 
Milan, 1 do as they do at Milan ; but when I go 
to Rome, I do as Rome does!” (Epistle xxxvi). 
Cp. II Kings v, 18. 

The saying is to be found in that great store- 
house of proverbs. Porter’s Two Angry Women 
of Abingdon (1599). 

Romulus (rom'ulus). With his twin brother, 
Remus, the legendary and eponymous founder 
of Rome. They were sons of Mars and Rhea 
Silvia, who, because she was a vestal virgin, was 
condemned to death, while the sons were ex- 
posed. They were, however, suckled by a she- 
wolf, and eventually set about founding a city 
but quarrelled over the plans, and Remus was 
slain by his brother in anger. Romulus was 
later taken to the heavens by his father, Mars, 
in a fiery chariot, and was worshipped by the 
Romans under the name of Quirinus. 

The Second Romulus. Camillus was so called 
because he saved Rome from the Gauls, 365 b.c. 

The Third Romulus. Caius Marius, who saved 
Rome from the Teutons and Cimbri in 101 b.c. 

We need no Romulus to account for Rome. 
We require no hypothetical person to account 
for a plain fact. 

Roncesvalles (rons' val). A defile in the Pyre- 
nees, famous for the disaster which here befell 
the rear of Charlemagne’s army, on the return 
march from Saragossa (778). Ganelon be- 
trayed Roland (</.v.) to Marsillus, king of the 
Saracens, and an ambuscade attacking the 
Franks killed every man of them, including 
Roland, Oliver, and all the paladins. See Song 
of Roland, under Roland. 

Roncesvalles is said to have left its name to 
rouncival peas, a large kind of garden pea. See 
Rouncival. In his Glossographia (1674) 
Blount has — * 

Rounceval Pe&s, a sort of great Peas, well known, 
and took namofrom Ronceval, a place at the foot of 
the Pyrenean Mountains from whence they first came 
to us. 

But there is no confirmation of this. 


Ronyon or Runnion (ron'ydn, r&n'yon). A 
term of contempt to a woman. It is probably 
the French rogneux (scabby, mangy). 

You hag, you baggage, you polecat, you ronyon! 
out, out ! — Merry Wives of Windsor, IV, ii. 

“Aroint thee, witch!’* the rump-fed ronyon cries. — 
Macbeth , I, iii. 

Rood (connected with rod). The Cross of the 
Crucifixion; or a crucifix, especially the large 
one that was formerly set on the stone or 
timber rood-screen that divides the nave from 
the choir in churches. This is usually richly 
decorated with statues and carvings of saints, 
emblems, etc., and frequently is surmounted by 
a gallery called the rood-loft. 

And then to zee the rood-loft, 

Zo bravely zet with zaints. 

Percy: Ballad of Plain Truth , ii, 292. 

By the rood ; by the holy rood. Old expletives 
used by way of assevervation. When the Queen 
asks Hamlet if he has forgotten her, he answers, 
“No, by the rood, not so” (III, iv). 

Rood Day. Holy Rood Day (q.v)\ Sep- 
tember 14th (the Exaltation of the Cross), or 
May 3rd (the Invention of the Cross). 

Roodselken. An old country name for vervain, 
or “the herb of the cross.” 

Hallowed be thou, vervain, as thou growest in the 
ground, 

For in the Mount of Calvary thou wast found. 

Thou healedst Christ our Saviour, and staunchedst His 
bleeding wound; 

In the name of Father, Son and Holy Ghost,$ take 
thee from the ground. 

Folkard: Plant Lore , p. 47. 

Roof of the World. A name given to the Pamirs, 
the great region of mountains covering 30,000 
square miles, devoid of trees and shrubs, and 
most of it in the Soviet Socialist Republic of 
Tadzhikistan. The name is a translation of 
Batn-i-Dunya, bestowed by natives of the 
region. 

Rooinek. (Afrikaans, “red-neck.”) The name 
given by the Boers to the British in the South 
African War, and used later to mean any 
British o^European immigrant to South Africa. 

Rook. A cheat. “To rook,” to cheat; “to rook 
a pigeon,” to fleece a greenhorn. Sometimes it 
simply means to win from another at a game of 
chance or skill. 

Rook, the castle in chess, is through French 
and Spanish from Persian rukh , which is said 
to have meant a warrior. 

Rookery. Any low, densely populated neigh- 
bourhood, especially one frequented by thieves 
and vagabonds. The allusion is to the way in 
which rooks build their nests clustered closely 
together. Colonies of seals, and places where 
seals or seabirds collect in the breeding season 
are also known as “rookeries.” 

Room. Your room is better than your company. 
Your absence is more to be wished than your 
presence. An old phrase; it occurs in Stany- 
nurst’s Description of Ireland (1577), Greene’s 
Quip for an Upstart Courtier (1592), etc. 

Roost. A strong current or furious tide be- 
twixt island groups, especially in the Orkneys 
and Shetlands. 




Root 


776 


Rosamond 


To rule the roost. See Roast. 

Root. Root and branch. The whole of it without 
any exceptions or omissions; “lock, stock, and 
barrel.” The Puritans of about 1640 who 
wanted to extirpate the episcopacy altogether 
were known as “Root-and-branch men,” or 
“Rooters,” and the term has since been applied 
to other political factions who are anxious to 
“go the whole hog.” 

The root of the matter. Its true inwardness, 
its actual base and foundation. The phrase 
comes from Job xix, 28— 

But ye should say. Why persecute we him, seeing 
the root of the matter is found in me? 

To root (U.S.A.). To support a sporting 
team. 

To take or strike root. To become per- 
manently or flrmly established. 

Rope. A taste of the rope’s end. A flogging — 
especially among seamen. 

Fought back to the ropes. Fought to the 
bitter end. A phrase from the prize-ring, the 
“ropes” forming the boundary of the “ring.” 

It is a battle that must be fought game, and right 
back to the ropes. — B oldrewood: Robbery Under 
Arms , ch. xxxiii. 

Ropes of sand. See Sand. 

She is on her high ropes. In a distant and 
haughty temper; “high and mighty.” The allu- 
sion is to a rope-dancer, who looks down on 
the spectators. 

The Rope-walk. Former barrister’s slang for 
an Old Bailey practice. Thus, “Gone into the 
rope-walk” means, he has taken up practice in 
the Old Bailey. The allusion is to the murder 
trials taking place there, a convicted murderer 
“getting the rope.” 

To come to the end of one’s rope or tether. See 
Tether. 

To fight with a rope round one’s neck. To 
fight with a certainty of losing your life unless 
you conquer. 

You must send in a large force; . . . for, as he lights 
with a rope round his neck, he will struggle to the last. 
— Kingston: The Three Admirals , viii. 

To give one rope enough. To permit a person 
to continue in wrongdoing till he reaps the con- 
sequences. “Give him rope enough and he’ll 
hang himself” is a common saying of one ad- 
dicted to evil courses. 

To know the ropes. To be up to all the tricks 
and dodges; to know exactly what is the proper 
thing to do. 

To rope one in. To pet him to take part in 
some scheme, enterprise, etc. An expression 
from the western states of America, where 
horses and cattle are roped in with a lasso. 

^Vou carry a rope in your pocket (Fr.). Said of 
a person very lucky at cards, from the super- 
stition that a bit of rope with which a man has 
been hanged, carried in the pocket, secures 
luck at cards. 

Ropeable. In Australia a term now applied 
to a person who is in a bad temper. Originally 
it meant cattle so wild that they could be con- 
trolled only by roping. 


Mistress Roper. A cant name given to the 
Marines by British sailors. The wit lies in the 
awkward way that marines handle the ship’s 
ropes. 

To marry Mistress Roper is to enlist in the 
Marines. 

Ropey. A phrase widely used by the British 
armed forces in World War II to denote any- 
thing inferior or worn-out — synonymous, in 
this connexion, with “old-fashioned.” 

Roque, St. See Roch. 

Roquelaure (rok' lor). A cloak for men, reach- 
ing to the knees. It was worn in the 18th cen- 
tury, and is so named from Antoinc-Gaston, 
Due dc Roquelaure (1656-1738), a Marshal of 
France. 

“Your honour’s roquelaure,’’ replied the corporal, 
“has not once been had on since the night before your 
honour received your wound.’’ — Sterne: Tristram 
Shandy ; Story of Le Fevre. 

Rory O’More. Slang for a cloor. See Rhyming 
Slang. 

Rosabcllc. The favourite palfrey of Mary 
Queen of Scots. 

Rosalia, or Rosalie, St. (ro za' li a, roz' e lc). 
The patron saint of Palermo, in art depicted in 
a cave with a cross and skull, or else in the act 
of receiving a rosary or chaplet of roses from 
the Virgin. She lived in the 12th century, and is 
said to have been carried by angels to an in- 
accessible mountain, where she dwelt for many 
years in the cleft of a rock, a part of which she 
wore away with her knees in her devotions. A 
chapel has been built there, with a marble 
statue, to commemorate the event. 

Rosalind (roz' a lind). The anagrammatic 
name under which Spenser introduces his 
early love, Rosa Daniel (sister of Samuel 
Daniel, the poet), into the Shepherd's Calendar , 
he himself figuring as “Colin Clout.” She was 
the wife of John Florin, the lexicographer who 
is caricatured in Love's Labour's Lost as 
“Holofernes” (i.e. [Jo]h[an]ncs Floreo). 

In Shakespeare’s As You Like It Rosalind is 
the daughter of the banished duke, brought up 
with Celia in the court of Frederick, the duke’s 
brother, and usurper of his dominions. After 
sundry adventures, in the course of which she 
disguises herself as a youth and Celia as a 
peasant-girl, she obtains her father’s consent to 
marry her lover, Orlando. 

Rosamond, The Fair (roz' a mund). Higden, 
monk of Chester, writing about 1350, says: 
“She was the fayre daughter of Walter, Lord 
Clifford, concubine of Flenry II, and poisoned 
by Queen Elianor, a.d. 1177. Henry made for 
her a house of wonderful working, so that no 
man or woman might come to her. This house 
was named Labryrinlhus, and was wrought 
like unto a knot in a garden called a maze. But 
the queen came to her by a clue of thredde, and 
so dealt with her that she lived not long after. 
She was buried at Godstow, in an house of 
nun nes, with these verses upon h£r tombe: — 
Hie jacet in tumba Rosa mOndi, non Rosa rrsunda; 

Non redolet, sed olet, quae redolere solet.’* 

Here Rose the graced, not Rose the chaste, reposes; 
The smell that rises is no smell of roses. 



Rosary 


111 


Rose 


This “evidence,” dating nearly 200 years 
after the supposed event, is all the substantia- 
tion we have for the popular legend about the 
labyrinth ; and there is none for the stories that 
Rosamond Clifford was the mother of William 
Longsword and Geoffrey, Archbishop of York. 
A subterranean labyrinth in Blenheim Park, 
near Woodstock, is still pointed out as “Rosa- 
mond’s Bower.” 

Jane Clifford was her name, as books aver, 

Fair Rosamund was but her nom de guerre. 

JDryden: Epilogue to Henry II. 

Rosary (ro' zar i). The bead-roll employed by 
Roman Catholics for keeping count of their 
repetitions of certain prayers; also, these 
prayers themselves. The rope of beads consists 
of three parts, each of which symbolizes five 
mysteries connected with Christ or His virgin 
mother. The word is said by some to be derived 
from the chaplet of beads, perfumed with roses, 
given by the Virgin to St. Dominic. (This can- 
not be correct, as it was in use a.d. 1100.) 
Others say the first chaplet of the kind was 
made of rosewood; others, again, maintain 
that it takes its name from the “Mystical Rose,” 
one of the titles of the Virgin. The set is some- 
times called “fifteens,” from its containing 15 
“doxologies,” 15 “Our Fathers,” and 10 times 
15, or 150, “Hail Marys.” 

The “Devotion of the Rosary” takes different 
forms: — (1) the Greater Rosary , or recitation of the 
whole fifteen mysteries; (2) the Lesser Rosary , or 
recitation of one of the mysteries; and (3) the Living 
Rosary , or the recitation of the fifteen mysteries by 
fifteen different persons in combination. 

Rosciad (ros' i ad). A satire by Charles 
Churchill, published in 1761; it canvasses the 
faults and merits of the metropolitan actors. 

Roscius (ros' i us). A first-rate actor; so called 
from Quintus Roscius (d. c. 62 n.c.), the 
Roman actor, unrivalled for his grace of action, 
melody of voice, conception of character, and 
delivery. 

What scene of death hath Roscius now to act? 

Henry VI Pt. Ill , V, vi. 

Another Roscius. So Camden terms Richard 
Burbage (d. 1619). 

The British Roscius. Thomas Betterton 
(1635-1710), of whom Cibber says, “He alone 
was born to speak what only Shakespeare 
knew to write.” The title was also accorded to 
Garrick. 

The Roscius of France. Michel Boyron (1653- 
1729), generally called Baron. 

The Young Roscius. William Henry West 
Betty (1791-1874). His first public appearance 
was in 1803 (as Oswyn, in Zara), and, after 
achieving astonishing success, he left the stage 
in 1824. It is said that in fifty-six nights he 
realized £34,000. 

Rose. Mediaeval legend asserts that the first 
roses appeared miraculously at Bethlehem as 
the result of the prayers of a “fayre Mayden” 
who had been falsely accused and was sen- 
tenced to death by burning. As Sir John 
Mandeville tells the tale {Travels, ch. vi), after 
her prayer 

sche entered into the Fuyer; and anon was the Fuyr 
quenched and oute; and the Brondes that weren 
brennynge, becomen red Roseres; and the 3rond$s 


that weren not kyndled, becomen white Roseres, fulle 
of Roses. And these weren the first Roseres and Roses, 
both white and rede, that evere any Man saughe. And 
thus was this Mayden saved be the Grace of God. 

The Rose has been an emblem of England 
since the time of the Wars of the Roses (see 
below), when the Lancastrians adopted a red 
rose as their badge, and the Yorkists a white. 
When the parties were united in the person of 
Henry Vll the united Tudor rose was taken as 
his device. 

The Red Rose of Lancaster was, says Cam- 
den, the accepted badge of Edmund Plan- 
tagenet, second son of Henry 111, and of the 
first Duke of Lancaster, surnamed Crouch- 
back. it was also the cognizance of John of 
Gaunt, second Duke of Lancaster, in virtue of 
his wife, who was godchild of Edmund Croubh- 
back, and his sole heir; and, in later times, of 
the Richmonds. Hence the rose in the mouth of 
one of the foxes which figure in the sign of the 
Holland Arms, Kensington. The daughter of 
the Duke of Richmond (Lady Caroline 
Lennox) ran away with Mr. Henry Fox, after- 
wards Baron Holland of Foxley; the Fox ran 
off with the Rose. 

The White Rose was not first adopted by the 
Yorkists during the contest for the crown, as 
Shakespeare says. It was an hereditary cog- 
nizance of the House of York, and had been 
borne by them ever since the title was first 
created. It was adopted by the Jacobites as an 
emblem of the Pretender, because his ad- 
herents were obliged to ahet him sub rosa (in 
secret). Cecily Neville, wife of Richard, Duke 
of York, and mother of Ed ward IV and Richard 
111, was known as The White Rose of Raby. 
She was a daughter of Ralph, Earl of Westmore- 
land, and granddaughter of John of Gaunt, 
and was the youngest of twenty-one children. 

In heraldry the Rose is also used as the mark 
of cadency for a seventh son. 

In Christian symbolism the Rose, as being 
emblematic of a paragon or one without peer, 
is peculiarly appropriated to the Virgin Mary, 
one of whose titles is “The Mystical Rose.” It 
is also the attribute of St. Dorothea, who 
carries roses in a basket; of St. Casilda, St. 
Elizabeth of Portugal, and St. Rose of Viterbo, 
who carry roses in either their hands or caps; 
of St. Thcrcse of Lisieux, who scatters red 
roses; and of St. Rosalie, St. Angelus, St. Rose 
of Lima, St. Ascylus, and St. Victoria, who 
wear crowns of roses. 

In the language of flowers, different roses 
have a different signification. For example:-- 

The Burgundy Rose signifies simplicity and 
beauty. _ , 

The China Rose, grace or beauty ever fresh. 

The Daily Rose, a smile. 

The Dog Rose, pleasure mixed with pain. 

A Faded Rose, beauty is fleeting. <&.. 

The Japan Rose, beauty your sole attraction. 

The Moss Rose, voluptuous love. 

The Musk Rose, capricious beauty. 

The Provence Rose, my heart is in flames. 

The White Rose Bud, too young to love. 

The White Rose full of buds, secrecy. 

A wreath of Roses, beauty and virtue re- 
warded. 

The Yellow Rose, infidelity, 




Rase 


778 


Rosemordris 


Rose Alley Ambuscade, The. The attack on 
Dryden by masked ruffians, probably in the 
employ of Rochester and the Duchess of 
Portsmouth, on December 18th, 1679, in 
revenge for an anonymous Essay on Satire 
attacking the king, Rochester, and the 
Duchesses of Cleveland and Portsmouth, 
which was erroneously attributed to Dryden. 

Rose Coffee-house, The. The tavern at the 
corner of Russell Street and Bow Street, 
Covent Garden, where Dryden presided over 
the genius of the town. Formerly known as 
“The Red Cow,” it was subsequently “Will’s” 

Rose of Jericho, The. The popular name of 
Anastatica hierochuntina , a small branching 
plant native to the sandy deserts of Arabia, 
Egypt, and Syria. When it is dry, if it is exposed 
to moisture, the branches uncurl. Also called 
the rose of the Virgin , or Rosa Mar ice. 

Rose Noble. A gold coin worth about 6s. 8d. 
current in the 15th and 16th centuries, so called 
because it was stamped with a rose. The value 
varied from time to time and place to place. 
Cp. Noble. 

Rose, The Romance of the. An early French 
poem of over 20,000 lines; an elaborate alle- 
gory on the Art of Love beneath which can be 
seen a faithful picture of contemporary life. It 
was begun by Guillaume de Lorris in the latter 
half of the 13th century, and continued by Jean 
de Meung in the early part of the 14th. The 
poet is accosted by Dame Idleness, who con- 
ducts him to the Palace of Pleasure, where he 
meets Love, accompanied by Sweet-looks, 
Riches, Jollity, Courtesy, Liberality, and 
Youth, who spend their time in dancing, sing- 
ing, and other amusements. By this retinue the 
poet is conducted to a bed of roses, where he 
singles out one and attempts to pluck it, when 
an arrow from Cupid’s bow stretches him 
fainting on the ground, and he is carried far 
away from the flower of his choice. As soon as 
he recovers, he finds himself alone, and resolves 
to return to his rose. Welcome goes with him; 
but Danger, Shame-face, Fear, and Slander 
obstruct him at every turn. Reason advises him 
to abandon the pursuit, but this he will not do; 
whereupon Pity and Liberality aid him in 
reaching the rose of his choice, and Venus per- 
mits him to touch it with his lips. Meanwhile, 
Slander rouses up Jealousy, who seizes Wel- 
come, whom he casts into a strong castle, and 
gives the key of the castle door to an old hag. 
Here the poet is left to mourn over his fate, and 
the original poem ends. 

In the second part — which is much the 
longer — the same characters appear, but the 
spirit of the poem is altogether different, the 
author being interested in life as a whole in- 
stead of solely in love; and directing his satire 
especially against women. 

A 15th-century English version is often pub- 
lished with Chaucer’s works, and it is probable 
that the first 1,700 lines or so are by Chaucer. 

Rose Sunday. The fourth Sunday in Lent, 
when the Pope blesses the “Golden Rose”(< 7 .v.). 

A bed of roses. See Bed. 


No rose without a thorn. There is always 
something to detract from pleasure — “every 
sweet has its sour,” “there is a crook in every 
lot.” 

Sing Old Rose and burn the bellows. “Old 

Rose” was the title of a song now unknown; 
thus, Izaak Walton, in the Compleat Angler 
(1653) says, “Let’s sing Old Rose .” Burn the 
bellows may be a schoolboys* perversion of 
bum libellos. At breaking-up time the boys 
might say, “Let’s sing Old Rose and burn our 
schoolbooks” (libellos). This does not accord 
ill with the meaning of the well-known catch — 
Now we're met like jovial fellows. 

Let us do as wise men tell us, 

Sing Old Rose and burn the bellows. 

Under the rose (Lat. sub rosa). In strict con- 
fidence. The origin of the phrase is wrapped in 
obscurity, but the story is that Cupid gave 
Harpocrates (the god of silence) a rose, to bribe 
him not to betray the amours of Venus. Hence 
the flower became the emblem of silence, and 
was sculptured on the ceilings of banquet- 
rooms, to remind the guests that what was 
spoken sub vino was not to be uttered sub divo. 
In 1526 it was placed over confessionals. 

The Wars of the Roses. A civil contest that 
lasted thirty years, in which eighty princes of 
the blood, a large portion of the English 
nobility, and some 100,000 common soldiers 
were slain. It was a struggle for the crown be- 
tween the houses of York (White rose) and 
Lancaster (Red), York (Edward IV and V and 
Richard III) deriving from Edmund of Lang- 
ley, Duke of York, and youngest son of Ed- 
ward III, and Lancaster (Henry IV, V, and VI) 
from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, an 
elder brother of Edmund. The wars started in 
the reign of Henry VI with a Yorkist victory 
at St. Albans (1455) and ended with the defeat 
and death of the Yorkist Richard III at Bos- 
worth (1485). His successor, Henry VII, was 
descended from John of Gaunt and married a 
descendant of Edmund of Langley, thus uniting 
the two houses. 

Rosemary (roz' m5 ri) is Ros-marinus (sea-dew), 
and is said to be “useful in love-making.” The 
reason is this: Both Venus, the love goddess, 
and Rosemary or sea-dew, were offspring of 
the sea; and as Love is Beauty’s son, Rosemary 
is her nearest relative. 

The sea his mother Venus came on; 

And hence some reverend men approve 
Of rosemary in making love. 

Butler: Hudibras , Pt. II, c. i. 

Rosemary, an emblem of remembrance. Thus 
Ophelia says, “There’s rosemary, that’s for 
remembrance.” According to ancient tradi- 
tion, this herb strengthens the memory. As 
Hungary water, it was once very extensively 
taken to quiet the nerves. It was much used in 
weddings, and to wear rosemary in ancient 
times was as significant of a wedding as to 
wear a white favour. When the Nurse in 
Romeo and Juliet asks, “Doth not rosemary 
and Romeo begin both with a [i.e. one] 
letter?” she refers to these emblematical 
characteristics of the herb. In the language of 
flowers it means “Fidelity in love.” 

Rosemordris Circle. See Merry Maidens. 




Rosetta Stone 


779 


Rou£ 


Rosetta Stone, The (ro zet' &). A stone foynd in 
1799 by M. Boussard, a French officer of en- 
gineers, in an excavation made at Fort St. 
Julien, near Rosetta, in the Nile delta. It has an 
inscription in three different languages — the 
hieroglyphic, the demotic, and the Greek. It 
was erected 195 b.c. in honour of Ptolemy 
Epiphanes, because he remitted the dues of the 
sacerdotal body. The great value of this stone 
is that it furnished the key whereby the 
Egyptian hieroglyphics were deciphered. 

Rosicrucians (roz i kroo' sh&ns). A secret 
society of mystics and alchemists that is first 
heard of in 1614 (when was published at Cassel 
the anonymous Fama fraternitatis des Idblichen 
Or dens des Rosenkreuz.es). But it was re- 
puted to have been founded by a certain 
Christian Rosenkreutz in the second half of the 
15th century. Nothing is known of him or of 
the early history of this society, if, indeed, it 
ever really existed except as a kind of parody. 
In Freemasonry there is still an order or degree 
named the Rosy Cross. 

It has been suggested that the title is neither 
from the founder nor from “rose cross,” but 
from ros crux , dew cross. Dew was considered 
the most powerful solvent of gold; and cross in 
alchemy is the symbol of light, because any 
figure of a cross contains the three letters 
L V X (light). “Lux” is the menstruum of the 
red dragon (/.<?. corporeal light), and this gross 
light properly digested produces gold, and dew 
is the digester. Hence the Rosicrucians are 
those who used dew for digesting lux or light, 
with the object of finding the philosopher’s 
stone. 

As for the Rosycross philosophers. 

Whom you will have to be but sorcerers, 

What they pretend to is no more 
Than Trismcgistus did before, 

Pythagoras old Zoroaster, 

And Apollonius their master. 

Butler: Hudibras , Pt. II, iii. 

Rosin Bible, The. See Bible, Specially 

NAMED. 

Rosinante. See Rozinante. 

Ross (Celtic). A headland: as Roslin, Culross, 
Rossberg, Montrose, Roxburgh, Ardrossan, 
etc. 

Ross, from the Welsh rhos (a moor); found 
in Welsh and Cornish names, as Rhosllanerch- 
rugog, etc. 

The Man of Ross. A name given to John 
Kyrlc (1637-1724), a native of Whitehouse, in 
Gloucestershire. He resided the greater part of 
his life in the village of Ross, Herefordshire, 
and was famous for his benevolence and for 
supplying needy parishes with churches. The 
Kyrle Society (c/.v.) was named in his honour. 

Who taught that heaven-directed spire to rise?, 

“The Man of Ross,” each lisping babe replies. 

Pope: Moral Essays. 

Rosse. A famous sword which the dwarf 
Alberich gave to Otwit, King of Lombardy. It 
struck so fine a cut that it left no “gap,” shone 
like glass, and was adorned with gold. 

This sword to thee I give: it is all bright of hue; 
Whatever it may cleave, no gap will there ensue, 
From Almari I brought it, and Rossfi is its name; 
Wherever swords arc drawn, 'twill put them all to 
shame. The Heldenbuch . 


Rostrum (ros" trfim). A pulpit, or stand for 
public speakers, in Latin; the beak of a ship. 
In Rome, the platform in the Forum from 
which orators addressed the public was orna- 
mented with the rostra , or snip-prows, taken 
from the Antiates in 338 b.c. 

Rota (ro' t&). A short-lived political club, 
founded in London in 1659 by James Harring- 
ton, author of Oceana (1656). Its objects were 
to introduce rotation in Government offices 
and voting by ballot. It met at the Turk’s Head, 
in New Palace Yard, Westminster, and did not 
survive the Restoration. Its republican prin- 
ciples are outlined in Oceana. 

Rota Romana. A Roman Catholic ecclesias- 
tical court composed of auditors under the 
presidency of a dean, who hear appeals and 
adjudicate when a conflict of rights occurs. The 
name is said to allude to the wheel-like (Lat. 
rota , wheel) plan of the room in which the 
court used to sit. >,• 

Rotary Club. A movement among business 
men which takes for its motto “Service not 
Self.” The idea originated with Paul Harris, a 
Chicago lawyer, in 1905. In 1911 it took root 
in Britain and there are now clubs in all the 
large towns. Membership in each club is re- 
stricted to one member each of any trade, call- 
ing, or profession; lectures are delivered by 
experts at the weekly meetings of the clubs. 

Rote. To learn by rote is to learn by means of 
repetition, i.e. by going over the same beaten 
track or route again and ag?in. Rote is really 
the same word as route . 

Rothschild. A family of Jewish financiers, 
deriving their name from the red shield by 
which their parent house was known in Frank- 
fort. The family was founded by Meyer Anselm 
Rothschild (1743-1812) who made a fortune 
during the French campaigns in Germany. On 
his death his five sons separated, extending the 
business throughout Europe. Nathan Meyer 
Rothschild (1777-1836) went to London in 
1805 and is reputed to have made a fortune 
through advance knowledge of the defeat of 
Napoleon at Waterloo. His son Lionel (1808- 
79) was best known by his work for Jewish 
emancipation. Lionel’s son Nathaniel Meyer 
(1840-1915) was made a baron in 1885. 
Through the network of their continental con- 
nexions the Rothschilds have exerted great in- 
fluence in many directions. 

Rotten Row. Said to be so called from O.Fr. 
route le roi or route du roi , because it formed 
part of the old royal route from the palace of 
the Plantagenet kings at Westminster to the 
royal forests. Camden derives the word from 
rotteran , to muster, as the place where soldiers 
mustered. Another derivation is Norman Rat - 
ten Row (roundabput way), being the way 
corpses were carried to avoid the public 
thoroughfares. Others ^suggest O.E. ro/, 
pleasant, cheerful; or simply rotten , referring 
to the soft material with which the road was 
covered. 

Roue (roo' a). The profligate Duke of Orleans, 
Regent of France, first used this word in its 
modern sense (c. 1720). It was his ambition 
to collect round him companions as worthless 



Rouen 


780 


Round 


as himself, and he used facetiously to boast 
that there was not one of them who did not 
deserve to be broken on the wheel-r- that being 
the most ordinary punishment for malefactors 
at the time; hence these profligates Went by the 
name of Orleans’ roues or wheels. The most 
notorious roues were the Dukes of Richelieu, 
Broglie, Biron, and Brancas, together with 
Canillac and Noce; in England, the Earl of 
Rochester and the Duke of Buckingham. 

Rouen (roo' on). Aller k Rouen. To go to ruin. 
The French are full of these puns, and our fore- 
fathers indulged in them also, as, You are on 
the highway to Needham (a market town in 
Suffolk), i.e. your courses will lead you to 
poverty. 

The Bloody Feast of Rouen (1356). Charles 
the Dauphin gave a banquet to his private 
friends at Rouen, to which his brother-in-law 
Charles the Bad was invited. While the guests 
were at table King John the Good entered the 
room with a numerous escort, exclaiming, 
“Traitor, thou art not worthy to sit at table 
with my- son!” Then, turning to his guards, he 
added, “Take him hence! By holy Paul, 1 will 
neither eat nor drink till his head be brought 
me:]” Then, seizing an iron mace from one of 
the men at arms, he struck another of the 
guests between the shoulders, exclaiming, 
“Out, proud traitor! by the soul of my father, 
thou shalt not live!’’ Four of the guests were 
beheaded on the spot. 

Rouge (roozh) (Fr. red). Rouge Croix. One of 
the pursuivants of the Heralds’ College (^.v.). 
So called from the red cross of St. George, the 
patron saint of England. 

Rouge Dragon. The pursuivant founded by 
Henry VII. The Red Dragon was the ensign of 
Cadwaladcr, the last Welsh king of the Britons, 
an ancestor of Henry VII, who employed it as 
the dexter supporter of his coat of arms. 

Rouge et Noir (Fr. red and black). A game of 
chance; so called because of the red and black 
diamond-shaped compartments on the board. 
The dealer deals out to noir first till the sum of 
the pips exceeds thirty, then to rouge in the 
same manner. That packet which comes near- 
est to thirty-one is the winner of the stakes. 

Rough. Rough-hewn. Shaped in the rough, not 
finished, unpolished, ill-mannered, raw; as a 
“rough-hewn seaman’’ (Bacon); a “rough- 
hewn discourse’’ (Howe). 

There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, 

Rough-hew them how we will. 

Hamlet , V, ii. 

Rough Music, called in Somersetshire 
skimmity-riding ( cp . Skimmington), and by the 
Basques toberac. A ceremony which takes 
place after sunset, when the performers, to 
show their indignation against some man or 
woman who has outraged propriety, assemble 
before the house, ana make an appalling din 
with bells, horns, tin pans, and other noisy 
instruments. 

Riding rough-shod over one. Treating one 
without the least consideration. The shoes of a 
horse that is rough-shod have the nails projec- 
ting to prevent it slipping. 


Rough and Ready, So General Zachary 
Taylor (1784-1850), twelfth president of the 
United States, was called. 

Rouncival (rown' si val). Large; of gigantic 
size. Certain large bones of extindt animals 
were at one time said to be the bones of the 
heroes who fell with Roland in Ronccsvalles 
(q.v.). “Rounceval peas” are those large peas 
called “marrowfats,” and a very large woman 
is called a rouncival. 

Hereof, I take it, it comes that seeing a great woman 
we say she is a rouncival. — Mandeville. 

Round. There is an archaic verb to round ( O.E. 
r union ), meaning to whisper, or to communi- 
cate confidentially. Browning uses it more than 
once, e.g . — 

First make a laughing-stock of me and mine, 

Then round us in the ears from morn to night 
(Because we show wry faces at your mirth) 

That you are robbed, starved* beaten and what not! 

The Ring and the Book , iv, 599. 

Bunyan, in the Pilgrim's Progress , speaks of 
“that lesson which I will round you in the ear.” 
Cp. also — 

France . . . rounded in the ear with [by] . . . com- 
modity (self-interest] hath resolved to [on] a most 
base . . . peace. — King John , II, i. 

And ner the feend he droughts nought nc were, 
Full prively, and rouned in his cere, 

“Herke, my brother, hcrk£, by thi faith . . 

Chaucer: Canterbury Tales , 7132. 

A good round sum. A large sum of money. 
Three Thousand ducats; 'tis a good round sum. 

Merchant of Venice, I, i. 

A round peg in a square hole. See Pro. 

A round robin. A petition or protest signed 
in a circular form, so that no name heads the 
list. T he device is French, and the term seems 
to be a corruption of rond (round), ruban (a 
ribbon). It was first adopted by the officers of 
government as a means of making known their 
grievances. 

At a round pace or rate. Briskly, rapidly, 
smartly. 

He cried again, 

“To the wilds!” and Fnid leading down the tracks . . . 
Round was their pace at first, but slacken'd soon. 

Tennyson: Enid and Geraint , 28. 

In round numbers. In whole numbers, with- 
out regarding the fractions. Thus we say the 
population of the British Isles in 1931 was 
forty-nine millions, in round numbers, and 
that of Greater London eight millions. The 
idea is that what is round is whole or perfect, 
and, of course, fractions, being broken num- 
bers, cannot belong thereto. 

Round dealing. Honest, straightforward deal- 
ing, without branching off into underhand 
tricks, or deviating from the straight path into 
the byways of finesse. 

Round dealing is the honour of man’s nature. — 
Bacon. 

Round-up. (Western U.S.A.) A corral on a 
large scale. Cattle were gathered together by 
riding round them and driving them in. Hence, 
a gathering-in of scattered objects or persons, 
e.g. criminals. 

Sellinger’s Round. See Sellinger. 

To get round one. To take advantage of him 
by cajoling or flattery; to have one’s own way 
through deception. 



Round 


781 


Routes 


To round on one. To turn on him; to tufn in- 
former against him. 

To walk the Round. Lawyers used frequently 
to give interviews to their clients in the Round 
Church in the Temple; and ‘‘walking the 
Round” meant loitering about the church, in 
the hope of being hired for a witness. 

Round Table, The. The Table fabled to have 
been made by Merlin at Carduel for Uther 
Pendragon. Uther gave it to King Leode- 
graunce, of Cameliard, who gave it to King 
Arthur when the latter married Guinever, his 
daughter. It was circular to prevent any 
jealousy on the score of precedency; it seated 
150 knights, and a place was left in it for the 
San Graal. The first reference to it is in Wace’s 
Roman de Brut (1155); these legendary details 
arc from Malory’s Morte d' Arthur, III, i and ii. 

The table shown at Winchester was recog- 
nized as ancient in the time of Henry III, but 
its anterior history is unknown. It is of wedge- 
shaped oak planks, and is 17 ft. in diameter 
and 2 1 in. thick. At the back arc 12 mortice 
holes in which 12 legs probably used to fit. It 
was for the accommodation of twelve favourite 
knights. Henry Vlll showed it to Francis I, 
telling him that it was the one used by the 
British king. The Round Table was not 
peculiar to the reign of King Arthur, but was 
common in all the ages of chivalry. Thus the 
King of Ireland, father of the fair Christabelle, 
says in the ballad 

Is there never a knighte of my round tablii 
This matter will undergo? Sir Cauline. 

In the eighth year of Edward I, Roger de 
Mortimer established a Round Table at Kenil- 
worth for “the encouragement of military pas- 
times.” At this foundation 100 knights and as 
many ladies were entertained at the founder’s 
expense. About seventy years later, Edward III 
erected a splendid table at Windsor. It was 
200 ft. in diameter, and the expense of enter- 
taining the knights thereof amounted to £100 a 
week. 

Knights of the Round Table. According to 
Malory ( Morte d' Arthur, 111, i, ii) there were 
150 knights who had “sieges” at the table. 
King Lcodegraunce brought 100 when, at the 
wedding of his daughter Guinever, he gave the 
table to King Arthur; Merlin filled up twenty- 
eight of the vacant seats, and the king elected 
Gawaine and Tor; the remaining twenty were 
left for those who might prove worthy. 

A list of the knights and a description of 
their armour is given in the Theatre of Honour 
by Andrew Fairne (1622). According to this 
list, the number was 151; but in Lancelot of 
the Lake (vol. II, p. 81), they are said to have 
amounted to 250. 

These knights went forth into all countries 
in quest of adventures, but their chief exploits 
occurred in quest of the San Graal (<y.v.) or 
Holy Cup, brought to Britain by Joseph of 
Arimathca. 

Sir Lancelot is meant for a model of fidelity, 
bravery, frailty in love, and repentance; Sir Galahad 
of chastity; Sir Gawain of courtesy; Sir Kay of a rude, 
boastful knight; and Sir Modred of treachery. 

There is still a “Knights of the Round Table” 
Club, which claims to be the oldest social club 
in the world, having been founded in 1721. 


Garrick, Dickens, Toole, Sir Henry Irving, 
Tennicl, are among those who have been 
members. 

A round table conference. A conference be- 
tween political parties in which each has equal 
authority, and at which it is agreed that the 
questions in dispute shall be settled amicably 
and with the maximum amount of “give and 
take” on each side. 

The expression came into prominence in 
connexion with a private conference in the 
house of Sir William Harcourt, January 14th, 
1 887, with the view of reuniting, if possible, the 
Liberal party, broken up by Gladstone’s Irish 
policy. 

Roundabout. A large revolving machine at 
fairs, circuses, etc., with wooden horses or the 
like, which go round and round ridden by pas- 
sengers, to the strains of a mechanical brass 
band. From this arises the device at a cross- 
roads, whereby traffic circulates in one direc- 
tion only, thus doing away with the need for 
holding up vehicles on one road while traffic 
from another crosses it. 

What you lose on the swings you make up on 
the roundabouts. See Swing. 

Roundheads. Puritans of the Civil War 
period; especially Cromwell’s soldiers. So 
called because they wore their hair short, while 
the Royalists wore long hair covering their 
shoulders. 

And ere their butter ’gan to coddle, 

A bullet churned i’ th’ Roundhead’s noddle. 

Roundle, in heraldry, is a charge of a circular 
form. There are a number of varieties, dis- 
tinguished by their colours or tinctures, as — a 
Bezant, tincture “or”; Plate , “argent”; 
Torteau, “gules”; Hurt, “azure”; Ogress or 
Pellet, “sable”; Potney (because supposed to 
resemble an apple, Fr. pomme ), “vert”; 
Golpe, “purpure”; Guze, “sanguine”; Orange , 
“tenney.” 

Roup, the name by which an auction is called 
in Scotland. It is a Scandinavian word, and is 
connected with the M.Swed. ropa , to shout. 

Rouse. A good, hearty bumper; a drinking 
bout. See Carouse. 

Rout. A common term in the 18th century for 
a large evening party or fashionable assem- 
blage. C/7. Drum; Hurricane; etc. 

Routes. In N.W. Europe Allied routes were 
signposted in World War II with simple 
emblems instead of place names, to enable 
drivers to reach a destination without the use 
of maps. The British roads, reaching from Caen 
to the Baltic, were easily recognizable, among 
them being “Hat,” “Bottle,” and “Diamond.* 
These were chosen by Brig. Sir Henry Floyd 
and Lt.-Col. J. C. Cockburn for an exercise 
in Yorkshire in which 8 Corps practised the 
battle they were to fight six months later south 
of Caen; hence when the real thing took place 
the same signs were used, and the routes begin- 
ning there continued across Europe. The most 
famous American road was the Red Ball 
Route — a supply line for fast-moving traffic 
only, kept rolling 24 hours a day to maintain 
the impetus of Gen. Patton’s sensational ad- 
vance across France. The name came from an 



Routiers 


782 


Royal 


old American railway tradition of marking 
priority freight with a red ball. 

Routiers, or Rutters (roo' ti erz, rOt'erz). 
Mediaeval adventurers who made war a trade 
and let themselves out to anyone who would 
pay them. So called because they were always 
on the route or moving from place to place. 

Rove. The original meaning was to shoot with 
arrows at marks that were selected at hap- 
hazard, the distance being unknown, with the 
object of practising judging distance. Hence — 

To shoot at rovers. To shoot at random with- 
out any distinct aim. 

Unbelievers are said by Clobery to “shoot at 
rovers.” — Divine Glimpses , p. 4 (1659). 

Running at rovers. Running wild; being 
without restraint. 

Row (rou). A disturbance, noise, or tumult is 
late 18th-century slang; the origin of the word 
is unknown. 

“I shall now and then kick up a row in the street.” 
— Loiterer , No. 12. 

Rowdy. A ruffian brawler, a “rough,” a 
riotous or turbulent fellow, whose delight is to 
make a row or disturbance. Hence rowdyism 
and rowdy-dowdy: The term was originally 
American (early 19th century) and denoted a 
wild and lawless backwoodsman. 

Rowan, or Mountain Ash (rou'an, ro'an). 
Called in Westmorland the “ Wiggentree.” It 
was greatly venerated by the Druids, and was 
formerly known as the “Witchen” because it 
was supposed to ward off witches. 

Their spells were vain. The hags returned 
To their queen in sorrowful mood. 

Crying that witches have no power 
Where thrives the Rowan-tree wood. 

Laidley Worm of Spindles ton Heughs (a ballad). 

Its scientific name is Pyrus oucuparia , and it 
is of the natural order Rosaceae, while the com- 
mon Ash is of the natural order Oleaccie. The 
Mountain Ash is Icosandria , but the common 
Ash is Diandria\ the former is Pentagynia , but 
the latter is Monogynia ; yet the two trees 
resemble each other in many respects. 
Rowland. See Roland. 

Rowley (ro' li). Old Rowley. Charles II was so 
called from his favourite race-horse. A portion 
of the Newmarket racecourse is still called 
Rowley Mile, from the same horse. 

The Rowley Poems. See Forgeries. 
Roxburghe Club, The (roks' br6). An associa- 
tion of bibliophiles founded in 1812 for the 
purpose of printing rare works or MSS. It was 
named after John, Duke of Roxburghe, a cele- 
brated collector of ancient literature (1740- 
1804), and remains the most distinguished 
gathering of bibliophiles in the world. It was 
the forerunner of a number of similar printing 
clubs, as the Camden, Cheetham, Percy, 
Shakespeare, Surtees, and Wharton, in Eng- 
land; the Abbotsford, Bannatyne, Maitland, 
and Spalding, in Scotland; and the Celtic 
Society of Ireland. 

Roy, Le, or la Reyne, s’avisera (the king, or 
queen , will consider it). This is the royal veto, 
last put in force March 11th, 1707, when 
Queen Anne refused her assent to a Scottish 
Militia Bill. 


During the agitation for Roman Catholic 
emancipation, George III threatened a veto, 
but the matter was not brought to the test. 

Royal. A standard size of writing papers 
measuring 19 x 24 in. In printing it is 
20 x 25 in. or 20 x 25£ in.; hence a royal 
octavo book measures 10 x 6J in. (untrimmed). 

Super Royal in printing papers measures 
(with slight variations) 20 x 27 in., and in 
writing papers 19 x 27 in. 

Royal Academy. Founded in 1768, with Sir 
Joshua Reynolds as the first president, “for the 
purpose of cultivating and improving the arts 
of painting, sculpture and architecture.” 

Royal American Regiment. The original 
name of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, which 
was first raised under that title in Maryland 
and Pennsylvania, 1755. Now the 2nd Green 
Jackets, The King’s Royal Rifle Corps. 

Royal and Ancient. The name by which the 
game of golf has been known since early days. 
In 1834 the St. Andrews Golf Club (founded 
in 1754) took the name of Royal and Ancient 
Golf Club; except in U.S.A. this club is the 
recognized authority on golf throughout the 
world, governing the game, framing rules, and 
settling questions and disputes. 

Royal Bounty. A part of the Civil List ( q.v .) 
out of which the British sovereign makes 
donations to charities and pays for official 
subscriptions. 

Royal Institution. An association founded in 
1799 for the purpose of prosecuting scientific 
and literary research, to further experimental 
science, and give opportunities for the ex- 
change of views and experiences. Under the 
patronage of the sovereign, it consists of a 
president and a number of professors, among 
whom have been numbered Humphry Davy, 
Faraday, Tyndall, Rayleigh, Sir James Dewar. 

Royal Merchants. The wealthy, 13th-century 
Venetian merchant families of Sanudo, 
Justiniani, Grimaldi, and others, who erected 
principalities in divers places of the Archi- 
pelago. They and their descendants enjoyed 
almost royal rights in these districts for many 
centuries. 

Sir Thomas Gresham was called a “royal 
merchant”; and in 1767 Fletcher’s comedy, 
The Beggar's Bush (1622) was produced as an 
opera with the title The Royal Merchant. 

Royal Oak. See Oak-apple Day. 

Royal Society. The premier scientific society 
in Britain. It originated in London in 1645 
when a number of learned enquirers met to 
discuss and experiment in various branches of 
science. The society was organized in 1660, 
meeting at Gresham College until 1710, when a 
move was made to Crane Court, Fleet Street. 
In 1780 the Society moved again to Somerset 
House, finally settling in its present home at 
Burlington House in 1857. Its fellowship, the 
F.R.S., is the greatest honour in the scientific 
and philosophical world. 

Royal Titles. See Rulers, Titles of. 



Royston 


783 


Ruffians’ HaU 


Royston. A Royston horse and Cambridge 
Master of Arts will give way to no one. A Cam- 
bridgeshire proverb. Royston was famous for 
malt, which was sent to London on horseback. 
These heavy-laden beasts never moved out of 
the way. The Masters of Arts, being the great 
dons of Cambridge, had the wall conceded to 
them by the inhabitants out of courtesy. 

Rozinante, Rocinante (roz i nan' ti). The 
wretched jade of a riding-horse belonging to 
Don Quixote (q.v.). Although it was nothing 
but skin and bone — and worn out at that — he 
regarded it as a priceless charger surpassing 
“the Bucephalus of Alexander and the Babieca 
of the Cid.” The name, which is applied to 
similar hacks, is from Span. rocin, a jade, the 
ante (before) implying that once upon a time, 
perhaps, it had been a horse. 

Rub. An impediment. The expression is taken 
from bowls, where “rub” means that some- 
thing hinders the free movement of your bowl. 

Without rub or interruption. — Swift . 

Like a bowle that runneth in a smooth allie without 
ante rub. — Stanihurst, p. 10. 

Don’t rub it In! Yes, I know I’ve made a fool 
of myself, but you needn’t go on emphasizing 
the fact! 

Rub of the green. A golf term for any un- 
suspected misfortune to which the best played 
stroke may sometimes be subject. 

Ruba’iyyat (plural of Ruba'i), means quatrains, 
much used by Arabic poets, and familiar to 
English readers through Fitzgerald’s Rubaiyat 
of Omar Khayyam (1859). 

Rubber. In whist, bridge, and some other 
games, a set of three games, the best two out of 
three, or the third game of the set. The origin 
of the term is uncertain, but it may be a trans- 
ference from bowls, in which the collision of 
two balls is a rubber , because they rub against 
each other. 

Those who play at bowls must look out for 
rubbers. There is always some risk in anything 
you undertake, and you’ve got to be prepared 
to meet it; you must take the rough with the 
smooth. 

Rubberneck-wagon. An excursion or sight- 
seeing-bus in which the passengers stretch their 
necks to look at views or monuments. 

Rubicon (roo' bi kon). To pass the Rubicon. To 
take some step from which it is not possible to 
recede. Thus, when the Austrians, in 1859, 
passed the Ticino, the act was a declaration of 
war against Sardinia ; in 1 866, when the Italians 
passed the Adige, it was a declaration of war 
against Austria; and in August 1914, when the 
Germans crossed the frontier into Belgium it 
was impossible to avoid the armed intervention 
of Great Britian. 

The Rubicon was a small river separating 
ancient Italy from Cisalpine Gaul (the pro- 
vince allotted to Julius Caesar). When, in 49 
b.c., Caesar crossed this stream he passed be- 
yond the limits of his own province and be- 
came an invader of Italy, thus precipitating the 
Civil War. 

Rubric (roo' brik) (Lat. rubrica , red ochre, or 
vermilion). An ordinance or law was by the 


Romans called a rubric, because it was written 
with vermilion, in contradistinction to prae- 
torian edicts or rules of the court, which were 
posted on a white ground ( [Juvenal , xiv, 192). 

Rubrica vetavit = the law has forbidden it. — 
( Persius , v, 99.) 

The liturgical directions, titles, etc., in a 
Prayer Book are known as the Rubrics because 
these were (and in many cases still are) printed 
in red. Milton has an allusion to the custom of 
printing the names of certain saints ( cp . Red 
Letter Day) in red in the Prayer Book 
Calendar. 

No date prefix’d 

Directs me in the starry rubric set. 

Paradise Regained , IV, 392. 

Ruby. The ancients considered the ruby to be 
an antidote to poison, to preserve persons from 
plague, to banish grief, to repress the ill effects 
of luxuries, and to divert the mind from evil 
thoughts. 

It has always been a very valuable stone, and 
even to-day a fine Burma ruby will cost more 
than a diamond of the same size. 

Who can finde a virtuous woman? for her price is 
far above rubies. — Prov.xxx l, 10; cp. also Job xxviii, 18, 
and Prov. viii, 11. 

Marco Polo said that the king of Ceylon had 
the finest ruby ever seen. “It is a span long, as 
thick as a man’s arm, and without a flaw.” 
Kublai Khan offered the value of a city for it, 
but the king would not part with it though all 
the treasures of the world were to be laid at his 
feet. 

The perfect ruby. An alchemist’s term for the 
elixir, or philosopher’s stone. 

He that once has the flower of the sun. 

The perfect ruby, which we call elixir, . . . 

Can confer honour, love, respect, long life. 

Give safety, valour, yea, and victory. 

To whom he will. 

Ben Jonson: The Alchemist, II, i. 

Rudder. Who won’t be ruled by the rudder must 
be ruled by the rock. Who won’t listen to reason 
must bear the consequences, like a ship that 
runs upon a rock if it will not answer the helm. 

Ruddock. The redbreast, “sacred to the house- 
hold gods”; see Robin Redbreast. Shake- 
speare makes Arviragus say over Imogen — 
Thou shalt not lack 

The flower that’s like thy face, pale primrose; nor 

The azured harebell . . . the ruddock would 

With charitable bill . . . bring thee all these, 

Cymbeline , IV, ii. 

Rudolphine Tables, The (roo dol' fin). Astro- 
nomical calculations begun by Tycho Brahe, 
continued by Kepler, and published in 1627. 
They were named after Kepler’s patron, Kaiser 
Rudolph II. 

Rue (roo), called “herb of grace” ty.v.), be- 
cause it was employed for sprinkling holy 
water. See also Difference. Ophelia says— 

There’s rue for you, and here’s some for me! we 
may call it “herb of grace” o’ Sundays. — Hamlet, IV, v. 

Ruff. An early forerunner of whist, very 
popular in the late 16th and early 17th cen- 
turies, later called slamm. The act of trumping 
at whist, etc., especially when one cannot 
follow suit, is still called “the ruff.” 

Ruffians’ Hall. A cant term for West Smithfield. 



Rufus 


784 


Rulers 


The field commonly called West-Smith field, was 
for many yeares called Ruffians Hall , by reason it was 
the usuall place of Frayes and common fighting, dur- 
ing the Time that Sword-and-Bucklers were in use. — 
Howes* continuation of Stow*s “ Annals ” (1631), p. 
1024. 

Rufus. ( The Red.) William II of England (1056, 
1087-1100). 

Otho II of Germany (973-83), son of the 
emperor Otho the Great. 

Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, son-in- 
law of Edward I. (Slain 1313.) 

Ruggiero. See Rogero. 

Rule. Rule of the road. See under Road. 

Rule of thumb. See Thumb. 

Rule the roost. See Roast. 

Rule, or Rcgulus, St. A priest of Patrae in 
Achaia, who is said to have come to Scotland 
in the 4th century, bringing with him relics of 
St. Andrew, and to have founded the town and 
bishopric of St. Andrews. The name Killrule 
( Celia ReguL) perpetuates his memory. 

Rule, Britannia. Words by James Thomson 
(1700-48), author of The Seasons ; music by Dr. 
Arne (1740)lllt first appeared in a masque en- 
titled Alfred in which the name of David 
Mallett is associated with that of Thomson. 
There are, however, no grounds whatever for 
supposing that Mallet wrote a single line of the 
Ode. In the rising of 1745 “Rule Britannia" 
was sung by the Jacobites with modifications 
appropriate to their cause. 

Rule nisi (ni' si). A “rule" is an order from 
one of the superior courts, and a “rule nisi" 
(c/7. Nisi) is such an order “to show cause." 
That is, the rule is to be held absolute unless 
the party to whom it applies can “show cause" 
why it should not be so. 

Rulers, Titles of. Titles of sovereigns and 
other rulers may be divided into two classes, 
viz. (1) designations that correspond more or 
less to our King or Emperor (such as Bey, 
Mikado , Sultan ), and (2) appellatives that 
were originally the proper name of some in- 
dividual ruler (as Ciesar). 

Akhoond. King and high priest of the Swat 
(N.W. Provinces, India). 

Ameer , Amir. Ruler of Afghanistan, Sind, 
etc. 

Archon. Chief of the nine magistrates of 
ancient Athens. The next in rank was called 
Basileus , and the third Polemarch (field 
marshal). 

Beglerbeg. See Bey. 

Begum. A queen, princess, or lady of high 
rank in India. 

Bey — of Tunis. In Imperial Turkey, a bey 
was usually a superior military officer, though 
the title was often assumed by those who held 
no official position. 

Brenn or Brenhin (war-chief) of the ancient 
Gauls. A dictator appointed by the Druids in 
times of danger. 

Bretwalda (wielder of Britain). A title of 
some of the Anglo-Saxon kings who held 
supremacy over the rest; a king of the Hep- 
tarchy (q.v.). 

Cacique. See Cazique. 


Caliph or Calif (successor). Successors of 
Mohammed in temporal and spiritual matters; 
after the first four successors of Mohammed 
the caliphate passed through various dynasties 
— Umayyad, Abbasid, Seljuk, Turkoman, etc. 
In 1538 the Sultan of Turkey, Selim I, declared 
himself Caliph and the title rested with the 
sultanate until 1922 when both sultanate and 
caliphate were suppressed. 

Caudillo (Span, “leader"). The head of the 
Spanish State, Don Francisco Franco Baha- 
monde. 

Cazique or Cacique. A native prince of the 
ancient Peruvians, Cubans, Mexicans, etc. 

Chagan. The chief of the Avars. 

Cham. See Khan. 

Czar. See Tsar. 

Dey. Governor of Algiers, before it was an- 
nexed to France in 1830; also the 16th-century 
rulers of Tunis and Tripoli (Turk, ddi , uncle). 

Diwan. The native chief of Palanpur, India. 

Doge (— Duke). The ruler of the old Venetian 
Republic (697-1797); also of that of Genoa 
(1339-1797). 

Duce (Ital. “leader"). Head of the Fascist 
State of Italy, 1922-45, Benito Mussolini. 

Duke. The ruler of a duchy; formerly in 
many European countries of sovereign rank. 
(Lat. Dux , a leader.) 

Elector. A Prince of the Holy Roman 
Empire (of sovereign rank) entitled to take part 
in the election of the Emperor. 

Emir. The independent chieftain of certain 
Arabian provinces, as Bokhara, Nejd, etc.; 
also given to Arab chiefs who claim descent 
from Mohammed. 

Emperor. The paramount ruler of an 
empire, especially, in mediaeval times, the Holy 
Roman Empire; from Lat. Imperator , one who 
commands. 

Exarch. The title of a viceroy of the Byzan- 
tine Emperors, especially the Exarch of 
Ravenna, who was de facto governor of Italy. 

Fiihrer (Ger. “leader"). Prime Minister and 
President of the Nazi German State, 1933-45, 
Adolf Hitler. 

Gaekwar. Formerly the title of the monarch 
of the Mahrattas; now that of the native ruler 
of Baroda (his son being the Gaekwad ). The 
word is Marathi for a cowherd. 

Gauleiter (Ger. “region leader"). The ruler 
of a province under the Nazi regime, 1933-45. 

Holkar. The title of the Maharajah of 
Indore. 

Hospodar. The title borne by the princes of 
Moldavia and Wallachia before the union of 
those countries with Rumania (Slavic “lord, 
master"). 

Imperator. See Emperor. 

Inca. The title of the sovereigns of Peru up 
to the conquest by Pizarro (1531). 

Kabaka. The native ruler of the Buganda 
province of the Uganda Protectorate. 

Khan. The chief rulers of Tartar, Mongol, 
and Turkish tribes, as successors of Genghis 
Khan (d. 1227). The word means lord or 
prince. 

Khedive. The title conferred in 1867 by the 
Sultan of Turkey on the viceroy or governor of 
Egypt. C/7. Vali. 




Rulers 


785 


Rump 


King. The Old English cyning , literally “a 
man of good birth” (cyn, tribe, kin, or race, 
with the patronymic - ing ). 

Lama. The priest-ruler of Tibet. See Lama. 

Maharajah. (Hind, “the great king”). The 
title of many of the native rulers of Indian 
States. 

Maharao. The title of the native rulers of 
Cutch, Kotah, and Sirohi, India. 

Maharao Rajah. The native ruler of Bundi, 
India. 

Maharawal. The native rulers of Banswara, 
Dungarpur, Jaisalmer, and Partabgarh, India. 

Mikado. The popular title of the hereditary 
ruler of Japan — officially styled “Emperor.” 
The name (like the Turkish Sublime Porte) 
means “The August Door.” Cp. Shogun. 

Mir. The native ruler of Khairpur, India. 

Mogul or Great Mogul. The Emperors of 
Delhi, and rulers of the greater part of India 
from 1526 to 1857, of the Mongol line founded 
by Baber. 

Mpret. The old title of the Albanian rulers 
(from Lat. imperator ’), revived in 1913 in 
favour of Prince William of Wied, whose 
Mpretship lasted only a few months. 

Nawab. The native rulers of Bhopal, Tonk, 
Jaora, and some other Indian States. 

Negus (properly Negus Negust , meaning 
“king of kings”). The native name of the 
sovereign of Abyssinia — officially styled “Em- 
peror.” 

Nizam. The title of the native ruler of 
Hyderabad. Deccan, since 1713. 

Padishah (Pers. “protecting lord”). A title of 
the former Sultan of Turkey, the Shah of 
Persia, and of the former Great Moguls. 

Pendragon. The title assumed by the ancient 
British overlord. 

Polemarch. See Archon. 

Prince. Formerly in common use as the title 
of a reigning sovereign, as it still is in a few 
cases, such as the Prince of Monaco and Prince 
of Liechtenstein. 

Rajah. Hindustani for king {cp. Maha- 
rajah): specifically the title of the native 
rulers of Cochin, Ratlam, Tippera, Chamba, 
Faridkot, Mandi, Pudukota, Rajgarh, Raj- 
pipla, Sailana, and Tehri (Garhwal). Cp. Rex. 

Rex (regem). The Latin equivalent of our 
“king,” connected with regere , to rule, and 
with Sanskrit rajan (whence Rajah), a king. 

Sachem , Sagamore. Chieftains of certain 
tribes of North American Indians. 

Satrap. The governor of a province in 
ancient Persia. 

Shah (Pers. king). The supreme ruler of 
Persia and of some other Eastern countries. 
Cp. Padishah. 

Shaikh or Sheikh. An Arab chief, or head 
man of a tribe. 

Shogun. The title of the virtual rulers of 
Japan (representing usurping families who kept 
the true Emperor in perpetual imprisonment) 
from about the close of the 12th century to the 
revolution of 1867-68. It means “leader of ail 
army,” and was originally the title of military 
governors. Also called the Tycoon. 

Sindhia. The special title of the Maharajah 
of Gwalior. . , 

Sirdar. The commander-in-chief of the 
Egyptian army and military governor ot 


Egypt during the British occupation, 1882- 
1936. 

Stadtholder. Originally a viceroy in a pro- 
vince of the Netherlands, but later the chief 
executive officer of the United Provinces. 

Sultan (formerly also Soldari). The title of 
the rulers of certain Mohammedan States. 

Tetrarch. The governor of the fourth part of 
a province in the ancient Roman Empire. 

Thakur Sahib. The title of the native ruler of 
Gondal, India. 

Tycoon. An alternative title of the Japanese 
Shogun (tf.v.). The word is from Chinese and 
means “great sovereign.” 

Vali. The title of the governors of Egypt 
prior to 1867, when the style Khedive ( q.v .) was 
granted by the Sultan. 

Voivode , or Vaivode. Properly (Russ.) “the 
leader of an army,” the word was for a time 
assumed as a title by the Princes of Moldavia 
and Wallachia, later called Hospodars (q.v.). 

Wali. A title of the native ruler, or Khan, of 
Kalat, India. 

(2) The following names have been adopted 
in varying degrees as royal titles among the 
peoples mentioned: — 

Abgarus (The Grand). So tl&§ kings of 
Edcssa were styled. 

Abi melee h (my father the king). The chief 
ruler of the ancient Philistines. 

Attabeg (father prince). Persia, 1118. 

Augustus. The title of the reigning Emperor 
of Rome, when the heir presumptive was 
styled “C<csar.” 

Ccesar. Proper name adopted by the Roman 
emperors. See Kaiser; Tsar. 

Candace. Proper name adopted by the 
queens of Ethiopia. 

Cral (from Carolus— Charlemagne). The 
ruler of ancient Serbia. 

Cyrus (mighty). Ancient Persia. 

Darius. Latin form of Darawesh (king). 
Ancient Persia. 

Kaiser. The German form of Lat. Ccesar (see 
below, also Tsar): the old title of the Emperor 
of the Holy Roman Empire, and of the Em- 
perors of Germany and of Austria. 

Melech (king). Ancient Semitic tribes. 

Pharaoh (light of the world). Ancient Egypt. 

Ptolemy. Proper name adopted by Egypt 
after the death of Alexander. 

Sophy or Sophi. A former title of the kings of 
Persia, from Cafi-ud-din, the founder of the 
ancient dynasty of the (,'ali or Cafavi. 

Tsar (from Lat. Ccesar; cp. Kaiser). The 
popular title of the former Emperors of Russia 
(assumed in 1547 by Ivan the Terrible), but 
officially his only as King of Poland and a few 
other parts of his Empire. His wife was the 
Tsarina , his son the Tsarevich , and his daughter 
the Tsarevna. 


Ruminate. To think, to meditate upon some 
subject; properly, “to chew the cud (Lat. 
rumino ; from rumen , the throat). 

On a flowery bank he chews the cud.— D ryden. 
He chew’d 

The thrice-turn’d cud of wrath, and cook d 
his spleen. — 

TcKtvvenw Th/» Prinrcxx. Pt. I. St. V. 


Rump, The. The end of the backbone, with 
the buttocks. The term was applied con- 



Rump 


786 


Rune 


temptuously to the remnant of the Long Par- 
liament that was left after Pride’s Purge ( g.v .) 
in 1648, and lasted till it was eventually ejected 
by Cromwell in April, 1653; also to the later 
remnant of the same Parliament that was 
restored in May, 1659, and dissolved by Monk 
in the following February. The “Rump” was 
composed of those members who most strenu- 
ously opposed Charles I and the Restoration. 

Rump and dozen. A rump of beef and a 
dozen of claret; or a rump steak and a dozen 
oysters. A not uncommon wager among sports- 
men of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. 

Rumpelstilzchen (rQm pel stilts' chen). A pas- 
sionate little deformed dwarf of German folk- 
tale. A miller’s daughter was enioined by a 
king to spin straw into gold, and the dwarf did 
it for her, on condition that she would give him 
her first child. The maiden married the king, 
and grieved so bitterly when the child was born 
that the dwarf promised to relent if within 
three days she could find out his name. Two 
days were spent in vain guesses, but the third 
day one of the queen’s servants heard a strange 
voice singing — 

Little dreams my dainty dame 
Rumpelstilzchen is my name. 

The child was saved, and the dwarf killed 
himself with rage. 

Run. A long run, a short run. We say Of a show, 
“It had a long run,” meaning it attracted the 
people to the house, and was represented over 
and over again for many nights. The allusion 
is to a runner who continues his race for a long 
way. The show ran on night after night with- 
out change. 

He that runs may read. The Bible quotation 
in Hab. ii, 2, is, “Write the vision, and make it 
plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth 
it.” Cowper says — 

But truths, on which depends our main concern . . . 
Shine by the side of every path we tread 
With such a lustre, he that runs may read. 

Tirocinium. 

In the long run. In the final result. This allu- 
sion is to race-running: one may get the start 
for a time, but in the long run, or entire race, 
the result may be different. The hare got the 
start, but in the long run the patient per- 
severance of the tortoise won the race. 

On the run. Moving from place to place and 
hiding from the authorities; said specially of 
rebels. 

To be run in. To be arrested and taken to the 
lock-up. 

To go with a run. To go swimmingly; “with- 
out a hitch.” A seamams phrase. A rope goes 
with a run when it is let go entirely, instead of 
being slackened gradually. 

To have the run of the house. To have free 
access to it and liberty to partake of whatever 
comes to table. 

To run a man down. To depreciate him, or to 
abuse him to a third party. 

To run amuck. See Amuck. 

To run down. To cease to go or act from lack 
of motive force, or a clock when the spring is 
fully unwound. 


To run into the ground. To pursue too far; to 
exhaust a topic. 

To run riot. See Riot. 

To run the rig. See Rio. 

To run the show. To take charge of it, 
generally with ostentation; to make oneself 
responsible for its success. 

To run through one’s inheritance. To squan- 
der it at a rapid rate. 

To run to earth. To discover in a hiding- 
place; to get to the bottom of a matter. 

Runner-up. The competitor or team that 
finishes in the second place, after the winner. 

Runners. See Redbreasts. 

His shoes are made of running leather. He is 
given to roving. There may be a pun between 
roan and run. 

Quite out of the running. Quite out of court, 
not worthy of consideration; like a horse 
which has been scratched for some race and so 
is not “in the running.” 

Running footmen. Men servants in the early 
part of the 18th century, when no great house 
was complete without some half-dozen of 
them. Their duty was to run beside the fat 
Flemish mares of the period, and advise the 
innkeeper of the coming guests. The pole which 
they carried was to help the cumbrous coach 
out of the numerous sloughs. It is said that the 
notorious “Old Q” was the last to employ 
running footmen. 

Running Thursday. December 13th, 1688, 
two days after the flight of James II. A rumour 
ran that the French and Irish Papists had 
landed; a terrible panic ensued, and the people 
betook themselves to the country, running for 
their lives. 

Running water. No enchantment can subsist 
in a living stream; if, therefore, a person can 
interpose a brook betwixt himself and the 
witches, sprites, or goblins chasing him, he is 
in perfect safety. Burns’s tale of Tam o' 
Shanter turns upon this superstition. 

Running the Hood. It is said that an old lady 
was passing over Haxcy Hill, when the wind 
blew away her hood. Some boys began tossing 
it from one to the other, and the old lady so 
enjoyed the fun that she bequeathed thirteen 
acres of land, that thirteen candidates might be 
induced to renew the sport on the 6th of every 
January. 

Runcible Spoon. The plate and cutlery trades 
have no knowledge of this utensil, which is 
mentioned in Edward Lear’s Owl and the 
Pussy Cat : 

They dined on mince and slices of quince 
Which they ate with a runcible spoon. 

Some who profess to know describe it as a kind 
of fork having three broad prongs, one of 
which has a sharp cutting edge. 

Rune Croon). A letter or character of the earliest 
alphabet in use among the Gothic tribes of 
Northern Europe. Runes were employed for 
purposes of secrecy or for divination; and the 
word is also applied to ancient lore or poetry 



Runic Staff 


787 


S 


expressed in runes. Rune is related to O.E. ran , 
secret. 

There were several sorts of runes employed by the 
Celts, as (1) the Evil Rune, when evil was to be in- 
voked; (2) the Securable Rune , to secure from mis- 
adventure; (3) the Victorious Rune , to procure victory 
over enemies; (4) Medicinal Rune , for restoring to 
health the indisposed, or for averting danger, etc. 

Runic Staff, or Wand. See Clog Almanac. 

Rupert. Prince Rupert’s drops. Bubbles made 
by dropping molten glass into water. Their 
form is that of a tadpole, and if the smallest 
portion of the “tail” is nipped off, the whole 
flies into fine dust with explosive violence. 
These toys were named after Prince Rupert 
(1619-82), grandson of James I and the leader 
of Royalist cavalry in the Civil Wars, who 
introduced them into England. 

The first production of an author ... is usually 
esteemed as a sort of Prince Rupert’s drop, which is 
destroyed entirely if a person make on it but a single 
scratch. — Household Words. 

Rupert of Debate. Edward Geoffrey, four- 
teenth Earl of Derby (1799-1869). It was when 
he was Mr. Stanley, and the opponent of 
Daniel O’Connell, that Lord Lytton so de- 
scribed him, in allusion to the brilliant Royalist 
cavalry leader, Prince Rupert. 

The brilliant chief, irregularly great, 

Frank, haughty, bold — the Rupert of Debate. 

New Tinion . 

Ruptured Duck. The nickname in World War 
II for the American ex-service lapel button 
issued to all demobilized from the forces. 

Ruritania (ru ri ta' nya). An imaginary king- 
dom in a pre-World-War Europe where 
Anthony Hope placed the adventures of his 
hero in the novels The Prisoner of Zendo (1894) 
and Rupert of Hentzau (1898). The name is 
frequently applied to any small state where 
politics and intrigues of a melodramatic im- 
portance are the natural order of the day. 

Rush. Friar Rush. A name given to the will-o’- 
the-wisp; also to a strolling demon who, it is 
said, once on a time got admittance into a 
monastery as a scullion, and played the monks 
divers pranks. See Friar’s Lanthorn. 

It’s a regular rush. A barefaced swindle, an 
exorbitant charge. Said when one is “rushed” 
into paying a good deal more for something 
than it is worth. 

Not worth a rush. Worthless, not worth a 
straw. When floors used to be strewn with 
rushes, distinguished guests were given clean, 
fresh rushes, but those of inferior grade had 
either the rushes which had been already used 
by their superiors, or none at all. 

Strangers have green rushes when daily guests are 
not worth a rush. — L yly: Sappho and Phaon (1584). 

Rush-bearing Sunday. A Sunday, generally 
near the time of the festival of the saint to 
whom the church is dedicated, when anciently 
it was customary to renew the rushes with 
which the church floor was strewn. The fes- 
tival is still observed at Ambleside, Westmor- 
land, on the last Sunday in July, the church 
being dedicated to St. Anne, whose day is July 
26th. The present custom is to make the fes- 
tival a flower Sunday, with rushes and flowers 
formed into fanciful devices. The preceding 


* 

Saturday is a holiday, being the day when the 
old rushes were removed. 

Russel. A common name given to a fox, from 
its russet colour. 

Daun Russel, the fox, stert up at oones. 

And by the garget hente Chaunteclere 
And on his bak toward the wood him here. 

Chaucer: The Nonnes Prestes Tale. 

Russia Leather. A fine leather of a smooth tex- 
ture, originally produced in Russia. It is the 
result of tanning and dyeing (usually of a red 
colour) by a particular process and the dis- 
tinctive smell comes from the distillation of 
birch bark used in the manufacture. 

Rustam, or Rustem. The Persian Hercules, the 
son of Zal, prince of Sedjistan, famous for his 
victory over the white dragon Asdeev. His 
combat for two days with Prince Isfendiar is a 
favourite subject with the Persian poets. 
Matthew Arnold’s poem Sohrab and Rustam 
gives an account of Rustam fighting with and 
killing his son Sohrab. 

Let Z§1 and Rustrum bluster as they will. 

Or Hatim call to Supper — heed not you. 
Fitzgerald : Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam , x. 

Rusty. He turns rusty. Like a rusty bolt, he 
sticks and will not move; he’s obstinate. 

Rye-house Plot. A conspiracy in 1683 for the 
assassination of Charles II and his brother 
James on their way from Newmarket, hatched 
at the Rye House Farm, in Hertfordshire. As 
the house in which the king was lodging acci- 
dentally caught fire, the royal party left eight 
days sooner than they had intended, and the 
plot miscarried. Lord William Russell and 
Algernon Sidney were among those executed 
for complicity. 

Rymenhild. See King Horn. 

Ryot. A tenant in India who pays a usufruct 
for his occupation. The Scripture parable of 
the husbandmen refers to such a tenure; the 
lord sent for his rent, which was not money but 
fruits, and the husbandmen stoned those who 
were sent, refusing to pay their “lord.” Ryots 
have an hereditary and perpetual right of occu- 
pancy so long as they pay the usufruct, but if 
they refuse or neglect payment may be turned 
away. 


s 


S. The nineteenth letter of the English alpha- 
bet (eighteenth of the ancient Roman), 
representing the Phoenician and Hebrew shin. 

S in the nautical log-book signifies smooth (of 
the sea) or snowy (weather). 

Collar of S.S. or Esses. See Collar. 


’S. A euphemistic abbreviation of God*s. 
formerly much in use in common oaths and 
expletives; as ’ Sdeath (God’s death), ’ Sblood , 
'Sdcins (God’s digues, i.e . dignity), 'Sfoot, etc. 
'Sdeins, I know not what I should say to him, in the 
whole world! He values me at a crack’d three farth- 
ings, for aught I see. — Ben Jonson: Every Man In his 
Humour , II, i. 


$. The typographical sign for the dollar. It is 
thought to be a variation of the 8 with which 



788 


Sable 


S.J. 



“pieces of eight” (q.v.) were stamped, and was 
in use in the United States before the adoption 
of the Federal currency in 1785. Another, 
perhaps fanciful, derivation is from the letters 

S.J. (Societas Jesu). The Society of Jesus; 
denoting that the priest after whose name these 
letters are placed is a Jesuit. See Jesuit. 
SOS. The arbitrary code signal used by 
wireless operators on board ship to summon 
the assistance of any vessels within call; 
hence, an urgent appeal for help. 

The letters have been held to stand for save 
our souls or save our ship , but they were 
adopted merely for convenience, being 3 dots, 

3 dashes, and 3 dots, • 

S.P.Q.R. Senatus Populusque Romanus 
(the Roman Senate and People). Letters 
inscribed on the standards, etc., of ancient 
Rome. 

SS. (Ger.). Schutzstaffel , an armed force that 
originated as part of Hitler’s bodyguard in 
1923, with the predominant SA (Sturmabteil- 
ung). In 1929 Heinrich Himmler took over 
the SS and defining its duties as “to find out, 
to fight and to destroy all open and secret 
enemies of the Fiihrer, the National Socialist 
Movement, and our racial resurrection,” 
raised it to a position of dominating power and 
great numerical strength. During World War II 
SS Divisions fought with fanatical intensity. 
S.T.P. Sanctae Theologfce Professor. Professor 
is the Latin equivalent of the scholastic Doctor . 
“D.D.” — i.e. Doctor of Divinity — is the 
^English equivalent of “S.T.P.” 

Sabaeans, or Sabeans (sa be' anz). The ancient 
people of Yemen, in south-western Arabia; 
from Arabic Saba’, or Sheba, which was 
supposed to be the capital. 

Sabaism (sab' a izm). The worship of the stars, 
or the “host of heaven” (from Heb. Cuba , 
host). The term is sometimes erroneously 
applied to the religion of the Sabians. 
Sabaoth (sa ba' oth). The Bible phrase Lord 
God of Sabaoth means Lord God of Hosts , 
not of the Sabbath , Sabaoth being Hebrew for 
“armies” or “hosts.” The epithet has been 
frequently misunderstood; sec, for instance, 
the last stanza of Spenser’s Faerie Queene 
(VII, viii, 2): 

All that moveth doth in change delight: 

But thenceforth all shall rest eternally 

With Him that is the God of Sabaoth hight: 

O! that great Sabaoth God, grant me that Sabbath’s 
sight! 

Sabbath (s&b' &th) (Heb. shabath , to rest). 
Properly, the seventh day of the week, en- 
joined on the ancient Hebrews by the fourth 
Commandment ( Exod . xx, 8-11) as a day of 
rest and worship; the Christian Sunday, “the 
Lord’s Day,” the first day of the week, is often, 
wrongly, alluded to as “the Sabbath.” 

A Sabbath Day’s journey {Exod. xvi, 29; 
Acts i, 12), with the Jews was not to exceed the 
distance between the ark and the extreme end 
of the camp. This was 2,000 cubits, somewhat 
short of an English mile. 

Up to the hill by Hebron, seat of giants old, 

No journey of a Sabbath Day, and loaded so. 

Milton: Samson Agonistes. 


Days set apart as Sabbaths. Sunday by 
Christians; Monday by the Greeks; Tuesday 
by the Persians; Wednesday by the Assyrians; 
Thursday by the Egyptians; Friday by the 
Mohammedans; Saturday by the Jews. 

Witches’ Sabbath. See Witch. 

Sabbathians (sa ba' thi anz). The disciples of 
Sabbathais Zwi, or Tsebhi of Smyrna (1626- 
76), perhaps the most remarkable “Messiah” 
of modern times. At the age of fifteen he had 
mastered the Talmud, and at eighteen the 
Cabbala. When in a Turkish prison he em- 
braced Mohammedanism, and later formed a 
half-Mohammedan and half-Jewish sect of 
Cabalists. 

Sabbatical Year (sa bat' i kal). One year in 
seven, when all land with the ancient Jews was 
to lie fallow for twelve months. This law was 
founded on Exod. xxiii, 10, etc.; Lev. xxv, 2-7; 
Dent. xv. 1-11. In certain American and other 
universities the custom of allowing professors 
every seven years one full year during which 
they are free to study or travel without the 
obligation of teaching or lecturing. 

Sabean. See Saba-ans. 

Sabellianisin (sa bcl' i an izm). The tenets of 
the Sabellians , an obscure sect founded in the 
3rd century by Sabellius, a Libyan priest. Little 
is known of their beliefs, but they were 
Unitarians and held that the Trinity merely 
expressed three relations or states of one and 
the same God. See Person ( Confounding the 
Persons). 

Sabines, The (sab' inz). An ancient people of 
central Italy, living in the Apennines N. and 
NE. of Rome, and subjugated by the Romans 
about 290 b.o. 

The Rape of the Sabine Women. The legend 
connected with the founding of Rome is that 
as Romulus had difficulty in providing his 
followers with wives he invited the men of the 
neighbouring tribes to a celebration of games. 
Jn the absence of the menfolk the Roman 
youths raided the Sabine territory and carried 
off all the women they could find. The incident 
has frequently been treated in art; Rubens’ 
canvas depicting the scene (in the National 
Gallery, London) is one of the best known 
examples. 

Sable. The heraldic term for black , shown in 
engraving by horizontal lines crossing per- 
pendicular ones. The fur of the animal of this 
name is, of course, brown; but it is probable 
that in the 15th century, when the heraldic 
term was first used, the fur was dyed black, as 
seal fur is to-day. 

Sable fur was always much sought after, 
and very expensive. 

By the Statute of Apparel (24 Henry VIII 
c. 13) it is ordained that none under the degree 
of an earl shall use sables. Bishop tells us that a 
thousand ducats were sometimes given for a 
“face of sables” ( Blossoms , 1577). Ben Jonson 
says, “Would you not laugh to meet a great 
councillor of state in a flat cap, with trunk-hose 
. . . and yond haberdasher in a velvet gown 
trimmed with sables?” ( Discoveries .) 



Sable 


789 


Sacred 


A suit of sables. A rich courtly dress. 

So long? Nay, then, let the devil wear black, for 
I'll have a suit of sables. — Hamlet , III, ii. 

Sabotage (sab' o tazh). Wilful and malicious 
destruction of tools, plant, machinery, 
materials, etc., by discontented workmen or 
strikers. The term came into use after the great 
French railway strike in 1912, when the strikers 
cut the shoes ( sabots ) holding the railway lines. 

Sabreur (sa brer'). Le beau sabreur, the hand- 
some swordsman. This was the name given to 
Joachim Murat (1767-1815), King of Naples 
and brother-in-law of Napoleon. He was in 
command of the cavalry in many of Napoleon’s 
greatest battles. 

Sabrina (sa brl' na). The Latin name of the 
river Severn, but in British legend the name of 
the daughter of Locrine and his concubine 
Estrildis. Locrinc’s queen, Guendolen, vowed 
vengeance against Estrildis and her daughter, 
gathered an army together, and overthrew her 
husband. Sabrina fled and jumped into the 
Severn; Nereus took pity on her, and made her 
goddess of the river, which is hence poetically 
called Sabrina. 

There is a gentle nymph not far from hence. 

That with moist curb sways the smooth Severn stream, 
Sabrina is her name, a virgin pure. 

Milton: Com us, 840. 

Saccharissa (sak a ris' a). A name bestowed by 
Edmund Waller on Lady Dorothy Sidney 
(b. 1617), eldest daughter of the Earl of 
Leicester, who, in 1639, married Lord Spencer 
of Wormleighton, afterwards Earl of Sunder- 
land. Aubrey says that Waller was passion- 
ately in love with the lady, but the poems 
themselves give the impression that the ailair 
was merely a poetical pose. 

Sacco Benedetto or San Benito (sak' 6 ben 6 
det' 6, san be ne' to) (Span, the blessed sack 
or cloak). The yellow linen robe with two 
crosses on it, and painted over with flames and 
devils, in which persons condemned by the 
Spanish Inquisition were arrayed when they 
went to the stake. See Auto da fe. In the ease 
of those who expressed repentance for their 
errors, the flames were directed downwards. 
Penitents who had been taken before the 
Inquisition had to wear this badge for a 
stated period. Those worn by Jews, sorcerers, 
and renegades bore a St. Andrew’s cross in red 
on back and front. 

Sachem (sa' chem). A chief among some of the 
North American Indian tribes. Sagamore is a 
similar title. 

Sack. A bag. According to tradition, it was 
the last word uttered before the tongues were 
confounded at Babel. 

Sack was used of any loose upper garment 
hanging down the back from the shoulders; 
hence “sac-friars” or fratres saccati. 

To get the sack, or To be sacked. To get 
discharged by one’s employer. The phrase was 
current in France in the 17th century {On lay 
a do find son sac)', and the probable explanation 
of the term is that mechanics carried their 
implements in a bag or sack, and when dis- 
charged received it back so that they might 
replace in it their tools, and seek a job else- 


where. The Sultan used to put into a sack, and 
throw into the Bosporus, any one of his harem 
he wished out of the way; but there is no 
connexion between this and Our saying. 


A sack race. A village sport in which each 
runner is tied up to the neck in a sack. In some 
cases the candidates have to make short leaps, 
in other cases they are at liberty to run as well 
as the limits of the sack will allow them. 

Sack. Any dry wine, as sherry sack, Madeira 
sack, Canary sack, and Palm sack (From Fr. 
sec, dry.) 

Sackerson (sak' cr son). The famous bear kept 
at Paris-Garden (q.v.) in Shakespeare’s time. 


Sacrament. Originally ‘‘a military oath” (Lat. 
sacramentum) taken by the Roman soldiers 
not to desert their standard, turn their back 
on the enemy, or abandon their general. We 
also, in the sacrament of baptism, take a 
military oath “manfully to fight under his 
[Christ’s] banner.” The early Christians used 
the word to signify “a sacred mystery,” and 
hence its application to baptism, the Eucharist, 
marriage, confirmation, etc. 

The five sacraments arc Confirmation, 
Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and Extreme 
Unction. These are not counted “Sacraments 
of the Gospel.” See Thirty-nine Articles , 
Article xxv. 

The seven sacraments are Baptism, Con- 
firmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Orders, 
Matrimony, and Extreme Unction. 


The two sacraments of the Protestant 
Churches are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. 

Sacra mentarians. Those who believe that no 
change takes place in the eucharistic elements 
after consecration, but that the bread and wine 
are simply emblems of the body and blood 
of Christ. The name is applied specially to a 
party of 16th-century German Reformers who 
separated from Luther. 

Sacred. Applied to that which is consecrated 
(Lat. sacrare, to consecrate), or dedicated to, 
or set apart for, religious use. 

The Sacred Band. A body of 300 Theban 
“Ironsides” who fought against Sparta in the 
4th century b.c. They specially distinguished 
themselves at Leuctra (371), and the Band 
was annihilated at Chaeronea (338). 


The Sacred City. See Holy City. 

The Sacred College. The College of Car- 
dinals (q.v.) at Rome. 

The Sacred Heart. The “Feast of the Sacred 
Heart of Jesus” owes its origin to a French nun 
of the 17th century, St. Mary Margaret 
Alacoque, of Burgundy, who practised devo- 
tion to the Saviour’s heart in consequence of a 
vision The devotion was sanctioned by Pope 
Clement* XII in 1732, and extended to the 
whole Church by Pius IX m 1856. It is 
observed on the Friday after the octave of 
Corpus Christi. 

The Sacred Isle, or Holy Island. An epithet 
used of Ireland because of its many saints, 
and of Guernsey for its many monks. The 
island referred to by Moore in his Irish 
Melodies is Scattery, to which St. Senanus re- 


Sacred 


Safety 


790 


tired, and vowed that no woman should set 
foot thereon. 

Oh» haste and leave this sacred isle, 

Unholy bark, ere morning smile. 

St. Senanus and the Lady, ' s 

Enhallow (from the Norse Eyinhalga , holy 
isle) is the name of a small island in the 
Orkney group, where cells of the Irish 
anchorite fathers are said still to exist. 

See also JIoly Isle. 

Sacred Majesty. A title applied to the 
sovereigns of Great Britain in the 17th and 
18th centuries. 

The Sacred War. In Greek history, one of 
the wars waged by the Amphictyonic League in 
defence of the temple and oracle of Delphi. 

(1) Against the Cirrhaeans (594-587 b.c.). 

(2) ^ For the restoration of Delphi to the 
Phocians, from whom it had been taken (448- 
447 b.c.). 

(3) Against Philip of Macedon (346 b.c.). 

The Sacred Way. See Via Sacra. 

The Sacred Weed. Vervain (see Herba 
Sacra), or — humorously— tobacco. 

Sacring Bell (sak' ring). The bell rung in R.C. 
churches at the consecration of the Host, or at 
its elevation. Now called Sanctus bell, from 
the words Sanctus , sanctus , sanctus , dontinus , 
Deus Sabaoth , pronounced by the priest. From 
the obsolete verb to sacre , to consecrate, used 
especially of sovereigns and bishops. 

He heard a little sacring bell ring to the elevation of 
a to-morrow mass. — Reginald Scott: Discovery of 
Witchcraft (1584). 

The sacring of the kings of France. — Temple, 
Sacy’s Bible. See Bibles, specially named. 

Sad. He’s a sad dog. A playful way of saying 
a man is a debauchee. 

Sad bread (Lat. panis gravis). Heavy bread, 
bread that has not risen properly. Shake- 
speare calls it “distressful bread” — not the 
bread of distress, but the panis gravis or ill- 
made bread eaten by those who can’t get better. 
In America unleavened cakes are known as 
sad cakes. 

Sadism (s5' dizm). The unscientific term for 
the obtaining of sexual satisfaction through the 
infliction of pain or humiliation on another 
person or even an animal. The word is also 
applied to the morbid pleasure certain psycho- 
logical states experience in being cruel or in 
watching acts of cruelty. The term comes from 
the Marquis de Sade (1740-1814), a French 
writer, of notorious ill behaviour and per- 
version, whose novels Justine (1791) and Les 
crimes de V amour (1800) exhibited this 
psychological state of mind. 

Saddle. A saddle of mutton. The two loins 
with the connecting vertebrae. 

Boot and saddle. See Boot. 

\ Lose the horse and win the saddle. See Lose. 

Saddle-bag furniture. Chairs and so on 
upholstered in a cheap kind of carpeting, the 
design of which is based on that of the saddle- 
bags carried by camels in the East. 

Set the saddle on the right horse. Lay the 
blame on those who deserve it. 


To be in the saddle. To be in a position of 
authority, in office; also to be ready for work 
and eager to get on with it. 

To saddle with the responsibility. To put the 
responsibility on, to make responsible for. 

Sadducees (s&d' Q sez). A Jewish party which 
existed about the time of Christ, and denied the 
existence of spirits and angels, and disbelieved 
in the resurrection of the dead; said to be so 
called from Sadoc or Zadok ( see II Sam. viii, 
17), who is thought to have been a priest or 
rabbi some three centuries before the birth of 
Christ. They were opposed to the Pharisees 
in that they did not accept the oral parts of the 
Law traditionally handed down from Moses, 
and as they did not believe in future punish- 
ments, they punished offences with the utmost 
severity. 

Sadleirian Lectures (s$d ler' i &n). Lectures on 
Algebra delivered in the University of Cam- 
bridge and founded in accordance with the will 
of Lady Sadlcir (d. 1706), wife of Sir Edwin 
Sadleir. The first lecture was delivered in 
Emmanuel, 1710. The lectures were dis- 
continued in 1860 and a professorship of Pure 
Mathematics substituted for them. 

Sadler’s Wells (near Islington, London). There 
was a well at this place called Holy Well , once 
noted for “its extraordinary cures.” The 
priests of Clerkenwell Priory used to boast of 
its virtues. At the Reformation it was stopped 
up, and was wholly forgotten till 1683, when a 
certain Sadler, in digging gravel for his garden, 
accidentally discovered it again. Hence the 
name. In 1765 a builder named Rosoman 
converted Sadler’s garden into a theatre that 
became famous for burlettas, musical inter- 
ludes and pantomimes. In 1772 the famous 
comedian Thomas King took over the manage- 
ment until he succeeded Sheridan at Drury 
Lane. Edmund Kean, Dibdin and many other 
great actors appeared at Sadler’s Wells, and 
the great clown Grimaldi made his fame there. 
In 1844 Phelps took over the theatre and 
produced Shakespeare, but the boom in the 
West End theatres cast the Wells into the 
shade, though it enjoyed some popularity from 
1875 until 1881 under the management of Mrs. 
Bateman. In 1931 Lilian Baylis (d. 1937), who 
for over thirty years had managed the Old Vic, 
opened Sadler’s Wells for the production ot 
ballet and opera and made it one of the 
leading houses in London. 

Safety. Safety bicycle. See Penny earthing. 

Safety matches. In 1847 Schrotter, an 
Austrian chemist, discovered that red phos- 
phorus gives off no fumes, and is virtually 
inert; but being mixed with chlorate of potash 
under slight pressure it explodes with violence. 

. In 1855 Herr Bottger, of Sweden, put the one 
on the box and the other on the match ; and 
later improvements have resulted in the match 
being tipped with a mixture of chlorate of 
potash, sulphide of antimony, bichromate of 
potassium and red lead, while on the box is a 
mixture of non-poisonous amorphous phos- 
phorus and black oxide of manganese, so that 
the match must be rubbed on the box to bring 
the two together. Cp. Prometheans; Lucepers. 


Saffron 


791 


Saint 


Saffron. He hath slept in a bed of saffron (Lat* 
dormivit in sacco croci). He has a very light 
heart, in reference to the exhilarating effects of 
saffron. 

With genial joy to warm his soul, 

Helen mixed saffron in the bowl. 

Saga (pi. Sagas) (sa' ga). The Teutonic 
and Scandinavian mythological and historical 
traditions, chiefly compiled in the 12th and 
three following centuries. The most remark- 
able are those of Lodbrog , Her vara, Vilkina , 
Voluspa , Volsunga , Blomsturvalla , YngUnga , 
OlafTryggva-Sonar, with those of Jomsvikingia 
and of Knytlinga (which contain the legendary 
history of Norway and Denmark), those of 
Sturlinga and Eryrbiggia (which contain the 
legendary history of Iceland), and the collec- 
tions, the Heims-Kringla and New Edda , due 
to Snorro-Sturlcson. Cp. Edda. 

Sagamore. See Sachem. 

Sages, The Seven. See Wise Men of Greece. 

Sagittarius (saj i tar' i us) (Lat. the archer) 
One of the old constellations, the ninth sign of 
the Zodiac, which the sun enters about 
November 22nd. It represents the centaur 
Chiron, who at death was converted into the 
constellation. 

Sagittary (sfij' i ta ri). The name given in the 
mediaeval romances to the centaur, a mythical 
monster half horse and half man, whose eyes 
sparkled like fire and struck dead like lightning, 
fabled to have been introduced into the Trojan 
armies. 

The dreadful Sagittary 
Appals our numbers. 

Troilus and Cressida, V, v. 
The “Sagittary” referred to in Othello I, i: — 
Lead to the Sagittary the raised search, 

And there will 1 be with him, 

was probably an inn, but may have been the 
Arsenal. 

Sahib (sab, sa' ib) (Urdu, friend). A form of 
address used by Hindus to Europeans in British 
India, about equivalent to our “Sir” in “Yes, 
sir.” “No, sir.” Also, an Englishman or 
European, a woman being Mem-sahib. The 
word is also used colloquially to describe a 
cultured, refined man. 

Sail. Sailing under false colours. Pretending to 
be what you are not with the object of personal 
advantage. The allusion is to pirate vessels, 
which hoist any colours to elude detection. 

To sail before the wind, close to the wind, 
etc. See Wind. 

To set sail. To start a voyage. 

To strike sail. See Strike. 

You may hoist sail. Be off. Maria saucily says 
to Viola, dressed in man’s apparel — 

Will you hoist sail, sir? Here lies your way. — 
Twelfth Night, I, v. 

Sailor King, The. William IV of England 
(1765, 1830-37), who entered the navy as 
midshipman in 1779, and was made Lord High 
Admiral in 1827. 

Saint. Individual saints who have a place in 
this Dictionary of Phrase and Fable will be 
found entered under their names. For symbols 
of saints, see Symbols, 


Alexander III (1159-81) was the first Pope 
to restrict the right of canonisation ( i.e . the 
making of a saint) to the Holy See; before his 
time it was performed by a synod of bishops 
knd merely ratified by the Pope. It was not till 
the 4th century that persons otheifthan martyrs 
were canonized, and none was inscribed on 
the Roll of the Saints until 608, when Boniface 
IV dedicated the Pantheon to St. Mary of 
the Martyrs. The first saint to be made direct 
by a Pope was St. Swidborg, canonized in 752 
by Stephen II at the request of Pepin. St. 
Alban, the English protomartyr, was canon- 
ized in 749 by Hadrian I, to please the Mercian 
King, Offa. 

Popes who have been canonized. From the 
time of St. Peter to the end of the 4th century 
all the Popes (with a few minor and dbubtful 
exceptions) are popularly entitled “Saint”; 
since then the following are the chief of those 
bearing the title: — 

Innocent I (402-17). 

Leo the Great (440-61). 

John I (523-26). 

Gregory the Great (590-604). 

Deusdedit I (615-19). 

Martin I (649-54). 

Leo II (682-84). 

Sergius I (687-701). 

Zacharias (741-52). 

Paul I (757-67). 

Leo III (795-816). 

Paschal I (817-24). 

Nicholas the Great (858-67). 

Leo IX (1049-54). 

Gregory VII, Hildebrand (1073-85). 

Celestine V (1294). 

Pius V (1566-72). 

Among the kings and royalties so called 
are— 

Edward the Martyr (961, 975-78). 

Edward the Confessor (1004, 1042-66). 

Eric IX of Sweden (? 1 155-61). 

Ethelred I, king of Wessex (? 866-871). 

Ferdinand III of Castile and Leon (1200, 
1217-52). 

Irene (d. 1124), the Empress; daughter of the 
king of Hungary and consort of John Com- 
nenus, Byzantine Emperor. 

Lawrence Justiniani, Patriarch of Venice 
(1390, 1451-55). 

Louis IX of France (1215, 1226-70). 

Margaret (d. 1093), queen of Scotland, wife 
of William III. 

Olaus II of Norway, brother of Harald III, 
called “St. Olaf the Double Beard” (984, 
1026-30). 

Stephen I of Hungary (979, 997-1038). 

Theodora (d. 867), Empress; consort of the 
Byzantine Emperor, Theophilus. 

Wenceslaus (910, 928-936), king of Bohemia. 

The following are among those canonized 
during the twentieth century: Joan of Arc was 
canonized in 1920; in 1935 Pius XI canonized 
Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) and John 
Fisher (1459-1535), Bishop of Rochester, who 
had suffered for the Faith under Henry VIII; 
in 1954 Pius XII canonized Pius X (1903-14). 

The City of Saints. See City. 

The Island of Saints. So Ireland was called 
in the Middle Ages. 



Saint 


792 


Sake 


The Latter-day Saints. The Mormons ( q.v .). 

St. Befana. Inhere is no saint of this name, 
which is a corruption of Epiphany . See Befana. 

St. Bernard Passes. Two Alpine passes into 
Italf, the Grd&t St. Bernard from Switzerland, 
the Little St. Bernard from France. On the 
former is the famous hospice founded by St. 
Bernard of Menthon (923-1008, canonized 
1681), served by the Augustinian Canons. 
From earliest times they have succoured 
pilgrims and others crossing the Pass, for this 
purpose breeding the large and handsome St. 
Bernard Dog, trained to track and aid travel- 
lers lost in the snow. In May, 1800, Napoleon 
made his famous passage of the Alps across the 
Great St. Bernard Pass with 30,000 men. A 
military feat as the road did not then exist, 
the only track being a bridle-path. 

St. Cloud. A palace where many important 
events in French history took place, formerly 
stood some mile and a half west of Paris, on 
the Seine. It was built on the site of an older 
chateau in 1658 by Louis XIV, and given to 
his brother the Duke of Orleans. Louis XVI 
bought it from' that family and gave it to Marie 
Antoinette; it was later a favourite residence of 
Napoleon I and Napoleon III. It was badly 
damaged during the Franco-Prussian War of 
1870, and on the fall of the Empire was 
demolished by the Communards in 1871. 

St. Cyr, or St.-Cyr-l’Ecole. The famous 
French military academy, about 14 miles 
south-west of Paris. The building was formerly 
occupied by the girls* school founded by Mme 
de Maintenon, where Racine’s Esther and 
Athalie were first acted. The girls’ school was 
suppressed at the Revolution, and in 1808 
Napoleon moved the military school thither 
from Fontainebleau. The building was 
destroyed by the R.A.F. in World War II. 

St. Elmo, or St. Elmo’s Fire. See Corpo- 
sant. 

St. Francis’s Distemper. Impecuniosity; 
being moneyless. Those of the Order of St. 
Francis were not allowed to carry any money 
about them. 

I saw another case of gentlemen of St. Francis’s 
disterriper. — Rabelais: Pantagruel , V, 21. 

St. Germain, The Court of. The intriguing 
circle of exiled English nobles and others that 
surrounded James II after his deposition, when 
he had settled at the chateau of St. Germain- 
en-Laye (on the Seine, about 8 miles NNW 
of Paris), a former residence of Francois I, 
Louis XIV, and others. 

St. Giles’s. See Giles. 

St. James’s, The Court of. See under James. 

St. John Lateran. See Lateran. 

St. Johnstone’s Tippet. A halter; so called 
from Johnstone the hangman. 

St. Leger Sweepstakes. A horse-race for 
three-year-olds, run at Doncaster early in 
September. It was instituted in 1776 by Colonel 
Anthony St. Leger, of Park Hill, near Don- 
caster, but was not called the “St. Leger” till 
two years afterwards. 


St. Martin’s le Grand. The familiar name for 
the central offices of the General Post Office, 
because from 1825 its headquarters have been 
on and about the site of the ancient church 
and monastery of this name (dating from pre- 
Conquest times) at the south-west corner of 
Aldersgate Street, London. 

St. Martin’s Summer. See Summer. 

St. Monday. A facetious name sometimes 
given to Monday because many workmen and 
others who like an extended “week-end” make 
it a holiday (holy day!). There is a story in the 
Journal or the Folk-lore Society recording 
that — 

While Cromwell’s army lay encamped at Perth, 
one of his zealous partisans, named Monday, died, 
and Cromwell ottered a reward for the best lines on 
his death. A shoemaker of Perth brought the 
following: — 

Blessed be the Sabbath Day, 

And cursed be worldly pelf; 

Tuesday will begin the week, 

Since Monday’s hanged himself, 
which so pleased Cromwell that he not only gave the 
promised reward but made also a decree that shoe- 
makers should be allowed to make Monday a 
standing holiday. 

St. Patrick’s Purgatory. See Patrick. 

St. Petersburg. The former name of the 
capital of the old Russian Empire, so called 
in honour of Peter the Great, who founded it 
in 1703. Soon after the outbreak of World 
War I it was changed by Imperial rescript to 
Petrograd, this being the Russian, while the 
other is a German, equivalent of Peter's Town. 
In 1924 the name of the place was changed 
again, to Leningrad, in honour of Lenin 
(1870-1924), the virtual founder of the U.S.S.R. 
Leningrad withstood one of the greatest sieges 
of World War II, from 1941 until 1944. 

St. Simonism. The social and political 
system of Count de St. Simon (1760-1825), 
the founder of French Socialism, who pro- 
posed the institution of a European parliament 
to arbitrate in all matters affecting Europe, and 
the establishment of a social hierarchy based 
on capacity and labour. Fable says that he was 
led to his “social system” by the phantom 
of Charlemagne, which appeared to him one 
night in the Luxembourg, where he was suffer- 
ing a temporary- imprisonment. 

St. Stephen’s. The Houses of Parliament are 
still sometimes so called, because, at one time, 
the Commons used to sit in St. Stephen’s 
Chapel. 

St. Stephen’s Loaves. Stones; the allusion, 
of course, is to the stoning of St. Stephen 
(Acts vii, 54-60). 

Having said this, he took up one of St. Stephen’s 
loaves, and was going to hit him with it.— Rabelais: 
Pantagruel , V, 8. 

Sake. A form of the obsolete word sac (O.E. 
sacu , a dispute or lawsuit), meaning some 
official right or privilege, such as that of 
holding a manorial court. 

The common phrases For God's sake , for 
conscience * sake , for goodness' sake t etc., 
mean “out of consideration for” God, 
conscience, etc. 

For old sake’s sake. For the sake of old 
acquaintance, past times. 



Sake 


793 


Saiiens 


For one’s name’s sake. Out of regard for 
one’s character or good name. 

Sakes! or Sakes alive! Expressions of sur- 
prise, admiration, etc., commoner in the 
United States than in England. 

Saker (sa' ker). A piece of light artillery, used, 
especially on board ship, in the 16th and 17th 
centuries. The word is borrowed from the 
saker hawk (falcon). 

The cannon, blunderbuss, and saker, 

He was the inventor of and maker. 

Butler: Hudibras , I, ii. 

Sakuntala (sa kun' ta la). The heroine of Kali- 
dasa’s great Sanskrit drama, Sakuntala. She 
was the daughter of a sage, Viswamita, and 
Menaka, a water-nymph, and was brought up 
by a hermit. One day King Dushyanta came 
to the hermitage during a hunt, and persuaded 
her to marry him; and later, giving her a ring, 
returned to his throne. A son was born, and 
Sakuntala set out with him to find his father. 
On the way, while bathing, she lost the ring, 
and the king did not recognize her owing to 
enchantment. Subsequently it was found by a 
fisherman in a fish he had caught (cp. Kenti- 
gern), the king recognized his wife, she was 
publicly proclaimed his queen, and Bharata, 
his son and heir, became the founder of the 
glorious race of the Bharatas. Sir William 
Jones (1746-94) translated it into English. 

Sakya-Muni (sak' ya mu' ni). One of the 
names of Gautama Siddartha, the Buddha 
(<?.v.), founder of Buddhism. 

Salaam (sa lam'). An Oriental salutation of a 
ceremonious nature, often with a profound 
obeisance, in Arabic the word means “peace.” 

Salad. A pen’orth of salad oil. A strapping; a 
castigation. It is a joke on All Fool’s Day to 
send one to the saddler’s for a “pen'orth of 
salad oil.” The pun is between “salad oil,” as 
above, and the French avoir c/e la salacle , “to 
be flogged.” The French s a lacier and salacle are 
derived from the O.Fr. word for the saddle on 
which schoolboys were at one time birched. 
A block for the purpose is still kept as a curi- 
osity in some of our public schools. 

Salad days. Days of inexperience, when 
persons are very green. 

My salad days. 

When I was green in judgment. 

Antony and Cleopatra , I, v. 

Salamander (sal' a man der) (Gr. salamandra , 
a kind of lizard). The name is now given to 
a genus of amphibious Urodcla (newts, etc.), 
but anciently to a mythical lizard-like monster 
that was supposed to be able to live in fire, 
which, however, it quenched bv the chill of 
its body. Pliny tells us he tried the experiment 
once, but the creature was soon burnt to a 
powder (Nat. Hist, x, 67; xxix, 4). It was 
adopted by Paracelsus as the name of the 
elemental being inhabiting fire (gnomes being 
those of the earth, sylphs of the air, and 
undines of the water), and was hence taken over 
by the Rosicrucian system, from which source 
Pope introduced salamanders into his Rape 
of the Lock (i, 57). 


Francois I of France adopted as his badge 
a lizard in the midst of flames, with the legend 
Nutrisco et extinguo (I nourish and extinguish). 
The Italian motto from which this legend was 
borrowed was Nutrisco il buonti e spengp il 
reo (I nourish the good and extinguish the bad). 
Fire purifies good metal, but consumes rub- 
bish. 

Falstaff calls Bardolph’s nose “a burning 
lamp,” “a salamander,” and the drink that 
made such “a fiery meteor” he calls “fire.” 

I have maintained that salamander of yours with 
fire any time this two-and-thirty years . — Henry IV 
Pt. /, IV, iii. 

Salamander’s wool. Asbestos, a fibrous 
mineral, affirmed by the Tartars to be made 
“of the root of a tree.” It is sometimes called 
“mountain flax,” and is not combustible. 

Salary. Originally “salt rations” (Lat. solarium ; 
sal, salt). The ancient Romans served out 
rations of salt and other necessaries to their 
soldiers and civil servants. The rations alto- 
gether were called by the general name of salt, 
and when money was substituted for the 
rations the stipend went by the same name. 

Sales Resistance. The negative attitude of a 
possible buyer which hinders or prevents the 
sale of a commodity. 

Salic (sal' ik). Pertaining to the Salian Franks, 
a tribe of Franks who, in the 4th century a.d., 
established themselves on the banks of the Sala 
(now known as the Yssel). and became the 
ancestors of the Merovingian kings of France. 

Which Salique, as I said, ’twixt Elbe and Sala, 

Is at this day in Germany called Meisen. 

Henry V t I, ii. 

Salic Code. A Frankish law-book, written 
in Latin, extant during the Merovingian and 
Carolingian periods. 

The Salic Law. A law derived from the Salic 
Code limiting succession to the throne, land, 
etc., to heirs male to the exclusion of females, 
chiefly because certain military duties were con- 
nected with the holding of lands. In the early 
14th century it became the fundamental law 
of the French monarchy, and the claim of 
Edward III to the French throne, based on his 
interpretation of the law, resulted in the 
Hundred Years’ War. It was also through the 
operation of the Salic Law that the Crowns of 
Hanover and England were separated when 
Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837. 
The revocation of the Salic Law in Spain by 
Ferdinand VII, in order that his daughter 
Isabella should succeed him on the throne, 
tore the country into two factions, the Isabel- 
litas and the Carlists who fought for the claims 
of Ferdinand’s brother Don Carlos. The 
Carlist wars raged from 1830 to 1840 and again 
from 1872 to 1876. 

Saiiens, The. In ancient Rome, a college of 
twelve priests of Mars traditionally instituted 
by Numa. The tale is that a shield (see Ancile) 
fell from heaven, and the nymph Egeria pre- 
dicted that wherever it was preserved the 
people would be the dominant people of the 
earth. To prevent its being surreptitiously 
taken away, Numa had eleven others made 
exactly like it, and appointed twelve priests 
as guardians. Every year these young patri- 



Salisbury Crags 


794 


Salt 


cians promenaded the city, singing and dancing, 
and they finished the day with a most sump- 
tuous banquet, insomuch that saliares cceria 
became proverbial for a most sumptuous feast. 
The^word “sfcliens” means dancing. 

Nunc est bibcndum. . 

, . . nunc Saliaribus 
Ornare pulvinar Deorum 
Tempus erat dapibus. 

s * •, Horace: I Odes , xxxvii, 2-4. 

Salisbury Crags. These rocky hills, near 
Arthur’s Seat just outside Edinburgh, are so 
called from the Earl of Salisbury who accom- 
panied Edward III on an expedition against 
the Scots. 

Sallee-man, or Sallee rover. A pirate-ship; so 
called from Sallee, a seaport near Rabat on the 
west doast of Morocco, the inhabitants of 
which were formerly notorious for their 
piracy. 

Sally Lunn. A tea-cake; so called from a 
woman pastrycook of that name in Bath, 
who used to cry them about in a basket at the 
close of the 18th century. Dalmer, the baker, 
bought her recipe, and made a song about the 
buns. 

Salmacis (sil' ma sis). A fountain of Carla, 
which rendered effeminate all those who 
bathed therein. It was in this fountain that 
Hermaphroditus changed his sex. (Ovid: 
Metamorphoses , iv, 285, and xvi, 319.) 
Salmagundi (sal' mi gtin' di). A mixture of 
minced veal, chicken, or turkey, anchovies or 
pickled herrings, and onions, all chopped 
together and served with lemon-juice and 
oil. The word appeared in the 17th century; 
its origin is unknown, but fable has it that it 
was the name of one of the ladies attached to 
the suite of Marie de Medicis, wife of Henri IV 
of France, who either invented or popularized 
the dish. 

In 1807 Washington Irving published a 
humorous periodical with this as the title. 
Salop. See Shropshire. 

Salt. Flavour, smack. The salt of youth is that 
vigour and strong passion which then pre- 
dominates. 

Though we are justices, and doctors, and church- 
men, Master Page, we have some salt of our youth in 
us. — Merry Wives of Windsor , II, iii. 

Shakespeare uses the term on several 
occasions for strong amorous passion. Thus 
Iago refers to it as “hot as monkeys, salt as 
wolves in pride” ( Othello , III, iii). The Duke 
calls Angelo’s base passion his “salt imagi- 
nation,” because he supposed his victim to be 
Isabella, and not his betrothed wife whom the 
Duke forced him to marry ( Measure for 
Measure , V, i.) 

A sailor of large experience is often called 
an old salt ; the reason is obvious — he has bepi 
well salted by the sea. * 

Spilling salt was held to be an unlucky omen 
by the Romans, and the superstition remains 
to this day, though, with us, the evil may be 
averted if he who spills the salt throw a pinch 
of it over the left shoulder with the right hand. 
In Leonardo da Vinci’s famous picture of the 
Last Supper, Judas Iscariot is known by the 
salt~cellar knocked over accidentally by his 


arm. Salt was used in sacrifice by the Jews, as 
well as by the Greeks and Romans; and it is 
still used in baptism by Roman Catholics. It 
was an emblem of purity and the sanctifying 
influence of a holy life on others. Hence our 
Lord tells his disciples they are “the salt of the 
earth” ( Matt . v, 13). Spilling the salt after it 
was placed on the head of the victim was a bad 
omen, hence the superstition. 

It is still not uncommon to put salt into a 
coffin; for it is said that Satan hates salt, 
because it is the symbol of incorruption and 
immortality; and in Scotland it was long 
customary to throw a handful of salt on the top 
of the mash when brewing, to keep the witches 
from it. Salt really has some effect in moderat- 
ing the fermentation and fining the liquor. 

A covenant of salt (Numb, xviii, 19). A 
covenant which could not be broken. As salt 
was a symbol of incorruption, it, of course, 
symbolized perpetuity. 

The Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom ... to 
David ... by a covenant of salt. — II Chron . xiii, 5. 

Attic salt. See Attic. 

He won’t earn salt for his porridge. He will 
never earn a penny. 

If the salt have lost its savour, wherewith 
shall it be salted? (Matt, v, 13.) If men fall from 
grace, how shall they be restored ? The refer- 
ence is to rock salt, which loses its saltness if 
exposed to the hot sun. 

Not worth your salt. Not worth your wages. 
The reference is to the salary (q.v.) composed 
of rations of salt and other necessaries served 
out by the Romans to their soldiers, etc. 

Put some salt on his tail. Catch or apprehend 
him. The phrase is based on the direction 
given to small children to lay salt on a bird’s 
tail if they want to catch it. 

The salt of the earth. Properly, the elect; 
the perfect, or those approaching perfection 
(see Matt, v, 13). 

To eat a man’s salt. To partake of his 
hospitality. Among the Arabs to eat a man’s 
salt was a sacred bond between the host and 
guest. No one who has eaten of another’s salt 
should speak ill of him or do him an ill turn. 

Why dost thou shun the salt? that sacred pledge, 

Which, once partaken, blunts the sabre’s edge, 

Makes even contending tribes in peace unite. 

And hated hosts seem brethren to the sight! 

Byron: The Corsair , II, iv. 

To salt a mine. To introduce pieces of ore, 
etc., into the workings so as to delude pros- 
pective purchasers or shareholders into the 
idea that a worthless mine is in reality a 
profitable investment. 

To salt an account, invoice, etc. To put the 
extreme value upon each article, and even 
something more, to give it piquancy and raise 
its market value. 

To sit above the salt — in a place of dis- 
tinction. Formerly the family salcr (salt cellar) 
was of massive silver, and placed in the middle 
of the table. Persons of distinction sat above 
the “saler” — i.e. between it and the head of 
the table; dependents and inferior guests sat 
below. 




Salt 


795 


True to his salt. Faithful to his employers. 
Here salt means salary fa.v.). 

With a grain of salt (Lat. Cum grano salis). 
With great reservations or limitation; allow- 
ing it merely a grain of truth. As salt is spar- 
ingly used in condiments, so is truth in remarks 
to which this phrase is applied. 

To row a man up Salt River. (U.S.A.). To 
discomfit or defeat him, especially in a political 
sense. 

Salt Hill. The mound at Eton where the 
Eton scholars used to collect money for the 
Captain at the Montem ( q.v .). All the money 
collected was called salt ( cp . Salary). 

Salt lick. A place (where salt is found 
naturally and in a position available to animals 
which resort thither to lick it from the rocks, 
etc. 

Salute, Salutation. According to tradition, on 
the triumphant return of Maximilian to 
Germany, after his second campaign, the town 
of Augsburg ordered 100 rounds of cannon to 
be discharged. The officer on service, fearing 
to have fallen short of the number, caused an 
extra round to be added. The town of Nurem- 
berg ordered a like salute, and the custom 
became established. 

Salute in the British navy, between two 
ships of equal rank, is made by firing an equal 
number of guns. If the vessels are of unequal 
rank, the superior fires the fewer rounds. 

Royal salute, in the British Navy, consists 
(1) in firing twenty-one great guns, (2) in the 
officers lowering their sword-points, and (3) in 
dipping the colours. 

In the Army a Royal Salute is 101 guns 
fired at intervals of 10 seconds. 

During the British occupation of India the 
native rulers were all entitled by law to certain 
salutes. These ranged from 21 guns in the cases 
of the Maharajahs of Baroda, Gwalior, and 
Mysore, and the Nizam of Hyderabad, down 
to 19, 17, 15, 13, and 11 guns to rulers of lesser 
States. 

Discharging guns as a salute. To show that no 
fear exists, and therefore no guns will be 
required. This is like “burying the hatchet” 
fa.v.). 

Lowering swords. To express a willingness 
to put yourself unarmed in the power of the 
person saluted, from a full persuasion of his 
friendly feeling. 

Presenting arms — i.e. offering to give them 
up, from the full persuasion of the peaceful 
and friendly disposition of the person so 
honoured. 

Shaking hands. A relic of the ancient custom 
of adversaries, in treating of a truce, taking 
hold of the weapon-hand to ensure against 
treachery. 

Lady’s curtsy. A relic of the ancient 
custom of women going on the knee to men of 
rank and power, originally to beg mercy, 
afterwards to acknowledge superiority. 

Taking off the hat. A relic of the ancient 
custom of taking off the helmet when no 
danger is nigh. A man takes off his hat to show 
that he dares stand unarmed in your presence. 
b.d.— 26 


Salvation Army. A religious organization 
founded by William Booth, a Methodist 
minister. Its origin was the East End Revival 
Society, which became the ChristiamMission 
in 1865. Bpoth selected the name Salyation 
Army in 1877 and organized it on ssemi- 
military lines, himself being called “General”’ 
having under him “Colonels,” “Adjutants, 1 * 
“Corporals,” etc. The motto adopted was 
“Through Blood and Fire,” and the activities 
of the Army were turned to the relief, moral, 
spiritual and physical, of the poorest and least 
educated of the population. The work has 
spread to every part of the world and immense 
good has been clone by the selfless devotion of 
its rank and file. 

Salve. Latin “hail,” “welcome.” The word is 
often woven on door-mats. 

Salve, Regina! An antiphonal hymn to the 
Virgin Mary sung in Roman Catholic churches 
from Trinity Sunday to Advent, after ladds and 
compline. So called from the opening words. 
Salve, regina mater miser icor dial (Hail, oh 
Queen, Mother of Mercy). 

Sam. To stand Sam. To pay the reckoning. The 
phrase is said to have arisen from the Tetters 
U.S. on the knapsacks of American soldiers. 
The government of “Uncle Sam” has to pay, 
or “stand Sam” for all ; hence also the phrase 
Nunky pays for all. 

Uncle Sam. Nickname or symbol for the 
collective citizens of the U.S.A. It arose in the 
neighbourhood of Troy, N.Y., about 1812 
partly from the frequent appearance of the 
initials U.S. on government supplies to the 
army etc. The other contributory factor to the 
derivation is puzzling, but some have main- 
tained that there was someone in the district 
who had a connexion with army supplies and 
who was actually known as Uncle Sam. 

Upon my Sam (or Sammy)! A humorous 
form of asseveration; also, *pon my sacred 
Sam! 

Sam Browne belt. The leather belt with 
straps over the shoulders and originally with 
a sword-frog, compulsory for officers and 
warrant officers in the British Army up to 
1939, when it was declared optional. This belt 
was invented by General Sir Sam Browne, V.C. 
(1824-1901), a veteran of the Indian Mutiny. 
Its pattern has oeen adopted by almost every 
military power in the world. 

Samaj. See Brahmo Somaj. 

Samanides (sam' a nidz). A dynasty of ten 
kings in western Persia (c. 872 to 1004), 
founded by Ismail al Samani. 

Samaritan. A good Samaritan. A philan- 
thropist, one who attends upon the poor to 
aid them and give them relief ( Luke x, 30-37). 

Sambo. A pet name given to one of Negro race; 
properly applied to the male offspring of a 
Negro and mulatto. (Span, zambo, bow-legged; 
Lat. scambus .) 

Samian (s&' mi An). The Samian letter. The 
letter y, the Letter of Pythagoras (q.v.), 
employed by him as the emblem or the straight 
and narrow path of virtue, which is one, but. 




Samian 


796 


Sand 


if once deviated from, the farther the lines are 
extended the wider becomes the breach. 
When reason doubtful, like the Samian letter, - * 
Points him two ways, the narrower the better. 

# P9PE: p unclad, IV. 

The Samian Poet. Simonides the satirist, 
born at Samos (c. 556 b.c.). 

Tlje Samian Sage, or The Samian. Pythag- 
oras^born at Samos (6th cent. b.c.). 

’Tis enough, 

In this late age, adventurous to have touched 
Light on the numbers of the Samian sage. 

Thomson. 

Samite (s&m' it). A rich silk fabric with a 
warp of six threads, generally interwoven with 
gold, held in high esteem in the Middle Ages. 
So tailed after the Gr. hexamiton ; hex y six; 
mitos , a thread. Cp. Dimity. 

Sampford Ghost, The. A kind of exaggerated 
“CpqfcJLane ghost” (q.v.) or Poltergeist, which 
haunted Sampford Peverell, Devon, for about 
three, years in the first decade of the 19th 
century. Besides the usual knockings, the in- 
mates were beaten; in one instance a powerful 
‘‘unattached arm” flung a folio Greek Testa- 
ment from a bed into the middle of a room. 
The Rev. Charles Caleb Colton (credited as 
the author of these freaks) offered £100 to 
anyone who could explain the matter except 
on supernatural grounds. No one, however, 
claimed the reward. Colton died 1832. 

Sampo. See Kalevala. 

Sampson. A Dominie Sampson. A humble 
pedantic scholar, awkward, irascible, and very 
old-fashioned. A character in Scott’s Guy 
Mannering. 

Samson. Any man of unusual strength; so 
called from the ancient Hebrew hero (Judges 
xiii-xvi). The name has been specially applied 
to Thomas Topham (d. 1753), the ‘‘British 
Samspn,” son of a London carpenter. He 
lifted three hogshead of water (1,836 lb.) in the 
resence of thousands of spectators at Cold- 
ath Fields, May 28th, 1741, and eventually 
committed suicide; and to Richard Joy, the 
“Kentish Samson,” who died 1742, at the age 
of 67. His tombstone is in St. Peter’s church- 
yard, Isle of Thanet. 

Samurai (sam' u rl). The military class of old 
Japan. In early feudal times the term was 
applied to all who bore arms (it means “guard”) 
but eventually it corresponded roughly to the 
mediaeval squires as distinguished from the 
“daimio” or nobles. On the abolition of the 
feudal system in 1871 the samurai were 
forbidden to wear swords, and in 1878 the 
designation was changed to that of “shizoku,” 
or gentry. 

San Benito. See Sacco Benedetto. 

Sance-bell. Same as “Sanctus bell.* 9 See 
Sacking bell. 

Sancho Panza (sftn' cho p&n' z&). The squire of 
Don Quixote (q.v.), in Cervantes’s romance, 
who became governor of Barataria; a short, 
pot-bellied rustic, full of common sense, but 
without a grain or “spirituality.” He rode upon 
an ass, Dapple, and was famous for his pro- 
verbs. Panza, in Spanish, means paunch . 


A Sancho Panza. A rough and ready, sharp 
and humorous justiefe of the peace. In allusion 
to Sancho, as judge in the isle of Barataria. 

Sancho Panza *s wife is called Teresa, Pt. II, 
i,*5; Maria," Pt. II, iv, 7; Juana, Pt. I, 7; and 
Joan, Pt. I, 21. 

Sanchoniatbon (sane ko ni' & thon). The Frag - 
ments of Sanchoniathon are the literary remains 
of a supposed ancient Phoenician philosopher 
(alleged to have lived before the Trojan War), 
which are incorporated in the Phoenician 
History by Philo of Bybios (1st and 2nd cents. 
a.d.), which History was drawn upon by 
Eusebius (c. 320 a.d.), the “Father of 
Church History.” The name is Greek and 
seems to mean “the whole law of Chon”; 
whether this is the correct interpretation or 
whether Sanchoniathon is intended to be a 
personal name, it is probable that there was no 
such collection or author, and that the name 
was invented by Philo to give an air of authority 
and antiquity to his own teachings. 

Sanctions. The word employed in International 
Law to describe the action taken by one or 
more states to force another state to carry out 
its legal or treaty obligations. 

Sanctum Sanctorum (sank' turn sank tor' um) 
(Lat. Holy of Holies). A private room into 
which no one uninvited enters; properly the 
Holy of Holies in the Jewish Temple, a small 
chamber into which none but the high priest 
might enter, and that only on the Great Day of 
Atonement. 

Sancy Diamond, The. A famous historical 
diamond (53 carats) said to have belonged at 
one time to Charles the Bold of Burgundy, and 
named after the French ambassador in Con- 
stantinople, Nicholas de Harlay, Sieur de 
Sancy, who, about 1575, bought it for 70,000 
francs. Later it was owned by Henri 111 and 
Henri IV of France, then by Queen Elizabeth I; 
James II carried it with him in his flight to 
France in 1688, when it was sold to Louis XIV 
for £25,000. Louis XV wore it at his coronation, 
but during the Revolution it was disposed of to 
Prince Paul Demidoff for £80,000. In 1865 the 
Demidoff family sold it to Sir Jamsetjce 
Jeejeebhoy; it was in the market again in 1889, 
and rumour has it that it was subsequently 
acquired by the Tsar of Russia. Its present 
whereabouts is unknown. 

Sand. A rope of sand. Something nominally 
effective and strong, but in reality worthless 
and untrustworthy. 

The sand-man is about. A playful remark 
addressed to children who are tired and 
“sleepy-eyed.” Cp. Dustman. 

The sands are running out. Time is getting 
short; there will be little opportunity for doing 
what you have to do unless you take advantage 
of now. Often used in reference to one who 
evidently has not much longer to live. The 
allusion is to the hour-glass. 

Alas! dread lord, you see the case wherein I stand, 
and how little sand is left to run in my poor glass. — 
Reynard the Fox . IV. 




Sand 


797 


Sanhedrin 


To plough or to number the sands. To under- 
take an endless or impossible task. 

Alas! poor duke, the task he undertakes 

Is numbering sands and drinking oceans dry. 

Richard //, II, ii. 

Sand-blind. Dim-sighted; not exactly blind, 
but with eyes of very little use. Sand- is here a 
corruption of the obsolete ^prefix sam -, 
meaning “half.** English used to have sam - 
dead , sam-ripe t etc., and sam-sodden still 
survives in some dialects. In the Merchant of 
Venice Launcelot Gobbo connects it with 
sand , the gritty earth. 

This is my true-begotten father, who, being more 
than sand-blind, high-gravel blind, knows me not. — 
Merchant of Venice , II, ii. 

Sandabar or Sindibad (sand" a b&r, sind' i bad). 
Names given to a mediaeval collection of tales 
that are very much the same as those in the 
Greek Syntipas the Philosopher and the Arabic 
Romance of the Seven Viziers (known in 
Western Europe as The Seven Sages ( Wise 
Masters ), and derived from the Fables of 
Bidpai iq.v.). These names do not, in all 
robability, stand for the author or compiler, 
ut result from Hebrew mistransliterations of 
the Arabic equivalent of Bidpai or Pilpay. 

Sandal. A man without sandals. A prodigal; so 
called by the ancient Jews, because the seller 
gave his sandals to the buyer as a ratification 
of his bargain {Ruth iv, 7). 

He wears the sandals of Theramenes. Said 
of a trimmer, an opportunist. Theramenes 
(put to death 404 b.c.) was one of the Athenian 
oligarchy, and was nicknamed cothurnus {i.e. 
a sandal or boot which might be worn on either 
foot), because no dependence could be placed 
on him. He blew hot and cold with the same 
breath. 

Sandemanians or Glassites (sSnd 6 man' i &nz). 
A religious party expelled from the Church 
of Scotland for maintaining that national 
churches, being “kingdoms of this world,” 
are unlawful. Called Glassites from John Glas 
(1695-1773), the founder (1728), and called 
Sandemanians from Robert Sandeman (1718- 
71), a disciple of his, who published a series of 
letters on the subject in 1755. Members are 
admitted by a “holy kiss,” and abstain from 
all animal food which has not been drained of 
blood; they believe in the community of 
property, and hold weekly Communions. 

Sandford and Merton. The schoolboy heroes of 
Thomas Day’s old-fashioned children’s tale of 
this name (published in three parts, 1783-89). 
“Master” Tommy Merton is rich, selfish, 
untruthful, and generally objectionable; Harry 
Sandford, the farmer’s son, is depicted as being 
the reverse in every respect. 

Sandgropers. Nickname for the inhabitants of 
Western Australia. 

Sandwich. A piece of meat between two slices 
of bread; so called from the fourth Earl of 
Sandwich (171 8-92— the noted “Jemmy Twitch- 
er” ( see Twitcher)), who passed whole days 
in gambling, bidding the waiter to bring him for 
refreshment a piece of meat between two pieces 
of bread, which he ate without stopping from 
play. This contrivance was not first hit upon by 


the earl in the reign of George III, for the 
Romans were very fond of “sandwiches”, 
called by them offula. 

Sandwichman. A perambulating advertise- 
ment-disp layer, with an advertisemeft-board 
before and behind. 

Sang-de-bctuf ^(sing de berf) (Fr. bullodc’s * 
blood). The deep red with tyhich anciept 
Chinese porcelain is often coloured. 

Sang-froid (Fr. cold blood). Freedom 1 "' from 
excitement or agitation. One does a thing 
“with perfect sang-froid ” when one does it 
coolly and collectedly, without unnecessary 
display. 

. . . cross-legg’d, with great sang-froid 

Among the scorching ruins he sat smoking 

Tobacco on a little carpet. 

Byron: Don Juan , VIII, exxi. 

Sanger’s Circus. This is one of the oldest — and 
at one time the best known — of the circuses on 
the road. It was formed from nothing by “Lprd” 
George Sanger (1827-1911) who in 1871 pur- 
chased Astley’s amphitheatre and menagerie, 
and about the same time leased the Agricultural 
Hall, Islington. He carried his big circus or sent 
subsidiary ones throughout the provinces and* 
into Scotland, and “Sanger’s Circus” became 
an established institution. 

Sangrado, Dr. (san gra' do). A name often 
applied to an ignorant or “fossilized” medical 
practitioner, from the humbug in Le Sage’s Gil 
Bias (1715), a tall, meagre, pale man, of very 
solemn appearance, who weighed every word 
he uttered, and gave an emphasis to his sage 
dicta. “His reasoning was geometrical, and 
his opinions angular.” He prescribed warm 
water and bleeding for every ailment, for his 
great theory was that “It is a gross error to 
suppose that blood is necessary for life.” 

Sangrail or Sangreal (s3ng' gral). The Holy 
Grail, see Grail. Popular etymology used to 
explain the word as meaning the real blood 
of Christ, sang-real. or the wine used in the last 
supper; and a tradition sprang up that part of 
this wine-blood was preserved by Joseph of 
Arimathsea, in the Saint, or Holy, Grail. 

Sanguine (s&ng' gwin) (Lat. sanguis , sanguinis , 
blood). The term used in heraldry for the deep 
red or purplish colour usually known as 
murrey (from the mulberry). In engravings it is 
indicated by lines of vert and purpure crossed, 
that is, diagonals from left to right. This is a 
word with a curious history. Its actual meaning 
is bloody, or of the colour of blood; hence it 
came to be applied to one who was ruddy, 
whose cheeks were red with good health and 
well-being. From this it was easy to extend 
the meaning to one who was full of vitality, 
vivacious, confident and hopeful. 

Sanhedrin (sSn' i drin) or Sanhedrim (Gr. syn, 
together; hedra , a seat; i.e. a sitting together). 
The supreme council of the ancient Jews, con- 
sisting of seventy priests and elders, and a presi- 
dent who, under the Romans, was the high 
priest. It took its rise soon after the exile from 
the municipal council of Jerusalem, and was in 
existence till about a.d. 425, when Theodosius 
the Younger forbade the Jews to build syna- 
gogues. All questions pf the “Law” were 


San Marino 


798 


Sarcophagus 


dogmatically settled by the Sanhedrin, and 
those who refused obedience were excom- 
municated. 

In Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel ( q.v .), 
the Sanhedrim stands for the English Parlia- 
ment. 

The Sanhedrim long time as chief he ruled, 

* Their reason guided, and their passion cooled. 

SAi Marino**(s&n m£ re' no). The smallest 
republic in the world. Surrounded by Italian 
territory it lies 12 m. SW. of Rimini, and 
consists of only 38 sa. miles. In 1631 the Pope 
formally acknowledged its independence, 
which was recognized by Italy in 1862. 

Sans (Fr. without). 

Sans Culottes (Fr. without knee-breeches). A 
nanie given during the French Revolution to 
the extremists of the working-classes. Hence 
Sansculottism , the principles, etc., of “red 
republicans.” 

<5 

Sans Culottides. The five complementary 
days added to the twelve months of the 
Revolutionary Calendar, each month being 
made to consist of thirty days. The days were 
named in honour of the sans culottes , and 
made idle days or holidays. 

Sans-G€ne, Madame. The nickname of the 
wife of Lefebvre, Duke of Dantzic (1755-1820), 
one of Napoleon’s marshals. She was originally 
a washer-woman, and followed her husband — 
then in the ranks — as a vivandi&re. She was 
kind and pleasant, but her rough-and-ready 
ways and ignorance of etiquette soon made her 
the butt of the court, and earned her the nick- 
name, which means “without constraint” or 
“free and easy.” 

Sans peur et sans reproche (Fr. without fear 
and without reproach). Pierre du Terrail, 
Chevalier de Bayard (1476-1524) was called 
Le chevalier sans peur et sans reproche. 

Sans Souci (Fr.). Free and easy, void of care. 
It is tht nickname given by Frederick the Great 
to the palace he built near Potsdam (1747). 

The Philosopher of Sans-Souci. Frederick 
the Great (1712, 1740-86). 

Enfans Sans Souci. The mediaeval French 
Tradesmen’s company of actors, as opposed 
to the Lawyers’, the “Basochians” (q.v.). It 
was organized in the reign of Charles VIII, 
for the performance of short comedies, in 
which public characters and the manners of 
the day were turned to ridicule; Maitre 
Pathelin (see Moutons), an immense favourite 
with the Parisians, was one of their pieces. 
The manager of the “Care-for-Nothings” 

( sans souci ) was called “The Prince of Fools.” 

Santa Casa (Ital. the holy house). The reputed 
house in which the Virgin Mary lived at 
Nazareth, miraculously translated to Dalmatia, 
and finally to Italy. See Loreto. 

Santa Claus. A contraction of Santa Niko- 
laus (/.*. St. Nicholas), the patron saint in Ger- 
many of children. His feast-day is December 
6th, and the vigil is still held in some places, but 
for the most part his name is now associated 
with Christmastide. The old custom used to be 
for someone, on December 5th, to assume the 


costume of a bishop and distribute small gifts 
to “good children.” The present custom, 
introduced in England from Germany about 
1840, is to put toys and other little presents 
into a stocking late on Christmas Eve, when 
the children are asleep, and when they wake 
on Christmas morn they find in the stocking at 
the bedside the gift sent by Santa Claus. See 
Nicholas. 

Sapho (saf'o). Mile de ScudSry (1607-1701), 
the French novelist and poet, went by this 
name among her own circle. 

Sappho (sfif' 6). The Greek poetess of Lesbos, 
known as “the Tenth Muse.” She lived about 
600 b.c., and is fabled to have thrown herself 
into the sea from the Leucadian promontory 
in consequence of her advances having been 
rejected by the beautiful youth Phaon. 

Pope used the name in his Moral Essays (II) 
for Lady Mary Wortley Montagu ( cp . Atossa). 
See also Sapho, above. 

The Sappho of Toulouse. C16mence Isaure 
(c. 1450-1500), a wealthy lady of Toulouse, 
who instituted in 1490 the “Jeux Floraux,” and 
left funds to defray their annual expenses. She 
composed an Ode to Spring. 

Sapphics. A four-lined verse-form of 
classical lyric poetry, named after the Greek 
poetess Sappho, who employed it, the fourth 
line being an Adonic. There must be a caesura 
at the fifth foot of each of the first three lines, 
which run thus:— 

The Adonic is — 

— — — I — — or 

The first and third stanzas of the famous 
Ode of Horace, Integer vitce (i, 22), may be 
translated thus, preserving the metre: — 

He of sound life, who ne'er with sinners wendeth, 
Needs no Moorish bow, such as malice bendeth. 
Nor with poisoned darts life from harm defendeth, 
Fuscus, believe me. 

Once I, unarmed, was in a forest roaming. 

Singing love lays, when i' the secret gloaming 
Rushed a huge wolf, which though in fury foaming, 
Did not aggrieve me. E.C.B. 

Probably the best example of Sapphics in 
English is Canning’s Needy Knife-grinder. 

Saracen (s&r' & sen). Deriving from the late Gr. 
Sarakenos through Late Lat. Saracenus , but the 
earlier etymology is not known. In mediaeval 
romance the term was applied to Moslems 
generally; but among the Romans it denoted 
any of the nomadic tribes that raided the Syrian 
borders of the Empire. 

Saragossa (sdr & gos' A). The Maid of Sara- 
gossa. Augustina, a young Spanish girl (d. 
1857) noted for her bravery in the defence of 
Saragossa against the French, 1808. She was 
only twenty-two when, her lover being shot, 
she mounted the battery in his place. 

Saratoga Trunk (s3r & td' g&). A huge trunk, such 
as used to be taken by fashionable ladies to the 
watering place of that name in New York State. 

Sarcenet. See Sarsenet. 

Sarcode. See Protoplasm. 

Sarcophagus (sar kof' & gus) (Gr. sarx> flesh; 
phagein , to eat). A stone coffin; so called 



Sardanapalus 


799 


Saturday 


because it was made of stone which, according 
to Pliny, consumed the flesh in a few weeks. 
The stone was sometimes called lapis Assius , 
because it was found at Assos of Lycia. 

Sardanapalus (sar d£ nap' a lus). The Greek 
name of Asurbanipal (mentioned in Ezra iv, 
10, as Asenappar ), king of Assyria in the 7th 
century b.c. Byron, in his poetic drama of this 
name (1821), makes him a voluptuous tyrant 
whose effeminacy led Arbaces, the Mede, to 
conspire against him. Myrra, his favourite 
concubine, roused him to appear at the head 
of his armies. He won three successive battles, 
but was then defeated, and was induced by 
Myrra to place himself on a funeral pile. She 
set fire to it, and, jumping into the flames, 
perished with her master. 

The name is applied to any luxurious, 
extravagant, self-willed tyrant. 

Sardonic Smile or Laughter. A smile of con- 
tempt; bitter, mocking laughter; so used by 
Homer. 

The Sardonic or Sardinian laugh. A laugh caused, 
it was supposed, by a plant growing in Sardinia, of 
which they who ate died laughing. — Trench: Words , 
lecture iv, p. 176. 

The Herba Sardonia (so called from Sardis, 
in Asia Minor) is so arid that it produces a 
convulsive movement of the nerves of the face, 
resembling a painful grin. 

*Tis envy’s safest, surest rule 
To hide her rage in ridicule; 

The vulgar eye the best beguiles 

When all her snakes are decked with smiles, 

Sardonic smiles by rancour raised. 

Swift: Pheasant and Lark. 

Sardonyx (sar' don iks). A precious stone com- 

f )osed of white chalcedony alternating with 
ayers of sard, which is an orange-brown 
variety of cornelian. Pliny says it is called sard 
from Sardis, in Asia Minor, where it is found, 
and onyxy the nail, because its colour resembles 
that of the skin under the nail (Nat. Hist. 
xxxvii, 6). 

Sarsen Stones (sar' sen). The sandstone 
boulders of Wiltshire and Berkshire are so 
called. The early Christian Saxons used the 
word Saresyn (i.e. Saracen, q.v.) as a synonym 
of pagan or heathen, and as these stones were 
popularly associated with Druid worship, they 
were called Saresyn (or heathen) stones. 
Robert Ricart says of Duke Rollo, “He was a 
Saresyn come out of Denmark into France.” 

Sarsenet (sar' sen et). A very fine, soft, silk 
material, so called from its Saracenic or 
Oriental origin. The word is sometimes used 
adjectivally of soft and gentle speech. 

Sartor Resartus (sar' tor re sar' tus) (The 
Tailor Patched). A philosophical satire by 
Thomas Carlyle, first published in Fraser's 
Magazine , 1833-4. 

Diogenes TeufelsdrOckh is Carlyle himself, 
and Entepfuhl is his native village of Eccle- 
fechan. 

The Rose Goddess , according to Froude, is 
Margaret Gordon, but Strachey says it is 
Bluminey i.e. Kitty Kirkpatrick, daughter of 
Colonel Achilles Kirkpatrick. The Rose Gar- 
den is Strachey’s garden at Shooter’s Hill, and 
the Duenna is Mrs. Strachey. 


The Zahdarms are Mr. and Mrs. Buffer, and 
Toughgut is Charles Buffer. 

Philistine is the Rev. Edward Irving. 

SAS. Special Air Service. British volunteer 
troops raised in World War II to drop by 
parachute behind the enemy’s lines in uniform 
(as distinct from spies or agents in civilian 
clothes) to damage specific targets or eneftiy 
communications in general. They were 
evolved from the Long Range Desert Patrol 
0?.v.). 

Sassanides (s&s &n' i dez). A powerful Persian 
dynasty, ruling from about a.d. 225-641; so 
named because Ardeshir, the founder, was son 
of Sassan, a lineal descendant of Xerxes. 

Sassenach (s£s' n&k). The common form of 
Sassunachy Gaelic for English or an English- 
man. It represents the Teutonic ethnic name, 
Saxon. 

Satan (sa' tan), in Hebrew, means adversary 
or enemy. 

To whom the Arch-enemy 
(And hence in heaven called Satan). 

Milton: Paradise Lost , Bk. I, 81, 82. 

It is used in this sense by Jesus, e.g. when he 
says to Peter, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” 
(Matt, xvi, 43) and in “I beheld Satan as light- 
ning fall from heaven” (Luke x, 18). 

In the Old Testament the term is usually 
applied to a human adversary or opposer, and 
only in three cases (Zech. iii. Job i, 2, and I 
Chron. xxi, 1) does it denote an evil spirit. 

The name is often used of a person of whom 
one is expressing abhorrence. Thus, the Clown 
says to Malvolio — 

Fie, thou dishonest Satan! I call thee by the most 
modest terms; for I am one of those gentle ones that 
will use the devil himself with courtesy. — Twelfth 
Nighty IV, ii. 

The Satanic School. So Southey called Byron, 
Shelley, and those of their followers who set at 
defiance the generally received notions of 
religion. See the Preface to his Vision of 
Judgment. 

Satire (sSt' Ir). Scaliger’s derivation of this 
word from satyr is untenable. It is from satura 
(full of variety), satura lanx , a hotchpotch or 
olla podrida. The term originally denoted a 
medley of hotchpotch in verse; now it is 
applied to compositions in verse or prose in 
which folly, vice, or individuals are held up to 
ridicule. See Dryden’s Dedication prefixed to 
his Satires. 

Father of satire. Archilochus of Paros, 7th 
century b.c. 

Father of French satire. Mathurin R^gnier 

(1573-1613). 

Father of Roman satire. Lucilius (175-103 

B.C.). 

Lucilius was the man who, bravely bold, 

To Roman vices did the mirror hold; 

Protected humble goodness from reproach. 

Showed worth on foot, and rascals m a coach. 

Dryden: Art of Poetry , c. ii. 

Saturday. The seventh day of the week; called 
by the Anglo-Saxons Stxter-dag y after the 
Latin Saturni dies t the day of Saturn. See 
Black Saturday. 


Saturn 


800 


Sauve qui peut 


Saturn (s&t'tirn). A Roman deity, identified 
with the Greek Kronos(r/me)(<?.v.). Hedevoured 
all his children except Jupiter (air), Neptune 
(water), and Pluto ( the grave). These Time 
cannot consume. The reign of Saturn was 
celebrated by the poets as a “Golden Age.” 
According to the old alchemists and astrolo- 
gcrs, Saturn typified lead, and was a very evil 
planet to be born under. “The children of the 
sayd Saturne shall be great jangeleres and 
chyders . . . and they will never forgyve tyll 
they be revenged on theyr quarell.” ( Compost of 
Ptholomeus.) 

Saturn’s tree. An alchemist’s name for the 
Tree of Diana, or Philosopher’s Tree (q.v.). 

Saturnalia. A time of unrestrained disorder 
and misrule. With the Romans it was the 
festival of Saturn, and was celebrated the 17th, 
18th, and 19th of December. During its 
continuance no public business could be tran- 
sacted, the law courts were closed, the schools 
kept holiday, no war could be commenced, 
and no malefactor punished. Under the 
empire the festival was extended to seven 
days. 

Saturnian. Pertaining to Saturn; with 
reference to the “Golden Age,” to the god’s 
sluggishness, or to the baleful influence 
attributed to him by the astrologers. 

Then rose the seed of Chaos and of Night 
To blot out order and extinguish light. 

Of dull and venal a new world to mould, 

And bring Saturnian days of lead and gold. 

Pope: Dunciad , IV, 13. 

Lead to indicate dullness, and gold to 
indicate venality. 

Saturnian verses. A rude metre in use among 
the Romans before the introduction of Greek 
metres. Also a peculiar metre, consisting of 
three iambics and a syllable over, joined to 
three trochees, as : — 

The queen was in the par-lour . . . 

The maids were in the garden . . . 

The Fescennine and Saturnian were the same, for 
as they were called Saturnian from their ancientness, 
when Saturn reigned in Italy, they were called Fescen- 
nine from Fescennina [j7c] where they were first 
practised. — Dryden: Dedication of Juvenal. 

Saturnine. Grave, phlegmatic, gloomy, dull 
and glowering. Astrologers affirm that such is 
the disposition of those who are born under 
the influence of the leaden planet Saturn. 

Satyr (sSt' ir). One of a body of forest gods 
or demons who, in classical mythology, were 
the attendants of Bacchus. Like the fauns 
they are represented as having the legs and 
hind-quarters of a goat, budding horns, and 
goat-like ears, and they were very lascivious. 

Hence, the term is applied to a brutish or 
lustful man; and the psychological condition 
among males characterized by excessive 
venereal desire is known as satyriasis . 

Sauce means “salted food” (Lat. salsus ), for 
giving a relish to meat, as pickled roots, herbs, 
and so on. 

In familiar phrase it means “cheek,” im- 
pertinence, the kind of remarks one may 
expect from a saucebox — an impudent 
youngster. 


The sauce was better than the fish. The 
accessories were better than the main part. 

To serve the same sauce. To retaliate; to give 
as good as you take; to serve in the same 
manner. 

After him another came unto her, and served her 
with the same sauce; then a third. — L yly: The Man 
in the Moon (1609). 

To sauce. To season, intermix. 

Folly sauced with discretion. — Troilus and Cres- 
sida , I, ii. 

Also, to give cheek or impertinence to. 

Don’t sauce me in the wicious pride of your youth. 
— Dickens: Our Mutual Friend , I, vii. 

Saucy. Cheeky, impertinent (see Sauce); 
also rakish, irresistible, that care-for-nobody, 
jaunty, daring behaviour which has won for 
many of our regiments and ships the term as a 
compliment. 

How many saucy airs we meet, 

From Temple Bar to Aldgate Street! 

Gay : The Barley-Mow and Dunghill. 

In Scotland the adjective is applied to one 
who is fastidious or dainty in eating. 

Saucer. Originally a dish for holding sauce, 
the Roman salsarium . 

Saucer eyes. Big, round, glaring eyes. 

Yet when a child (bless me!) I thought 
That thou a pair of horns had’st got 
With eyes like saucers staring. 

Peter Pindar: Ode to the Devil. 

Saucer oath. When a Chinese is put in the 
witness-box, he says: “If I do not speak the 
truth may my soul be cracked ana broken 
like this saucer.” So saying, he dashes the 
saucer on the ground. The Jewish marriage 
custom of breaking a wineglass is of a similar 
character. 

Flying Saucers. Alleged mysterious celestial 
phenomena resembling revolving, partially 
luminous discs that shoot across the sky at a 
high velocity and a great height. No feasible 
explanation has been put foward for these ob- 
jects, nor has any really authenticated proot 
been given of their existence. 

Saul, in Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel , is 
meant for Oliver Cromwell. 

They who, when Saul was dead, without a blow 
Made foolish Ishbosheth [Richard Cromwell] the 
crown forego. Pt. I, 57, 58. 

Is Saul also among the prophets? Said (from 
I Sam. x, 12) of one who unexpectedly bears 
tribute to a party or doctrine that he has 
hitherto vigorously assailed. At the conversion 
of Saul, afterwards called Paul, the Jews said 
in substance, “Js it possible that Saul can be a 
convert?” (Acts ix, 21.) 

Sauria (saw' ri £). This is the name formerly 
applied to the order of reptiles which includes 
the lizards and snakes, but modern zoologists 
usually divide this order into Lacertilia 
(lizards) and Ophidia (snakes) leaving the term 
Sauria for certain extinct reptiles. 

Sauve qui peut (sov ke per) (Fr. save himself 
who can). One of the first uses of the phrase is 
by Boileau (1636-1711). The phrase thus 
came to mean a rout. Thackeray writes of 
“that general sauve qui peut among the Tory 
party. 


Savanna 


801 


Sbirri 


Savanna. A Spanish word, deriving from the 
Carib, for the natural grass land in tropical 
countries. In Venezuela savannas are known as 
“llanos/’ as “campos” in Brazil, as “downs” 
in Australia, and as “park lands” in S. Africa. 

Savannah was the first ship fitted with steam 
power to cross the Atlantic. She was built 
at Savannah, Georgia. Actually the greater 
part of the voyage to Liverpool, which took 
place in 1819, was done under sail; she crossed 
the Atlantic in 25 days. 

Save. To save appearances. To do something 
to obviate or prevent exposure or embarrass- 
ment. 

Save the mark! See Mark. 

To save one’s bacon, skin, face. See these 
words . 

Savoir-faire (sav' wa far) (Fr.). Ready wit; 
skill in getting out of a scrape; hence Vivre de 
son savoir-faire, to live by one’s wits. 

Savoy, The. A precinct off the Strand, London, 
noted for the palace built there by Peter of 
Savoy, who came to England about 1245 to 
visit his niece Eleanor, wife of Henry III. At 
his death the palace became the property of 
the queen, who gave it to her second son, 
Edmund Lancaster, whence it was attached to 
the Duchy of Lancaster. When the Black 
Prince brought Jean le Bon, King of France, 
captive to London (1356), he lodged him in 
the Savoy Palace, and there he died in 1364. 
The rebels under Wat Tyler burnt down the 
old palace in 1381 ; but it was rebuilt in 1505 by 
Henry VII, and converted into a hospital for 
the poor, under the name of St. John’s Hospital, 
which was used by Charles II for wounded 
soldiers and sailors. 

Here, in 1552, was established the first 
flint-glass manufactory in England. 

The Chapel Royal of the Savoy (first made 
a Chapel Royal by George III in 1773) was 
built about 1510 on the ruins of John of 
Gaunt’s earlier chapel. This, largely rebuilt, is 
the only one of the old buildings remaining, 
the rest of the site being occupied by the Savoy 
Hotel and Savoy Theatre. 

In Savoy Hill were the first studios of the 
British Broadcasting Company, with the 
designation of 2LO. It was opened in 1922 and 
remained headquarters after the Company 
had become the British Broadcasting Corpora- 
tion, until 1932. 

Savoy Operas. The comic operas with 
words by W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and music 
by Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900), produced by 
R. D’Oyly Carte. Nearly all of them first 
appeared at the Savoy Theatre, which Carte 
built specially for these productions. The 
players performing in the operas were known 
as “Savoyards.” The Gilbert and Sullivan 
operas are the following; — 

Thespis, 1871, at the Royalty. 

Trial by Jury, 1872, at the Royalty. 

The Sorcerer , 1877, Opera Comique. 

H.M.S. Pinafore, 1878, Opera Comique. 

The Pirates of Penzance , 1880, Opera 
Comique. 


Patience , 1881, Opera Comique, then trans- 
ferred to the Savoy, where all the following 
appeared. 

Jolanthe , 1882. 

Princess Ida, 1884. 

The Mikado , 1885. 

Ruddigore, 1887. 

The Yeomen of the Guard , 1888. 

The Gondoliers , 1889. 

Utopia Limited, 1893. 

The Grand Duke , 1896. 

Saw. In Christian art an attribute of St. 
Simon and St. James the Less, in allusion to 
the tradition of their being sawn to death in 
martyrdom. 

Sawbuck. In American usage a ten-dollar bill; 
origin unknown. 

Sawny or Sandy. A Scotchman; a contraction 
of “Alexander.” 

Saxifrage (saks' i fraj). A member of a genus of 
small plants ( Saxifraga ) probably so called 
because they grow in the clefts of rocks (Lat. 
saxum , a rock; frangere, to break). Pliny, and 
later writers following him, held that the name 
was due to the supposed fact that the plant 
had a medicinal value in the breaking up and 
dispersal of stone in the bladder. 

Saxons. A Germanic people who ravaged the 
coasts of the North Sea and the English 
Channel at the end of the 3rd century and settled 
in districts of south-eastern England. Essex, 
Sussex, Middlesex, and Wessex are names that 
commemorate their colonization. 

Saxon architecture should more correctly be^ 
called Pre-Conquest Romanesque. Its main 
characteristics are the use of the unmoulded 
round arch, thickness of walls, the absence of 
decoration (except in later phases), triangular- 
headed window openings, absence of buttres- 
sing, and “long and short” work at the quoins. 
Perhaps the finest example of Saxon work is the 
church at Brixworth, Northamptonshire, built 
in the 7th century. Notable later examples are 
the tower of Earls Barton (10th century) and 
the interior of Great Paxton church, Hunting- 
donshire (1 1th century). 

Saxon Shore. The coast of Norfolk, Suffolk, 
Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire, where 
were castles and garrisons, under the charge of 
a count or military officer, called Comes 
Littoris Saxonici per Britanniarn. 

Branodunum (Bamcaster) was on the Norfolk 
coast. 

Gariannonum (Burgh) was on the Suffolk coast 

Othona (Ithanchestcr) was on the Essex coast. 

Regulbium (Reculver), Rutupia; (Rich borough), 
Dubris (Dover), P. Lemams (Lyme), were on 
the Kentish coast. ... 

Anderida (Hastings or Pevensey), Portus Adurai 
(Worthing), were on the Sussex coast. 

Say. To take the say. To taste meat or wine 
before it is presented, in order to prove that it 
is not poisoned. Say is short for assay , a test; 
the phrase was common in the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth I. 

Sbirri (sbir' e) (Ital. sing, sbirro ). The Italian 
police, especially the force which existed in 
the Papal States. They were notorious as spies, 
informers, and agents provocateurs. 


Scaevola 


802 


Scaphism 


Scaevola (ske' v5 1&) (Lat. left-handed). So 
Caius Mucius, a legendary hero of ancient 
Rome. Purposing to kill Lars Porsena, who 
was besieging Rome, he entered that king’s 
camp, but by mistake slew Porsena’s Secretary, 
and was captured. Taken before the king he 
deliberately held his hand over the sacrificial 
fire at which he was to be burnt till it was burnt 
off, to show the Etruscan that he would not 
shrink from torture. This fortitude was so 
remarkable that Porsena at once ordered his 
release and made peace with the Romans. 

Scales. From time immemorial the scales have 
been one of the principal attributes of Justice, 
it being impossible to out- weigh even a little 
Right with any quantity of Wrong. 

. . . first the right he put into one scale. 

And then the Giant strove with puissance strong 
To fill the other scale with so much wrong. 

But all the wrongs that he therein could lay, 

Might not it peise. 

Spenser: Faerie Queerte , V, ii, 46. 
Call these foul offenders to their answers; 

And poise the cause in justice’ equal scales, 

Whose beam stands sure, whose rightful cause pre- 
vails. Henry VI Pt. //, II, i. 

According to the Koran, at the Judgment 
Day everyone will be weighed in the scales of 
the archangel Gabriel. The good deeds will be 
put in the scale called “Light,” and the evil 
ones in the scale called “Darkness”; after 
which they will have to cross the bridge A1 
Sir&t, not wider than the edge of a scimitar. 
The faithful will pass over in safety, but the 
rest will fall into the dreary realms of Jehen- 
nam. 

* To hold the scales even or true. To judge 
impartially. 

Kind Providence attends with gracious aid . . . 

And weighs the nations in an even scale. 

Cowper: Table Talk , 251. 

To turn the scale. Just to outweigh the other 
side. 

Thy presence turns the scale of doubtful fight, 
Tremendous God of battles. Lord of Hosts! 

Wordsworth: Ode (1815), 112. 

Scallawag or Scalawag. A scamp or rascal. The 
term was originally applied in the American 
Civil War to a Southerner who aided the 
Federals. 

Scallop Shell. The emblem of St. James of 
Compostela (and hence of pilgrims to his 
shrine), adopted, says Erasmus, because the 
shore of the adjacent sea abounds in them. 
Pilgrims used them for cup, spoon, and dish. 
On returning home, the pilgrim placed his 
scallop shell in his hat to command admiration, 
and adopted it in his coat-armour. 

I will give thee a palmer’s staff of ivory and a 
scallop-shell of beaten gold. — Peele: Old Wives * Tale 
(1590). 

Scalp Lock. A long lock of hair allowed to 
grow on the scalp by the men of certain North 
American Indian tribes as a challenge to their 
scalp-hunting enemies. 

Scambling Days. See Skimble-skamble. 

Scammozzi’s Rule (sk& mot' ziz). The jointed 
two-foot rule used by builders, and said to 
have been invented by Vincenzo Scammozzi 
(1552-1616), the famous Italian architect. 


Scamp. A deserter “from the field,” ex campo ; 
one who decamps without paying his debts. 

Scandal (Gr. skandalon) means properly a"pit- 
fall or snare laid for an enemy; hence a 
stumbling-block, and morally an aspersion. 

In Matt, xiii, 41-2, we are told that the 
angels shall gather “all things that offend . . . 
and shall cast them into a furnace”; here the 
Greek word is skandalon , and scandals is 
given as an alternative in the margin; the 
Revised version renders the word “all things 
that cause stumbling.” Cp . also I Cor . i, 23. 

The Hill of Scandal. So Milton (in Paradise 
Lost , 1, 415) calls the Mount of Olives, because 
King Solomon built thereon “an high place for 
Chemosh, the abomination of Moab . . . and 
for Molech, the abomination of the children of 
Ammon” (I Kings xi, 7). 

Scandal broth. Tea. The reference is to the 
gossip held by some of the womenkind over 
their tea. Also called “Chatter-broth.” 

Scandalum Magnatum (skan' da lum m3g na' 
turn) (Lat. scandal of magnates). Words in 
derogation of the Crown, peers, judges, and 
other great officers of the realm, made a legal 
offence in the time of Richard II. What St. 
Paul calls “speaking evil of dignities”; 
popularly contracted to scanmag. 

Scanderbeg (skan' der beg). A name given by 
the Turks to George Castriota (1403-68), the 
patriot chief of Epirus. The word is a corrup- 
tion of Iskander-beg , Prince Alexander. 

Scanderbeg ’s sword must have Scanderbeg’s 
arm. None but Ulysses can draw Ulysses’ bow. 
Mohammed I wanted to see Scanderbeg’s 
scimitar, but when presented no one could 
draw it; whereupon the Turkish emperor, 
deeming himself imposed upon, sent it back; 
Scanderbeg replied he had sent his majesty 
his sword, not the arm that drew it. 

Scantling, a small quantity, is the French 
ichantillon , a specimen or pattern. 

A scantling of wit. — Dryden. 

Scapegoat. Part of the ancient ritual among 
the Hebrews for the Day of Atonement laid 
down by Mosaic law ( see Lev. xvi) was as 
follows: Two goats were brought to the altar 
of the tabernacle and the high priest cast lots, 
one for the Lord, and the other for Azazel 
(<?.v.). The Lord’s goat was sacrificed, the other 
was the scapegoat', and the high priest having, 
by confession, transferred his own sins and 
the sins of the people to it, it was taken to the 
wilderness and suffered to escape. 

Similar rites are not uncommon among 
primitive peoples. The aborigines of Borneo, 
for instance, annually launch a small boat laden 
with all the sins and misfortunes of the nation, 
which they imagine will fall on the crew that 
first meets with it. 

Scaphism (ska' fizm) (Gr. skaphe , anything 
scooped out). A mode of torture formerly 
practised in Persia. The victim was enclosed 
in the hollowed trunk of a tree, the head, hands, 
and legs projecting. These were anointed with 
honey to invite the wasps. In this situation the 
sufferer must linger in the burning sun for 
several days. 




Scapin 


803 


Sceptrfe 


Scapiq (ska' pin). The knavish and intriguing 
valet, who makes his master his tool, in 
Molifcre’s Les Fourberies de Scapin , 1671. 

Scapular. A garment made of two strips of 
clotn put on over the head so that one falls in 
front and one behind. It is usually the width 
of the shoulders and reaches to the ankles; it 
originated in the working frock of the Benedic- 
tines — a sort of overall — but it is now regarded 
as the distinctively monastic part of many 
religious habits. Another form of scapular is 
worn by lay people of various R.C. con- 
fraternities. It consists of two pieces of cloth 
about 3 in. by 2 in., joined by strings and worn 
back and front next the skin. 

Scarab (sea' rab). An ancient gem in the form 
of a dung-beetle, especially Scarabaeus sacer. 
It originated in pre-dynastic Egypt as an 
amulet, being made of polished or glazed 
stone, metal, or glazed faience, ana was 
perforated lengthwise for suspension. By 
the Xllth Dynasty scarabs became used as 
seals, worn as pendants or mounted as signet 
rings. 

Scaramouch (skar' a mouch). The English form 
of Ital. Scaramuccia (through Fr. Scaramouche) 
a stock character in Old Italian farce, intro- 
duced into England soon after 1670. He was a 
braggart and fool, very valiant in words, but a 
poltroon, and was usually dressed in a black 
Spanish costume caricaturing the dons. The 
Neapolitan actor, Tiberio Fiurelli (1608-94), 
was surnamed Scaramouch Fiurelli. He came 
to England in 1673, and astonished John Bull 
with feats of agility. 

Stout Scaramoucha with rush lance rode in, 

And ran a tilt with centaur Arlequin. 

Dryden: Epilogue to The Silent Woman. 

Scarborough Warning. Blow first, warning 
after. In Scarborough robbers used to be dealt 
with in a very summary manner by a sort of 
Halifax gibbet-law, lynch-law, or an a la 
lanterne . Another origin is given of this phrase: 
it is said that Thomas Stafford, in 1557, 
seized the castle of Scarborough, not only 
without warning, but even before the towns- 
folk knew he was afoot. 

This term Scarborrow warning, grew, some say, 

By hasty hanging for rank robbery there. 

Who that was met but suspect in that way. 

Straight he was trust up, whatever he were. 

J. Heywood. 

Scarlet. The colour of certain official costumes, 
as those of judges and cardinals; hence, 
sometimes applied to these dignitaries. The 
scarlet coat worn by foxhunters is not tech- 
nically scarlet , but pink {sec Pink.) 

Dyeing scarlet. Heavy drinking, which in 
time will dye the face scarlet. 

They call drinking deep, dyeing scarlet. Henry 
IV Pt. /, II, iv. 

The Scarlet Lancers. The 1 6th Lancers, 
whose tunic was red. Now the 16th/5th The 
Queen's Royal Lancers, 

Scarlet Letter. In the Puritan regime of New 
England in the early days a scarlet “A" for 
“adulteress” used to be branded or sewn on a 
guilty woman's dress. Hawthorne's novel of 
this name (1850) is based on this custom. 

26 * 


Scarlet Pimpernel. An elusive intriguer. The 
phrase comes from the nickname of the hero 
of several novels by Baroness Orczy. In 1905 
The Scarlet Pimpernel told the adventures of 
a royalist partisan in the French Revolution, 
who took the pimpernel as his emblem when 
he saved victims from the guillotine, and 
played other tricks on the Sansculottes. 

Scarlet, Will. One of the companions of 
Robin Hood (q.v.). 

The Scarlet Woman, or Scarlet Whore. The 
woman seen by St. John in his vision “arrayed 
in purple and scarlet colour,” sitting “upon a 
scarlet coloured beast, full of names of 
blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns,” 
“drunken with the blood of the saints, and with 
the blood of the martyrs,” upon whose fore- 
head was written “Mystery, Babylon the 
Great, the Mother of Harlots and 
Abominations of the Earth” (Rev. xvii, 1-6), 

St. John was probably referring to Rome, 
which, at the time he was writing, was “drun- 
ken with the blood of the saints”; some 
controversial Protestants have applied the 
words to the Church of Rome, and some 
Roman Catholics to the Protestant churches 
generally. 

Scat Singing. In jazz a form of singing without 
words, using the voice as a musical instrument. 
Said to have been started by Louis Armstrong 
in the 1920s when he forgot the words or 
dropped the paper on which they were written 
while singing a number; Jelly Roll Morton, on 
the other hand, claimed to have sung scat as 
early as 1906. 

Scavenger’s Daughter. An instrument of 
torture invented by Sir William Skevington, 
lieutenant of the Tower in the reign of Henry 
VII i. The machine compressed the body by 
bringing the head to the knees, and so forced 
blood out of the nose and cars. 

Scent. We are not yet on the right scent. We 
have not yet got the right clue. The allusion is 
to dogs following game by the scent. 

Sceptic (skep' tik) literally means one who 
thinks for himself, and does not receive on 
another’s testimony (from Gr. skeptesthai , to 
examine). Pyrrho founded the philosophic sect 
called “Sceptics,” and Epictetus combated their 
dogmas. In theology we apply the word to 
those who do not accept revelation. 

Sceptre (sep' ter) (Gr. a staff). The gold and 
jewelled wand carried by a sovereign as 
emblem of royalty; hence, royal authority and 
dignity. 

This hand was made to handle nought but gold: 

I cannot give due action to my words. 

Except a sword, or sceptre, balance it. 

A sceptre shall it have, have I a soul. 

On which I’ll toss the flower-de-luce of France. 

Henry VI Pt. If, V, 1. 

The sceptre of the kings and emperors of 
Rome was of ivory, bound with gold and sur- 
mounted bv a golden eagle; the British sceptre 
is of richly jewelled gold, and bears immediately 
beneath the cross and ball the great Cullinan 
diamond (q.v.). 

Homer says that Agamemnon’s sceptre was 
made by Vulcan, who gave it to the son of 
Saturn. It passed successively to Jupiter, 


Scheherazade 


804 


Science 


Mercury, Pelops, Atreus, and Thyestes till it 
came to Agamemnon. It was looked on with 
great reverence, and several miracles were 
attributed to it. 

Scheherazade (she her' a zad). The mouth- 
piece of the tales related in the Arabian Nights 
(q.v.), daughter of the grand vizier of the 
Indies. The Sultan Schahriah, having dis- 
covered the infidelity of his sultana, resolved 
to have a fresh wife every night and have her 
strangled at daybreak. Scheherazade entreated 
to become his wife, and so amused him with 
tales for a thousand and one nights that he 
revoked his cruel decree, bestowed his affection 
on her, and called her “the liberator of the sex.” 

Schelhorn’s Bible. See Bible, Specially 
nAmed. 

Schiedam (ski dSmO. Hollands gin, so called 
from Schiedam a town where it is principally 
manufactured. 

Schism, The Great. The term is usually applied 
to the ecclesiastical dispute which rent Europe 
into two parties in the 14th century. Three 
months after the election of Urban VI, in 
1378, the fifteen electing cardinals declared that 
the election was invalid because it had been 
made under fear of violence from the Roman 
mob. Urban retorted by naming twenty-eight 
new cardinals; the others at once proceeded 
to elect a new pope, Clement VII, who went 
to reside at Avignon. Spain, Naples, France, 
Provence and Scotland adhered to Clement; 
England, Germany, Scandinavia, Flanders and 
Hungary stood by Urban. The Church was 
torn from top to bottom by the schism, both 
sides being in good faith and no one knowing 
to whom allegiance was due. This confusion 
lasted until 1417, when Martin V was elected 
at the Council of Constance. 

Schlemihl, Peter (shlem' il). The man who sold 
his shadow to the devil, in Chamisso’s tale so 
called (1814). The name is a synonym for any 
person who makes a desperate and silly bar- 
gain. 

Scholasticism. The philosophy and doctrines 
of the “Schoolmen” (<?.v.) of the Middle Ages 
(9th to 16th cents.) which were based on the 
logical works of Aristotle and the teachings of 
the Christian Fathers. It was an attempt to 
give a rational basis to Christianity, but the 
methods of the Scholastics degenerated into 
mere verbal subtleties, academic disputations, 
and quibblings, till, at the time of the Renais- 
sance, the remnants were only fit to be swept 
away before the current of new learning that 
broke upon the world. Cp. Dialectics. 

Schoolmaster. The schoolmaster is abroad. 
Education is spreading — and it will bear fruit. 
Lord Brougham said, in a speech (1828) on 
the general diffusion of education, and of 
intelligence arising therefrom, “Let the soldier 
be abroad, if he will; he can do nothing in this 
age. There is another personage abroad . . . 
the schoolmaster is abroad ; ana I trust to him, 
armed with his primer, against the soldier in 
full military array.” 

Schoolmen. The Theologians of the Middle 
Ages, who lectured in the cloisters or cathedral 
scnools founded by Charlemagne and his 


successors. They followed Aristotle and the 
Fathers (see Scholasticism), but attempted to 
reduce every subject to a system. They may be 
grouped under three periods — 

First Period . Platonists (from 9th to 12th 
cents.). 

Pierre Aboard (1079-1142). 

Flacius Albinus Alcuin (735-804). 

John Scotus Erigena (d. 875). 

Anselm (1030-1117). Doctor Scholasticus . 

Berengarius of Tours (1000-88). 

Gerbert of Aurillac (930-1003), afterwards 
Pope Sylvester II. 

John of Salisbury (1115-80). 

Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury (1005- 
89). 

Pierre Lombard (1100-64). Master of the 
Sentences , sometimes called the founder of 
school divinity. 

Roscelinus of Compidgne (c. 1050-1 122). 

Second Period , or Golden Age o f Scholastic- 
ism. Aristotelians (13th and 14th cents.). 

Alain de Lille (d. 1203). The Universal 
Doctor. 

Albertus Magnus (1206-80). 

Thomas Aquinas (1224-74). The Angelic 
Doctor. 

John Fidanza Bonaventure (1221-74). The 
Seraphic Doctor. 

Alexander of Hales (d. 1245). The Irrefrag- 
able Doctor. 

John Duns Scotus (1265-1308). The Subtle 
Doctor. 

Third Period. Nominalism Revived (To the 
16th cent.). 

Thomas de Bradwardinc, Archbishop of 
Canterbury (d. 1349). The Profound Doctor . 

Jean Buridan (c. 1295-1360). 

William Durandus de Pourcain (d. c. 
1333). The Most Resolute Doctor. 

Gregory of Rimini (d. 1358). The Authentic 
Doctor. 

Robert Holcot (d. 1349), an English Domini- 
can and divine. 

Raymond Lully (1234-1315). The Illuminated 
Doctor. 

William Occam (d. 1349), an English 

Franciscan. The Singular or Invincible Doctor. 

Francois Suarez (1548-1617), the last of the 
schoolmen. 

Schooner (skoo' ner). In the U.S.A., a large 
glass or mug for beer. Sometimes also called a 
“prairie schooner.” 

Prairie schooner was the name given to the 
large covered wagon in which American pioneer 
settlers moved west across the prairies in the 
mid- 19th century. 

Science. Literally “knowledge,” the Lat. 
scientia from the pres. part, of scire , to know. 
The old, wide meaning of the word is shown in 
this from Shakespeare: — 

Piutus himself. 

That knows the tinct and multiplying medicine, 

Hath not in nature’s mystery more science 

Than I have in this ring. All's Well , V, iii. 

The Dismal Science. Economics; a name 
given to it by Carlyle: — 

The social science — not a “gay science,” but a 
rueful — which finds the secret of this Universe in 
‘‘supply and demand” . . . what we might call, by 
way of eminence, the dismal science. — Carlyle: On 
the Nigger Question (1849). 




Science 


805 


Score 


The Noble Science. Boxing, or fencing; the 
“noble art of self-defence.” 

The Seven Sciences. A mediaeval term for 
the whole group of studies, viz. Grammar, 
Logic, and Rhetoric (the Trivium ), with 
Arithmetic, Music, Geometry, and Astronomy 
(the Quadrivium). 

Science Persecuted. Anaxagoras of Clazom- 
enae (d. c. 430 b.c.) held opinions in natural 
science so far in advance of ms age that he was 
accused of impiety, thrown into prison, and 
condemned to death. Pericles, with great 
difficulty, got his sentence commuted to fine 
and banishment. 

Galileo (1564-1642) was imprisoned by the 
Inquisition for maintaining that the earth 
moved. To get his liberty he abjured the heresy, 
but as he went his way is said, on very flimsy 
authority, to have whispered, “ E pur si 
muove ” (but nevertheless it does move). 

Roger Bacon (1214-94) was excommunicated 
and imprisoned for diabolical knowledge, 
chiefly on account of his chemical researches. 
Dr. Dee (tf.v.) and Robert Grosseteste (d. 
1253), Bishop of Lincoln, were treated in much 
the same way. Of the latter it is said that as he 
was accused of dealings in the black arts the 
Pope sent a letter to the King of England 
ordering that his bones should be disinterred 
and burnt to powder. 

Averroes, the Arabian philosopher, who 
flourished in the 12th century, was denounced 
as a heretic and degraded solely on account of 
his great eminence in natural philosophy and 
medicine. 

Andrew Crosse (1784-1855), the electrician, 
was accused of impiety and shunned as a 
“profane man” who wanted to arrogate to 
himself the creative power of God, because he 
asserted that he had seen certain animals of 
the genus Acarus , which had been developed by 
him out of inorganic matter. 

Scio’s Blind Old Bard (si' 6). Homer. Scio is 
the modern name of Chios, in the Aigean Sea, 
one of the “seven cities” that claimed the 
honour of being his birthplace. 

Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, Salamis, Rhodos, Argos, 
Atheme, 

Your just right to call Homer your son you must 
settle between ye. 

Scire facias (si' re fa' si &s) (Lat. make [him] to 
know). A judicial writ enforcing the execution 
or the annulment of judgments, etc. ; so called 
from its opening words. These writs were 
formerly the common procedure, but they are 
now rarely issued except for the revocation of 
royal charters. 

Sciron (si' ron). A robber of Greek legend, 
slain by Theseus. He infested the parts about 
Megara, and forced travellers over the rocks 
into the sea, where they were devoured by a 
sea monster. 

Scissors. The Latin cisorium , from ctedere , to 
cut. In English the word was for centuries spelt 
without the c; the sc - spelling appeared in the 
16th century, and seems to be due to confusion 
with Lat. scissor , the noun from scindere , to 
split or rend. Scythe , formerly sit he, has 
suffered in the same way. 


In Johnson’s Dictionary the word is entered 
in the singular; but the singular form has never 
been in common use, except in compounds 
such as scissor-blade , scissor-tooth , etc. (cp. 
billiard-ball from . billiards , trouser-button from 
trousers , etc.). 

Scissors and paste. Compilation, as distin- 
guished from original literary work. The 
allusion is obvious. 

Scissors to grind. Work to do; purpose to 
serve. I have my own scissors to grind is a way 
of saying “I’ve got my own work to do, or my 
own troubles, and can’t be bothered with 
yours.” 

Scogan’s Jests (sko' gan). A popular jest-book 
in the 16th century, said by Andrew Boorde 
(who published it) to be the work of one John 
Scogan, reputed to have been court fool to 
Edward IV. He is referred to (anachronously) 
by Justice Shallow in Henry IV Pt. //, III, ii, 
and must not be confused with Henry Scogan 
(d. 1407), the poet-disciple of Chaucer to whom 
Ben Jonson alludes: — 

Scogan? What was he? 

Oh, a fine gentleman, and a master of arts 

Of Henry the Fourth’s times, that made disguises 

For the king’s sons, and writ in ballad royal 

Daintily well. 

The Fortunate Isles (1624). 

Sconce (skons). A word with several mean- 
ings : — a wall bracket for holding one or more 
candles or lights; the small, detached fortified 
earthwork or fort; the head. 

Scone (skoon). A parish about 2 miles north of 
Perth, the site of the castle where the ancient 
Scottish kings were crowned. It was from here 
that Edward I, in 1296, brought the great 
coronation stone on which the kings of Scot- 
land used to be crowned, and which, ever 
since, has formed part of the Throne (“Ed- 
ward the Confessor’s Chair”) in Westminster 
Abbey which British monarchs occupy at their 
coronation. It was stolen at Christmas, 1950, 
but was restored some months later and re- 
placed in the Confessor’s Chair in February, 
1952. 

More than one fable has attached itself to 
this stone. The monks gave out that it was the 
very “pillow” on which Jacob rested his head 
when he had the vision of angels ascending and 
descending between heaven and earth (Gen, 
xxviii, 11); and it was also said to be the original 
“Lia-faill” or “Tanist Stone” (< 7 .v.), brought 
from Ireland by Fergus, son of Eric, who led 
the Dalriads to Argyllshire, and removed 
thence by King Kenneth (in the 9th cent.) to 
Scone. 

Scorched Earth. A phrase coined to describe 
the Chinese policy (as old as war) of retreating 
before the Japanese and burning the country- 
side as they went, in the war which began in 
1937. It was a phrase much used in World 
War II. 

Score. Twenty; a reckoning; to make a reckon- 
ing; so called from the custom of marking off 
“runs” or “lengths” in games by the score feet. 

To pay off old scores. To settle accounts; 
used sometimes of money debts, but usually 
in the sense of revenging an injury, “getting 
even” with one. 



Scorpio 


806 


Scotland 


Scorpio, Scorpio^ (skor' pi 6). Scorpio is the 
eighth sign of the zodiac, which the sun enters 
about October 24th. Orion had boasted to 
Diana and Latona that he would kill every 
animal on the earth. These goddesses sent a 
scorpion which stung Orion to death. Jupiter 
later raised the scorpion to heaven. 

Fable has it that scorpions — like the toad — 
cariy with them an oil which is a remedy 
against their stings. 

Tis true, a scorpion’s oil is said 
To cure the wounds the venom made, 

And weapons dressed with salve restore 
And heal the hurts they gave before. 

Butler: Hudibras , III, ii. 

This oil was extracted from the flesh and 
giv^n to the sufferer as a medicine; it was also 
supposed to be “very useful to bring away the 
descending stone of the kidneys” (Boyle, 1663). 

Another mediaeval belief was that if a 
scorpion were surrounded by a circle of fire 
it would commit suicide by stinging itself 
with its own tail, Byron, in the Giaour , 
extracts a simile from the legend — 

The mind that broods o’er guilty woes 
Is like the Scorpion girt by fire; . . . 

One sad and sole relief she knows. 

The sting she nourish’d for her foes. 

Whose venom never yet was vain, 

Gives but one pang, and cures all pain. 

A lash or scourge of scorpions. A specially 
severe punishment, in allusion to the biblical 
passage: — 

My father hath chastised you with whips, but I 
will chastise you with scorpions. — I Kings xii, 11. 

In the Middle Ages a scourge of four or 
five thongs set with steel spikes and leaden 
weights was called a scorpion. 

Scot. Payment, reckoning. The same word as 
shot (< q.v .); we still speak of paying one's shot. 

Scot and lot. A municipal levy on all 
according to their ability to pay. Scot is the 
tax, and lot the allotment or portion allotted. 
To pay scot and lot , therefore, is to pay the 
general assessment and also the personal tax 
allotted to you. The word comes from the Old 
Norse skot f a contribution, and it has no 
connexion with the Early Anglo-Saxon coin, a 
skeaty for which see Church Scot. 

To go scot-free. To be let off payment; to 
escape punishment or reprimand, etc. 

Scotch, Scots, Scottish. These three adjectives 
all mean the same thing — belonging to, native 
of, or characteristic of, Scotland, but their 
application varies, and of late years their use 
has become something of a shibboleth. 

Scots and Scottish may be used as applicable 
and euphonious; Scotch describes nothing but 
whisky and A Scotch breakfast, a substantial 
breakfast of sundry sorts of good things to 
eat and drink. The Scots are famous for their 
breakfast-tables and teas, and no people in 
the world are more hospitable. 

Broad Scotch (Braid Scots). The vernacular 
of the lowlands of Scotland; very different 
from the enunciation of Edinburgh and from 
the peculiarity of the Glasgow dialect. 

A pound Scots was originally of the same 
value as an English pound, but after 1355 it 
gradually depreciated, until at the time of the 


Union of the Crowns (1603) it was but one- 
twelfth of the value of an English pound (Is. 
8d.), which was divided into 20 Scots shillings 
each worth an English penny. 

A Scots pint was about equivalent to three 
imperial pints of the present day. 

The Scots Greys. The Royal Scots Greys 
(2nd Dragoons), so called from the colour of 
their original facings of stone grey. They are 
now an armoured regiment. 

Scotch. To make a scotch, i.e. a score or 
incision in, originally; but now the verb usually 
means to wound so that temporary disable- 
ment is caused, or to stamp out altogether. 
This application of the word arises from 
Macbeth % III, ii, where Macbeth is made to say 
“We have scotch’d the snake, not killed it.” 
Macbeth was not printed in Shakespeare’s 
lifetime, and in the Folios the word appears as 
scorch'd; Theobald is responsible for the 
emendation (1726). 

Out of all scotch and notch. Beyond all 
bounds; scotch was the line marked upon the 
ground in certain games, as Hopscotch. 

The word scotch is also applied to a wedge 
placed before or behind a wheel, etc., to prevent 
its rolling. 

Scotists (sko' tists). Followers of the 13th- 
century scholastic philosopher, Duns Scotus, 
who maintained the doctrine of the Immaculate 
Conception in opposition to Thomas Aquinas. 

Scotland. St. Andrew ia the patron saint of 
this country, and tradition says that his 
remains were brought by Regulus, a Greek 
monk, to the coast of Fife in 368. 

The old royal arms of Scotland were: — 
Or, a lion rampant gules, armed and langued 
azure, within a double-tressure fiory counter- 
flory of the second. Crest . An imperial crown 
proper, surmounted by a lion sejant-guardant 
gules crowned or, holding in his dexter paw a 
naked sword, and in the sinister a sceptre both 
proper. Supporters. Two unicorns argent, 
armed, tufted, and unguled or, crowned with 
imperial and gorged with eastern crowns, 
chains reflexed over the backs or ; the dexter 
supporting a banner charged with the arms of 
Scotland, the sinister supporting a similar 
banner azure, thereon a saltire argent. Mottoes. 
“Nemo me impune lacessit” ( q.v.) f and, over 
the arms, “In Defens”. 

In Scotland now the royal arms of Great 
Britain are used with certain alterations; the 
lion supporter is replaced by another unicorn 
(crowned), the Scottish crest takes the place of 
the English, and the collar of the Thistle 
encircles that of the Garter. 

Scotland a fief of England. Edward I founded 
his claim to the lordsnip of Scotland on four 
grounds, viz, — (1) the statement of certain 
ancient chroniclers that Scottish kings had 
occasionally paid homage to English sovereigns 
from time immemorial ; (2) from charters of 
Scottish kings, as those of Edgar, son of Mal- 
colm Canmore, William the Lion, and his son 
Alexander II; (3) from papal rescripts, as those 
of Honorius III, Gregory IX, and Clement IV; 
(4) from a passage in The Life and Miracles of 
St, John of Beverley (see Rymer’s Fcedera t I, Pt. 




Scotland Yard 


807 


Screw 


II, p. 771), which relates how a miracle was per- 
formed in the reign of Atheistan, King of the 
West Saxons and Mercians, 925-940. The king 
was repelling a band of marauding Scots and 
had reached the Tyne when he found that they 
had retreated. At midnight the spirit of St. 
John of Beverley appeared to him and bade 
him cross the river at daybreak, for he “should 
discomfit the foe.’* Atheistan obeyed, and 
reduced the whole kingdom to subjection. On 
reaching Dunbar on his return march, he 
prayed that some sign might be vouch- 
safed to him to satisfy all ages that “God, by 
the intercession of St. John, had given him 
the kingdom of Scotland.” Then, striking the 
basaltic rocks with his sword, the blade sank 
into the solid flint “as if it had been butter,” 
cleaving it asunder for “an ell or more,” and 
the cleft remains to the present hour. This was 
taken as a sign from heaven that Atheistan 
was rightful lord of Scotland, and if Athei- 
stan was, argued Edward, so was he, his 
successor. 

Scotland Yard. The headquarters of the 
Metropolitan Police, whence all public orders 
to the force proceed. The original Scotland 
Yard, occupied by the Police from 1829-90, 
was a short street near Trafalgar Square, so 
called from a palace on the spot, given 
by King Edgar ( c . 970) to Kenneth II of 
Scotland when he came to London to pay 
homage, and subsequently used by the Scottish 
kings when visiting England. New Scotland 
Yard , as it is officially called, is on the Victoria 
Embankment near Westminster Bridge. 

Scotus, Duns. See Dunce. 

Scourers. See Scowerers. 

Scourge. A whip or lash; commonly applied to 
diseases that carry off great numbers, as the 
scourge of influenza, the scourge of pneumonia, 
etc., and to persons who seem to be the 
instruments of divine punishment. Raleigh, for 
instance, was called the Scourge of Spain, and 
Spenser, in his Sonnet upon Scanderbeg , calls 
him “The scourge of Turkes and plague of 
infidels.” 

The Scourge of God (Lat. flagellum Del). 
Attila (d. 453), king of the Huns, so called by 
medieval writers because of the widespread 
havoc and destruction caused by his armies. 

The Scourge of Homer. The carping critic, 
Zoilus. See Zoilus. 

The Scourge of Princes. Pietro Aretino 
(1492-1556), the Italian satirist. 

Scout. This word comes from the old French 
escoute , a spy or eavesdropper, akin to the 
modern French ecouter , to listen. It is now 
applied to a^man, aeroplane, warship, etc., 
sent to observe the enemy’s movements or 
obtain information of importance; some 
armies have organized bodies of Scouts. The 
word has other uses. In the early days of the 
game the fielders at cricket were called scouts; 
college servants at Oxford are still known by 
that name; it is often used for Boy Scouts (q.v.). 

Scowerers. A set of rakes in the period about 
1670 to 1720, who, with the Nickers and 


Mohocks, committed greats annoyances in 
London and other large towns. 

Who has not heard the Scowerers* midnight fame? 

Who has not trembled at the Mohocks* name? 

Was there a watchman took his hourly rounds, 

Safe from their blows and new-invented wounds? 

Gay: Trivia , III. 

Scrape. Bread and scrape. Bread and butter, 
with the butter spread very thin. 

I’ve got into a bad scrape — an awkward 
predicament, an embarrassing difficulty. We 
use rub , squeeze , pinch , to express the same idea. 
Thus Shakespeare says, “Ay, there’s the rub”; 
“I am come to a pinch” (difficulty). 

To scrape along. To get along in the world 
with difficulty, finding it hard to “make both 
ends meet.” 

To scrape an acquaintance with. To get on 
terms of familiarity with by currying favour and 
by methods of insinuation. The Gentleman's 
Magazine (N. S. xxxix, 230), says that Hadrian 
went one day to the public baths and saw an 
old soldier, well known to him, scraping 
himself with a potsherd for want of a flesh- 
brush. The emperor sent him a sum of money. 
Next day Hadrian found the bath crowded 
with soldiers scraping themselves with pot- 
sherds, and said, “Scrape on, gentlemen, but 
you’ll not scrape acquaintance with me.” 

To scrape through. To pass an examination, 
etc., “by the skin of one’s teeth,” just to escape 
failure. 

Scratch. There are two colloquial sporting uses 
of this word : (1) a horse or other entrant in a 
race or sporting event when withdrawn is said 
to be scratched ; (2) a person starting from 
scratch in a sporting event is one starting from 
the usual starting point (i.e. the line marked — 
originally scratched out), whereas his fellow 
competitors would be starting ahead of him 
with handicaps awarded according to their 
respective merits. In golf the term par is used 
instead of scratch. To start from scratch in 
general usage means to start from nothing or 
without particular advantages. 

A scratch crew, eleven, etc. A team got 
together ad hoc; not the regular team. 

A scratch race. A race of horses, men, boys, 
etc., without restrictions as to age, weight, 
previous winnings, etc., who all start from 
scratch. 

Old Scratch. Old Nick; the devil. From 
skratta , an old Scandinavian word for a goblin 
or monster (modern Icelandic skratti y a devil). 

Scratch cradle. Another form of ‘‘cat’s 
cradle” (tf.v.). 

To come up to (the) scratch. To be ready or 
good enough in any test; to make the grade. 
Under the London Prize Ring Rules, intro- 
duced in 1839, a round in a prize fight ended 
when one of the fighters was knocked dowh. 
After a 30-second interval this fighter was 
allowed eight seconds in which to make his 
way unaided to a mark scratched in the centre 
of the ring; if he failed to do so, he “had not 
come up to scratch” and was declared beaten. 

Screw. Slang for wages, salary; probably 
because in some industry the weekly wage was 


Screw 


808 


Scullabogue Massacre 


handed o&t in a “screw of paper”; also a slang 
term for a prison warder. 

An old screw. A miser who has amassed 
wealth by “putting on the screw” ( see below), 
and who keeps his money tight, doling it out 
only in screws. 

He has a screw loose. He is not quite 
compos mentis , he’s a little mad. His mind is 
like a piece of machinery that needs adjusting 
— it won’t work properly. 

There’s a screw loose somewhere. All is not 
right, there’s something amiss. A figurative 
phrase from machinery, where one screw not 
tightened up may be the cause of a disaster. 

\ His head is screwed on the right way. He is 
clear-headed and right-thinking; he knows 
what he’s about. 

To put on the screw. A phrase surviving from 
the days when the thumb screw was used as a 
form of torture to extract confessions or money. 
To' press for payment, as a screw presses by 
gradually increasing pressure. Hence to apply 
the screw , to give the screw another turn , to 
take steps (or additional steps) to enforce one’s 
demands. 

To screw oneself up to it. To force oneself 
to face it, etc.; to get oneself into the right 
frame of mind for doing some unpleasant or 
difficult job. 

Screw-ball. A colloquial American term for 
an erratic, eccentric, or unconventional person. 

Screwed. Intoxicated. A playful synonym 
of tight. 

The Screw Plot. The story is that when 
Queen Anne went to St. Paul’s in 1708 to offer 
thanksgiving for the victory of Oudcnarde, 
disaffected conspirators removed certain 
screw-bolts from the beams of the cathedral, 
that the roof might fall on the queen and her 
suite and kill them. 

Scribe, in the New Testament, means a doctor 
of the law. Thus, in Matt, xxii, 35, we read, 
“Then one of them, which was a lawyer , asked 
Him . . . Which is the great commandment in 
the law?” Mark (xii, 28) says, “One of the 
scribes came, and . . . asked Him, Which is the 
first commandment of all?” They were 
generally coupled with the Pharisees (q.v.) as 
being upholders of the ancient ceremonial 
tradition. 

In the Old Testament the word is used more 
widely. Thus Seraiah is called the scribe 
(secretary) of David (II Sam. viii, 17); “Shebna 
the scribe” (II Kings xviii, 18) was secretary to 
Hezekiah; and Jonathan, Baruch, Gemariah, 
etc., who were princes, were called scribes. 
Ezra, however, called “a ready scribe in the 
law of Moses,” accords with the New Testa- 
ment usage of the word. 

Scriblerus, Martinus (mar t! nus skrib ler' us). 
A merciless satire on the false taste in literature 
current in the time of Pope, for the most part 
written by Arbuthnot, and published in 1741. 
Cornelius Scriblerus, the father of Martin, was 
a pedant, who entertained all sorts of ab- 
surdities about the education of his son. 
Martin grew up a man of capacity; but though 
he had read everything, his judgment was vile 


and taste atrocious. Pope, Swift, and Arbuth- 
not founded a Scriblerus Club with the object 
of pillorying ail literary incompetence. 
Scrimmage. Originally, a skirmish , of which 
word this is a variant. 

Prince Ouffur at this skrymage, for all his pryde, 

Fled full and sought no guide. 

MS. Lansclowne, 200, f. 10. 

Scrummage was another form of scrimmage ; 
as scrum it still survives on the Rugby football 
field. 

Scrimshaw (skrinT shaw). The term applied to 
the carved or scratched work on shells, ivory, 
etc., often in colours. This used to be done by 
sailors during the long sea voyages by sail. 
The word is sometimes used as a verb to 
describe the accomplishment of some intricate 
job neatly. 

Scriptores Decern (skrip tor' ez de' sem). A 
collection of ten ancient chronicles on English 
history, edited by Sir Roger Twysden and 
John Selden (1652). The ten chroniclers are 
Simeon of Durham, John of Hexham, Richard 
of Hexham, Ailred of Rieval, Ralph de Diceto 
(Archdeacon of London), John Brompton of 
Jorval, Gervase of Canterbury, Thomas 
Stubbs, William Thorn of Canterbury, and 
Henry Knighton of Leicester. 

A similar collection of five chronicles was 
published by Thomas Gale (1691) as Scriptores 
Quinque. 

Scriptorium (skrip tor' i urn) (Lat. from scrip- 
tus, past part, of senbere , to write). A writing- 
room, especially the chamber set apart in the 
mediaeval monasteries for the copying of 
MSS., etc. Sir James Murray (1837-1915) gave 
the name to the corrugated-iron outhouse in 
his garden at Mill Hill, in which he started 
the great New English Dictionary. 

Scriptures, The, or Holy Scripture (Lat. 
scriptura , a writing). The Bible; hence applied 
allusively to the sacred writings of other 
creeds, as the Koran, the Scripture of the 
Mohammedans , the Vedas and Zendavesta, of 
the Hindus and Persians, etc. 

Scripturists. Another name for the Caraites. 

Scrounge. To purloin or annex something from 
nowhere particular or that has no obvious 
owner. A term much used in the army during 
World War I. 

Scruple. The name of the weight (20 grains, or 
A oz.), and the term for doubt or hesitation 
(as in a scruple of conscience ), both come from 
Lat. scrupulusy meaning a sharp little pebble, 
such as will cause great uneasiness if it gets 
into one’s shoe. The second is the figurative 
use; with the name of the little weight compare 
that of the big one — stone. 

Scullabogue Massacre (skill a bog'). In the 
Irish rebellion of 1798 Scullabogue House, 
Wexford, was seized by the rebels and used 
for a prison. Some thirty or forty prisoners 
confined in it were brought out and shot in cold 
blood, when the news of a repulse of the 
rebels at New Ross arrived (June 5th, 1798). 
The barn at the back of the house was filled 
with prisoners and set on fire, and Taylor, 
in his history, written at the time and almost on 
the spot, puts the number of victims at 184. 




Scunner 


809 


Sea 


Scunner. A Scottish term for a feeling of 
distaste amounting almost to loathing. To 
take a scunner at something is to conceive a 
violent dislike to it. 

Scurry. A scratch race, or race without 
restrictions. 

Hurry-scurry. A confused bustle through 
lack of time; in a confused bustle. A “ricochet” 
word. 

Scutage (skQ' tij). In feudal times a payment 
in commutation of personal military service. 
To most knights and others liable to be 
summoned to follow the king to war it would 
be more convenient to pay the tax than set 
out on some distant expedition; at the same 
time the money they paid was of use to the 
king to enable him to employ more reliable 
troops. It was levied in varying rates between 
1156 and 1385. 

Scuttle. To scuttle a ship is to bore a hole in it 
in order to make it sink. The word is from the 
Old French escout tiles , hatches, and was first 
applied to a hole in a roof with a door or 
lid, then to a hatchway in the deck of a ship 
with a lid, then to a hole in the bottom of a 
ship. 

Scuttle, for coals, is the O.E. scutel , a dish; 
from Lat. scutella , diminutive of scutra, a dish 
or platter. In auctioneers* jargon a coal- 
scuttle is, quite unaccountably, called a 
perdonium. 

To scuttle off, to make off hurriedly, was 
originally to scuddle off, scuddle being a 
frequentative of scud . 

Scylla (sir a). In Greek legend the name (1) of 
a daughter of King Nisus of Megara and 
(2) of a sea monster. 

The daughter of Nisus promised to deliver 
Megara into the hands oi her lover, Minos, 
and, to effect this, cut off a golden hair on her 
father’s head, while he was asleep. Minos 
despised her for this treachery, and Scylla 
threw herself from a rock into the sea. At 
death she was changed into a lark, and Nisus 
into a hawk. 

The sea monster dwelt on the rock Scylla, 
opposite Charybdis ( q.v .), on the Italian side 
of the Straits of Messina. Homer says that 
she had twelve feet, and six heads, each on a 
long neck and each armed with three rows of 
pointed teeth, and that she barked like a dog. 
He makes her a daughter of Crataeis; but later 
accounts say that she was a nymph who, 
because she was beloved by Glaucus (q.v.), was 
changed by the jealous Circe into a hideous 
monster. 

Avoiding Scylla, he fell into Charybdis. See 
Charybdis. 

Between Scylla and Charybdis. Between two 
equal difficulties; between the devil and the 
deep sea. 

To fall from Scylla Into Charybdis — out of 
the frying-pan into the fire. 

Scythian (sith' i in). Pertaining to the peoples 
or region of Scythia, the ancient name of a 
great part of European and Asiatic Russia. 


Scythian defiance. When Darius approached 
Scythia, an ambassador was sent to his tent 
with a bird, a frog, a mouse, and five arrows, 
then left without uttering a word. Darius, 
wondering what was meant, was told by 
Gobrias it meant this; Either fly away like a 
bird, hide your head in a hole like a mouse, 
or swim across the river like a frog, or in five 
days you will be laid prostrate by the Scythian 
arrows. 

The Scythian or Tartarian lamb. The 
Russian barometz, the creeping root-stock and 
frond-stalks of Cibotium barometz , a woolly 
fern, which, when inverted, was supposed to 
have some resemblance to a lamb. Mandeville 
in his Travels (ch. xxvi) gives a highly fanciful 
description of them. 

’Sdeath, ’Sdeins. See *S. 

Sea. Any large expanse of water, more or less 
enclosed; hence the expression “molten sea,” 
meaning the great brazen vessel which stood 
in Solomon’s temple (II Chron. iv, 5, and I 
Kings vii, 26); even the Nile, the Euphrates, 
and the Tigris are sometimes called seas by 
the prophets. The world of water is the 
Ocean . 

At sea, or all at sea. Wide of the mark; quite 
wrong; like a person in the open ocean without 
compass or chart. 

Half-seas over. See Half. 

The four seas. The seas surrounding Great 
Britain, on the north, south, east, and west. 

The high seas. The open sea, the “main”; 
especially that part of the sea beyond “the 
three-mile limit, which forms a free highway 
to all nations. 

The Old Man of the sea. A creature en- 
countered by Sinbad the Sailor in his fifth 
voyage ( Arabian Nights). This terrible Old 
Man got on Sinbad’s back, and would neither 
dismount nor could be shaken off*. At last 
Sinbad gave him some wine, which so in- 
toxicated him that he relaxed his grip, and 
Sinbad made his escape. Hence the phrase is 
figuratively applied to bad habits, evil 
associates, etc., from which it is very difficult 
to free oneself. 

The Seven Seas. See Seven. 

Sea Deities. In classical myth, besides the 
fifty Nereids (^.v.), the Oceanides (daughters 
of Oceanus), the Sirens {q.v.) t etc., there were 
a number of deities presiding over, or con- 
nected with, the sea. The chief of these are: — 

Amphitrite , wife of Poseidon, queen goddess 
of the sea. 

Glaucus , a fisherman of Boeotia, afterwards 
a marine deity. 

lno, who threw herself from a rock into the 
sea, and was made a sea-goddess. 

Neptune , king of the ocean. 

Nereus and his wife Doris. Their palace was 
at the bottom of the Mediterranean; his hair 
was sea-weed. 

Oceanus and his wife Tethys (daughter of 
Uranus and Ge). Oceanus was god of the 
Ocean , which formed a boundary round the 
world. 


Sea 


* 810 


Second 


Portunus (Lat.; Gr. Palaemori ), the protector 
of harbours. 

Poseidon , the Greek Neptune. 

Proteus , who assumed every variety of 
shape. 

Thetis , a daughter of Nereus and mother of 
Achilles. 

Triton , son of Poseidon. 

Sea-girt Isle, The. England. So called be- 
cause, as Shakespeare has it, it is “hedged in 
with the main, that water-walled bulwark” 
( King John , II, i). 

This precious stone set in the silver sea, 

Which serves it in the office of a wall, 

Or as a moat defensive to a house, 

Against the envy of less happier lands. 

\ Richard //, II, i. 

Sea-green Incorruptible, The. So Carlyle 
called Robespierre in his French Revolution. 
He was of a sallow, unhealthy complexion. 

Sea Island Cotton. The cotton grown on the 
coast of South Carolina. 

Sea Lawyer. A seaman who is constantly 
arguing about his rights. 

Sea legs. He has got his sea legs. Is able to 
walk on deck when the ship is rolling; able to 
bear the motion of the ship without sea- 
sickness. 

Sea serpent. A serpentine monster formerly 
supposed to inhabit the depths of the ocean. 
As stories of the “Great Sea Serpent” are 
usually received with incredulity, sailors are 
sometimes reluctant to report its appearance; 
but in spite of this there have been some 
circumstantial accounts and very vivid 
descriptions given by those who have professed 
to see it. Pontoppidan in his Natural History 
of Norway (1755) speaks of sea serpents 600 ft. 
long. See also Loch Ness Monster. 

Seabees. U.S. Naval Construction Battalions 
(C.B.s) in World War II. Their alleged motto 
was: “The difficult we do at once. The im- 
possible takes a little longer.” 

Seal. The sire is called a bull, his females are 
cows, the offspring are called pups; the 
breeding-place is called a rookery , a group of 
young seals a pod , and a colony of seals a herd. 
The immature male is called a bachelor. A 
sealer is a seal-hunter, and seal-hunting is 
called sealing. 

Sealed Orders. The term applied to orders 
delivered in a sealed package to naval or 
military commanders which they are not to 
read or consult before a certain time, or before 
reaching a certain locality, except in certain 
specified conditions. 

Seamy Side. The “wrong” or worst side; as 
the “seamy side of London,” “the seamy side 
of life.” In velvet. Brussels carpets, tapestry, 
etc., the “wrong’* side shows the seams or 
threads of the pattern exhibited on the right 
side. 

Seasons, The Four. Spring, Summer, Autumn, 
and Winter. Spring starts (officially) on March 
21st, the Spring Equinox, when the sun enters 
Aries; Summer on June 22nd, the Summer 
Solstice, when the sun enters Cancer: Autumn 
on September 23rd, the Autumn Equinox, the 


sun entering Libra; and Winter on December 
22nd, when the sun enters Capricornus. 

The ancient Greeks characterized Spring by 
Mercury, Summer by Apollo, Autumn by 
Bacchus, and Winter by Hercules. 

The London Season. The part of the year 
when the Court and fashionable society 
generally is in town — May, June, and July. 

The silly season. See Silly. 

Season-ticket. A ticket giving the holder 
certain specified rights (in connexion with 
travelling, entrance to an exhibition, etc.) for 
a certain specified period. 

Seat. To take a back seat. See Back. 

Sebastian, St. Patron saint of archers, because 
he was bound to a tree and shot at with 
arrows. As the arrows stuck in his body, thick 
as pins in a pincushion* he was also made 
patron saint of pin-makers. And as he was a 
centurion, he is patron saint of soldiers. His 
feast, coupled with that of St. Fabian, is kept 
on January 20th. 

The English St. Sebastian. St. Edmund, the 
martyr-king of East Anglia (855-70), has been 
so called. He gave himself up to the Danes in 
the hope of saving his people, but they 
scourged him, bound him to a tree, shot 
arrows at him, and finally cut off his head, 
which, legend relates, was guarded by a wolf 
till it was duly interred. The monastery and 
cathedral of St. Edmundsbury (Bury St. 
Edmunds) were erected on the place of his 
burial. The place of his martyrdom was Hoxne, 
Suffolk. 

Second. The next after the first (Lat. secundus). 

In duelling the second is the representative of 
the principal; he carries the challenge, selects 
the ground, sees that the weapons are in order, 
and is responsible for all the arrangements. 

A second of time is so called because the 
division of the minute into sixtieths is the 
second of the sexagesimal operations, the first 
being the division of the hour into minutes. 

One’s second self. His alter ego ( q.v .); one 
whose tastes, opinions, habits, etc., correspond 
so entirely with one’s own that there is practi- 
cally no distinction. 

Second Adventists. Those who believe that 
the Second Coming of Christ ( cp . I Thess . iv, 
15) will precede the Millennium; hence some- 
times also called Premillenarians. 

Second-hand. Not new or original: what has 
already been the property of another, as, 
“second-hand” books, clothes, opinions, etc. 

Second nature. Said of a habit, way of 
looking at things, and so on, that has become 
so ingrained in one that it is next to impossible 
to shake it off. 

Second pair back. The back room on the 
floor two flights of stairs above the ground 
floor; similarly the (tont room is called the 
second pair front. 

Second sight. The power of seeing things 
invisible to others; the power of foreseeing 
future events. 



Second 


811 * 


Select Man 


Second wind. See Wind. 

Secondary colours. See under Colours 
( Technical Terms). 

To second an officer (accent on the final 
syllable) is, in military phraseology, to remove 
him temporarily from his regimental or 
military duties so that he may take up some 
other appointment. 

Secret. An open secret. A piece of information 
generally known, but not formally announced. 

Un secret de polichinelle. No secret at all. 
A secret known to all the world; an open 
secret. Polichinelle is the Punch of the old 
French puppet-shows, and his secrets are 
“stage whispers” told to all the audience. 

Entre nous, c’est qu’on appelle 
Le secret de polichinelle. 

La Mascotte , It, 12. 

Secret Service. A general unofficial term 
applied to the organization which exists in 
every country, in peace or war, for the collec- 
tion of information about enemies, potential 
enemies and disaffected persons; also for 
counter-espionage. Such organizations have 
many ramifications, some quite public, others 
secret. In Great Britain the best known is 
MI5, a branch of Military Intelligence in the 
War Office. In France such matters come under 
the Deuxidme Bureau. 

Secular. From Lat. scecularis , pertaining to 
the sceeulum , i.e. the age of generation; hence, 
pertaining to this world in contradistinction to 
the next. 

Secular clergy. The Roman Catholic parish 
clergy who live in daily contact with the world, 
in contradistinction to monks, etc., w ho live in 
monasteries. Hierarchically they take prece- 
dence of regular clergy, and bishops are usually 
chosen from seculars. 

Secular games. In ancient Rome the public 
games lasting three days and three nights that 
took place only once in an age {sceeulum), or 
period of 100 years. 

They were instituted in obedience to the 
Sibylline verses, with the promise that “the 
empire should remain in safety so long as this 
admonition was observed,” and while the 
kings reigned were held in the Campus Mar- 
tius, in honour of Pluto and Proserpine, 

Date, quae precamur 
Tempore sacro 

Quo Sibyllini monuere versus. 

Horace: Carmen Seculare, a.u.c. 737. 

Secularism. The name given about 1851 by 
George Jacob Holyoake (1807-1906) to an 
ethical system founded on natural morality, 
and opposed to the tenets of revealed religion 
and ecclesiasticism. 

Sedan Chair (se dan 7 ). The covered seat so 
called, carried on poles by two bearers back 
and front, first appeared in Italy in the late 
16th century, ana was introduced into Eng- 
land by Sir S. Duncombe in 1634. 

The name Sedan wasJ&rst used in England; 
it was probably coined from Lat. seder e, to sit, 
though it is just possible that Johnson’s sugges- 
tion, viz. that it is connected with the French 
town, Sedan, has something in iti 


Sedan, the Man of. Napoleon III was so 
called, because he surrendered his sword to 
William, King of Prussia, after the battle of 
Sedan (September 2nd, 1870). 

Sedulous. To play the sedulous ape to. To study 
the style of another, and model one’s own on 
his as faithfully and meticulously as possible: 
said, usually with more or less contempt, 
of literary men. The phrase is taken from R. L. 
Stevenson, who, in his essay, A College 
Magazine {Memories and Portraits ), said that 
he had — 

played the sedulous ape to Hazlitt, to Lamb, to 
Wordsworth, to Sir Thomas Browne, to Defoe, to 
Hawthorne, to Montaigne, to Baudelaire, and to 
Obermann. . . . That, like it or not, is the way to 
learn to write. 

See. The seat or throne of a bishop (Lat. sedes, 
a seat). The term is applied to the place where 
the bishop’s cathedral is located and from 
which he takes his title; and so is to be distin- 
guished from diocese , the territory over which 
he has jurisdiction. 

The Holy See. The Papacy, the papal 
jurisdiction and court. 

Seeded players. Those players regarded by the 
organizers of a tournament {e.g. lawn tennis at 
the All England Club, Wimbledon) as likely 
to reach the final stages, and who are so placed 
in the order of play that they do not meet 
each other until the closing rounds. These 
players are numbered in the order of likeli- 
hood. Of course it sometimes happens that 
seeded players are defeated early in the tourna- 
ment. 

Seel. To close the eyelids of a hawk by 
running a thread through them; to hoodwink. 
(Fr. ciller ; cil y the eyelash). 

She that so young could give out such a Seeming, 

To seel her father’s eyes up, close as oak. 

Othello , III, iii. 

Seian Horse, The (si 7 an). A possession which 
invariably brought ill luck with it. Hence the 
Latin proverb Ille homo habet equum Seianum . 
Cneius Seius had an Argive horse, of the breed 
of Diomed, of a bay colour and surpassing 
beauty, but it was fatal to its possessor. Seius 
was put to death by Mark Antony, Its next 
owner, Cornelius Dolabella, who bought it 
for 100,000 sesterces, was killed in Syria during 
the civil wars. Caius Cassius, who next took 
possession of it, perished after the battle of 
Philippi by the very sword which stabbed 
Csesar. Antony had the horse next, and after 
the battle of Actium slew himself. 

Like the gold of Tolosa and Hermione’s 
necklace, the Seian or Sejan horse was a fatal 
possession. 

Selah (se 7 la). A Hebrew word occurring often 
in the Psalms (and three times in Habakkuk 
iii), indicating some musical or liturgical 
direction, such as a pause, a repetition, or the 
end of a section. 

Select Man. In some of the New England 
States a member of a board of town officers who 
has been deputed to be responsible for the 
conduct of certain branches of local admini- 
stration. 


Selene 


812 


Semi-precious stones 


Selene (se le' ne). The moon goddess of Greek 
mythology, daughter of Hyperion and Thea, 
and roughly corresponding to the Roman 
Diana ( q.v .), the chaste huntress. Selene had 
fifty daughters by Endymion, and several by 
Zeus, one of whom was called “The Dew.” 
Diana is represented with bow and arrow 
running after the stag; but Selene in a chariot 
drawn by two white horses, with wings on her 
shoulders, and a sceptre in her hand. 

Seleucidae (se 10" si de). The dynasty of Seleu- 
cus Nicator, one of Alexander’s generals 
(c. 358-280 b.c.), who in 312 conquered 
Babylon and succeeded to a part of Alexander’s 
vast empire. The monarchy consisted of Syria, 
a part of Asia Minor, and all the eastern 
provinces, and the line of the Selcucids reigned 
till about 64 B.c. 

Self. Used in combination for a variety of 
purposes, such as (1) to express direct or in- 
direct reflexive action, as in self-command ; (2) 
action performed independently, or without 
external agency, as in self-acting , self-fertiliza- 
tion ; (3) action or relation to the self, as in 
self-conscious , self-suspicious ; (4) uniformity, 
naturalness, etc., as in self-coloured , self- 
glazed. 

A self-made man. One who has risen from 
poverty and obscurity to opulence and a 
position of importance by his own efforts. The 
phrase was originally American. 

Self-determination. The theory in political 
economy, that every nation, no matter how 
small or weak, has the right to decide upon its 
own form of government and to manage its 
own internal affairs. The phrase acquired its 
present significance during the attempts to 
resettle Europe after World War 1; but 
difficulties arose (as in the case of Ireland) when 
it was discovered that an exact and com- 
prehensive definition of the word nation could 
not be agreed upon. 

The Self-denying Ordinance. The bill passed 
by the Long Parliament in 1645 ordering that 
Members oi either House should give up their 
military commands and civil appointments 
within forty days; the reason being the sus- 
picion that the Civil War was being prolonged 
for personal ends. 

Seljuks (sel'juks). A Perso-Turkish dynasty 
of eleven emperors over a large part of Asia, 
which lasted 138 years (1056-1194). It was 
founded by Togrul Beg, a descendant of Scljuk, 
chief of a small tribe which gained possession 
of Bokara. 

Selkirk, Alexander, was the original of Robin- 
son Crusoe (q.v.). Born in 1676, the son of 
a Fifeshire shoemaker, he joined Dampier’s 
expedition to the South Seas in 1703 and when 
off the island of Juan Fernandez asked to be 
set ashore in consequence of a quarrel with 
the captain. He remained on the island for 
52 months and was eventually picked up by 
Captain Woodes Rogers, whose Cruising 
Voyage Round the World , in which he tells of 
Selkirk, is supposed to have given Defoe the 
idea of Robinson Crusoe. Selkirk died at sea, 
as mate of the Weymouth , in 1721. 


Sell. Slang for a swindle, a hoax, a first-of- 
April trick; and the person hoaxed is said to 
be sold. 

A selling race. One in which the horses that 
compete are sold after the race, the sale price 
being determined beforehand. The winner is 
generally sold by auction, and the owner gets 
both the selling price and the stakes. If at the 
auction a price is obtained above the ticketed 
rice it is divided between the second best 
orse and the race fund. See Handicap. 

Selling the pass. Betraying one’s own side. 
The phrase was originally Irish, and is applied 
to those who turn king’s evidence, or who 
impeach their comrades for money. The 
tradition is that a regiment was sent by 
Crotha, “lord of Atha,” to hold a pass against 
the invading army of Trathal, “King of Cael.” 
The pass was betrayed for money; the Fir- 
bolgs were subdued, and Trathal assumed the 
title of “King of Ireland.” 

To sell a person up. To dispose of his goods 
by order of the court because he cannot pay 
his debts, the proceeds going to his creditors. 

Sellinger’s Round. An old country dance, very 
popular in Filizabethan times, in which — 
the dancers take hands, go round twice and back 
again; then all set, turn, and repeat; then lead all 
forward, and back, and repeat; two singles and back, 
set and turn single and repeat; arms all and repeat. — 
John Playiord: The English Dancing Master (1651). 

It is said to be so called cither from Sir 
Thomas Sellyngcr, buried in St. George’s 
Chapel, Windsor, about 1470, or from Sir 
Anthony St. Leger, Lord Deputy of Ireland 
(d. 1559). 

Semantics (sc m3n' tiks). The technical term 
for the study of the meanings of words rather 
than of their origins and derivations. As time 
passes the meanings and implications of words 
change, often imperceptibly; it is with these 
changes that semantics deals. 

Semele (sem y c le). In Greek mythology, the 
daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. By Zeus 
she was the mother of Dionysus, and was slain 
by lightning when he granted her request to 
appear before her as the God of Thunder. 

Seminary. A college exclusively devoted to 
the training of candidates for the R.C. priest- 
hood. The usual course is six years — two of 
philosophy and four of theology. Seminary 
priests is an historical and legal term to 
distinguish English priests ordained abroad 
from those ordained in England before the 
accession of Queen Elizabeth I. The latter are 
often called Marian priests, and they were 
treated more leniently by the penal laws. After 
1585 it was high treason for a seminary priest 
even to be in England. 

Semi-precious stones. Gems suitable for 
jewellery and for ornamenting other sorts of 
goldsmith’s work; but not sufficiently beauti- 
ful, durable or rare to be ranked with such 
precious stones as diamonds, emeralds, rubies, 
and sapphires. Examples of semi-precious 
stones are amethysts, cairngorms, cornelians, 
lapis-lazuli, moonstones, and onyx. 


Semiramis 


813 


Septuagint 


Semiramis (se mir' k mis). In the Babylonian 
mythology, the mother of Ninus who was King 
of Assyria and founded Nineveh. She waged 
war against the Medes and the Chaldeans 
(c. 800 b.c.). After her death she became a 
legendary figure, identified with the Goddess 
Ishtar and her doves. 

Semiramis of the North, The. Margaret of 
Denmark, Sweden, and Norway (1353-1412), 
and Catherine II of Russia (1729-96) have both 
been so called. 

Semitic (se mit' ic). Pertaining to the descen- 
dants of Shem (see Gen. x), viz. the Hebrews, 
Arabs, Assyrians, Aramaeans, etc., nowadays 
applied to the Jews. 

The Semitic languages are the ancient 
Assyrian and Chaldee, Aramaic, Syriac, 
Arabic, Hebrew, Samaritan, Ethiopic, and old 
Phoenician. The great characteristic of this 
family of languages is that the roots of words 
consist of three consonants. 

Senatus consultum (sen a' tus kon sul' turn). A 
decree of the Senate of Ancient Rome. The 
term was sometimes applied to a decree of 
any senate, especially that of the First Empire 
in France. 

Send, To. That sends me. Amateurs of jazz use 
this phrase, meaning: The music sends me out 
of myself, or into ecstasies. 

Seneschal (sen' c sh&l). The majordomo or 
steward of a great house in the Middle Ages. 
He had full authority over the retainers and 
servants, supervised all ceremonial affairs, 
administered justice in the name of his master, 
and was in every way a personage of consider- 
able importance. 

SeTinight. A week; seven nights. Fortnight, 
fourteen nights. These words are relics of the 
ancient Celtic custom of beginning the day at 
sunset, a custom observed by the ancient 
Greeks. Babylonians, Persians, Syrians, and 
Jews, and by the modern representatives of 
these people. In Gen. i we find the evening pre- 
cedes the morning; as, “The evening and the 
morning were the first day," etc. 

Sense. Common sense. See Common. 

Scared out of my seven senses. According to 
ancient teaching the soul of man, or his 
“inward holy body," is compounded of the 
seven properties which are under the influence 
of the seven planets. Fire animates, earth 
gives the sense of feeling, water gives speech, 
air gives taste, mist gives sight, flowers give 
hearing, the south wind gives smelling. Hence 
the seven senses are animation, feeling, speech, 
taste, sight, hearing, and smelling (see Ecclus. 
xvit, 5). 

Sentences, Master of the. The Schoolman, 
Peter Lombard (d. 1 160), an Italian theologian 
and bishop of Paris, author of The Four Books 
of Sentences ( Sententiarum libri IV), a compila- 
tion from the Fathers of the leading arguments 
pro and con, bearing on the hair-splitting 
theological questions of the Middle Ages. 

The mediaeval graduates in theology, of the 
second order, whose duty it was to lecture on 
the Sentences , were called Sententiatory 
Bachelors. 


Separation, The. The name given in the 17th 
century to the body of Independents and 
Protestant dissenters generally — called in- 
dividually Separatists. Thus the Amsterdam 
parson, Tribulation Wholesome, says: 

These chastisements are common to the saints. 

And such rebukes, we of the Separation 
Must bear with willing shoulders, as the trials 

Sent forth to tempt our frailties. 

Ben Jonson : The Alchemist , III, ii. 

Sephardim (sef ar' dim). The Jews of Spain and 
Portugal, so called from Sepharad , a district 
mentioned in Obad. xx, which was supposed by 
the rabbinical commentators to be intended 
for Spain. As Jews were evidently in captivity at 
Sepharad at the time the passage was written this 
cannot possibly be the correct interpretation. 

Sepoy (se' poi). The Anglicized form of Hindu 
and Persian sipahi , a soldier, from si pah y 
army, denoting a native East Indian soldier 
trained and disciplined in the British manner. 
It was especially applied to such a soldier in 
the British Indian Army. 

Sept. Deriving from the O.French septe , a 
variant of secte or sect, this term was applied 
especially to an Irish clan. The old Irish sept 
was a division of the tribe, of which it was an 
offshoot. The freemen of the sept bore the clan 
name with the prefix “Ua," grandson, written 
in English as “OV* 

September. The seventh month from March, 
where the year used to commence. 

The old Dutch name was Hersl-maartd (autumn- 
month); the old Saxon, Gerst-monath (barley- 
month), or Hirfest-moruith; and after the introduc- 
tion of Christianity Halig-rnonath (holy-month, the 
nativity of the Virgin Mary being on the 8th, the 
exaltation of the Cross on the 14th, Holy-Rood Day 
on the 26th and St. Michael’s Day on the 29th). In the 
French Republican calendar, it was called Fructidor 
(fruit-month, August 18th to September 21st). 

September Bible. See Bible, Specially 
named. 

September massacres. An indiscriminate 
slaughter, during the French Revolution, of 
loyalists confined in the Abbaye and other 
prisons, lasting from September 2nd to 5th, 
1792. Danton gave the order after the capture 
of Verdun by the allied Prussian army; as 
many as 8,000 persons fell, among whom was 
the Princess de Lamballe. Those who instigated 
or took part in the massacres were known as 
Septembriseurs. 

Septentrional Signs (sep ten' tri 5 nil). The 
first six signs of the Zodiac, because they be- 
long to the northern celestial hemisphere. The 
North was called the septentrion from the 
seven stars of the Great Bear (Lat. septem* 
seven; triones , plough oxen). Cp . Ursa Major. 

Septuagesima Sunday (sep to k jes' i mk). The 
third Sunday before Lent; in round numbers, 
seventy days (Lat. septuagesima dies) before 
Easter. Really only sixty-eight days before 
Easter. 

Septuagint (sep' to k jint). A Greek version of 
the Old Testament and Apocrypha, so called 
because it was traditionally said to have been 
made by seventy-two Palestinian Jews in the 
3rd century b.c., at the command of Ptolemy 
Philadclnhus. Thcv worked on the island of 




Sepulchre 


814 


Serpent 


Pharos and completed the translation in 
seventy-two days. 

This tradition applies, however, only to the 
Pentateuch; Greek translations of the other 
books were added by later writers, some, per- 
haps, being as late as the Christian era. The 
name Septuagint is frequently printed LXX. 

Sepulchre, The Holy. The cave outside the walls 
of Jerusalem in which the body of Christ is 
believed to have lain between His burial and 
resurrection. From at least the 4th century {see 
Invention of the Cross, under Cross) the 
spot has been covered by a Christian church. 

Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. An order of 
military knights founded by Godfrey of 
Bouillon, in 1099, to guard the Holy Sepulchre. 
Since 1342 it has existed only as a religious 
body, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem being 
its Grand Master. 

Seraglio ( st ra' 1yd). The palace of the Sultans 
of Turkey at Constantinople, situated on the 
Golden Horn, and enclosed by walls seven 
miles and a half in circuit. The chief entrance 
was the Sublime Gate {cp. Porte); and the 
chief of the large edifices is the Harem , or 
“sacred spot,” which contained numerous 
houses, one for each of the sultan’s wives, 
and others for his concubines. The Seraglio 
might be visited by strangers ; not so the Harem. 

Seraphic (se r&f' ik). Seraphic Blessing. The 
blessing written by St. Francis of Assisi at the 
request of Brother Leo on Mt. Alverna, in 
1224. It is based on Numbers vi, 25; May the 
Lord bless thee and keep thee. May He shew 
His face to thee and have mercy on thee. May 
He turn His countenance to thee and give thee 
* peace. May the Lord bless thee. Brother Leo. 

The Seraphic Doctor. The scholastic 
philosopher, St. Bonaventura (1221-74). 

The Seraphic Father, or Saint. St. Francis 
of Assisi (1182-1226); whence the Fran- 
ciscans are sometimes called the Seraphic 
Order . 

The Seraphic Hymn. The Sanctus “Holy, 
holy, holy” {Is. vi, 3), which was sung by the 
seraphim. 

Seraphim. The highest of the nine choirs of 
angels, so named from the seraphim of Is. vi, 2. 
The word is probably the same as saraph , a 
serpent, from saraph , to burn (in allusion to 
its bite); and this connexion with burning 
suggested to early Christian interpreters that 
the seraphim were specially distinguished by 
the ardency of their zeal and love. 

Seraphim is a plural form; the singular, 
seraph , was first used in English by Milton. 
AbJiel was 

The flaming Seraph, fearless, though alone, 

Encompassed round with foes. 

Paradise Lost, V, 875. 

Serapls (se r&' pis). The Ptolemaic form of 
Apis, an Egyptian deity who, when dead, was 
honoured under the attributes of Osiris (r/.v.), 
and thus became “osi rifled Apts”or(0]Sorapis. 
He was lord of the underworld, and was 
identified by the Greeks with Hades. 

mmmrne At At Qro ATT 


Serbonian Bog, The (sSr bo' ni in). A great 
morass, now covered with shifting sand, be- 
tween the isthmus of Suez, the Mediterranean, 
and the delta of the Nile, that in Strabo’s time 
was a lake stated by him to be 200 stadia long 
and 50 broad, and by Pliny to be 150 miles in 
length. Typhon was said to dwell at the bottom 
of it, hence its other name, Typhon's Breathing 
Hole. 

A gulf profound as that Serbonian bog. 

Betwixt Damiata and Mount Cassius old, 

Where armies whole have sunk. 

Milton: Paradise Lost , II, 592. 

The term is used figuratively of a mess from 
which there is no way of extricating oneself. 
Serendipity (se ren dip' i ti). A happy coinage 
by Horace Walpole to denote the faculty of 
making lucky and unexpected “finds” by 
accident, In a letter to Mann (January 28th, 
1754) he says that he formed it on the title of 
a fairy story, The Three Princes of Serendip , 
because the princes — 

were always making discoveries, by accidents and 
sagacity, of things they were not in quest of. 

Serendip is an ancient name of Ceylon. 

Serene (Lat. serenus, clear, calm). A title 
formerly given to certain German princes. 
Those who used to hold it under the empire 
were entitled Serene or Most Serene Highnesses . 

It’s all serene. All right (Span, sereno , all 
right — the sentinel’s countersign). 

The drop serene. See Drop. 

Sergeanty or Serjeanty. A feudal tenure, the 
tenant rendering some specified personal 
service to the king. 

Petit sergeanty. Holding lands of the Crown 
by the service of rendering annually some small 
implement of war, as a bow, a sword, a lance, 
a flag, an arrow, and the like. Thus the Duke 
of Wellington holds Strathfieldsaye and 
Apsley House, London, by presenting a flag 
annually to the Crown on the anniversary ot 
the battle of Waterloo, and the Duke of Marl- 
borough pays a similar “peppercorn rent” for 
Blenheim Palace on the anniversary of the 
battle of Blenheim. 

Serif and Sanserif (ser' if, s&n ser' if). The 
former is type with the wings or finishing 
stroke (as T); the latter is type without the 
finishing strokes (as T). 

Serjeants-at-Law. A superior order of bar- 
risters (<y.v.) abolished in 1877. From the Low 
Latin serviens ad legem, one who serves (the 
king) in matters of law. Serjeants Inn, formerly 
in Chancery Lane and later in Fleet Street, 
was their inn at law. 

Serpent. See also Snake. The serpent is sym- 
bolical of — 

(1) Deity, because, says Plutarch, “it feeds 
upon its own body; even so all things spring 
from God, and will be resolved into deity 
again” ( De hide tt Osiride , i, 2, p. 5; and Philo 
Byblius). 

(2) Eternity, as a corollary of the former. It 
is represented as forming a circle, holding its 
tail in its mouth. 

(3) Renovation and the healing art. It is 
said that when old it has the power of growing 

vm»n«r airdn th«* *vi**I** ** by t" afiria if* 



Serpent 


815 


Set 


slough, which is done by squeezing itself be- 
tween two rocks. It was sacred to AEsculapius 
(tf.v.), the Greek god of medicine, as it was 
supposed to have the power of discovering 
healing herbs. Hence, two serpents appear in 
the badge of the Royal Army Medical Corps. 
See Caduceus. 

(4) Guardian spirit. It was thus employed by 
the ancient Greeks and Romans, and not 
unfrequently the figure of a serpent was 
depicted on their altars. 

In the temple of Athena at Athens, a serpent, 
supposed to be animated by the soul of 
Erichthonius, was kept in a cage, and called 
“the Guardian Spirit of the Temple.” 

(5) Wisdom. “Be ye therefore wise as ser- 
pents, and harmless as doves” {Matt, x, 16). 

(6) Subtlety. “Now the serpent was more 
subtle than any beast of the field” {Gen. iii, 1). 

It is also symbolical of the devil, as the 
Tempter, and in early pictures is sometimes 
placed under the feet of the Virgin, in allusion 
to the promise made to Eve after the fall 
(Gen. iii, 15). 

In Christian art it is an attribute of St. 
Cecilia, St. Euphemia, St. Patrick, and many 
other saints, either because they trampled on 
Satan, or because they miraculously cleared 
some country of snakes. 

Fable has it that the cerastes hides in sand 
that it may bite the horse’s foot and get the 
rider thrown, in allusion to this belief, Jacob 
says, “Dan shall be ... an adder in the path, 
that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider 
shall fall backward” (Gen. xlix, 17). The Bible 
also tells us that the serpent stops up its cars 
that it may not be charmed by the charmers, 
“charming never so wisely” ( Ps . lviii, 4). 

Another old idea about snakes was that 
when attacked they would swallow their young 
and not eject them until reaching a place of 
safety. 

It was in the form of a serpent, says the 
legend, that Jupiter Ammon appeared to 
Olympia and became by her the father of 
Alexander the Great. 

Pharaoh’s serpent. See Pharaoh. 

Sea serpent. Sec Sea. 

The serpent of old Nile. Cleopatra, so called 
by Antony. 

He’s speaking now, 

Or murmuring “Where's my serpent of old Nile?” 

For so he calls me. 

Antony and Cleopatra , I, v. 

Their ears have been serpent-licked. They 
have the gift of foreseeing events, the power of 
seeing into futurity. This is a Greek super- 
stition. It is said that Cassandra and Hclenus 
were gifted with the power of prophecy, 
because serpents licked their cars while sleep- 
ing in the temple of Apollo. 

To cherish a serpent in your bosom. To show 
kindness to one who proves ungrateful. 
The Greeks say that a husbandman found a 
frozen serpent, which he put into his bosom. 
The snake was revived by the warmth, and 
stung its benefactor. Shakespeare applies the 
talc to a serpent's egg: 

Therefore think him as a serpent’s egg 

Which, hatched, would (as his kind) grow dangerous. 

Julius t>w, II, i 


Serpentine Verses. Such as end with the 
same word as they begin with. The following 
are examples: — 

Crescit amor nummi, quantum ipsa pecunia crcscit. 
(Greater grows the love of pelf, as pelf itself grows 
greater.) 

Ambo flo rentes setatibus. Arcades ambo. 

(Both in the spring of life, Arcadians both.) 

The allusion is to the old representations of 
snakes with their tails in their mouths— no 
beginning and no end. 

Serve. I’ll serve him out — give him a quid pro 
quo. This is the French desserver , to do an ill 
turn to one. 

Serves you right! You’ve got just what you 
deserved. 

To serve a mare. To place a stallion to her. 

To serve a rope. To lash or whip it with thin 
cord to prevent its fraying. 

To serve a sentence. To undergo the punish- 
ment awarded. 

To serve a writ on. To deliver into the hands 
of the person concerned a legal writ. 

To serve one’s time. To hold an office or 
appointment for the full period allowed; to 
go through one’s apprenticeship; also, to 
serve one’s sentence in prison. 

Servus servorum (sSF vfis s£r v6r' fim) (Lat.). 
The slave of slaves, the drudge of a servant. 
Servus servorum Dei (the servant of the 
servants of God) is one of the honorific 
epithets of the Pope; it was first adopted by 
Gregory the Great (590-604). 

Sesame (ses' & mi). Open, Sesame! The “pass- 
word” at which the door of the robbers’ cave 
flew open in the tale of The Forty Thieves 
(Arabian Nights): hence, a key to a mystery, 
or anything that acts like magic in obtaining 
a favour, admission, recognition, etc. 

Sesame is an East Indian annual herb, with 
an oily seed which is used as a food, a laxative, 
etc. In Egypt they eat sesame cakes, and the 
Jews frequently add the seed to their bread. 

Sesquipedalian (ses kwi da' li in) is some- 
times applied in heavy irony to cumbersome 
and pedantic words. It comes from Horace’s 
sesquipedalia verba , words a foot and a half 
long. 

Session, Court of. See Court. 

Sestina (ses tc' n&). A set form of poem, 
usually rhymed, with six stanzas of six lines 
each and a final triplet. The terminal words of 
stanzas 2 to 6 are the same as those of 
stanza 1 but arranged differently. Sestinas 
were invented by the Provencal troubadour 
Arnaut Daniel (13th cent.); Dante, Petrarch, 
and others employed them in Italy, Cervantes 
and CamoSns in the Peninsula, and an early 
use in English was by Drummond of Haw- 
thomden. Swinburne’s sestinas are probably 
the best in English. 

Set. The Egyptian original of the Greek 
Typhon the god of evil, brother (or son) 
of Osiris, and his deadly enemy. He is repre- 
sented as having the body of a man Kind the 
head of some unidentified mythological beast 
with pointed muzzle and high square ears. 




Set 


816 


Seven 


Set, To. A set scene. In theatrical parlance, 
a scene built up by the stage carpenters, or a 
furnished interior, as a drawing-room, as 
distinguished from an ordinary or shifting 
scene. 

A set to. A boxing match, a pugilistic fight, a 
scolding. In pugilism the combatants were by 
their seconds “set to the scratch” or line 
marked on the ground. 

Setting a hen. Giving her a certain number 
of eggs to hatch. The whole number for 
incubation is called a setting. 

Setting a saw. Bending the teeth alternately 
to the right and left in order to make it cut. 

The setting of a jewel. The frame or mount 
of gold or silver surrounding a jewel in a ring, 
brooch, etc. 

This precious stone set in the silver sea. 

Richard II, II, i. 

The setting of the sun, moon, or stars. Their 
sinking below the horizon. The saying, The 
son never sets on the British dominions, was used 
long ago of other empires. Thus, in the Pastor 
Fido (1590) Guar ini speaks of Philip II of 
Spain as — 

that proud monarch to whom, when it grows dark 
[elsewhere), the sun never sets: 

Captain John Smith in his Advertisements for 
the Unexperienced notes that — 
the brave Spanish soldiers brag. The sunne never sets 
in the Spanish dominions, but ever shineth on one 
part or other we have conquered for our king: 

and Thomas Gage in his Epistle Dedicatory 
to his New Survey of the West Indies (1648) 
writes — 

It may be said of them [the Dutch), as of the Span- 
iards, that the Sun never sets upon their Dominions. 

To set off to advantage. To display a thing 
in its best light, put the best construction on it. 
Perhaps a phrase from the jewellers* craft. 

To set the Thames on fire. See Thames. 

Setebos (set' e bos). A god or devil worshipped 
by the Patagonians, and introduced by 
Shakespeare into his Tempest as the god of 
Sycorax, Caliban’s mother. 

His art is of such power, 

It would control my dam’s god, Setebos, 

And make a vassal of him. Tempest, I. ii. 

The cult of Setebos was first known in 
Europe through Magellan’s voyage round the 
world, 1519-21. 

Seven. A mystic or sacred number; it is com- 
posed of four and three, which, among the 
Pythagoreans, were, and from time im- 
memorial have been, accounted lucky numbers. 
Among the Babylonians, Egyptians, and other 
ancient peoples there were seven sacred planets ; 
and the Hebrew verb to swear means literally 
M to come under the influence of seven things”; 
thus seven ewe lambs figure in the oath 
between Abraham and Abimelech at Beersheba 
(Gen. xxi, 28), and Herodotus (III, viii) 
describes an Arabian oath in which seven 
stones are smeared with blood. 

There are seven days in creation, seven days 
in the week, seven virtues, seven divisions in 
the Lord's Prayer, seven ages in the life of man, 
climacteric years are seven and nine with their 


multiples by odd numbers, and the seventh 
son of a seventh son was always held notable. 

Among the Hebrews every seventh year was 
sabbatical, and seven times seven years was 
the jubilee. The three great Jewish feasts lasted 
seven days, and between the first and second 
were seven weeks. Levitical purifications lasted 
seven days. The number is associated with a 
variety of occurrences in the Old Testament. 

In the Apocalypse w^e have seven churches 
of Asia, seven candlesticks, seven stars, seven 
trumpets, seven spirits before the throne of 
God, seven horns, seven vials, seven plagues, 
a seven-headed monster, and the Lamb with 
seven eyes. 

The old astrologers and alchemists recog- 
nized seven planets, each having its own 
“heaven” — 

The bodies seven, eek, 1o hem heer anoon; 

Sol gold is, and Luna silver we threpe, 

Mars yren, Mcrcurie quyksilver we clepe; 

Saturnus leed, and Jubitur is tyn; 

And Venus coper, by my fader kyn. 

Chaucer: Prol. of the Canon's Yeoman's Tale. 

And from this very ancient belief sprang the 
theory that man was composed of seven 
substances, and has seven natures. See under 
Sense. 

Seven, The. Used of groups of seven people, 
especially (1) the “men of honest report” 
chosen by the Apostles to be the first Deacons 
(Acts vi, 5), viz. Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, 
Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas. and Nicholas; 
(2) the Seven Bishops (see below); or (3) the 
Seven Sages of Greece (see Wise Men). See 
also Seven Names, below. 

Seven Against Thebes, The. The seven 
Argive heroes (Adrastus, Polyniccs, Tydeus. 
Amphiaruus, Capancus, Hippomedon, and 
Parthenopaeus), who, according to Greek 
legend, made war on Thebes with the object 
of restoring Polynices (son of (Edipus), who 
had been expelled by his brother Etcocles. 
All perished except Adrastus (</.>.), and the 
brothers slew each other in single combat. 
The legend is the subject of one of the tragedies 
of itschylus. See Nemean Games. 

Seven Bishops, The. Archbishop Sancroft, 
and Bishops Lloyd, Turner, Ken, While, Lake, 
and Trelawney, who refused to read James IPs 
Declaration of Indulgence (1688), and were 
in consequence sent to the Tower for non-con- 
forming. Cp. Nonjurors. 

Seven Champions, The. The mediaeval 
designation of the national patron saints of 
England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France. 
Spain, and Italy. In 1596 Richard Johnson 
published a chap-book, The Famous History of 
the Seven Champions of Christendom. In this 
he relates that St. George of England was 
seven years imprisoned by the Almidor. the 
black king of Morocco; St. Denys of France 
lived seven years in the form of a hart; St. 
James of Spain was seven years dumb out of 
love to a fair Jewess; St. Anthony of Italy, with 
the other champions, was enchanted into a 
deep sleep in the Black Castle, and was released 
by St. George’s three sons, who quenched the 
seven lamps by water from the enchanted 
fountain; St. Andrew of Scotland delivered six 
ladies who had lived seven years under the 




Seven 


817 


Seven 


form of white swans; St. Patrick of Ireland 
was immured in a cell where he scratched his 
grave with his own nails; and St. David of 
Wales slept seven years in the enchanted 

g arden of Ormandine, and was redeemed by 
t. George. 

Seven Churches of Asia. Those mentioned in 
Rev. i, 11, viz. : — 

(1) Ephesus, founded by St. Paul, 57, in a 
ruinous state in the time of Justinian. 

(2) Smyrna. Polycarp was its first bishop. 

(3) Pergamos, renowned for its library. 

(4) Thyatira, now called Ak-hissar (the 
White Castle). 

(5) Sardis, now Sart, a small village. 

(6) Philadelphia, now called Allah Shchr 
( City of God). 

(7) Laodicea, now a deserted place called 
Eski-hissar (the Old Castle). 

Seven cities warred for Homer being dead. 

See Homer. 

Seven Deadly or Capital sins. Pride. Wrath, 
Envy, Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, Sloth. 

Seven Dials (London). A coJumn with 
seven dials formerly stood facing the seven 
streets which radiated therefrom. 

The district had at one time an unenviable 
reputation for squalor ( cp . Giles, St.); hence 
Sir W. S. Gilbert’s— 

Hearts just as pure and fair 
May beat in Bclgrave Square, 

As in the lowly air 

Of Seven Dials. — Iolanthe . 

Seven Gifts of the Spirit, The. Wisdom, 
Understanding, Counsel, Power or Fortitude, 
Knowledge, Righteousness, and Godly Fear. 

Seven Gods of Luck, The. In Japanese folk- 
lore, Bcntcn, goddess of love, Bishamon, god 
of war, Daikoku, of wealth, F.bisu, of self- 
elfaccment, Fukurokujin and Jurojin, gods of 
longevity, and Hstci, god of generosity. These 
arc really popular conceptions of the seven 
Buddhist devas who preside over human 
happiness and welfare. 

Seven Heavens, The. See Heaven. 

Seven Hills. The walls of Ancient Rome, 
built about the 6th century b.c., included the 
seven hills. Palatine. Capitol, Aventine, 
Caclian, Esquilinc, Viminal and Quirinal. 
The heart of the modern city clings to these 
hills, in some cases now scarcely perceptible 
rises in the street level. 

Seven Joys, 'Die. See Mary. 

Seven Names of God, The. The ancient 
Hebrews had many names for the Deity {see 
To Take God’s Name in Vain under Name, and 
Elohistic), and the Seven over which the 
scribes had to exercise particular care were — 
El, Elohim, Adonai, YHWH (i.e. our Jehovah), 
Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh, Shaddai, and Zebuot. In 
mediaeval times God was sometimes called 
simply, The Seven. 

Now lord, for ihy naymes sevyn, that made both 
moyn and starnys. 

Well roo then I cun neven thi will, lord, of me tharnys. 
Tow nr ley Mysteries, xiii, 191 (about 1460). 

Seven Planets, The. See Planets. 

Seven Sacraments, The. Sec under Sacra- 
ment. 


Seven Sages of Greece, The. See Wise Men. 

Seven Sciences, The. See Science. 

Seven Seas, The. The Arctic and Antarctic, 
North and South Pacific, North and South 
Atlantic, and the Indian Oceans. 

Seven Sisters, The. An old name of the 
Pleiades; also given to a set of seven cannon, 
cast by one Robert Borthwick and used at 
Floddcn (1513). 

Seven Sleepers, The. Seven Christian youths 
of Ephesus, according to the legend, who fled 
in the Decian persecution (250) to a cave in 
Mount Celion. After 230 years they awoke, but 
soon died, and their bodies were taken to 
Marseilles in a large stone coffin, still shown in 
Victor’s church. Their names are Constantine, 
Dionysius, John, Maximian, Malchus, Martin- 
ian, and Scrapion. This fable took its rise from 
a misapprehension of the w'ords, “They fell 
asleep in the Lord” — i.e. died. 

The mystic number is connected with other 
mediaeval “Sleepers”; thus, Barbarossa turns 
himself once every seven years; once every 
seven years, also, Ogier the Dane thunders on 
the floor with his iron mace; and it was seven 
years that Tannhauser and Thomas of 
Ercildoune spent beneath the earth in magic 
enthralment. 

Seven Sorrows. See Mary. 

Seven Stars, The. Used formerly of the 
planets; also of the Pleiades and the Great 
Bear. 

Fool: The reason why the seven stars are no more 
than seven is a pretty reason. 

L*ar: Because they are not eight? 

Fool: Yes, indeed ; thou wouldst make a good fool. 

King Lear , I, v. 

Seven Virtues. The. See Virtues. 

Seven Weeks’ War, The. The war between 
Austria and Prussia in 1866 (June-July), 
ostensibly to settle the Schleswig-Holstein 
question, but in fact to end the long existing 
rivalry between the two countries and bring 
Austria to her knees. The Austrians were 
decisively defeated at Sadowa (July 3rd), but 
the Italian allies of Prussia were beaten at 
C usto//a (June 24th) and at sea off Lissa 
(July 20th). Truce was declared on July 26th, 
and the Peace of Prague signed on August 
23rd. 

Seven Wise Masters, The. A collection of 
Oriental tales (see Sandabar) Supposed to be 
told by his advisers to an Eastern king to show 
the evils of hasty punishment, with his answers 
to them. Lucicn, the son of the king (who, in 
some versions, is named Dolopathos), was 
falsely accused to him by one of his queens. 
By consulting the stars the prince discovered 
that his life was in danger, but that all would 
be well if he remained silent for seven days. 
The “Wise Masters” now take up the matter; 
each one in turn tells the king a tale to 
illustrate the evils of ill-considered punish- 
ments, and as the tale ends the king resolves to 
relent; but the queen at night persuades him 
to carry out his sentence. The seven days being 
passed, the prince tells a tale which embodies 
the whole truth, whereupon the king sentences 
the queen to death. The tales were immensely 




Seven 


818 


Shadow 


popular, and the germs of many later stories 
are to be found in this collection. 

Seven Wonders of the World, The. See 
Wonders. 

Seven Works of Mercy, The. See Mercy. 

Seven Years’ War, The (1756-1 763) was waged 
by France, Austria, Russia, Sweden, Saxony, 
and Spain against Frederick the Great of 
Prussia, Great Britain, and Hanover. The prime 
cause of the war was fear of Frederick, 
coupled with Maria Theresa’s eagerness to 
regain Silesia as an Austrian possession. The 
exhaustion of his enemies and his own 
Superior generalship gave Frederick the victory. 
Britain gained most out of the war — the 
conquest of Bengal and the capture of Quebec 
and hence the whole of Canada. 

The Island of the Seven Cities. A land of 
Spanish fable, where seven bishops, who quit- 
ted Spain during the dominion of the Moors, 
founaed seven cities. The legend says that 
many have visited the island, out no one has 
ever quitted it. 

In the seventh heaven. See Heaven. 

Seventh-day Adventists. A small sect of 
millenarians holding very strict Sabbatarian 
view's. William Miller, who started preaching 
in 1837, may be said to be the founder of the 
movement, which was not formally organized 
until 1863. 

Seventh-da v Baptists. Modern representa- 
tives of the Traskites more numerous 

in America than in England. 

The seventh son of a seventh son. Sec Sevfn, 
above. 

Several (Late Lat. separate ; from se par are , to 
separate). The English word used simply to 
denote what is severed or separate; each, as 
’’all and several.” 

Azariah was a leper, and dwelt iu a several house. — 
II Kings xv, 5. 

And it is still used in this way, as — 

Three times slipping from the outer edge, 

I bump'd the ice into three several stars. 

Tennyson: The Epic, 12. 

A several is the old legal term for a piece of 
enclosed ground adjoining a common held, or 
an enclosed pasture as opposed to an open 
field or common. 

Severn. See Sa»rjna. 

Severus, St. (sc vdr' us). Patron saint of fullers, 
being himself of the same craft. 

The Wall of Severus. A stone rampart, 
built in 208 by the Emperor Severus, between 
the Tyne and the Solway. It is to the north of 
Hadrian’s wall, which was constructed in 120. 

Sevres Ware (savr). Porcelain of line quality 
made at the French government works at 
Sevres, near Paris. The factory was first 
established at Vincennes in 1745; in 1756 it 
was removed to Sevres, and three years later 
was acquired by the state. 

Sexagesimal Sunday (seks k jes' i ml). The 
second Sunday before Lent ; so called because 
in round numbers it is sixty days (Lat. 
sexagesima dies) before Easter. 


Scxtile (seks' til). The aspect of two planets 
when distant from each other sixty degrees 
or two signs. This position is marked by 
astrologers thus *, 

In sextile, square, and trine, and opposite 
Of noxious efficacy. 

Milton: Paradise Lost, X, 659. 

At Eton a sixth-form boy is called a Sextile. 

Sexton. A corruption of sacristan , a church 
otlicial who has charge of the sacra, or things 
attached to a specific church, such as vest- 
ments, cushions, books, boxes, tools, vessels, 
and so on. 

Shaddock. A large kind of orange, now gener- 
ally known as grapefruit ( Citrus decumana ), so 
called from Captain Shaddock (early 18th 
century), who first transplanted one in the 
West Indies. It is a native of China and Japan. 

Shade. Wine vaults with a lounge attached 
are often known as shades'. The term originated 
at Brighton, where the Old Bank, in 1819, was 
turned into a smoking-room and bar. There 
was an entrance by the Pavilion Shades , or 
Arcade, and the name was soon transferred to 
the drinking-bar. It was not inappropriate, as 
the room was in reality shaded by the opposite 
house, occupied by Mrs. Fit/herbcrt. 

To put someone in the shade. To out-do him, 
eclipse him; to attract to yourself all the 
applause and encomiums he had been en- 
joying. 

Shadow. A word with a good many figurative 
and applied meanings, such as, a ghost; 
Macbeth savs to the ghost of Banquo:-- 

Hence, horrible shadow! unreal mockery, hence! 

Muctxth, 111, iv. 

An imperfect or faint representation, as “1 
haven't the shadow of a doubt”; a constant 
attendant, as in Milton’s “Sin and her shadow 
Death” {Paradise I.o\t , IX. 12); moral darkness 
or gloom- — “He has outsoared the shadow of 
our night” (Shelley: AJonais, xl, 1); protecting 
intlucncc — 

Hither, like you ancient Tower. 

Watching o’er the River's bed. 

Fling tiie shadow of Ihy power. 

Five we sleep among the dead. 

Woan.svvoKIH: Hymn (Jfsut bless). 

Gone to the tmd for the shadow of an ass. *Tf 

you must quarrel, let it be for something better 
than the shadow of an a.v>.“ Demosthenes 
says a young Athenian once hired an ass to 
Nlcgara. The heat was so great at midday that 
he alighted to take shelter from the sun under 
the shadow of the poor beast. Scarcely was he 
seated when the owner came up and laid claim 
to the shadow, saying he let the ass to the 
traveller, but not the ass’s shadow. After 
fighting for a time, they agreed to settle the 
matter in the law courts, and the suit lasted so 
long that both were ruined. 

May your shadow never grow less! May 
your prosperity always continue and increase 
The phrase is of Eastern origin. Fable has it 
that when those studying the black arts had 
made certain progress they were chased 
through a subterranean hail by the devil, if he 
caught only their shadow, or part of it, I* 1 ®? 
became first-rate magicians, but lost either 
or part of their shadow. This would make tnc 


Shadow 


819 


Sfetlrespcftfe 


expression mean. May you escape wholly and 
entirely from the clutches of the foul fiend. 
A more simple explanation of the phrase is, 
Mav you never waste away but always remain 
healthy and robust. See Schlemihl. 

To be reduced to a shadow. Of people, to 
become thoroughly emaciated; of things, to 
become an empty form from which the sub- 
stance has departed. 

To shadow. To follow about like a shadow, 
especially as a detective, with the object of 
spying out all one’s doings. 

Shady. A shady character. A person of very 
doubtful reputation; one whose character 
would scarcely bear investigation in the light 
of day. 

On the shady side of forty — the wrong side, 
meaning more than forty. 

SHAEF. Mnemonic of Supreme Headquarters 
Allied Expeditionary Forces, the supreme 
directive military organization, under the 
command of General E isenhower, in the later 
stages of World War II, SHAEF was dis- 
banded in July, 1945. 

Shah. The title of the king or emperor of 
Persia; that of his sons is Shahzadah. It is a 
corruption of padishah 

Shake. A good shake up. Something sudden 
that startles one out of his lethargy and rouses 
him to action. 

A shake of the head. An indication of refusal, 
disapproval, annoyance, etc. 

Ml do it in a brace of shakes. Instantly, as 
soon as you can shake the dice-box twice. 

In two shakes of a lamb’s tail. Instantly, 
American expression originating in the early 
19th century. 

No great shakes. Nothing extraordinary; no 
such mighty bargain. The reference is probably 
to gambling with dice. 

To shake hands. A very old method of 
salutation and farewell; when one was shaking 
hands one could not get at one's sword to strike 
a treacherous blow. When Jehu asked Jehona- 
dab if his “heart was right" w ith him. he said, 
“If it be, give me thine hand,” and Jehonadab 
gave him his hand (U Kings x, 15). Nestor 
shook hands with Ulysses on his return to the 
Grecian camp with the stolen horses of Rhesus; 
tineas, in the temple of Dido, sees his lost 
companions enter, and avidi conjungere d extras 
ardehant (/ li'rteid , I, 514); and Horace, strolling 
along the Via Sacra, shook hands with an 
acquaintance. Arrcptdque ntanu, "Quid agis 
dulcissimi rerum?" 

To shake In one’s shoes. See Shop. 

To shake one’s sides. To be convulsed with 
lauahter; cp . Milton’s “Laughter holding 
botn his sides'* (V Allegro). 

To shake the dust from one’s feet. See Dust. 

Come and have a shakedown at my place — 
a bed for the night, especially a makeshift one. 
The allusion is to the time when men slept 
upon litter or clean straw. 


Shakers. A sect of Second Adventists, 
founded in the 18th century in England by a 
secession from the Quakers, and transplanted 
in America by Ann Lee (1736-84), or “Mother 
Ann,’* as she is generally known. She was an 
uneducated factory hand, daughter of a 
Manchester blacksmith. 

A sect of English Shakers, the “People of 
God,’* was founded in Battersea about 1864 
by Mary Anne Girling (1827-86), a farmer’s 
daughter; its chief seat was in the New Forest, 
and it disappeared soon after her death. 
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616) was bom at 
Stratford-on-Avon, and baptized there on 
April 26th, 1564. The date of his birth is un* 
known, but is assumed to be April 23rd (St. 
George’s Day) for purposes of celebration. 
He was the third child of John Shakespeare, of 
yeoman stock, a glover and trader in other 
commodities who became bailiff (mayor) of 
Stratford. Shakespeare’s mother was Mary 
Arden of Wilmcote near Stratford, and also of 
yeoman stock. It is assumed, but there is no 
evidence, that Shakespeare was educated at the 
Grammar School at Stratford. At the age of 
eighteen he married Anne Hathaway of Shot- 
tery, near Stratford, by whom he had three 
children. Thereafter very little is known of his 
life until a jealous reference was made by the 
poet and dramatist Robert Greene in his 
Groatsworth of Wit (1592), by which time 
Shakespeare was a successful dramatist. Some 
authorities, taking up John Aubrey’s statement 
that Shakespeare was “in his younger years a 
schoolmaster in the country,” think that he was 
so engaged between the time he left Stratford 
and his arrival in London. Estimates of Shake- 
speare’s working life as a poet and dramatist 
vary according to different authorities, from 
about 1584 to 1590 until 1612 or 1613. He 
settled at Stratford, probably in 1610, having 
in 1597 bought the second largest house in the 
town. He died at Stratford on April 23rd, 1616. 
His last descendant was Lady Barnard (d. 
1670 ), the only child of his daughter Susanna. 
The Shakespearean canon comprises the 
thirty-six plays of the First Folio (1623), which 
include collaborative contributions that can* 
not be determined with certainty; the Sonnets , 
The Rape of Lucrece , Venus and Adonis , a few 
lyrics and the sixteen lines contributed to the 
play of Sir Thomas More. 

Shakespeare’s name, spelling of. The 
generally accepted spelling, * Shakespeare, 
appears in none of the six undoubted signatures 
that have been traced, but it is the spelling 
generally used in his published works, includ- 
ing the First Folio, and in contemporary 
literar references. 

Baconian theory. The theory that Shake- 
speare was not the writer of the works attri- 
buted to him. based on the assumption that he 
did not possess the knowledge and culture 
exhibited in those works, was first put forward 
by Herbert Lawrence in 1769. No other writer 
was suggested until William Henry Smith in 
1857 said that there was one writer of that age 
capable of writing such supreme work and 
with the requisite knowledge of law and other 
subjects, and that was Francis Bacon. In 1887 
Ignatius Donnelly published The Great 


Shakespeare 


820 


Sharp 


Cryptogram , which professed to shew that 
cryptograms in the plays revealed Bacon as 
the undoubted author, and the cryptographic 
method was further advanced by Sir Eawin 
Durning-Lawrence and others. From the end 
of the 19th century other candidates have been 
proposed, including a Distributist School of 
thought that assigns Shakespeare’s work to 
seven writers. The latest to be suggested is 
Christopher Marlowe who, with the Earl of 
Oxford, is the most favoured candidate of the 
anti-Stratfordians. In all over fifty writers have 
had their protagonists. 

The German Shakespeare. Kotzebue (1761- 
1819) has been so styled. 

The Spanish Shakespeare. Calderdn (1600- 
81). 

The Shakespeare of divines. Jeremy Taylor 
(1613-67). 

The Shakespeare of eloquence. So Barnave 
happily characterized the Comte de Mira beau 
(1749-91). 

Shakuntala. See Sakuntala. 

Shaky. Not steady; not in good health; not 
strictly upright; not well prepared for ex- 
amination; doubtfully solvent. 

Shalott, The Lady of (shi lot 1. A maiden of 
the Arthurian legends, who fell in love with 
Sir Lancelot of the Lake, and died because 
her love was not returned. Tennyson has a 
poem on the subject; and the story of Elaine 
{q.v.) t “the lily maid of Astolat,” is substan- 
tially the same. 

Shamanism (sha' m A nizm). A primitive Form 
of religion, m which those who practise it 
believe that the world and all events arc 
governed by good and evil spirits who can be 
propitiated cr bought olT only through the 
intervention of a w itch-doctor, or Shaman, The 
word is Slavonic; it comes from the Samoyeds 
and other Siberian peoples, but is now applied 
to Red Indian and other primitive worship. 

Shamefast. Bashful; awkward through shyness; 
sheepish. This is the old form of shamefaced 
(which is properly an error), the -fast meaning 
“firmly fixed” or “restrained” (by shame). 

Shamrock. The symbol of Ireland, because it 
was selected by St. Patrick to illustrate to the 
Irish the doctrine of the Trinity. According to 
the elder Pliny no serpent will touch this plant. 

Shanms. An American term of disrespect. It 
derives from shammus , sexton of a Jewish 
synagogue. 

Shan. Van Voght. This excellent song (com- 
posed 1798) has been catled the Irish Marseil- 
laise. The title of it is a corruption of An t-sean 
bhean bhocht (the poor old woman — i.c. 
Ireland). The last verse is — 

Will Ireland then be free? 

Said the Shan Van Voght. {repeat) 

Yea, Ireland shall be free 
Prom the centre to the *ea, 

Hurrah for liberty! 

Said the Shan Van Voght. 

Shaadean (shSn' do &n). Characteristic of 
Tristram Shandy or the Shandy family in 
Sterne’s novel, Tristram Shandy (9 vols., 
1759*67). Tristram's father, Walter Shandy, is a 


metaphysical Don Quixote in his way, full of 
superstitious and idle conceits, He believes in 
long noses and propitious names, but his son’s 
nose is crushed, and his name becomes 
Tristram instead of Trismegistus. Tristram’s 
Uncle Toby was wounded at the siege of 
Namur, and is benevolent and generous, 
simple as a child, brave as a lion, and gallant 
as a courtier. His modesty with Widow 
Wadman and his military tastes are admirable. 
He is said to be drawn from Sterne’s father. 
The mother was the beau-ideal of nonentity; 
and of Tristram himself, we hear almost more 
before he was born than after he had burst 
upon an astonished world. 

Shanghai, To (sh&ng hi'). An old nautical 
phrase meaning to drug a man insensible in 
order to get him on board an outward bound 
vessel in need of crew. It would appear to 
have originated in the phrase “ship him to 
Shanghai,” i.e. send him on a long voyage. 

Shangri La (shilng gri la'). The hidden Bud- 
dhist lama paradise described in James 
Hilton’s Lost Horizon (1933). In World War 
il the name was applied to the secret air base 
used by the U.S.A. Air Force for the great 
attack on Japan. 

Shanks's Mare. To ride Shanks’s mare is to 

go on foot, the shanks being the legs. Similar 
phrases are “Goine by the marrow-bone stage” 
or “by Walker’s bus.” 

Shannon. Dipped in the Shannon. One who has 
been dipped in the Shannon is said to lose ail 
bashfulness. 

Shanties, Chanties. Songs sung by sailors at 
work, to ensure united action (Fr. chanter , to 
sing). They arc in sets, each of which has a 
difierent cadence adapted to the work in 
hand. Thus, in sheeting topsails, weighing 
anchor, etc., one of the most popular of the 
shanty songs runs thus: — 

I'm bound awa>, this \ery day. 

I’m bound for the Rio Grande. 

Ho. you, Rio! 

Then fare you well, my bonny blue bell. 

I'm bound for the Kio Grande. 

A shanty is also a small wooden house, or a 
roughly-built hut. 

Shark. A swindler, a pilferer, an extortionate 
boarding-house keeper or landlord, etc.; one 
who snaps up things like a shark, which eats 
almost anything, and seems to care little 
whether its food is alive or dead, fish, flesh, or 
human bodies. 

To shark up. To get a number of people, etc., 
together promiscuously, w ithout consideration 
of their fitness. 

Now, sir. young Fortinbra* . . . 

Hath in the skirt* of Norway here and there 
Shark'd up a list of Uwtcx* resolute*, 

For food and d«t. to some enterprise 
That hath a stomach in't. 

Hamlet, l. F 

Sharp. A regular Becky Sharp. An unprincipled 
scheming young woman, who by cunning, 
hypocrisy, and low smartness raises herscli 
from obscurity and poverty to some position 
in Society, and falls therefrom in due course 
after having maintained a more or less pr& 
carious foothold. Of course the is good* 




Sharp 


821 


looking, and superficial amiability is a sine qua 
non. Becky Sharp, the original of this, is the 
P™]C |p al character in Thackeray’s Vanity Fair 
(1848). 

Sharp practice. Underhand or dishonourable 
dealing; low-down trickery intended to 
advantage oneself. 

Sharps and flats. See Flat. 

Sharp’s the word! Look alive, there! no 
hanging about. 

Sharp-set. Hungry; formerly used of hawks 
when eager for their food. 

If anic were so sharpe-set as to eat fried flies, 
buttered bees, slued snails, either on Fridaic or 
Sundaie, he could not be therefore indicted of haulte 
treason. — SrANiituRyr: Ireland , p. 19 (1586). 

Shave. Just a grazing touch; a near or close 
shave , a narrow escape; to shave through an 
examination , only just to get through, narrowly 
to escape being "plucked.” At Oxford a pass 
degree is sometimes called a shave. 

A good lather is half the shave. Your work 
is half done if you've laid your plans and made 
your preparations properly. 

To shave a customer. A draper's expression 
for charging more for an article than it is 
worth; because, so it is said, when the manager 
secs a chance of doing this he strokes his chin 
as a sign to the assistant that he may fleece 
the customer all he can. 

To shave an egg. To attempt to extort the 
uttermost farthing; to "skin a flint.” 

Shaveling. Used in contempt— especially 
after the Reformation— of a priest. At a time 
when the laity wore moustaches and beards 
the clergy were not only usually clean shaven 
but invariably wore large shaven tonsures. 

H maketh no matter how thou live here, so thou 
have the favour of the pope and his shavelings. — 
John Bradford (1510-1555), a Marian mariyr. 

Shavian (sha' vi in). After the manner of 
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) or descrip- 
tive of his philosophy and style of humour. 

She. She Bible, The. See Bible, Specially 

NAMED. 

She Stoops to Conquer. Goldsmith’s comedy 
(1773) owes its existence to an incident which 
actually occurred to its author. When he was 
sixteen years of age a wag residing at Ardagh 
directed him, when passing through that 
village, to Squire Fctherstonc's house as the 
village inn. The mistake was not discovered for 
some time, and then no one enjoyed it more 
heartily than Oliver himself. 

She-wolf of France. See Wolf. 

Shear. God tempers the wind to the shorn Iamb. 

See God. 

Ordeal by sieve and shears. Sec Sieve. 

Shear or Shere Thursday. Maundy Thursday, 
the Thursday of Holy Week; so called, it is 
said, because in — 

old fudres da yes the people woldc that day shere thoyr 
hedea, and clyppe theyr berdes, and poll iheyr hedcs. 
and so make them honest agenst Ester day. 

Sheathe. To sheathe the sword. To cease 
hostilities, make peace. In the early months of 
World War I the phrase “We will not sheathe 


Sheepish 


the sword until the w^ong done to Belgium has 
been righted” was a common slogan. 

Sheba, The Queen of (she' b&). The queen who 
visited Solomon (I Kings x) is known to the 
Arabs as Balkis, Queen of Saba (Koran, ch. 
xxvn). Sheba was thought by the Greeks and 
Romans to have been the capital of what is 
now Yemen, S.W. Arabia; and the people 
over whom the queen reigned were the 
Sabseans. 

Shebang (she bang'). Fed up with the whole she- 
bang. Tired of the whole concern and every- 
thing connected with it. Shebang is American 
slang for a hut or one's quarters; also for a 
cart; and also, in a humorously depreciatory 
way, for almost anything. 

Shebeen (she ben'). A place (originally only in 
Ireland) where liquor is sold without a licence; 
hence applied to any low-class public house. 
You've been takin’ a dhrop o’ the crathur* an’ Danny 
says “Troth, an' I been 

Dhrinking >cr health wid Shamus O’Shea at Katty’s 
shebeen.” Tennyson: To-morrow. 

Shed cm. See Mazikeen. 

Sheep. Ram or tup , the sire; ewe , the dam; 
lamb, the young till weaned, when it is called 
a tup-hogget or ewe-hogget , as the case may be, 
or, if the tup is castrated, a wether-hogget. 

After the removal of the first fleece, the tup- 
hogget becomes a shearling , the ewe-hogget a 
gimme r , and the wether-hogget a dinmont . 

After the removal of the second fleece, the 
shearling becomes a two-shear tup t the gimmer 
an ew e, and the dinmont a wether. 

After the removal of the third fleece, the ewe 
is called a t winter-ewe; and when it ceases to 
breed a draft-ewe . 

Sheep’s head. A fool, a simpleton — 

CoManzo- What, sirrah, is that all? 

No entertainment to the gentlewoman? 

Valerio: Forsooth y’are welcome by my father’s 
leave. 

Go*.: What, no more compliment? Kiss her, you 
sheep's head! 

Lady, you’ll pardon our gross bringing up? 

Wc dwell far off from court, you may perceive. 

Chapman: All Fools , II, i. 

The Black Sheep ( Kdrd-koir-ho ). A tribe 
which established a principality in Armenia 
that lasted 108 years (1360-1468); so called 
from the device of their standard. 

The White Sheep ( Ak-koin-loo ). A tribe 
which established a principality in Armenia, 
etc . on the ruin of the Black Sheep (1468- 
1508); so called from the device of their 
standard. % ■% 

There's a black sheep in every flock. In 
every club or party of persons there's sure to 
be at least one shady character. 

To cast sheep’s eyes. To look askance, in a 
sheepish way, at a person to whom you feel 
lovingly inclined. 

But he, the beast, was casting sheep’s eyes at her. — 
Colman: Broad Grins . 

Vegetable sheep. See Scythian Lamb. 

Sheepish. Awkward and shy; bashful 
through not know ing how to deport oneself in 
the circumstances. 



Sheepskin 


822 


Shepherd 


Sheepskin (U.S.A.). A college diploma. 
Sheer Thursday. See Shear. 

Sheet. Three sheets in the wind. Very drunk; 
Just about as drunk as one can be. The sheet 
is the rope attached to the lower end of a sail, 
used for shortening and extending sail; if 
quite free, the sheet is said to be “in the wind,” 
and the sail flaps and flutters without restraint. 
If all the three sails were so loosened, the ship 
would “reel and stagger like a drunken man/’ 

Captain Cuttle looking, candle in hand, at Bunsby 
more attentively, perceived that he was three sheets in 
the wind, or, in plain words, drunk. — Dickens: 
Dombey and Son . 

That was my sheet anchor. My best hope, 
chief stav, last refuge; if that fails me, then all 
is indeed lost. The sheet anchor is the largest 
anchor of a ship, and in stress of weather, the 
sailor's chief dependence. The Greeks and 
Romans said, “my sacred anchor,” because 
the sheet anchor was always dedicated to some 
god. 

Sheikh (shak). A title of respect among the 
Arabs (like the Ital. signore , Fr. sieur , Span. 
sehor , etc.), but properly the head of a Bedouin 
clan, family, or tribe, or the headman of an 
Arab village. 

Sheikh-til-Islam. The Grand Mufti, or 
supreme head of the Mohammedan hierarchy 
in Turkey. 

Shekels (shek' elz). Colloquial for money. The 
Hebrew shekel was a weight of about 250 
rains troy, also a silver coin worth roughly 
s. 6d. 

Sbekinah (she kl' nA) (Heb. shakan , to reside). 
The visible glory of the Divine Presence in the 
shape of a cloud, which rested over the mercy- 
seat between the Cherubim, and in the Temple 
of Solomon (see Exod. xl, 34-38). The word 
does not occur in the Bible, but is frequent 
in the Targums, and was employed by the 
Jews as a periphrasis for the Divine Name. 

Shektonian Theatre (shel do' ni An). The Senate 
House of Oxford; so called from Gilbert 
Sheldon (1598-1677), Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, who provided the money for the building 
designed by Sir Christopher Wren. See also 
ENCitNIA. 

Shelf. Laid on the shelf, or shelved. Put on one 
side as of no further use; superannuated. Said 
of officials and others no longer actively 
employed; an actor no longer assigned a part; 
a woman past the ordinary age of marriage; 
also of a pawn at the broker’s, a question 
started ana set aside, etc. 

sSeiffO .E. scell ). The hard outside covering of 
nuts, eggs, molluscs, tortoises, etc.; hcncc 
applied to other hollow coverings, as a light 
or inner coffin, and the hollow projectile filled 
with explosives and missiles which will explode 
on impact or at a set time. 

Eggshells. Many persons, after eating a 
boiled egg, break or crush the shell. This, 
according to Sir Thomas Browne — 
it hut a superstitious relict . . .and the intent thereof 
was to prevent witchcraft; for lest witches should 
draw or prick their names therein, and veneflciously 
mischief their persons, they broke the shell. — 
Pseudodoxki Epidemic a, V, xxii. 


Scallop shells were the emblem of St. James 
the Great (^.v.), and were hence carried by 
pilgrims, under whose special protection they 
were. 

Shell jacket. An undress military jacket, 
fatigue jacket. 

Shell shock. An acute neurasthenic con- 
dition due to a shock to the system caused by 
the explosion of a shell or bomb at close 
quarters. The term came into use in World 
War i. 

To retire into one’s shell. To become reticent 
and uncommunicative, to withdraw oneself 
from society in a forbidding way. The allusion 
is to the tortoise, which, once it has “got into 
its shell,” is quite unget-at-able. 

See also Nutshell. 

Shellback. Nautical slang for an old and 
seasoned sailor, an “old salt.” 

Shelter. In World War 11 this word, as an 
abbreviation of Air Raid Shelter, w as especially 
applied to the various excavations, buildings, 
or devices employed as a protection against 
aerial bombing. Deep shelters, c.g. the London 
Tubes, were sufficiently far below the ground 
level to be immune from damage even by a 
direct hit. Such shelters as the Anderson 
(half above and half below ground, and made 
of corrugated steel) or the Morrison (a sort of 
steel dining-table with room for a bed beneath) 
alforded exiguous protection from blast or 
falling masonry. 

Sheol. See Hadfs. 

Shepherd. The Shepherd Kings. See Hyksos. 

The Shepherd Lord. Henry, tenth Lord 
Clilford (d. 1523), sent by his mother to be 
brought up by a shepherd, in order to save 
him from the fury of the Yorkists. At the 
accession of Henry VII he was restored to all 
his rights and seigniories. The story is told by 
Wordsworth in The Song for the Feast of 
Brougham Castle . 

The Shepherd of Banbury. The ostensible 
author of a Weather Guide (published 1744). 
He styles himself John Claridge, Shepherd; but 
is said to have been a Dr. John Campbell. 

The Shepherd of the Ocean. So Sir Walter 
Raleigh is called by Spenser: — 

When 1 asked from what place he came, 

And how he hight, himsclfc he did ycleapc 

The Shepheard of the Ocean by name, 

And said he came far from the main-sca deepe. 

Colin Clout's Come Home Again, 64. 

The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain. A famous 
religious tract by Mrs. Hannah More, first 
published in The Cheap Repository (1795), a 
series of moral “tales lor the people.” It had 
enormous popularity; and the story is said to 
be founded on the life of one David Saunders* 
who was noted for his homely wisdom and 
practical piety, whom she turns into a sort of 
Christian Arcadian. 

The Shepherd’s Sundial. The scarlet pimper* 
nel, which opens at a little past seven in the 
morning and closes at a little past two. When 
rain is at hand, or the weather is unfavourable* 
it does not open at all. 




Shepherd 


823 


SM’ites 


The Shepherd’s Warning. 

A red sky at night is the shepherd’s delight, 

But a red sky in the morning is the shepherd’s warning. 

The Italian saying is Sera rossa e bianco 
mattino , allegro il pellegrino (a red evening and 
a white morning rejoice the pilgrim). 

To shepherd. To guard and guide carefully 
as a shepherd does his flock; in colloquial use, 
to follow and spy on as a detective. 

Sheppard, Jack (1702-24). A notorious high- 
wayman, son of a carpenter in Smithfield, 
noted for his two escapes from Newgate in 
1724. He was hanged at Tyburn the same year. 

Shere Thursday. See Shear. 

Sherif (she ref'). A descendant of the Prophet 
Mohammed, formerly applied to the governor 
of Mecca. The title was also adopted by the 
rulers of Morocco, who claimed descent from 
the Prophet through his grandson Hasan. 

Sheriff (sher' if). In mediaeval and later times 
the sheriff (shire reeve) was an official who 
looked after the king’s property in the various 
shires or counties. In England and Wales each 
county has its sheriff, called the High Sheriff, 
whose duty it is to keep the peace, administer 
justice under the direction of the courts, 
execute writs by deputy, preside over parlia- 
mentary elections, etc. There are sherilTs in 
certain cities such as Bristol, Norwich, etc., and 
the City of London has two. 

In U.S.A. the sheriff is the officer in a county 
commissioned with the enforcement of law and 
order. 

SherifTmuir. There was mair lost at the Shlrra- 
muir. Don’t grieve for your losses, for worse 
have befallen others before now. The battle of 
SheritTmuir, in 1715, between the Jacobites 
and Hanoverians was very bloody; both sides 
sustained heavy losses, and both sides claimed 
the victory. 

Sherlock Holmes. The most famous figure 
in detective fiction, the creation of Arthur 
Conan Doyle (1859-1930). His solutions of 
crimes and mysteries were related in a scries 
of sixty stories that appeared in the Strand 
Magazine off and on between 1891 and 1927. 
The character was based on Dr. Joseph Bell, 
of the Edinburgh Infirmary, whose methods of 
deduction suggested a system that Holmes 
developed into a science; his stooge Watson 
was a skit on Doyle himself. Holmes’s method 
is in itself simple — the observation of the 
minutest details and apparently insignificant 
circumstances; the correct interpretation and 
application of the information thus acquired 
enables him to solve the apparently unsolvable 
with a minimum of energy or detective appar- 
atus. 

Sbcrrick. Yorkshire for something very small. 
Used in Australia for a small amount of 
anything, particularly money. 

Shewhread. Food for show only, and not 
intended to be eaten except by certain privileged 
persons. The term is Jewish, and refers to 
the twelve loaves (one for each tribe; see 
Exod, xxv, 30, Lev . xxiv, 5-8) which the priest 
“showed 1 * or exhibited to Jehovah, by pfacing 
them week by week on the sanctuary table. 


At the end of the week, the priest was allowed 
to take them home for his own eating; but no 
one else couldqfrartake of them. 

Shibboleth (shib' 6 leth). The password of a 
secret society; the secret by which those of a 
party know each other; also a worn-out or 
discredited doctrine. The Ephraimites could 
not pronounce sft , so when they were fleeing 
from Jephthah and the Gileadites ( Judges xii, 
1-16) they were caught at the ford on the 
Jordan because Jephthah caused all the 
fugitives to say the word Shibboleth (meaning 
“a stream in flood”), which all the Ephraimites 
pronounced as Sibboleth. 

Shield. The most famous shields in story are 
the Shield of Achilles described by Homer, of 
Hercules described by Hesiod, of AZneas 
described by Virgil, and the /Egis C q.v .). 

Others are that of: — 

Agamemnon, a gorgon. 

Amy cos (son of Poseidon), a crayfish, symbol of 
prudence. 

Cadmus and his descendants, a dragon, to indicate 
their descent from the dragon’s teeth. 

Etcocles, a man scaling a wall. 

Hector , a lion. 

Idomeneus , a cock. 

Menelaus , a serpent at his heart; alluding to the 
elopement of his wife with Paris. 

Parthenopcrus , one of the Seven Against Thebes, a 
sphinx holding a man in its claws. 

Ulysses, a dolphin. Whence he is sometimes called 
Delphinosemos. 

Servius says that in the siege of Troy the 
Greeks had, as a rule, Neptune on their 
bucklers, and the Trojans Minerva. 

It was a common custom, after a great 
victory, for the victorious general to hang his 
shield on the wall of some temple. 

The clang of shields. When a chief doomed 
a man to death, he struck his shield with the 
blunt end of his spear by way of notice to the 
royal bard to begm the death-song. 

Cairbar rises in his arms. 

The clang of shields is heard. 

Ossian: Temora, I. 

The Gold and Silver Shield. A mediaeval 
allegory tells how two knights coming from 
opposite directions stopped m sight of a shield 
suspended from a tree branch, one side of 
which was gold and the other silver, and 
disputed about its metal, proceeding from 
words to blows. Luckily a third knight came 
up: the point was referred to him, and the 
disputants were informed that the shield was 
silver on one side and gold on the other. Hence 
the sayings, The other side of the shield , It 
depends on which side of the shield youjare 
looking at , etc. w 

The Shield of Expectation. The perfectly 
plain shield given to a young warrior in his 
maiden campaign. As he achieved glory, his 
deeds were recorded or symbolized on it. 

Shiites (Arab, shi'ah, a sect). Those Moham- 
medans who regard Ali as the first rightful 
Imam or Caliph (rejectiflf the three Sunni 
Caliphs), and do not consider the Sunna, or 
oral law, of any authority, but look upon it as 
apocryphal. They wear red turbans, and are 
sometimes called “Red Heads,** Cp. Sunnitb&. 



Shillelagh 


824 


Shirt 


Shillelagh (Ir.). A cudgel of oak or blackthorn; 
so called from a village of this name in County 
Wicklow. 

Shilling (O.E. settling, which is connected 
either with O.Teut. skel-, to resound or ring, 
or ski!-, to divide). The coin was originally 
made with a deeply indented cross, and could 
easily be divided into halves or quarters. 

Shilling shocker. See Penny Dreadful. 

To be cut off with a shilling. See Cut. 

To take the Queen's (or King's) shilling. 
To enlist; in allusion to the former practice of 
giving each recruit a shilling when he was 
sworn in. 

Shilly Shally. To hesitate, act in an undecided, 
irresolute way; a corruption of “Will I, shall I,” 
or “Shall I, shall 1?” 

There’s no delay, they ne’er stand shall I, shall I, 
Hermogenes with Dallila doth dally. 

Taylor's Workes, iii, 3 (1630). 

Shindig (shin' dig). A slang term for a dance, a 
noisy celebration party, etc. 

Shindy. A row, a disturbance. To kick up a 
shindy . to make a row. The word is probably 
connected with shinty or shinny , a primitive 
kind of hockey played in the north. 

Shine. To take the shine out of one. To humili- 
ate him, “take him down a peg or two”; to 
outshine him. 

Shiner. A black eye. 

Shin Plaster. An old American and also 
Australian phrase still occasionally used for 
paper tokens issued by rural stores as small 
change. It is said that some storekeepers baked 
them to make them brittle so that tney would 
powder to nothing in the recipient’s pocket. 

Shintoism. The national religion of Japan. 
Worship takes the form ot offerings and 
rayers for temporal blessings, litanies read 
y priests, reverence for ancestors and an 
unquestioning loyalty to the State. The chief 
of numerous deities is Ameratasu, the sun 

g oddess from whom the emperors claim 
escent. 

Ship. In the printing-house the body of 
compositors engaged for the time being on one 
definite piece of work is known as a ship ; this 
is said to be short for companionship , but it 
is worth noting that many printing-house 
terms ( cp . Chapel, Friar, Monk) have an 
ecclesiastical origin, and ship was an old name 
for the nave of a church. 

Locing a ship for a ha’porth o' tar. Suffering 
a gjeat loss out of stinginess. By mean savings, 
orfrorn want of some necessary outlay, to lose 
the entire article>For example, to save the 
expense of a nail and lose the horseshoe as the 
first result, then to lame the horse, and finally 
perhaps kill it. 

Private ship in the Roval Navy is one that is 
fitted for a flag officer, but does not carry his 

flag. 

Ship-money. A tsbc formerly levied in time 
of war on ports and seaboard counties for the 
maintenance of the Navy, it was throuah 
Charles I levying this tax in 1634-7 without me 


consent of Parliament, and extending it to the 
inland counties illegally, that the Puritan 
party, led by Hampden, refused to pay and 
thus began the struggle which culminated in 
the Civil War. 

Shipshape. As methodically arranged as 
things in a ship; in good order. When a vessel 
is sent out temporarily rigged, it is termed 
“jury-rigged,” and when the jury rigging has 
been duly changed for ship rigging, the vessel 
is “shipshape,” i.e. in due or regular order. 

Ship's husband. The agent on land who 
represents the owners and attends to the 
repairs, provisioning and other necessaries and 
expenses of the ship. 

Ships of the line. Men-of-war large enough to 
have a place in a line of battle. 

The ship of the desert. The camel. 

To take shipping. To set out on a voyage, to 
embark on board ship. 

When my ship comes home. When my fortune 
is made. The allusion is to the argosies 
returning from foreign parts laden with rich 
freights, and so enriching the merchants who 
sent them forth. 

Shipton, Mother. This so-called prophetess is 
first heard of in a tract of 1641, in which she 
is said to have lived in the reign of Henry VIII, 
and to have foretold the death of Wolsey, 
Cromwell, Lord Percy, etc. In 1677 the 
amphletccring publisher, Richard Head, 
rought out a Life and Death of Mother 
Shipton . and in 1862 Charles Hindley brought 
out a new edition in which she was credited 
with having predicted steam-engines, the 
telegraph, and other modern inventions, as 
well as the end of the world in 1881. 

Shire. When the Saxon kings created an carl, 
they gave him a shire (O F. scir ) or division of 
land to govern. Scir meant originally employ- 
ment or government, and is connected with 
scirian , to appoint, allot. At the Norman 
Conquest count superseded the title earl and 
the shire or earldom was called a county. Even 
to the present hour wc call the wife of an carl 
a countess. 

Knight of the Shire. See Knight. 

The shires. The English counties whose 
names terminate in - shire ; but, in a narrower 
sense, the Midland counties noted for fox- 
hunting, especially Leicestershire, Northamp- 
tonshire, and Rutland. 

Shire horse. T he old breed, of large, heavily 
built English cart-horse, orfflnally raised in 
the Midland shires. T he term is applied to any 
draught horse of a certain character which 
can show a registered pedigree. The sire and 
dam, with a minute description of the horse 
itself, its age, marks and so on, must be 
shown in order to prove the claim of a “shire 
horse.” 

Clydesdale horses are Scottish draught 
horses, not equal to shire horses in size, but 
of great endurance. 

Shirt. A bolted shirt. An Americanism for a 
stilt white shirt, as bpposed to an unstarched 
coloured one. 



Shirt 


825 


Shoe 


Close sits my shirt, but closer my skin. My 
property is dear to me, but dearer my life; my 
belongings sit close to my heart, but Ego 
proximus mihi. 

Not a shirt to one’s name. Nothing at all; 
penniless and propertyless. 

The shirt of Nessus. See Nessus. 

To get one’s shirt out. To lose one’s temper, 
to get in a rage. A variant is to get one's rag 
out. 

To give the shirt off one’s back. All one has. 

To put one’s shirt on a horse. To back it with 
all the money one possesses. 

Shirts as party emblems. The custom of 
wearing coloured shirts as a political gesture 
originated in the Garibaldi Italian campaign of 
1848-49. While in S. America, fighting for the 
Uruguayan Republic, Garibaldi and his men 
were issued with red shirts bought as a job lot 
by the government from a mercantile house in 
Montevideo. On their arrival in Europe the 
Italian patriots accompanying Garibaldi still 
wore these shirts, which became an emblem of 
hope and patriotism that reached its culmin- 
ation when Garibaldi led his red-shirted 
Thousand to the conquest of Sicily and South 
Italy in 1860. Mussolini adopted the Black 
Shirt as the emblem of Fascism in the 1920s; 
Hitler clothed his henchmen in Brown Shirts; 
other colours have been chosen by ardent 
though less eminent imitators. 

Shirty. Bad-tcmpercd; very cross and 
offended; in the state you arc in when some- 
body has “got your shirt out.” 

Shiva. See Siva. 

Shivaree (shiv' e re). The word is a corruption 
of Charivari (q.v.) % and in the U.S.A. means the 
mocking serenade accorded to newly married 
people. 

Shivering Mountain. Mam Tor, a hill on the 
Peak of Derbyshire; so called from the waste 
of its mass by “shivering”- -that is, breaking 
away in “shivers” or small pieces. This has been 
going on for ages, as the hill consists of alter- 
nate layers of shale and gritstone. The former, 
being soft, is easily reduced to powder, and. as 
it crumbles small “shivers” of the gritstone 
break away for want of support. 

Stwnoo (U.S.A ). A small being, the character- 
istics of which arc that it can at will become 
whatever you wish. It was invented by A1 Capp 
(inventor of Little Abner) in 1948 and became 
a cra/c in strip form, books, boys' balloons, 
and other representations. It also became a 
nation-wide cause of dissension, some seeing 
behind the idea a subtle political attack on the 
Capitalist system. 

Shoat (U.S.A.). A half-grown pig, hence an 
uncomplimentary term for a person of no 
account. 

Shoddv. Worthless stuff masquerading as 
something that is really good; from the cheap 
cloth called shoddy which" is made up out of 
cloth from old garments torn to pieces and 
shredded, mixed with new wool. 


Shoddy characters. Persons of tarnished 
reputation, like cloth made of shoddy or 
refuse wool. 

Shoe. It was at one time thought unlucky to 
put on the left shoe before the right, or to put 
either shoe on the wrong foot. It is said that 
Augustus Caesar was nearly assassinated by a 
mutiny one day when he put on his left shoe 
first. 

One of the sayings of Pythagoras was: 
“When stretching forth your feet to have your 
sandals put on, first extend your right foot, 
but when about to step into a bath, let your 
left foot enter first.” Iamblichus says the hidden 
meaning is that worthy actions should be done 
heartily, but base ones should be avoided 
(ProtrepticSy symbol xii). 

It has long been a custom to throw an old 
shoe, or several shoes, at the bride and bride- 
groom when they quit the bride’s home after 
the wedding breakfast, or when they go to 
church to get married. 

Now, for goode luck caste an old shoe after me. — 
Haywood (1693-1756). 

Ay, with all my heart, there’s an old shoe after you. 
— The Parson's Wedding ( Dodsley , vol. IX, p. 499). 

In Anglo-Saxon marriages the father 
delivered the bride's shoe to the bridegroom, 
who touched her with it on the head to show 
his authority ; and it is said that in Turkey the 
bridegroom is chased by the guests, who either 
administer blows by way of adieux, or pelt 
him with slippers. 

Some think this shoe-throwing represents 
an assault and refers to the notion that the 
bridegroom carried off the bride with force and 
violence. Others look upon it as a relic of the 
ancient law of exchange, implying that the 
parents of the bride give up henceforth all 
right of dominion to their daughter. Luther 
told the bridegroom at a wedding that he had 
placed the husband’s shoe on the head of the 
bed so that he should take to himself the 
mastery and governing of his wife. 

Loosing the shoe ( cp . Josh, v, 15) is a mark 
of respect in the East to the present hour. The 
Mussulman leaves his slippers at the door of the 
mosque, and when making a visit of ceremony 
to a European visitor, at the tent entrance. 

In Deut. xxv, 5-10 we read that the widow 
refused by her husband's surviving brother 
asserted her independence by “loosing his 
shoe”; and in the story of Ruth we are told 
“that it was the custom” in exchange to deliver 
a shoe in token of renunciation. When Boaz, 
therefore, became possessed of his lot. the kins- 
man's kinsman indicated his assent by giving 
Boaz his shoe. “A man without sandals” was a 
proverbial expression among the Jews f<ff a 
prodigal, from the custom of giving one’s 
sandals in confirmation of a bargain. 

Another man’s shoes. “To stand in another 
man's shoes” is to occupy the place of another. 
Among the ancient Northmen, when a man 
adopted a son, the person adopted put on the 
shoes of the adopter. . 

In Reynard the Fox (a.ri> Reynard, having 
turned tne tables on Sir Bruin the Bear, asked 
the queen to let him have the shoes of the 
disgraced minister; so Bruin’s shoes were torn 
off and put upon the new favourite. 



Another pair of shoes. A different thing 
altogether; quite another matter. 

A shoe too large trips one up. A Latin 
proverb, Calceus major subvertit. An empire 
too large falls to pieces; a business too large 
comes to grief; an ambition too large fails 
altogether. 

No one knows where the shoe pinches like the 
wearer. This was said by a Roman sage who 
was blamed for divorcing his wife, with whom 
he seemed to live happily. 

For, God it wot, he sat ful still and song, 

When that his scho fill bitterly him wrong. 

Chaucer: Canterbury Tales, 6,074. 

The fons et origo of some trouble is called 
“the place where the shoe pinches.’* 

Oyer Edom will I cast my shoe ( Ps . lx, 8; 
cviii, 9). Will I march and triumph. 

Over shoes, over boots. In for a penny, in for 
a pound. 

Where true courage roots. 

The proverb says, “once over shoes, o'er boots.” 

Taylor's Workes . ii, 145 (1630). 

To die in onie’s shoes. To die a violent death, 
especially one on the scaffold. 

And there is M’Fuze, and Lieutenant Tregooze, 

And there is Sir Carnaby Jenks, of the Blues, 

All come to see a man die in his shoes. 

Barham: Ingoldsby Legends: The Execution. 

To shake in one’s shoes. To be in a state of 
nervous terror. 

To shoe a goose. To engage in a silly and 
fruitless task. 

To shoe the anchor. To cover the flukes of an 
anchor with a broad triangular piece of plank, 
in order that the anchor may have a stronger 
hold in soft ground. 

To shoe the cobbler. To give a quick peculiar 
movement with the front foot in sliding. 

To shoe the wild colt. To exact a line called 
“footing” from a newcomer, who is called the 
“colt.” Colt is a common synonym for a green- 
horn, or a youth not broken in. Thus Shake- 
speare says — ‘‘Ay, that’s a colt indeed, for 
he doth nothing but talk of his horse” ( Mer- 
chant of Venice , I, ii.). 

Waiting for dead men’s shoes. Looking out 
for legacies; looking to stand in the place of 
some moneyed man when he is dead and 
buried. 

Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear {Matt. 
iji, 11). This means, “I am not worthy to be 
his humblest slave.” It was the business of a 
slave recently purchased to loose and carry 
his^ Inaster’s sandals. When the Emperor 
Wladimir proposed marriage to the daughter 
of Reginald, she rejected him, saying, ”1 will 
not take off my shoe to the son of a slave.” 

Shoemakers. The patron saints of shoe- 
makers are St. Crispin and his brother 
Crispian, who supported themselves by making 
shoes while they preached to the people of 
Gaul and Britain. In compliment to these 
saints the trade of shoemaking is called “the 
gentle craft.” 

Shofar (shd' far), A Hebrew trumpet still used 
in the modem synagogue. It is made of the 


horn of a ram or any ceremonially clean 
animal, and produces only the natural series 
of harmonics from its fundamental note. 

Shogun (sh6' gun). The title of the actual ruler 
of Japan from the 12th century to the modern- 
ization of the country in 1868. The Shoguns 
were hereditary commanders-in-chief (the 
word means “army leader”), and took the 
place of the Mikados, whom they kept in a 
state of perpetual imprisonment. Also called 
the Tycoon (q.v.). 

Shoot. See also Shot. 

Shoot! Go ahead; say what you have to say. 
Let’s have it! In him studios it is the word used 
for the cameras to begin turning. 

Shooting-iron. Slang (originally American) 
for a firearm, especially a revolver. 

Shooting stars. Incandescent meteors shoot- 
ing across the sky, formerly, like comets, 
fabled to presage disaster-— 

A little ere the mightiest Julius fell, 

The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead 
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets: 

As stars with trains of lire and dews of blood. 
Disasters in the sun. Hamlet , I, i. 

They were called in ancient legends the 
“fiery tears of St. Lawrence,” because one of 
the periodic swarms of these meteors is between 
August 9th and 14th, about the time of St. 
Lawrence’s festival, which is on the 10th. 
Other periods are from November 12th to 
14th, and from December 6th to 12th. 

Shooting stars arc said by the Arabs to be 
firebrands hurled by the angels against the 
inquisitive genii, who arc for ever clambering 
up on the constellations to peep into heaven. 

To go the whole shoot. To do all there is to 
do, go the whole hog, run through the gamut. 

To shoot a line. To boast. 

To shoot one’s linen. To display an unneces- 
sary amount of shirt-cuff; to show off. 

To shoot the moon. To remove one’s house- 
hold goods by night to avoid distraint; to 
“do a moonlight flit.” 

To shoot the sun. A sailor’s expression for 
taking the sun’s meridional altitude, which is 
done by aiming at the re llcc ted sun through 
the telescope of the sextant. 

Shop. The Shop, in military slang, is the Royal 
Military Academy, formerly at Woolwich, and 
since 1946 at Sandhurst, Berkshire; on the 
Stock Exchange it is the South African gold 
market. 

All over the shop. Scattered in every direc- 
tion, all over the place; or pursuing an erratic 
course. 

Closed Shop. A term, first used in the U.S.A., 
to characterize shops or factories in which 
non-union labour is excluded. 

To shop a person. To put him in prison, or 
to inform against him so that he is arrested; 
similarly, a billiard player will speak of “shoe- 
ing the white,” i.c. putting his opponents 
ail down in the packet. 

To •but up »hop. To fetire or withdraw from 
participation in an undertaking. 


Shop 


827 


Shotten Herring 


To talk shop. To talk about one’s affairs or 
business; to draw allusions from one’s 
business, as when Ollapod, the apothecary in 
Colman’s Poor Gentleman , talks of a uniform 
with rhubarb-coloured facings. 

You’ve come to the wrong shop. I can’t help 
you, I can’t give you the information, and so 
on, you require. 

Shopkeepers. A nation of shopkeepers. This 
phrase, applied to Englishmen by Napoleon 
in contempt, comes from Adam Smith’s 
Wealth of Nations (iv, 7), a book well known to 
the Emperor. He says — 

To found a great empire for the sole purpose of 
raising up a people of customers, may at first sight 
appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers. 

Ten years earlier, in 1766, J. Tucker had 
written in the third of his Four Tracts : — 

A Shop-keeper will never get the more Custom by 
beating his Customers; and what is true of a Shop- 
keeper, is true of a Shop-keeping Nation. 

Shoreditch, according to tradition, is so called 
from Jane Shore, the mistress of Edward IV, 
who, it is said, died there in a ditch. T his tale 
comes from a ballad in Pepys* collection — 
l could not get one bit of bread 
Whereby my hunger might be fed. . . . 

So, weary of my life, at length 
I yielded up my vital strength 
Within a ditch . . . which since that day 
Is Shoreditch called, as writers say. 

The real derivation is “ditch leading to the 
shore’’ — of the Thames. 

The Duke of Shoreditch. The most successful 
of the London archers received this playful 
title 

Good king, make not good Lord of Lincoln Duke 
of Shoreditch! — The Poore Mans Petition to the 
Klnge (1603). 

Shomc, John. A rector of North Marston, 
Buckinghamshire, at the close of the 13th 
century. He is said to have blessed a well, 
which became the resort of multitudes and 
brought in a yearly revenue of some i'500, and 
to have conjured the devil into a boot. After 
his death he was prayed to by sufferers from 
ague. 

Maistcr John Shomc, that Messed man borne, 

For the ague to him wc apply. 

Which jugglcth with a bote; l be sell rewe his herte row 

That will trust him, and it be l. 

Tam ass le of Idolairte. 

Short. A drop of something short. A tot of 
whisky, gin, or other spirit, as opposed to a 
glass of beer. 

Cut it short! Don’t be so prolix, come to the 
point; “cut the cackle and come to the ’osses.” 
Said to a speaker who goes round and round 
his subject. 

My name Is Short. l*m in a hurry and cannot 
wait. 

Well, but let us hear the wishes (said the old man); 
my name is short, and I cannot stay much longer. — 
W. Ybats: Fairy Tales of the Irish Peasantry, p. 240. 

Short commons. See Commons. 

Short thigh. See Qltrt^ose. 

The short cut is oft eh the longest way round* 
It does not always pay to avoid taking a little 

B.D.—27 5 


trouble; e.g. there is no short cut to know* 
ledge. Bacon has the same idea — 

It is in life, as it is in ways, the shortest way Is 
commonly the foulest, and surely the faire way is not 
much about. — Advancement of Learning , 66, ii. 

To break off short. Abruptly, without 
warning, but completely. 

To sell short. A Stock Exchange phrase 
meaning to sell stock that one does not at the 
moment possess on the chance that before the 
date of delivery the price will have fallen; the 
same as “selling for a fall,’’ or “selling a bear.” 

To make short work of it. To dispose of it 
quickly, to deal summarily with it. 

To win by a short head. Only just to out- 
distance one’s competitors, to win with 

E radically nothing to spare. The phrase is from 
orse-racing. 

Shorter Catechism. The name given to a 
confession of faith which sets forth the 
Presbyterian doctrines of the Church of 
Scotland. Drawn up in 1647 it was called the 
“shorter” to distinguish it from the larger 
catechism which was too complicated and 
difficult for ordinary instruction. 

Shorthand. The earliest shorthand was in- 
vented in Rome by M. Tullius Tiro (63 b.c.) 
who used it to take down Cicero’s speeches. 
Various systems were in use during the Middle 
Ages, but in The Arte of Stenographic , 1602, 
John Willis devised a system based on sound 
rather than on spelling. This was improved 
on by Thomas Shelton (1630) in a system later 
employed by Samuel Pepys in setting dow r n his 
diary. In 1786 Samuel Taylor published an 
essay attempting to set up a standard phonetic 
system which was, in 1840, improved and 
modified by Isaac Pitman. This is one of the 
two systems now in general use, the other 
being devised (1888) on a monoslope basis by 
John Robert Gregg. Gregg's shorthand is in 
general use in U.S.A. whereas Pitman’s is 
the more popular in Great Britain. 

Shot. A fool's bolt is soon shot. See Bolt. 

Big shot. An important person. 20th-century 
development of the 19th-century “great gun f ' 
or “big bug.” 

Down with your shot. Your reckoning or 
quota, your money. See Scot. 

As the fund of our pleasure, let us each pay his shot. 

Ben Jonson. 

He shot wide of the mark. He was altogether 
in error. The allusion is to shooting at the 
mark or bull’s-eye of a target. 

I haven’t a shot in the locker. Not a penny to 
bless myself with; my last resources are tysed 
up. A nhrasc from the days of the old men-of- 
war, wnen the ammunition was kept in lockers. 

Like a shot. With great rapidity; or, without 
hesitation, most willingly. 

Shotten Herring. A lean, spiritless creature, a 
Jack-o’-Lcnt, like a herring that has shot, or 
ejected, its spawn. Herrings gutted and dried 
are so called also. 

Though they like shotten-herrinaaare to see, 

Yei such tall souldicrs of their tew they be, 
That two of them, like greedy cormorants. 
Devour more then sixe honest Protestants. 

Taylor* $ Worker Ui, 5 (lOOfr- 




Shoulder 


828 


Sibyl 


Shoulder. Showing the cold shoulder. Receiving 
without cordiality someone who was once on 
better terms with you. See Cold. 

Straight from the shoulder. With full force. 
A boxing term. 

The government shall be upon his shoulder 

(Is. ix, 6). The allusion is to the key slung on 
the shoulder of Jewish stewards on public 
occasions, and as a key is emblematic of 
government and power, the metaphor is very 
striking. 

Soft shoulders. A warning sign on roads in 
the U.S.A., drawing drivers attention to the 
fact that the clay edges of the road outside the 
macadam are unsafe. 

Shouting, All over but the. Success is so certain 
that only the applause is lacking. The phrase 
I>erhaps originated in a hotly contested elec- 
tion 

Shovel Board. A game in which three counters, 
or coins, were shoved or slid over a smooth 
board, very popular in the sixteenth and seven- 
teenth centuries. The “two Edward shovel- 
boards** mentioned by Slender in the Merry 
Wives of Windsor (I, i), were the broad 
shillings of Edward VI used in playing the 
game. 

Show. Australian, a gold mine. “Give him a 
show,’* give him a chance, i.e. originally let 
him stake out his own claim. 

Shrapnel. A type of shell containing a number 
of bullets which are released and travel 
forwards with a high velocity when the shell 
is shattered by the bursting charge. It was 
invented in 1784 by Col. Henry Shrapnel 
(1761-1842) and was adopted in 1803 by the 
British army. In World War II this type of 

f jrojectile was not used, but the term was 
oosely applied to all high-explosive fragments. 

Shrew-mouse. A small insectivorous mammal, 
resembling a mouse, formerly supposed to have 
the power of poisoning cattle and young 
children by running over them. To provide a 
remedy our forefathers used to plug the 
creature into a hole made in an ash-tree; then 
any branch from it would cure the mischief 
done. 

Shrift. The shriving of a person; i.e. his con- 
fession to a priest, ana the penance and 
absolution arising therefrom. 

To give short shrift to. To make short work 
of. Short shrift was the few minutes in which a 
criminal about to be executed was allowed to 
make his confession. 

Shrimp. A child, a puny little fellow, in the 
same ratio to a man as a shrimp to a lobster. 
Fry, and small fry , arc also used for children. 
It cannot be this weak and writhied shrimp 
Would strike such terror to his enemies. 

Henry VI Pt. /, II, iii. 

Shrivatsa. See Vishnu. 

Shroff. An Oriental term, in India applied to a 
money-changer or banker, in China to an 
expert whajllts gold and silver coins for their 
genuinendi. 

Shropshire. The O.E. name for the county was 
Scrobbesbyrigsclr, "the shire with Shrewsbury 


as its head.” The Norman name was Salopescira 
hence Salop as a synonym for the county and 
Salopian for a native. 

Shrovetide. The three days iust before the 
opening of Lent, when people went to con- 
fession and afterwards indulged in all sorts of 
sports and merry-making. 

Shrove Tuesday. The day before Ash 
Wednesday; “Pancake day.” It used to be the 
great “Derby Day” of cock-fighting in 
England. 

Or martyr beat, like Shrovetide cocks, with bats. 

Peter Pindar : Subjects for Painters. 

Shun-pike (U.S.A.). A side-road is so called 
because it is used to avoid the pike, or turn- 
pike, where toll had to be paid. 

Shut Up. Hold your tongue. Shut up your 
mouth. 

Shy. To have a shy at anything. To fling at it, 
to try and shoot it. 

Shylock, A (sht' lok). A grasping, stony- 
hearted moneylender; in allusion to the Jew m 
Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. 

A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch 
Uncapable of pity, void and empty 
From any dram of mercy. IV, i. 

Shyster. A mean, tricky sort of person; 
originally American slang for a low-class 
lawyer hanging about the courts on the off- 
chance of exploiting petty criminals. 

Si (se) or Ti (to), the seventh note in music, was 
not introduced till the 17th century. Guido 
d’Arezzo’s original scale consisted of only six 
notes. See Are tinian Syllables. 

Si Ouis (si kwis) (Lat. if anyone). A notice 
to all whom it may concern, given in the 
parish church before ordination, that a 
resident means to offer himself as a candidate 
for holy orders; and if anyone knows any iust 
cause or impediment thereto, he is to declare 
the same to the bishop. 

Siamese Twins (sT a mdz). Yoke-fellows, in- 
separables; so called from the original pair, 
Eng and Chang, who were born of Chinese 
parents about 1814 and discovered at Mekong, 
Siam, in 1829, and were subsequently exhibited 
as freaks. Their bodies were united by a band 
of flesh, stretching from breast-bone to breast- 
bone. They married two sisters, had offspring, 
and died within three hours of each other on 
January 17th, 1874. 

Other so<allod Siamese twins were Barnum’s 
“Orissa twins,” born at Orissa, Bengal, and 
joined by a band of cartilage at the waist 
only; “Millic-Christinc,” two joined South 
Carolina ncgrcsscs who appeared all over the 
world as the “Two-headed Nightingale”; and 
Joscpha and Roza Blazck, natives of Bohemia, 
who were joined by a cartilaginous ligament 
above the waist. They died practically simul- 
taneously in Chicago (1922), Joscpha leaving 
a son aged 12. 

Sibyl (sib' il). A prophetess of classical legend, 
who was supposed to prophesy under the 
inspiration or a deity; the name is now applied 
to any prophetess or woman fortune-teller. 




Sibyl 


829 


Sideburns 


There were a number of sibyls, and they had 
their seats in widely separate parts of the 
world — Greece, Italy, Babylonia, Egypt, etc. 

Plato mentions only one, viz. the Erythraean 
— identified with Amalthea, the Cumaean Sibyl , 
who was consulted by AEneas and accom- 
panied him into Hades and who sold the Sibyl- 
line books (q.v.) to Tarquin; Martian Capella 
speaks of two, the Erythraean and the Phrygian ; 
AElian of four, the Erythraean, Samian , 
Egyptian , and Sardian ; Varro tells us there were 
ten , viz. the Cumcean , the Delnhic , Egyptian , 
Erythraean , Hellespontine , Libyan , Persian , 
Phrygian , Samian and Tiburiine. 

How know we but that she may be an eleventh 
Sibyl or a second Cassandra? — R abelais: Cargantua 
and Pantagrucl, III, xvi. 

The mediaeval monks “adopted” the sibyls 
— as they did so much of pagan myth; they 
made them twelve, and gave to each a separate 
prophecy and distinct emblem: — - 

(1) The Libyan : “The day shall come when 
men shall see the King of all living things.” 
Emblem, a lighted taper. 

(2) The Samian : “The Rich One shall be 
born of a pure virgin.” Emblem , a rose. 

(3) The Cuman: “Jesus Christ shall come 
from heaven, and live and reign in poverty 
on earth.” Emblem, a crown. 1 

(4) The Cumceaiw “God shall be born of a 
pure virgin, and hold converse with sinners.” 
Emblem, a cradle. 

(5) The Erythraean : “Jesus Christ, Son of 
God, the Saviour.” Emblem, a horn. 

(6) The Persian: “Satan shall be overcome 
by a true prophet.” End lent, a dragon under 
the sibyl’s feet, and a lantern. 

(7) The Tiburtine : “The Highest shall 
descend from heaven, and a virgin be shown 
in the valleys of the deserts.” Emblem, a dove. 

(8) The Delphic : “The Prophet born of the 
virgin shall be crowned with thorns.” Emblem , 
a crown of thorns. 

(9) The Phrygian: “Our Lord shall rise 
again.” Emblem, a banner and a cross. 

(10) The European : “A virgin and her Son 
shall flee into Egypt." Emblem, a sword. 

(11) The Agrippine : “Jesus Christ shall be 
outraged and scourged.” Emblem, a whip. 

(12) The Heliespontic : “Jesus Christ shall 
suffer shame upon the cross.” Emblem , a T 
cross. 

Sibylline Books, The. A collection of oracles 
of mysterious origin, preserved in ancient 
Rome, and consulted by the Senate in times of 
emergency or disaster. According to Livy 
there were originally nine: these were offered 
in sale by Amalthea, the Sibyl of Cumic, in 
AEolia, to Tarquin, the offer was rejected, and 
she burnt three of them. After twelve months 
she offered the remaining six at the same price. 
Again being refused, she burnt three more, 
and after a similar interval asked the same 
price for the three left. The sum demanded 
was now given, and Amalthea never appeared 
again. 

The three books were preserved in a stone 
chest underground in the temple of Jupiter 
Capitolinus, and committed to the charge of 
custodians chosen in the same manner as the 
high priests. The number of custodians was 


at first two, men ten, and ultimately fifteen. 
Augustus had some 2,000 of the verses 
destroyed as spurious, and placed the rest in 
two gilt cases, under the base of the statue of 
Apollo, in the temple on the- Palatine Hill; but 
the whole perished when the city was burnt in 
the reign of Nero. 

A Greek collection in eight books of poetical 
utterances relating to Jesus Christ, compiled 
in the 2nd century, is entitled Oracula Sibylina , 
or the Sibylline Books. 

Sic (sik) (Lat. thus, so). A word used by 
reviewers, quoters, etc., after a doubtful 
word or phrase, or a misspelling, to indicate 
that it is here printed exactly as in the original 
and to call attention to the fact that it is wrong 
in some way. 

Sicilies, The Two. The old name for the Spanish 
and Bourbon kingdom of Naples, united to 
the kingdom of Italy in 1860. It consisted of 
the island of Sicily, and, on the mainland of 
the peninsula, the provinces of Abruzzi and 
Molise, Apulia, Campania, Basilicata, and 
Calabria. The origin of this ambiguous name 
is not now known. 

Sicilian Vespers. The massacre of the French 
in Sicily, which began at the hour of vespers on 
Easter Monday in 1282. The term is used 
proverbially of any treacherous and bloody 
attack. 

Sick Man, The. So Nicholas of Russia (in 
1844) called the Ottoman F.mpire, which had 
been declining ever since 1586. 

1 repeal to you that the sick man is dying; and we 
must ne\er allow such an event to take us by surprise. 
— Annual Register, lt>53. 

Don John. Governor-General of the 
Netherlands, writing in 1579 to Philip II of 
Spain, calls the Prince of Orange the sick man, 
because he was in the way, and he wanted him 
“finished.” 

“Money” (he says in his letter) “is the gruel with 
which \\c must cure this sick man (for spies and 
assassins are expensive drugs]”. — M otuey; Dutch 
Republic , Ilk. V, li. 

Side. On the side of the angels. The famous 
phrase with which Disraeli thought he had 
settled the questions raised by Darwin’s 
theory of the origin of species. It occurred in 
his speech at the Oxford Diocesan Conference 
in 1864 — 

The question is this: Is man an ape or an angel? I, 
my lord, am on the side of the angels. 

It was the same statesman who said in the 
House of Commons (May 14th, 1866), 

“Ignorance never settles a question.” 

Putting on side. Giving oneself airs; being 
bumptious. To put on side in billiards is to give 
your ball a twist or spin with the cue as you 
strike it. 

To side-track. Originally an American rail- 
road term; hence, to get nd of, shelve, put on 
one side indefinitely. 

Sideburns (U-S. A.). Short side-whiskers 
worn with a smooth chin. Originally called 
Burnsides from the Federal giberal A. E, 
Burnside (1824-1881) who wore swi whiskers 
and whose face was familiar to many Ameri- 
cans. 



830 


Stgniflcftflt 


Sidney 


Sidney, Sir Philip (1 554-86). Often taken as the 
type of the magnanimous and perfect soldier 
and statesman — the Happy Warrior. After he 
had received his death wound at the battle of 
Zutphen a soldier brought him some water, but 
as he was about to drink he observed a 
wounded man eye the draught with longing 
looks. Sir Philip gave up the water to him, 
saying, “Poor fellow, thy necessitv is greater 
than mine.” Spenser laments him in his 
Astrophel (<?.v.), and largely modelled the 
Prince Arthur of the Faerie Queene on him. 

Sidney's sister, Pembroke’s mother. Mary 
Herbert {nee Sidney), Countess of Pembroke, 
poetess, etc. (d. 1621). The line is from her 
Epitaph t which was written by William Browne. 

Sidney Sussex College. Cambridge, founded 
by Lady Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex, 
m 1593. 

’ Sidrac (sid' rfik). An old French romance 
which tells how Sidrac^pnverted to Christianity 
Boccus, an idolatrous king and magician of 
India. Sidrac lived only 847 years after Noah, 
and became possessed of Noah’s wonderful 
bcok on astronomy and the natural sciences. 
This passed through various hands, including 
those of a pious Chaldean, and Naaman the 
Syrian, until, as legend relates, Roger of 
Pa'ermo translated it at Toledo into Spanish. 
The work is more a romance of Arabian 
philosophy than of chivalry. In Henry Vi’s 
reign an English metrical version was made by 
Hugh Campeden, and this was printed in 1510 
as the Hiuorye of King Boccus and Sydracke. 

Siege Perilous. In the cycle of Arthurian 
romances a seat at the Round Table which 
was kept vacant for him who should accom- 
plish the quest of the Holy Grail. For any less 
a person to sit in it was fatal. As the crown of 
his achievement Sir Galahad took his seat in 
the Siege Perilous. 

Siegfried (s£g' fred). Hero of the first part of 
the Nibelungenlied. He was the youngest son 
of Siegmund and Sieglind, king and queen of 
the Netherlands. He married Kriemhild, 
Princess of Burgundy, and sister of Gunther. 
Gunther craved his assistance in carrying off 
Brunhild from Issland, and Siegfried succeeded 
by taking away her talisman by main force. 
This excited the jealousy of Gunther, who 
induced Hagen, the Dane, to murder Siegfried. 
Hagen struck him with a spear in the only 
vulnerable part (between the shoulder-blades), 
while be stooped to quench his thirst at a 
fountain. 

Siegfried’s cloak of invisibility, called 
“tarnkappe” ( tarnen, to conceal; nappe, a 
cloak), it not only made the wearer invisible, 
but also gave him the strength of twelve men. 

Siegfried Line. The defences built by the 
Germans on their Western frontier before and 
after 1939 as a reply to France’s Maginot 
Line. The British song, popular in 1939, 
entitled “W^rc gonna hang out the washing on 
the Siegfried Line” was held in derision after 
Dunkirk In 1940, but when the Canadian 
troops penetrated the Line in 1945 they 
bung up a number of sheets and erected a large 


notice bearing the simple words “The Wash- 
ing.” 

Sierra (s6 5r' &) (Span, a saw). A mountain 
whose top is indented like a saw; a range of 
mountains whose tops form a saw-like 
appearance; a line of craggy rocks; as Sierra 
Morena (where many of the incidents irorDon 
Quixote are laid), Sierra Nevada (the snowy 
range). Sierra Leone (in West Africa, where 
lions abound), e'c. 

Siesta (se es' tA). Spanish for “the sixth hour” 
— i.e. noon (Lat. sexta hora). It is applied to 
the short sleep taken in Spain dunng the 
midday heat. 

Sieve and Shears. The oracle of sieve and 
shears. This method of divination is mentioned 
by Theocritus. The modus operandi was as 
follows: — The points of the shears were stuck 
in the rim of a sieve, and two persons sup- 
ported them with their finger-tips. Then a verse 
of the Bible was read aloud, and St. Peter and 
St. Paul were asked if the guilty person was A, 
B, or C (naming those suspected). When the 
right person was named, the sieve would 
suddenly turn round. 

Searching for things lost with a sieve and shears. — 
Ben Jonson: Alchemist, I, i. 

Sight, for “multitude,” though now regarded 
as a colloquialism or as slang, is good old 
English, and was formerly in literary use, 
the earlier significance beine “a show or 
display of something.” Thus, Juliana Berners, 
lady prioress in the 15th century of Sonwell 
nunnery, speaks of a bomby noble syght of 
ntonkes (a large number of friars); and tn one 
of the Fas ion Letters (May 25th, 1449) wc 
read — 

ye sawe never suche a syght of schyppys take In to 
tnglond thys c. [hundred] wynter. 

A sight for sore eyes. Something that it is 
very pleasurable to see or witness, especially 
something unexpected. 

Second sight. See Second. 

Though lost to sight, to memory dear. This 
occurs in a song by Geo. Linlcy (c. 1835), but 
it is found as an “axiom” in the Monthly 
Magazine , Jan., 1827, and is probably of much 
earlier date. Horace F. Cutter ( pseudonym 
Ruthvcn Jcnkyns) uses the expression in the 
Greenwich Magazine for Mariners , 1707, but 
tliis date is fictitious. 

To do a thing on tight. At once, without any 

hesitation. 

Sign. Royal Sign Manual. A stamp reproducing 
the royal signature, used when the sovereign 
is too ill to sign documents. 

To sign off. In the !9th century this denoted 
leaving one religious denomination in a formal 
manner for another. In the 20th century it 
was for long used in radio as synonymous with 
the termination of a performance by a regular 
broadcaster known to the public, hence 

Signature tune. A musical theme played 
regularly as a means of identification when in- 
troducing a well-known artist, dance band, etc. 

Signlflcavit (sig ni ft dF vit). A writ of Chancery 
given by the ordinary to Keep an excommuni- 
cate in prison till he submitted to the authority 





Sigurd 


831 


Silurian 

~JL 


of the Church. The writ, which is now obsolete, 
used to begin with Signifieavit nobis venerabllis 
pater , etc. Chaucer says of his Sompnour — 
And also ware him of a signifieavit. 

Canterbury Tales ( Prologue ), 664. 

Sigugtf (sig'Srd). The Siegfried Oy.v.) of the 
Volsunga Saga , the Scandinavian version of 
the Nibelungenlled ( q.v .). He falls in love with 
Brynhild, but, under the influence of a love- 
otion, marries Gudrun, a union which 
rings about a volume of mischief. 

Sikes, Bill. The type of a ruffianly house- 
breaker, from the fellow of that name in 
Dickens’s Oliver Twist. The only rudiment of a 
redeeming feature he posessed was a kind of 
affection for his dog. 

Sikh (sek) (Hindu sikh % disciple). The Sikhs 
were originally a monotheistic body founded 
in the Punjab by Nanak (1469-1539). They 
soon became a military community, and in 
1764 formally assumed national independence, 
in 1809 their ruler, Ranjil Singh, made a treaty 
with Britain, but the anarchy following upon 
his death led to the Sikh Wars of 1845-46 
and 1848-49. During the Mutiny they re- 
mained loyal to Britain. 

Sllbury, near Marlborough. A prehistoric 
artificial mound, 130 feet nigh, and covering 
seven acres of ground, said to be the largest 
in Europe, and to have been erected by the 
Celts about 1600 b.c. Some say it is where 
“King Scl” was buried; others, that it is a 
corruption of Salis-bury (mound of the sun); 
others, that it is Scl-barrow (great tumulus), in 
honour of some ancient prince of Britain. 
Silence. Silence gives consent. A saying 
(common to many languages) founded on the 
old Latin law maxim — Qui facet consentire 
vide tur (who is silent is held to consent). 

But that >ou shall not say 1 yield, being silent, 

1 would not speak. Cymbtline. II, iii. 

Silence is golden. See under Spitch. 

The rest is silence. The last words of the 
dying Hamlet (Hamlet, V, ii). 

Towers of Silence. The small towers on 
which the Parsces and Zoroastrians place their 
dead to be consumed by birds of prey. The 
bones are picked clean in the course of a day, 
and are then thrown into a receptacle a id 
covered with charcoal. 

Parsecs do not burn or bury their dead, be- 
cause they consider a corpse impure, and they 
will not defile any of the elements. They carry 
it on a bier to the tower. At the entrance they 
look their last on the body, and the corpse- 
bearers carry' it within the precincts and lay it 
down to be devoured by vultures which are 
constantly on the watch. 

Two-minute Silence. A cessation of traffic 
and all other activities for two minutes at 11 
a.m. on November llth, to commemorate 
those who died in World War I. It was first 
observed in 1919 and discontinued in 1947 
when the day was named Remembrance Day 
in memory of the fallen in both World Wars, 
and observed on the Sunday nearest to 
November llth. 

Silent, William the. William I, Prince of 
Orange (1533-84), so called because when 
(1559) Henri II of France, thinking that he 


would be a ready accomplice, revealed to him 
the plans for a general massacre of Protestants 
in the Netherlands — 

the Prince, although horror-strock and indignant at 
the royal revelations, held his peace, and kept his 
countenance . . . without revealing to the monarch, 
by word or look, the enormous blunder which he had 
committed.— Motley: Dutch Republic , II, i. 

Silenus (si Ic' nus). The drunken companion 
and nurse of Dionysus (Bacchus) in Greek 
mythology; fond of music, and a prophet, but 
incurably lazy, wanton, and given to debauch. 
He is described as a jovial old man, with bald 
head, pug nose, and face like Bardolph’s. 
Within his car, aloft, young Bacchus stood. 
Trifling his ivy-dart, in dancing mood. 

With sidelong laughing; . . . 

And near him rode Silenus on his ass, 

Pelted with flowers as he on did pass 
7 ipsily quaffing. Keats: Endymion , IV, 209. 

Silhouette. A profile drawing of a person giving 
the outline only, and ail within the outline iff 
black; and figuratively^ a slight literary sketch 
of a person or other subject. Derived from the 
French Minister of Finance, Etienne de 
Silhouette (1709-67), noted for his parsimony 
in public expenditure. 

Silk. To lake silk. Said of a barrister who has 
been appointed a Queen’s Counsel (Q.C.), 
because he then exchanges his stuff gown for 
a silk one. See Queen* s Counsel, under Queen. 

You cannot make a silk purse of a sow’s ear. 

You cannot make something good of what is 
by its nature bad or inferior in quality. “You 
cannot make a horn of a pig’s tail.” 

Silly is the German sclig (blessed) and used to 
mean in English “happy through being 
innocent”; whence the infant Jesus was termed 
“the harmless silly babe,” and sheep were 
called “silly.” As the “innocent” are easily 
taken in by worldly cunning, the word came 
to signify “gullible,” “foolish.” 

Silly-how. An old name — still used in 
Scotland — for a child's caul. It is a rough 
translation of the German term Gliickshaube , 
lucky cap. The caul has always been supposed 
to bring luck to its original possessor. 

The silly season. An obsolescent journalistic 
expression for the part of the year when 
Parliament and the Law Courts are not sitting 
(about August and September), when, through 
lack of news, the papers had to fill their 
columns with trivial items — such as news of 
giant gooseberries and sea serpents — and long 
correspondence on subjects of evanescent (if 
any) interest. 

Silurian. Of or pertaining to the ancient 
Silures or the district they inhabited, r/r. 
Hereford, Monmouth, Radnor, Brecon, and 
Glamorgan. The “sparkling wines of the 
Silurian vats” are cider and perry. 

From Silurian vats, high-sparkling wines 
Foam in transparent floods. 

Thomson : Autumn. 

Silurian rocks. A name givcw by Sir R. 
Murchison to what miners call gfHhhwacke f and 
Werr.er termed transition rocks. Sir Roderick 
thus named them (1835) because it was in the 
region of the ancient Silures that he first 
investigated their structure. 


SOurist 


832 


Simon Pure 


Silurist, The. A surname adopted by the 
mystical poet Henry Vaughan (1621-95), who 
was born and died in Brecknockshire. 

Silver. In England standard silver (i.e. that used 
for the coinage) formerly consisted of thirty- 
seven fortieths of fine silver and three fortieths 
of alloy (fineness, 925); but by an Act passed 
in 1920 the proportions, for reasons of 
economy, were changed to one half silver and 
one half alloy (fineness, 500). The Coinage 
Act of 1946 permitted cupro-nickcl coins, 
with no silver whatever, to replace the former 
silver coins. 

Silver is not legal tender for sums over £2. 

Silver articles arc marked with five marks 
(see Hail mark); the maker’s private mark, 
the standard or assay mark, the hall mark, the 
duty mark, and the date mark. The standard 
mark states the proportion of silver, to which 
figure is added a lion passant for England, a 
harp crowned for Ireland, a thistle for Edin- 
burgh, and a lion rampant for Glasgow. 

Among the ancient alchemists silver 
represented the Moon, or Diana; in heraldry 
it is known by its French name. Argent (which 
also gives its chemical symbol, “Ag”), and is 
indicated in engravings by the silver (argent) 
portion being left blank. 

A silver lining. The prospect of better days, 
the promise of happier times. The saying, 
Every cloud has a silver lining, is an old one; 
thus in Milton's Contus , the Lady lost in the 
wood resolves to hope on, and sees 
A sable cloud 

Turn forth its silver lining to the night. 

Born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth. See 
Born. 

Silver of Guthrum. See Guthrlm. 

Silver Star. A U.S.A. military medal awarded 
to an officer or man who has been cited for 
gallantry in action of a less conspicuous 
nature than would warrant a citation for the 
Medal of Honor or the Distinguished Service 
Cross. It consists of a bronze star bearing a 
small silver star in its centre. 

Silver-tongued. An epithet bestowed on 
many persons famed for eloquence; especially 
William Bates, the Puritan divine (1625-99); 
Anthony Hammond, the poet (1668-1738); 
Henry Smith, preacher (1550-1600); and 
Joshua Sylvester (1563-1618), translator of Du 
Bartas. 

Silver Wedding. The twenty-fifth anniversary, 
when presents of silver plate (in Germany a 
silver wreath) are given to the happy pair. 

Speech is silver. See Speech. 

The Silver Age. The second of the Ages of 
the World (tf.v.), according to Hesiod and the 
Greek and Roman poets; fabled as a period 
that was voluptuous and godless, and much 
inferior in simplicity and true happiness to the 
Golden Age. 

The silver cooper. A kidnapper. “To play 
the silver cooper,** to kidnap. A cooper is one 
who coops up another. 

The Silver-Fork School. A name given in 
amused contempt ( c . 1830) to the novelists 


who were sticklers for the etiquette and graces 
of the Upper Ten and showed great respect 
for the affectations of gentility. Theodore 
Hook, Lady Blcssington, and Bulwer Lytton 
might be taken as representatives of it. 

The Silver Streak. The English Channel. 

Thirty pieces of silver. The sum of money 
that Judas Iscariot received from the chief 
priests for the betrayal of his Master (Matt. 
xxvi, 15); hence used proverbially of a bribe or 
“blood-money.” 

With silver weapons you may conquer the 
world. The Delphic oracle to Philip of Macedon, 
when he went to consult it. Philip, acting on 
this advice, sat down before a fortress which 
his staff pronounced to be impregnable. “You 
shall see,** said the king, “how an ass laden 
with silver will find an entrance.” 

Simeon, St. (sim'eon), is usually depicted as 
bearing in his arms the infant Jesus, or 
receiving Him in the Temple. His feast-day 
is February 18th. 

St. Simeon Stylites. See Styutes. 

Similia similihus curantur (sim il' si mil' i bus 
ku ran' ter) (Lat.). Like cures like; or, as wc 
say, “Take a hair of the dog that bit you.** 

Simkin. Anglo-Indian for champagne — of 
which word it is an Urdu mispronunciation. 

Simnel Cakes. Rich cakes formerly eaten 
(especially in Lancashire) on Mid-Lent Sunday 
(“Mothering Sunday”), Laster, and Christ- 
mas Day. They were ornamented with scallops, 
and were eaten at Mid-Lent in commemora- 
tion of the banquet given by Joseph to his 
brethren, which forms the first lesson of Mid- 
Lcnt Sunday, and the feeding of live thousand, 
which forms the Gospel of the day. 

The word simnel is through O.l r. from Late 
Lat. s inline l lus, fine bread, Lat. si mi la, the 
finest wheat flour. 

Simon, St. (Zelotcs), is represented with a saw 
in his hand, in allusion to the instrument of his 
martyrdom. He sometimes bears fish in the 
other hand, in allusion to his occupation as a 
fishmonger. His feast day is October 28th. 

Simon Magus. Isidore tells us that Simon 
Magus died in the reign of Nero, and adds 
that he had proposed a dispute with Peter 
and Paul, and had promised to fly up to 
heaven. He succeeded in rising high into the 
air, but at the prayers of the two apostles he 
was cast down to earth by the evil spirits who 
had enabled him to rise. 

Milman, in his History of Christianity (ii, 
p. 51) tells another story. He says that Simon 
ofTered to be buried alive, and declared that he 
would reappear on the third day. FIc was 
actually buried in a deep trench, “but to this 
day,” .says Hippolylus, “his disciples have 
failed to witness his resurrection.” 

His followers were known as Simonians, and 
the sin of which he was guilty, vlx. the 
trafficking in sacred things, the buying and 
selling of ecclesiastical offices (sec Acts vni, 18) 
is still called simony , 

Simon Pure. The real man, the authentic 
article, etc. In Mrs. Ccnthvre*i Bold Stroke 




Simple Simon 


833 


Sing 


for a Wife , a Colonel Feignwell passes himself 
off for Simon Pure, a Quaker, and wins the 
heart of Miss Lovely. No sooner does he get 
the assent of her guardian, than the Quaker 
turns up, and proves, beyond a doubt, he is 
the “real Simon Pure." 

Simple Simon. A simpleton, a gullible 
booby; from the character in the well-known 
anonymous nursery talc, who “met a pie-man.” 

Simple, The. Charles III of France (879, 893- 
929). 

The simple life. A mode of living in which 
the object is to eliminate as far as possible all 
luxuries and extraneous aids to happiness, etc., 
returning to the simplicity of life as imagined 
by the pastoral poets. 

Simplicity is sine plica , without a fold; as 
duplicity is duplex plica , a double fold. 
Conduct “without a fold*’ is straightforward, 
simple. 

The flat simplicity of that reply was admirable. — 
Vanbrugh: The Provoked Husband, f. 

Disraeli spoke in the House of Commons 
(February 19th, 1850) of “The sweet simplicity 
of the Three per Cents, “ plagiarmng Lord 
Stowell, who had earlier spoken of their “ele- 
gant simplicity'* (see Campbell’s Lives of the 
Chancellors , vol. X). 

Simplon Pass, over the Alps, leads from Bricg 
in Canton Vaud to Domodossola in Piedmont 
at an altitude of 6,582 feet. The Simplon Road 
was begun by Napoleon in 1800 to shorten 
the advance into Italy. The railway tunnel 
through the mountain is one of the longest 
in the world, being over twelve miles long; 
it was opened in 1906, operations having been 
begun at either end and meeting midway 
beneath the mountain with only a few inches’ 
discrepancy. A second tunnel was opened in 
1921. 

Sin, according to Milton, is twin-keeper with 
Death of the gates of Hell. She sprang full- 
grown from the head of Satan. 

. . . Woman to the waist, and fair, 

But ending foul in many a scaly fold 

Voluminous and vast, a serpent armed 

With mortal sling. Paradise Los/, U, 650-653. 

Original sin. That corruption which is born 
with us, and is the inheritance of all the off- 
spring of Adam. Theology teaches that as 
Adam was founder of his race, when Adam 
fell the taint and penally of his disobedience 
passed to all his posterity. 

SIn-catcrs. Persons hired at funerals in 
ancient times, to cat beside the corpse and so 
take upon themselves the sins of the deceased, 
that the soul might be delivered from purgatory. 

Notice was gisen to an old sire before the door of 
the house, when some of the family came out and 
furnished him a cricket [low stool), on which he sat 
down facing the door: then they gave him a groat 
which he put in his pocket, a crust of bread which he 
ate, and a bowl of ale which he drank ofl at a draught. 
After this he got up from the cricket and pronounced 
the ease and rest of the soul departed, for which ho 
would pawn his own %ou\.—Basford‘s letter on 
Le land's Collectanea , i, 76. 

The Man of Sin (II Thess. ii, 3). Generally 
held to signify the Antichrist (</.v.), but 
applied by the old Puritans to the Pope, by the 
Fifth Monarchy men to Cromwell, and by 


many modem theologians to that “wicked 
one” (identical with the “last horn” of Dan. 
vii) who is immediately to precede the Second 
Advent. 

The seven deadly sins. Pride, Wrath, Envy, 
Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, and Sloth. 

To earn the wages of sin. To be hanged, or 
condemned to death. 

I he wages of sin is death. — Rom. vi, 23. 

To sin one’s mercies. To be ungrateful for 
the gifts of Providence. 

Sinbad the Sailor (sin' b5d). The hero of a 
story of this name in the Arabian Nights * 
Entertainments. A wealthy citizen of Bagdad, 
he was called “The Sailor” because of his 
seven voyages in which, among other high 
adventures, he discovered the Roc’s egg and 
the Valley of Diamonds, and killed the Old 
Man of the Sea who had got on his back and 
would not be dismounted. 

Sine (Lat.). Without. 

Sine die (Lat.). No time being fixed; 
indefinitely in regard :o time. When a proposal 
is deferred sine die , it is deferred without fixing 
a day for its reconsideration, which is virtually 
“for ever.” 

Sine qua non (Lat.). An indispensable 
condition. Lat. Sine qua non potest esse or 
fieri (that without which [the thing] cannot be, 
or be done). 

Sinecure (Lat. sine cura , without cure, or 
care). An enjoyment of the money attached to 
a benefice without having the trouble of the 
“cure”; applied to any ofiice to which a salary 
is attached without any duties to perform. 
Sinews of War. Essential funds for the prosecu- 
tion of a war. Troops have to be paid and fed 
and the materials of war arc costly. 

The English phrase comes from Cicero’s 
Servos belli pccuniam (Phil. V, ii, 5), money 
makes the sinews of war. Rabelais (I, xlvi) 
uses the same idiom — Les tterfs des batailles 
sont les pecunes. 

Victuals and ammunition. 

And money too. the sinews of the war. 

Arc stored up in the magazine. 

Beaumont and Fi.itctur: Fair Maid of the Inn, I, L 
Sing. Singing bread (Fr. pain a chanter). An 
old term for the wafer used in celebration of 
the Mass, because singing was in progress 
during its consecration. The Reformers 
directed that the sacramental bread should be 
similar in fineness and fashion to the round 
bread and water singing-cakes used in private 
Masses. 

Swans sing before they die. See Swan. 

To make one sing another tune. To make him 
change his behaviour altogether; make him 
recant what he has said. 

To sing in tribulation. Old slang for to 
confess when put to the torture. One who did 
this was termed in jail slang a “canary bird.” 

“This man, sir, is condemned to the galleys far 
being a canary-bird.” “A canary-bird!” exclaimed 
the knight. ‘‘Yes, sir,” added the arch-thief; “I mean 
that he is very famous for his singing.” “What!” said 
Don Quixote; ‘‘are people to be sent to the galleys 
for singing?” “Marry, that they are,” answered the 
slave: “for there is nothing more dangerous than 
singing in tribulation.” — Cervantes: Don Quixote, 
iii, 8. 


Sing 


$34 


Sirloin 


To sing out. To cry or squeal from chastise- 
ment; formerly said also of a prisoner who 
turned informer against his comrades. See 
above . 

To sing small. To cease boasting and assume 
a lower tone. 

Single-speech Hamilton. William Gerard 
Hamilton (1729-96), who was Chancellor of 
the Exchequer in Ireland, 1763-84. So called 
from his maiden speech in Parliament (1755), 
a masterly torrent of eloquence which 
astounded everyone. 

Single Tax. The doctrine that land rent alone 
should be subject to taxation, propounded by 
Henry George in Progress ami Poverty (1879). 

Sinis (si" nis). A Corinthian robber of Greek 
legend, known as the Pinebender , because he 
used to fasten his victims to two pine-trees 
.bent towards the earth, and then leave them 
to be rent asunder when the trees were 
released. He was captured by Theseus and put 
to death in this same way. 

Sinister (sin' is ter) (Lat. on the left hand). 
Foreboding of ill; ill-omened. According to 
augury, birds, etc., appearing on the left-hand 
side forbode ill-luck; but on the right-hand 
side, good luck. Plutarch, following Plato and 
Aristotle, gives as the reason that the west (or 
left side of the augur) was towards the setting 
or departing sun. 

Corva sinistra (a crow on the left-hand) is a 
sign of ill-luck which belongs to English 
superstitions as much as to the ancient Roman 
or Etruscan (Virgil: Eclogues, i, 18 .) 

That raven on yon left-hand oak 
(Curse on his ill-bedding croak) 

Bodes me no good. Gay: Fable xxxvii. 

Bar sinister. See Bar. 

Sinn Fein (shin fan). Irish for “Ourselves 
alone”. This was the Nationalist movement 
that finally brought about the establishment 
of the Irish Free State in 1921. The rebellion 
of 1916 was its first overt act of great im- 
portance; in the following year Eamonn de 
Valera was elected president of the movement 
and the new republican policy was inaugur- 
ated. In December, 1918, Sinn Fein candidates 
were elected for 73 out of 105 Irish scats in 
Parliament and these constituted themselves as 
Dail Eireann. The Irish Republican Army was 
organized and carried on a violent guerrilla 
warfare against the military and the police. In 
December, 1921, negotiations were opened 
between the Sinn Fein leaders and the British 

f overnment, and the Treaty of independence of 
are was signed. 

Slnon (sF non). The Greek who induced the 
Troians to receive the wooden horse (Virgil, 
AZneid, II, 102, etc.). Anyone deceiving to 
betray is called “a Sinon.” 

Sioux (soo), A North American Indian tribe 
who call themselves Dakotas, Sioux being the 
termination of the French form of their 
Ojibwa name meaning “enemies.” The name 
is used for the Siouan family generally, com- 
prising many tribes in the Mississippi and 
Missouri basins. 


Sir. Lat. senex; Span, sefior ; Ital. signore; Fr. 
sieur , sire . 

As a title of honour prefixed to the Christian 
name of baronets and knights, Sir Is of great 
antiquity; and the clergy had at one time Sir 
prefixed to their name. This is merely a trans- 
lation of the university word dominus given 
to graduates, as “ Dominus Hugh Evans, etc. 
Spenser uses the title as a substantive, meaning 
a parson — 

But this, good Sir, did follow the plaine word, — 
Mother Hubbcrd's Tale , 390. 

Sirat, Al, See Al Sirat. 

Sirdar (ser' dar). A native noble in India. Also 
the former official title of the British com- 
mander-in-chief of the Egyptian army. 

Siren (sF rcn). One of the mythical monsters, 
half woman and half bird, said by Greek 
poets (see Odyssey , XU) to entice seamen by 
the sweetness of their song to such a degree 
that the listeners forgot everything and died of 
hunger (Gr. sirvnes , entanglers); hence applied 
to any dangerous, alluring woman. 

In Homeric mythology there were but two 
sirens; later writers name three, viz. Parthcn- 
opc, Ligea, and Leucosia; and the number was 
still further augmented by later writers. 

Ulysses escaped their blandishments by 
filling his companions’ ears with wax and 
lashing himself to the mast of his ship. 

What Song the Syrens sang, or what name 
Achilles assumed when he hid himself among women, 
though puzzling questions, arc not beyond alt con- 
jecture. — S ir Thos. Browne: Urn Burial , v. 

Piato says there were three kinds of sirens-- 
the celestial , the generative, and the cathartic. 
The first were under the government of Jupiter, 
the second under that of Neptune, and the 
third of Pluto. When the soul is in heaven 
the sirens seek, by harmonic motion, to unite 
it to the divine life of the celestial host; and 
when in Hades, to conform it to the in- 
fernal regimen; but on earth they produce 
generation, of which the sea is emblematic. 
(Proclus: On the Theology of Plato , Bk. VI.) 

In more recent times the word has been 
applied to the loud mechanical whistle 
sounded at a factory, etc., to indicate that w'ork 
is to be started or finished for the day. Sirens 
with two or more recognizable notes were 
employed in World War II to give warning of 
the approach or departure of hostile aircraft. 

Siren suit. A one-piece garment, on the lines 
of a boiler suit, sometimes worn in London 
during the bombing raids of World War II. 
It is so named from its being slipped on over 
the night clothes at the first moan of the siren. 

Sirius (sir' i us). The Dog-star; so called by 
the Greeks from the adjective seirios, hot and 
scorching. The Romans called it canicula, 
whence our Canicular days (q.v.), and the 
Egyptians sept , which gave the Greek altern- 
ative sothis. See Sormc Year. 

Sirloin. Properly surloin, from Fr. sur-lortge> 
above the loin. The mistaken spelling sir - has 
iven rise to a number of stories of the joint 
aving been “knighted” because of its estim- 
able qualities. Fuller tells us that Henry VIII 
did so — 

Dining with the Abbot of Retiding, h« [Henry VlHj 



Sirocco 


835 


ate so heartily of a loin of beef that the abbot said he 
would give 1,000 marks for such a stomach. “Done!’* 
said the king, and kept the abbot a piisoner in the 
lower, won nis 1,000 marks, and knighted the beef. — 
Church History, VI, ii, p. 299 (1655;. 

Another tradition fathers the joke on 
James I: — 

“I vow, ’tis a noble sirloin!” 

“Ay, here’s cut and come again.” 

“But pray, why is it called a sirloin?” 

“Why you must know that our King James I, who 
loved good eating, being invited to dinner by one of 
his nobles, and seeing a large loin of beef at bis table, 
he drew out his sword, and in a frolic knighted it. 
Few people know the secret of this.” 

Jonathan Swiit: Polite Conversation, ii. 

And yet another on Charles II. 

In any case the joke is an old one; in Taylor 
the Water Poet’s Great Eater of Kent (1680), 
we read of one who — 

should ptescntly enter comhate with a worthy knight, 
called Sir Loync of Bcefe, and overthrow him. 

Sirocco (si rok' 6). A wind from northern 
Africa that blows over Italy, Sicily, etc., 
producing extreme languor and mental 
debility. 

Sise Lane. See Toole y Street. 

Sistine (sis' tin, sis' ten). The Sistine Chapel. 
The private chapel of the Pope in the Vatican, 
so called because built by Pope Sixtus lv 
(1471-84). It is decorated with the frescoes of 
Michelangelo and others. 

Sistine Madonna, The, or the Madonna di 
San Sisto. The Madonna painted by Raphael 
(c. 1518) for the church of St. Sixtus 

(San Sisto) at Piacen/a; St. Sixtus is shown 
kneeling at the right of the Virgin. The picture 
was in the Royal Gallery, Dresden, but after 
World War 11 passed into Russian hands. 

Sisyphus (sis' i fus). A legendary king of 
Corinth, crafty and avaricious, said to be the 
son of Aldus, or — according to later legend, 
which also makes him the father of Ulysses — 
of Autolycus. His task in the world of shades is 
to roll a huge stone up a hill till it reaches the 
top; as the stone constantly rolls back his work 
is incessant; hence “a labour of Sisyphus” or 
“Sisyphean toil” is an endless, heart-breaking 
job. 

Sit To make one sit up. To astonish or dis- 
concert hun considerably, to sur him up to 
action. 

To sit on or upon. To snub, squash, smother, 
put in his place. 

Sit on has other meanings also; thus to sit 
on a corpse is to hold a coroner’s inquest on it; 
to sit on the bench is to occupy a seat as a 
judge or magistrate. 

To sit on the fence. See Fence. 

To sit tight. To keep your own counsel; 
to remain in or as in hiding. The phrase is from 
poker, where, if a player docs not want to 
continue betting and at the same time does 
not wish to throw in his cards, he “sits 
tight” 

To sit under. A colloquialism for attending 
the ministrations of the clergyman named. The 
37 * 


phrase was common three hundred years ago, 
and is still in use. 

There would then also appear in pulpits other 
visages, other gestures, and stuff otherwise wrought 
than what we now sit under, oft-times to as great a 
trial of our patience as any other than they preach to 
us. — Milton: Of Education (1644). 

Sit-down strike. A strike in which the 
workers remain at their factory, etc., but 
refuse to work themselves or allow others to 
do so. 

Sitting Bull. A famous warrior chief of the 
Sioux Indians, born on Grand River, South 
Dakota, in 1834. He commanded the Indians 
who defeated General Custer at Little Big 
Horn, 1876, but was killed on December 5th, 
1890 while resisting arrest at Fort Yates, N. 
Dakota, during the Sioux rebellion of that 
year. 

Siva or Shiva (se' va, she' va). The third 
person of the Hindu Trinity, or TrimurtL 
representing the destructive principle in life and 
also, as in Hindu philosophy restoration is 
involved in destruction, the reproductive or 
renovating power. He is a great worker of 
miracles through meditation and penance, 
and hence is a favourite deity with the ascetics. 
He is a god of the tine arts, and of dancing; 
and Siva, one only of his very many names, 
means “the Blessed One.” 

Six. A six-hooped pot. A two-quart pot. Quart 
pots were bound with three hoops, and when 
three men joined in drinking eacn man drank 
his hoop. Mine host of the Black Bear ( Kenil - 
north, ch. iii), calls Tressilian “a six-hooped 
pot of a traveller,” meaning a first-class guest, 
because he paid freely, and made no com- 
plaints. 

Les Six. A group of French composers, 
formed in Paris in 1917 under the aegis of Jean 
Cocteau and Erik Satie, in order to further 
their interests and those of modern music 
generally. The group lost its cohesion in the 
1920s. Its members were Honegger, Milhaud, 
Poulenc, Durey, Auric, and Tailleferre. 

Six of one and half a dozen of the other. 
There is nothing to choose between them, 
they are both in the wTong — Arcades atnbo . 

Six Principle Baptists. A sect of Arminian 
Baptists, founded about 1639, who based their 
creed on the six principles enunciated in Heb . 
vi: repentance, faith, baptism, the laying on of 
hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal life. 

The Six Articles. An Act of Parliament 
passed in 1539 (repealed 1547) enjoining 
belief in (1) the real presence of Christ in the 
Eucharist; (2) the sufficiency of Communion 
in one kind; (3) the celibacy of the priests; 
(4) the obligation oi vow's of chastity; (5) the 
expediency of private masses; and (6) the 
necessity of auricular confession, and decreeing 
death on those who denied the doctrine of 
Transubstantiation. Jt was also known a* 
The Bloody Bill , and the Six-Stringed Whip . 

The Six Clerks Office. An old name for the 
Court of Chancery because there were six 
highly paid clerks connected with it. 

The Six Counties. A name sometimes ap* 
plied to Northern Ireland. Sm Ireland. 



Six 


836 


Skfmmington 


The six-foot way. The strip of ground be- 
tween two parallel sets of railway lines. 

The Six Nations. The confederacy of North 
American Indian tribes consisting of the Five 
Nations (q.v.) and the Tuscaroras (formerly of 
North Carolina but now of New York and 
Ontario) who joined about 1715. 

The Six o’clock Swill. In parts of Australia 
bars close at 6 p.m. Drinkers leaving their 
jobs at 5.30 therefore have thirty minutes in 
which to get drunk; a number succeed. This 
is known as the six o'clock swill. 

The Six Points of Ritualism. Altar lights, 
eucharistic vestments, the eastward position, 
wafer bread, the mixed chalice, and incense. 
Thes<j were sanctioned in the Church of Eng- 
land in the time of Edward VI, and, it is held 
by many, were never forbidden by competent 
authority. 

The Six-Stringed Whip. The Six Articles 
(above). 

At sixes and sevens. Higgledy-piggledy, in 
a state of confusion; or of persons, unable to 
come to an agreement. The phrase comes from 
icing. 

The goddess would no longer wait; 

But rising from her chair of state. 

Left all below at six and seven. 

Harness'd her doves, and flew to heaven. 

Swift : Cadenus and Vanessa (closing lines). 
Sixteen-string Jack. John Rann, a highwayman 
(hanged 1774), noted for his foppery. He wore 
sixteen tags, eight at each knee. 

Sizar (si' zAr). An undergraduate of Cam- 
bridge, or of Trinity College, Dublin, who 
receives a grant from his college to assist in 
paying his expenses. Formerly sizars were 
expected to undertake certain menial duties 
now performed by college servants; and the 
name is taken to show that one so assisted 
received his sizes or sizings free. 

Sizings . The allowance of food provided by 
the college for undergraduates at a meal; a 
pound loaf, two inches of butter, and a pot of 
milk used to be the "sizings" for breakfast; 
meat was provided for dinner, but any extras 
had to be sized for. The word is a contraction 
of assize , a statute to regulate the size or weight 
of articles sold. 

A size is a portion of bread or drinke; it is a farthing 
which schollers in Cambridge have at the buttery. It 
is noted with the letter S. — Mlnsheuv: Ductor (1617). 

Skains-mate. 

The meaning of the word is uncertain, but 
ikene or skean is the long dagger formerly 
carried by the Irish and Scots (Gael, scion, 
sgian ), so it may mean a dagger-comrade or 
fellow-cut-throat. Swift, describing an Irish 
feast (1720), says, "A cubit at least the length 
of their skains," and Greene, in his Quip for 
an Upstart Courtier (1592). speaks of "an ill- 
favoured knave, who wore by his side a 
skane, like a brewer's bung-knife." 

Skaoda. See Kaattikiya. 

Skedaddle. To run away hastily, make off in a 
hurry; to be scattered in rout. The Scots 
apply the word to the milk spilt over the pail 
in carrying it. During the American Civil war 
the word came into prominence with its 
present meaning. 


Skeleton. The family skeleton, or the skeleton 
In the cupboard. Some domestic secret that the 
whole family conspires to keep to itself; every 
family is said to have at least one. 

The story is that someone without a single 
care or trouble in the world had to be found. 
After long and unsuccessful search a lady was 
discovered whom all thought would "fill the 
bill"; but to the great surprise of the inquirers, 
after she had satisfied them on all points and 
the quest seemed to be achieved, she took them 
upstairs and there opened a closet which con- 
tained a human skeleton. “1 try," said she, “to 
keep my trouble to myself, but every night my 
husband compels me to kiss that skeleton/’ 
She then explained that the skeleton was once 
her husband's rival, killed in a duel. 

The skeleton at the feast. The thing or person 
that acts as a reminder that there are troubles 
as well as pleasures in life. Plutarch says in his 
Moralia that the Egyptians always had a 
skeleton placed in a prominent position at 
their banquets. 

Skevington’s Daughter. See Scavenger’s. 

Skiddaw (skid' aw). Whenever Skiddaw hath a 
cap, ScrutTell wots full well of that (Fuller, 
Worthies). When my neighbour’s house 
is on fire mine is threatened; when you arc in 
misfortune I also am a sufferer; when you 
mourn 1 have cause also to lament. Skiddaw 
and Scruftell, or Scawfell, arc neighbouring 
hills in Cumberland. When Skiddaw is capped 
with clouds, it will be sure to rain ere long at 
Scawfell. 

Skid Row (U.S.A.). A district populated by 
vicious characters or down-and-outs, i.e. those 
who have skidded from the path of virtue. 

Skill. It skills not. It makes no difference; it 
doesn’t matter one way or the other. 1 he phrase 
was once very common, but is now looked 
upon as an archaism. 

Whether tic [Callimachus] be now lyving I know 
not but whether lie be or no, it skillcth not. — L yly: 
Euphues and his England (1 5isQ). 

Similarly, What skills talking? What is the 
use of talking? 

Skimble-skamble. Rambling, worthless. 
"Skamblc" is merely a variety of scramble, 
hence "scambling days," those days in Lent 
when no regular meals arc provided, but each 
person "scrambles" or shifts for himself. 
^Skimble" is added to give force. 

And such a deal of skimble-skamble stuff 
As put me from my faith. 

flenrv IV Pt I, III, i. 

With such scamble-sccmblc, spttrcr-spatter. 

As puts me cleanc beside the money-matter. 

Taylors' Workcs , ii, 3V (1630). 

Skimmington. It was an old custom in rural 
England and Scotland to make an example of 
nagging wives and unfaithful husbands by 
forming a ludicrous procession through the 
village for the purpose of ridiculing the offen- 
der. In cases of hcn-pccking Grose tells us that 
the man rode behind the woman, with his face 
to the horse’s tail. The man held a distaff, and 
the woman beat him about the jowls with a 
ladle. As the procession passed a house where 
the woman was paramount, each gave the 
threshold a sweep. This performance was 




Skin 


837 


Slate 


called riding Skimmington (also riding the 
stang — see Stang), ana the husband or wife 
was, for the time, known as Skimmington. The 
origin of the name is uncertain, but in an 
illustration of the procession of 1639 the 
woman is shown belabouring her husband with 
a skimming-ladie. 

The custom was not peculiar to Britain; it 
prevailed in Scandinavia, Spain, and elsewhere. 
The procession is described at length in 
Hudibras , II, ii. 

Skin. By the skin of one’s teeth. Only just, by a 
mere hair's breadth. The phrase comes from 
the book of Job (xix, 20): — 

My bone clcaveth to my skin and to my flash, and l 
am escaped with the skin of my teeth. 

Covcrdalc’s rendering of the passage is — 

My bone hangeth to my skynne, and the flesh is 
awaye only there is left me the skynne aboute my teth. 

To save one’s skin. To get off with one's life. 

To sell the skin before you have caught the 
bear. To count your chickens before they are 
hatched. Shakespeare alludes to a similar 
practice: — 

The man that once did sell the lion's skin 

While the beast lived, was killed with hunting him. 

Henry V, IV, iii. 

To skin a flint. To be very exacting in making 
a bargain. The French say, Tondre sur un ceuf. 
The Latin l ana caprina (goat’s wool), means 
something as worthless as the skin of a Hint 
or fleece of an eggshell. Hence a skinflint, a 
pinch-farthing, a niggard. 

Skinners. A predatory band in the American 
Revolutionary War which roamed over 
Westchester County, New York, robbing and 
fleecing those who refused to take the oath of 
fidelity to the Republic. 

Skirt. To sit upon one’s skirt. To insult, or 
seek occasion of quarrel. Tarlton, the clown, 
told his audience the reason why he wore a 
jacket was that “no one might sit upon his 
skirt.’’ Sitting on one’s skirt is, like stamping 
on one’s coat in Ireland, a fruitful source of 
quarrels, often provoked. 

Crosse me not, l-i/a, nether be so perte, 

For if thou dost, I’ll sit upon thy skirtc. 

The Abortive oj an Idle 1 1 our c (1620). 

In English slang a skirt is a girl. 

Skull. Skull and crossbones. An emblem of 
mortality; specifically, the pirate's flag. The 
“crossboncs" are two human thigh-bones laid 
across one another. 

Sky. Rhyming slang for pocket, the missing 
word being rocket. Sec Rhyming Slang. 

If the sky falls wc shall catch larks. A banter- 
ing reply to those who suggest some very 
improbable or wild scheme. 

lauded to the skies. Extravagantly praised; 
praised to the heights. 

Sky-raker. A nautical term for any topsail; 
strictly speaking, a sail above the fore-royal, 
the main-royal, or the mizzcn-royal. 

Skyscraper. A very tall building, especially 
one in New York or some other American 
city. Some of them run to a hundred floors, and 
more. Also applied by sailors to a sky- raker. 


To skylark about. To amuse oneself in a 
frolicsome way, jump around and be merry, 
indulge in mild horseplay. The phrase was 
originally nautical and referred to the sports of 
the boys among the rigging after work was 
done. 

Slam. A term in card-playing denoting winning 
all the tricks in a deal. In Bridge this is called 
Grand slam , and winning all but one, Little 
or Small slam. Cp. Ruff. 

Slander. Literally, a stumbling-block (cp. 
Scandal), or something which trips a person 
up (Gr. skandalon. through Fr. esefandre.) 

Slang. As denoting language or jargon of a 
low or colloquial type the word first appeared 
in the 18 th century; its origin is not known, 
but it is probably connected with sling {cp. 
mud-slinging , for hurling abuse at one). Slang 
is of various sorts, fashionable, professional, 
schoolboy, sporting, etc. Some of it is intro- 
duced into the language from below, i.e. from 
the ranks of thieves, rogues, and vagabonds. 
It usually has an element of humour about it, 
through exaggeration or absurd juxtaposition. 
Slang is always invented by individuals and 
adopted later by the public. When the adoption 
becomes so general and so approved that the 
expression in question is accepted as standard 
English, it ceases to be slang. See also Back- 
slang; cant; Rhyming Slang. 

To slang a person. To abuse him, give him 
a piece of your mind. 

Slap-bang. At once, without hesitation — done 
with a slap and a bang. The term was formerly 
applied to cheap eating-houses, where one 
slapped one’s money down as the food was 
banged on the table. 

They lived in ihe same street, walked to town every 
morning at the same hour, dined at the same slap- 
bang every day. — Dickens: Sketches bv Boz, iii, 36. 

Slap-dash. In an off-hand manner, done 
hurriedly as with a slap and a dash. Rooms 
used to be decorated by slapping and dashing 
the walls so as to imitate paper, and at one 
time slap-dash walls were very common. 

Slap-up. First-rate, grand, stylish. 

P he] more slap-up still have the shields painted on 
the panels with the coronet over. — Thackeray. 

Slapstick. Literally the two or more laths 
bound together at one end with which harle- 
quins, clowns, etc., strike other performers 
with a resounding slap or crack; but more 
often applied to any broad comedy with 
knock-about action and horseplay. 

Slate. Slate club. A sick benefit club for 
working-men. Originally the names of the 
members and the money paid in were entered 
on a folding slate. 

To have a slate or tile loose. See Tile. 

To slate one. To reprove, abuse, or criticize 
him savagely. It is not known how the term 
arose, but perhaps it is because at school tho 
names of bad boys were chalked up on the 
slate as an exposure. 

The journalists there lead each other a dance. 

If one man “slates” another for what he has done. 

It is pistols for two, and then coffin for one. 

Bunch ( The Pugnacious Penmen). 1885. 



Slate 


838 


Sleeveless 


To start with a clean slate. To be given 
another chance, one’s past misdeeds having 
been forgiven and expunged, as writing is 
sponged from a slate. 

Slave. This is an example of the strange 
changes which come over some words. The 
Slavi were a tribe which once dwelt on the 
banks of the Dnieper, and were so called from 
slav (noble, illustrious); but as, in the later 
stages of the Roman Empire, vast multitudes of 
them were spread over Europe as captives, the 
word acquired its present meaning. 

Similarly, Goths means the good or godlike 
men; but since the invasion of the Goths the 
word has become synonymous with barbarous, 
bad v ungod like. 

In World W'ar II a slave was a vehicle with 
electrical equipment designed to serve tanks— 
/.*. charge their batteries, and start them in 
the morning. 

Sleave. The ravelled sleave of care ( Macbeth II, 
ii). The sleave is the knotted or entangled part 
of thread or silk, the raw, unwrought floss silk; 
hence, any tangle. Churton Collins (in Studies 
in Shakespeare ) speaks of smoothing “the 
tangled sleave of Shakespearean expression.” 

Sledge-hammer. A sledge-hammer argument. A 

clincher; an argument which annihilates 
opposition at a blow. The sledge-hammer 
(O.E. sieege ) is the largest hammer used by 
smiths, and is wielded by both hands. 

Sleep. To sleep away. To pass away in sleep, to 
consume in sleeping; as, “to sleep one’s life 
away.” 

To sleep like a top. Excellently, go the night 
through without waking or discomfort. When 
peg-tops are at the acme of their gyration they 
become so steady and quiet that they do not 
seem to move; in this state they are said to 
“sleep.” Congreve plays on the two mean- 
ings: — 

Hang him, no, he a dragon! If he be, ’til a very 
peaceful one. 1 can ensure his anger dormant, or 
should he seem to rouse, ‘tis but well lashing him and 
he wiU sleep lUce a top. — Old Bachelor, I, v. 

To sleep off. To get rid of by sleep. 

To sleep on a matter. To let a decision on it 
stand over till to-morrow. 

Sleeper, The. Epimenides, the Greek poet, 
is said to have fallen asleep in a cave when a 
boy, and not to have waked for fifty-seven 
years, when he found himself possessed of all 
wisdom. 

In mediaeval legend stories of those who 
have gone to sleep and have been — or are to 
be — awakened after many years are very 
numerous. Such legends hang round the names 
of King Arthur, Charlemagne, and Barbarossa. 
Cp . also the stories of the Seven Sleepers of 
Ephesus, Tannhauscr, Ogier the Dane, 
Kiimeny, and Rip Van Winkle. 

Sleeper Awakened, The. See Sly, Christo- 

PHER. 

Sleepers. In Britain, the timber or steel 
supports for the chairs which carry the rails 
on a railway line (from the Norwegian slelp t 
a roller or timber laid along a road), (n U.S.A. 
these supports are called ties. A sleeper , in 


U.S.A. , and now in British usage as well, 
means a railway slceping-car. 

Sleeping Beauty, The, This charming nursery 
tale comes from the French La Belle au Bois 
Dormant , by Charles Perrault (1628-1703) 
( Contes de ma mt ] re VOye, 1697). The Princess 
is shut up by enchantment in a castle, where 
she sleeps a hundred years, during which time 
an impenetrable wood springs up around. 
Ultimately she is disenchanted by the kiss of a 
young Prince, who marries her. 

Sleeping partner. A partner in a business 
who takes no active share in running it beyond 
supplying capital. 

Sleeping sickness. A West African disease 
caused by a parasite. Trypanosoma gambiense , 
characterized by fever and great sleepiness, 
and usually terminating fatally. The disease 
known in England which shows similar 
symptoms is usually called Sleeping illness or 
Sleepy sickness as a means of distinction; its 
scientific name is Encephalitis lethargica. 

Sleepy. Pears are said to be “sleepy” when 
they are beginning to rot; and cream when, in 
the course of its making, the whole assumes a 
frothy appearance. 

Sleepy hollow. Any village far removed from 
the active concerns of the outside world. 
The name given in Washington Irving’s Sketch 
Book to a quiet old-world village on the 
Hudson. 

Sleepy sickness. See Sleeping sickness, 
a bo ve. 

Sleeve. To hang on one’s sleeve. To listen 
devoutly to what one says: to surrender your 
freedom of thought and action to the judgment 
of another. 

To have up one’s sleeve. To hold in reserve; 
to have ready to bring out in a case of 
emergency. The allusion is to conjurers, who 
frequently conceal in the sleeve the means by 
which they do the trick. 

To laugh in one’s sleeve. To ridicule a person 
not openly but in secret. At one time it was 
quite possible to conceal a laugh by hiding 
one’s face in the large sleeves worn by men. 
The French say, rire sous cape. 

To pin to one’s sleeve, as, “l shan’t pin my 
faith to your sleeve,” meaning, “l shall not 
slavishly believe or follow you.” The allusion 
is to the practice of knights, in days of chivalry, 
pinning to their sleeve some token given them 
By their lady-love. This token was a pledge 
that he would do or die. 

To wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve, to 

expose all one’s feelings to the eyes of the 
world. lago wears his heart on his sleeve, 
displaying a feigned devotion to his master 
0 Othello , I, i). 

Sleeveless. In the !6th century sleeveless was 
very commonly applied to errand , answer, 
message, etc., signifying that it was fruitless or 
futile, an errand, etc., that has no result. In 
Elkonoclastes Milton speaks of sleeveless 
reason, meaning reasoning that leads nowhere 
and proves nothing; and a sleeveless message 


Sleuth-hound 


839 


Sly 


was used df a kind of April fool trick — the 
messenger being dispatched merely so as to 
get rid of him for a time. 

If all these faile, a beggar-woman may 
A sweet love-letter to her hands convey. 

Or a neat laundresse or a hearb-wife can 
Carry a sleeveless message now and than. 

Taylor's Workes , ii, 111 (1 630). 

Sleuth-hound. A blood-hound which follows 
the sleuth (old Norse sloth, our more modern 
slot) or track of an animal. Hence used, 
especially in America, of a detective. 

There is a law also among the Borderers in time ot 
peace, that whoso denieth entrance or sute of a 
sleuth-hound in pursuit made after fcllons and stolen 

f oods, shull be holdcn as accessaric unto the theft. — 
Iolinshld: Description of Scotland, p. 14, 

Slewed, Intoxicated. When a vessel changes 
her tack, she staggers and gradually heels over. 
A drunken man moves like a ship changing 
her angle of sailing. 

Slick. Adroit, dextrous, smart; the word is a 
variant of sleek. 

Sliding Scale. A scale of duties, prices, pay- 
ment, etc., which slides up and down as the 
article to which it refers becomes dearer or 
cheaper, or by which such payments accom- 
modate themselves to the fluctuations in other 
conditions previously named. 

Slip. Many a slip ’twixt the cup and the lip. 
Everything is uncertain till you possess it. Cp. 
A'scxvs 

Multa cadunt inter calicem supremaque labra. — 
Horace 

To give one the slip. To steal off unperceived ; 
to elude pursuit. A sea phrase: a cable and 
buoy are fastened to the anchor-chain, which 
is let slip through the hawse-pipe to save 
time in weighing anchor. The metaphor 
probably came originally from the action of 
^slipping” a hound, i.e. allowing it to run free 
by slipping the lead from its collar. In coursing 
the official who releases the greyhounds is slid 
called the slipper. 

Sloane MSS. 3,560 MSS. collected by Sir Hans 
Sloanc (1660-1753), and left to the nation, to- 
gether with his library (50, (XX) vols.) and other 
collections on condition that his heirs received 
£20,000, which was far less than their value. 
These collections were bought and housed in 
Montague House, and formed the nucleus of 
the British Museum. 

Slogan (slo' gdn). The war-cry of the old 
Highland clans (Gael, sluagh , host; ghoirm , 
outcry). Hence, any warcry; and, in later use, 
a political party cry, an advertising catch- 
phrase, etc. Cp. Slug-horn. 

Slop, Dr. The nickname given by Wm. Hone 
to Sir John Stoddart (1773-1856), a choleric 
lawyer and journalist who assailed Napoleon 
most virulently in The Times (1812-16), The 
allusion was to Dr. Slop, the ignorant man- 
midwife in Sterne’s Tristram Shandy . 

Slope. To decamp; to run away. The term came 
from the United States, and may be a con- 
traction of let's lope , lope being a dialect 
variation of loup (leap), to run or jump away. 

The slippery slope. The broad and easy way 
"that leadeth to destruction." Facihs descensus 
Averno . See Avernus. 


Slops. Police; originally “ecilop.” See Back- 
slang. 

1 dragged you in here and saved you. 

And sent out a gal for the slops; 

Ha! they’re acomin’, sir! Listen! 

The noise and the shoutin’ stops. 

Sims: Ballads of Babylon ( The Matron's Story). 
Slough of Despond. A period of, or fit of, 
great depression. In Bunyan’s Pilgrim's Pro - 
gress, Pt. I, it is a deep bog which Christian ha a 
to cross in order to get to the Wicket Gate. 
Help comes to his aid, but Neighbour Pliable 
turns back. 

Slow. Slow burn. A comedy routine invented 
by the Hollywood comedian Edgar Kennedy. 
It consists in struggling to preserve one’s 
patience by passing the hands slowly over the 
face, but finally losing control and degener- 
ating into hysteria. Kennedy’s enormous 
success in exploiting this trick is undoubtedly 
due to the fact that it expresses to perfection 
the helpless exasperation of the little man in a 
bureaucratic and machine-ridden existence. 

Slow-coach. A dawdle. As a slow coach in 
the old coaching-davs got on slowly, so one 
who gets on slowly is a slow-coach. 

Slow-worm. See Misnomers. 
Slubberdegullion (slub cr de gul' yon). A nasty, 
altry fellow. To slubber is to do things by 
alves, to perform a work carelessly: deg ul lion 
is a fanciful addition (as in rapscallion ). 

Quoth she, “Although thou hast deserved. 

Base slubber-deguliion, to be served 
As thou didst vow to deal with me. 

Bltler: tiudibras . I, ill. 

Slug CU.S.A.). A S50 gold piece. 

Slugabed. A late riser. To slug used to be 
quite good English for to be thoroughly lazy. 
Sylvester has — 

The Soldier, slugging long at home in Peace, 

His wonted courage quickly doth decrease. 

Du Barras, 1, vii, 340 (1591). 

Slug-horn. A battle-trumpet; the word being 
the result of an erroneous reading by Chatter- 
ton of the Gaelic slogan. He thought the word 
sounded rather well; and, as he did not know 
what it meant, gave it a meaning that suited 
him : — 

Some caught a slughome and an oasett wouade.— 

The Battle of Hastings, ii, 99. 

Brow ning adopted it in the last line but one 
of his Childe Rolando to the Dark Tower Came t 
and thus this “ghost-word” got a 

footing in the language. 

Sly, Christopher. A keeper of bears and a 
tinker, son of a pedlar, and a sad, drunken sot 
in the Induction of the Taming of the Shrew, 
Shakespeare mentions him as a well-known 
character of Wincot, a hamlet near Stratford- 
on-Avon, and it is more than probable that 
in him we have an actual portrait of a con- 
temporary. 

Sly is found dead drunk by a lord, who 
commands his servants to put him to bed, and 
on his waking to attend upon him like a lord 
and bamboozle him into the belief that he Is a 
great man; the play is performed for his 
delectation. The same trick was played by the 
Caliph Haroun ai-Raschid on Abou Hassan. 
the rich merchant, in The Sleeper Awakened 




Sly-boots 


840 


Smoke-farthings 


(Arabian Nights), and by Philippe the Good, 
Duke of Burgundy, on his marriage with 
Eleanor, as given in Burton’s Anatomy of 
Melancholy (Pt. II, sec. ii, num. 4). 

Sly-boots. One who appears to be a dolt, 
but who is really wide awake; a cunning dolt. 

The frog called the lazy one several times, but in 
vain; there was no such thing as stirring him, though 
the sly-boots heard well enough all the while. — 
Adventures of Abdulla, p. 32 (1729). 

You’re a sly dog. A playful way of saying. 
You pretend to be disinterested, but 1 can 
read between the lines. 

Small. A small and early. An evening party on 
a rpodest scale, with not a lot of guests, and 
not late hours. 

Small-back. Death. So called because he is 
usually drawn as a skeleton. 

Small beer. Properly, beer of only slight 
alcoholic strength; hence, trivialities, persons 
or things of small consequence. 

Small clothes. An obsolete term for breeches. 
Small-endians. See Big-endians. 

Small fry. A humorous way of referring to a 
number of young children, from the numerous 
fry or young of tish and other creatures. 

Small holding. A small plot of land (but 
larger than an allotment) let by a local or 
county council to a tenant for agricultural 
purposes. The Act of 1926 lays down that a 
small holding shall be not less than one acre 
nor more than fifty, and should not exceed £100 
in annual value. 

The small hours. The hours from 1 a.m. to 
4 or 5 a.m., when you are still in the small, or 
low, numbers. 

The small of the back. The slenderer, 
narrower part, just above the buttocks. 

To feel smalt. To feel humiliated, “taken 
down a peg or two.** 

To sing small. To adopt a humble tone; to 
withdraw some sturdy assertion and apologize 
for having made it. 

Smalls. The undergraduates* name at Oxford 
for kesponsions, i.e. the first of the thr;c 
examinations for the B.A. degree; about 
corresponding to the Cambridge Little-go. 

Smart Aleck. An American term for a bump- 
tious, conceited know-all. The name goes back 
to the 1860s, but no record now remains of 
Aleck’s identity. 

Smart Money. Money paid by a person to 
obtain exemption from some disagreeable 
office or duty, or given to soldiers or sailors for 
injuries received in the service; in law it means 
a heavy fine. It either makes the person 
“smart, i.e. suffer, or else the person who 
receives it is paid for smarting. 

Smear. A figurative sense of this word is to 
besmirch a reputation, to hint unpleasant 
things without specifying or doing more than 
suggest something derogatory. 

Smectymnuof (smek tim' n6s). The name under 
which was published (1641) an anti-episcopal- 
ian tract in answer to Bishop Hail s Divine 


Right of Episcopacy. The name is a sort of 
acrostic, composed of the initials of the 
authors, viz.: — 

Stephen Marshal , Edward Calamy , Thomas 
Young , Matthew 'Newcomen, and William 
Spurs tow. 

Milton published his Apology for Sntectym - 
nuus , another reply to Hall, in 1642. 

Also contracted to smec. 

The handkerchief about the neck, 

Canonical cravat of Smec. 

Butler: Hudibras , I, v. 

Smelfungus. See Mundungus. 

Smell, To. Often used figuratively for to sus- 
pect, to discern intuitively, as in I smell a rat 
(see Rat), to smell treason, to discern indica- 
tions of treason, etc. 

Shakespeare has. “Do you smell a fault?*’ 
(Lear. I, i); and lago says to Othello, “One 
may smell in such, a will most rank.*’ St. Jerome 
says that Si. Hilarion had the gift of knowing 
what sins or vices anyone was inclined to by 
simply smelling either the person or his gar- 
ments, and by the same faculty could discern 
good feelings and virtuous propensities. 

It smells of the lamp. See Lamp. 

Smiler. Another name for shandy-gaff — a 
mixture of ale and lemonade or gingcr-becr. 

Smith of Nottingham. Applied to conceited 
persons who imagine that no one is able to 
compete w ith themselves. Ray, in his Collection 
of Proverbs, has the following couplet: — 

The little Smith of Nottingham 
Who doth the work that no man can. 

Smith’s Prize-man. One who has obtained 
the prize (425), founded at Cambridge by 
Robert Smith, D.D. (1689-1768) (Master of 
Trinity, 1742-68), for proficiency in mathe- 
matics and natural philosophy. There are 
annually two prizes, awarded to two com- 
mencing Bachelors of Arts. 

Smithficld. The smooth field (OF. smethc , 
smooth), called in Latin Campus Planus , and 
described by Fitz-Stcphcn in the 12th century 
as a “plain field where every Friday there is a 
celebrated rendezvous of fine horses brought 
thither to be sold.” Bartholomew Fair was held 
here till 1855, at which date also the cattle- 
market was removed to Copenhagen Fields, 
Islington. 

Smoke. To detect, or rather to get a scent of, 
some plot or scheme. The allusion may be to 
the detection of the enemy by smoke seen to 
issue from their place of concealment. 

Cape smoke. A cheap and villainous kind 
of whisky sold in South Africa. 

No smoke without fire. Every slander has 
some foundation. The reverse proverb, “No 
fire without smoke,** means no good without 
some drawback. 

Smoke-farthings, smoke-silver. An offering 
formerly given to the priest at Whitsuntide, 
according to the number of chimneys in his 
parish. 

The Bishop of Elie hath out of evtrie parish in 
Cambridgeshire a certain tribute called . . . smoke* 
farthings, which the churchwardens do levie according 
to the number of . . . cbimoaya that bo in a parish* 
— MSS. Baker , xxxix, 326. 




Smoke 


841 


Snow King 


To end in smoke. To come to no practical 
result. The allusion is to kindling, which 
smokes, but will not light a fire. 

To smoke the pipe of peace. See Calumet. 
Snack (a variant of snatch). 

To go snacks. To share and share alike. 

To take a snack. To take a morsel. 

Snag. To come up against a snag. To encounter 
some obstacle in your progress. The phrase 
is from the American lumber camps, a snag 
being a tree-trunk lodged in the Bottom of 
the river and reaching the surface, or near it. 
Snake. Rhyming-slang (q.v.) for a looking- 
glass, the missing portion being “in the grass.” 

It was an old idea that snakes in casting 
their sloughs annually gained new vigour and 
fresh strength; hence Shakespeare's allusion — 
When the mind is quicken’d, out of doubt, 

The organs, though defunct and dead before, 
Break up their drowsy grave, and newly move 
With casicd slough and fresh legerity. 

Henry V % I, ii. 

And another notion was that one could regain 
one’s youth by feeding on snakes. 

You have eat a snake 

And are grown young, gamesome and rampant.. 
Beaumont and Flefchlr: Elder Brother , IV, iv. 

A snake in the grass. A hidden or hypocritical 
enemy, a disguised danger. The phrase is from 
Virgil (Eel. hi, 93), Latet angitis in her ha. a 
snake is lurking in the grass. 

Great snakes! An exclamation of surprise. 

To see snakes, to have snakes in one’s hoots, 
etc. To sutler from delirium tremens. This is 
one of the delusions common to those so 
afflicted. 

Snake-eyes. A double one, in throwing dice 
(US .A*). 

Snake stones. The fossils called Ammonites 
(<7 v.). 

Snap. Not worth a snap of the fingers. Utterly 
worthless and negligible. 

Snapdragon. The same as “ flapdragon ” (q.v.)\ 
also, a plant of the genus Antirrhinum with a 
flower opening like a dragon’s mouth. 

Snapshot. Formerly applied to a shot fired 
without taking aim, but now almost exclusively 
to an instantaneous photograph. Hence ;o 
snapshot a person , to take an instantaneous 
photograph of him. 

Snap vote. A vote taken unexpectedly, 
especially in Parliament. The result of a “snap 
vote” has, before now, been the overthrow of 
a ministry. 

To snap one’s nose off. .See Nose. 

Snark. The imaginary animal invented by 
Lewis Carroll as the subject of his mock heroic 
poem. The Hunting of the Snark (1876). It 
was most elusive and gave endless trouble, and 
when eventually the hunters thought they had 
tracked it down their quarry proved to be but 
a Boojum. The name (a “portmanteau word” 
of snake and shark ) has hence sometimes been 
given to the quests of dreamers and visionaries. 

It was one of Rossetti’s delusions that in 
The Hunting of the Snark Lewis Carroll was 
caricaturing him. 


Snarling Letter (Lat. lit era canina ). The letter 
r. See R. 

Sneck Posset. To give one a sneck posset is to 
give him a cold reception, to slam the door in 
his face (Cumberland and Westmorland). The 
“sneck” is the latch of a door, and to “sneck 
the door in one’s face” is to shut a person out. 

Sneeze. St. Gregory has been credited with 
originating the custom of saying “God bless 
you” after sneezing, the story being that he 
enjoined its use during a pestilence in which 
sneezing was a mortal symptom. Aristotle, 
however, mentions a similar custom among the 
Greeks; and Thucydides tells us that sneezing 
was a crisis symptom of the great Athenian 
plague. 

The Romans followed the same custom, 
their usual exclamation being Ahsit omen l The 
Parsecs hold that sneezing indicates that evil 
spirits are abroad, and we find similar beliefs 
in India, Africa, ancient and modern Persia, 
among the North American Indian tribes, etc. 

We are told that when the Spaniards arrived 
in Florida the Caziquc sneezed, and all the 
court lifted up their hands and implored the sun 
to avert the evil omen. 

It is not to be sneezed at — not to be despised. 

Snickersnee. A large clasp-knife, or combat 
with clasp-knives. The word is a corruption of 
the old snick and snee or snick or snec , cut and 
thrust, from the Dutch. 

Snide. A slang term for counterfeit, bogus. In 
the U.S.A. mean, contemptible. 

Snidesman. An uttcrcr of false coin. 

Snob. A vulgar person who apes the ways of, 
and truckles to, those in a higher social 
position than himself. 

Thackeray calls George IV a snob, because 
he assumed to be “the first gentleman in 
Europe,” but had not the genuine stamp of a 
gentleman’s mind. 

The word actually means a journey- 
man cobbler or a shoemaker’s apprentice; 
at Cambridge it denotes a townsman as 
opposed to a gownsman. 

Snood. The lassie lost her silken snood. The 
snood was a ribbon with which a Scots lass 
braided her hair, and was the emblem of her 
maiden character. When she married she 
changed the snood for the curch or coif; but 
if she lost the name of virgin before she 
obtained that of wife, she “Tost her silken 
snood,” and was not privileged to assume the 
curch. 

In more recent times the word has been 
applied to the net in which women confine their 
hair. 

Snooks. An exclamation of incredulity or 
derision. To cock or pull a snook, to make a 
gesture of contempt by putting the thumb to 
the nose and spreading the fingers. 

Snotty. Sailors’ slang for a midshipman. 

Snow King, The. So the Austrians called 
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (1594, 1611* 
1632), because, said they, he “was kept 
together by the cold* but would melt and 
disappear as he approached a warmer soiL" 



842 


Soho! 


Snuff. To be snuffed out — put down, eclipsed; 
killed. To snuff it is a euphemism for to die. 
The allusion is to a candle snuffed with 
snuffers. 

Tis strange the mind, that very fiery particle, 

Should let itself be snuffed out by an article. 

Byron: Don Juan, xi, 60. 

Took it in snuff — in anger, in huff. 

You'll mar the light by taking it in snuff. 

Love’s Labour’s Lost, V, ii. 

Who , . . when it next came there, took it in snuff. 
—Henry IV Pt. J, I, iii. 

Up to snuff. Wide awake, knowing, sharp; 
not easily taken in or imposed upon. 

Soap, or Soft Soap. Flattery, especially of an 
oily, unctuous kina. 

How are you off for soap? A common street- 
saying of the mid-19th century, of indetermin- 
ate meaning. It may mean “What are you good 
for?** in the way of cash, or anything else; and 
it was often just a general piece of check. Cp. 
“What! No soap?” in Foote’s nonsense 
passage (see Panjandrum). 

In soaped-pig fashion. Vague; a method of 
speaking or writing which always leaves a way 
of escape. The allusion is to the custom at fairs, 
etc., of soaping the tail of a pig before turning 
it out to be caught by the tail. 

He is \ague as may be; writing in what is called the 
“soaped-pig” fashion.— Carly L£ : 7 he Diamond 

Heck lace, ch. iv. 

Soap-lock (U.S.A.). A fashion in men’s 
hairdressing c. 1840 when the hair was parted 
and came down long on either side. Also a 
rowdy, who did his hair in this way. 

Soapy Sam. Samuel Wilberforce (1805- 
1873). Bishop of Oxford, and afterwards of 
Winchester; so called because of his persua- 
sive and unctuous way of speaking. It is 
somewhat remarkable that the floral decora- 
tions above the stall of the bishop and of the 
principal of Cuddesdon, were S. O. A. P., the 
initials of Sam Oxon and Alfred Port. 

Someone asking the bishop why he was so 
called received the answer, “Because I am 
often in hot water and always come out with 
clean hands.” 

Sob Stuff. A phrase describing newspaper, film, 
or other stones of a highly sentimental kind. 

Sob Sister. A woman reporter. 

Sobersides. A grave, steady-going, serious- 
minded person, called by some “a stick-in-the- 
mud”; generally Old Sobersides. 

Social. Pertaining to society, the community 
as a whole, or to the intercourse and mutual 
relationships of mankind at large. 

The social evil, or plague. Euphemisms for 
prostitution and venereal diseases. 

Society. The upper ten thousand, or “the 
upper ten.” When persons are in “society,” 
they are on the visiting lists of the fashionable 
social leaders. 

Society of Friends. See Quakers. 

Society verse. See Vers de sociirt 

Socinianlsm (so sin' y An izm). A form of 
Unitarianism which, on the one hand, does 


not altogether deny the supernatural character 
of Christ, but, on the other, goes farther than 
Arianism, which, while upholding His divinity, 
denies that He is coequal with tnc Father. So 
called from the Italian theologian, Faustus 
Socinus (1539-1604), who, w'ith his brother, 
Laelius (1525-62), propagated this doctrine. 

Sock. The light shoe worn by the comic 
actors of Greece and Rome (Lat. so ecus ); 
hence applied to comedy itself. 

Then to the well-trod stage anon. 

If Jonson’s teamed sock be on. 

Milton: V Allegro, 

The difference between the sock of comedy 
and the buskin ( q.v .) of tragedy was that the 
sock reached only to the ankle, but the buskin 
extended to the knee. 

Socrates (sok' r& tez). The great Greek philo- 
sopher, born and died at Athens (c. 470- 
399 b.c.). He used to call himself “the midwife 
of men’s thoughts”; and out of his intellectual 
school sprang those of Plato and the Dialectic 
system, Euclid and the Mcgaric, Aristippus 
and the Cyrenaic, Antisthenes and the Cvnic. 
Cicero said of him that “he brought down 
philosophy from the heavens to earth”; and he 
was certainly the first to teach that “the proper 
study of mankind is man.” He was condemned 
to death for the corruption of youth by 
introducing new gods (thus being guilty of 
impiety) and drank hemlock in prison, sur- 
rounded by his disciples. 

Socratic irony. Leading on your opponent 
in an argument by simulating ignorance, so 
that he “ties himself in knots” and eventually 
falls an easy prey — a form of procedure used 
with great effect by Socrates. 

The Socratic method. The method of 
conducting an argument, imparting informa- 
tion, etc., by means of question and answer. 

Soda-jerkcr. An attendant at an icc-crcam 
soda fountain in the U.S.A. 

From Soda to hock. A western U.S.A. 
hrase. In Faro the first card shown face-up 
cfore the bets arc placed is known as Soda, 
while the last card left in the box is said to be 
“in hock,” i.c. in pawn. The phrase is thus 
equivalent to “from A to Z.” 

Soft, or softy. A mentally retarded or un- 
developed person; one whose brain shows signs 
of softening. 

A soft fire makes sweet malt. Too much hurry 
or precipitation spoils work, just as too fierce 
a hre would burn the malt and destroy its 
sweetness. “Soft and fair goes far,” “the more 
haste the less speed” arc sayings of similar 
meaning. 

Soft sawder. Flattery, adulation. Soft solder 
(pronounced sawder) is a composition of tin 
and lead, used for soldering zme, lead, and tin; 
hard solder for brass, etc. 

Soho! ($6 hfl'). An exclamation used by 
huntsmen, especially in hare-coursing when a 
hare has been started. It is a very old call- 
dating from at least the 13th century, and 
corresponds to the “Tally-hol” of fox-hunters 
when the fox breaks cover. 



Sobo 


843 


Solstice 


Soho. A district in London, and the name 
apparently derives from the old hunting cry (see 
above). The earliest recorded reference to the 
name of the district is 1632. 

Sol-disant (swa de' zon) (Fr.). Self-styled, 
would-be. 

Soil. A son of the soil. One native to that 
particular place, whose family has been settled 
there for generations; especially if engaged in 
agriculture. 

To take soil. A hunting term, signifying that 
the deer has taken to the water. Soil here is the 
Fr. souille , mire in which a wild boar wallows. 

Fida went downe the dale to seeke the hinde, 

And founde her taking soyle within a hood. 

Browns: Britannia's Pastorals . 1, 84. 

Sol. The Roman sun god; hence used for the 
sun itself. 

The name was given by the old alchemists 
to gold, and in heraldry it represents or (gold). 

In music sol is the name of the fifth note of 
the diatonic scale (sec Don). 

Solano (so la" n6). Ask no favour during the 
Solano. A popular Spanish proverb, meaning 
— Ask no favour during a time of trouble or 
adversity. The solarto (volanus. <un; see Soi ) of 
Spain is a south-east wind, extremely hot. and 
loaded with fine dust; it produces giddiness 
and irritation. 

Sold down the river (U.S.A.). Deceived or 
demoted. From the practice of selling slaves in 
the upper Southern States to the cotton and 
sugar plantation owners farther South, and so 
breaking up families and causing distress. 

Soldan or Sowdan. A corruption of sultan, 
meaning in medkeval romance the Saracen 
king; but, with the usual inaccuracy of these 
writers, we have the Soldan of Fgvpt, the 
Soudan of Persia, the Sowdan of Babylon, etc., 
all represented as accompanied by grim 
Saracens to torment Christians. 

In Spenser’s faerie Queene (V, vii) the 
Soldan typifies Philip II of Spain who used 
all his power to bribe and seduce the subjects 
of Elizabeth I, here figuring as Queen Mercilla. 

Soldier originally meant a hireling or mercen- 
ary; one paid a solidus, or wage, for military 
service; but hireling and soldier convey now 
very different ideas. 

Soldiers* battles. Engagements which are 
more of the nature of hand to hand encounters 
than regular pitched battles; those that have to 
be fought by the soldiers themselves, their 
leaders not having been able to take up 
strategical positions. The principal ‘’Soldiers* 
Battles” or English history are Malplaquet, 
1709, and Inkcrman, 1854. 

Soldiers of fortune. Men who live by their 
wits; chevaliers de V Industrie • Referring to 
those men in medieval times who let them- 
selves for hire into any army. 

Soldier’s Wind. Sec under Wind. 

To come the old soldier over one. To dictate 
peremptority and profess superiority of know- 
ledge and experience; also to impose on one. 

But you nccdn‘t try to come the old soldier over me. 
I’m not quite such a fool as that, — Hughes: Tom 
Brown at Oxford, li, xviL 


Solecism (sd' 16 sizm). A deviation from correct 
idiom or grammar; from the Greek soloikos , 
speaking incorrectly, so named from Soloi, a 
town in Cilicia, the Attic colonists of which 
spoke a debased form of Greek. 

The word is also applied to any impropriety 
or breach of good manners. 

Solemn. The Solemn League and Covenant* 
A league entered into by the General Assembly 
of the Church of Scotland, the Westminster 
Assembly of English Divines, and the English 
Parliament in 1643, for the establishment of 
Presbyterianism and suppression of Roman 
Catholicism in both countries. Charles II 
swore to the Scots that he would abide by it 
and therefore they crowned him in 1651 at 
Dunbar; but at the Restoration he not only 
rejected the Covenant, but had it burnt by the 
common hangman. 

Sol-fa. See Tonic sol-fa. 

Solicitor. See Attorney. 

Solid. In the 18th century this denoted a man 
of property and position, hence later it became 
synonymous with honest, genuine; in the 20th 
certury it has kept the same meaning but only 
in U.S.A. slang — a fine jazz tune, for instance 
being a solid sender . 

Solid Doctor, The. Richard Middleton, (fl. 
1280), a Franciscan Schoolman, author of 
works on theology and canon law. 

Solipsism 1^6 lip' sizm) (Lat. solus, alone; ipse , 
self). Absolute egoism; the metaphysical theory 
that the only knowledge possible is that of 
oneself. 

Solomon. King of Israel (d. c. 930 B.c.). He 
was specially noted for his wisdom, hence 
his name has been used for wise men generally. 

The English Solomon. James I (1603-25), 
whom Sully called “the wisest fool in Christen- 
dom.” 

The Solomon of France. Charles V (1364- 

80), le Sage. 

Solomon’s Carpet. See Carpet. 

Solomon’s Ring. Rabbinical fable has it that 
Solomon wore a ring with a gem that told him 
all he desired to know*. 

Solomon’s Seal. Polygonatum multi florum, a 
plant with drooping white flowers. As the 
stems decay the root-stalk becomes marked 
with scars that have some resemblance to 
seals; this, according to some, accounts for the 
name; but another explanation offered is that 
the root has medicinal value in sealing up and 
closing green wounds. 

Solon (so' Ion). A wiseacre or sage; from the 
great lawgiver of ancient Athens (d. c. 560 
B.c*), one of the Seven Sages of Greece. 

The Solon of Parnassus. So Voltaire called 
Boileau (1636-1711), in allusion to his Art of 
Poetry. 

Solstice (sol'stis). The summer solstice is 
June 21st; the winter solstice is December 22nd; 
so called because on or about these dates the 
sun reaches its extreme northern and southern 


Solyman 


844 


Sorboime 


points in the ecliptic and appears to stand still 
(Lat. sol \ sun; sistit, stands) before it turns 
back on its apparent course. 

Solyman (sol' i m£n). King of the Turks (in 
Jerusalem Delivered ), whose capital was Nicaea. 
Being driven from his kingdom, he fled to 
Egypt, and was there appointed leader of the 
Arabs (Bk. IX). 

Soma (so' ma). An intoxicating drink anciently 
made, with mystic rites and incantations, from 
the juice of some Indian plant by the priests, 
and drunk by the Brahmins as well as olfered 
as libations to their gods. It was fabled to 
have been brought from heaven by a falcon, 
or by the daughters of the Sun; and it was 
itself personified as a god, and represented the 
moon. The plant was probably a species of 
Asclepias • 

To drink the Soma. To become immortal, 
or as a god. 

Some. Used — originally in America — with a 
certain emphasis as an adjective-adverb of all 
work, denoting some special excellence or high 
degree. ‘This is some book,” for instance, 
means that it is a book that particularly 
fascinates, appeals to, or “intrigues” the 
speaker; “ some golfer,” a super-excellent 
golfer; “going some," going the pace. 

Some pumpkins (U.S.A.). Substantial, im- 
portant; the opposite of “small potatoes.” 

Somerset House occupies the site in the Strand. 
London, of a princely mansion built by 
Somerset the Protector, brother of Jane Sey- 
mour, and thus uncle of Ldward VI. At the 
death of Somerset on the scaffold it became 
the property of the Crown, and in the reign of 
James 1 was called Denmark House in honour 
of Anne of Denmark, his queen. Old Somerset 
House was pulled down in the 18th century, 
and the present structure was erected by Sir 
William Chambers in 1776 as government 
offices for the Board of Inland Revenue, 
the Registrar General, Wills and Probates, etc. 

Somoreen. See Za morin. 

Song. An old song. A mere trifle, something 
hardly worth reckoning, as “It went for an old 
song,” it was sold for practically nothing. 

Don’t make such a song about it! Be more 
reasonable in your complaints; don’t make 
such a fuss about it. 

The Songs of Degrees. Another name for the 
Gradual Psalms iq.vf. 

The Song of Roland. See under Roland. 

The Song of Songs. The Canticles , or the 
Song of Solomon , in the Old Testament. 

Sonnet. Prince of the sonnet. Joachim du Bellay, 
a French sonneteer (1526-60); but Petrarch 
(1304-74) better deserves the title. 

Dark Lady of the Sonnets. See under Lady. 

Sooner. Slang for a sponger, one who lives 
on his wits and will do anything sooner than 
work for his living. 

Jn America the term is applied to settlers in 
the western districts who peg out their claims 


in the territory before the time appointed by 
the Government. 

Sooterkin, A kind of after-birth fabled to be 
produced by Dutch women through sitting 
over their stoves; hence an abortive proposal 
or scheme, and, as applied to literature, an 
imperfect or a supplementary work. 

For knaves and loots being near of kin 
As Dutch boors are t’a sooterkin. 

Both parties join’d to do their best 
To damn the public interest. 

Butler: Hudibras , III, ii, 145. 

Sop. A sop in the pan. A tit-bit, dainty morsel; 
a piece of bread soaked in the dripping of meat 
caught in a dripping-pan; a bribe ( see below). 

To give a sop to Cerberus. To give a bribe, to 
quiet a troublesome customer. Cerberus is 
Pluto’s three-headed dog, stationed at the 
gates of the infernal regions. When persons 
died the Greeks and Romans used to put a cake 
in their hands as a sop to Cerberus, to allow 
them to pass without molestation. 

Soph. A student at Cambridge is a Freshman 
for the first term, a Junior Soph for the second 
year, and a Senior Soph for the third year. The 
word Soph is a contraction of “sonhister,” 
which is the Greek and Latin sopnhtes (a 
sophist). In former times these students had 
to maintain a given question in the schools by 
opposing the orthodox view of it. These 
opponcncies arc now limited to Law and 
Divinity degrees. 

In American Universities Soph is an abbrevi- 
ation of Sophomore, a term applied to students 
in their second year. 

Sophia, Santa (so fl' A). The great metro- 
politan cathedral of the Orthodox Greek 
Church at Istanbul. It was built by Justinian 
(532-7), but since the capture of the city by the 
Turks (1453) has been used as a mosque. It 
was not dedicated to a saint named Sophia, 
but to the “Logos,” or Second Person of the 
Trinity, called liagia Sophia (Sacred Wisdom). 

Sophist, Sophistry, Sophism, Sophist ientor, etc. 
These words have quite run from their legiti- 
mate meaning. Before the lime of Pythagoras 
(586-506 b.c.) the sages of Greece were called 
sophists ( wise men). Pythagoras out of modesty 
called himself a philosopher (a wisdom-lover). 
A century later Protagoras of Abdcra resumed 
the title, and a set of quibblers appeared in 
Athens who professed to answ-er any question 
on any subject, and took up the title discarded 
by the Wise Samian. From this movement 
sophos and all its family of words were applied 
to “wisdom falsely so called,” and philo-sophos 
to the “modest search after truth. 

Sophy, The. An old title of the rulers of Persia, 
first given to Sheik Juncyd u Dicn, founder of 
the Safi dynasty ( c . 1500-1736). 

Soppy. Mawkish (of people), ultra-sentimental 
(of stories, etc.). A soppy boy is one who B 
“tied to his mother’s apron-strings.” 

Sorbonne. The institution of theology, science, 
and literature in Paris founded by Robert de 
Sorbon, Canon of Cambrai, in 1252. In 1808 
the buildings, erected by Richelieu in the 17tn 
century, were given to the University, and a 




SordeJlo 


845 


Soul 


great scheme of reconstruction was carried 
out in 1885. Since 1896 the Sorbonne has been 
the University of Paris. 

Sordello (s6r del' 6). A Provencal troubadour 
(d. c. 1255), mentioned a number of times 
by Dante in the Purgatorio , now remembered 
because of Browning’s very obscure poem of 
this name (1840). It details, in a setting which 
shows the restless condition of northern Italy 
in the early 13th century, the conflict of a poet 
about the best way of making his influence felt, 
whether personally or by the power of song. 

Douglas Jerrold’s reference to Sordello is 
well known. He said he had done his best with 
it, but there were only two lines he understood, 
the first and the last. These are: — 

Who will, may hear Sordello’s story told. 

Who would has heard Sordello’s story told. 
“And unfortunately,” said Jerrold, “these two 
lines are not true.” 

Sorites (s6 rV t$z). A ”heapcd-up” (Gr. soros, a 
heap) or cumulative syllogism, the predicate 
of one forming the subject of that which 
follows, the subject of the first being ultimately 
united with the predicate of the last. The 
following will serve as an example: — 

All men who believe shall be saved. 

All who arc saved must be free from sin. 

All who arc free from sin are innocent in the 
sight of God. 

All who are innocent in the sight of God are 
meet for heaven. 

All who arc meet for heaven will be admitted 
into heaven. 

Therefore all who believe will be admitted 
into heaven. 

Ihe famous Sorites of Themistocles was: 
That his infant son commanded the whole 
world, proved thus: — 

My infant son rules his mother. 

His mother rules me. 

1 rule the Athenians. 

The Athenians rule the Greeks. 

The Greeks rule Europe. 

And Europe rules the world. 

Sorrow. The Seven Sorrow's of the Virgin. See 
Mary. 

Sort. Out of sorts. Not in good health and 
spirits. The French etre derange explains the 
metaphor. If cards are out of sorts they are 
deranged , and if a person is out of sorts the 
health or spirits arc out of order. 

In printers* language sorts is applied to 
particular pieces of type considered as part of 
the fount, and a printer is out of sorts when he 
has run short of some particular letters, figures, 
stops, etc. 

To run upon sorts. In printing, said of work 
which requires an unusual number of certain 
letters, etc.; as an index, which requires a 
disproportionate number of capitals. 

Sortes (sor' tez) (Eat. sors, sort is, chance, lot). 
A species of divination performed by selecting 
passages from a boot haphazard. Virgil’s 
r€neia was anciently the favourite work for 
the purpose (Sortes Virgiliaru r), but the Bible 
( Sortes Bibiica) has also been in common use. 

The method is to open the book at random, 
and the passage you touch by chance with your 


finger is the oracular response. Severus 
consulted Virgil, and read these words: “For- 
get not thou, O Roman, to rule the people 
with royal sway.” Gordianus, who reigned 
only a few days, hit upon this verse: “Fate 
only showed him on the earth, but suffered 
him not to tarry”; and Dr. Wellwood gives an 
instance respecting King Charles I and Lord 
Falkland. Falkland, to amuse the kin$, 
suggested this kind of augury, and the king hit 
upon IV, 615-620, the gist of which is that “evil 
wars would break out, and the king lose his 
life.” Falkland, to laugh the matter off, said 
he would show his Majesty how ridiculously 
the “lot” would foretell the next fate, and he 
lighted on XI, 152-181, the lament of Evander 
for the untimely death of his son Pallas. King 
Charles soon after mourned over his noble 
friend who was slain at Newbury (1643). 

in Rabelais (ill, x) Panurge consults the 
Sortes Virgiliance et Homericce on the burning 
question, whether or not he should marry. In 
Cornelius Agrippa’s De Vanitate Scientiarum , 
c. iv, there is a passage violently reprobating 
the Sortes. 

SOS. See under S. 

Sotadic Verse. See Palindrome. 

Soter (so' ter). Ptolemy I of Egypt (d. 283 b.c.) 
was given this surname, meaning the Preserver , 
by the Rhodians because he compelled De- 
metrius to raise the siege of Rhodes (304 b.c.). 

Sothic Period, Year. The Persian year consists 
of 365 days, so that a day is lost in four years, 
amounting in the course of 1,460 years to a 
year. This period of 1,460 years is called a 
sothic period (Gr. sot his, the dog-star, at whose 
rising it commences), and the reclaimed year 
made up of the bits is called a sothic year. See 
Canicular Period. 

Soul. Among the ancient Greeks the soul 
was the scat of the passions and desires, which 
animals have in common with man, and the 
spirit the highest and distinctive part of man. 
In I Thess. Paul says; “1 pray God your whole 
spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless 
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 
Sec also Hcb. iv, 12; l Cor. ii, 14 and 15; xv, 
45. 46. 

Heraclitus held the soul to be a spark of 
the stellar essence; scintilla stellaris essentia 
(Macrobius: Somnium Scipionis , i, 14). 

Vital spark of heavenly flame! 

Quit, oh quit this mortal frame. 

Port : The Dying Christian to his Soul. 

Both tiic Greeks and Romans seemed to 
think that the soul made its escape with life 
out of the death-wound. 

The Moslems say that the souls of the 
faithful assume the forms of snow-white birds, 
and nestle under the throne of Allah until the 
resurrection, and hold that it is necessary, 
when a man is bow-strung, to relax the rope 
before death occurs to let the soul escape. 

In Egyptian hieroglyphics the soul is 
represented by several emblems, as a basket of 
fire, a heron, a hawk with a human face, and a 
ram. 

All Souls’ Day. November 2nd, the day 
following All Saints* Day, set apart by the 
Roman Catholic Church for a solemn service 




Sou) cakes 


846 


Spain 


for the repose of the departed. In England it 
was formerly observed by ringing the soul bell 
(or passing-bell), by making and distributing 
soul cakes t blessing beans, etc. 

Soul cakes. Cakes formerly given in 
Staffordshire, Cheshire, and elsewhere on All 
Souls’ Day, to the poor who go a-souling, i.e. 
begging for soul cakes. The words used were — 
Soul, soul, for soul-cake, 

Pray you, good mistress, a soul cake. 

Sour grapes. See Grape. 

Sourdough (sour' do). An oldtimer, a pros- 
pector, a cook (western U.S.A.). Sourdough is 
fermented flour with salt and water, a quantity 
of which is kept in a keg on the range or in 
mining camps for the making of bread; the 
keg is not cleaned out, but is merely topped up 
with further flour and water each time a lump 
of dough is removed. 

South Sea Scheme or Bubble. A stock-jobbing 
scheme devised by Sir John Blunt, a lawyer, in 
1710, and floated by the Earl of Oxford in the 
following year. The object of the company was 
to buy up the National Debt, and to be allowed 
the sole privilege of trading in the South Seas. 
Spain refused To give trading facilities, so the 
money was used in other speculative ventures 
and, by careful “rigging” of the market, i.100 
shares were run up to over ten limes that sum. 
The bubble burst in 1 720 and ruined thousands. 
The term is applied to any hollow scheme 
which has a splendid promise, but whose 
collapse will be sudden and ruinous. Cp. 
Mississippi Bubble. 

Southed tia ns. The followers of Joanna South- 
cott (1750-1814), a domestic servant who 
became a religious fanatic and gave herself 
out as the 

woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under 
ber feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. 
— Rev. xii, 1. 

Although 64 years old she was to be delivered 
of a son, the Shiloh of Gen. xlix, 10 — 

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law- 
giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and 
unto him shall the gathering of the people be. 
October 19th, 1814, was the date fixed for 
the birth; but no birth took place, and 
the expectant mother died of brain fever ten 
days later. She left a locked wooden box that 
was not to be opened until the time of a 
national crisis, and then only in the presence 
of all the bishops in England. Various attempts 
were made to persuade the episcopate to 
assemble for this purpose, during the Crimean 
War and again in World War 1. At last it 
was opened in 1928 in the presence of one 
reluctant prelate, and found to contain some 
odds and ends including a horse pistol and a 
few unimportant papers. Amonc her 60 
publications was The Book of Wonders (1813- 
14 ) containing her prophecies. The sect she 
founded still exists. 

Southpaw. In American usage a left-handed 
baseball player, especially a pitcher; also 
meaning sometimes any left-handed person. 
In both American and British usage it des- 
cribes a boxer who leads with his right hand. 

SoferdgD. A strangely misspelled word (from 
Lai. super anus* supreme), the last syllable 


being assimilated to reign . French souverain 
is nearer the Latin; ltal. sovrano ; Span. 

sober a no. 

A gold coin of this name, value 22s. 6d., was 
issued by Henry VIII, and so called because he 
was represented on it in royal robes; but the 
modern sovereign of 20s. value was not issued 
till 1817. Just a hundred years later, during 
World War I, its issue was suspended in 
Britain and its place taken by paper Treasury 
Notes. 

Sow (sou). A pig of my own sow. Said of that 
which is the result of one’s own action, 

A still sow. A cunning and selfish man; one 
wise in his own interest: one who avoids 
talking at meals that he may enjoy his food 
the better. So called from the old proverb, 
“The still sow eats the wash” or “dratf.” 

We do not act that often jest and laugh; 

’Tis old, but true. “Still swine eats all the draff.” 

Merry Wives of Windsor, IV, ii. 

As drunk as David’s sow. Very drunk indeed. 

To get the wrong sow by the ear. To capture 
the wrong individual, to take the wrong end 
of the stick, hit upon the wrong thing. 

To send a sow to Minerva. To teach your 
grandmother how to suck eggs, to instruct one 
more learned in the subject than yourself. 
From the old Latin proverb. Sus Minervarn 
docet (a pig teaching Minerva), which meant 
the same thing. 

You cannot make a silk purse out of a aow’s 
ear. See Silk ; Pig-iron. 

Spade. The spade of playing cards is so called 
from Span, espada , a sword, the suit in Spanish 

acks being marked with short swords; in 

rench and British cards the mark — largely 
through the similarity in name — has been 
altered to something like the blade of a sharp- 
pointed spade. 

Spade guinea. An English gold coin value 
21s., minted 1787-99, so called because it 
bears a shield like the “spade” on playing 
cards on the reverse. The legend is M. B. r. ct 
H. Rex F. D. B. L. D. S. R. I. A. T. et E. — 
Magnai Britannia:, Francke, ct Hibernia: Rex; 
Fidei Defensor; Brunsvicensis, Luncnburgen- 
sis Dux; Sacri Romani Imperii Archi Thcsaur- 
arius ct Elector. 

To call a spade a spade. To bestraightfonvard. 
outspoken, and blunt, even to the point of 
rudeness; to call things by their proper 
names without any beating about the bush. 

I have learned to call wickedness by its own terms: 
a fig a fig; and a spade a spade. — J ohn Knox. 

This is a translation of Erasmus’s rendering 
of the old Latin proverb— ficus ficus , llgonem 
ligonem vocal . 

Spagyric (sp&jir'ik). Pertaining to alchemy; 
the term seems to have been invented by 
Paracelsus. Alchemy is “the spagyric art,” and 
an alchemist a “spagyrist.” 

Spagyric food. Cagliostro’s name for the 
elixir of immortal youth. 

Spain. See Hispania. 

Castle* in Spain. See Cajtli. 




847 


Speaking beads 


Spain 


Patron saint of Spain* St. James the Great, 
who is said to have preached the Gospel in 
Spain, where his relics are preserved at 
Compostela. 

Spanish fly. The cantharis. a coleopterous 
insect used in medicine. Cantharides are dried 
and used externally as a blister and internally 
as a stimulant to the genito-urinary organs; 
they were formerly considered to act as an 
aphrodisiac. 

Spanish moss. A plant of the family 
Bromeliaceae which hangs in long grey festoons 
from the branches of trees, especially the live 
oak, in tropical and sub-tropical American 
forests. 

Spanish worm. An old name for a nail 
concealed in a piece of wood, against which a 
carpenter jars his saw or chisel. 

The Spanish Main. Properly, the northern 
coast of South America, going westward from 
the mouth of the Orinoco to the Isthmus of 
Panama, or a bit farther; the mam-land 
bordering the Caribbean Sea, called by the 
Spanish conquerors Tierra Firme. The term 
is often applied, however, to the curving 
chain of islands forming the northern and 
eastern boundaries of the Caribbean Sea, 
beginning from Mosquito, near the isthmus, 
and including Jamaica, Hispaniola, the 
Leeward Islands, and the Windward Islands, 
to the coast of Venezuela in South America, 

To walk Spanish. To walk on tiptoe, being 
lifted and pushed by a more powerful person. 
From the behaviour of the pirates of the 
Spanish Main towards their captives. 

Span New. See Spick. 

Spaniel. The Spanish dog, from espafiol , 
through the French. 

Spanker. Used of a fast horse, also — colloqui- 
ally — of something or someone that is an 
exceptionally fine specimen, a “stunner.’' 

In nautical language the spanker is the fore- 
and-aft sail set upon the mizen-mast of a 
three-masted vessel, and the jigger-mast of 
a four-masted vessel. There is no spanker in 
a one- or two-masted vessel of any rig. 

Spare the rod, etc. See Rod. 

Spartacists. An extreme Socialist group in 
Germany that flourished between 1916 and 
1919, It was founded by Karl Liebknecht who, 
with Rosa Luxemburg, led an attempted 
revolution in January of the latter year, in the 
suppression of which they were both killed. 
The movement was finally crushed by Lbert’s 
government in the April. The original Sparta- 
cus was a Thracian who commanded a band 
of insurgents in the third Servile war of Rome, 
71 B.C, 

Spartan. The inhabitants of ancient Sparta, 
one of the leading city-states of Greece, were 
noted for their frugality, courage, and stern 
discipline; hcncc, one who can bear pain un- 
flinchingly is termed “a Spartan,” a very 
frugal diet is “Spartan fare,” etc. It was a 
Spartan mother who, on handing her son the 
shield he was to carry into battle, said that he 
must come back either with it or on it. 


Spartan dog. A blood-hound; a blood- 
thirsty man. 

O Spartan dog 

More fell than anguish, hunger or the tea. 

Othello , V, iU 

Spasmodic School. The. A name applied by 
Professor Aytoun to certain authors of the 
19th century, whose writings were distinguished 
by forced conceits and unnatural style. The 
most noted are Bailey (author of Fes/us), 
Gerald Massey, Alexander Smith, and Sydney 
Dobell. 

Spats. Short cloth or leather gaiters. The word 
comes from 

Spatterdashes. Long gaiters, usually of 
cloth, worn to protect the stockings or trousers 
from mud. In military uniform they are gener- 
ally waterproof and button or lace to some 
inches above the ankle. 

Speak-easy. A place where alcoholic liquors 
are sold without a licence, or in some illegal 
way. 

Speaker. The title of the presiding officer and 
official spokesman of the British House of 
Commons, the United States House of 
Representatives, and of some other legislative 
assemblies. 

The Speaker of the House of Commons has 
autocratic and almost absolute power in the 
control of debates and internal arrangements 
of the House, etc.; he is elected by the mem- 
bers irrespective of party, and ceases to be a 
“party man,” having no vote — except in 
cases of a tie, when he can give a casting vote. 
He holds office for the duration of Jthat 
Parliament, but by custom (not law) is re- 
appointed unless he wishes to resign (in which 
case he goes to the House of Lords). 

The Lord Chancellor is ex ojficio Speaker 
of the House of Lords. 

To catch the Speaker’s eye. The rule in the 
House of Commons is that the member whose 
rising to address the House is first observed 
by the Speaker is allowed precedence. 
Speaking. A speaking likeness. A very good 
and lifelike portrait; one that makes you 
imagine that the subject is just going to speak 
to you 

Speaking heads. Fables and romance tell of 
a good many artificial heads that could speak 
(c/7. Brazen head); among the best known 
are : — 

The statue of Memnon, in Egypt, which 
uttered musical sounds when the morning 
sun darted on it. 

That of Orpheus, at Lesbos, which is said 
to have predicted the bloody death that 
terminated the expedition of Cyrus the Great 
into Scythia. 

The head of Minos, fabled to have been 
brought by Odin to Scandinavia, and to have 
uttered responses. 

The Brazen Head (qv.) of Roger Bacon, 
and that of Gerbert, afterwards Pope Sylvester 
II (JOth cent.). 

An earthen head made by Albertus Magnus 
in the 13th century, which both spoke aitd 
moved. Thomas Aquinas broke it, whereupon 
the mechanist exclaimed: "There goes the 
labour of thirty years P* 


Speaking 


848 


Spell 


Alexander’s statue of Aisculapius; it was 
supposed to speak, but Lucian says the sounds 
were uttered by a concealed man, and con- 
veyed by tubes to the statue. 

The “ear of Dionysius” communicated to 
Dionysius, Tyrant of Syracuse, whatever was 
uttered by suspected subjects shut up in a 
state prison. This “ear” was a large black 
opening in a rock, about 50 ft. high, and the 
sound was communicated by a series of 
channels not unlike those of the human ear. 

They are not on speaking terms. Said of 
friends who have fallen out. 

Spear. If a knight kept the point of his snear 
forward when he entered a strange land, it 
was' a declaration of war; if he carried it on 
his shoulder with the point behind him, it was 
a token of friendship. In Ossian ( Temora , 1) 
Cairbar asks if Fingal comes in peace, to which 
Mor-annal replies: “In peace he comes not, 
king of Erin, 1 have seen his forward spear.” 

The spear of Achilles. See Achilles' spear; 
Achillea. 

The spear of Ithuriel. See Ithuriel. 

The spear-side. The male line of descent, 
called by the Anglo-Saxons spcrc-healfe . Cp. 
Spindle-side; see also under Distaff. 

To break a spear. To fight a tournament. 

To pass under the spear. To be sold by 
auction, sold “under the hammer.” Writing 
to Pepys (Aug. 12th, 1689) Evelyn speaks of 
“the noblest library that ever passed under the 
speare.” The phrase is from the Latin sub 
hasta vender e. 

Special Pleading. Quibbling; making your own 
argument good by forcing certain words or 
phrases from their obvious and ordinary 
meaning. A pleading in law means a written 
statement of a cause pro and con , and “special 
pleaders” are persons who have been called 
to the bar, but do not speak as advocates. 
They advise on evidence, draw up affidavits, 
state the merits and demerits of a cause, and so 
on. After a time most special pleaders go to 
the bar, and many get advanced to the bench. 

Specie, Species, means literally “what is 
visible” (Lat. species , appearance). As things 
are distinguished by their visible forms, it has 
come to mean kind or class. As drugs and 
condiments at one time formed the most 
important articles of merchandise, they were 
called species — still retained in the French 
Apices , and English spices. Again, as bank- 
notes represent money, money itself is called 
specie, the thing represented. 

Spectacles. In cricket, when a batsman makes 
no score in either innings of a match, he is said 
to make “a pair of spectacles,” See also 
Duck’s Ego, under Duck. 

Spectre of the Brocken. An optical illusion, 
first observed on the Brocken (the highest 
peak of the Hartz range in Saxony), in which 
shadows of the spectators, greatly magnified, 
are projected on the mists about the summit 
of the mountain opposite. In one of Dc 
Quincey’s opium-dreams there is a powerful 
description of the Brocken spectre. 


Spectrum, Spectra, Spectre (Lat. specto , I 
behold). In optics a spectrum is the image of a 
sunbeam beheld on a screen, after refraction 
by one or more prisms. Spectra are the images 
of objects left on the eye after the objects 
themselves are removed from sight. A spectre 
is the apparition of a person no longer living 
or not bodily present. 

Speculate (spek' Q lat) means to look out of a 
watch-tower, to spy about (Lat. speculari ). 
Metaphorically, to look at a subject with the 
mind’s eye, to spy into it; in commerce , to 
purchase articles or shares which you expect 
will prove profitable. 

Specularis lapis, what we should now call 
window-glass, was some transparent stone or 
mineral, such as mica. 

Speculum Humana? Salvationis (The Mirror of 
Human Salvation). A kind of extended Biblia 
Pauperum ( a.v .) telling pictorially the Bible 
story from the fall of Lucifer to the Redemp- 
tion of Man, w ith explanations of each picture 
in Latin rhymes. MS copies of the 12th 
century are known; but its chief interest is 
that it was one of the earliest of printed books, 
having been printed about 146/. 

Speech, Parts of speech. See Part. Speech is 
silver (or silvern), silence is golden. An old 
proverb, said to be of oriental origin, pointing 
to the advantage of keeping one’s ow n counsel. 
The Hebrew equivalent is “If a word be worth 
one shekel, silence is worth two.” 

Speech was given to man to disguise his 
thoughts. This epigram was attributed to 
Talleyrand by Barrerc in his Memoirs ; but 
though Talleyrand no doubt used it he was 
not its author. Voltaire, in his XlVih Dialogue 
(Le Chapon et la Potdarde ), had said — 

Men use thought only as authouty for their in- 
justice, and employ speech only to conceal theur 
thoughts. 

Goldsmith, in The Bee , III (1759), has — 

The true use of tpccch is not so much to express our 
wants as to conceal them. 

And Robert South (1634-1716) preaching on 
April 30th, 1676, said in his sermon — 

Speech was given to the ordinary sort of men, 
whereby to communicate their mind; but to wise men. 
whereby to conceal it. 

Speewah, Ihe. A mythical cattle station some- 
where in Australia where everything is bigger 
and better than anywhere else in the world. 
A scries of legends comparable only with the 
adventures ol Baron Munchausen arc assoc- 
iated with it. 

Spell. A turn of work done by a man or group 
of men in relief of another man or group; 
hence, the period of one’s turn of work. The 
word was formerly applied to the gang itself, 
and is probably the O.E, spala, a substitute. 
Spell , in the sense of saying or writing the 
letters forming a word, is often used with the 
meaning to hint very broadly, especially of 
children. 

Spell ho! An exclamation to signify that the 
allotted time has expired, and men arc to be 
relieved by another set. 

To spell is to relieve another at his work. 




Spellbinders 


849 


Spick and Span 


Spellbinders. Orators who hold their audience 
spellbound , that is, fascinated, charmed, as 
though bound by a spell or magic incantation. 
The word came into use in America in the 
presidential election of 1888, and has been 
used of Biitish political orators of persuasive 
eloquence. 

Spencean Philanthropists. Disciples of Thomas 
Spence (1750-1814) who, in 1775, devised a 
system of land nationalization. The inhabitants 
of each parish would form a corporation and 
appoint local officials to collect rents, deduct 
expenses, and divide what was left among the 
arishioners. No tax or toll would be required 
eyond the rent. A day of rest would be allowed 
every five days. “Whether the title of King, 
President, Consul or the like is assumed by 
the head of the country is quite indifferent to 
me.” A number of hot-headed and woolly- 
minded persons thought that this plan heralded 
the Millennium and in 1816 “Tne Society of 
Spencean Philanthropists” was founded. That 
year they arranged the Spa Fields Meeting, 
Bermondsey, which ended in a riot. The Cato 
Street Conspirators and other dangerous 
demagogues were disciples of Spence. 

Spencer. Now applied to a close-fitting bodice 
worn by women, but formerly the name of an 
outer coat without skirts worn by men; so 
named from the second Earl Spencer (1758- 
1834). 

Spencerian Handwriting is the name given to a 
style of calligraphy introduced by Platt Rogers 
Spencer (1800-61), an American calligrapher. 
Written with a tine pen, with the down-strokes 
tapering from top to bottom and large loops, 
the writing has a forward slope and marked 
terminal flourishes. Spencer taught this style 
in many parts of U.S.A. and it is said to have 
had a marked influence on American calli- 
graphy. 

Spenserian Stanza. The stanza devised by 
Spenser (1592), founded on the Italian ottava 
rima , for his Faerie Queene. It is a stanza of 
nine iambic lines, all of ten syllables except 
the last, which is an Alexandrine. Only three 
different rhymes arc admitted into a stanza, 
and these arc disposed: ababbcbcc. 

Among famous poets who employ this 
stanza arc Thomson ( Castle of Indolence ), 
Byron (Childe Harold ), Shelley (A dona is. The 
Revolt of Islam) , and Keats (The Etc of St. 
Agnes). 

Spheres. In the Ptolemaic system of astronomy 
(< 7 .v.) the earth, as the centre of the universe, 
was supposed to be surrounded by nine spheres 
of invisible space, the first seven carrying 
the “planets” as then known, viz. (1) Diana 
or the Moon, (2) Mercury, (3) Venus, (4) 
Apollo or the Sun, (5) Mars, (6) Jupiter, and 
(7) Saturn; the eighth, the Starry Sphere, 
carrying the fixed stars, and the ninth, the 
Crystalline Sphere, added by Hipparchus in 
the 2nd century b.c. to account for the preces- 
sion of the equinoxes. Finally, in the Middle 
Ages, was added a tenth sphere, the Primum 
mobile (?.v.), a solid barrier which enclosed 
the universe and shut it off from Nothingness 


and the Empyrean. These last two spheres 
carried neither star nor planet. 

They pass the planets seven, and pass the fixed 

{starry sphere]. 

And that crystalline sphere . . . and that First- 
Moved. Milton: Paradise Lost , III, 482. 

The music, or harmony, of the spheres. 
Pythagoras, having ascertained that the pitch 
of notes depends on the rapidity of vibrations, 
and also that the planets move at different 
rates of motion, concluded that the planets 
must make sounds in their motion according 
to their different rates; and that, as all things 
in nature are harmoniously made, the different 
sounds must harmonize; whence the old 
theory of the “harmony of the spheres.” 
Kepler has a treatise on the subject. 

There’s not the smailest orb which thou behold’st 
But in his motion like an angel sings. 

Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubims. 

Merchant of Ye nice, V, I 

Plato says that a siren sits on each planet, 
who carols a most sweet song, agreeing to the 
motion of her own particular planet, but 
harmonizing with all the others. Hence Milton 
speaks of the “celestial syrens* harmony that 
sit upon the nine enfolded spheres.” (Arcades.) 

Sphinx (sfingks). A monster of ancient 
mythology; in Greece represented as having 
the head of a woman, the body of a lion, and 
winged; in Egypt as a wingless lion with the 
head and breast of a man. 

The Grecian Sphinx was generally said to 
be the daughter of Typhon and Chimera; she 
infested Thebes, setting the inhabitants a 
riddle and devouring all those who could not 
solve it. The riddle was — 

What goes on four feet, on two feet, and three. 
But the more feet it goes on the weaker it be? 
and it was at length solved by CEdipus (q.v.) 
with the answer that it was a man, who as an 
infant crawls upon all-fours, in manhood goes 
erect on his two feet, and in old age supports 
his tottering legs with a staff. On hearing this 
correct answer the Sphinx slew herself, and 
Thebes was delivered. 

The Egyptian sphinx is a typification of Ra, 
the sun god. The colossal statue of the reclining 
monster was old in the days of Cheops, when 
the Great Pyramid, near which it lies, was 
built. It is hewn out of the solid rock; its 
length is 140 ft., and its head 30 ft. from crown 
to chin. 

Spice Islands. The Moluccas, in the Malay 
Archipelago, and part of Indonesia, whose 
chief products are spices of all kinds. 

Spick and Span New. Quite and entirely new. 
A spic is a spike or nail, and a span is a chip. 
So that a spick and span new ship is one m 
which every nail and chip is new. According 
to Dr. Johnson, who, in recording the term 
says it is one which he “should not have 
expected to have found authorized by a polite 
writer,” span new is from O.E. spamtan , to 
stretch, and was originally used of cloth 
newly extended or dressed at the cloth* 
maker’s, and spick and span is newly extended 
on the spikes or tenters. He gives quotations 
from Samuel Butler, Bishop Burnet, and Dean 
Swift, but cannot help adding “it is however a 
low word.” 



Spider 


850 


Spirit 


Spider. There are many old wives’ fables 
about spiders, the most widespread being that 
they are venomous. Shakespeare alludes to 
this more than once — 

Let thy spiders, that suck up thy venom, 

And heavy-gaited toads lie in their way. 

Richard U t III, U. 

There may be in the cup 

A spider steep’d, end one may drink, depart, 

And yet partake no venom. Winter's Talc, II, i. 

During the examination into the murder of Sir 
Thomas Overbury, one of the witnesses 
deposed “that the countess wished him to get 
the strongest poison that he could . . 
Accordingly he brought seven great spiders. 

Other tales were that spiders would never 
spin a web on a cedar roof, and that fever 
could be cured by wearing a spider in a nutshell 
rourid the neck. 

Spiders were credited with other medicinal 
virtues. A common cure for jaundice in 
country parts of England was to swallow a 
large live house-spider rolled up in butter, 
while in the south of Ireland a similar remedy 
was given for ague. 

Yet another story was that spiders spin only 
on dark days:— 

The subtle spider never spins. 

But on dark days, his slimy gins. 

S. Butler : On a Nonconformist , iv. 

Bruce and the spider. In 1305 Robert Bruce 
was crowned king of Scotland at Scone but, 
being attacked by the English, retreated to 
Ireland, and all supposed him to be dead. 
While lying perdu in the little island of Rathlin 
he one day noticed a spider try six times to 
fix its web on a beam in the ceiling. “Now shall 
this spider (said Bruce) teach me what I am 
to do, for 1 also have failed six times.” The 
spider mads a seventh effort and succeeded; 
whereupon Bruce left the island (1307), 
collected 300 followers, landed at Carrick, 
and at midnight surprised the English garrison 
in Turnberry Castle; he next overthrew the 
Earl of Gloucester, and in two years made 
himself master of well-nigh all Scotland, which 
Edward III declared in 1328 to be an independ- 
ent kingdom. 

Frederick the Great and the spider. While 
Frederick II was at Sans-Souci, he one day 
went into his ante-room, as usual, to drink a 
cup of chocolate, but set his cup down to 
fetch his handkerchief from his bedroom. On 
his return he found a great spider had fallen 
from the ceiling into his cup. He called for 
fresh chocolate, and next moment heard the 
report of a pistol. The cook had been suborned 
to poison the chocolate, and, supposing his 
treachery had been found out, shot himself. 
On the ceiling of the room in Sans-Souci a 
spider has been painted (according to tradition) 
in remembrance of this story. 

Mohammed and the spider. When Moham- 
med fled from Mecca he hid in a certain cave, 
with the Koreishites close upon him. Suddenly 
an acacia in full leaf sprang up at the mouth of 
the cave, a wood-pigeon had its nest in the 
branches, and a spider had woven its net 
between the tree and the cave. When the 
Koreishites saw this, they felt persuaded that 
no one could have entered recently, and went 
on. 


Spigot. Spare at the spigot and spill at the 
bung. To be parsimonious in trifles and waste- 
ful in great matters, like a man who stops his 
beer-tub at the vent-hole and leaves it running 
at the bung-hole. 

Spike. Slang for the workhouse; to go on the 
spike is to become a workhouse inmate. 

To spike a drink. To add strong spirits to 
increase the alcoholic content. 


To spike one’s guns for him. To render his 
plans abortive, frustrate the scheme he has 
been laying, “draw his teeth.” The allusion is 
to the old way of making a gun useless by 
driving a spike into the touch-hole. 

Spill the Beans, To. To reveal a secret pre- 
maturely. 

Spilt milk. See Cry. 

Spin a yarn. In the days of sailing ships, sailors 
were permitted to talk while sitting on deck 
spinning a rope; they would often reminisce, 
hence the phrase meaning to tell a tale. 

Spindle-side. The female line of descent (see 
also under Distaff; cp. Spear-si dl). The 
spindle was the pin on which the thread was 
wound from the spinning-wheel. 

Spinner. Come in, Spinner. From the Aust- 
ralian national game of “Two Up” — spinning 
two coins, on which enormous sums are bet. 
When all bets are laid against the man who 
wishes to spin, he is told to come in (or spin) 
by the “boxer” (referee in charge of the 
game). The phrase is used derisively by one 
who has been taken in by a joke or trick. 

Spinster. An unmarried woman. The fleece 
brought home by the Anglo-Saxons in summer 
was spun and woven by the female part of each 
family during the winter. King Edward the Elder 
commanded his daughters to be instructed in 
the use of the distalf. Alfred the Great, in his 
will, calls the female part of his family the 
spindle-side ; and it was a regularly received 
axiom with our forefathers, that no young 
woman was fit to be a wife till she had spun 
for herself a set of body, table, and bed linen. 
Hcncc the maiden was termed a spinner or 
spinster. 

It is said that the heraldic lozenge , in which 
the armorial bearings of a woman arc depicted 
instead of, in the case of a man, on a shield , 
originally represented a spindle. Among the 
Romans the bride carried a distafT, and Homer 
tells us that Kryseis was to spin and share the 
king’s bed. 

Spirit. Properly, the breath of life, from Lat. 
spiritus ( spirare , to breathe, blow): — 

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the 
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of 
life, and man became a living soul. — Gen. U, 7. 


Hence, life or the life principle, the soul; 
a disembodied soul (a ghost or apparition), 
or an immaterial being that never was supposed 
to have had a body (sprite), as a gnome, elf, 
or fairy; also, the temper or disposition of 
mind as animated by the breath of life, as 
in good spirits , high-spirited^ a man of spirit . 

The mediseval physiological notion (adopted 
from Galen) was that spirit existed in the body 
in threo kinds, viz. (1) the Natural spirit , the 



Spirit 


$51 


Spoke 


principle of the “natural functions** — growth, 
nutrition, and generation, said to be a vapour 
rising from the blood and having its seat in 
the liver; (2) the Vital spirit , which arose 
in the heart by mixture of the air breathed 
in with the natural spirit and supplied the body 
with heat and life; and (3) the Animal spirit , 
which was responsible for the power of motion 
and sensation, and for the rational principle 
generally; this was a modification of the vital 
spirit, effected in the brain. 

The Elemental spirits of Paracelsus and the 
Rosicrucians, i.e. those which presided over 
the four elements, were — the Salamanders (or 
fire). Gnomes (earth), Sylphs (air), and Undines 
(water). 

Spirit also came to mean any volatile or 
airy agent of essence; and hence, through the 
old alchemists, is still used of solutions in 
alcohol of a volatile principle and of any 
strong distilled alcoholic liquor. The alchemists 
named four substances only as “spirits,** viz. 
mercury, arsenic, sal ammoniac, and sulphur:— 
The first spirit quyksilver called is: 

The secound orpiment; the thiid I wis 
, Sal armoniac; and the ferth bremstoon. 

Chaucer: Canon's Yeoman's Prologue. 

To spirit away. To kidnap, abduct; to make 
away with speedily and secretly. The phrase 
first came into use in the 17th century, in 
connexion with kidnapping youths and trans- 
porting them to the West Indian plantations. 

Spiritualism. The belief that communication 
between the living and the spirits of the 
departed can and does take place, usually 
through the agency of a specially qualified 
person (a medium) and often by means of 
rapping, table-turning, or automatic writing; 
the system, doctrines, practice, etc., arising 
from this belief. Hence Spiritualist, one who 
maintains or practises this belief. 

In Philosophy Spiritualism — the antithesis 
of materialism — is the doctrine that the spirit 
exists as distinct from matter, or as the only 
reality. 

Spit. Spitting for luck. Spitting was a charm 
against enchantment among the ancient 
Greeks and Romans. Pliny says it averted 
witchcraft, and availed in giving an enemy 
a shrewder blow. 

Thrice on my breast I spit to guard me safe 
From fascinating charms. Theocritus. 

Countrymen spit for luck on a piece of money 
given to them; boxers spit on their hands, and 
costermongers on the first money they take 
in the day for the same reason. 

Spital or Spittle. Contractions for hospital. 

A spittle or hospital! for poorc tolks diseased; a 
spittle hospital!, or la/arhouse for lepers. — B aret: 
Alveaire (1580). 

Hence Spitalfields, the site in London where, 
in 1197, a spital or almshouse was built in 
the fields by Walter Brune and his wife Rosia. 

Spittle Sermons. Sermons preached formerly 
on Easter Monday and Tuesday at St. Mary 
Spital, Spitalfields, in a pulpit erected expressly 
for the purpose. Subsequently they were given 
at St. Bride’s, and later at Christchurch, New- 
gate Street. Ben Jonson alludes to them in his 
Underwoods , lx. 


Spitfire. An irascible person, whose angry 
words are like fire spit from the mouth of a 
fire-eater. 

Spiv. A person who lives by his wits, prefer- 
ably within the law; later extended to mean a 
small racketeer and a person who makes a 
living without working. These are the meanings 
when the word was much used during and for 
a few years after World War II, but previously 
it had been used since the 1890’s by race- 
course gangs. It is probably an abbreviation of 
spiffing fellow (spiffing is obsolete slang for 
4 fine, “excellent**), and derives from the 
dialect word spif (“neat,** “dandified,” 
“excellent*’). 

Splay is a contraction of display (to unfold; 
Lat. dis-plico). A splay window is one in a V- 
shape, the external opening being very wide, 
to admit as much light as possible, but the 
inner opening being very small. A splay-foot 
is a foot displayed or turned outward. A splay- 
mouth is a wide mouth, like that of a clown. 

Spleen, the soft vascular organ placed to the 
left of the stomach and acting on the blood, 
was once believed to be the seat of melancholy 
and ill-humour. The fern spleenwort was 
supposed to remove splenic disorders. 

Splice. To marry. Very strangely, “splice” 
means to split or divide (Ger. spleissen, to 
split). The way it came to signify unite is this; 
Ropes’ ends are first untwisted or split before 
the strands are interwoven. Joining two ropes 
together by interweaving their strands is 
“splicing” them. Splicing wood is joining two 
boards together, the term being borrowed 
from the sailor. 

To splice the main brace. See Main Brace. 
Split. To give away one's accomplices, betray 
secrets, “peach.” 

To split hairs. See Hair. 

To split the infinitive. To interpose some 
word between to and the verb, as “to 
thoroughly understand the subject.” This 
construction is branded as a solecism by 
pedants, but it is as old as the English langu- 
age. and there arc few of our best writers who 
have not employed it. 

Without permitting himself to actually mention the 
name, — Matthew' Arnold: On Translating Homer , 
iii. 

It becomes a truth again, after all, as he happens to 
newly consider it, — Brownino: A Soul's Tragedy. 

Implore them to partially enlighten her. — Geo. 
Meredith: The Egoist. 

To split with laughter. To laugh uproariously 
or unrestrainedly; to “split one’s sides.** 

Spoils System. The practice in the United States 
by which the victorious party in an election 
rewards its supporters by appointments to 
public office. Adopted and approved by 
And iew Jackson at his election as President 
in 1829. “To the victors belong the spoils.*’ 

Spoke. To put a spoke In one’s wheel. To 
interfere with his projects and frustrate them; 
to thwart him. When solid wheels were used* 
the driver was provided with a pin or spoke, 
which he thrust into one of the three holes 
made to receive it, to skid the cart when it 
went down-hiU. 


Sponge 


852 


Spouse 


Sponge. To throw up the sponge. Give up; 
confess oneself beaten. The metaphor is from 
boxing matches, for when a second tossed a 
sponge into the air it was a sign that his man 
was beaten. 

To sponge on a man. To live on him like a 
parasite, sucking up all he has as a dry sponge 
will suck up water. 

A sponger is a mean parasite who is always 
accepting the hospitality of those who will 
give it and never makes any adequate return. 

Sponging House. A house where persons 
arrested for debt were kept for twenty-four 
hours, before being sent to prison. They were 
generally kept by a bailiff, and the person 
lodged was “sponged” of all his money before 
leaving. 

Sponsored Programme. A wireless or television 
programme which is sponsored, i.e. chosen and 
paid for, by a commercial company, which 
utilizes a few moments at the beginning and the 
end of the programme for advertising its own 
product 

Spoon. A simpleton, a shallow prating duffer 
used to be called a spoon , and hence the name 
came to be applied to one who indulged in 
foolish, sentimental love-making, and such a 
one is said to be spoony , and to be spoons on 
the girl. 

In nautical phrase to spoon is to scud 
before the wind; and in sculling to dip the 
sculls so lightly in the water as to do little 
more than skim the surface. 

Apostle spoons. See Apostle. 

He hath need of a long spoon that eateth with 
the devil. You will want all your wits about 
you if you ally yourself with evil. Shakespeare 
alludes to this proverb in the Comedy o. 
Errors , IV. iii, and again in the Tempest , II, ii, 
where Stephano says: “Mercy! mercy! this 
is a devil ... I will leave him, I have no long 
spoon.” 

Therefor behoveth hire a ful long spoon 

That schal etc with a feend. 

Chaucer: Squire's Talc , 594. 

To be born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth. 
See Born. 

Spoonerism. A ludicrous form of metathesis 
( q,v .) that consists of transposing the initial 
sounds of words so as to form some laughable 
combination; so called from the Rev. W. A. 
Spooner (1844-1930), Warden of New College, 
Oxford. Some of the best attributed to him 
are — “We all know what it is to have a half 
warmed fish within us” (for “half-formed 
wish”); “Yes, indeed; the Lord is a shoving 
leopard”; and “Kingkering Kongs their titles 
take.” Sometimes the term is applied to the 
accidental transposition of whole words, as 
when the tea-shop waitress was asked for “a 
glass bun and a bath of milk.” 

Sport. To sport one’s oak. See Oak. 

The figurative meaning of to sport is to 
exhibit in public in a somewhat ostentatious 
way; a young man for instance, may sport 
a highly coloured pair of socks, a new fashion 
in hats, or a monocle. 

Sporting Seasons In England. The lawful 
season for venery, which began at Midsummer 


and lasted to Holy Rood Day, u9ed to 
be called the Time of Grace . Tne fox and 
wolf might be hunted from the Nativity to 
the Annunciation; the roebuck from Easter 
to Michaelmas; the roe from Michaelmas 
to Candlemas; the hare from Michaelmas to 
Midsummer; and the boar from the Nativity 
to the Purification. 

The times are as follows: those marked 
thus (*) are fixed by Act of Parliament. 

Black Game ,* from August 20th to December 10th; 
but in Somerset, Devon, and New Forest, from 
September 1st to December 10th. 

Blackcock , August 20th to December 10th. 

Buck hunting, August 20th to September 17th. 

Bustard ,* September 1st to March 1st. 

Red Deer hunted, August 20th to September 30th. 

Eels, (about) April 20th to October 28th. 

fox hunting, (about) October to Lady Day. 

Fox Cubs, August 1st to the first Monday in 
November. 

Grouse shooting,* August 12th to December 10th. 

Hares, March 12th to August 12th. 

Hind , hunted in October and again between April 
10th and May 20th. 

Oyster season, August 5th to May. 

Partridge shooting,* September 1st to February 1st. 

Pheasant shooting,* October 1st to February 1st. 

Ptarmigan, August 12th to December 10th. 

Quail , August 12th to January 10th. 

Rabbits, between October and March. Rabbits, as 
vermin, are shot at any time. 

Salmon ,* February 1st to September 1st. 

Salmon, rod fishing,* November 1st to September 
1st. 

Trout fishing. May 1st to September 10th. 

Trout, in the Thames, April 1st to September 10th. 

Woodcock, (about) November to January. 

For Ireland and Scotland there are special 
game-laws. 

N. B. — Game in England: hare, pheasant, partridge, 
grouse, and moor-fowl; in Scotland, same as England, 
with the addition of ptarmigan; in Inland, same as 
England, with the addition of deer, black-game, 
landrail, quail, and bustard. 

Spot. On the spot. At once; without having 
time to move away or do anything else; as — 
“He answered on the spot,” immediately, 
without hesitation. A further colloquial mean- 
ing of on the spot is, in danger of death, in an 
embarrassing situation. 

To knock spots off one. To excel him 
completely in something; originally an 
Americanism. 

Spotting. The practice in the New Zealand 
settling days of buying up the land round all 
available creeks and streams, so that the 
adjoining territory would have no access to 
water and hence would find no buyer. 

Spouse means one who has promised (Lat. 
sponsus , past part, of spondere , to promise). 
In ancient Rome the friends of the parties 
about to be married met at the house of the 
woman’s father to settle the marriage contract. 
This contract was called sponsalia (espousal); 
the man, sponsus t and the woman, sponsa . 

The spouse of Jesus. St. Teresa of Avila 
(1515-82) was given this title by some of her 
contemporaries. 

All thy good work* . . . shall 

Weave a constellation 

Of Crowns, with which the King thy spouse 

Shall build up thy triumphant brows. 

Crashaw: Hymn to St . Theresa (1652). 



Spout 


853 


Square 


Spout. To spout. To utter in a bombastic, 
declamatory manner; to declaim. 

Up the spout. At the pawnbroker’s. In 
allusion to the “spout” up which brokers 
send the articles ticketed. When redeemed 
they return down the spout — i.e. from the 
storeroom to the shop. 

Sprat. To throw a sprat to catch a mackerel. 
To give a small thing in the hope of getting 
something much more valuable. 

Spread-eagle. The “eagle displayed” of 
heraldry, i.e, an eagle with legs and wings 
extended, the wings being elevated. It is the 
device of the United States. 

In the navy a man was said to be spread- 
eagled when he was lashed to the rigging for 
flogging, with outstretched arms and legs. 

Spread-eaglism in a United States citizen is 
very much the counterpart of the more 
aggressive and bombastic forms of Jingoism 
(q.v.) in the Briton. 

Spread-eagle oratory. “A compound of 
exaggeration, effrontery, bombast, and ex- 
travagance, mixed with metaphors, platitudes, 
threats and irreverent appeals flung at the 
Almighty.” ( North American Review , Novem- 
ber, 1858.) 

Spring Tide. The tide that springs or leaps or 
swells up. These full tides occur a day or two 
after the new and full moon, when the attrac- 
tion of both sun and moon act in a direct line. 

Springers. The Wiltshire Regiment, raised in 
1758, and so nicknamed from its speed of 
movement during the War of American 
Independence. 

Spruce. Smart, dandified. The word is from 
the old Fr. Pruce (Gcr. Preussen ), Prussia, and 
was originally (16th cent.) applied to Prussian 
leather of which particularly neat and smart- 
looking jerkins were made. 

And after them, came, syr Edward Haward, then 
admyral, and with him sir Thomas Parre, in doblettes 
of Crimosin velvet, voyded lowe on the backe, and 
before to the cannell bone, laced on the breastes with 
chaynes of silver, and over that shorte clokes of 
Crimosyn satyne, and on their heudes hattes after 
daunccrs fashion, with fesauntes fethers in theim; 
They were appareyled after the fashion of Prusi.i or 
Spruce. — Hall's Chronicle: Henry VIII, year 1 (1542). 

Spruce beer is made from the leaves of the 
spruce fir , this being a translation of the Ger- 
man name of the tree, Sprossen-Jkhtc , literally 
“sprouts-lir.” 

Spunging House. See Sponging. 

Spur. On the spur of the moment. Instantly; 
without stopping to take thought. 

Spur money. A small fine formerly imposed 
on those who entered a church wearing spurs, 
because of the interruption caused to divine 
service by their ringing. It was collected by the 
choir-boys or the beadles. 

The Battle of Spurs. A name given to the 
battles of G uinegate ( 1 5 1 3) and Cou rtrai ( 1 302). 
The former, between Henry VI 11 and the Due 
do Longucvillc, was so called because the 
French used their spurs in flight more than 
their swords in fight; and the battle of Courtrai 
because the victorious Flemings gathered 


from the field more than 700 gilt spurs, worn 
by French nobles slain in the fight. 

To dish up the spurs. In Scotland, during the 
times of the Border feuds, when any of the 
great families had come to the end of their 
provisions the lady of the house sent up a pair 
of spurs for the last course, to intimate that it 
was time to put spurs to the horses and make 
a raid upon England for more cattle. 

To ride whip (or switch) and spur. To ride 
with all possible speed: to trample down 
obstacles ruthlessly. 

To win his spurs. To gain the rank of 
knighthood. When a man was knighted, the 
person who dubbed him presented him with a 
pair of gilt spurs. 

Spy Wednesday. A name given in Ireland to 
the Wednesday before Good Friday, when 
Judas bargained to become the spy of the 
Jewish Sanhedrin (Malt, xxvi, 3-5, 14-16). 

Squab. Short and fat; plump; a person, 
cushion, etc., like this (a fat woman is squabba 
in Swedish). A young pigeon — especially an 
unfledged one — is called a squab , and a pie of 
mutton, apples, and onions is called a squab 
pie in some parts of the country. 

Cornwall squab-pie, and Devon white-pot brings, 

And Leicester beans and bacon, fit for kings. 

King: Art of Cookery. 

Poet Squab. So Rochester called Dryden, 
who was very corpulent. 

Squad, Squadron. See Awkward Squad. 

Squalls. l ook out for squalls. Expect to meet 
with difficulties. A nautical term, a squall 
being a succession of sudden and violent gusts 
of wind (Icel. skvata). 

Square. Colloquialism for an intellectual per- 
son, and often more particularly denoting a 
person who likes classical music. The term has 
gained currency since World War II. Ivor 
Brown suggests three possible origins: (1) from 
the square dance, a traditional dance and 
therefore one with cultural interest; (2) a 
possible association with a phrase like “old 
square toes,” meaning a sound, decent fellow; 
(3) the square mortarboard of academic dress. 
There is the possible origin of an intellectual 
as being a person who is the square peg that 
docs not fit into the round hole. 

On the square. Straight and above board, 
honest. Also said of a Freemason, with 
allusion to the Masonic emblem of a square 
and compasses. 

To square a person. To bribe him, or to pay 
him for some extra trouble he has taken. 

To square the circle. To attempt an impossi- 
bility. The allusion is to the impossibility of 
exactly determining the precise ratio between 
the diameter and the circumference of a circle, 
and thus constructing a circle of the same area 
as a given square. Popularly it is 3- 14 159 . . . 
the next decimals would be 26537, but the 
numbers would go on ad infinitum. 

To square up to a person. To put oneself in 
a fighting attitude. 

Are you such fools 
To square for this? 

Titus Andronicus, II, i. 



Squatter 


854 


Stalking-horse 


Squatter. Used first in the U.S.A. of a person 
settling on land without a legal title, thence 
went to Australia in the early 19th century 
to describe ex-convicts who established them- 
selves on unoccupied land and stole cattle from 
their more honest neighbours to enrich them- 
selves. 

A squatter ... is the horror of all his honest 
neighbours. — C harles Darwin : Voyage of the Beagle. 

Squeers. See Dotheboys Hall. 

Squib. A political joke, printed and circulated 
especially at election times against a candidate, 
with intent to bring him into ridicule, and to 
influence votes. 

Allowing that the play succeeds, there are a 
hundred squibs flying all abroad to show that it 
should not have succeeded. — G oldsmith: Polite 
Learning. 

Squinancy. See Quinsy. 

Squintum, Doctor. George Whitefield (171 4-70), 
so called by Foote in his farce The Minor. 

Theodore Hook applied the sobriquet to 
Edward Irving the preacher (1792-1834), who 
had an obliquity of the eyes. 

Squire. In mediaeval times a youth of gentle 
birth attendant on a knight Esquire); 
now a landed proprietor, the chief country 
gentleman of a place. 

Squire of dames. Any cavalier who is 
devoted to ladies. Spenser, in his Faerie 
Queene , introduces the ‘‘squire,” and records 
his adventures. 

Stabat Mater (sta' b&t mu' ter) (Lat. The 
Mother was standing). The Latin hymn re- 
citing the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin at the 
Cross, so called from its opening words, 
forming part of the service during Passion 
week, in the Roman Catholic Church. It was 
composed by the Franciscan Jacopo ne da Todi 
(1220-1306), and has been set to music by 
Pergolesi, Rossini, Haydn, etc. 

Stable. Locking the stable door after the horse 
is stolen. Taking precautions after the mischief 
is done. 

StafT. I keep the staff in my own hand. I keep 
possession; 1 retain the right. The staff was 
the ancient sceptre, and therefore, figuratively, 
it means power, authority, dignity, etc. 

Give up your staff, sir, and the king his realm. 

Henry Vi Ft. //, II, iii. 

The staff of life. Bread, which is the support 
of life. 

“Bread,” says he, “dear brothers, is the staff of 
life.” — Swift: Tale of a Tub , iv. 

Shakespeare says, “The boy was the very 
staff of my age.” The allusion is to a staff 
which supports the feeble in walking. 

To put down one’s staff in a place. To abide 
for a while, to set down one’s staff, as a 
traveller at an inn. The phrase was first used 
by Thomas Adams (fl. 1612-53) ,”the prose 
Shakespeare of Puritan theologians.” 

To strike staff. To lodge for the time being. 

Stafford. He has had a treat in Stafford Court. 
He has been thoroughly cudgelled, a pun on 
the word staff, a stick. The French nave a 
similar phrase: ll a eti au Jest in de Martin 
Boston (he has been to Jack Drum’s entertain- 
ment)* 


Similarly, Stafford law is club law — a good 
beating. 

Stag. The reason why a stag symbolizes Christ 
is from the ancient idea that by its breath it 
draws serpents from their holes, and then 
tramples them to death. (Pliny: Natural 
History , viii, 50.) 

Stag in Christian art. The attribute of St. 
Julian Hospitaller, St. Felix of Valois, and St. 
Aidan. When it has a crucifix between its horns 
it alludes to the legend of St. Hubert. When 
luminous it belongs to St. Eustachius. 

Stag Line. At American dances, a number 
of extra men guests who stand at the edge of 
the dance-floor, without partners, but having 
the privilege of breaking in on any dancing 
couple and claiming the girl as a partner. 

Stag party. A gathering of men only. 

Stags, in Stock Exchange phraseology, are 
persons who apply for new shares, etc., on 
allotment, not because they wish to hold the 
shares, but because they hope to sell the allot- 
ment at a premium. 

Stagiritc or Stagyrite (stSj' i rlt). Aristotle, 
who was born at Stagira, in Macedon (4th 
cent. b.c.). 

And rules as strict his laboured work confine 
As if the Stagiiite o*er looked each line. 

Popl : Fssuy on Criticism. 

Stakhanovism (stSk fin' 6 vizm). Alexei Sta- 
khanov, a Donetzcoa! miner, discovered in the 
1930s that by concentrating on one aspect of 
his job and rationalizing the distribution of 
his work he could increase his daily output of 
coal by a substantial quantity. This aroused 
enthusiastic emulation among the younger 
and more skilled workers of his own and other 
trades, and was raised into a serious cult by 
the government. 

Stalemate. To stalemate a person. To bring 

him to a standstill, render his projects worth- 
less or abortive. The phrase is from chess, 
stalemate being the position in which the king 
is the only movable piece and he, though not 
in check, cannot move without becoming so. 
Stale in this word is probably from O.Fr. 
estal (our stall), a fixed position. 

Stalingrad (sta' lin grad), formerly Tsaritsyn, 
an important railway centre and manufacturing 
town on the Volga, in the S.E. Soviet Union. 
In 1917 Stalin defended Tsaritsyn against the 
White Army and its name was changed to 
commemorate the incident. In World War II 
Stalingrad was attacked by the Germans in 
their Caucasus drive in August 1942, but the 
Russians made a gallant defence that ended 
(Feb., 1943) in the capitulation of the Germans 
under Field-Marshal Paulus. From that time 
onward the Nazi offensive in Russia was turned 
into a retreat and eventually a rout. 

In 1962 the name was changed to Volgograd. 

Stalking-horse. A mask to conceal some design; 
a person put forward to mislead; a sham. 
Sportsmen often used to conceal themselves 
behind horses, and go on stalking step by 
step till they got within shot of the game. 

He uMt his folly like a stalking-horse, and under 
the presentation of that he shoots bis wit*-— At You 
Like it, V, iv. 




Stammerer 


855 


Stannaries 


Stammerer, The. Louis II of France, le Bkgue 
(846, 877-9). 

Michael II, Emperor of the East (820-829). 

Notker of St. Gall (830-912). 

Stamp. ’Tis of the right stamp — has the stamp 
of genuine merit. A metaphor taken from 
current coin, which is stamped with a recog- 
nized stamp and superscription. 

1 weigh the man, not his title; ’tis not the king’s 
stamp can make the metal heavier or better.— 
Wychfrley: The Plain Dealer , I, i (1677). 

The rank is but the guinea's stamp; 

The man’s the gowd for a’ that! 

Burns: Is There for Honest Poverty? 

Stand. To be at a stand. To be in doubt as to 
further progress, perplexed at what to do next. 

To let a thing stand over. To defer considera- 
tion of it to a more favourable opportunity. 

To stand by. To be ready to give assistance 
in case of need. A stand-by is a person or thing 
on which one can confidently rely. 

To stand for a child. To be sponsor for it; 
to stand in its place and answer for it. 

To stand in with. To go shares; also, to have 
an understanding or community of interests 
with. 

To stand It out — persist in what one says. 
A translation of “persist*’ (Lat. per-sisto or 
per- s to). 

To stand off and on. A nautical phrase for 
tacking in and out along the shore. 

To stand Sam, stand to reason, stand treat, 
etc. See these words . 

To stand to one’s guns. To persist in a 
statement; not to give way. A military phrase. 

To stand up for. Support, take his (or its) 
part. 

To stand up for one’s privilege or on punctilios. 
Quietly to insist on one’s position, etc., being 
recognized; this is the Latin insisfo. 

Stand-in. In motion-picture parlance a 
substitute for a film star who takes his or her 
place during the preparations for lighting, etc.; 
performs any really dangerous stunts the part 
demands; and in general relieves the star ot 
all but the glamorous, romantic, or publicity- 
value work of the i art. 

Standing orders. Rules or instructions 
constantly in force, especially those by-laws 
of the Houses of Parliament for the conduct 
of proceedings which stand in force till they 
are rescinded or suspended. Their suspension 
is generally caused by a desire to hurry through 
a Bill with unusual expedition. 

The Standing Fishes Bible. See Bible, 
Specially named. 

Stand-offish. Unsociable, rather contemptu- 
ously reserved. 

Standard. A banner as the distinctive emblem 
of a Royal House, an army, or a nation, etc. 
The word first came into use in England in 
connexion with the Battle of the Standard 
(see below), in telling of which Richard of 
Hexham (c. 1139) says that the standard 
(a ship’s mast with flags at the top) was so 
called because “it was there that valour took 


its stand to conquer or die.” The word is, 
however, from Lat. extendtre, to stretch out, 
through O.Fr. estandard. 

Standards were formerly borne by others 
than royalties and nations, and varied in size 
according to the rank of the bearer. Thus, 
that of an emperor was 11 yards in length; of 
a king, 9 yards; of a prince , 7 yards; of a 
marquis , 64 yards; of an earl , 6 yards; of a 
viscount or baron, 5 yards; of a knight- 
banneret, 44 yards; of a baronet , 4 yards. Tney 
generally contained the arms of the bearer, 
his cognizance and crest, his motto or war-cry, 
and were fringed with his livery. 

Standard is also applied to a measure of 
extent, weight, value, etc., which is established 
by law or custom as an example or criterion 
for others; and, in figurative use from this, to 
any criterion or principle, as “The standard of 
po itical rectitude.” The weights and measures 
vere formerly known as “the king’s standard,” 
as being official and recognized by royal 
authority. 

In uses such as an electric-light standard 
(the lamp-post), standard rose (Le. one that 
stands on its own stem and is not trained to a 
wall or espalier), etc., the word is the result 
of confusion with stand. 

The Battle of the Standard, between the 
English and the Scots, at Cuton Moor, near 
Northallerton, in 1138. Here David I, fighting 
on behalf of Matilda, was defeated by King 
Stephen’s army under Raoul, Bishop of Dur- 
ham, and Thurstan, Archbishop oi York. It 
received its name from a ship’s mast erected on 
a wagon, and placed in the centre of the 
English army; the mast displayed the banner 
of St. Peter of York, St. John of Beverley, 
and St. Wilfred of Ripon. On the top was a 
little casket containing the consecrated Host. 

The gold standard. A monetary standard 
based only on the value of gold. 

The standard of living. A conventional term 
to express the supposed degree of comfort or 
luxury usually enjoyed by a man, a family, or 
a nation: this may be high or low according 
to circumstances. 

Slang. To ride the stang. At one time a man 
who ill-treated his wife was made to sit on a 
stang (O.E. stceng, a pole) hoisted on men’s 
shoulders. On this uneasy conveyance the 
“stanger” was carried in procession amidst 
the hootings and jeerings of his neighbours. 
Cp. Skimmington. 

Stanhope (st&n' dp). The Stanhope lens, a 
cy lindrical lens with spherical ends of different 
radii, and the Stanhope press, the first iron 
printing press to be used (1798), are so called 
from the inventor, Charles, 3rd Earl of Stan- 
hope (1753-1816). 

The light open-seated carriage, with two 
or four wheels, called a Stanhope, gets its 
name from Fitzroy Stanhope (1787-1864), for 
whom the first of these conveyances was made. 

Stannaries, The. The tin-mining districts of 
Cornwall and Devon (Lat. stannum , tin), 
which, from the earliest times to 1752 had their 
own parliament, consisting of twenty-four 
stannators, convened by the Lord Warden to 




Star 


856 


States General 


the Duke of Cornwall. Until 1896 the admini- 
stration of justice among the miners and others 
of these districts was in the hands of Stannary 
Courts , but at this date the business was 
transferred by Act of Parliament to the 
ordinary County Court. 

Star, Figuratively applied to a specially 
prominent film or other actor, of either sex, 
etc., hence star part, the part taken by a 
leading actor, star turn, etc. 

In ecclesiastical art a number of saints may 
be recognized by the star depicted with them; 
thus, St. Bruno bears one on his breast; St. 
Dominic, St. Humbert, St. Peter of Alcantara, 
one over their head, or on their forehead, etc. 

A star of some form constitutes part of the 
insignia of every order of knighthood; the 
Star and Garter, a common inn sign, being in 
reference to the Most Noble Order of the 
Garter. 

The stars were said by the old astrologers to 
have almost omnipotent influence on the lives 
and destinies of man (cp. Judges v, 20 — “The 
stars in their courses fought against Sisera”), 
and to this old belief is due a number of phrases 
still common, as — Bless my stars! You may 
thank your lucky stars, star-crossed (not 
favoured by the stars, unfortunate), to be bom 
under an evil star, etc. 

His star is in the ascendant. He is in luck’s 
way; said of a person to whom some good 
fortune has fallen and who is very prosperous. 
According to astrology, those leading stars 
which are above the horizon at a person’s 
birth influence his life and fortune; when those 
stars are in the ascendant, he is strong, healthy, 
and lucky; but when they are in the descendant 
below the horizon, his stars do not shine on 
him, he is in the shade and subject to ill- 
fortune. Cp. Houses, Astrological. 

I’ll make you see stars! “I’ll put you through 
it”; literally, will give you such a blow in the 
eye with my fist that, when you are struck, 
you’ll experience the optical illusion of seeing 
brilliant streaks, radiating and darting in all 
directions. 

Star Chamber. A court of civil and criminal 
jurisdiction at Westminster, abolished in 1641, 
and notorious for its arbitrary proceedings, 
its chief activity being the punishment of such 
offences as the law had made no provision for. 

So called either because the ceiling or roof 
was decorated with gilt stars, or because it was 
the chamber where the “starrs” or Jewish 
documents were kept. 

It is well known that, before the banishment of the 
Jews by Edward I, their contracts and obligations 
were denominated . . . starra or stars. . . . The room 
in the exchequer where the chests . . . were kept 
was. , . the star-chamber. — Blackstone: Com- 
mentaries , vol. II, bk. IV, p. 266. 

Star of Bethlehem. A bulbous plant of the 
lily family ( Ornithogallum umbellatum ), with 
star-shaped white flowers. The French peasants 
call it La dame d'onze heures , because it opens 
at eleven o’clock. 

Star of David. A large yellow cloth star 
which Jews and persons of Jewish descent were 
forced to wear on their clothes under the Nazi 
and Fascist regimes. To express his disap- 


proval of this racial indignity King Christian X 
of Denmark himself wore a Star of David 
during the German occupation of his country. 

Star of India. A British order of knighthood. 
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India , 
instituted in 1861 by Queen Victoria as a 
reward for services in and for India and a 
means of recognizing the loyalty of native 
rulers. Its motto is “Heaven’s Light our 
Guide.” 

Stars and bars. The flag of the eleven Con- 
federate States of America who broke away 
from the Union in 1860. It consisted of two 
broad horizontal red bars with a narrow white 
bar between them ; in the top left corner a blue 
union bearing eleven white stars arranged in a 
circle. 

Stars and Stripes or the Star-spangled 
Banner, the flag of the United States or North 
America. The stripes are emblematic of the 
original thirteen States, and the stars — of which 
there are fifty — of the States that now con- 
stitute the Union. 

The first Hag used in the Revolutionary War (1774) 
was a red flag bearing a Union Jack and the words 
“Liberty and Union.” The next (1775) displayed 
a coiled snake and the words Don't tread on me\ the 
third showed a pine tree and was also used in 1775. 
The first version of the Stars and Stripes was raised at 
the Siege of Boston on January 1, 17 76, and consisted 
of thirteen stripes, alternately red and white, with a 
blue canton emblazoned with the crosses of St. 
George and St. Andrew. 

By act of Congress dated June 14, 1777, the two 
crosses in the canton were replaced by thirteen stars 
in a circle, to a design by Francis Hopkinson. The 
prototype is said to have been embroidered by Betsv 
Ross, a Quaker widow who kept an upholsterers 
shop in Arch Street, Philadelphia, though this 
tradition is now regarded with grave doubts. 

In 1794 (after the admission of Vermont and 
Kentucky) the stripes and stars were each increased 
to fifteen, but in 1818 it was decided that the original 
thirteen stripes should be restored, and stars added to 
signify the States in the Union. It was in 1818, also, 
that the stars were squared up for the first time. 

Starboard and Larboard. Star- is the Old 
English steor , rudder; bord , side; meaning the 
right side of a ship (looking forwards). Lar- 
board, for the left-hand side, is now obsolete, 
and “port” is used instead. The word was 
earlier lecreboard (O.E. Icrre , empty) that side 
being clear as the steersman stood on the star 
(steer) board. 

Starvation Dundas. Henry Dundas, Horace 
Lord Melville ( 1 740- 1811) was so called by Wal- 
pole, because when the Opposition denounced 
the Bill for restraining trade and commerce with 
the New England colonics ( 1 775) on the ground 
that it would cause a famine in which the 
innocent would suffer with the guilty, he said 
that he was “afraid” the Bill would not have 
this effect. The word “starvation” was first 
used by Dundas. 

Starved With Cold. Half dead with cold (O.E. 
steorfan, to die). 

States, The. A common term for the United 
States of America. 

States General. The supreme legislative 
assembly of France before the Revolution of 
1789. It was only summoned as a last resort, 
prior to 1789 not having been called since 




Station 


857 


Stephen 


1614. It consisted of the three Estates of the 
realm, nobles, clergy, and the Third Estate 
( Tiers Etat ) or commoners. The name is still 
applied to the parliament of the kingdom of 
the Netherlands. 

Station. This word with the meaning of a place 
where people assemble for a specific duty or 
purpose has many applications; e.g. a railway 
station (U.S.A. depot); a police station, 
lifeboat station, etc. In Australia it was used as 
early as 1830 in the sense of a cattle farm or 
ranch. Thus, station black, an aboriginal; 
station super, a manager; station mark, a 
brand; station jack, a sort of meat pudding. 

The Stations of the Cross; known as the via 
Calvaria or via Crucis. Each station represents, 
by fresco, picture, or otherwise, some incident 
in the passage of Christ from the judgment hall 
to Calvary, and at each prayers are offered 
up in memory of the event represented. They 
are as follows: — 

1) The condemnation to death. 

2) Christ is made to bear His cross. 

3) His first fall under the cross. 

(4) The meeting with the Virgin. 

(5) Simon the Cyrencan helps to carry the cross. 

(6) Veronica wipes the sacred face. 

(7) The second fall. 

(8) Christ speaks to the daughters of Jerusalem. 

(9) The third fall. 

(10) Christ is stripped of His garments. 

(11) The nailing to the cross. 

(12) The giving up of the Spirit. 

(13) Christ is taken down from the cross. 

(14) The deposition in the sepulchre. 

Stator (sta' tor) (Lat. the stopper or arrester). 
When the Romans lied from the Sabines, they 
stopped at a certain place and made terms with 
the victors. On this spot they afterwards built 
a temple to Jupiter, and called it the temple of 
Jupiter Stator or Jupiter who caused them to 
stop in their flight. 

Here, Stator Jove and Phcrbus, god of verse. 

The votive tablet 1 suspend. Prior. 

Statute (Lat. statutum; from statuere , to cause 
to stand; the same word, etymologically, as 
statue). A law enacted by a legislative body, 
an Act of Parliament; also laws enacted by the 
king and council before there were any regular 
parliaments. Hence, a statute mile , a statute 
t on , etc., is the measure as by law established 
and not according to local custom. 

On the statute book. Included among the 
laws of the nation : the statute book is the whole 
body of the laws. 

Statute fair. A mop fair. See Mop. 

Steaks, Sublime Society of the. See Beef-steak 
Club. The. 

Steal. One man may steal a horse, but another 
must not look over the hedge. See Horse. 

To steal a march on one. To obtain an 
advantage by stealth, as when an army appears 
unexpectedly before an enemy. 

Stolen sweets are always sweeter. Things 
rocured by stealth, and game illicitly taken, 
ave the charm of illegality to make them the 
more palatable. Solomon says, “Stolen waters 
are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant" 
{Prov. ix, 17). 


In one of the songs in Act III, sc. iv, of 
Randolph’s Amyntos (1638) are the lines: — 
Furto cuncta magis bella, 

Furto dulcior Puella, 

Furto omnia decora, 

Furto poma dulciora, 

which were translated by Leigh Hunt as:— 
Stolen sweets are always sweeter, 

Stolen kisses much completer. 

Stolen looks are nice in chapels, 

Stolen, stolen, be your apples. 

Steelyard. A place (formerly a yard or en- 
closure) on the Thames just above London 
Bridge, where the Hanse merchants had their 
depot. The name is a mistranslation of Ger. 
Staalhof ', sample yard, Staal meaning both 
sample and steel. 

Steelyard, the weighing machine with 
unequal arms, in which the article to be 
weighed is hung from the shorter arm and a 
weight moved along the other till they balance, 
is named from the metal and the measure 
(O.E. gyrd , gerd , a stick). 

Stecnie. A nickname given by James I to the 
handsome George Villiers, Duke of Bucking- 
ham. The allusion is to Acts vi, 15, where 
those who looked on Stephen the martyr “saw 
his face as it had been the face of an angel." 

Steeplechase. A horse-race across fields, 
hedges, ditches, and other obstacles. The term 
arose in the late 18th century from a party of 
foxhunters agreeing, on their return from an 
unsuccessful chase, to race in a direct line to 
the village church, the steeple of which was in 
sight, regardless of anything that happened 
to lie in the way. 

For the principal English steeplechases, see 
Races. 

Steeple house. The old Puritan epithet for a 
church. 

Stentor (sten' tor). The voice of a Stentor. A 
very loud voice. Stentor was a Greek herald 
in the Trojan war. According to Homer (Iliad 
V, 783), his voice was as loud as that of fifty 
men combined; hence stentorian, loud-voiced. 

Step-. A prefix used before father , mother , 
brother , sister, son , daughter , etc., to indicate 
that the person spoken of is a relative only by 
the marriage of a parent, and not by blood 
(O.E. stJop, connected with astieped, bereaved). 
Thus, a man who marries a widow with 
children becomes stepfather to those children, 
and if he has children by her these and those of 
the widow’s earlier marriage are stepbrothers 
or stepsisters. The latter are also called half- 
brothers and half-sisters ; but some make a 
distinction between the terms, half-brother 
being kept for what we have already defined 
as a stepbrother , this latter term being applied 
only between the children of former marriages 
when both parents have been previously 
married. 

I feel like a stepchild. Said by one who is 
being left out of the fun or getting none of the 
titbits. Step-children are proverbially treated 
by the step-parent with somewhat less con- 
sideration than the others. 

Stephen, St. The first Christian martyr— the 
"protomartyr." He was accused of blasphemy 



Stockfish 


860 


Stone Soup 


as a contemptuous epithet of abuse; thus 
FalstafT shouts at Prince Henry — 

Away, you starveling, you elf-skin, you dried 
neat's tongue, bull’s pizzle, you stock-fish! — Henry 
IV Pt. I, II, iv. 

I will beat thee like a stockfish, Moffat and 
Bennet, in their Health's Improvement (p. 262), 
inform us that dried cod, till it is beaten, is 
called buckhorn , because it is so tough; but 
after it has been beaten on the stock, it is 
termed stockfish. 

Peace! thou wilt be beaten like a stockfish else. — 
Jonson: Every Man in his Humour , III, ii. 

Stocking. Used of one’s savings or “nest-egg,” 
because formerly money used to be hoarded 
up in an old stocking, which was frequently 
hung up the chimney for safety. 

Blue stocking. See under Blue. 

Stockwell Ghost. A supposed ghost that 
created a great sensation in Stockwell, London, 
in 1772. The author of the strange noises was 
Anne Robinson, a servant. Cp. Cock Lane. 

Stoga, Stogy (U.S.A.). An abbreviation of 
Conestoga. Applied to farmers’ rough shoes, 
and to common cigars. 

Stoic (std' ik). A school of Greek philosophers 
(founded by Zeno, c. 308 b.c.) who held 
that virtue was the highest good, and that the 
passions and appetites should be rigidly 
subdued. It was so called because Zeno gave 
his lectures in the Stoa Poikile , the Painted 
Porch ( see Porch) of Athens. 

Epictetus was the founder of the New Stoic 
school (1st cent. a.d.). 

The ancient Stoics in their porch 

With fierce dispute maintained their church. 

Beat out their brains in fight and study 
To prove that virtue is a body, 

That bonum is an animal. 

Made good with stout polemic bawl. 

Butler: Hudibras, II, ii. 

Stole (Lat. stola). An ecclesiastical vestment, 
also called the Orarium. Deacons wear the 
stole over the left shoulder, and loop the two 
parts together, that they may both hang on 
the right side. Priests wear it over both 
shoulders and hanging loose in front. 

Stole, Groom of the. Formerly, the first lord 
of the bedchamber, a high officer of the Royal 
Household ranking next after the vice- 
chamberlain. The office was allowed to lapse 
on the accession of Queen Victoria; in the 
reign of Queen Anne it was held by a woman. 

Stole, here, is not connected with Lat. 
stola , a robe, but refers to the king’s stool, or 
rivy. As late as the 16th century, when the 
ing made a royal progress his close-stool 
formed part of the baggage and was in charge 
of a special officer or groom. 

Stolen Things. See under Steal. 

Stomach. Used figuratively of inclination, 
appetite, etc. 

He who hath no stomach for this fight. — Shake- 
speare: Henry V, IV, in*. 

Wolsey was a man of an unbounded stomach.—* 
Henry VIII, IV, ii. 

Let me praise you while I have the stomach. — 
Merchant of Venice , HI, v. 


To stomach an Insult. To swallow it and 
not resent it. 

If you must believe, stomach not all. — Shake- 
speare: Antony and Cleopatra, III, iv. 

Stone. Used in a figurative sense in many 
ways when some characteristic of a stone is 
to be pointed out; as, stone blind , stone cold, 
stone dead , stone still , etc., as blind, cold, dead, 
or still as a stone. 

I will not struggle; I will stand stone still. 

King John, IV, i. 

In all ages stones, especially those of 
meteoric origin or those fabled to have 
“fallen from heaven,” have been set up and 
worshipped by primitive peoples, and the 
great stone circles of Stonehenge, Avebury, 
the Orkneys, Carnac, etc., are relics of religious 
rites. Anaxagoras mentions a stone that fell 
from Jupiter in Thrace, a description of which 
is given by Pliny. The Ephesians asserted that 
their image of Diana came from Jupiter. The 
stone at Emcssa, in Syria, worshipped as a 
symbol of the sun, was a similar meteorite. 
At Abydos and Potidiea similar stones were 
preserved. At Corinth was one venerated as 
Zeus. At Cyprus was one dedicated to Venus, 
a description of which is given by Tacitus and 
Maximus Tyrius. Hcrodian describes one in 
Syria, and the famous “black stone” (^.v.) 
set in the Kaaba of the Moslems, is a similar 
meteorite. 

After the Moslem pilgrim has made his 
seven processions round the Kaaba, he repairs 
to Mount Arafat, and before sunrise enters 
the valley of Mena, where he throws seven 
stones at each of three pillars, in imitation of 
Abraham and Adam, who thus drove away 
the devil when he disturbed their devotions. 

A rolling stone gathers no moss. One who is 
always “chopping and changing” and won’t 
settle down will never become wealthy. So 
says the proverb (which is common to many 
languages), but it is not always borne out by 
facts — and its reverse does not hold true. 
Tusser, in his Five Hundred Points of Good 
Husbandrie (1573), has — 

The stone that is rolling can gather no moss. 

For master and servant oft changing is loss. 

Hag-stones. Flints naturally perforated, 
used in country places as charms against 
witches, the evil eye, etc. They are hung on the 
key of an outer door, round the neck for luck, 
on the bed-post to prevent nightmare, on a 
horse’s collar to ward off disease, etc. 

Stone of stumbling. An obstacle, stumbling- 
block, or an occasion for being hindered. The 
phrase is from Isa . viii, 14: — 

He shall be ... for a stone of stumbling and for a 
rock of offence to both the houses of israeL 

Stone soup or St. Bernard's soup. The story 
goes that a beggar asked alms at a lordly 
mansion, but was told by the servants they 
had nothing to give him. “Sorry for it,” said 
the man, “but will you let me boil a little 
water to make some soup of this stone 7” 
This was so novel a proceeding, that the 
curiosity of the servants was aroused, and the 
man was readily furnished with saucepan, 
water, and a spoon. In he popped the stone, 
and begged for a little salt and pepper for 




Stone 


861 


Store 


flavouring. Stirring the water and tasting it, he 
said it would be the better for any fragments 
of meat and vegetables they might happen to 
have. These were supplied, and ultimately he 
asked for a little ketchup or other sauce. 
When ready the servants tasted it, and declared 
that “stone soup” was excellent. 

This story, which was a great favourite in 
the 16th and 17th centuries, was told with 
many variations, horseshoes, nails, ram’s- 
horns, etc., taking the place of the stone as 
narrated above. 

The Standing Stones of Stenncss, in the Ork- 
neys, resemble Stonehenge, but are unlikely 
to have been Druidical. The custom of 
constructing these circles was prevalent in 
Scandinavia as well as in Gaul and Britain, 
and as common to the mythology of Odin as 
to Druidism. They were places of public 
assembly, and in the Eyrbiggia Saga is 
described the manner of setting apart the Helga 
Feli (Holy Rocks) by the pontilf Thorolf for 
solemn meetings. 

The Stone Age. The period when stone 
implements were used by primitive man. It 
preceded the Bronze Age; and some peoples, 
such as certain tribes in Papua, have not yet 
emerged from it. See Paleolithic. 

The stone jacket or jug. Slang for prison. See 
Jug. 

To cast the first stone. To take the lead in 
criticizing, fault-finding, quarrelling, etc. The 
phrase is from John viii, 7: — 

He that is without sin among you, let him first cast 
a stone at her. 

To kill two birds with one stone. See Bird. 

To leave no stone unturned. To spare no 
trouble, time, expense, etc., in endeavouring 
to accomplish your aim. After the defeat of 
Mardonius at Platxa (477 b.c.), a report was 
current that the Persian general had left great 
treasures in his tent. Polycratcs the Theban 
sought long but found them not. The Oracle of 
Delphi, being consulted, told him “to leave no 
stone unturned,’* and the treasures were 
discovered. 

You have stones in your mouth. Said to a 
person who stutters or speaks very indistinctly. 
Demosthenes cured himself of stuttering by 
putting pebbles in his mouth and declaiming 
on the seashore. 

The orator who once 
Did fill his mouth with pebble stone* 

When he harangued. — B utler: Hudibras , I, i. 

See also /Etites, Philosophers* Stone, 
Precious Stones, Touchstone, etc. 

Stonebrash. A name given in Wiltshire to 
the subsoil of the north-western border, which 
consists of a reddish calcareous loam, mingled 
with flat stones; a soil made of small stones or 
broken rock. 

Stony Arabia. A mistranslation of Arabia 
Petraea , where Petraea is supposed to be an 
adjective formed from the Greek petros (a 
stone). The name is really taken from the city 
of Petra, the capita! of the Nabathaeans. Cp. 
Yemen. 


Stonehenge. The most famous prehistoric 
monument in Britain, situated on Salisbury 
Plain and two miles west of Amesbury. The 
name is from O.E. hengen , in reference to some- 
thing hung up, in this case the horizontal lintel 
stones. For long regarded as built by the 
Druids, modern excavations have revealed that 
it is a far older structure of several periods. 
The earliest building on the site was an earth- 
work bank with an outer ditch, with one 
entrance fronted by parallel banks and ditches 
called the Avenue. Within the earthwork is a 
circle of over fifty ritual pits, containing re- 
mains that belong to the Neolithic Wessex 
culture of the second millennium b.c. The so 
called Hele Stone standing in isolation belongs 
to this era. 

In the second phase, not much later, was 
erected the great double circle of Blue Stones 
that have been proved to come from the 
Prescelly Mountains in Pembrokeshire. These 
are within a circle of great sarsen stones built in 
the third phase, though it appears that the Blue 
Stones were then rearranged within the outer 
sarsen circle. It is certain that Stonehenge was a 
centre of worship. One of its strangest features 
is that the sun on midsummer day rises over 
the Hele Stone, which suggests that it may have 
been a temple of the sun. It stands unique 
among British prehistoric monuments in hav- 
ing hewn stones, cap-stones, tenons and 
sockets. 

Stonewall, To. A cricketer's term for adopting 
urely defensive measures when at the wicket, 
locking every ball and not attempting to 
score. It was originally Australian political 
slang and was used of obstructing business. 

Stonewall Jackson. Thomas J. Jackson 
(1824-63), one of the Confederate generals in 
the American Civil War; so called because at 
the Battle of Bull Run (1861) General Bee, 
of South Carolina, observing his men to waver, 
exclaimed either, “Look at Jackson's men; they 
stand like a stone wall!’* or “See, there is Jack- 
son, standing like a stone wall.*’ 

Stooge (stooj). The second partner in a comic 
music-hall act whose role is to be stupid, ask 
questions, and make the comedian say every- 
thing twice and very distinctly so that the jokes 
get over to the audience. Hence the term has 
passed into common parlance for a confed- 
erate or a decoy. 

Stool Pigeon. A police spy or informer; also 
a person employed by gamblers, etc., as a 
decoy or secret confederate. 

Stool of Repentance. The cutty stool, a low 
stool placed in front of the pulpit in Scottish 
churches, on which persons who had incurred 
ecclesiastical censure were placed during 
divine service. When the service was over the 
penitent had to stand on the stool and receive 
the minister's rebuke. 

Store. Store cattle. Beasts kept on a Farm for 
breeding purposes, or thin cattle bought for 
fattening. 

Store is no sore. Things stored up for future 
use are no evil. Sore means grief as welt as 
wound, our sorrow . 



Store 


862 


Stranger 


To set store by. To value highly. 

Storehouse of the world. Mexico is sometimes 
so styled because of the profusion of its min- 
eral and other resources. The name was 

S robabiy suggested by the fact that Alexander 
[umboldt (1769-1859) called Mexico “the 
treasure-house of the world.” 

Stork. According to the Swedish legend, the 
stork received its name from flying round the 
cross of the crucified Redeemer, crying 
Styrka! styrka ! (Strengthen ! strengthen !). 

Many fables and legends have grown up 
around this bird. Lyly refers to it more than 
once in his Euphues (1580), as — 

Ladies use their lovers as the stork doth her young 
ones wfco pccketh them till they bleed with her bill, 
and then healeth them with her tongue. 

And again — 

Constancy is like unto the stork, who wheresoever 
she fly cometh into no nest but her own. 

And — 

It fareth with me ... as with the stork, who, when 
she is least able, carrieth the greatest burden. 

Dutch and German mothers tell their 
children that babies are brought by storks; 
and another common belief was that the stork, 
like the secretary bird, will kill snakes “on 
sight”; 

Twill profit when the stork, sworn foe of snakes. 
Returns, to show compassion to thy plants. 

Philips: Cyder , Bk. I. 

King Stork. A tyrant that devours his 
subjects, and makes them submissive with fear 
and trembling. The allusion is to the fable of 
The Frogs desiring a King. See Log. 

Storks* law or Lex ciconaria. A Roman law 
which obliged children to maintain their 
necessitous parents in old age, “in imitation of 
the stork.” Also called “Antipelargia.” 

Storm (Austr.). Young grass which has grown 
after a rainfall in dry areas. Travelling from 
storm to storm is to storm along. 

A brain-storm. A sudden and violent up- 
heaval in the brain, causing temporary loss 
of control, or even madness. Nerve-storm is 
used in much the same way of the nerves. 

A storm in a teacup. A mighty to-do about a 
trifle; making a great fuss about nothing. 

Storm and stress. See Sturm und Drano. 

The Cape of Storms. So Bartholomew Diaz 
named the south cape of Africa in 1486, but 
John II of Portugal (d. 1495) changed it to 
the Cape of Good Hope. 

To take by storm. To seize by a sudden and 
irresistible attack; a military term used 
figuratively, as of one who becomes suddenly 
famous or popular; an actor, suddenly 
springing to fame, “takes the town by storm. 

Stormy Petrel. See Petrel. 

Stomello Verses (stdr ncl' 6) are those in which 
certain words are harped on and turned about 
and about. They are common among the 
Tuscan peasants. The word is from tornare 
(to return). 

Til tell him the white, end the green, and the red , 
Mean our country has flung the vile yoke from her 

bead; 


PI! tell him the green , and the red , and the white , 
Would look well by his side as a sword-knot so bright; 
Pll tell him the red, and the while, and th e green. 

Is the prize that we play for, a prize we will win. 

Notes and Queries. 

Storthing or Storting (stdr' ting). The Nor- 
wegian Parliament, elected every three years 
(. stor , great; thing , assembly). 

Stoush (stoush). Australian, a brawl. World 
War I was known by Australian troops as the 
Big Stoush. Probably from English stashie , an 
uproar. 

Stovepipe Hat. An old-fashioned tall silk hat, 
a chimney-pot hat (q.v.). 

High collars, tight coats, and tight sleeves were 
worn at home and abroad, and, as though that were 
not enough, a stovepipe hat. — Illustrated Sporting and 
Dramatic News, Sept. 1891, 

Strad. A colloquial name for a violin made by 
the famous maker Antonio Stradivarius (1644- 
1737) of Cremona. His best period was about 
1700 to 1725; he sold his violins for about £4 
each; they have since realized as much as 
£3,000, and one of his 'cellos £4,000. 

Strafe (straf) (Ger. strafen , to punish). A word 
borrowed in good-humoured contempt from 
the Germans during World War I. One of their 
favourite slogans was Gott strafe England ! The 
word was applied to any sharp and sudden 
bombardment. 

Strain. The quality of mercy is not strained 

( Merchant of Venice, IV, i) — constrained or 
forced, but comes down freely as the rain, 
which is God’s gift. 

To strain a point. To go beyond one’s usual, 
or the proper, limits; to give way a bit more 
than one has any right to. 

To strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. 

To make much fuss about little peccadilloes, 
but commit otTences of real magnitude. The 
proverb comes from Matt, xxiii, 24, which in 
Tyndale’s, Coverdalc’s, and other early ver- 
sions reads to strain out , etc., meaning to 
filter out a gnat before drinking the wine. 
The Revised Version also adopts this form, 
but the Authorized Version’s rendering [to 
strain at) was in use well before the date of its 
issue (1611), so the at is not — as has been 
sometimes stated — a misprint or mistake for 
out. Greene in his Mamillia (1583) speaks of 
“straining at a gnat and letting pass an 
elephant. 

To strain courtesy. To stand upon ceremony. 
Here, strain is to stretch , as parchment is 
strained on a drum-head. 

Strand, The. One of the most famous of 
London thoroughfares, leading from the City 
of London to that of Westminster, along the 
Riverside, whence its name. It was little more 
than a country road until 1532 when it was 
aved. Nobles and no fewer than nine bishops 
ad their inns or houses in the Strand, and 
no street in the metropolis has more historical 
or social associations, though within the last 
fifty years it has been widened and altered 
beyond recognition. 

Stranger. Originally, a foreigner; from O.Fr. 
estrangler (Mod. Lr. it ranger), which is the 


Stranger 


863 


Strenia 


Latin extraneus , one without (extra, without). 

It is said that Busins, King of Egypt, 
sacrificed to his gods all strangers who set 
foot on his territories. Diomed (q.v.) gave 
strangers to his horses for food. 

Floating tea-leaves in one's cup, charred 

f jieces of wick that make the candle gutter, 
ittle bits of soot hanging from the bars of 
the grate, etc., are called “strangers," because 
they are supposed to foretell the coming of 
visitors. 

I spy strangers! The recognized form of 
words by which a member of Parliament 
conveys to the Speaker the information that 
there is an unauthorized person in the House. 

The little stranger. A new-born infant. 

The stranger that Is within thy gates. See 

Proselytes. 

Strap. A taste of the strap, or a strapping is 

a flogging, properly with a leather strap. 

A strapping young fellow. A big, sturdy chap; 
a robust, vigorous young woman is similarly 
termed a strapper. 

Straphanger. One who cannot get a scat in a 
train, omnibus, etc., and so has to do his 
journey standing on the floor and clinging 
to a strap suspended from the roof for the 
purpose. 

Strap oil. Slang for a thrashing. See above. 

Strappado (strA pa' do) (Ital. strappare , to pull). 
A mode of torture formerly practised for 
extracting confessions, retractations, etc. The 
hands were lied behind the back, and the 
victim was pulled up to a beam by a rope tied 
to them and then let down suddenly; by this 
means a limb was not infrequently dislocated. 

Were I at the strappado or the rack, I’d give no 
man a reason on compulsion . — Henry IV Ft. I, II, iv. 

Strassburg Goose. A goose fattened, crammed, 
and confined in order to enlarge its liver, from 
which is made true pate dc foie gras. 

Straw. As used in phrases straw is generally 
typical of that which is worthless, as Not 
worth a straw, quite valueless, not worth a rap, 
a fig, etc. ; to care not a straw, not to care at ail. 

A man of straw. A man without means, with 
no more substance than a straw doll; also, an 
imaginary or tictitious person put forward 
for some reason. 

A straw shows which way the wind blows. 
Mere trifles often indicate the coming of 
momentous events. They arc shadows cast 
before coming events. 

I have a straw to break with you. I have 
something to quarrel wall you about, or am 
displeased with you; 1 have a reproof to give 
you. In feudal times possession of a fief was 
conveyed by giving a straw to the new tenant. 
If the tenant misconducted himself, the lord 
dispossessed him by going to the threshold 
of nis door and breaking a straw, saying as he 
did so, “As I break this straw, so break L the 
contract made between us.'* In allusion to 
this custom, it is said in Reynard the Fox — 
The kvnge toke up a straw fro the ground and 
pardoned and forgaf the foxe a lie the mysdedea and 
trtspaces of his fader and of bym also. — Ch. xvii. 


King Lion did so on condition that the Fox 
showed him where the treasures were hidden. 

In the straw. Applied to women in childbirth. 
The allusion is to the straw with which beds 
were at one time usually stuffed, and not to 
the litter laid before a house to break the noise 
of wheels passing by. 

The last straw. “'Tis the last straw that 
breaks the camel’s back." There is an ultimate 
oint of endurance beyond which calamity 
reaks a man down. 

To catch at a straw. A forlorn hope. A 
drowning man will catch at a straw. 

To make bricks without straw. To attempt 
to do something without the proper and 
necessary materials. The allusion is to the 
exaction of the Egyptian taskmasters men- 
tioned in Exod. v, 6-14. 

To pick straws. To show fatigue or weariness, 
as birds pick up straws to make their nests 
(or bed). 

Their eyelids did not once pick straws. 

And wink, and sink away; 

No, no; they were as brisk as bees. 

And loving things did say. 

Peter Pindar : Orson and Ellen , canto v. 

To stumble at a straw. To be pulled up short 
by a trifle. 

To throw straws against the wind. To 
contend uselessly and feebly against what is 
irresistible; to sweep back the Atlantic with 
a besom. 

Strawberry. So called from straw , probably 
because the achenes with which the surface 
is dotted somewhat resemble finely chopped 
straw. 

We may say of angling as Dr. Botelcr said of 
st rawberries, “Doubtless God could have made a 
bcticr berry, but doubtless God never did.” — Izaak 
Walton; Compleat Angler, ch. v. 

Strawberry mark. A birthmark something 
like a strawberry. In Morton's Box and Cox 
the two heroes eventually recognize each other 
as long-lost brothers through one of them 
having a straw berry-mark on his left arm. 

Strawberry preachers. So Latimer called the 
non-resident country clergy, because they 
“come but once a yeare and tarie not long** 
(Sermon on the Plough , 1549). 

The strawberry leaves. A dukedom; the 
honour, rank, etc., of a duke. The ducat 
coronet is ornamented with eight strawberry 
leaves. 

Stream of Consciousness technique of novel 
w riting, first deliberately employed by Dorothy 
Richardson in Pointed Roofs (1915) and de- 
veloped by James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. 
By this technique the writer presents life as 
seen through impressions on the mind of one 
person. 

Street Arab. See Bedouins. 

Strenia (str$' ni d). The goddess who presided 
over the New Year festivities in ancient Rome. 
Tatius, the legendary Sabine king, entered 
Rome on New Year’s Day. and received 
from some augurs palms cut from the sacred 
grove dedicated to her. After his seizure of 



Strephon 


864 


Strip-tease 


the city, he ordained that January 1st should 
be celebrated by gifts to be called strena r, 
consisting of figs, dates, and honey. The French 
itrenne , a New Year’s gift, is from this goddess. 

Strephon ($tref'6n). A stock name for a 
rustic lover; from the languishing lover of that 
name in Sidney’s Arcadia . 

Strike. A cessation of work by a body of 
employees with the object of inducing the 
employers to grant some demand, such as 
one for higher wages, shorter hours, better 
working conditions, etc., or sometimes for no 
direct reason, but out of sympathy for other 
workers or for the furtherance of some 
political object. A lightning strike is one of 
which mo notice has been given; and the 
converse of a strike, i.e. the refusal of the 
masters to allow the men to work until certain 
conditions are agreed upon or rules complied 
with, is termed a lock-out . Unofficial strikes 
are those not sanctioned by the union leaders. 

The word first appears in this sense in 1768, 
and seems to have had a nautical origin; 
sailors who refused to go to sea because of 
some grievance struck (lowered) the yards of 
their ship. 

Strike-breaker. A “blackleg,” a worker 
induced by the employer to carry on when the 
rest of the men have struck. 

Strike is the name of an old grain measure, 
still unofficially used in some parts of England, 
and varying locally from half a bushel to four 
bushels. Probably so called because when filled 
the top of the measure was “struck olf” and 
so levelled instead of being left heaped up. 

It strikes me that ... It occurs to me that 
...» it comes into my mind that . . . 

Strike-a- light. The flint formerly used with 
tinder-boxes for striking fire; also, the shaped 
piece of metal used to strike the Mint. 

The collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece 
is composed of linked pieces of metal of this 
shape, and so is sometimes called the “collar 
of strike-a-lights.” 

Strike, but hear me! (Lat. verbera , sed audi ). 
Carry out your threats — if you must — but at 
least hear what I have to say. The phrase 
comes from Plutarch’s life of Themi Socles. 
He strongly opposed the proposal of Eury- 
biades to quit the bay of Salamis. The hot- 
headed Spartan insultingly remarked that 
“those who in the public games rise up before 
the proper signal arc scourged.” “True,” said 
Themistocles, “but those who lag behind win 
no laurels.” On this, Eurybiades lifted up his 
staff to strike him, when Themistocles earnestly 
but proudly exclaimed, “Strike, but hear me! 

Bacon ( Advancement of Learning , ii) calls 
this “that ancient and patient request.” 

Strike me dead! blind! etc. Vulgar expletives, 
or exclamations of surprise, dismay, wonder, 
and so on. Strikc-me-dead is also sailor’s 
slang for thin, wishy-washy beer. 

Strike while the iron b hot. Act white the 
impulse is still fervent, or do what you do at 
the right time. The metaphor is taken from 
the blacksmith's forge; a horse-shoe must be 


struck while the iron is red-hot or it cannot be 
moulded into shape. Similar proverbs arc: 
“Make hay while the sun shines,” “Take time 
by the forelock.” 

To be struck all of a heap. See Heap. 

To be struck on a person. A colloquialism 
for to be much interested in him (or her), 
or to have fallen in love with the person 
named. 

To strike an attitude. To pose; to assume an 
exaggerated or theatrical attitude. 

To strike a balance. See Balance. 

To strike a bargain (Lat. fetdus ferire). To 
determine or settle it. The allusion is to the 
ancient custom of making a sacrifice in con- 
cluding an agreement. After calling the gods 
to witness, they struck — i.e. slew — the victim 
which was offered in sacrifice. Cp. To strike 
hands, below. 

To strike at the foundations. To attempt to 
undermine the whole thing, to overthrow it 
utterly. 

To strike camp. To lower the tents and move 
off; hence, to abandon one’s position. A 
military phrase, adopted from the nautical 
phrase “to strike colours.’’ See Flag. 

To strike hands upon a bargain. To confirm 
it by shaking or striking hands; to ratify it. 
Cp. To Strike a bargain, above. 

To strike lucky. To have an unexpected 
piece of good fortune; a phrase from the 
miner’s camps. To strike oil (see Oil) means 
much the same thing, and has a similar origin. 

To strike one’s colours or flag. See Flag. 

To strike out in another direction. To open 
up a new way for oneself, to start a new 
method, a fresh business. 

To strike sail. To acknowledge oneself 
beaten; to cat humble pie. A nautical expres- 
sion. When a ship in fight or on meeting an- 
other ship, let down her topsails at least half- 
mast high, she was said to strike , meaning 
that she submitted or paid respect to the other. 

Now Margaret 

Must strike her sail, and learn awhile to serve 
When kings command. 

Henry VI Pi. HI . Ill, iii. 

To strike up. To begin, start operations; as 
to strike up an acquaintance , to set it going ; 
Originally of an orchestra or company of 
singers, who “struck up” the music. 

Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike. 
Said of one who dare not do the injury or take 
the revenge that he wishes. The “tag is from 
Pope’s Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot (1735). 

String, Always harping on one string. Always 
talking on one subject; always repeating the 
same thing. The allusion is to the ancient 
harpers. 

To have two strings to one’s bow. See Bow. 

Strip. To tear a strip off a person. To give him 
a severe reprimand. 

Strip-tease. A theatrical or cabaret perform- 
ance in which an actress slowly and provoca- 
tively undresses herself. 



Stroke 


865 


Stylites 


Stroke. The oarsman who sits on the bench 
next the coxswain, and sets the time of the 
stroke for the rest. 

To stroke one the wrong way. To vex him, 
ruffle his temper. 

Strong. A strong verb is one that forms 
inflexions by internal vowel-change (such as 
bind, bound ; speak , spoke); weak verbs add a 
syllable, or letter (as lo\e % loved; refund , re- 
funded ). 

Going strong. Prospering, getting on 
famously; in an excellent state of health. 

To come it strong. See Come. 

Strontium (stron' shum). This element, a 
yellowish metal resembling calcium, receives 
its name from Strontian, in Argyllshire, 
where it was discovered in 1792 by Thomas 
Charles Hope (1766-1844). 

Struldbrugs (struld' brugz). Wretched inhabi- 
tants of Luggnagg (in Swift’s Gulliver's 
Travels ), who had the privilege of immortality 
without having eternal vigour, strength, and 
intellect. 

Stubble Geese. The geese turned into the 
stubble-fields to pick up the com left after 
harvest. 

Stuck up. See Stick. 

Stuff Gown. A barrister (q.v.) who has not yet 
“taken silk,” i.e. become a Q.C. See Silk. 

Stuka (sUV ka). A German dive-bombing 
aeroplane in World War 11, from Stutzkampf- 
bomber. 

Stumer (stiY mcr). A swindle, or a swindler, a 
forged banknote or “dud” cheque; a fictitious 
bet recorded by the bookmakers, and published 
in the papers, to deceive the public by running 
up the odds on a horse which is not expected 
to win. 

Stump. A stump orator. A ranting, bombastic 
speaker, who harangues all who will listen to 
him from some point of vantage in the open 
air. such as the stump of a tree; a “tub- 
thumper,” mob orator. Hence such phrases as 
to stump the country , to fake to the stump , 
to go from town to town making inflammatory 
speeches. 

Stumped out. Outwitted; put down. A term 
borrowed from cricket. 

To stir one’s stumps. To get on faster; to set 
upon something expeditiously. 

This makes him stirrc his stumps. 

The Two Lancashire Lovers (1640). 

The stumps are the legs, or wooden legs 
fastened to stumps of mutilated limbs. 

For Withcrington needs must I wayle. 

As one in doleful dumpes; 

For when his lcggs were smitten off, 

He fought upon his stumpes. 

Ballad of Chevy Chase. 

To stump up. To pay one’s reckoning, pay 
what is due. Ready money is called stumpy or 
stumps. An Americanism, meaning money 
paid down on the spot — i.e . on the stump of a 
tree. Cp. Nail, On the. 


Stunt. A feat, performance; especially one of 
a startling or sensational nature. Hence, to 
stunt , to do something surprising or hazardous, 
an aerobatic turn or trick; a newspaper stunt, 
a movement, party cry, sensation, etc., 
worked by a newspaper and boomed by 
publicity men. 

The word was originally American college 
slang for some exceptional athletic feat. 

Stupor Mundi. So the Emperor Frederick II 
(1194-1250) was called, as being the greatest 
sovereign, soldier, and patron of artists and 
scholars during the 13th century. 

Sturm und Drang (stoorm und drang) (Ger. 
storm and stress). The name given to the 
intellectual awakening of Germany towards the 
close of the 18th century. It had a considerable 
effect on our own Romantic Movement, and 
was so called from a drama of that name by 
Friedrich Maximilian von Klinger (1752-1831). 
Goethe and Schiller contributed to the move- 
ment. 

Sty, an inflamed pimple on the eyelid, is 
shortened from the earlier styanv (taken as 
meaning sty-on-eye), which is from O.E. stigend , 
something that rises ( stigan , to rise). 

Stygian (sti' ji an). Infernal, gloomy; per- 
taining to the river Styx (q.v.). 

At that so sudden blaze the Stygian throng 

Bent their aspect. — Milton: Paradise Losf,X, 453. 

Style is from the Latin stylus (a metal pencil 
for writing on waxen tablets, etc.). The 
characteristic of a person’s writing is called 
his style. Metaphorically it is applied to 
composition and speech. Good writing is 
stylish , and, by extension, smartness of dress 
and deportment is so called. 

Style is the dress of thought, and a well-dressed 
thought, like a well-dressed man, appears to great 
advantage. — C hestfrfield : Letter ccxl. 

New style, Old style. See Calendar. 

The style is the man. A mistranslation of 
“Le style cst Fhomme mcme” from the 
discourse of Buflon (1707-88) on his reception 
into the French Academy. 

To do a thing in style. To do it splendidly, 
regardless of expense. 

Styles. Tom Styles or John a Styles, connected 
with Jolm-a-Nokes (tf.v.l, an imaginary plaintiff 
or defendant in a law suit or an ancient order 
of ejectment, like “John Doe” and “Richard 
Roe.” 

And, like blind Fortune, with a sleight 
Convey men’s interest and right 
From Stiles’s pocket into Nokes’s. 

Butler : Hudibras , III, iii. 

Stylites or Pillar Saints (stl IF tez). A class of 
early and mediaeval ascetics, chiefly of Syria, 
w ho took up their abode on the tops of pillars, 
from which they never descended. The most 
celebrated arc Simeon Stylites, of Syria, and 
Daniel the Stylite of Constantinople. Simeon 
(390-459) spent forty years on different pillars, 
each loftier and narrower than the preceding, 
the last being 66 feet high. Daniel (d. 494) 
lived thirty-three years on a pillar, and was not 
infrequently nearly blown from it by the 
storms from Thrace. This form of asceticism 


Styx 


866 


Suffering 


was in vogue as late as the 16th century. Tenny- 
son wrote a fine poem on St. Simeon Stylites. 

Styx (stiks). The river of Hate (Gr. stugein , 
to hate) — called by Milton “abhorred Styx, 
the flood of burning hate” ( Paradise Lost , II, 
577) — that, according to classical mythology, 
flowed nine times round the infernal regions. 

The fables about the Styx are of Egyptian 
origin, and we are told that Isis collected the 
various parts of Osiris (murdered by Typhon) 
and buried them in secrecy on the banks of 
the Styx. Charon (?.v.), as Diodorus informs us, 
is an Egyptian word for a “ferryman. “ If 
the gods swore by the Styx, they dared not 
break their oath. 

By the black Infernal Styx I swear 

(That dreadfiil oath which binds the Thunderer) ] 

Tis Axed! Pope: Thebais of Statius, i. 

Suaviter (swa' vi ter). Suaviter in mocio, fortiter 
in re (Lat.), gentle in manner, resolute in 
action. Said of one who does what is to be 
done with unflinching firmness, but in the 
most inoffensive manner possible. 

Sub basta (sub has' tA) (Lat.). By auction 
When an auction took place among the 
Romans, it was customary to stick a spear in 
the ground to give notice of it to the public; 
literally, under the spear. Cp. Spear. 

Sub Jove (Lat.). Under Jove; in the open 
air. Jupiter is the god of the upper regions of 
the air, as Juno is of the lower regions, 
Neptune of the waters of the sea, Vesta of the 
earth, Ceres of the surface soil, and Hades of 
the invisible or under-world. 

Sub judice. Under judicial consideration, 
not yet decided or awarded in a court of law. 
Sub rosa. See Rose. 

Subject and Object. In metaphysics the 
Subject is the ego, the mind, the conscious self, 
the substance or substratum to which attri- 
butes must be referred; the Object is an ex- 
ternal as distinct from the ego, a thing or idea 
brought before the consciousness. Hence 
subjective criticism , art, etc., is that which 
proceeds from the individual mind and is 
consequently individualistic, fanciful, imagina- 
tive; while objective criticism is that which is 
based on knowledge of the externals. 

Subiect -object. The immediate object of 
thougnt as distinguished from the material 
thing of which one is thinking. 

The thought is necessarily and universally subject- 
object. Matter is necessarily, and to us universally, 
object-subject. — Lewes: History of Philosophy , II, 
485. 

Subiapsarian (or Jnfralapsarian) (sub lap sAr' i 

An). A Calvinist who maintains that God 
devised His scheme of redemption after he had 
permitted the “lapse” or fall of Adam, when 
He elected some to salvation and left others to 
run their course. The rn/ra-lapsarian main- 
tains that all this was ordained by God from 
the foundation of the world, and therefore 
before the “lapse” or fall of Adam, 

Sublime, From Lat. sub, up to, limen , the 
lintel; hence, lofty, elevated in thought or 
tone. 

From the sublime to the ridiculous Is only one 
step. See under Ridiculous. 


The Sublime Porte. See Porte. 

The Sublime Society of Steaks. See Beef- 
steak Club. 

Submarine. Sec Bushnell’s Turtle. 

Submerged or Submerged Tenth, The. The 
proletariat, sunk or submerged in poverty. 

All but the “submerged” were bent upon merry- 
making. — Society, Nov. 12th, 1892, p. 1273. 

Subpoena (sQb pc' nA) (Lat. under penalty) is a 
writ commanding a man to appear in court, 
usually unwillingly, to bear witness or give 
evidence on a certain trial named. It is so 
called because the party summoned is bound 
to appear sub prrmt centum librorum (under a 
penalty of £100). We have also the verb to 
subp&na. 

Subsidy (Lat. sub-sedere , to sit down). The 
subsidii of the Roman army were the troops 
held in reserve, the auxiliaries, supports; hence 
the word came to be applied to a support 
generally, and (in English) specially to financial 
support granted by Parliament to the king. 
It now usually means a contribution granted by 
the state in aid of sonic commercial venture 
of public importance. 

Subsidiary, auxiliary, supplemental, is, of 
course, from the same word. 

Subtle Doctor, The {Doctor Subtilis ). The 
Scottish schoolman and Franciscan friar, 
Duns Scotus (c. 1265-1308). 

Succotash (U.S.A.). A dish of Indian corn and 
beans boiled together. Originally an Indian 
dish. 

Succoth. The Jewish name for the Feast of 
Tabernacles (Heb. sukkoth , booths). See 
Tabernacles, Flast of. 

Suck, or Suck-in. A swindle, hoax, deception; 
a fiasco. 

Sucker. An easy victim of deception, etc. 
See above . 

Sucking is used (after sucking-pig) of a 
youth who is training for something, as, a 
sucking lawyer, an articled clerk, a sucking 
curate , a student at a theological college who 
is trying his hand at parochial work. 

To suck the monkey. See Monkey. 

To teach one’s grandmother to suck eggs. 
See Egos. 

Sudetenland (soo da' tin land). A mountainous 
region on the old Czech-German frontier, 
inhabited principally by Germans though the 
territory was- and is — actually in Czecho- 
slovakia. The annexation of this land was 
claimed by the German Nazis and a European 
war was only averted or postponed in 1938 
by its cession to Germany at the expense of 
Czechoslovakia. Sudetenland was restored to 
the latter country in 1945. 

Suidc (swad). Undressed kid-skin; so called 
because the gloves made of this originally 
came from Sweden (Fr. pants de Sut'de). 

Suffering. The Meeting for Sufferings. The 
standing representative Committee of the 
Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends 
(Quakers), which deals with questions affecting 



Suffragan 


867 


Sun 


the Society; so called because when originally 
appointed in the 17th century its chief function 
was to relieve the sufferings caused to Quakers 
by distraint for tithes, persecution, etc. 

Suffragan (sOf' r& g&n). An auxiliary bishop; 
one who has not a see of his own but is 
appointed to assist a bishop in a portion of his 
see. In relation to a metropolitan or archbishop 
all bishops are suffragans; and they were so 
called because they could be summoned to a 
synod to give their suffrage . 

Suffrage. One’s vote, approval, consent; or, 
one’s right to vote, especially at parliamentary 
and municipal elections. The word is from 
Lat. suff'rago, the hough or ankle-bone of a 
horse, which was used by the Romans for 
balloting with, whence the voting table came 
to be called suffragium. 

Hence Suffragette, a woman (usually more 
or less “militant”) who in the ten years or so 
preceding World War I “agitated” for the 
parliamentary vote. The Suffragettes’ cam- 
paigns of disturbance, violence, assault, 
wanton destruction of property, arson, and 
attempted terrorism (for which many women 
were imprisoned and went on “hunger-strike ’) 
reached alarming proportions; but it stopped 
dead on the outbreak of War, and in 1918 
women of 30 were not only enfranchised but 
made eligible for scats in Parliament. In 
1928 enfranchisement was given on the same 
terms, as for men i.e, on attaining the age of 21. 

The 19th Amendment of the Constitution 
of the United States of America enacted 
Woman Suffrage in August, 1920. 

Sul generis (siV i jen' er is) (Lat. of its own 
kind). Having a distinct character of its own; 
unlike anything else. 

Sui juris (Lat.). Of one’s own right; the 
state of being able to exercise one’s legal 
rights — i.e. freedom from legal disability. 

Suicides were formerly buried ignominiously 
on the high-road, with a stake thrust through 
their body, and without Christian rites. (Lat. 
sui , of oneself; - cidium, from ccedere , to kill.) 

See also Cross-roads. 

Suit. A suit of dittoes. See Ditto. 

To follow suit. To follow the leader; to do 
as those do who are taken as your exemplars. 
The term is from games of cards. 

Sultan (Arab, king; cp. Soldan). The chief 
ruler of the Turkish Empire, and still of some 
Mohammedan countries, as Oman, Zanzibar, 
and— 

The wife (or sometimes the mother, sister, 
or concubine) of the Sultan is the Sultana, a 
name also given to a small, seedless raisin 
grown near Smyrna and to the purple gallinule 
( Porphyria car rule us), a beautiful bird allied to 
the moorhen. 

Summer. The second or autumnal summer, 
said to last thirty days, begins shortly before 
the sun enters Scorpio (Oct. 23rd). It is 
variously called — 

St, Martin's summer, a late spell of one 
weather. St. Martin's Day is Nov. lith. 

27 * 


All Saints’ or All Hallows* summer (All 
Saints’ is Nov. 1st). 

Farewell, All Hailown summer. — 

Henry IV PU /, I, ii. 

St. Luke’s little summer (St. Luke’s day 
is Oct. 18th); and — especially in the United 
States — the Indian summer. 

Summer Time. See Daylight Savino. 

Summum bonum (sGnT 0m bd' nQm) (Lat. the 
highest good). The chief excellence; the 
highest attainable good. 

Socrates said knowledge is virtue, and 
ignorance is vice. 

Aristotle said that happiness is the greatest 
good. 

Bernard de Mandeville and Helvetius 
contended that self-interest is the perfection 
of the ethical end. 

Bent ham and Mill were for the greatest 
happiness of the greatest number. 

Herbert Spencer placed it in those actions 
which best tend to the survival of the individual 
and the race; and 

Robert Browning (see his poem of this name) 
“in the kiss of one girl.” 

Sumptuary Laws. Laws to limit the expenses 
of food and dress, or any luxury. The Romans 
had their leges sumptuarii , and they have been 
enacted in many states at various times. 
Those of England were all repealed by 1 James 
I. c. 25; but during the two World Wars, with 
the rationing of food, coals, etc., and the 
compulsory lowering of the strength of beer 
and whisky we had a temporary return to 
sumptuary legislation. 

Sun. The source of light and heat, and conse- 
quently of life, to the whole world; hence, 
regarded as a deny and worshipped as such by 
all primitive peoples and having a leading place 
in all mythologies. Shamash was the principal 
sun god of the Assyrians, Merodach of the 
Chaldees, Ormuzd of the Persians, Ra of the 
Egyptians, Tezcathpoca of the Mexicans, and 
Helios (known to the Romans as Sol) of the 
Greeks. Helios drove his chariot daily across 
the heavens, rising from the sea at dawn and 
sinking into it in the west at sunset; the names 
of his snow-white, fire-breathing coursers 
are given as Bronte ( thunder ), Eoos ( day- break ), 
Ethiops {fashing). Ethon if cry). Erythreos 
{red- producer), Philogea {earth-loving), and 
Pyrois {fiery). 

The Scandinavian sun god, Surma , who was 
in constant dread of being devoured by the 
wolf Fenris (a symbol of eclipses), was 
similarly borne through the sky by the horses 
Arvakur, Aslo. and Alsvidur. 

Apollo was also a sun god of the Greeks, 
but he was the personification not of the sun 
itself but of its all-pervading light and life- 
giving qualities. 

A place in the sun. A favourable position 
that allows room for development: a share 
in what one has a natural right to. The phrase 
was popularized by William II of Germany 
during the crisis of 1911. In his speech at 
Hamburg (Aug. 27th) he spoke of the German 
nation taking steps that would make them — 
sure that no one can dispute with us the place in the 
sun that is cur due. 


868 


Supernaculum 


Sin 


It had been used by Pascal some two 
hundred years before. 

Heaven cannot support two suns, nor earth 
two masters. So said Alexander the Great 
when Darius (before the battle of Arbela) 
sent to offer terms of peace. Cp. Shake- 
speare: — 

Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere; 
Nor can one England brook a double reign, 

Of Harry Percy and the Prince of Wales. 

Henry IV Pt. /, V, iv. 

More worship the rising than the setting sun. 
More persons pay honour to ascendant 
than to fallen greatness. The saying is attributed 
to Pompey. 

I should fear those that dance before me now 
Would one day stamp upon me; it has been done; 
Men shut their doors against a setting sun. 

Tinton of Athens, I, ii. 

Out of God's blessing into the warm sun. 
One of Ray's proverbs, meaning from good 
to less good. When the king says to Hamlet 
“How is it that the clouds still hang on you?” 
the prince answers, “Not so, my lord, 1 am too 
much i’ the sun,” meaning, “I have lost God’s 
blessing, for too much of the sun” — i.e. this 
far inferior state. 

Thou out of heaven’s benediction comest 
To the warm sun. 

King Lear, II, i. 

The City of the Sun. See City. 

'The empire on which the sun never sets. See 
The Setting of the Sun, under Set. 

The Southern Gate of the Sun. The sign 
Capricornus or winter solstice. So called 
because it is the most southern limit of the 
sun's course in the ecliptic. 

The sun of Austerlitz. When Napoleon 
fought the Russians and Austrians at Auster- 
litz (Dec. 2nd, 1805), a brilliant sun suddenly 
burst through and scattered the mists, thus 
enabling him to gain an overwhelming victory. 
Napoleon ever after looked upon this as a 
special omen from heaven. 

The Sun of Righteousness. Jesus Christ. 
(Mai. iv, 2.) 

To have been out in the sun, or to have the 
sun in one’s eyes. To be slightly inebriated. 

To make hay while the sun shines. See Hay. 

Sundowner. Australian for a tramp who 
times his arrival at the houses of the hospitable 
at sundown, so as to get a night’s lodging. 

Sunday (O-E. sunnendteg). The first day of the 
week, so called because anciently dedicated 
to the sun, as Monday was to the moon (see 
Week, Days of the). See also Sabbath. 

Not in a month of Sundays. Not in a very 
long time. 

One’s Sunday best, or Sunday-go-to-meeting 
togs* One's best clothes, kept for wearing on 
Sundays. 

Sunday saint One who observes the ordin- 
ances of religion, and goes to church on a 
Sunday, but is worldly, grasping, “indifferent 
honest, 4 * the following six days. 

When three Sundays come together. Never. 


Sundew. The Drosera , which is from the 
Greek drosos , dew. So called from the dew- 
like drops which rest on the hairy fringes of 
the leaves. 

Sunflower. What we know as the sunflower is 
the Helianthus , so called, not because it follows 
the sun, but because it resembles a conventional 
drawing of the sun. A bed of these flowers 
will turn in every direction, regardless of the 
sun. The Turnsole ( Heliotropium), belonging 
to quite another order of plants, is the flower 
that turns to the sun. 

The sunflower turns on the god, when he sets. 

The same look which she turned when he rose. 

T. Moore: ( Believe me, if all those endearing young 
charms). 

The Sunflower State (U.S.A.). Kansas. 

Sunna (sGn' is) (Arab, custom, divine law). 
Properly, the sayings and example of Moham- 
med and his immediate followers in so far as 
they conform to the Koran; hence applied 
to the collections of legal and moral traditions 
attributed to the Prophet, supplementary to 
the Koran as the Hebrew Mishna is to the 
Pentateuch. 

Sunnites, The orthodox and conservative 
body of Moslems, who consider the Sunna 
as authentic as the Koran itself and acknow- 
ledge the first four caliphs to be the rightful 
successors of Mohammed. They form by far 
the largest section of Mohammedans, and arc 
divided into four sects, viz . Hanbalites, 
Hanafitcs, Malikites, and Shalhtcs {cp. 
Shiites). 

Suo marte (sfT 6 mar' tc) (Lat.). By one's own 
strength or personal exertions. 

Super (sfl' per). In theatrical parlance, “supers'* 
are supernumeraries, or persons employed to 
make up crowds, processions, dancing or 
singing choirs, messengers, etc., where little 
or no speaking is needed. 

Supercilious. Having an elevated eyebrow 
(Lat. super, over; cilium , eyebrow); hence 
contemptuous, haughty. 

Supererogation. Works of supererogation. 
The term used by theologians for good works 
which arc performed but arc not actually 
enjoined on Christians (Lat. super , over, 
above; erogare , to pay out). In common use 
as a phrase. 

Superman. A hypothetical superior human 
being of high intellectual and moral attain- 
ments, fancied as evolved from the normally 
existing type. The term iVbermensch) was 
invented by the German philosopher Nietzsche 
(d. 1900), and popularized in England by 
G. B. Shaw’s play, Man and Superman (1903). 

The wide popularity of the term gave rise 
to many compounds, such as superwoman , 
super-critic , super-tramp , super- Dreadnought, 
and super- tax. 

Supernaculum. The very best wine. The word 
is Low Latin for “upon the nail” ( super 
unguem), meaning that the wine is so good the 
drinker leaves only enough in his glass to 
make a bead on his nail, fhc French say of 
first-class wine, “It is fit to make a ruby on 
the nail* 4 (faire rubis sur r angle). Nashe says 




Supply 


869 


Swag 


that after a man had drunk his glass, it was 
usual, in the North, to turn the cup upside 
down, and let a drop fall upon the thumb-nail. 
If the drop rolled off, the drinker was obliged 
to fill and drink again ( Pierce Pennilesse> 
1592). Bishop Hall alludes to the same custom: 
‘The Duke Tenterbelly . . . exclaims . . . ‘Let 
never this goodly-formed goblet of wine go 
jovially through me’; and then he set it to his 
mouth, stole it off every drop, save a little 
remainder, which he was by custom to set 
upon his thumb-nail and lick oflf.” 

Hence, to drink supernaculum is to leave no 
heel-taps; to leave just enough not to roll off 
one’s thumb-nail if poured upon it. 

Supply. One who acts as a substitute, tempor- 
arily taking the place of another; used 
principally of school teachers and domestic 
servants. 

In Parliamentary language supplies is used 
of money granted for the purposes of govern- 
ment which is not provided by the revenue. 
In Britain all money bills, i.e. those authorizing 
expenditure, must originate in the House of 
Commons. 

The law of supply and demand. The economic 
statement that the competition of buyers and 
sellers tends to make such changes in price that 
the demand for any article in a given market 
will become equal to the supply. In other 
words, if the demand exceeds the supply the 
price rises, operating so as to reduce the de- 
mand and so enable the supply to meet it, and 
vice versa . 

Supralapsarian. See Sublapsarian. 

Surfeit Water. Jn the days of 18th-century 
gluttony surfeit water was used to counteract 
the cfiects of overeating. Mrs. Glasse’s recipe 
requires 4 gallons of brandy and 27 other 
ingredients, mostly herbs. Surfeit water was 
drunk from special tapering fluted glasses, and 
two spoonfuls was the dose of this highly 
alcoholic liquid. 

Surgeon. A contraction of the earlier chirurgeon, 
from Gr. c/re/r, hand; egrw, to work — one 
who works with his hands, or works by manual 
operations instead of through the agency of 
physic (as does the physician). The word is, 
etymologically, identical with manufacturer 
(Lat. manus , hand; facere, to work). 

Surloin. See Sirloin. 

Surname. The name added to, or given over 
and above, the Christian or personal name 
(O.Fr. sur-\ from Lat. super -, over, above). 
English surnames (of which, it is said, there are 
some 30,000) came into use in the latter part 
of the 10th century, bu: were not widely used 
till much later. In origin they are for the most 
part appellations denoting a trade or occu- 
pation, the place of residence, or some peculiar 
characteristic. 

Surplice. Over the pelisse or fur robe. CLat. 
super-pellicium ; from pellis, skin.) The clerical 
robe worn over the bachelor’s ordinary dress, 
which was anciently made of sheepskin. 

Surrealism. A school of art beginning in 1924 
which regarded the subconscious as the 
essential source of art, drawing inspiration from 


“all that is contrary to the general appearance 
of reality.** It falls into two groups: “hand 
painted dream photographs’’ (Dab), and an 
endeavour to achieve complete spontaneity of 
technique as well as subject matter by use of 
contrast. Chief exponents: Picasso, Max 
Ernst, Am, Man Ray, Mir6 and Salvador 
Dali. The literary exponent was Andr6 Breton. 

Susanna and the Elders. A favourite subject 
among Renaissance *and later artists. The 
Story of Susanna , one of the books of the Old 
Testament Apocrypha, tells how Susanna was 
accused of adultery by certain Jewish elders 
who had unsuccessfully attempted her chastity, 
how her innocence was proved by Daniel, and 
the Elders put to death. 

Sussex weeds. A name for oak trees, once 
plentiful in Sussex. 

Sutras (su' tras). Ancient Hindu aphoristic 
manuals giving the rules of systems of 
philosophy, grammar, etc., and directions 
concerning religious ritual and ceremonial 
customs. They are so called from Sansk. sutra , 
a thread. 

Suttee (sut' e). The Hindu custom of burning 
the widow on the funeral pyre of her deceased 
husband; also, the widow so put to death 
(from Sansk. sati % a virtuous wife). In theory 
the practice, which lasted for some 2,000 
years, was optional, but public opinion and 
the very severe form of ostracism the defaulting 
widow had to endure gave her practically no 
option. Women with child and mothers of 
children not yet of age could not perform 
suttee. The practice was declared illegal in 
British India in 1829. 

Sutton Hoo Treasure. In 1939 a ship-burial was 
discovered at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk of a 7th 
century Anglo-Saxon king, who has not been 
identified. The treasure consisted of a sword, 
sheath, helmet, bowls and other objects in 
precious metals richly decorated. Of great 
importance archaeologically and historically, 
the treasure is now in the British Museum. 

Swaddlers. An early nickname for Wesleyan 
Methodists; applied later (by Roman Cath- 
olics) to Dissenters and Protestants generally. 
Cardinal Cullen, in 1S69, gave notice that he 
would deprive of the sacraments all parents 
who sent their children to mixed Model 
schools, where they were associated with 
“Presbyterians, Socinians. Arians, and Swad- 
dlcrs**(77mej, September 4th, 1869). 

There is more than one explanation of the 
origin of the term. Southey’s ( Life of Wesley , 
ii, 153) is as follows: — 

It happened that Cennick, preaching on Christmas 
Day, took for his text these words from St. Luke's 
Gospel: “And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall 
find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a 
manger.” A Catholic who was present, and to whom 
the language of Scripture was a novelty, thought this 
so ridiculous that he called the preacher a swaddler in 
derision, and this unmeaning word became a nick- 
name for “Protestant,” and had all the effect of the 
most opprobrious appellation. 

Swag (connected with Norwegian xvergga, to 
sway from side to side). One’s goods carried 
in a pack or bundle; hence, the booty obtained 


870 


Swan-upping 


by a burglary — which is often carried away 
in a sack. To get away with the swag is used 
figuratively of profiting by one’s cleverness or 
sharp practice. 

Swagman. The Australian term for a man 
who carries his swag about with him while on 
the search for work. 

Swag-shop. A place kept by a “fence,” 
where thieves can dispose of their “swag”; 
also, a low-class shop where cheap and trashy 
articles are sold. 

Swagger (frequentative of Swag). To strut 
about with a superior or defiant air; to bluster, 
make oneself out a very important person; 
hence, ' ostentatiously smart or “swell”; as 
a swagger dinner , a swagger car , etc. 

Swagger-stick. The small cane a soldier was 
formerly obliged to carry when walking out. 

Swainmote. See Swanimote. 

Swallow. According to Scandinavian tradition, 
this bird hovered over the cross of our Lord, 
awing “ Svala f svala!" (Console! console!) 
whence it was called svaiow (the bird of con- 
solation). 

./Elian says that the swallow was sacred to 
the Penates or household gods, and therefore 
to injure one would be to bring wrath upon 
your own house. It is still considered a sign of 
good luck if a swallow or martin builds under 
the eaves of one’s house. 

Perhaps you failed in your foreseeing skill. 

For swallows are unlucky birds to kill. 

Dryoen: thud and Panther, Pi. III. 

Longfellow refers to another old fable 
regarding this bird: — 

Seeking wilh eager eyes that wondrous stone which 
the swallow 

Brings from the shore of the sea to restore the sight of 
its fledglings. Evangeline, Pt. I. 

One swallow does not make a summer. You 

are not to suppose summer has come to stay 
just because you have seen a swallow; nor 
that the troubles of life are over because you 
have surmounted one difficulty. The Greek 
proverb, “One swallow docs not make a 
spring” is to be found in Aristotle’s /v/co- 
machaan Ethics (I, vii, 16). 

Swan. The fable that the swan sings beautifully 
iust before it dies is very ancient, though 
baseless. Swans do not “sing” at all, in tne 
ordinary sense of the term, and the only one 
for which song of any kind can be claimed is 
the Whistling Swan (Cygnus music us) of 
Iceland, of which it is reported — 
during the long dark nights their wild song is often 
beard resembling the tones of a violin, though some- 
what higher and remarkably pleasant. — N icol; 
Account of Iceland. 

The superstition was credited by Plato, 
Aristotle, Euripides, Cicero, Seneca, Martial, 
etc., and doubled by Pliny and >€lian. 

Shakespeare refers to it more than once. 
Emilia, just before she dies, says — 

1 will play the swan. 

And die in music. Othello, V, ii. 


Spenser speaks of the swan as though it sang 
quite regardless of death — 

He, were he not with love so Ul bedight. 

Would mount as high and sing as soote (sweetly) as 
Swanne. Shepheardes Calender: October, 89. 

And Coleridge, referring to poetasters of the 
time, gives the old superstition an epigram- 
matic turn — 

Swans sing before they die; ’twere no bad thing 

Did certain persons die before they sing. 

One Greek legend has it that the soul of 
Apollo, the god of music, passed into a swan, 
and in the Pluedo Plato makes Socrates say 
that at their death swans sing — 
not out of sorrow or distiess, but because they are 
inspired of Apollo, and they sing as foreknowing the 
good things their god hath in stoie for them. 

This idea made the Pythagorean fable that 
the souls of all good poets passed into swans, 
hence the Swan of Mantua , etc. Grp below). 

The male swan is called a cob , the female a 
pen; a young swan a cygnet. 

See also Fionnuala; Leda; Lohengrin. 

The Knight of the Swan. Lohengrin (</.v.). 

The Order of the Swan. An order of knight- 
hood instituted by Frederick II of Branden- 
burg in 1440 (and shortly after in Cleves) in 
honour of the Lohengrin legend. It died out in 
the 16th century, but it is still commemorated 
in our White Swan public-house sign, which 
was first used in honour of Anne of Cleves, 
one of the wives of Henry VI II, The badge was 
a silver swan surmounted by an image of the 
Virgin. 

The Swan of Avon. Shakespeare; so called 
by Ben Jonson in allusion to his birthplace, 
Stratford-on-Avon. Swan, as applied to poets 
(because Apollo was fabled to have been 
changed into a swan), is of very old standing; 
thus, Virgil was known as the Mantuan Swan , 
Homer the Swan of Meander , etc. 

The Swan of Lichfield. The name given to 
Anna Seward (1747-1809), the poetess. 

The Swan of Lsk. So Henry Vaughan, the 
Silurist (1622-95), was called, having given one 
of his volumes of verse this name — Olor Iscanus. 

The Swan with Two Necks. The emblem of 
the Vintners’ Company, and an old tavern 
sign. Seeks is a corruption of Nicks. 

AH your swans are geese. All your fine 
promises or expectations have proved 
fallacious. “Hope told a Battering tale,” The 
converse, All your geese are swans, means all 
your children arc paragons, and whatever you 
do is in your own eyes superlative work. 

Swan-maidens. Fairies of northern folklore, 
who can become maidens or sw<ans at will by 
means of the swan shift , a magic garment of 
swan’s feathers. Many stories arc told of how 
the swan shift was stolen, and the fairy was 
obliged to remain thrall to the thief until 
rescued by a knight. 

Swan song. The song fabled to be sung by 
swans at the point of death (see above); hence, 
the last work of a poet, composer, etc. 

Swan-upping. A taking up of swans and 
placing the marks of ownership on their 



Swan 


871 


Sweet 


beaks. The term is specially applied to annual 
expeditions for this purpose up the Thames, 
when the marks of the owners (viz. the Crown 
and the Dyers* and Vintneis’ Companies) are 
made. The royal swans are marked with five 
nicks — two lengthwise, and three across the 
bill — and the Companies* swans with two 
nicks. Also called Swan-hopping . 

To swan. A word of doubtful origin much 
used in N.W. Europe in World War 11. It 
denoted taking a vehicle off for a drive for 
one’s own amusement when off duty. It came to 
be applied to any apparently aimless move- 
ments, c.g. one who drove his tank about 
without apparent purpose might be described 
as “swanning about the battlefield.” 

Swanhild (sw&n' hild). An old Norse legendary 
heroine, daughter of Sigurd and Gudrun. She 
was falsely accused of adultery with the son of 
the king who was wooing her, and the king 
had him hanged and her trampled to death by 
horses. 

Swanimote (swan' i mot). A court held thrice a 
year before forest verderers by the steward of 
the court. So called from O.E. swangemot . a 
meeting of swineherds, because, under the 
Charta de foresta (1217). it was a meeting of 
the keepers of the royal forests to arrange for 
the depasturing of pigs in autumn, the clearance 
of cattle during the deer’s fawning season, etc. 

Swank. To behave in an ostentatious manner, 
to show off and “cut a dash” to impress 
observers with one’s cleverness, smartness, or 
rank, etc. It is an old dialect word adopted as 
modern slang. 


Swap. To exchange. 

To swap horses in midstream. To change 
leaders at the height of a crisis. Abraham 
Lincoln, in an address, June 9th, 1864, referring 
to the fact that his fellow Republicans, though 
many were dissatisfied with his conduct of the 
Civil War, had renominated him for President, 
said that the Convention had concluded “that 
it is best not to swap horses while crossing the 
river.” 


Swashbuckler. A ruffian; a swaggerer. “From 
swashing,” savs Fuller ( Worthies ; 1662), “and 
making a noise on the buckler.” The sword- 
players used to “swash” or tap their shield, 
as fencers tap their foot upon the ground 
when they attack. Cp. Swinoe-buckler. 

A brave, a swashbuckler, one that for money and 
good checre will follow any man to defend him; but 
if any danger come, he runs away the first, and leaves 
him in the lurch.— Florio: W orlde of H ordes (1598). 

Swastika. The gammadion, or fylfot (</.v\), an 
elaborated cross-shaped design used as a 
charm to ward off evil a id bring good luck; 
the emblem of Nazi Germany, personally 
chosen as such by Adolf Hitler. The word is 
Sanskrit, from svasti, good fortune. 

Swear, To. Originally used only of solemnly 
affirming, by the invocation of God or some 
sacred person or object as witness to the 
pledge: to take an oath. Swearing came later 
to mean using bad language by way cf ex- 
pletives intensives, and in moments of sudden 
anger through the sacred expressions being 
used in a profane way in lightly and irrever- 
ently taking oaths. 


To swear black Is white. To swear to any 

falsehood. 

To swear like a trooper. To indulge In very 
strong blasphemy or profanity.—” ‘Our armies 
swore terribly in Flandeis,* cried my Uncle 
Toby” (Sterne, Tristram Shandy , II, xi). 

Sweat. To sweat a person is to exact the 
largest possible amount of labour from him at 
the lowest possible pay, to keep him working 
at starvation wages. The term is also used or 
bleeding, or fleecing, a man; and of rubbing 
down coins so that one can obtain and use the 
gold or silver taken from them. 

Sweat-box (U.S.A.). A form of punishment 
of long standing which consists of imprisoning 
a man in a box no bigger than himself, often 
in the sun, so that he becomes exhausted by the 
terrific temperature. Hence, to sweat It out of 
him is to extort a confession or agreement by 
such use of threats and violence as may be 
necessary until the victim breaks under the 
ordeal. 

Sweating sickness. A form of malaria 
epidemic, which appeared in England about a 
century and a half alter the Black Death (1485). 
It broke out amongst the soldiers of Rich- 
mond’s army as a violent inflammatory fever, 
without boils or ulcers, after the battle of 
Bosworth, and lasted five weeks. Between 1485 
and 1529 there were five outbreaks, the first 
four being confined to England and France, 
the fifth spreading over Germany, Turkey, and 
Austria. 

Swedenborgians (swe' den b6r' ji &nz). Follow- 
ers of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), 
called by themselves “the New Jerusalem 
Church” (Rev. xxi, 2). Their views of salvation, 
inspiration of Scripture, and a future state, 
differ widely from those of other Christians, 
and they believe the Trinity to be centred in 
the person of Jesus Christ {Col. ii, 9). 

Sweep. To sweep the threshold. To announce to 
all the world that the woman of the house is 
paramount. When the procession called 
“Skimmington” (q.v.) passed a house where the 
woman “wore the breeches” everyone gave 
the threshold a sweep with a broom or bunch 
of twigs. 

Sweepstakes. A race in which stakes are made 
by the owners of horses engaged, to be 
awarded to the winner or other horse in the 
race. Entrance money has to be paid to the 
race fund. If the horse runs, the full stake must 
be paid; but if it is withdrawn, a forfeit only 
is imposed. . 

Also a gambling arrangement in which a 
number of persons stake money on some 
event (usually a horse-race), each of whom 
draws a lot for every share bought, the total 
sum deposited being divided among the 
drawers of winners (or sometimes of starters). 
Some “sweeps” have very valuable prizes; 
as the “Calcutta Sweep* 1 on the Derby 
(organized by the Calcutta Club), the first 
prize of which comes to over £100,000. 

Sweet. The sweet singer of Israel. King David 
(c. 1074-1001 B.C.). 


Sweet 


872 


Swollen Head 


To be sweet on. To be enamoured of, in love 
with. 

To have a sweet tooth. To be very fond of 
dainties and sweet things generally. 

Sweetness and light. A favourite phrase with 
Matthew Arnold. “Culture.” he said, “is the 
passion for sweetness and light, and (what is 
more) the passion for making them prevail” 
{Preface to Literature and Dogma). The phrase 
was used by Swift ( Battle of the Books , 1697) 
in an imaginary fable by SEsop as to the merits 
of the bee (the ancients) and the spider (the 
moderns). It concludes: — 

The difference is that instead of dirt and poison, 
we have rather chosen to fill our hives with honey and 
wax, thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of 
things, which are sweetness and light. 

Swell. A person showily dressed ; one who puffs 
himself out beyond his proper dimensions, 
like the frog in the fable; hence, a fashionable 
person, one of high standing or importance. 
In American usage as an adjective, tine, stylish, 
first rate, just right. 

Swell mob. The better-dressed thieves and 
pickpockets. 

Swelled head. An exaggerated sense of one’s 
own dignity, usefulness, importance, etc. 
Swim. In the swim. In a favourable position 
in society of any kind; a racing-man who is 
“in the swim” is one who mixes with the class 
from which he can get the best “tips”; and 
similarly with a diplomatist, a stockbroker, or 
a society lady. It is an angler’s phrase. A lot 
of fish gathered together is called a swim, and 
when an angler can pitch his hook in such a 
place he is said to be “in a good swim.” 

Sink or swim. No matter what happens. 
Convicted witches were thrown into the water 
to “sink or swim”; if they sank they were 
drowned; if they swam it was clear proof they 
were in league with the Evil One; so it did not 
much matter, one way or the other. 

To swim with the stream. To allow one’s 
actions and principles to be guided solely 
by the force oi public opinion. 

Swindle. To cheat, defraud, gain a mean 
advantage by trickery. The verb is formed from 
the noun swindler , which was introduced into 
England by German Jews about 1760, from 
Ger. Schwindler , a cheating company promoter 
(from schwindeln, to act heedlessly or ex- 
travagantly). 

Swing, with reference to jazz music, denotes 
a phase ushered in by musicians w ho w ished to 
emphasize rhythmic urge. The solo work of 
this phase, which lasted from about 1925 to 
1940 , was characterized by exhibitionism but 
demanded a high standard of performance. 

Captain Swing. The name assumed by cer- 
tain persons who, about 1830 , sent threaten- 
ing letters to farmers who employed mechanical 
means, such as threshing machines, to save 
labour. “Captain Swing” was an entirely 
imaginary person but three so-called Lives of 
him appeared in 1830 and 1831 . 

The neighbours thought all was not right, 

Scarcely one with him ventured to parley. 

And Captain Swing came in the night, 

And burnt all his beans and his barley. 

Barham: Babes in the Wood Ungolds by Legends). 


I don’t care if I swing for him! A remark of 
one very revengefully inclined; implying that 
the speaker will even go to the length of 
murdering the enemy, and getting hanged in 
consequence. 

In full swing. Going splendidly; everything 
prosperous and in perfect order. 

It went with a swing. Said of a ceremony, 
function, entertainment, etc., that passed off 
without a hitch and was a great success. 

What you lose on the swings you get back 
on the roundabouts. A rough way of stating 
the law of averages; if you have bad luck on 
one day you have good on another, if one 
venture results in loss try a fresh one — it may 
succeed. 

Swinge-bucklcr. A roisterer, a rake who went 
a bit further than a swashbuckler (q.w), in 
that he swinged (beat) his man, as well as 
swashed his buckler. The continuation of 
Stow’s Armais tells us that in Elizabeth I’s time 
the “blades” of London used to assemble in 
West Sniithfield with sword and buckler for 
mock tights, called “bragging” fights. They 
swashed and swinged their bucklers with much 
show of fury, “but seldome was any man 
hurt.” 

I here was I, and little John Doit of Staffordshire, 
and black George Barnes, and Iranas Pick bone, and 
Will Squetc, a Cotswold nun; you had not four such 
swinge-bucklers in all the Inns-of-court; and, I may 
say to you, we knew where the bon.wobas were. — 
Henry VI Pt . II, III, ii. 

Swiss. The nickname of a Swiss is “Colin 
Tampon.” 

No money— no Swiss — i.e . no assistance. 
The Swiss were for centuries the mercenaries 
of Europe — willing to serve anyone for pay — 
and were usually called in England Switzers, as 
in Shakespeare’s “Where arc my Swit/crs? Let 
them guard the door” ( Hamlet IV, v). In Erancc 
an hotel-porter— also the beadle of a church — 
is called un suisse . 

Swithin, St. If it rains on St. Swithin’s day 
(July 1 5th), there will be rain for forty days. 

St. Swithin’s day, gif yc do rain, for forty days n will 
remain; 

St. Swithin’s day, an ye be fair, for forty days ’twill 
rain nac nuir. 

The legend is that St. Swithin, Bishop of 
Winchester, w ho died 862, desired to be buried 
in the chtirch-vurj of the minster, that the 
“sweet rain of heaven might fail upon his 
rave.” At canonization the monks thought to 
onour the saint by removing his body into 
the choir, and fixed July 1 5th for the ceremony; 
but it rained day after day for forty days, which 
was taken as a sign that the saint was angry 
and could control the weather. His shrine in 
Winchester Cathedral, popular in the Middle 
Ages, was destroyed in the Reformation, and a 
new shrine was dedicated on the saint's day in 
1962. 

The St. Swithin of France is St. Gervais 
(and see MIdakd). The rainy saint in 
Flanders is St. Uodcdcvc; in Germany, the 
Seven Sleepers, 

Switzers. See Swiss. 

Swollen Head. See Swelled head. 



Sword 


873 


Sycophant 


Sword. At sword’s point. In deadly hostility, 
ready to fight each other with swords. 

Fire and sword. Rapine and destruction 
perpetrated by an invading army. 

Poke not fire with a sword. This was a 
precept of Pythagoras, meaning add not fuel 
to tire, or do not irritate an angry man by 
sharp words which will only increase his rage. 
(See Iamblichus: Protreptics, symbol ix.) 

Sword and buckler. An old epithet for brag 
and bluster; as a sword and buckler voice , 
sword and buckler men , etc. Hotspur says of 
the future Henry V — 

And that same sword and buckler Prince of Wales, 

Td have him poisoned with a pot of ale. 

Henry IV Pt. /, I, iii. 

Sword and Cloak Plays. See Cloak and 
Sword. 

Sword dance. A Scottish dance performed 
over two swords laid crosswise on the floor, 
or sometimes danced among swords placed 
point downwards in the ground: also a dance 
in which the men brandish swords and clash 
them together, the women passing under them 
when crossed. 

Sword dollar. A Scottish silver coin of James 
VI, marked with a sword on the reverse. It 
was worth 30s. Scots (~2s. 6d. in English 
contemporary money). 

The sword of Damocles. See Damocles. 

The Sword of God. K haled Ibn al Waled 
(d. 642), the Mohammedan conqueror of Syria, 
was so called for his prowess at the battle of 
Muta. 


The Sword of Rome. Marcellus, w ho opposed 
Hannibal (216-214 n.c.). 

The Sword of the Spirit. The Word of God 
(Eph. vi, 17). 

To put to the sword. To slay. 

Your tongue is a double-edged sword. 

Whatever you say wounds; your argument 
cuts both ways. The allusion is to the double- 
edged sword out of the mouth of the Son of 
Man — one edge to condemn, and the other 
to save (Rev. i, 16). 


Yours is a Delphic sword — it cuts both ways. 

Erasmus says a Delphic sword is that which 
accommodates itself to the pro or con of a 
subject. The reference is to the double mean- 
ings of the Delphic oracles. 


Some famous swords. In the days of chivalry 
a knight’s horse and sword were his most 
treasured and carefully kept possessions, and 
his sword— 'equally with nis horse— had its 
ow n name. The old romances, especially those 
of the Charlemagne and Arthurian cycles, arc 
full of these names; wc give below a list of the 
more noteworthy, and further particulars of 
these and others will be found throughout 
this Dictionary. 

Angurvadal (stream of anguish), Frithlof’s sword. 

Arondight. the sword of Launcclot of the Lake. 

Azoth , the sword of Paracelsus (Browning’s Para- 


cehus. Bk. V). 

Ballsarda , Rogcro’s sword, made by a sorceress. 
Ikilmung , one of the swords of Siegfried, made by 
Wicland. 


Caliburn , another name of Excalibur ( q.v .). 

Chrysaor (sword, as good as gold), ArtegaPs sword 
(Spenser’s Faerie Queene). 

Coiada, the Cid’s sword. 

Corrougue , Otuei’s sword. 

Courtain (the short sword), one of the swords of 
Ogier the Dane; Sauvagine was the other, and they 
both took Munifican three years to make. 

Cur tana, the blunted sword of Edward the Con- 
fessor. 

Durandan , Durandal , or Durandana (the inflexible), 
Orlando’s sword. 

Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur. (Ex cal[ce ] - 
liber[are], to liberate from the stone.) 

Flarnberge or Floberge (the flame-cutter), the name 
of one of Charlemagne’s swords, and also that of 
Rinaldo’s and Maugis or Maligigi’s. 

Frusberta, Rinaldo’s sword. 

Glorious, Oliver’s sword, which hacked to pieces 
the nine swords made by Ansias, Galas, and Munifi- 
can. 

Gram (grief), one of the swords of Siegfried. 

Greysteel, the sword of Roll the Thrall. 

Hautc-claire (very bright), both Closamont’s and 
Oliver’s swords were so called. 

Joycuse (joyous), one of Charlemagne’s swords: it 
took Galias three years to make. 

Merveilleuse (the marvellous), Doolin’s sword. 

Mimung, the sword that Wittich lent Siegfried. 

Morglav (big glaive). Sir Bevis’s sword. 

Hagelring (nail-ring), Dietrich’s sword. 

Philippan. The sword of Antony, one of the 
triumvirs. 

Quern- biter (a foot-breadth), both Haco I and 
Thoralf Skolinson had a sword so called. 

Sanglamore (the big bloody glaive), Braggadochio’s 
sword (Spenser’s Faerie Queene). 

Sauvagine (the relentless): see Courtain above. 

Sybarite (sT b&r It). A self-indulgent person; 
a wanton. The inhabitants of Sybaris, in 
South Italy, were proverbial for their luxurious 
living and self-indulgence. A tale is told by 
Seneca of a Sybarite who complained that he 
could not rest comfortably at night, and being 
asked why, replied, “He found a rose-leaf 
doubled under him, and it hurt him.” 

Fable has it that the Sybarites taught their 
horses to dance to the pipe. When the Crotians 
marched against Sybaris they played on their 
pipes, w hereupon all the Sybarite horses began 
to dance; disorder soon prevailed in the ranks, 
and the victory was quick and easy. 

Sybil, The. A name by which George Eliot 
(Mary Ann Evans) was known to her friends 
and acquaintance. 

Sycamore and Sycomore (sik' & mor). The 
Sycamore is the common plane-tree of the 
maple family ( Acer pscudo-platdnus, or greater 
maple); the sycomore is the Egyptian fig-tree, 
and is the tree into which Zacchacus climbed 
(Luke xix, 4) to sec Christ pass. Covcrdale’s, 
the Geneva, and other early English Bibles 
call it the “wyld figge tre.” Both words are 
from Gr. sukon , fig, and moron , mulberry. 

Sycophant (sik' 6 f&nt). A sponger, parasite, or 
servile flatterer; the Greek sukophantes 
(sukon, fig; phainein . to show), which is said to 
have meant an informer against persons who 
exported figs or robbed the sacred fig-trees. 
There is no corroboration of this, but the 
widely accepted story is that the Athenians 
passed a law forbidding the exportation of figs, 
and there were always found mean fellows 
who, for their own private ends, impeached 
those who violated it; hence sycophantes 


Sycorax 


874 


Symbols of Saints 


came to signify first a government toady, and 
then a toady generally. 

Sycorax (si 7 k6 r5ks). A witch, mother of 
Caliban, in Shakespeare's Tempest . 

Syllogism (siTOjizm). A form of argument 
consisting of three propositions, a major 
premise or general statement, a minor premise 
or instance, and the conclusion , which is 
deduced from these. 

The five hexameter verses which contain 
the symbolic names of all the different 
syllogistic figures are as follow: — 

Barbara, Celarent, Darii, Ferioque, prioris . 

Cesarc, Camestres, Festino, Baroko, secundce . 

Tertia, Darapti, Disarms, Datisi. Fclapton. 

Bokardo, Ferison, habei. Quarta insuper add it 

Bramantip, Camenes, DLmaris, Fesapo, Fresison. 

The significance of these words lies in their 
vowels: 

A universal affirmative, 

E universal negative. 

/ particular affirmative, 

O particular negative. 

Taking the first line as the standard, the 
initials of all the words below it show to w hich 
standard the syllogism is to be reduced: thus, 
Baroko is to be reduced to “Barbara,” Cesarc 
to “Celarent," and so on. 

Sylph (silf). An elemental spirit of air; so 
named in the Middle Ages by the Rosicrucians 
and Cabal ists, from the Greek silphe , beetle 
or larva. Cp. Salamander. 

Any mortal who has preserved inviolate 
chastity might enjoy intimate familiarity 
with these gentle spirits, and deceased coquettes 
were said to become sylphs, “and sport and 
flutter in the fields of air." 

Whoever, fair and chaste. 

Rejects mankind, is by some sylph embraced. 

Pope: Rape of the Lock, f. 

Symbolists. A group of French writers who, 
towards the end of the 19th century, revolted 
against Naturalism and Parnassiamsm. Their 
aim was to suggest rather than to depict or 
transcribe, and their watchword was Verlaine’s 
“Pas dc couleur, rien que la nuance." Their 
precursors were Baudelaire. Banville, G. de 
Nerval and VilJicrs de Pisle-Adam. Chief 
Symbolists: in verse, Verlaine, Rimbaud, 
Mallarm6; in prose, Huysmans. 


Symbols of Saints. 

Saints. 

Agatha 


Agnes 


Alban 

Ambrose . . 
Anastasias . . 

Andrew 

Andrew Corsini 


Anne 


Symbols. 

With her levered breasts pierced 
by a sword or on a dish ; also 
with a book in one hand, and 
a palm or pair of pincers in 
the other. 

With a iamb or a guardian 
angel at her side; sometime! 
standing on a flaming pyre 
with a sword in her hand. 

As a Roman soldier, bearing a 
sword, and the palm or cross. 

With a beehive. 

With a hatchet; or carrying his 
cowled head on a plate. 

A saltire cross. 

Between a wolf and a lamb (In 
allusion to his tin regenerate 
youth and saintly ota age). 

A book in her hand. 


Antony 


Antony of Padua . . 
Apollinaris . . 
Appollonia . . 


Arcadius 


Augustine (of Hippo) 
Barbara 


Barbaras . . 
Barnabas 


Bartholomew 


Benedict 


Bernard 

Bernard of \fenthon 
Bernardino of Siena 


Blaise . * 

Bridget (of Sweden) 
Bruno ( f\ under the 
Carthusians) 


Catherine . . 
Catherine of Siena . . 

Cecilia 

Christopher 

Clement 


Cloud 

Crispin and Cr it plan 

Cuthbert 
David ,. 

Denys . , 

Dominic . . , . 

Dorothy 

Edward the Confessor 
Elizabeth , . 


A tau cross, with a belt at the 
end, and a pig by his side, or 
with the bell tied to the neck 
of the pig. 

Carrying the infant Jesus in his 
arms, or with a mule kneeling 
at his side. 

A bishop, bearing a sword or 
club, and having a raven at 
his side. 

A tooth and palm branch, or a 
tooth grasped in a pair of 
forceps, She is applied to by 
those who suffer trom tooth- 
ache. 

A torso (he was dismembered 
joint by joint, and limb by 
limb). 

Holding a burning heart. 

With a three- windowed tower, 
and carrying a chalice with 
the Host above it. 

A hatchet in his hand and a 
golden snake under his foot. 

Carrying the Gospel in one 
hand, and a pilgrim’s staffer 
a stone in the other. 

With a butcher’s flaying knife 
(the instrument of his martyr- 
dom), or a human skin with 
the face showing. 

Usually with his Rule in his 
hand and its tirst words (Aut- 
eui fa, O fill ) issuing on a scroll 
from his mouth; sometimes 
with his finger to his lip (en- 
joining, silence), and with a 
scourge or rose-bush at his 
side and a broken goblet in 
his hand. 

W'ith a hive of bees. 

Bearing a hla/ing heart. 

Asa Minorite, with the “I.H.S.** 
surrounded by rays on his 
breast, and at his side three 
mitres, in allusion to his fre- 
quent refusals of a bishopric. 

Iron combs, with which his 
body was torn to pieces. 

A cro7ier and book. 

Contemplating a crucifix with 
“O Bonitas” issuing on a 
scroll from his mouth, and 
sometimes carrying an olive- 
branch. 

An inverted sword, or large 
wheel. 

W'ith a crown of thorns, receiv- 
ing a ring from C hrist, or ex- 
changing hearts with Him. 

Playing on a harp or organ. 

A gigantic figure carrying 
Christ over a river. 

A papal crown, or an anchor. 
He was drowned with an 
anchor tied round his neck. 

With nails (he is the patron 
saint of nail-makers). 

With shoemaker’s tools, or with 
millstones round their necks. 

St. Oshalds head in his hand. 

A leek, in commemoration of 
1m victory over the Saxons. 

Holding his mitred head in bis 
hand. 

W'ith a star on hi* brow. 

Carrying a basket of fruit. 

Crowned with a nimbus, and 
bolding a sceptre. 

St. John and the lamb at her 
feet. 



Symbols of Saints 


875 


Symbols of Saints 


Eloy (or Ellgius) . . 

Dressed as a farrier ard holding 
a horse’s leg (alluding to the 
legend that once when shoe- 
ing a restive horse he de- 
tached the leg, shod it, and 
then replaced it). 

Eustace 

With a stag bearing a crucifix 
between its horns. 

Faith 

A gridiron. 

Felix 

An anchor. 

Francis of Assisi . . 

Wearing the habit of his Order, 
bearded, and showing the 
stigmata in his hands. 

Francis of Paula 

Standing on his cloak, and with 
“Caritas” written across his 
breast; sometimes also with 
an ass beside a forge. 

Frideswide . . 

Beside a fountain, bearing a 
pastoral staff, and with an ox 
at her feet. 

Galt 

With a bear at his feet. 

Geneviive . . 

With the keys of Paris at her 
girdle, sometimes carrying a 
candle which an angel is re- 
lighting just after the devil 
has blown it out. 

George 

Mounted on horseback, and 
transfixing a dragon. 

Gerasimus 

With a tame lion. 

Germanus . . 

With an ass at his feet. 

Gertrude 

A pastoral staff with a mouse 
running up it. 

Giles 

A hind, with its head in the 
saint’s lap. 

Gregory the Great . . 

In papal robes, with a dove, and 
a roll of music in his hand. 

Guido, or Guy 

As a pilgrim, with a horse and 
ox at his feet, two palms in 
his hand, and a harrow at 
his side. 

Hedwlge 

Crowned and veiled, bare- 
footed, with her shoes in her 
hand. 

Hubert 

In bishop’s robes, with a stag 
bearing the crucifix between 
its horns. 

Hugh 

As a bishop, holding a ciborium 
above which is a Host with a 
child in the midst of the 
wafer; also, a swan at his 
own feet. 

Humbert 

With a cross marked on his 
head, and a docile bear at his 
side. 

Ignatius 

, The monogram “I. H.S.” on the 
breast or in the sky, circled 
with a glory. 

Isidore 

, With a pen and a hive of bees. 

James the Great 

, A pilgrim's staff; or a scallop 
shell. 

James the Less 

, A fuller’s club; he was killed 
by Simon the fuller. 

Jerome 

, Studying a large volume, wear- 
ing the red hat of a cardinal 
(though he was never a car- 
dinal), and with a lion 
crouching at his feet. 

Joan of Arc 

, In armour; with a long pennant 
painted with a picture of 
Christ holding a globe in one 
hand and the other raised in 
benediction; the words 
“Jhcsus — Maria” above ; and 
the background powdered 
with the royal lilies in gold. 

John the Baptist ♦ 

, A camel-hair garment, small 
rude cross, and a lamb at his 
feet. 


John the evangelist. . A chalice, out of which a dragon 
or serpent is issuing, and an 
open book ; or a young man 
with an eagle In the back- 
ground. 


Jude 

Kentlgern (or Mungo ) 


iMWrence . . 

Leger (or Leodegar) 

Louis 


Loy ( see Eloy). 
Lucy . . 


Luke 

Mar cel l us . , 
Margaret 

Margaret of Cortona 
Mark . ♦ 

Martin 

Mary Magdalene . . 
Mary of Egypt 

Mary the Virgin 
Matthew 


Maurus 

Michael 

Neot 

Nicholas 


Nicholas of Tolentino 


Osyth 

Pancras 

Patrick 

Paul •» 

Peter 

Peter Gonzales 
Peter Martyr 
Philip 


Praxedls 


With a club, a cross, or a car- 
penter’s square. 

With his episcopal cross in one 
hand, and in the other a 
salmon and a ring. 

A book and gridiron. 

With gimlets in his eyes, or 
holding them with pincers. 

A king kneeling, with the arms 
of France at his feet; a bishop 
blessing him, and a dove de- 
scending on his head. 

With a short staff in her hand, 
and the devil behind her; or 
with eyes in a dish, and rays 
of light coming from a gash 
in her throat. 

Sitting at a reading-desk, be- 
neath which appears an ox’s 
head; or painting the Virgin 
or a Bambino. 

As a bishop, leading a dragon 
through the streets of Paris 
by his stole. 

Treading on a dragon, or 
piercing it with the cross. 

Gazing at a skull, or a corpse, 
with a dog at her side. 

A man seated writing, with a 
lion couchant at his feet. 

On horseback, dividing his 
cloak with a beggar behind 
him on foot. 

A box of ointment. 

Carrying three loaves, and 
dressed as a hermit with very 
long hair. 

Carrying the child Jesus; a lily 
is somewhere displayed. 

With a halberd, with which 
Nadabar killed him, or with 
the Gospel, and a purse or 
money-box. As an evangelist, 
he holds a pen, with which he 
is writing on a scroll. His 
most ancient symbol is a 
man’s face. 

With weights and measures (St. 
Benedict appointed him to 
decide on the allowance of 
bread, etc., for his monks). 

In armour, with a cross, or else 
holding scales, in which he is 
weighing souls. 

Ploughing with deer instead of 
oxen. 

With three golden balls or 
purses; or with a tub with 
naked infants in it. He is 
patron saint of children. 

> With a star over his head, a lily 
in his hand, and Purgatory 
yawning at his feet. 

Carry* n B her head in her hands. 

A youth with a sword in one 
hand and a palm in the other* 

A shamrock leaf (which he 
showed to the Irish heathen 
as a symbol of the Trinity). 

A sword and a book. Dressed 
as a Roman. 

Keys and a triple cross; or a 
fish ; or a cock. 

In Dominican habit, and hold- 
ing a blue candle. 

With a hatchet sticking in a 
cleft in his head. 

A pastoral staff, surmounted 
with a cross; or carrying a 
basket containing loaves and 
fishes (John vi, 5-7). 

With a basin in one hand and 
palms in the other, 




Symbols of Saints 


876 


Roche . . . . A wallet, and a dog with a loaf 

in its mouth sitting by. He 
shows a boil in his thigh. 

Sebastian .. .. Bound to a tree, his arms tied 

behind him, and his body 
transfixed with arrows. 

Simeon . . . , An aged man, with a cross. 

Simon Zelotes . . A saw, because he was sawn 

asunder. 

Stephen . . . . A book and a stone in his hand. 

Theodora , . . . The devil holding her hand and 

tempting her. 

Theodore . . .. Armed with a halberd in his 

hand, and with a sabre by 
his side. 

Theresa .. .. With a flaming arrow piercing 

her heart. 

Thomas . • • . With a builder’s rule, or a stone 

, in his hand, or holding the 

lance w ith which he was slain 
at Meliapore. 

Ulric .. .. With an angel bestowing on 

him a cross. 

Ursula .. ..A book and arrows. She was 

shot through with arrows by 
the Prince of the Huns. 

Verena .. .. A comb. 

Veronica .. . . The sacred veil, which retained 

the impression of our Lord’s 
face after she had wiped the 
sweat from his brow when on 
the way to Calvary. 

Walburga . . . . W’ith a flask of oil. 

(See Apostles, Evanuei ists, etc.) 

Symbols of other sacred characters. 


Abraham 

. . An old man grasping a knife, 
ready to strike his son Isaac, 
who is bound on an altar. An 
angel arrests his hand, and a 
ram is caught in the thicket. 

David 

.. Kneeling; above is an angel 
with a sword. Sometimes he 
is represented playing a harp. 

Esau 

. . With bow and arrows, going to 
meet Jacob. 

Gabriel . . 

.. A flower-pot full of lilies be- 
tween him and the Virgin. 

Job . . 

.. Sitting naked on the ground, 
with three friends talking to 
him. 

Judas Iscariot 

. . With a money bag. In the last 
supper he has knocked over 
the salt with his right elbow. 

Judith 

. . With Holofernes’ head in one 
hand, and a sabre in the 
other. 

Noah . . 

.. Looking out of the ark window 
at a dove, which is flying to 
the ark, olive branch in its 
beak. 

King Saul . . 

.. Arrayed in a rich tunic and 
crowned. A harp is placed 
behind him. 

Solomon 

. . In royal robes, standing under 
an arch. 

Symplegades, 

The. See Cyanean Rocks. 


Symposium (sim pd' zi um). Properly, a drink- 
ing together (Gr. syn , together; posts, drink); 
hence, a convivial meeting for social and 
intellectual entertainment; hence, a discussion 
upon a subject, and the collected opinions 
of different authorities printed and published 
in a review, etc 

The Symposium is the title given to a dialogue 
by Plato, and another by Xenophon, in which 
the conversation of Socrates and others is 
recorded. 

Syndicalism. The doctrine in economics that 
all the workers in any industry should have a 


share in the control and in the profits arising 
from it, and that to compass this end the 
workers in the different trades should federate 
and enforce their demands by sympathetic 
strikes. The word was first used about 1907, 
and was coined from the French chambre 
syndicate (syndic, a delegate), a trade union. 

Synecdoche (si nek' do ki). The figure of 
speech which consists of putting a part for 
the whole, the whole for the part, a more 
comprehensive for a less comprehensive term, 
or vice versa. Thus, a hundred bayonets (for a 
hundred soldiers ), the town was starving (for 
the people in the town). 

Now will I remember you farther of that manner of 
speech which the Greekescall Synecdoche , and we the 
figure of quick eonceitc ... as when one would tell me 
how the French king was overthrown at Saint 
Quintans, l am enforced to think that it was not the 
king himsclfc in person, but the Constable of Fraunce 
with the French kings power. — PurrENHAM: Arte of 
English Poesie, Bk. Ill (1589). 

Synoptic Gospels, The. Those of Matthew, 
Mark, and Luke; so called because, taken 
together and apart from that of John, they 
form a synopsis (Gr. a seeing together), i.e. a 
general view or conspectus, of the life and 
sayings of Christ. 

Hence, the Synoptic Problem , the questions 
as to the origin and relationship of these three. 
There is general agreement that Mark is the 
earliest of the Gospels, and that it provides 
much of the material for Matthew and Luke. 
These two latter, however, contain material 
not found in Mark. The source of this material, 
and other problems, are matters that divide 
scholars into several schools of thought. 

Syntax, Doctor (sin' taks). The pious, hen- 
pecked clergyman, very simple-minded but of 
excellent taste and scholarship, created by 
William Combe (1741-1823) to accompany a 
series of coloured comic illustrations by 
Rowlandson. His adventures are told in 
eight-syllabled verse in the Three Tours of Dr. 
Syntax (1812, 1820, and 1821). 

Syrinx (sf ringks). An Arcadian nymph of 
Greek legend. On being pursued by Pan she 
took refuge in the river Ladon, and prayed 
to be changed into a reed; the prayer was 
ranted, and of the reed Pan made his pipes, 
lencc the name is given to the Pan-pipe, or 
reed mouth-organ, and also to the vocal organ 
of birds. 


T 

T, The twentieth letter of the alphabet, 
representing Semitic raw and Greek (an. which 
meant “a mark.’* Our T is a modification 
of the earlier form, X. See also Tau. 

It fits to a T. Exactly. The allusion U to 
work that mechanics square with o T-square, 
a ruler with a cross-niccc at one end, especially 
useful in making right angles, and in obtaining 
perpendiculars and parallel lines. 

Marked with a T. Notified as a felon. 
Persons convicted of felony, and admitted 


Taal 


877 


Tabouret 


to the benefit of clergy, were branded on the 
thumb with the letter T {thief). The law 
authorizing this was abolished in 1827. 

Taal (tal). The dialect of Dutch spoken in 
South Africa. It originated in the colloquial 
North Dutch of the 17th century but early 
underwent great changes. It is now usually 
called Afrikaans. 

Tabard (tab' ard). A jacket with short pointed 
sleeves, whole before, open on both sides, 
with a square collar, winged at the shoulder 
like a cape, and worn by military nobles over 
their armour. It was generally emblazoned 
with heraldic devices. Heralds still wear 
tabards. 

The Tabard Inn. The inn whence pilgrims 
from London used to set out on their journey 
to Canterbury; it was on the London estate of 
the abbots of Hyde, and lay in the Southwark 
(now Borough) High Street, a little to the 
south of London Bridge. It and its host, 
Harry Baily, arc immortalized in Chaucer’s 
Canterbury Tales. 

Tabardar. A scholar on the foundation of 
Queen’s College, Oxford; so called because 
they wore gowns with tabard sleeves — that is, 
loose sleeves, terminating a little below the 
elbow in a point. 

Tabby. Originally the name (from Arabic) of 
a silk material with a “watered” surface, 
giving an effect of wavy lines; applied to the 
brownish cat with dark stripes, because its 
markings resembled this material. 

Demurest of the tabby kind, 

The nenshe Sclima reclined. 

Gray: On the Death of a Favourite Cat. 

Tabernacles, Feast of. A Jewish festival lasting 
eight days and beginning on the 15th Tishri 
(towards the end of September). Kept in 
remembrance of the sojourn in the wilderness, 
it was also the Feast of Ingathering. It was 
formerly a time of great rejoicing. 

Table. Apelles* tabic. A pictured board (Lat. 
tabula) or table, representing the excellency of 
sobriety on one side and the deformity of 
intemperance on the other. 

Table d’h6te (Fr. the host’s table). The 
“ordinary” at an hotel or restaurant; the meal 
for which one pays a fixed price whether one 

f iartakcs of all the courses provided or not. 
n the Middle Ages, and even down to the 
reign of Louis XIV, the landlord’s or host’s 
table was the only public dining-place known 
in Germany and France. 

Table money or charge. A charge additional 
to that of the meal made at restaurants, etc., 
towards the cost of attendance; or a small fee 
charged to players at Bridge clubs; also, in the 
Army, Navy, and Diplomatic Service, an 
allowance made to assist in meeting the ex- 
pense of official entertaining. 

Table-talk. Small talk, chit-chat, familiar 
conversation. 

Tabtc-tumlng. The turning of tables without 
the application of mechanical force, which in 
the early days of spiritualism wa« commonly 
practised at stances, and sank to the level of a 
parlour trick. It was said by some to be the 


work of departed spirits, and by othfers to be 
due to a force akin to mesmerism. 

Table of Pythagoras. The common multipli- 
cation table, carried up to ten. The table is 
parcelled off into a hundred little squares or 
cells. The name first appears in a corrupt text 
of Boethius, who was really referring to the 
abacus ( q.v .). 

The Round Table, or Table Round. See 

Round. 

Tables of Cebes. Cebes was a Theban 
philosopher, a disciple of Socrates, and one of 
the interlocutors of Plato’s Phtrdo. His Tables 
or Tableau supposes him to be placed before a 
tableau or panorama representing the life 
of man, which the philosopher describes with 
great accuracy of judgment and splendour of 
sentiment. It is sometimes appended to the 
works of Epictetus. 

The Tables of Toledo. See Tabulae 

Toletan/e. 

The Twelve Tables. The tables of the Roman 
laws engraved on brass, brought from Athens 
to Rome by the decemvirs. 

To lay on the table. The parliamentary 
phrase for postponing consideration of a 
motion, proposal, bill, etc., indefinitely. Hence, 
to table a matter is to defer it sine die. 

To turn the tables. To reverse the conditions 
or relations; as, for instance, to rebut a 
charge by bringing forth a counter-charge. 
The phrase comes from the old custom of 
reversing the table or board, in games such as 
chess and draughts, so that the opponent’s 
relative position is altogether changed. 

Tableaux vivants (Fr. living pictures). Represen- 
tations of statuary groups by living persons; 
said to have been invented by Madame de 
Gcniis (1746-1830) while she had charge of 
the children of the Due d’Orleans. 

Taboo, tabu (Maori topu ). A custom among 
the South Sea Islanders of prohibiting the 
use of certain persons, places, animals, things, 
etc., or the utterances of certain names and 
words; it signifies that which is banned, 
interdicted, or “devoted” in a religious sense. 
Thus, a temple is taboo , and so is he who 
violates a temple. Not only so, but everyone 
and everything connected with what is taboo 
becomes taboo also; Captain Cook was taboo 
because some of his sailors took wood from a 
Hawaiian temple to supply themselves with 
fuel, and being “devoted,” he was slain. The 
w hole subject of taboo is a highly complicated 
and technical department of sociology. 

With us, a person who is ostracized, or an 
action, custom, etc., that is altogether for- 
bidden by Society, is said to be taboo % or 
tabooed. 

Tabouret (tab' oo ret) (Fr.). A low stool 
without back or arms. In the ancient French 
court certain ladies had the droit de tabouret 
(right of sitting on a tabouret in the presence 
of the queen). At first it was limited to 
princesses; but subsequently it was extended 
to all the chief ladies or the queen's household; 
and later still the wives of ambassadors, dukes. 


Tabula rasa 


878 


Tall 


lord chancellors, and keepers of the seals 
en